Wiki Model S Delivery Update

[2101Guy]

As mentioned, financed with DCU for the full amount plus taxes, tags, etc. for 65 months. DCU offered gap insurance for $300. My purchase price was before the $15k in price hikes for the LR.

Is the DCU gap ins worth it? Or no?

 

[EvolutionTeʂla]

I always assumed the horn decision was for safety reasons. I can imagine many people have crashed while jamming their hand on the horn which could likely break your arm and/or force it into your face when the airbag deploys. If you’re holding the yoke at 9 and 3 when the airbag deploys, it would be a much safer position for a frontal accident. It would be nice to have both options though.

 

[uthatcher]

I always assumed the horn decision was for safety reasons. I can imagine many people have crashed while jamming their hand on the horn which could likely break your arm and/or force it into your face when the airbag deploys. If you’re holding the yoke at 9 and 3 when the airbag deploys, it would be a much safer position for a frontal accident. It would be nice to have both options though.

This would only hold water if practically every other car on the planet didn't have both and airbag and a horn in the center.

 

[dev_lvl80]

I wanted to give my impressions of the current lights for those sitting on the fence about waiting for the refreshed headlights. I was out on a dark rural road late last night for the first time since picking up my LR on Friday.

Candidly the current headlights are very good, a bit better than my wife's 2021 Mercedes GLE 53. Also, contrary to some other opinions, I found the auto high beams to be pretty good as well!

If you want a real reason to sit on the sidelines... I would wait for the horn to be removed as a touch button and put into the air bag. That is hands down the single worst design choice in this car. I will pay to get that retrofitted as soon as possible. I didn't realize how much I honk my horn until I could no longer do it on command. It is legitimately dangerous and should be a safety recall in my opinion.

Only two other gripes:

• No blind spot monitoring (feels like a car stuck in 2012 there...) How hard is it to put an LED in the mirror? The pop-up camera view in the center screen is not an acceptable replacement, its hard to see and its not safe to look down at the screen in the middle of a lane change.
• The right front passenger door doesn't close right unless you really slam it.
  • (I noted this at the only actual defect at delivery, otherwise car was in great shape.)

Thanks, but, let me this.... Opposite feeling on headlights.

I traded Honda Civic Touring, as for me, it had the same lights as 150k tesla car offers ! Believe me, I spent 6 year daily driving it and I know what I'm saying. It's simple as piece of cake reflective (non lense) lights. The same cheap (reliable ? ) as old school halogen headlights.
Yeah, you might ask and what's wrong with it ?

- Distance, is much less area lighted
- There is no way to say that light distributed evenly, it's awful.
- There are much more parasite/side light due the reflective design of housing
- Cutoff is awful, not sharp, reason ^ just above

As result, Lexus RX/BladeScan has much better lights! when I drive spouse car, I'm just realizing how tesla is behind.

And objectively, instead of 100 words, score for headlights - Poor

2021 Tesla Model S 4-door hatchback

2021 Tesla Model S 4-door hatchback - large luxury car

www.iihs.org

 

[zoomer0056]

Received VIN today. I went to delivery/service center, they said car is built and still at factory.

RN1160 ordered Nov 11, 2021, blue with cream interior, delivery to SoCal.

 

[cwanja]

This would only hold water if practically every other car on the planet didn't have both and airbag and a horn in the center.

Just because everyone has it, does not make it right or the "safety standard". The 9/3 hand position is a great point and one that was reiterated in Munro's teardown and interior analysis.

 

[howdidIgethere]

I have not been in a refresh S yet and so I do not know about where the horn thing is but agreed that it does sound retrogressive. That said, I must be in a minority as I, in fact almost never use the horn. I can't remember the last time I did. I occasionally get the urge to which is almost always because I think I should let another driver know they were being a jerk. Honestly I don't think that's the intended use of the horn and in my case I'm always afraid if I did use it in such a manner my target may have worse road rage than me and hurt me. So almost never horn. Now, new headlights I'm all in but that new rear is not exactly appealing. So just assign my S already, TESLA!!!

I'll be honest, I said the exact some thing to myself before taking delivery. However, in the past few days since owning it, I have had the following three things occur:

1. A guy nearly hit me in a parking lot (I'll admit I unnecessarily honked in anger after the fact. It was funny because I had to search for the horn button and the timing wasn't totally logical
2. A guy was coming out of his driveway very quickly and I thought he was going to pull out into my car. (Couldn't find the horn to beep, just slammed on the brakes.)
3. Was trying to give someone a polite beep to notify them the light was green. (Couldn't find the horn in time again.)

I wouldn't stress about the headlights to be honest. I really like the current rear with the black bar.

 

[howdidIgethere]

I agree the horn is the biggest miss in an otherwise amazing car. Not that huge of a deal, just annoying. I learned the turn signals quickly because I use them every day, but the horn takes some time because I don't often use it, when I do though it's rarely in anger and more for the original intention, to alert someone else who's doing something they're not aware of that could cause an accident.

I could conceivably see Tesla being compelled to put a standard horn back there, but I wouldn't put money on it. There would need to be a significant amount of accidents provably caused by inability to sound the horn, and that's a big ask.

Agreed there as well. The horn is an annoyance, not a deal breaker.

 

[Daniel454]

The current S head lights MIGHT be "good enough", but that doesn't mean many of us don't want more. I live in a very rural area, Ill take whatever light I can get.

Unfortunately, like on the 3, the Matrix headlights if applied to the S today, would be handicapped based on our current headlight laws.... I imagine when we first start to see them, many will review them and say the new lights aren't much better.

However, the laws are in the process of being re-written so once full matrix led tech is activated on the new ones, they should blow away almost everything out there.

Another major advantage of Tesla being that they continue to update the software and you can get the latest greatest with some code changes... Other manufacturers will likely start putting them on the U.S destined vehicles from that point forward, meaning any with the older models of all other brands, would be out of luck.

I love the idea of MAYBE having the new tech already on my car, and to be able to be one of the first out there to use them in the U.S. without having to go buy another new car.

 

[howdidIgethere]

Thanks, but, let me this.... Opposite feeling on headlights.

I traded Honda Civic Touring, as for me, it had the same lights as 150k tesla car offers ! Believe me, I spent 6 year daily driving it and I know what I'm saying. It's simple as piece of cake reflective (non lense) lights. The same cheap (reliable ? ) as old school halogen headlights.
Yeah, you might ask and what's wrong with it ?

- Distance, is much less area lighted
- There is no way to say that light distributed evenly, it's awful.
- There are much more parasite/side light due the reflective design of housing
- Cutoff is awful, not sharp, reason ^ just above

As result, Lexus RX/BladeScan has much better lights! when I drive spouse car, I'm just realizing how tesla is behind.

And objectively, instead of 100 words, score for headlights - Poor

2021 Tesla Model S 4-door hatchback

2021 Tesla Model S 4-door hatchback - large luxury car

www.iihs.org

I wonder if there is a difference in the way our lights are adjusted, because I honestly am not experiencing it as an issue in the way you're describing. I will concede the distribution was a bit uneven, but I didn't find that it reduced visibility.

As I said before, I found the illumination to be on par with my wife's newer Mercedes. It is miles ahead of my F150 (which are frankly unsafe), and similar to my prior BMW M3.

On the IIHS site, I thought I remembered reading that those rating were for the pre-refreshed model and that the revised lights were somehow different. (I am not willing to defend that point, but it is something that sticks out in the back of my mind from when I was doing research on these lights earlier.)

 

[howdidIgethere]

The current S head lights MIGHT be "good enough", but that doesn't mean many of us don't want more. I live in a very rural area, Ill take whatever light I can get.

Unfortunately, like on the 3, the Matrix headlights if applied to the S today, would be handicapped based on our current headlight laws.... I imagine when we first start to see them, many will review them and say the new lights aren't much better.

However, the laws are in the process of being re-written so once full matrix led tech is activated on the new ones, they should blow away almost everything out there.

Another major advantage of Tesla being that they continue to update the software and you can get the latest greatest with some code changes... Other manufacturers will likely start putting them on the U.S destined vehicles from that point forward, meaning any with the older models of all other brands, would be out of luck.

I love the idea of MAYBE having the new tech already on my car, and to be able to be one of the first out there to use them in the U.S. without having to go buy another new car.

Listen, I'm not saying that progress isn't good. I'm all for advancements in lights, working horns, etc...

I'm just expressing my experience for people on the fence about delaying their order for new lights that may or may not come in the near future. I am happy with what I got!

 

[Daniel454]

Listen, I'm not saying that progress isn't good. I'm all for advancements in lights, working horns, etc...

I'm just expressing my experience for people on the fence about delaying their order for new lights that may or may not come in the near future. I am happy with what I got!

Absolutely fair. Good call out, some might get the wrong impression that the old are BAD and for most that's not the case.

 

[IamGaryGnu]

As mentioned, financed with DCU for the full amount plus taxes, tags, etc. for 65 months. DCU offered gap insurance for $300. My purchase price was before the $15k in price hikes for the LR.

Is the DCU gap ins worth it? Or no?

exact same boat. i wanted every penny i could get from DCU. I always have top car insurance, and figured GAP was included (i think it is for leases, but i was surprised to learn not for a loan!) - so anyway, i had agreed to the $300 as i was tired, and then when i found out my insurance didn't offer it, or it would be a lot more than $300 i was happy i got it.
your mileage may vary, but for NJ, and my Plymouth policy, it was the right move for me.

 

[IamGaryGnu]

I'll be honest, I said the exact some thing to myself before taking delivery. However, in the past few days since owning it, I have had the following three things occur:

1. A guy nearly hit me in a parking lot (I'll admit I unnecessarily honked in anger after the fact. It was funny because I had to search for the horn button and the timing wasn't totally logical
2. A guy was coming out of his driveway very quickly and I thought he was going to pull out into my car. (Couldn't find the horn to beep, just slammed on the brakes.)
3. Was trying to give someone a polite beep to notify them the light was green. (Couldn't find the horn in time again.)

I wouldn't stress about the headlights to be honest. I really like the current rear with the black bar.

funny, it took me about 2 weeks to get used to the yoke - not the yoke per se - that was super simple, but the damned blinkers. As a result, and i'm not kidding, i avoided lane changes for the first week. and for the first 2 weeks, i found myself glancing at the left of the yoke to see where the signals were.
I tried to train myself to get the feel of them, and that little bar between, and for a few times, i did it without looking! (just the wrong direction). sigh.
Now i've been without the car for a while, so eventually i'll have to train again. if i ever get my baby back!!!!

 

[2101Guy]

exact same boat. i wanted every penny i could get from DCU. I always have top car insurance, and figured GAP was included (i think it is for leases, but i was surprised to learn not for a loan!) - so anyway, i had agreed to the $300 as i was tired, and then when i found out my insurance didn't offer it, or it would be a lot more than $300 i was happy i got it.
your mileage may vary, but for NJ, and my Plymouth policy, it was the right move for me.

With DCU, they said I have 18 months to decide and price will remain $300. Considering that Im putting nothing down AND going for the long 65 months, I think I'll go ahead and get it afterall.

 

[lbowroom]

I'll be honest, I said the exact some thing to myself before taking delivery. However, in the past few days since owning it, I have had the following three things occur:

1. A guy nearly hit me in a parking lot (I'll admit I unnecessarily honked in anger after the fact. It was funny because I had to search for the horn button and the timing wasn't totally logical
2. A guy was coming out of his driveway very quickly and I thought he was going to pull out into my car. (Couldn't find the horn to beep, just slammed on the brakes.)
3. Was trying to give someone a polite beep to notify them the light was green. (Couldn't find the horn in time again.)

I wouldn't stress about the headlights to be honest. I really like the current rear with the black bar.

Funny thing there, would you say you didn't actually need the horn in any of the situations that you assumed you did.

 

[booo]

Isn't there a method to honk the horn by covering the right side of the yoke with your hand? that seems almost as easy as pressing in the center airbag area, still not perfect, but better than trying to press the small horn button while you're driving.

 

[Rocketfan30]

If you want a real reason to sit on the sidelines... I would wait for the horn to be removed as a touch button and put into the air bag. That is hands down the single worst design choice in this car. I will pay to get that retrofitted as soon as possible. I didn't realize how much I honk my horn until I could no longer do it on command. It is legitimately dangerous and should be a safety recall in my opinion.

Only two other gripes:

• No blind spot monitoring (feels like a car stuck in 2012 there...) How hard is it to put an LED in the mirror? The pop-up camera view in the center screen is not an acceptable replacement, its hard to see and its not safe to look down at the screen in the middle of a lane change.
• The right front passenger door doesn't close right unless you really slam it.
  • (I noted this at the only actual defect at delivery, otherwise car was in great shape.)

I agree 100% on the horn and blind spot monitoring (my son's Honda is better in this regard). With respect to the doors, how hard do you slam it? The reason I ask is that it took me about a week to get used to using noticeably more force than closing the doors for any other car to close the doors on the Tesla (not slamming but a firm close). Also, about 90% of the time someone new gets in the car, I patiently go back after they get out to close the door more firmly because they didn't use enough force themselves.

Do Tesla doors just require a bit more force to close or is this an issue?

 

[voltij]

I agree 100% on the horn and blind spot monitoring (my son's Honda is better in this regard). With respect to the doors, how hard do you slam it? The reason I ask is that it took me about a week to get used to using noticeably more force than closing the doors for any other car to close the doors on the Tesla (not slamming but a firm close). Also, about 90% of the time someone new gets in the car, I patiently go back after they get out to close the door more firmly because they didn't use enough force themselves.

Do Tesla doors just require a bit more force to close or is this an issue?

When the car is new, the doors are tougher to close. They "wear in" over time and become closer to normal. YMMV, my experience was on a M3P from 2020.

 

[uthatcher]

Just because everyone has it, does not make it right or the "safety standard". The 9/3 hand position is a great point and one that was reiterated in Munro's teardown and interior analysis.

I'm not sure how having the horn in the center would prevent a person from driving at 3 and 9. I would guess that the horn is used more often than impacts happen. Horns can be and are used in emergency situations that can actually reduce the chances of an impact. Having muscle memory relearned in an emergency situation is much different than, say, relearning the turn signals. Turn signals are not typically used in an emergency.

Plus the yoke has a cover the side with your palm function that leaves one's hand much closer to the center and no longer at 3 and 9.