THE TITLE SHOULD BE 2022 MSLR, not 2020... I can't seem to edit the title... If there are any Forum Admin people out there who can update the title, please do so!
For all my forum friends who are waiting for their VINs, I thought I’d provide some thoughts and photos of my new MSLR to tide you over.
I picked up my car in Kansas City last week after an 8.5 month wait (pretty standard). My RN was 1151 (ordered on 6/28), and my VIN is NF471. My car was produced on 2/9/22, right before the switchover to the new lights and charge port, and I really agonized over whether to accept it or wait for the updates. With the uncertainty of how long the additional wait would be, and the fact that I rarely drive at night, I decided to move forward with the delivery.
My delivery experience was sub-optimal (like many). I had been repeatedly assured that my car would come with the All-Season tires, since I ordered the 19 inch rims and was picking up in the mid-west during winter. So of course my car had the summer tires. The SA quickly agreed to have the tires replaced with the all-season variety, but those tires are backordered right now and will probably take a couple of weeks to arrive. So I’m having to limit my driving a bit (forecast for this week is highs in the 20s and snow).
My car had other flaws as well. The car was not cleaned/detailed very well, so it lacked the “wow” effect when I first saw it. The rubber trim was coming out of the panel gap on the frunk towards the front of the car, and made it nearly impossible to get the frunk to latch. The technicians swapped my two plastic covers under the frunk for better-fitting ones, and that solved that problem. There’s a pretty noticeable misalignment of the driver’s side doors (the bottom edges of the two doors don’t line up well). There were a few interior panels that needed to be snapped into place. The driver’s door front edge was rubbing against the fender slightly, but enough to wear a small piece of the paint off. The technician adjusted the door and touched up the paint, but it’s still visible if you look closely, so Tesla agreed to let me take the car to my home body shop to see if it can be fixed better. For my trouble, my advisor agreed to order me a set of the Tesla all-season floor mats and rear trunk mats ($450 worth).
In the end, I accepted the car and drove back to Omaha (3 hours). The car drives amazingly well! So smooth, quiet and refined! No squeaks or rattles to be found, and I felt no vibrations. Coming from a 2020 MSLR/Raven, this car is slightly quieter and the interior is a major step up in overall quality.
I quickly adjusted to the yoke, though I did grab for the top of the steering wheel (that isn’t there) a few times. It does feel a bit weird making sharp turns with the car, but highway driving is much better and the visibility improvement is significant. The turn signals will take some time to adjust to, but I really enjoyed using them to auto-lane-change on the interstate. The horn button is really small and basically unusable in an emergency situation.
I took the car to the detailer the next morning. I had Expel Ultimate PPF applied to the full front clip (bumper, full hood, full front fenders, and headlights). I also had the film put on the side mirrors and both side rocker panels up to the door crease. My detailer removed the Tesla PPF from behind the rear wheels and put the better PPF on it (wrapped around instead of visible edge, and much higher up than the Tesla version). I also had PPF put on the rear fenders behind both rear wheels and the flat spot where the trunk comes down. After the PPF, I had a full ceramic coating applied to the entire car, including the glass and wheels. Total cost for this service was $2,000, which I felt was a bargain compared to the prices I’ve seen on this forum.
I haven’t been able to drive the car much yet (crappy weather this weekend), but have been admiring it gleaming in my garage several times a day ;-)
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the car now that it looks perfect. My expectations for a perfect delivery were pretty low, based on what I had heard here, so the problems didn’t surprise me much. My local service center is actually very good, and I’m confident the remaining issues will be quickly sorted out.
I honestly don’t have any regrets about accepting the older lights/rear end/charge port. I slightly prefer the more unique rear end, and rarely drive at night. I know there are lots of 1151-1152 orders anxiously awaiting delivery with EDDs at the end of March, but I’ve been down that road for so long and had my EDD pushed back so many times I was just ready to be done with this process.
Here are some photos I snapped of my car after coming home from the detailer. If anyone has any specific questions I can help answer regarding the car, feel free to shoot them my way.
For all my forum friends who are waiting for their VINs, I thought I’d provide some thoughts and photos of my new MSLR to tide you over.
I picked up my car in Kansas City last week after an 8.5 month wait (pretty standard). My RN was 1151 (ordered on 6/28), and my VIN is NF471. My car was produced on 2/9/22, right before the switchover to the new lights and charge port, and I really agonized over whether to accept it or wait for the updates. With the uncertainty of how long the additional wait would be, and the fact that I rarely drive at night, I decided to move forward with the delivery.
My delivery experience was sub-optimal (like many). I had been repeatedly assured that my car would come with the All-Season tires, since I ordered the 19 inch rims and was picking up in the mid-west during winter. So of course my car had the summer tires. The SA quickly agreed to have the tires replaced with the all-season variety, but those tires are backordered right now and will probably take a couple of weeks to arrive. So I’m having to limit my driving a bit (forecast for this week is highs in the 20s and snow).
My car had other flaws as well. The car was not cleaned/detailed very well, so it lacked the “wow” effect when I first saw it. The rubber trim was coming out of the panel gap on the frunk towards the front of the car, and made it nearly impossible to get the frunk to latch. The technicians swapped my two plastic covers under the frunk for better-fitting ones, and that solved that problem. There’s a pretty noticeable misalignment of the driver’s side doors (the bottom edges of the two doors don’t line up well). There were a few interior panels that needed to be snapped into place. The driver’s door front edge was rubbing against the fender slightly, but enough to wear a small piece of the paint off. The technician adjusted the door and touched up the paint, but it’s still visible if you look closely, so Tesla agreed to let me take the car to my home body shop to see if it can be fixed better. For my trouble, my advisor agreed to order me a set of the Tesla all-season floor mats and rear trunk mats ($450 worth).
In the end, I accepted the car and drove back to Omaha (3 hours). The car drives amazingly well! So smooth, quiet and refined! No squeaks or rattles to be found, and I felt no vibrations. Coming from a 2020 MSLR/Raven, this car is slightly quieter and the interior is a major step up in overall quality.
I quickly adjusted to the yoke, though I did grab for the top of the steering wheel (that isn’t there) a few times. It does feel a bit weird making sharp turns with the car, but highway driving is much better and the visibility improvement is significant. The turn signals will take some time to adjust to, but I really enjoyed using them to auto-lane-change on the interstate. The horn button is really small and basically unusable in an emergency situation.
I took the car to the detailer the next morning. I had Expel Ultimate PPF applied to the full front clip (bumper, full hood, full front fenders, and headlights). I also had the film put on the side mirrors and both side rocker panels up to the door crease. My detailer removed the Tesla PPF from behind the rear wheels and put the better PPF on it (wrapped around instead of visible edge, and much higher up than the Tesla version). I also had PPF put on the rear fenders behind both rear wheels and the flat spot where the trunk comes down. After the PPF, I had a full ceramic coating applied to the entire car, including the glass and wheels. Total cost for this service was $2,000, which I felt was a bargain compared to the prices I’ve seen on this forum.
I haven’t been able to drive the car much yet (crappy weather this weekend), but have been admiring it gleaming in my garage several times a day ;-)
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the car now that it looks perfect. My expectations for a perfect delivery were pretty low, based on what I had heard here, so the problems didn’t surprise me much. My local service center is actually very good, and I’m confident the remaining issues will be quickly sorted out.
I honestly don’t have any regrets about accepting the older lights/rear end/charge port. I slightly prefer the more unique rear end, and rarely drive at night. I know there are lots of 1151-1152 orders anxiously awaiting delivery with EDDs at the end of March, but I’ve been down that road for so long and had my EDD pushed back so many times I was just ready to be done with this process.
Here are some photos I snapped of my car after coming home from the detailer. If anyone has any specific questions I can help answer regarding the car, feel free to shoot them my way.
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