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My friend needs a "sales pitch" why MX vs other luxury SUVs

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Make sure he test-drives the Model X. And not a short test-drive. A long test drive. Preferably... convince him to rent a Model X for a week.

After you get used to the incredible smoothness and responsiveness of driving electric, driving gasoline feels *wrong*. It's indescribable until you experience it.

That is good advice, certainly the experience is something that can help see the light. Definitely there are moments in ICE where I find myself thinking "whoa, did not expect it to take this long to react".

That said, personally after three years of driving electric, I find the novelty wearing off somewhat. After the initial "I'll never drive ICE again" feeling (well documented in my first post on this forum), I actually don't think so any longer (more so documented in my current signature post). Maybe it is because BEV has become so everyday, so mundane for me (even the P100D) that driving the occasional ICE is almost exotic and interesting. :)

Given this, I'm not sure everyone will feel the same about the EV drivetrain. People will have different reactions and different experiences over time. Some are so "couldn't care less" about drivetrains that they may not even notice the difference... So trying it out is wise and perhaps trying it out again later, if need be.

I do still hate the gasoline tank, though. Not quite as much as running low on electricity at the wrong time (it is downright scary), but the tank is unpleasant every time it needs a refill. BEV, when driven in circs where it suffices to keep it "topped up" all the time by simply plugging at a regular source/destionation, is sublime from this point of view. No unpleasantness about fueling it overnight/overday...
 
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OP, what did yer friend finally do? Hope he/she joined us on this side of the equation.....
He will be in the market for a new car early next year, so he just started doing research. He doesn't know that much about Tesla so I've been in information download mode.

I have found out that in order to get free supercharging you need to order by December 31st 2017, so that information might push his decision. Along with the potential tax credits running out in 2018 it would be a safer bet to take delivery before the end of the year. So that's another factor to consider. I'll update things when it happens
 
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He will be in the market for a new car early next year, so he just started doing research. He doesn't know that much about Tesla so I've been in information download mode.

I have found out that in order to get free supercharging you need to order by December 31st 2017, so that information might push his decision. Along with the potential tax credits running out in 2018 it would be a safer bet to take delivery before the end of the year. So that's another factor to consider. I'll update things when it happens
please at least get him in the drivers seat, that will seal the deal. :)
 
please at least get him in the drivers seat, that will seal the deal. :)
A friend of mine is also needing a new car since she now has three kids. I told her to come test drive both of ours. She saw my X so knows what that looks like and was duly impressed. ;) She is really interested once I told her how safe they are for the kiddos, and that there are used S on the market down in the 40K range. No tax credit, but still a great car at a great price!
 
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Make sure he test-drives the Model X. And not a short test-drive. A long test drive. Preferably... convince him to rent a Model X for a week.

After you get used to the incredible smoothness and responsiveness of driving electric, driving gasoline feels *wrong*. It's indescribable until you experience it.

Along these lines, I was able to get an overnight test drive of a Model X that turned into more like 2 and a half days. Maybe it was so easy for me because of the signature X reservation that is only now being consumed, but it was dirt simple.

Me: can we borrow a Model X for an overnight test drive? We want to make sure it'll fit in the garage, and live with it a little bit - see how it drives with no particular time pressure. We'll probably put about 150 miles on it.

Them: sure.

Me: How about Sunday, back on Monday?

Them. ok


Then when we showed up on Sunday to pick up the car, they had 3 Model X's on hand that were approximately what we thought we wanted, so we could pick the car on the spot that we thought most likely to be the final configuration we'd want to own.


I'd expect that anybody in the market for this level of car will be able to equally easily get an overnight test drive, and an opportunity to go drive a bit.
 
Along these lines, I was able to get an overnight test drive of a Model X that turned into more like 2 and a half days. Maybe it was so easy for me because of the signature X reservation that is only now being consumed, but it was dirt simple.

Me: can we borrow a Model X for an overnight test drive? We want to make sure it'll fit in the garage, and live with it a little bit - see how it drives with no particular time pressure. We'll probably put about 150 miles on it.

Them: sure.

Me: How about Sunday, back on Monday?

Them. ok


Then when we showed up on Sunday to pick up the car, they had 3 Model X's on hand that were approximately what we thought we wanted, so we could pick the car on the spot that we thought most likely to be the final configuration we'd want to own.


I'd expect that anybody in the market for this level of car will be able to equally easily get an overnight test drive, and an opportunity to go drive a bit.

I did Friday to Monday added 300 miles...
 
We almost bought a new Q7. It was a magnificent SUV, quiet, solid, and luxurious, but two things held us back:
  • It was substantially larger than our 2004 RX 330, yet held less cargo. (the Q7 has a high floor and low roof, and no underfloor storage)
  • The model we were looking at had few significant upgrades over our 12 year-old Lexus, other than navigation, a power third row seat (which we didn't need), and USB ports.
We concluded that if we were going to spend that much for a car, it had to be a substantial leap forward in technology, and the same (if not more) flexibility for hauling cargo as our Lexus.

Besides price, the lack of folding rear seats kept us from seriously considering the Model X. Once the 5-seater was announced, we drove it. I will reiterate what others have said: once you drive it, you're hooked. The driving experience--no gear shifts, no delay in throttle response, no engine or exhaust noise--is jaw dropping. And the speed...oh the speed. Feature-wise, there are things the Model X doesn't have that the Lexus does (*cough* auto wipers), but the lack of some minor features is more than made up for by things like OTA software updates, a massive touchscreen, GPS-aware air suspension, bioweapon defense mode (c'mon, that just sounds awesome!), a panoramic windshield, falcon wing doors that make loading passengers and cargo super easy, and an abundance of storage space. There was no going back. We were sold on the X.

Put another way, the Q7 is a wonderful iteration of the conventional SUV. The Model X is the future of the automobile.
 
Put another way, the Q7 is a wonderful iteration of the conventional SUV. The Model X is the future of the automobile.

You are right about the Q7 overall, though obviously the model you were checking was lacking many things available for Q7 if nothing more than that was new compared to a 2004 RX 330... But yes, Q7 is a wonderful iteration of the conventional SUV.

What slightly bugs me about the Model X characterization is that it probably should have been the future of the automobile, but in reality it isn't much more than the current state of the weirdmobile.

I see the Model X as a side-step, a detour, on Tesla's roadmap. Model S and Model 3 - and I would expect Model Y - are much more on the ball. I would be surprised if the Model X form-factor ends up as anything more than an oddity in automotive history.
 
...I see the Model X as a side-step, a detour, on Tesla's roadmap. Model S and Model 3 - and I would expect Model Y - are much more on the ball. I would be surprised if the Model X form-factor ends up as anything more than an oddity in automotive history.

I totally agree...Elon mentioned that they should have designed the Model X from the ground up instead of putting it on the Model S chassis. I'm sure that a true "SUV" model x would be different...
 
[QUOTE="I see the Model X as a side-step, a detour, on Tesla's roadmap. Model S and Model 3 - and I would expect Model Y - are much more on the ball. I would be surprised if the Model X form-factor ends up as anything more than an oddity in automotive history.[/QUOTE]

I love my little oddity! <3
 
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