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My 2020 MSLR - Photos and Initial Thoughts

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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.
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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.View attachment 777478View attachment 777479View attachment 777481View attachment 777482View attachment 777483View attachment 777484View attachment 777485View attachment 777486
Wow. Just wow. Beautiful car. Thank you for sharing. I have been considering PPF but I can’t part with the car for a week to install a full PPF. How long did it take to the the partial for you?
 
Wow. Just wow. Beautiful car. Thank you for sharing. I have been considering PPF but I can’t part with the car for a week to install a full PPF. How long did it take to the the partial for you?
My detailer had it for 2 full days to do the PPF and ceramic. That reminds me of another one of my favorite new features! I had set the car to allow "Live View" from the cameras, so I was able to watch the progress while my car was being worked on. I'm not sure if my detailer knew I was watching him, but it was very fun!
 
Black always looks good, in the driveway ;)

Congrats.

Did you have Active Noise Cancelation on during your mental test comparison?
No, for some reason my car has an older software version (2021.43.201), and Active Road Noise Reduction doesn't seem to be included in that version, so I haven't been able to test it yet. I'm very interested in it, though it seems to have only a minor effect on road noise right now from what I've read.

I'm hoping my car downloads a newer software version soon!

I have FSD in my car also, and just out of curiosity I clicked the link to request the FSD Beta. However, I'm apparently a very bad driver, as my Tesla "Safety Score" is sitting at a 54 right now ;-) I don't intend to drive the car cautiously enough to score a 99, pretty much ever, so I might never get the FSD Beta that some have received. I'm okay with that, and will let all the cautious drivers iron out all the kinks in FSD while I enjoy my launches. I don't really care much for Navigate on AutoPilot on the interstate, and I'm sure city driving via the FSD Beta is pretty nerve-racking.

I do LOVE being able to change lanes via the turn buttons, though, and I really think Tesla did a great thing by having the turn signals auto-cancel with lane changes. Is it worth $10k? No, of course not, but it does make a crazy cool car just slightly cooler and more enjoyable, and I can afford it, so I'm good.
 
Congratulations! I like seeing those tempest wheels uncovered. I plan on doing the same with mine when it gets here in a couple of months.

How is the ride smoothness compared to your raven? And can you tell a difference between the suspension settings?
I think the ride smoothness is pretty much the same as my 2020/Raven. That car also had 19-inch wheels. I haven't tinkered with the suspension settings, to be honest. I've been leaving it in Auto mode. The car rides very well overall, and of course the power is intoxicating! I'm curious if the Active Road Noise Reduction software will do anything to quiet the ride down, but haven't gotten a software update since I took delivery and am still on an older push.
 
No, for some reason my car has an older software version (2021.43.201), and Active Road Noise Reduction doesn't seem to be included in that version, so I haven't been able to test it yet. I'm very interested in it, though it seems to have only a minor effect on road noise right now from what I've read.

I'm hoping my car downloads a newer software version soon!
New cars get stuck in a 2-4 week update jail where it won't update at all until the time is up.

Car looks amazing though! Are you planning on getting any tints? How is the PPF seam below the headlights and around the side cameras?
 
I did get all windows tinted at 20% yesterday to complete my "blacked out" look. Here are some photos with the tint added.

The PPF seams are pretty much invisible to me, though if I run my finger over where I think the seam would be I can sometimes feel it. My PPF guy did a great job of tucking the PPF away for the most part!

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