Took delivery of my plaid a few days ago, have spent the weekend with it and am getting used to its quirks and features, of which there are many. Yes, it has bugs on it, they seem to fit with the bugs in it
.Because of coincidental timing my wife also recently took delivery of a mustang mach-e gt performance, so it’s been interesting comparing the two.
I did run the model S through the delivery day checklist, and I wasn’t expecting perfection which is probably good, because body panels generally lining up or being even seems to just not be a thing and the paint is not great.
I don’t even consider myself that picky about it, though one thing that does bother me a bit is the drivers side trunk gap seems to widen about half way down then return to ‘normal’, almost like the rear quarter panel was squished a bit. Passenger side is fine (or well, fine for Tesla…). Delivery specialist took note of it, a technician came in and measured and said it was out of spec, but specialist has since claimed that another model S he checked is the same. I have an appointment to check it out in a few days, guess we’ll see how that goes but I’m expecting nothing.
There was also some weather trim bubbling over and something is rattling under the passenger seat. I’d say if what I’ve heard is true and the refresh model S build quality is much better, I’d hate to have seen a pre-refresh, because overall it’s really not that good and is disappointing for the price of the car. Particularly not good if I compare it to the Mach-e, which I have, because it is by comparison a picture of perfection. The doors line up, for one. It seems like that should just be expected at this point but well, the plaids doors don’t, but at least I wasn’t expecting them to. I could go on and on comparing the Mach-e to the plaid but maybe I’ll make another post for that.
On to the good! I don’t want to make it sound like I’m unhappy, because I’m not. The car does come with a feature I’m not sure many others do, that is, there’s a pedal you can press which will turn any expression into a grin, and as long as there is open road (uh, a _lot_ of open road) in front of you, and it turns out you can push this grin-inducing pedal at will. (Though it should be mentioned, same cannot be said of the pedal to its left, but I’ve already posted about that).
The in-car experience is quite good. I don’t mind the yoke, though I could take it or leave it really, I only notice it in parking lots and it’s not that big of a deal. The infotainment is great, I added a couple controllers today just to play games. Seats are very comfy, visibility is great, it’s pretty great to drive overall.
Future plans include a full color changing wrap, and I will be putting on 20 inch Signature wheels wrapped around a set of RB carbon ceramic brakes. (When I do, I’ll be interested to test what happens when I mash the brake pedal, compared to stock).
