Colorado (Mostly) Specific Questions

[Mairsile]

I’ve got a Model S on Order. Order date January 2021, RN1143. LR, grey, 19 inch wheels. Current ETA Dec 11-31. I’ve spent a lot of time in a 2016 Model S, but I live in Colorado and never drove one out here. I have a few questions for other Coloradans (mostly).

1). Where in Denver do you recommend for PPF (colored or protective) and tint? I have seen a lot of recommendations for Colorado Detail, but I’d like some other options to price shop. At a minimum I’m going to do a clear protective on the front. But I’m debating going for a matte blue wrap like the photo at the bottom.

2) How does your Tesla do in Colorado winter? I’m curious about two primary aspects. First, how does it do in snow in general? But second, how does it do in the mountains? Have you ever come out of the Eisenhower tunnel in a blizzard? For context, I drive up to Silverthorne every Friday night in the winter no matter what the road conditions are. I usually take my wife’s Subaru Outback, but how does the Tesla do in those conditions?

3) Speaking of winter driving. Does the regen braking cause issues in the snow and ice? My concern with brakes being effectively automatically applied is that the regen braking could cause a slide. I’m used to letting off the gas when the car starts to go for it to recover, which has happened to me coming out of the tunnel in whiteout. How does it do? Does ABS kick in on the regen brakes also?

4) What type of range do you consume round trip to Silverthorne? If that’s 160 miles RT, do you net out to consume 160 miles? Yes… I understand you will burn more than 80 miles worth of range on the way up and less than 80 coming back. How does that net out?

5) How is the Denver service center? I see a lot of complaints about awful service centers and poor customer service, and several comments that say it depends on your location. How is Denver?

6) If you have a refreshed Model S, is there any chance you’d let me drive it? Never hurts to ask. I want to check out the yoke/no-stalks before I buy. Please don’t devolve this post to another debate on the stalks/yoke. On the off chance you’ll share the love, please message me.

 

[mrwug]

1). Where in Denver do you recommend for PPF (colored or protective) and tint? I have seen a lot of recommendations for Colorado Detail, but I’d like some other options to price shop. At a minimum I’m going to do a clear protective on the front. But I’m debating going for a matte blue wrap like the photo at the bottom.

I'm still waiting for my MY but my wife got her Lexus done last month at Advance Auto Glass in Highlands Ranch and they did a fantastic job. The do a bunch of Teslas based on their FB page and they had a Model Y getting dropped off when we dropped off my wife's car. I'll be taking my Tesla there when it comes in.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Welcome.

1) No input as I'm up north

2) Amazing. People are always concerned with how they will do in the winter and I can tell you that I will never go back to an ICE vehicle and this is largely because of all the ways EVs (especially Tesla) are better in the winter months here in Colorado. The only real issue is slightly decreased range (ICE cars take roughly the same 25-30% hit in efficiency in the winter as well) and the ground clearance. The air suspension helps with the latter and being able to raise creates more ground clearance on the rare occasion that you need it. The added weight (5,000lbs vs 3,500lbs for your Scooby) also helps immensely.

3) There is a little bit of an adjustment but it's really not much. You just lift less on the accelerator than you would in an ICE car. Single-pedal-driving is still much better than bouncing back and forth between two or three pedals the way you would in an ICE vehicle, especially in the winter when tenths of a second matter.

4) I don't make this trip frequently enough to speak to it other than to say there's far too many variables for that broad of a question to yield specific and accurate answers.

5) Trash. Your best bet is the newest one in Superior but I've heard horror stories there too. People who claim that it's better at some service centers fail to recognize that the problem is systemic. When the highest levels of your company determine that a customer-facing phone number (or presence at all, really) is an unnecessary cost... well... that lack of service trickles downhill and you're left with a few outliers that find ways to overcome to provide quality service to people even though their business model doesn't support them in this endeavor. This is the exception, not the rule. It is also not the Rocky Mountain Region in any way. Pray you never need service and, if you do, pray that mobile service is available for that issue. Mobile service is actually quite good comparatively speaking. If you ever have an issue that requires a visit to the service center though... the nightmare begins.

6) If you haven't driven a Model S for any stretch of time previously, my guess is that you will not care much about the yoke/stalkless abomination. Reason being, the rest of the car is just so damn good especially comparing to ICE vehicles. They're basically better in every way and you will be like a giddy kid in a candy store even if one of those candies is black licorice or Peeps because suddenly having access to every other candy you can think of will override that one caca flavored one. The pattern I'm noticing is those new to Tesla seem to largely be alright with the yoke/stalkless setup and my guess is because of the other aspects of the car. Contrary to this, those that seem to dislike it the most are those coming from another Model S because they're already used to the other advantages of the platform. Just a theory though and I will leave it there to avoid yet another thread divulging into the muck from the fanbois trying to convince everyone that the yolk/stalkless setup is the next iteration of the automobile and any negatives you experience are all fabrications. Personally, I'd likely own a Long Range and a Plaid if they offered a traditional steering wheel & stalks even if it cost more. Instead, I'll stick to my antiquated cars with round steering wheels and "cumbersome" stalks.

I don't have a refresh but I'd gladly let you drive it if I did. Lots of owners are very happy with their cars (even those like my with 5-year-old clapped-out turds that are still incredible cars compared to all other ICE vehicles) that they look for opportunities to let others experience how much better they really are. Now, if only Tesla would make their customer service even half as good as the cars are.

 

[Barry]

Welcome. For the most part, I agree with the above response.

Let me preface by sayng I spend at least 2 days/week in Summit Co. during ski season (mostly at Keystone).

Re winter driving, I always put my car in low regen when the roads are snow/slush covered. High regen CAN lead to slides if it kicks in too strongly. I believe I read that the Standard/Low regen "switch" has been removed in the newer cars (mine is a pre-refresh). Perhaps someone can confirm. If so, I can't help you with that experience, For me, the round trip is 140 road miles. In winter, on dry roads, it's about 170 miles of range (140 up and 30 down). In snow or slush, it's greater. If I make a day trip without staying overnight (early season), I charge to 90 or 100% (depending on road conditions) and don't need to charge in the mountains. If I stay overnight, I usually bring my UMC, as I have a 208V/50A line available. I almost never supercharge in Silverthorne (even with free supercharging for life).

Here's the biggest potential problem with driving from Summit Co back to Denver after an overnight:
Several years ago, Tesla pushed up the temp at which regen is limited. So, if you park outdoors overnight, without a charge just prior to leaving, to warm up the battery, you will have no regen on the downhill side of the tunnel (the drive from Silverthrone to the tunnel is not long enough to warm up the battery) and your only option for controlling speed will be friction braking (and we know how that goes by smelling the burning brakes of the tourists' vehicles). Fortunately, for me, it's not a problem, as I have an indoor heated parking garage for overnights. If you don't, IMO, the Tesla will be unusable if your only option is overnight parking outdoors during winter.

Tesla's service is the worst of any company I've ever dealt with, including Comcast. In my experience, Littleton is worse than Denver (Evans). I haven't been to Superior.

Fortunately, I've had no issues in the last couple of years requiring service. Assuming no major issues arise, I plan to keep the car another 2-3 years, then find an alternative (at this time, Lucid and Mercedes are on my early radar). I won't buy another Tesla.

 

[Kirbster]

In my Model 3 LR I use roughly 2x energy getting to summit county from DU area as I do getting back. thats not exact but a good rule of thumb. On the way back if you can make it up the hill to the tunnel you’ll make it home. My wh/mi has remained negative from the tunnel to i25. I definitely agree on lack of regen if the car cold soaked over night, but generally the drive from Silverthorne to the tunnel is more than enough to get the battery warm For the downhill.
I haven’t had issues with regen causing slip but even with Hakka R3 snow tires the car is RWD until it detects slup or you are accelerating hard which causes the rear end to kick around particularly in stop and go traffic heading up to the tunnel when it hasn’t been plowed, but that issue is another thread.

As for Service I’ve been to Littleton one when Evans was closed for a while but otherwise always gone to Evans and haven’t had any issues but thats just my personal experience. Biggest complaint is the only way to talk to someone on the phone is to send the SA a message asking for a phone call and hope you don’t miss their call.

 

[Mairsile]

Welcome.

1) No input as I'm up north

2) Amazing. People are always concerned with how they will do in the winter and I can tell you that I will never go back to an ICE vehicle and this is largely because of all the ways EVs (especially Tesla) are better in the winter months here in Colorado. The only real issue is slightly decreased range (ICE cars take roughly the same 25-30% hit in efficiency in the winter as well) and the ground clearance. The air suspension helps with the latter and being able to raise creates more ground clearance on the rare occasion that you need it. The added weight (5,000lbs vs 3,500lbs for your Scooby) also helps immensely.

3) There is a little bit of an adjustment but it's really not much. You just lift less on the accelerator than you would in an ICE car. Single-pedal-driving is still much better than bouncing back and forth between two or three pedals the way you would in an ICE vehicle, especially in the winter when tenths of a second matter.

4) I don't make this trip frequently enough to speak to it other than to say there's far too many variables for that broad of a question to yield specific and accurate answers.

5) Trash. Your best bet is the newest one in Superior but I've heard horror stories there too. People who claim that it's better at some service centers fail to recognize that the problem is systemic. When the highest levels of your company determine that a customer-facing phone number (or presence at all, really) is an unnecessary cost... well... that lack of service trickles downhill and you're left with a few outliers that find ways to overcome to provide quality service to people even though their business model doesn't support them in this endeavor. This is the exception, not the rule. It is also not the Rocky Mountain Region in any way. Pray you never need service and, if you do, pray that mobile service is available for that issue. Mobile service is actually quite good comparatively speaking. If you ever have an issue that requires a visit to the service center though... the nightmare begins.

6) If you haven't driven a Model S for any stretch of time previously, my guess is that you will not care much about the yoke/stalkless abomination. Reason being, the rest of the car is just so damn good especially comparing to ICE vehicles. They're basically better in every way and you will be like a giddy kid in a candy store even if one of those candies is black licorice or Peeps because suddenly having access to every other candy you can think of will override that one caca flavored one. The pattern I'm noticing is those new to Tesla seem to largely be alright with the yoke/stalkless setup and my guess is because of the other aspects of the car. Contrary to this, those that seem to dislike it the most are those coming from another Model S because they're already used to the other advantages of the platform. Just a theory though and I will leave it there to avoid yet another thread divulging into the muck from the fanbois trying to convince everyone that the yolk/stalkless setup is the next iteration of the automobile and any negatives you experience are all fabrications. Personally, I'd likely own a Long Range and a Plaid if they offered a traditional steering wheel & stalks even if it cost more. Instead, I'll stick to my antiquated cars with round steering wheels and "cumbersome" stalks.

I don't have a refresh but I'd gladly let you drive it if I did. Lots of owners are very happy with their cars (even those like my with 5-year-old clapped-out turds that are still incredible cars compared to all other ICE vehicles) that they look for opportunities to let others experience how much better they really are. Now, if only Tesla would make their customer service even half as good as the cars are.

This was a great response. Thank you for taking the time to write it.

 

[Mairsile]

Welcome. For the most part, I agree with the above response.

Let me preface by sayng I spend at least 2 days/week in Summit Co. during ski season (mostly at Keystone).

Re winter driving, I always put my car in low regen when the roads are snow/slush covered. High regen CAN lead to slides if it kicks in too strongly. I believe I read that the Standard/Low regen "switch" has been removed in the newer cars (mine is a pre-refresh). Perhaps someone can confirm. If so, I can't help you with that experience, For me, the round trip is 140 road miles. In winter, on dry roads, it's about 170 miles of range (140 up and 30 down). In snow or slush, it's greater. If I make a day trip without staying overnight (early season), I charge to 90 or 100% (depending on road conditions) and don't need to charge in the mountains. If I stay overnight, I usually bring my UMC, as I have a 208V/50A line available. I almost never supercharge in Silverthorne (even with free supercharging for life).

Here's the biggest potential problem with driving from Summit Co back to Denver after an overnight:
Several years ago, Tesla pushed up the temp at which regen is limited. So, if you park outdoors overnight, without a charge just prior to leaving, to warm up the battery, you will have no regen on the downhill side of the tunnel (the drive from Silverthrone to the tunnel is not long enough to warm up the battery) and your only option for controlling speed will be friction braking (and we know how that goes by smelling the burning brakes of the tourists' vehicles). Fortunately, for me, it's not a problem, as I have an indoor heated parking garage for overnights. If you don't, IMO, the Tesla will be unusable if your only option is overnight parking outdoors during winter.

Tesla's service is the worst of any company I've ever dealt with, including Comcast. In my experience, Littleton is worse than Denver (Evans). I haven't been to Superior.

Fortunately, I've had no issues in the last couple of years requiring service. Assuming no major issues arise, I plan to keep the car another 2-3 years, then find an alternative (at this time, Lucid and Mercedes are on my early radar). I won't buy another Tesla.

I'm almost perfectly equidistant to Silverthorne from you, so that is helpful.

As far as outdoor parking, that is certainly my case up there. Is it worth it to precondition every morning to heat the battery up? I doubt you can answer, but I wonder if the extra drain to precondition would be offset by having regen available once you hit the east side of the tunnel on the return.

Thank you for the response.

 

[Mairsile]

In my Model 3 LR I use roughly 2x energy getting to summit county from DU area as I do getting back. thats not exact but a good rule of thumb. On the way back if you can make it up the hill to the tunnel you’ll make it home. My wh/mi has remained negative from the tunnel to i25. I definitely agree on lack of regen if the car cold soaked over night, but generally the drive from Silverthorne to the tunnel is more than enough to get the battery warm For the downhill.
I haven’t had issues with regen causing slip but even with Hakka R3 snow tires the car is RWD until it detects slup or you are accelerating hard which causes the rear end to kick around particularly in stop and go traffic heading up to the tunnel when it hasn’t been plowed, but that issue is another thread.

As for Service I’ve been to Littleton one when Evans was closed for a while but otherwise always gone to Evans and haven’t had any issues but thats just my personal experience. Biggest complaint is the only way to talk to someone on the phone is to send the SA a message asking for a phone call and hope you don’t miss their call.

I was not aware the M3 is RWD until it detects a slip? I thought both the S and 3 were AWD (similar to Subaru). Are the two different or am I misinformed that all Teslas are only AWD when slipping?

 

[CO_MY]

I tried going to Colorado Detail because of their reputation but it's difficult to get in there because they are very busy. Expect a 6 week minimum and for a full body wrap probably longer. I would suggest Lucid Wraps for what you want, they just did Daerik's Plaid and did a good job Login • Instagram

I've been to the Littleton service center once less than a year ago and thought it was great, car was repaired same day and they kept me in the loop through the app the whole time. I see a variety of experience people have there and the more complex the issue I'm sure the more frustrating it can be.

As far as testing out a refreshed Model S I would keep an eye on Turo.

 

[Rocky_H]

Speaking of winter driving. Does the regen braking cause issues in the snow and ice?

This is going to need a bit of specific points laid out to give context to my response. I live in Idaho, where it is desert, so we don't get much snow, but a little bit.

1. If you do switch to winter tires, it wouldn't be much of an issue.
2. If you have all wheel drive, it wouldn't be much of an issue, because it does spread out the regen force.

I just use all season tires, and my car is rear wheel drive only, so yes, it can cause some fishtailing if regeneration comes in a bit too strongly on just the back wheels. That is why the Low regeneration setting is really important. If you can train yourself not to immediately pop your foot completely off the accelerator, that can help smooth it.

Re winter driving, I always put my car in low regen when the roads are snow/slush covered. High regen CAN lead to slides if it kicks in too strongly. I believe I read that the Standard/Low regen "switch" has been removed in the newer cars (mine is a pre-refresh). Perhaps someone can confirm.

Yes, it has been removed, and it makes me REALLY angry. That's a safety issue, and Tesla is being infuriating removing it.

Does ABS kick in on the regen brakes also?

No, regeneration doesn't have an ABS type of thing, which is also what was really helpful about the Low regeneration setting (at least with my car). You could have your foot all the way off the accelerator, and the regen on the back wheels would be relatively light, not causing it to slip, while easing on the brake pedal, which DOES have ABS on all four wheels to control that.

I was not aware the M3 is RWD until it detects a slip? I thought both the S and 3 were AWD (similar to Subaru). Are the two different or am I misinformed that all Teslas are only AWD when slipping?

Huh? You should know if the car you are ordering is dual motor (all wheel drive) or single motor (rear wheel drive). I think maybe the long range ones are all AWD now?

 

[Mairsile]

Huh? You should know if the car you are ordering is dual motor (all wheel drive) or single motor (rear wheel drive). I think maybe the long range ones are all AWD now?

Agreed. It's dual motor since it's LR. I read what he was saying to be that his M3 was auto-AWD, as in it engages only when needed, which I was not aware existed. I thought it was, as you just described it, either AWD with dual motor or RWD with single motor.

 

[Mairsile]

Yes, it has been removed, and it makes me REALLY angry. That's a safety issue, and Tesla is being infuriating removing it.

Can you at least disable regen? Would hate to do that but with it being a safety issue could at least do that.

 

[Rocky_H]

Can you at least disable regen? Would hate to do that but with it being a safety issue could at least do that.

No, on the new ones, it's only full regen on all the time--no options. But again, since you are talking about an all wheel drive one (and maybe with snow tires), this probably won't be an issue.

 

[PLUS EV]

No, on the new ones, it's only full regen on all the time--no options. But again, since you are talking about an all wheel drive one (and maybe with snow tires), this probably won't be an issue.

Even on the older cars they changed it with a software update. You used to be able to disable regen completely but now you can only toggle it to "Low" or something like that.

 

[Rocky_H]

Even on the older cars they changed it with a software update. You used to be able to disable regen completely

What cars are you talking about and how old? You must be talking about REALLY old ones with really early software. Mine was delivered in March 2014 and at no point did it ever have the option of turning regen off completely, so that must have been some early 2012/2013 stuff you're talking about. And I did my test drive in a car in April 2013, and even then, it only had the low or normal settings.

but now you can only toggle it to "Low" or something like that.

That choice of either low or normal was all my car ever had in it since the beginning, and it has never changed (thank goodness). If they took that away, I would be furious since I don't have dual motor.

 

[PLUS EV]

What cars are you talking about and how old? You must be talking about REALLY old ones with really early software. Mine was delivered in March 2014 and at no point did it ever have the option of turning regen off completely, so that must have been some early 2012/2013 stuff you're talking about. And I did my test drive in a car in April 2013, and even then, it only had the low or normal settings.

That choice of either low or normal was all my car ever had in it since the beginning, and it has never changed (thank goodness). If they took that away, I would be furious since I don't have dual motor.

Hmmmm... Maybe I am misremembering then. You can see my cars in my signature. 2016 and 2018 Model Ses. Not sure if I thought I saw it on the 2018 car, but definitely thought I did on the 2016. Both are/were dual motor so I guess that's one difference from your car.

 

[Barry]

Hmmmm... Maybe I am misremembering then. You can see my cars in my signature. 2016 and 2018 Model Ses. Not sure if I thought I saw it on the 2018 car, but definitely thought I did on the 2016. Both are/were dual motor so I guess that's one difference from your car.

My car (a 2015 AWD) never had an OFF regen option, short of leaving it out in the cold. Over the years, they made that part easier, as it now cuts back under 60F now. It used to be around 45F.

PLUS EV, do you read EVERY post on these forums?

 

[Kirbster]

I was not aware the M3 is RWD until it detects a slip? I thought both the S and 3 were AWD (similar to Subaru). Are the two different or am I misinformed that all Teslas are only AWD when slipping?

I’m not positive on S and X but I’ve heard here the newer ones are FWD until needed. Look at which motor is permanent magnet versus induction. The 3 and the Y are definitely RWD until needed. By needed I mean of it detects slip or if you are acceperating hard enough it needs both motors for performance. Search for threads on snow mode there have been a lot of discussions on this.

 

[friscomelt314]

Taking delivery of a Model Y soon...will be my first Tesla, and my first car that isn't a 4WD off-road capable SUV. Mostly concerned about driving snowy mountain roads in Colorado (I-70 mostly and city streets in mountain towns). The car will have the 20" inductions with all season tires. I'm not planning on driving through blizzards or anything like that, but also want to make sure I'm prepared. What set up do you recommend (winter tires, snow chains, or snow socks) and why?

 

[getimti]

Title related question : My model 3 EDD in next week. The car i want to trade-in I had bought back when I lived in California, and so the title i have in hand is from California DMV. I have been in CO for 3 years, and registered the car here when I moved. Now when i trade-in, can I use the original title (from CA dmv), or do I need a title that is issued in CO?