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Features I had to give up when I bought a Tesla

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I love my new Model S, and it has been the most fun I've had in a car since I was a teenager. But I'm still learning to live without a few things my previous car offered (Lexus RX350 loaded with options).

1) Bird's Eye View Camera -- Without a doubt, this is the number one feature I'd love to get back with the Tesla, a car that is ironically loaded with cameras, but they're poorly positioned for a composite bird's eye view that makes parking such a breeze. My wife says this is the single feature she can no longer live without. She will never buy another car without it. I have little hope that this will ever be fixed in my Model S because of camera limitations (rear view cam is okay, side views are poor, and front view is practically unusable for parking via Bird's Eye View).

2) Audio Buffer -- It was nice to be able to take a telephone call and have the radio automatically buffer audio silently, so that I can return to whatever news report, talk show, etc., that was interrupted by the call, without missing a syllable. I miss that. Maybe it's feasible as a future software upgrade for Tesla, but I imagine hardware limitations might be too difficult to overcome with a software only change.

3) Driver Accessible Storage -- Despite a lot of interior room in the Model S, and ample vehicle width, I have far less storage space for maps, sunglasses, pens, etc. The doors lack any storage space at all, and the center console isn't very efficient for storage despite it's huge size. I'm still trying to optimize interior storage space in this car.

4) Destination Assist -- It was nice to be able to press a button in the Lexus, and have a live person take my call, find an address for me, and enter that destination directly into my nav system via the cell network, without ever taking my eyes off the road. That can be a lifesaver when there isn't time to fumble with the nav system searching for an address. However, I've found that the Tesla web interface is so darn quick and easy compared to the Lexus, that I don't think I'll have much trouble adapting. Entering just a few characters in the Tesla often gets a web address right away, that I can easily tap for navigation. So I think this will only get better in the Tesla and I won't miss Destination Assist much in the long run.

These four things I still miss occasionally, but I have a dozen other things that I absolutely love in the Tesla, so I'm not complaining.
 
The Lexus side parking assist camera is in the rear view mirror assembly (as I found out after scraping one off with a tree). No reason Tesla couldn't take that approach except that it would make an already expensive car more so. I do agree that it is a great feature.


The Tesla navigation system does permit one to press a button and say "Navigate to Asia Star" and have it find anything suggesting "Asia Star" within 100 (?) miles or so. No human involved but you do need cellular connectivity.
 
The Lexus side parking assist camera is in the rear view mirror assembly (as I found out after scraping one off with a tree). No reason Tesla couldn't take that approach except that it would make an already expensive car more so. I do agree that it is a great feature.



The Tesla navigation system does permit one to press a button and say "Navigate to Asia Star" and have it find anything suggesting "Asia Star" within 100 (?) miles or so. No human involved but you do need cellular connectivity.

Exactly.... It's incredibly easy and works very well, unlike most car navigation systems that don't tolerate deviations from the spelling in their database.
 
4) Destination Assist -- It was nice to be able to press a button in the Lexus, and have a live person take my call, find an address for me, and enter that destination directly into my nav system via the cell network, without ever taking my eyes off the road. That can be a lifesaver when there isn't time to fumble with the nav system searching for an address. However, I've found that the Tesla web interface is so darn quick and easy compared to the Lexus, that I don't think I'll have much trouble adapting. Entering just a few characters in the Tesla often gets a web address right away, that I can easily tap for navigation. So I think this will only get better in the Tesla and I won't miss Destination Assist much in the long run.

Tip - If you know where you're going BEFORE you get into your Tesla, look it up on your phone using Google Maps or Apple Maps, then, before you map the route, tap Share (box with up arrow icon) to send the destination (through the Tesla app, which I presume you have) to your car. When you jump in, the destination and route will be mapped and ready to go as soon as you are. One of my fav features!
 
Changing vehicles will always be a plus/minus on features. Coming from a luxury ICE, you'll lose some features - but gain elsewhere.
  1. Bird's eye view camera - we'll likely eventually see this, since the data is there, it's just a matter of presenting it on the display
  2. Audio buffer - Tesla is likely doing a small amount of buffering already for streaming apps - so increasing the buffering should be technically feasible. For XM users, Tesla could use the XM internet channels - which support buffering on both the client and server. Though with the long list of bug fixes and features for the media player (including something like Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), adding buffering may be a low priority for Tesla.
  3. Driver accessible storage - looking into my crystal ball - wouldn't be surprised for this to show up in 2020, along with some other interior changes to bring the S/X models more closely together and allow them to be built on the same production line. X has in-door storage, should be possible to do the same with Tesla, with some changes inside the door panel.
  4. Destination assist - this is available already using voice commands to enter destinations, and with the latest software, the navigation system will automatically guess the route based on your expected behavior (driving to/from work, going to an appointment)
A major difference between Tesla vehicles and other vehicles - Tesla is continuously improving their software with new features. Since getting our 2017 S 100D, Tesla has made many changes. The navigation software has been completely changed, and we've seen other features added that weren't present when we purchased our vehicles. For our 2018 X 100D, they've added the ability to watch streaming videos while parked.

if we had purchased a Lexus (or other luxury ICE) in 2017 or 2018, what features would those manufacturers have added to our vehicles after purchase? [Answer is likely very simple... None...]
 
Changing vehicles will always be a plus/minus on features. Coming from a luxury ICE, you'll lose some features - but gain elsewhere.
  1. Bird's eye view camera - we'll likely eventually see this, since the data is there, it's just a matter of presenting it on the display
  2. Audio buffer - Tesla is likely doing a small amount of buffering already for streaming apps - so increasing the buffering should be technically feasible. For XM users, Tesla could use the XM internet channels - which support buffering on both the client and server. Though with the long list of bug fixes and features for the media player (including something like Apple CarPlay/Android Auto), adding buffering may be a low priority for Tesla.
  3. Driver accessible storage - looking into my crystal ball - wouldn't be surprised for this to show up in 2020, along with some other interior changes to bring the S/X models more closely together and allow them to be built on the same production line. X has in-door storage, should be possible to do the same with Tesla, with some changes inside the door panel.
  4. Destination assist - this is available already using voice commands to enter destinations, and with the latest software, the navigation system will automatically guess the route based on your expected behavior (driving to/from work, going to an appointment)
A major difference between Tesla vehicles and other vehicles - Tesla is continuously improving their software with new features. Since getting our 2017 S 100D, Tesla has made many changes. The navigation software has been completely changed, and we've seen other features added that weren't present when we purchased our vehicles. For our 2018 X 100D, they've added the ability to watch streaming videos while parked.

if we had purchased a Lexus (or other luxury ICE) in 2017 or 2018, what features would those manufacturers have added to our vehicles after purchase? [Answer is likely very simple... None...]

Yes, I completely agree. I'm not complaining about Tesla at all.

One nit though, re Bird's Eye View..... the data is not there now, so it isn't possible to add this capability with just a software change. It will take a hardware change to get acceptable camera views. Tesla's cameras are capturing fore/aft and side views to support AutoPilot and FSD. Bird's Eye View cameras need to look down toward the pavement immediately adjacent to the vehicle with wide angle lenses, to support parking functions, to avoid curbs, car bumpers, pavement/grass boundaries and a dozen other things like that. It's an entirely different set of views than current Tesla cameras, which are not good enough, except possibly the rear view which is almost good enough, but the front view, is completely useless for Bird's Eye View, and the side views, while not useless, are not very good. Many premium cars with Bird's Eye View have cameras underneath the side mirrors, for example, looking straight down with a wide angle lens, which enables a fantastic composite image of the entire vehicle and surrounding area.
 
I have to second these two:
2. Proper blind spot monitoring with mirror lights
3. Rear cross traffic alerts.

While many of the others are very convenient, they are still just nice to have. These two are safety-related and there's really no excuse for not providing them. While the monitor will highlight cars or obstacles in red if you turn on your blinker with something in your blind spot, you shouldn't be watching the monitor while changing lanes. The display is much better than it used to be but cars will still disappear from the display regularly while in or near the blind spot. And the backup camera is already there, it already has the ability to detect oncoming cars, all it needs is to sound an alert, flash a red border around the camera image, something to warn the driver.
 
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I have to second these two:
2. Proper blind spot monitoring with mirror lights
3. Rear cross traffic alerts.

While many of the others are very convenient, they are still just nice to have. These two are safety-related and there's really no excuse for not providing them. While the monitor will highlight cars or obstacles in red if you turn on your blinker with something in your blind spot, you shouldn't be watching the monitor while changing lanes. The display is much better than it used to be but cars will still disappear from the display regularly while in or near the blind spot. And the backup camera is already there, it already has the ability to detect oncoming cars, all it needs is to sound an alert, flash a red border around the camera image, something to warn the driver.

I have been thinking about these features, and if Tesla is intending, as they say, to roll out city driving, then they will have to support this functionality in autopilot (if nowhere else), because you have to be able to see, evaluate, and respond to bikers and pedestrians on all sides of the vehicle in city driving mode that you simply don't have to worry about in highway driving mode.
 
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I also came to Model 3 from a Lexus RX 350 F Sport - but wow, I don't miss anything at all! Before I returned the Lexus, I had to drive it a few times after having the Model 3, and it was horrible! Step on the gas, and nothing happens... for about the same price, I am so much happier with the performance of the Model 3. Tesla is still a new company, if we all keep requesting these missing features, I'm sure they will arrive eventually... I was happy with Lexus over the past 20 year, but they just don't add new features often enough.
 
4) Destination Assist -- It was nice to be able to press a button in the Lexus, and have a live person take my call, find an address for me, and enter that destination directly into my nav system via the cell network, without ever taking my eyes off the road.

I have this feature when I pick up my wife. While driving, I call her from the car, then ask her to share her location with "Send to Tesla". The car's navigation destination automatically updates and I also don't have to take my eyes off the road.
 
I would love to see some major improvements in the Sentry Mode and Dashcam. I maybe doing it wrong, but I find that the dashcam continues recording after I'm parked (I get great movies of the wall; not much action or plot), I would like to view any Sentry intrusions on the screen right away rather than sift through to find them and to figure out why the system doesn't write over (rather than fill up) my thumb drive.

However, these are such nitpicks that I'm still way happy with my second Model S.