Almost ordered MS with MCU1

[vegas888]

Difference between 2017(MCU1) vs 2018 (with MCU2) model is almost $20k for cars with aprox same milage. Is MCU2 really worths that money?
Tesla is smart not to mention MCU model on their page but it shows in price point.
Almost ordered dec 2017 model ($20k cheaper then same car just 6 months older,of course with MCU2).
Thanx to this forum i learned what date to look for

 

[PWlakewood]

You mean 2017 with MCU1

 

[vegas888]

You mean 2017 with MCU1

Yes you are correct!

 

[Cheburashka]

No, it's definitely not worth $20K. Not even close.

 

[viper2ko]

Difference between 2017(MCU1) vs 2018 (with MCU2) model is almost $20k for cars with aprox same milage. Is MCU2 really worths that money?
Tesla is smart not to mention MCU model on their page but it shows in price point.
Almost ordered dec 2017 model ($20k cheaper then same car just 6 months older,of course with MCU2).
Thanx to this forum i learned what date to look for

MCU2 vs MCU1 is a huge deal. Mcu2 js essentially future proof for many years. Mcu1 is legacy. Can barely run V10, isn't compatible with HW3, doesnt have a web browser that works, or video. And it freezes and will die after 4 years bc of emmc failure.

 

[kingkong5]

I have an MCU1 (1/2018) and an MCU2 (3/2019) Model S's. While the MCU2 is faster, and it can play Hulu/Netflix/YouTube as well as Caraoke and Cuphead, it's definitely not $20,000 better IMHO. I suppose it's up to you how much money you would pay for that. The older car will still Smart Summon, TACC, etc, and mine happened to come with FUSC as well, a decent perk the MCU2 car didn't have offered at the time. The feature I did want would have been ability to record TeslaCam from the rear camera, which is available in MCU2, but my MCU1 car can only record from the front and side cameras. I'd take the $20,000 savings, FWIW.

 

[r1200gs4ok]

wow....did not know that 2019 Model 3 (jun) was able to record form rear camera.....I need to look into that

 

[cucubits]

Can barely run V10

I respectfully disagree with that. While I admit that I've been driving a MCU1 S for only a week now, I find it perfectly fine for any task. From what I've been reading here, I expected it to be much much slower. I'm not expecting it to stream movies and I haven't touched the browser, but honestly I don't need these features for now.

 

[vegas888]

I have an MCU1 (1/2018) and an MCU2 (3/2019) Model S's. While the MCU2 is faster, and it can play Hulu/Netflix/YouTube as well as Caraoke and Cuphead, it's definitely not $20,000 better IMHO. I suppose it's up to you how much money you would pay for that. The older car will still Smart Summon, TACC, etc, and mine happened to come with FUSC as well, a decent perk the MCU2 car didn't have offered at the time. The feature I did want would have been ability to record TeslaCam from the rear camera, which is available in MCU2, but my MCU1 car can only record from the front and side cameras. I'd take the $20,000 savings, FWIW.

I didn't know MS 2017 car record from side cameras too! I tought it only can use front camera. How many cameras MCU1 has it total?

 

[Simon_Emes]

Mcu1 is fine for the car. You can surf and play on your tablet or phone.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Also keep in mind that the used prices can sometimes seem a little bit random (assuming you’re looking at used Model S through Tesla’s used inventory), depending on how long the car has been listed and apparently some random factors, too. The difference may not truly be a full $20k if you’re comparing a good deal on a 2017 vs a mediocre deal on a 2018. At the moment it looks like a grand total of 2 MCU 2 cars on EV-CPO’s Tesla inventory tracker vs 11 MCU 1 cars from 2017 or later (with AP 2.0 or better), ao it’s kind of hard to draw firm conclusions about the true difference in price that MCU 2 gets you with such a small sample size.

If you expand your search to include cars with MCU 1 and AP 1.0, you get over 200 additional cars and the average price dips into the 40s. I guess it kind of depends how important it is to get a Model S quickly vs. monitoring the market for a few months to see what the trend is. An EV-CPO subscription is great for that.

 

[Simon_Emes]

Just drove a 2018 vs my regular 2016. Feels a bit better, mcu2 still not worth it IMHO

 

[AustinP]

All the video related goodies and games are indeed welcome if you plan to wait in your car while charging.
I charge mostly at home so I definitely don’t stay in the car and when we supercharge on our holiday journey, we go shopping or eating.
When driving, you really don’t care about the snappiness of the interface (which btw is just slightly slower, not by a huge margin as some comment tend to make belief).
Whatever you listen to (fm, xm, dab, streaming) it works equally well.
Same for navigation. Granted the trip calculation is faster on a MCU2 but you will only notice when planning route requiring more than 1 SuC stop. And even so, it will plan it. And guide you just fine.

Only pain is the browser. It is unfortunately still not fixed and stable. But one can definitely do without it. When it is dead, it does not impair any other functionality of mcu1 (nav, music...)

Mcu1 does not freeze or become unstable. Never had this or read report on such issue.

So not denying the MCU2 is faster, it is. Simply this is a car infotainment system and in that function Mcu1 is nothing to be ashamed of nor frustrating to use.
This is my personal opinion of course.

 

[gaswalla]

I think you are attributing MCU 1 vs 2 to prices when in fact it may be AP 1 or no AP vs AP2

 

[OrbiterTI4]

When I was on vacation and drove a 2019 Raven MS earlier this year instead of my usual 2015 MS, the increased speed was readily apparent and appreciated...

But not enough to pay thousands of dollars more for, if that's the only difference in options.

 

[98ramair]

I am 6 weeks into a 2015 P85D and don't think I would use all the features of MCU2. Would I love to have it, absolutely. But I bought my car to drive and a 2015 with an old MCU drives better than any car I ever owned.

That being said, I have an MCU1 that is acting up and probably going to need replacing...but I have a warranty for a while so I am not worried about it other than the BS of dealing with the SC.

There are a few sites out there that track the historical price of a tesla.com listing. Use them and watch the price fluctuations. I am still looking daily to see if I got hosed on the price. My car had a lot of price history. Was listed in early 2019 for mid 90's. It dropped over time to low 50's. Pick a price point and when it hits it, pull the trigger.

Check off as many boxes as possible on your list and enjoy driving it.

 

[xG35]

I drive a MCU 1 model s and my wife drives a Model 3. I can take her car sometimes therefore I can shed some lights on this.

In short, no. Firstly, you rarely touch that screen aside from using navigation and switching music; in these cases it is just faster not not unbearable.

The Netflix and YouTube do come into play when you are waiting for someone OR when you are charging. The first part, I wager you are likely to check messages and social media before watching a video, so again, no difference. The latter, charging, reality is... You are not supercharging unless you are travelling and when you are travelling your not sitting in there to watch an episode of something. You are probably wander off to the mall or coffee shop nearby.

So until autopilot fully kicks in, imo, the perks of mcu2 is not really there unless you go pursue it.

 

[kingkong5]

I didn't know MS 2017 car record from side cameras too! I tought it only can use front camera. How many cameras MCU1 has it total?

I guess it depends which version of AP you have as well, but since mine was built near the end of MCU1, it came with all the cameras needed for AP2, which is why it records from the two side rearward cameras as well as the front. Mine has the cluster with three forward looking cameras, two side cameras that look rearward, the B pillar cameras, and the rear camera for a total of 8.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I guess it depends which version of AP you have as well, but since mine was built near the end of MCU1, it came with all the cameras needed for AP2, which is why it records from the two side rearward cameras as well as the front. Mine has the cluster with three forward looking cameras, two side cameras that look rearward, the B pillar cameras, and the rear camera for a total of 8.

AP2, AP2.5 and AP3 all have the same number of cameras. The color is different in AP2 cameras and can't be recorded in Sentry or Dash cam.

 

[kingkong5]

AP2, AP2.5 and AP3 all have the same number of cameras. The color is different in AP2 cameras and can't be recorded in Sentry or Dash cam.

You are correct. I guess around August 2017 AP2.5 hardware was available, which is why my 100D has sentry and dashcam functions, although with MCU1 it doesn't record from the rear camera.