Hello - first post and new to the community. I apologize in advance if this post violates any forum rules or contains duplicate questions - I couldn't find the answers elsewhere and thought some people here might know.
Thanks for the help! I look forward to being part of the Model X community!
Welcome to TMC! I too have a young child (3 yr old) and bought the X coming from a Toyota Sienna. I also had a 7 seat X, have a 6 now. Although not the same car, I also have a 5+2 (Rear Facing Seats) S for comparison.) So hopefully my thoughts help you out.
1) Given my use case above, do most agree that the 7-seater would make sense for us?
We had the original 7 seater, the major disadvantage is the middle seat blocked the rear view mirror. It's not as much of a problem if you're buying a new 7 seater. The 7 seat has some big advantages, especially with 1 kid. You can place the car seat in the middle row and still fit 2 adults on the sides. Essentially eliminating the need for the 3rd row entirely unless you actually carry more passengers.
With that said, the 6 seat showed us a positive over the summer. We were able to stand our kid up in the middle "aisle" and easily change him while we were at the water park. The middle aisle is not really advantageous for an adult, but for kids it does help with little things like that, feeding, diaper bags, etc.
Personally, I still prefer the 7 seat configuration; especially with the new config that folds. I would think that makes sense over a 6 seat. At the time that I switched, I needed to be able to carry long items that the 7 wasn't allowing me to do.
2) Does anyone have experience with child seats in the Tesla? While we only one have child, we would keep the car seat in the middle of the 2nd row, rear facing for at least another year. If we have a second child, we would ideally keep the youngest one rear facing in the middle with the older one front facing on one of the side seats. Would that set up work well? Any suggestions in my thinking?
We have 1 child. We also watch neighbors kids, nephews. So rear facing, front facing, high back boosters; we've done it. This thing is a minivan replacement. The setup you're thinking will work, just know that you will not have latch in the middle and will need to do a belt in. You'll also need thinner car seats, we had trouble with our larger car seats fitting side by side - our Diono's fit fine in that configuration.
3) Is the multi-pattern black interior OK with kids and spills? Or might it stain/damage too easily and thus the faux leather would be worth the $3300 upgrade?
I have the real leather so I can't really comment too much..our leather seats were worth it with clean up but do pick up the all weather mats. Those catch a LOT of cereal and juice.
4) Any other tips that Model X owners with small children have?
Little things you don't think about.
1) The frunk is PERFECT for an emergency diaper bag and umbrella stroller. We keep ours in there and forget about it, but it's a life saver when we need it.
2) Plenty of plugs for plug in coolers if you want, but the X on LO keeps the car plenty frosty for milk in a pinch.
3) The falcon wing doors make it a piece of cake to put your kid into the car seat. Your kid can fight you all they want, but a plop is easier than tucking their head and squeezing them into an opening.
4) Autopilot. I am not condoning taking your eyes off the road. But sometimes your kid screams - or mine does. Sometimes, it can't wait. Sometimes I need to yell at them, others I need to just hand them a pouch or pick up a [insert thing here] to prevent a full meltdown. It only takes 2-3 seconds, and in those 2-3 seconds you can veer off the road. Autopilot - again not condoning taking your eyes off, but if needed offers a little bit of peace of mind if you're going to do it anyway.
5) Get a mat for under your car seat. They will leave depressions into the seats, but the depressions come out after a week of regular use w/o the car seat.
