Autopilot "Yeah" or "Nay"

[MisterCPA]

The traffic aware cruise is a must have if you drive in traffic of any sort.

 

[Electricfan]

Maybe I am naive, but is Autopilot a "must"?

Yes. See my signature below if you don't believe me.

 

[taurusking]

Well it depends on whom you ask...If you live in a rural area and not plan on driving in city for most part and you are not planning to sell the car then go without autopilot .


If you are planning to sell the car or drive in city then yes autopilot is a must for this all tech car

 

[CHG-ON]

Yeah. And absolute must. Not only does the TACC currently work quite well. You open yourself to significant upgrades in the future that will not be possible without it.

 

[Scrith]

Would you pay sales tax (in states that have it) on the autopilot upgrade? If not, that is some incentive to take a wait-and-see approach (because you would pay if it were rolled into the purchase price of the vehicle). Also, waiting to add the upgrade would slightly reduce yearly vehicle registration costs in states where they are based on the purchase price of the vehicle. And waiting may also reduce luxury taxes on the vehicle (due to reduced purchase price). I am not sure whether or not all of those savings make up for the additional cost of adding it later, but they would definitely reduce the penalty.

 

[taurusking]

Yeah. And absolute must. Not only does the TACC currently work quite well. You open yourself to significant upgrades in the future that will not be possible without it.

How long is my question? I am thinking in about 5 years or sooner the auto pilot hardware would become obsolete and there would be other hardware that is required to make a model S a self driving car..

Tesla keeps innovating so fast that I would not bet on particular hardware.

 

[GregTexas]

Lack of an adaptive cruise control is the only reason I didn't buy a Tesla last year.

 

[green1]

How long is my question? I am thinking in about 5 years or sooner the auto pilot hardware would become obsolete and there would be other hardware that is required to make a model S a self driving car..

Tesla keeps innovating so fast that I would not bet on particular hardware.

There will always be something better out there. I am slightly disappointed that Tesla didn't put a couple more sensors on the S when they did, however what they have is enough to enable quite a bit. You're right that full self driving will require more (I bet those sensors appear Q4 or early 2016) But you have to ask yourself what your minimum is.

My minimum was enough to beat all the existing systems out there, and the current MS has enough hardware on board to do that.

We can't wait forever for "perfection" because it's a moving target, each of us has to decide what our own particular threshold is for "good enough"

 

[taurusking]

We can't wait forever for "perfection" because it's a moving target, each of us has to decide what our own particular threshold is for "good enough"

You are right...to me I drive mostly on the country side with no traffic at all...I chose a car with no auto pilot features...because I am never going to use those features...is it good to have ..yes but not worth to me spending few thousand dollars more.

Will I get a lower trade in.. definitely ..but I am not planning to sell it anytime soon