oh, i finally get to make this post.... it's only been 3 1/2 years...!! made my init deposit on may 5, 2009. seems like a decade.
P708, VIN1610, Perf, Metallic Grey, Black, Obeche Gloss, Pano, 21 Grey Wheels, Tech, Audio... DELIVERED. Yesterday afternoon.
or, rather, picked up, from the santa monica delivery center (seems like a rented warehouse full of model s's, one lamborghini (??) and several really nice and helpful tesla employees... the tesla genius bar i called them when i walked in and saw them sitting around laptops and latte's at a long high table on the side of the 'paperwork' room...
brenton was super helpful, knowledgable, nice, and suffered through my silly jokes as my friend casually inspected every nook and cranny for faults while brenton and i went over the car. after reading this bbs for a year, i think i knew everything there is to know, but he was patient and informative nonetheless. tweaked a little plastic part under the front trunk that needed to be snapped in place, checked my tire pressures, only things left are tweak some misaligned windshield washer nozzles (easy mechanical fix) and install the diode/resistor or whatever they do to fix the ambient light buzz.. which i don't even care that much about... cause the rest of the car is so spectacular.
happy to report no major issues thus far at all. nothing on the due bill. no rattles. no pano issues, no sound or heat probs... etc. etc. in fact i mentioned to brenton that i, like so many other nerds, have been knee deep in this bbs for a while so i had a list of things to look out for.. doors sticking, handles not working, trunk misalignments, umc issues.. etc. even had a printed list! <--NERD... but he said, honestly, he's delivered hundreds, and he's seen VERY VERY few issues... and no door handle issues at all.. and, as we all know, the things we hear about online are the few who have had frustrating experiences, the vast majority of owners have not had these issues... so, helps the perspective. even all the anxiety i was having over the sound system has dissipated.. it sounds great. (dolby off of course, minor eq tweaks..) the system has lovely staging, and the bass is full and round, not annoying, and plenty.. if anything a little harshness in the highs which is only a function of tweeters that haven't been broken in, another month or so and it'll be just terrific. sounds very good. sometimes we all forget that these 'superficial' things are being talked so much about because the fundamental car, how it drives, the power, the control, the systems designs, is SO FREAKING GOOD that we have nothing else to worry about!! it's amazing really.
i may post some pix or fun first few days story in a while, but for now i will just enjoy my new car, try to calm down from the months of mounting excitement.. and live a little. i posted this because i wanted to reassure soon-to-be owners, and owners with issues, and prospective buyers, that the screed often encountered on this site is to be taken in the proper amount of context. the car is overwhelmingly fabulous. tm certainly will learn from the model s, definitely some things they will do differently on the next iteration... but out here on the bleeding edge, it feels rather good. NO COMPLAINTS. this. car. rocks.
