It’s been a long strange journey to get here but finally have a beaut of a Model S in my driveway. Some thoughts and observations for those still waiting, from a prior Model 3 owner.
Let’s kick off with “the Tesla experience” overall. Well, it still sucks but it’s getting better! I hopped a Lyft to the DC (last time I spent an hour inspecting the car in November, my wife wanted to murder me after). My car was ready an hour early; paperwork in the car; “go inspect and sign when you’re done.” Not even an offer of a bottle of water. But we all expect that.
I step out and there it is - covered in swirlies straight from the factory, and a light layer of dust. Of course. And the frunk is slightly misaligned. Sigh. This is going to be a full inspection isn’t it?
After about an hour, I’ve gotten a detailer out to buff a few clear coat scratches, documented misaligned door trim on the passenger side, a misaligned door, a seat wrinkle, and a couple of other things. Frankly, it’s all way better than my 3; most of it is fixable; maybe the passenger door is, maybe it isn’t. Throughout it, the guy working on my delivery remains positive, cheerful, and helpful. He’s great and it’s killing me that I lost his name -
@donandersonjr if you get a shorter 40ish Hispanic guy, he’s the man and a delight to work with.
So at this point, I’ve documented a fairly normal catalogue of Tesla errors. I’m frustrated. It’s a lot of money to have these mistakes. But, I also knew it would happen. These guys don’t make perfect cars. So I sit there for a while, in the beautiful interior, looking at the massive screen, noticing I can’t hear the two women next to me who have been shrieking over their Y for the past 45 minutes…
Yep, sorry
@Tigers , we ain’t all strong like you. Boats burned by taking a Lyft. Paperwork signed, keys set up, let’s roll. At the advice of the guys at the storefront, I drop it down into sport mode, roll out of the mall, prepare to punch it… and boom, it’s thanksgiving day traffic on 93 in the Boston area. 75 minutes to get home at about 15-20mph. Dammit.
Ok. Now let’s talk what I like.
1) headlights. They’re still pretty good. Not M3 level but perfectly fine for me.
2) interior. Man oh man. What an improvement over the 3. It’s gorgeous in there. I’m generally into mid century modern and Nordic design. Tesla works for me perfectly.
3) the ride, oh, the ride… my tailbone is so pleased. The seats really are nice but that ride makes everything better. Bumping thru Boston potholes was still annoying but I didn’t feel every shock.
4) smooth ride, big booty - and yet the one time I punched it, the car shrank around me. It’s responsive and quick. I don’t want to carve corners the way I did in my 3; that car begs for it; but I definitely could.
5) I think this is an upgrade to the 3 in every way just like
@jamieb told me.
I have more thoughts for another time. If you’ve hung in there to the end with me, here are some pics of the good and the bad!
