Loaners now speed limited?

[Lightmatrix]

While it's fresh in your memory, can you elaborate on the things you noticed? It's useful information for CPO shoppers.

Sure, so the one they loaned me clearly is a trade in... still had various previous owner traces (Community security gate tag sticker on headlight) Previous owners name as vehicle name. This doesn't affect the car, just interesting to note that they loan trade ins!

The vehicle was manufactured 1/13 as I said, VIN ends 04191 so it's quite an early build. Some things I've noticed:

1. Seating, the greyish leather looks dirty, even though the car only has 35,xxx miles on it... I would call it just a sort of dirty color, not actually dirty from abuse/use. It has suede inserts on the seat cushion and white (imo ick) piping
2. The PRND stalk is very much the Mercedes Benz supplied stalk, I suspect the wiper and CC stalks are too. I know for sure the PRND is
3. The cruise control stalk is on the upper left vs. lower left. Same for wipers, lower left vs. upper left
4. The dash looks very plastic and cheap, and in fact you can kind of lift it off it's seated position somewhat
5. The build quality of the screen surround includes some pinched looking metal as opposed to smooth non pinched points on my '15
6. A MAJOR thing I noticed was the Obeche wood veneer seems far far lower quality than my '15. The finish on the left driver side has what I would call ripples on the lacquer and it in fact is separating some from the dash if you look from the side when the door is open. The rest of the veneer looks less "rich" I would say, like the wood finishing or the lacquering wasn't yet to the level it is now
7. Not a huge deal, but the screen shows a P85 with grey turbines, this one has silver turbines
8. Perhaps because it's a recent trade or ??? but the steering at low speed (into a parking space) made a clunking sound which I found to be surprising for a loaner or the car itself anyhow
9. I've not driven a model S without Autopilot before, so maybe this is just due to the lack of Autopilot, but the dash "cluster" image was very different than the one I have on mine. It has a speedometer on it
10. Could be P85 standard I don't know, but the trunk has chrome skid plates as opposed to mine which are just molded plastic
11. The rear view camera screen is different, it is only 1/2 of the screen, but greys out anything else on the lower half of the screen
12. There aren't parking sensors on the car (I almost ran into my garage storage rack thinking it would chime lol)
13. The regen braking is WAYYY less aggressive on this car, I checked the settings and it is on the setting for more aggressive regen. I actually have to brake to stop the car whereas the '15 comes to a full stop
14. No yacht floor (option?) just that floor material
15. The under screen storage bin has some sort of tactile rubber nubs as opposed to whatever the '15 has (smaller nubs?)
16. The steering wheel has a slightly different design to it
17. The interior pillars have this more generic/GM car material where the airbags are, THEN it goes into a softer material on the upper portions, so there is sort of a visual abruptness to it, doesn't flow well, looks cheap.
18. Maybe previous owner hit something, but the Frunk hood doesn't sit as flush with the nosecone, it almost looked unlocked when I first saw the car (I checked the hood).
19. The trunk storage lid cover is much cheaper material/feel/look
20. The trunk does not have the Tesla logo in the carpet - This could be because it has the rear jump seats, dunno?
21. Where the A-Pillar connects to the dash, there is CRAZY gap, and you can see the unfinished edges of the material that is wrapped around the lower portion of the A-Pillar
22. The gaps around the A/C vents while small is noticeable

Overall, my wife and I both have driven it since we got it today, we both agree that it does not at all FEEL like the expensive car it is whereas the one that we have does FEEL much more luxurious/quality made. Granted every sort of person purchases Teslas for every sort of reason (Show off, or to be cutting edge, or to be environmentally more responsible) so many of these things may not really matter to many buyers. We notice it, because we came from a BMW ActiveHybrid 5 prior, and because I work in the Automotive industry as it is, so my nose for this sort of thing is what I'm paid for!

Bottom line is an EARLY production Model S P85 feels like a 40,000 or less car inside, with $100,000 technology underpinning it.

 

[zer0cool]

Guys, a question, are miles on loaner limited? Like do they say no more than 50 miles a day? I am not talking crazy like putting 1000 miles on a loaner over 3 days, but maybe 300 miles over a weekend? Would that be OK?

 

[Lightmatrix]

Guys, a question, are miles on loaner limited? Like do they say no more than 50 miles a day? I am not talking crazy like putting 1000 miles on a loaner over 3 days, but maybe 300 miles over a weekend? Would that be OK?

My SA didn't mention anything about being geographically nor distance/mileage restricted. I did not however read the paper I signed (oops)... I literally just drove the car home and it's charging in my garage until I drive back to pick up my car.

 

[StaceyS]

Every loaner I've driven was limited to 80 mph. I'm not a speed demon, but where I've discovered the limiter was passing slow moving traffic on 2 lane highways. I live 180 miles from my service center, and the route crosses the Cascade Mountains. Its all 2 lane highways and you'll often encounter slow traffic (trucks, RVs, etc). When its clear, my priority is to pass the traffic quickly and safely, so if its straight and open, I punch it and let it go as fast as it wants until I'm past, and then I slow back down again.

The limiter feels like a real wall when you're accelerating from 45 or 50 mph to pass a slow truck!

 

[brianman]

Thanks, Lightmatrix! Some comments below.

It has suede inserts on the seat cushion and white (imo ick) piping

Performance grey interior - dark/mid-gray with light-gray piping. To my recollection, the piping was never "white" but "light gray".

Not a huge deal, but the screen shows a P85 with grey turbines, this one has silver turbines

This is just a configuration setting that the service center should be able to adjust.

I've not driven a model S without Autopilot before, so maybe this is just due to the lack of Autopilot, but the dash "cluster" image was very different than the one I have on mine. It has a speedometer on it

Yup, autopilot cars vs. not.

Could be P85 standard I don't know, but the trunk has chrome skid plates as opposed to mine which are just molded plastic

Yes, this was something that changed sometime in 2013, IIRC. Some folks were upset because they wanted/expected the chrome and their vehicles were just after the transition.

The regen braking is WAYYY less aggressive on this car, I checked the settings and it is on the setting for more aggressive regen. I actually have to brake to stop the car whereas the '15 comes to a full stop

Interesting feedback.

The trunk storage lid cover is much cheaper material/feel/look

The footwell cover was originally more cloth than plastic (kind of like the "opportunity console"). Tesla has offered -- at no charge -- to replace my Sig's footwell cover with the new one at no charge. I asked if I could keep the original and they said no - so I declined. I may ask again at some point.

No yacht floor (option?) just that floor material

Yah, yacht floor later became an option -- then required. Kind of like the console unit. I have mixed opinions on both of those changes.

The steering wheel has a slightly different design to it

In addition to the swapped positions of the left stalks, you might have noticed that the scroll wheels have a different feel on new cars. On my Sig, there are "clicks" whereas on the P85D it's a continuous scroll feel.

 

[Lightmatrix]

Thanks, Lightmatrix! Some comments below.


Performance grey interior - dark/mid-gray with light-gray piping. To my recollection, the piping was never "white" but "light gray".


This is just a configuration setting that the service center should be able to adjust.


Yup, autopilot cars vs. not.


Yes, this was something that changed sometime in 2013, IIRC. Some folks were upset because they wanted/expected the chrome and their vehicles were just after the transition.


Interesting feedback.


The footwell cover was originally more cloth than plastic (kind of like the "opportunity console"). Tesla has offered -- at no charge -- to replace my Sig's footwell cover with the new one at no charge. I asked if I could keep the original and they said no - so I declined. I may ask again at some point.


Yah, yacht floor later became an option -- then required. Kind of like the console unit. I have mixed opinions on both of those changes.


In addition to the swapped positions of the left stalks, you might have noticed that the scroll wheels have a different feel on new cars. On my Sig, there are "clicks" whereas on the P85D it's a continuous scroll feel.

You are right- piping is light grey.

I also just drove it up to 83 on a highway here (errands after all), so this particular loaner is not limited to 80 it would appear!

Last observation after errands- maybe the seating position is different, or the rear view mirror placement, or something, but I feel like my rear visibility is lower on this one. It looks "lower" to me, looking at a lot more car grilles than windshields!

Pedals are metal covered as well (P85 standard perhaps), and I did notice the scroll wheel difference now that you mention it.

 

[brianman]

Pedals are metal covered as well (P85 standard perhaps)

IIRC, the metal pedals were indeed a P(erformance) thing but some early non-P vehicles got them anyway.

 

[Cyclone]

My P85+ loaner today does NOT have a speed limiter on it. So after 10-11 loaners, only one has had it. I also noticed that this Classic doesn't have a Sport mode switch (for driving, NOT steering). I guess that is just permanently on in the Classics?

Guys, a question, are miles on loaner limited? Like do they say no more than 50 miles a day? I am not talking crazy like putting 1000 miles on a loaner over 3 days, but maybe 300 miles over a weekend? Would that be OK?

I've done 600 miles on a loaner in 3 days, so yeah, not a problem.

 

[Hendry01]

I believe its always there (bought an inventory car which has the limit). Sometime they just forgot to put it in the loaner as it goes back and forth between sales and service

 

[Naonak]

Sure, so the one they loaned me clearly is a trade in... still had various previous owner traces (Community security gate tag sticker on headlight) Previous owners name as vehicle name. This doesn't affect the car, just interesting to note that they loan trade ins!

The vehicle was manufactured 1/13 as I said, VIN ends 04191 so it's quite an early build. Some things I've noticed:

1. Seating, the greyish leather looks dirty, even though the car only has 35,xxx miles on it... I would call it just a sort of dirty color, not actually dirty from abuse/use. It has suede inserts on the seat cushion and white (imo ick) piping
2. The PRND stalk is very much the Mercedes Benz supplied stalk, I suspect the wiper and CC stalks are too. I know for sure the PRND is
3. The cruise control stalk is on the upper left vs. lower left. Same for wipers, lower left vs. upper left
4. The dash looks very plastic and cheap, and in fact you can kind of lift it off it's seated position somewhat
5. The build quality of the screen surround includes some pinched looking metal as opposed to smooth non pinched points on my '15
6. A MAJOR thing I noticed was the Obeche wood veneer seems far far lower quality than my '15. The finish on the left driver side has what I would call ripples on the lacquer and it in fact is separating some from the dash if you look from the side when the door is open. The rest of the veneer looks less "rich" I would say, like the wood finishing or the lacquering wasn't yet to the level it is now
7. Not a huge deal, but the screen shows a P85 with grey turbines, this one has silver turbines
8. Perhaps because it's a recent trade or ??? but the steering at low speed (into a parking space) made a clunking sound which I found to be surprising for a loaner or the car itself anyhow
9. I've not driven a model S without Autopilot before, so maybe this is just due to the lack of Autopilot, but the dash "cluster" image was very different than the one I have on mine. It has a speedometer on it
10. Could be P85 standard I don't know, but the trunk has chrome skid plates as opposed to mine which are just molded plastic
11. The rear view camera screen is different, it is only 1/2 of the screen, but greys out anything else on the lower half of the screen
12. There aren't parking sensors on the car (I almost ran into my garage storage rack thinking it would chime lol)
13. The regen braking is WAYYY less aggressive on this car, I checked the settings and it is on the setting for more aggressive regen. I actually have to brake to stop the car whereas the '15 comes to a full stop
14. No yacht floor (option?) just that floor material
15. The under screen storage bin has some sort of tactile rubber nubs as opposed to whatever the '15 has (smaller nubs?)
16. The steering wheel has a slightly different design to it
17. The interior pillars have this more generic/GM car material where the airbags are, THEN it goes into a softer material on the upper portions, so there is sort of a visual abruptness to it, doesn't flow well, looks cheap.
18. Maybe previous owner hit something, but the Frunk hood doesn't sit as flush with the nosecone, it almost looked unlocked when I first saw the car (I checked the hood).
19. The trunk storage lid cover is much cheaper material/feel/look
20. The trunk does not have the Tesla logo in the carpet - This could be because it has the rear jump seats, dunno?
21. Where the A-Pillar connects to the dash, there is CRAZY gap, and you can see the unfinished edges of the material that is wrapped around the lower portion of the A-Pillar
22. The gaps around the A/C vents while small is noticeable

Overall, my wife and I both have driven it since we got it today, we both agree that it does not at all FEEL like the expensive car it is whereas the one that we have does FEEL much more luxurious/quality made. Granted every sort of person purchases Teslas for every sort of reason (Show off, or to be cutting edge, or to be environmentally more responsible) so many of these things may not really matter to many buyers. We notice it, because we came from a BMW ActiveHybrid 5 prior, and because I work in the Automotive industry as it is, so my nose for this sort of thing is what I'm paid for!

Bottom line is an EARLY production Model S P85 feels like a 40,000 or less car inside, with $100,000 technology underpinning it.

That's strange man... I have one of the first P85s and I also have a 16. Build quality and material is virtually the same between the two (both have Carbon interior, so I dunno about fake wood junk. I have never understood why someone would by a modern marvel of engineering and put wood in it. If I wanted wood in my technical marvel, I'd buy a covered wagon. But I digress.) You must have gotten a broken down loaner of some sort, because my 2012 P85 exhibits none of what you describe and the P85 is far more efficient than my P90DL in terms of Wh/M (280 without trying on the P85, can't get below 315 on my P90DL with exact same driving styles and patterns. P85 will get down to 265 or less if I baby it, P90DL might stretch to 298 driving the most conservitive as possible).

 

[Lightmatrix]

That's strange man... I have one of the first P85s and I also have a 16. Build quality and material is virtually the same between the two (both have Carbon interior, so I dunno about fake wood junk. I have never understood why someone would by a modern marvel of engineering and put wood in it. If I wanted wood in my technical marvel, I'd buy a covered wagon. But I digress.) You must have gotten a broken down loaner of some sort, because my 2012 P85 exhibits none of what you describe and the P85 is far more efficient than my P90DL in terms of Wh/M (280 without trying on the P85, can't get below 315 on my P90DL with exact same driving styles and patterns. P85 will get down to 265 or less if I baby it, P90DL might stretch to 298 driving the most conservitive as possible).

YMMV! A full (100% on the meter) chage claims only 245mi on this one too... I haven't paid much attention to the Wh/M however. Haven't driven a P90D, just my S85.

As far as the wood vs. carbon digression this car attracts so many buyers for so many reasons they must have options for each buyer type. Maybe in the future there won't be enough trees left to cut for veneering !

(To avoid comments, that last sentance was meant to be funny, not serious)

 

[Mike K]

Just a followup to this. My SA says they come from Tesla like this. They don't do it at the service center. He also said they know how to get rid of it but the car has to be there. I ended up not taking the car in to have it removed and then during an hour long trip yesterday I went to accelerate in the carpool lane so that I wasn't holding people up and I hit the wall. Kind of embarrassing and not really safe at all.

That's strange man... I have one of the first P85s and I also have a 16. Build quality and material is virtually the same between the two (both have Carbon interior, so I dunno about fake wood junk. I have never understood why someone would by a modern marvel of engineering and put wood in it. If I wanted wood in my technical marvel, I'd buy a covered wagon. But I digress.) You must have gotten a broken down loaner of some sort, because my 2012 P85 exhibits none of what you describe and the P85 is far more efficient than my P90DL in terms of Wh/M (280 without trying on the P85, can't get below 315 on my P90DL with exact same driving styles and patterns. P85 will get down to 265 or less if I baby it, P90DL might stretch to 298 driving the most conservitive as possible).

I would echo all the quality sentiments. I have a very low VIN S85 and it's no different in terms of quality than the new cars I've been in. In fact, just to reinforce how little things have improved, my SA told me they still have the issue with the door seals not covering the headliner. That's a basic problem that's existed for 3 years now.

 

[Lightmatrix]

Interesting, maybe I just had a bad egg with 34k miles?

 

[RogerHScott]

Maybe in the future there won't be enough trees left to cut for veneering

Understood that you're joking, but people might find it interesting that out in the country near us there are "farms" growing thousands
upon thousands of black walnut trees specifically for the purpose of harvesting veneer. Black walnuts are native here, so these trees
grow with virtually no attention and no additional resources (water, fertilizer, etc.). So, for all intents and purposes, hardwood
veneer is a renewable resource.

 

[GoTslaGo]

All I can say is that my service center is EVIL. They gave us a P85 loaner, with air suspension, and next gen seats. Suddenly my next Tesla is beginning to need the P, air, and next gen.... sigh... ka-ching...

 

[P85DBeast]

All I can say is that my service center is EVIL. They gave us a P85 loaner, with air suspension, and next gen seats. Suddenly my next Tesla is beginning to need the P, air, and next gen.... sigh... ka-ching...

I have never ever! Seen a P85 with next gen. seats I didn't think it was POSSIBLE! It must have been an really really later build? V.I.N was probably somewhere in the 65,000 V.I.N?

 

[GoTslaGo]

I have never ever! Seen a P85 with next gen. seats I didn't think it was POSSIBLE! It must have been an really really later build? V.I.N was probably somewhere in the 65,000 V.I.N?

All I know is these seats are better than our 70d! Comfy, comfy...

 

[P85DBeast]

All I know is these seats are better than our 70d! Comfy, comfy...

Your 70D has the standard seats? But look on the bright side at least you didnt pay the price for the next gens. the standard seats feel more comfy to me anyway!

 

[GoTslaGo]

Your 70D has the standard seats? But look on the bright side at least you didnt pay the price for the next gens. the standard seats feel more comfy to me anyway!

Thanks for the info, will check out the next gen seats vs. what we have now (standard) for the next Tesla! All I know is that the loaner seats felt better on me old back, so I assumed they were next gen.

 

[P85DBeast]

Just to update this thread!
Recently got a 70D as a loaner.
It wasn't speed limited at all I think Tesla may have either stopped this or they arent doing it to every new car especially the refreshed one's.