Conclusions of a Would Be Model S Buyer

[AMN]

Check this out...

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Check this out...

<Was a configuration image with BSD, ACC and LKA listed but false, implying they're working on it>.

Tesla will be working on a whole host of camera-dependent features.

I'm sure it's part of the reason for not having power-folding side mirrors. Tesla wants to get rid of the mirrors entirely and have cameras, which would be used for multiple features.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

1. Carpet color is always black?? Shouldn't the carpets match the interior color.
2. No center console. I know a retrofit is coming
3. No hand holds in front or back seats. Who overlooked this feature.
4. No auto adjustment for easy ingress/egress. My 1992 Lexus automatically moved the seat back and steering wheel up whenever i entered or exited the car. Tesla should as well.
5. No lights in the visors. C'mon.
6. Very limited voice control over car functions. My Tesla test drive companion claimed that voice control only worked with the phone. I know that is not true, but the depth of voice control pales in comparison to most high end cars on the market.
7. Distorted front windshield view at very bottom of glass. I got this from Edmunds and confirmed it during test drive.
8. Lock/unlock doors mechanism only on touchscreen, not on door. Arguably, just a design choice, but an odd one.
9. No rear cupholders. I know a retrofit is coming, but who overlooked this.
10. Occasionally, poor fit and finish. I read about this on Edmunds and confirmed this at the showroom. On some, not all by any means, of the cars, the panels didn't line up exactly. just by looking closely with the naked eye you can see discrepancies in the fit and finish.

But again, even with these "issues" I'd buy the car today if it had ACC.

This is a very common list for people migrating from virtually any other luxury car to the Model S—except that you missed the seat bolsters. ;-) I'd been driving an Audi S6 and was used to the German way of doing things. Within a week after my Model S delivery, that list had completely faded into the background. I thought I would miss door pockets and a center console, but I don't! Not even a little. The Model S is such a fundamentally different experience, you really have to throw out the book on what a great car is supposed to be.

Incidentally, Tesla has been working on replacement visors with lights. The wiring is already in place for them.

The biggest difference between the Model S and other luxury cars is the system integration. On the Model S, the power steering, the windshield wipers, the audio system, and the air conditioning are not separate devices. They are all part of the same system, and they can all be updated at any time with a wireless firmware update. Tesla is constantly improving the car, not because they need to, because they want to.

 

[Beavis]

I actually despise the implementation of ACC and Lane Assist on my wife's Infiniti. It gives weird results if you are on a curve with multiple lanes and sometimes picks up the car ahead in the adjacent lane. The Lane Assist is even more worthless. What I do like on the Infiniti is the proximity sensors with the parking lines in the back up camera. It is very nicely done and I would like that feature in my S.

 

[jacobp]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you enjoyed the test drive.

Personal request from one forum member to another:
Please make this absolutely clear to Tesla.

The simplest way to make your voice heard is to carefully craft an e-mail to [email protected] telling them that this is the reason why you're not buying today.

A more aggressive (and potentially more effective next step) is to (1) make a reservation online, (2) wait for the follow-up e-mail about the deposit information, and (3) at that time cancel the reservation with a reason of "After realizing it doesn't have Adaptive Cruise Control, I've decided I just can't buy the vehicle. Please let me know when/if this feature becomes available."

For the second flavor, Tesla should definitely be motivated to step back, think about this, and contact you for more input.


I'd love to see them retrofit this feature for everyone, but even if not, this feature only gets prioritized higher on the list if they hear from potential customers the degree to which the absence of this feature is costing them customers.


Thanks.

Thank you for your gracious welcome. I am going to do precisely as you suggested. I'll report back on what kind of response i receive. Thanks again.

 

[Mnlevin]

Love my Model S 60. I am satisfied with all the it has, not looking for more toys. Maybe this car is not for everyone and maybe it is not for the poster of this thread.

 

[ACDriveMotor]

Tesla will be working on a whole host of camera-dependent features.

I'm sure it's part of the reason for not having power-folding side mirrors. Tesla wants to get rid of the mirrors entirely and have cameras, which would be used for multiple features.

I agree. Unfortunately I bet we won't see these features until the MX. I would be thrilled to hear that these could be retrofitted. I would pay a fair amount to add these on since the alternative is to lose a lot of cash trading for a newer MS.

 

[brianstorms]

Another thing missing from the Model S: eyeglass holders. First thing I looked for was a place to store my sunglasses, I reached up to the usual place near the rear-view mirror and, what, no glasses holder?!?

Yeah, there are a lot of things that bug me about the car, but freedom from gasoline, plus the power of the 85kWh battery, eliminate those annoyances pretty quick.

 

[brianman]

Another thing missing from the Model S: eyeglass holders. First thing I looked for was a place to store my sunglasses, I reached up to the usual place near the rear-view mirror and, what, no glasses holder?!?

Cubby under the 17" works fine for me as a sunglasses storage location. In fact, in the first two weeks of ownership they stayed there so quietly that I forgot where they were when the sun finally came out.

 

[andrewket]

I'll add my .02:

I really miss parking sensors, in car storage, seat bolsters, ACC, and collision avoidance. The latter I've never used, but it's part of ACC and I wish the MS had it. Great safety feature.

For me the value prop, features, and experience of the MS overcame these shortcomings - for now. The next time I'm shopping for a car, which will be an EV, I will expect these options to be available. If another manufacturer offers a vehicle with similar characteristics of Tesla on the drive train/battery with these options and Tesla doesn't, it would likely be enough for me to buy something other than a Tesla.

 

[leysfi]

I have ACC on my Audi A5, and I rarely use it. It's useless in the dense European traffic. In fact, it turns out to have become the least used option of the car. I hope more useful things like blind spot detection or retractable side-mirrors will come earlier.

 

[texex91]

I have ACC on my Audi A5, and I rarely use it. It's useless in the dense European traffic. In fact, it turns out to have become the least used option of the car. I hope more useful things like blind spot detection or retractable side-mirrors will come earlier.

Couldn't agree more. It was like a few thousand option on my S5--I passed, and don't know the difference.

 

[Hasse]

This is a very common list for people migrating from virtually any other luxury car to the Model S—except that you missed the seat bolsters. ;-) I'd been driving an Audi S6 and was used to the German way of doing things. Within a week after my Model S delivery, that list had completely faded into the background. I thought I would miss door pockets and a center console, but I don't! Not even a little. The Model S is such a fundamentally different experience, you really have to throw out the book on what a great car is supposed to be.

You nailed it. This list is like when Nokia made a list of iPhone shortcomings. "It doesn't even have a proper keyboard", etc.

 

[Mayhemm]

You nailed it. This list is like when Nokia made a list of iPhone shortcomings. "It doesn't even have a proper keyboard", etc.

To this day, I'd still prefer a physical keyboard on my phone, but am willing to do without it in exchange for a smaller form-factor and superior features.

 

[SFOTurtle]

This is a very common list for people migrating from virtually any other luxury car to the Model S—except that you missed the seat bolsters. ;-) I'd been driving an Audi S6 and was used to the German way of doing things. Within a week after my Model S delivery, that list had completely faded into the background. I thought I would miss door pockets and a center console, but I don't! Not even a little. The Model S is such a fundamentally different experience, you really have to throw out the book on what a great car is supposed to be.

Incidentally, Tesla has been working on replacement visors with lights. The wiring is already in place for them.

The biggest difference between the Model S and other luxury cars is the system integration. On the Model S, the power steering, the windshield wipers, the audio system, and the air conditioning are not separate devices. They are all part of the same system, and they can all be updated at any time with a wireless firmware update. Tesla is constantly improving the car, not because they need to, because they want to.

Agree 100% with everything stated. Used to drive a German luxury car with all of the gadgets. Like a distant memory, I'm so glad it's in the past.

- - - Updated - - -

Cubby under the 17" works fine for me as a sunglasses storage location. In fact, in the first two weeks of ownership they stayed there so quietly that I forgot where they were when the sun finally came out.

That's exactly where I keep my shades when I'm not using them. I think this works fine.

 

[barbja]

1. Carpet color is always black?? Shouldn't the carpets match the interior color.

This is something I actually like. 1) its grounding. 2) great for kids.

I had beige carpets with rubber floor mats in the car that I had when my son was 2-9yo. That space between the mats in the back seat was the absolute dirtiest part of the car and it would never come clean. The 2nd dirtiest was the back of the front seats. I greatly prefer light color seats and fortunately, with the car brand that I have now, every color that is lighter than beige uses black carpets. Black black black everywhere your feet may touch. Its awesome. Now from 9-13yo, do a little vacuuming and everything looks cleeeaaannnn. And my seats are just a touch darker than white. They always look clean too.

Black on the bottom, white in the middle, black on top. Its like an oreo cookie in there! Very symmetrical.

 

[ZipByICE]

As Tesla will mature, they will do what other manufactures do: start adding a lot of features that some will find annoying or a must have. Two Cup-holders? Well, our new model has eight! Frankly, I care mostly about car safety, performance and efficiency (check, check and check). The rest is nice to have but not used all the time. It's like your computer or smartphone, do you really use all the features all the time?
As for ACC, I will wait for self-driving option, coming in my next MS. Somewhere in 2020. I can then rest my whole body, not just a foot.