June: no air suspension except 100D. July: air for all! wtf??

[AnxietyRanger]

As someone that's looking to buy, that's awesome. I can't say I'd be whistling that same tune had I purchased in January though...

What gives me pause is: How does one know buying now won't end up like buying in January... i.e. looks great, but ends up being relatively speaking a worse deal than could be gotten by waiting...

With Tesla you just never know. The car might be worse in December, or it might be tons better, both have happened. Tesla changes things to both better and worse many times each quarter nowadays.

 

[Mike K]

What gives me pause is: How does one know buying now won't end up like buying in January... i.e. looks great, but ends up being relatively speaking a worse deal than could be gotten by waiting...

With Tesla you just never know. The car might be worse in December, or it might be tons better, both have happened. Tesla changes things to both better and worse many times each quarter nowadays.

Yeah I see what you're saying. It needs to stop. Optically it's horrible because the constant changes or threat of changes result in short term sales boosts but piss customers off. I have a friend that dropped 140k on a P100D only to be unimpressed with Tesla's pre-sale support and he feels cheated that his new improved Auto Pilot hardware - the whole reason he waited to buy - doesn't work as well as my P85D and his car will apparently have it's supercharger speeds reduced if he road trips a lot (he does). And it's hard to defend Tesla in both cases despite these being trivial problems compared to what we see in these posts. Tesla needs to be careful not to create long term ill will in exchange for meeting short term sales goals.

 

[KarenRei]

and his car will apparently have it's supercharger speeds reduced if he road trips a lot (he does).

While his other points are legitimate, it's worth pointing out that by getting a P100D instead of a P85D, he doesn't need to do as many supercharger stops per unit distance traveled, and thus will take longer to wear through his ability to supercharge.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Yeah I see what you're saying. It needs to stop. Optically it's horrible because the constant changes or threat of changes result in short term sales boosts but piss customers off. I have a friend that dropped 140k on a P100D only to be unimpressed with Tesla's pre-sale support and he feels cheated that his new improved Auto Pilot hardware - the whole reason he waited to buy - doesn't work as well as my P85D and his car will apparently have it's supercharger speeds reduced if he road trips a lot (he does). And it's hard to defend Tesla in both cases despite these being trivial problems compared to what we see in these posts. Tesla needs to be careful not to create long term ill will in exchange for meeting short term sales goals.

Wholeheartedly agreed.

 

[3mp_kwh]

Not an angry customer. I bought in Q3, of each 14 and 16. Missed AP1 and AWD, then AP2. Most of the reason is pricing that I think was consistent with things about to be replaced/upgraded. There's also something to be said for "your deal" being time specific. Tesla has a clearly developed reputation for configuration changes. Tomorrow can always be tough luck, when you buy a car today. Plenty delay purchase over this. AP2 is an example, that seems to have worked against them (ok, so far). I like coils, so this latest change goes against my preferences, too. If you haven't taken delivery, see about a change.

 

[alehbaba]

Do you think Tesla just makes it up as they go along? The flip flopping with supercharging and now options is getting weird. Taking away air seemed like it must have some logic - until 4 weeks later they flip and take away coil springs. Starting to wonder if they even have an actual marketing department or if it's some bros playing beer pong at 2 am coming up with this stuff.

its like they dont know what their doing changing things up willy nilly...very odd

 

[AnxietyRanger]

its like they dont know what their doing changing things up willy nilly...very odd

I think they know exactly what they are doing: optimizing manufacturing logistics and in-quarter sales/accepted deliveries through extremely aggressive product feature and demand lever changes.

 

[alehbaba]

obviously once you buy and get it dont come to the forums unless you have an issue.

 

[Mikeavelli]

I love the air suspension.....

 

[AnxietyRanger]

obviously once you buy and get it dont come to the forums unless you have an issue.

Ignorance is a bliss, yes this is useful advice when buying a product that might soon get "obsoleted".

 

[MassX1317]

I had an early 2014 Model S. Absolutely loved it except for the coil suspension. I had to have at least one broken control arm replaced under warranty, I can't remember if the ended up doing a second later on . I had issues for a long time, ended up replacing and balancing all 4 tires at a TSC to try and resolve the issue but it didn't and was ultimately one of the reasons I ended up trading it in last year for a non-Tesla (for now). It just didn't drive like it did when I first got it or like the loaners did when I had one. It almost felt like the car was off balance, lots of pulling to one side. In hind site I wish I got air, may have still had the car, at the time just didn't think I needed it.

I wonder if my case wasn't isolated and they were having issues with the coil suspension.

 

[calisnow]

I had an early 2014 Model S. Absolutely loved it except for the coil suspension. I had to have at least one broken control arm replaced under warranty, I can't remember if the ended up doing a second later on . I had issues for a long time, ended up replacing and balancing all 4 tires at a TSC to try and resolve the issue but it didn't and was ultimately one of the reasons I ended up trading it in last year for a non-Tesla (for now). It just didn't drive like it did when I first got it or like the loaners did when I had one. It almost felt like the car was off balance, lots of pulling to one side. In hind site I wish I got air, may have still had the car, at the time just didn't think I needed it.

I wonder if my case wasn't isolated and they were having issues with the coil suspension.

I assume you/they did a four wheel alignment before giving up right?

 

[MassX1317]

I assume you/they did a four wheel alignment before giving up right?

Yeah it made one last annual service/service center trip to resolve issues before I sold it. Got the new tires shortly before selling as well. I remember they did the alignment because I had a service plan that stated and alignment was included but they charged me for it and said the service plan changed (they ended up crediting it for me after I went and dug up old correspondence from when I bought the car.) My bigger concern was that I was about to come out of warranty, the cost of replacing a control arm wasn't cheap and I was worried about future cost of repairs.

If I remember correctly, coil suspension had just become available when I got my car, so my issues may have been isolated to being an early build.

I'm starting to get the itch big time to get back in an S. Adding air standard and having AWD now is why I'm back here in TMC! Increased range, better looking wheels, better seats, a lot has changed since 2014.

 

[3mp_kwh]

I had an early 2014 Model S. Absolutely loved it except for the coil suspension. I had to have at least one broken control arm replaced under warranty, I can't remember if the ended up doing a second later on . I had issues for a long time, ended up replacing and balancing all 4 tires at a TSC to try and resolve the issue but it didn't and was ultimately one of the reasons I ended up trading it in last year for a non-Tesla (for now). It just didn't drive like it did when I first got it or like the loaners did when I had one. It almost felt like the car was off balance, lots of pulling to one side. In hind site I wish I got air, may have still had the car, at the time just didn't think I needed it.

I wonder if my case wasn't isolated and they were having issues with the coil suspension.

I don't think there is much connection between control arms breaking, and whether one has coils or air. Pretty sure both types use the same arms. The pull sounds like an alignment issue, as someone else mentioned, and even if aligned I think these cars are sensitive to needing tire rotation? I'd agree air is smoother, but not a preventative. Out of balance tires bother me enough that I bought a balance machine . That and scalloping tires, which also kill a smooth ride (cross-rotating seems to fix that).

I know you were listing your S, when you moved to Somerville, because I had a pearl '14 about the same time. If you get back to it, with a Model 3, I hope you won't reject because those only come with coils? I suppose we all have preferences.