My New Model S by Soflauthor (First 24 Hours and then 1 week later...)

[Soflauthor]

How did it handle in the rain? Any insight into the first Model S owners that encounter snow would also be appreciated.

I'm expecting delivery in January or February and live in Chicago - hence the curiosity.

Handles fine in the rain. To be honest, I don't push the car in FL rains (very heavy at times) because it's not safe, but overall handling has been excellent on wet roads. Can't comment on snow, for obvious reasons

I'm a little concerned because TM service didn't get back to me today as promised. I'll follow-up tomorrow on the wipers.

 

[vfx]

Ejon Musk:

...This is very extreme for the car business, but for the rocket business this is not, so from my standpoint, when people say you can't do that, it's like, "I do that every day. What are you talking about? ....

Guy on Tesla production line:

"But you only make ONE rocket. Not 100 a day."

 

[cinergi]

The special coating on the windshield seems to create problems for some RF or RFID devices. There is a non-coated clear spot on the windshield just above the rear view mirror that allowed me to place my automatic gate opener so that it would work. It wouldn’t operate properly anywhere else on the windshield. I’m wondering whether SunPass (the Fl equivalent to EasyPass) will work on the FL Turnpike). Haven’t tried it yet.

I think you may be right. The garage door opener I have to use for the common garage I park at home in doesn't work through the windshield. I've often been able to get it to work in that same area you mention ... but sometimes I just have to roll my window down in order to get it to work :frown:
I haven't tried EasyPass yet as I don't have my license plates yet ...

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Like most newer cars, the doors will not open from the outside if you pull up to pick someone up and leave the car in D. The problem is that the Model S is so silent that you forget to put the car in P and then panic because there is no door unlock function on the driver door. A little thing, but worth noting.

Can't remember if I already mentioned this somewhere (though it's in my videos) -- you can extend the handles of course by putting it in P, or you can hit lock/unlock on the controls screen. Good to know and practice. Also good to know that if you put it in P -- the handles will extend, but will retract after about a minute! So the lock/unlock trick works well to re-extend them.

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If you ride the brake even slightly as you simultaneously press on the accelerator, a warning tone sounds. I’m guilty of doing this as I back out of a very tight garage door.

What version are you on? Did the sound happen only after moving or right as you did it? I ask because I tested this but kept the car at 0. I applied some throttle and held the car with the brake. For a good 15 seconds (to see if it would ever cancel out). It kept applying power, but never beeped at me....

 

[Babylonfive]

Has anyone considered the situation where you pull up in a less than secure area, and want to park, but not allow anyone outside the car to just open the doors?

I'd like the opportunity to only unlock a door or doors where I want to, and not automatically anytime it goes into park.

Thoughts? Moderators: Which thread should I use for this subject?

Can't remember if I already mentioned this somewhere (though it's in my videos) -- you can extend the handles of course by putting it in P, or you can hit lock/unlock on the controls screen. Good to know and practice. Also good to know that if you put it in P -- the handles will extend, but will retract after about a minute! So the lock/unlock trick works well to re-extend them.

 

[Soflauthor]

I think you may be right. The garage door opener I have to use for the common garage I park at home in doesn't work through the windshield. I've often been able to get it to work in that same area you mention ... but sometimes I just have to roll my window down in order to get it to work :frown:
I haven't tried EasyPass yet as I don't have my license plates yet ...

- - - Updated - - -

Can't remember if I already mentioned this somewhere (though it's in my videos) -- you can extend the handles of course by putting it in P, or you can hit lock/unlock on the controls screen. Good to know and practice. Also good to know that if you put it in P -- the handles will extend, but will retract after about a minute! So the lock/unlock trick works well to re-extend them.

- - - Updated - - -

What version are you on? Did the sound happen only after moving or right as you did it? I ask because I tested this but kept the car at 0. I applied some throttle and held the car with the brake. For a good 15 seconds (to see if it would ever cancel out). It kept applying power, but never beeped at me....

My handheld garage door unit absolutely does NOT transmit through the windshield, but it works fine through the side windows.

Not sure of the software version, but it was updated last Sunday, so I'm assuming it's the most recent version. It's a unique warning sound (sort of "bing-bong" repeated until you correct) and occurs when the car is moving slowly with one foot on the accel and another on the brake.

 

[NigelM]

Mod note: Posts on the reflective windshield coating and it's impact on garage door openers, EZpass etc went here - Coated-windshield-impacting-door-openers-and-EZpass

 

[cinergi]

Well, there has to be some method for replacing wiper blades. What do the Rangers and techs do??

I can see how it's possible to replace the wipers with them parked. Probably not a lot of fun. I just dealt with cleaning the windshield and applying rain-x... so while it's possible to get under there and lift them up a bit, it's not easy.

I replied to ownership (and they just got back) to detail why it's so important and if it can't be done today, to please get the feedback to the right folks for product improvement -- which they did.

 

[steve841]

Kind of ironic we're on SoFlauthor's thread talking about icing problems on a car (soflauthor's) that resides in South Florida ...

 

[Soflauthor]

Kind of ironic we're on SoFlauthor's thread talking about icing problems on a car (soflauthor's) that resides in South Florida ...

That's okay, Steve. It reminds me of one of the reasons I decided to leave the northeast USA and move to SoFla years ago. I do sympathize with the ice problem, having struggled with it for many years myself. BTW, today is 84 degs F, relatively dry, and sunny

 

[NigelM]

Kind of ironic we're on SoFlauthor's thread talking about icing problems on a car (soflauthor's) that resides in South Florida ...

Yup, that's why those posts went here: Windshield-wipers-and-de-icing

 

[Arnold Panz]

That's okay, Steve. It reminds me of one of the reasons I decided to leave the northeast USA and move to SoFla years ago. I do sympathize with the ice problem, having struggled with it for many years myself. BTW, today is 84 degs F, relatively dry, and sunny

Indeed! Although I wouldn't want to be near Boca today -- my understanding is that traffic and road closures are out of control because of the debate tonight.

 

[Soflauthor]

Indeed! Although I wouldn't want to be near Boca today -- my understanding is that traffic and road closures are out of control because of the debate tonight.

Don't want to go too OT, but I'm only about 2.5 miles southwest from the debate site, and if I go north just a bit, I can't go east because some of the roads are closed. Chaos. Just avoiding the area at all cost.

 

[Arnold Panz]

Don't want to go too OT, but I'm only about 2.5 miles southwest from the debate site, and if I go north just a bit, I can't go east because some of the roads are closed. Chaos. Just avoiding the area at all cost.

Hey, it's your thread! If it affects you, it can't be OT

 

[steve841]

Even though Im for Romney ... .would be kind of funny to drive over to the debate and park with a big "NO FAIL" banner planted in front of your S.

Bet that would be worth some good press for Tesla.

 

[Arnold Panz]

Even though Im for Romney ... .would be kind of funny to drive over to the debate and park with a big "NO FAIL" banner planted in front of your S.

Bet that would be worth some good press for Tesla.

He should drive over there with his S with a giant Romney sign and "Thanks Mitt!" That would confuse the heck out of everyone!

 

[vfx]

He should drive over there with his S with a giant Romney sign and "Thanks Mitt!" That would confuse the heck out of everyone!

Sort of the "any publicity is good publicity" thinking.

 

[Arnold Panz]

Sort of the "any publicity is good publicity" thinking.

Exactly. These events attract every type of weirdo and people trying to draw the attention of the myriad news people around, and it's a perfect storm because there is so little actual "news" to report, so you do something totally off the wall like this and you just might attract a journalist or two to ask about the car.

 

[W8MM]

My handheld garage door unit absolutely does NOT transmit through the windshield, but it works fine through the side windows.

Are all the windshields constructed in the same way?

I assume a windshield-mounted radar detector would have problems if the garage opener does.

Could you please describe the coating cut out size and position in more detail, please. Would the cut out in the coating accommodate a radar detector?

 

[bonnie]

He should drive over there with his S with a giant Romney sign and "Thanks Mitt!" That would confuse the heck out of everyone!

"Thanks Mitt for supporting American car companies!". That would confuse even Mitt.

 

[Soflauthor]

Are all the windshields constructed in the same way?

I assume a windshield-mounted radar detector would have problems if the garage opener does.

Could you please describe the coating cut out size and position in more detail, please. Would the cut out in the coating accommodate a radar detector?

WRT a radar detector—not sure whether it would work or not.

The "cutout" is just to the right of the rear view mirror support when viewed from inside the car. It is at the very top of the windshield, and as best I can tell is about 3" x 3" in size. It is not visible to the naked eye (or at least to my eye) from either inside or outside the car.

This creates a problem because I have two fixed devices that must transmit through the windshield, and there is only room for one of them (the device that opens the access gate for my community). The other, my SunPass, won't transmit. I have to hold it out the car window or open the sunroof—very kludgy. Not happy about this. TM should work with their glass vendor to correct the problem and at the same time remove the distortion at the bottom of the windshield.