My outdated 2016 Model S

[WannabeOwner]

i'm going to look in the contract anyway.

"Happiness Guarantee" perhaps?

But ... you have a car with AP (presumably? otherwise the discussion is moot), the AP on new cars won't work until December - but given Elon Time it might well be delayed - and whilst new cars have more hardware they won't get enhanced version of AP until - was it 2018? - again, Elon Time may delay that too. So this boils down to it being an in-2-year's-time announcement, and another $several,000 on the price.

 

[zjfk2]

As someone who just took delivery of his Model S in August, I'm not at all sorry. I look at it as a much more fun way to spend the money than buying the stock (which I also do some of).

Your "outdated" model S is still superior to pretty much every non Tesla car on the road. I'll buy you a top of the line Honda if you'll trade me your old, crappy, outdated, caveman-like model S

Yep... but we're talking about +100K $ cars, not smartphones... and even Apple is not dumb to the point of releasing a MAJOR update on a six month old model and telling the retrofit is not possible. that's incredible.

I took delivery of my inventory model s approximately 3 hours before the announcement. oh well, now I know the real reason for the discount on the car. I wish the car had come last week so i could have enjoyed a little time with the latest and greatest, but I don't think the price difference of 12.5k (7.5k discount +5k AP price differential) would be worth it to me at this point to have ap 2.0. This what I will continue to tell myself.

 

[kurdakov]

one thought: it is quite possible that Tesla will offer something like Comma.ai upgrade for current fleet.
it will require to attend service center, but otherwise - why not?

 

[Aieukl378]

Truly, the ultimate First World Problem

 

[rcarpen22]

This thread has been a good demonstration of the changing mindset of the "average" Tesla buyer. I first read the white paper on the battery tech in 2007 and have been following pretty much since the beginning. I bought my S as soon as I could afford it. This was last December. People were already speculating that AP 2.0 was imminent. I still consider myself somewhat of an early adopter, at least as far as my frame of mind goes. I love the fact that this company never stops innovating. It's pretty clear that the technology comes first. The mission is not to placate their wealthiest customers. It's to completely change the auto industry. Because of Tesla, everyone will soon be able to buy BEVs produced by the big German makers. Then, you can buy one of those and lord it over all the less wealthy people for several years. Congrats. As for me, I'll be happy that the purchase of my car, at the time I bought it, helped make the future.

 

[Phoenixhawk101]

What 4.0? This is the big one that'll drive the car as you read a book. We missed it, and we're pissed. With that said, I understood things like this could happen going in (well, really began to understand a lot more once my deposit aged a week), but what left me more jaded was this Q3 fire sale they had, contradicting their promise and policy that I was sold on.

This is not "The big one" no such thing exists. My business is vision systems and sensor suites for autonomy. Not autonomous vehicles but autonomous robotics. Something simpler than vehicles and while the multiscopic vision tech Tesla just integrated into its cars is very impressive it is NOT the latest in automation sensors. So yes there will be AP3 which will introduce 3D stereoscopic point clouds to each camera and then sub pixel processing algorithms along with binarization to better define shadows and eventually OCR to read road signs and construction.......you did not miss "The Big one".

 

[jbcarioca]

It has taken me a while to think about this because i was preoccupied wondering if anybody seriously thinks the US can have a 'rigged' Presidential election.

So, I bought a Dec 2014 P85D, paid a few hundred dollars to have the upgraded sim and wiring, paid a few thousands becoming a P85D. Now There have been a plethora of improvements small and large. I still love my car nearly two years later, and have already kept it longer than I have kept most cars in my life. (averaging one year per car over my life). Until now I have never felt overly tempted by minor upgrades except...when I did; that is another long story, not worth repeating.

Now, I am actually thinking about replacing my current Tesla with a new one, before probably moving smaller with the two 3 Models I have reserved. I am almost certain to wait. However I am excited and pleased about the constant innovation at Tesla. I know they'll keep the pace high, so my next one will soon have major improvements beckoning me.. In thr meantime I have the best car I have ever owned.

Please do not slow the pace of progress, Tesla!

 

[Mickie]

This is not "The big one" no such thing exists. My business is vision systems and sensor suites for autonomy. Not autonomous vehicles but autonomous robotics. Something simpler than vehicles and while the multiscopic vision tech Tesla just integrated into its cars is very impressive it is NOT the latest in automation sensors. So yes there will be AP3 which will introduce 3D stereoscopic point clouds to each camera and then sub pixel processing algorithms along with binarization to better define shadows and eventually OCR to read road signs and construction.......you did not miss "The Big one".

The cars will be able to drive themselves without intervention with the now current hardware. That IS the "The Big One" as far as autonomy goes. What you speak of is polishing "The Big One."

 

[Mickie]

I'm not soiled at all about the newer cars having the latest and greatest soon after I bought mine. What irks me is how my resale value may be trashed because of this. I haven't seen anyone really mention that here. Thoughts?

 

[Trunk Gap]

Agree completely. I have a 3 month old 140k car that now is outdated. I pay for nice stuff because I want the best.

I'm not sure we have any other option than to eat dirt, trade the car in, and pay up.

 

[diamond.g]

I figured most would take my post as whining. It really wasn't that. I just wish there was a way to have existing owners who just spent $70, $80, $100+ grand on their cars feel like they can stay current at least for a little while. Again, I love Tesla and they are second to none. It's just a tough balance to get used to. Even your new iPhone is good for a year before the next update. That's just not the case with Tesla. Just have to get used to it. My only point was it would be nice if there was a way for the most recent buyers to have the option to pay for reasonably priced retrofit so they don't feel immediately burned a week or a month after forking out $100 grand on a "NEW" car.

I do think Tesla has to be careful about getting too big for its britches. Their pricing model is unique to Tesla and most prices they charge are "because they can". Less than a year ago, the highest price Tesla Model S I think topped out around $143,000 if you got everything. Now $8,000 for AP. $10,000 for the 100 battery, $10,000 for Ludicrous. I think a fully loaded Model S can top out damn close to $170,000. Tesla at $100,000 was always considered an expensive car, but praised for still being reasonably priced for what it was and being much cheaper than the Luxury or Super Car brands. At $170K, it's closer to that $200K mark and the price is no longer a "bargain". You're definitely going to be paying for the "Tesla" name. I think that's going to hurt them down the road as they've certainly priced several people out of the Tesla market. The amazing thing is, when you think about AP hardware included and Ludicrous mode, that's $18,000 all in the "flip of a switch" as both are software controlled. Considering all the hardware is already there, that's some big "confidence" by Tesla.

Makes me wonder how much it will be to get a Model 3 with the features that really appeal to the "i want a Tesla" market. AP is almost a must have. $8,000 on a $35,000 car could be a turn off to those that can't afford a 25% price bump for the one option that appeals most to them. And to charge Model 3 buyers less for the exact same thing as the Model S or X has would not make a lot of S & X owners happy. We may have the money and can afford it, but we didn't get here by being stupid with our money or being taken advantage of. Anyway, just think they're walking a fine line. We'll see how it all plays out.

It is getting close to Panamera Turbo S pricing. Not sure if that is good or bad.

 

[zambono]

You are whining, say it how it is. You knew just like I did that Tesla keeps upgrading their vehicles.

 

[dedicatedtek]

Please do not slow the pace of progress, Tesla!

totally agree with this one!

 

[zambono]

Could Tesla offer a fully self driving hardware Model S after only four years unless they had the most rapidly evolving vehicle in the history of the automobile! If you did not see that coming, you have not been following Tesla.

Even Elon has thanked folks many times for paying the huge price as early adopters. It has not been a secret you were buying something that would quickly be surpassed.

Innovation as a Battering Ram to beat the S*** out of the competition
In my opinion trying to build an entirely new car company and to keep it from going under, you must out innovate your competition. To do that requires the constant innovation we have been seeing. My feeling is that Tesla will need to continue that innovation. They need to focus on things like interior and exterior build quality to equal the existing nonUS manufacturers. I would say the build quality they have now is superior to most American cars I have ever seen, but does not match the best Europeans or the very best of Asia. It was funny the first time I sat inside a Tesla, the power, handling, and exterior were all awesome. The interior that vaguely reminded me of an average American car, but a little cleaner without the buttons. They have come a very long way, but have some way to go on that front. The seats in the Model X are an example of innovation we must constantly see, they look so much better than the S seats. They need to constantly improve in order to surpass brand x and convince more people to buy.

Hardware Retrofit Drains Resources from Innovations
Focussing resources on retrofits would drain limited resources from the enhancements we all want to see. As someone who works in software development, you're always balancing fixing issues with the current version while trying to develop new features. Too much work on current versions means no big enhancements or new versions. Would you be happier if it took 5 years to come out with autopilot v1 and 10 years for autopilot v2? Probably not.

Retrofit has a Potential for Immense Liability
In my opinion with US liability laws they are going way out on a limb compared to any car company that has ever existed implementing autopilot so rapidly to begin with. Trying to retrofit things like the self driving features or enhancements to those features is something that could easily kill Tesla if there were safety problems with those retrofits and all the differences they have in the prior versions. Look at what happened to Samsung or Boeing and the billions their battery issues cost them. My feeling is that the safety issues, complications, and amount of testing required of an automobile is many times that of a the most advanced phones ever created. Making updates to one common new version is straightforward. Multiplying the engineering, testing and different updates to the little differences between all the prior versions could bring innovations and updates to a halt.

Market Too Small to Justify
Probably 10% of folks are willing to spend the $5k or $10k at a time it would take for some of these updates, like autopilot upgrades, new seats, new bumpers etc. Is that enough of a market for Tesla to focus resources with all their other priorities they currently have, probably not. When it gets to be a much larger company, retrofits might be feasible, no doubt they are moving too fast and too lean to worry about that at the moment.

Don't wear yourself out trying to keep up with the Joneses
You are driving a car that probably 80% of Americans cannot afford to own, with many performance and convenience features that have never existed in history. Congratulations on your immense success in life, be happy with enjoy what you have now. You don't have to have the very newest and best every moment. You can be happy driving around your old and outdated P90D Tesla for a few more years even if it only has Autopilot v1. If you want to have something that evolves slowly and is very similar to the model from ten years ago, buy a Mercedes...

Look forward to that new Tesla you will no doubt buy in a few years based on the constant innovation...
May the circle of Tesla buying and whining continue...

Or simply Lease

 

[ShotgunF15E]

The only thing that angers me are the lies being told to buyers to sell cars. I wish I had them all in writing

Biggest is now autopilot. I was specifically told my car had all the hardware to do what last night was all about. I was sold that we were just waiting on the software.

There are many others that involve performance promises and charging info that is just plain misleading.

I'm glad the car keeps getting better but I can only imagine what they've been telling people in the store rooms to sell P100Ds recently. I'd be pissed if I was one of them.

 

[wdolson]

As others have already started, Tesla makes keeping up with the Joneses one of their main business models. They're a lot like Apple, in more ways than just their retail store model.

I don't think they are encouraging that, but some of their customers with enough money to buy multiple $100K cars are doing it. This year I've gone from the least valuable car in the neighborhood to the most expensive. All I feel is a bit of embarrassment that some people may think I'm showing off. I've only told a few of my friends I got a new car and only one family member.

I could only afford one Model S and I may never be able to afford another. I definitely won't be able to for a few years or more.

Having the latest and greatest isn't that important to me. I'm a programmer, but run Windows 7 on all my computers, I have a four year old iPhone I bought used 2 1/2 years ago, and have very few things my neighbors covet. It really isn't all that important, I probably have more stuff than I will ever need, but I buy what I buy for my own gratification. To each their own.

Most of the Tesla owners I have met have cars a lot older than mine and are perfectly happy with the years of enjoyment they have gotten from their cars. Most don't have AP 1, don't have Biodefense Mode, don't have the facelift, etc. I think those who are trying to keep up with the Jones' are just a vociferous minority that happen to be on this forum. At this point this forum probably doesn't even represent 10% of Tesla owners worldwide.

 

[jbcarioca]

...
Most of the Tesla owners I have met have cars a lot older than mine and are perfectly happy with the years of enjoyment they have gotten from their cars. Most don't have AP 1, don't have Biodefense Mode, don't have the facelift, etc. I think those who are trying to keep up with the Jones' are just a vociferous minority that happen to be on this forum. At this point this forum probably doesn't even represent 10% of Tesla owners worldwide.

Most of your points are indisputable, for people who like to live in a fact-based world. I know no Tesla owners who are not happy with their cars, and they range from P100D to Signature Model S. The few buyers who can afford to, and want to, upgrade to more capable versions frequently are doing a service to Tesla and the evolution of EV's. I am happy they do it, and am happy that I sometimes can too. Most such people that I know, most of us have zero interest on what other people think about our vehicle choices. Anyway, not many people know what a Tesla is, much less the arcane model changes, so there is pretty minimal bragging power here. If it is about such I suggest Lamborghini is a better choice. As for the power of Tesla I still recall "...is that the new Malibu?" from a post here. Keeping up with the Joneses isn't really a Tesla story.

 

[rogbmw]

Tesla reminds me exactly of computers - once you get it home, there is something new out.

Having said that, I know that my car is not the latest and greatest version...but it still sure puts a grin on my face every time I drive it. Hell - it is an ancient Feb 2013 Model S85. I have owned it over 3 1/2 years. It does everything I want it to do. I've thought about upgrading to a new one, but then I look at what mine does, and how it does it, and although I could afford a new one, I simply can't justify the cost of a new one for the few new things that it brings.

I am glad that Tesla keeps innovating their cars. Continually upgrading actually occurs in all manufacturers, but others lump many together for the next model year. Tesla thinks differently with continuous updates and features.

I guess I am going to have to keep slumming along with my 2013. Oh well.... as said above, I'll just keep on smiling every time I drive and be content!

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

You poor, poor man, you only had $130,000 to buy a car with? My last house cost that. I feel for you.. so hard.. i mean... the feels..

I mean, how dare they improve anything? Hold on, I think my rotary phone is ringing. I'll have to walk over because it's still attached to the wall.

Since everything attained perfection in 1940, there is no need for anything to move forward. I hear polio is making a comeback...

 

[JalmonB76]

I took delivery less than a month ago. Yes, I am disappointed. My wife says get over it.

In thinking about this all of the signs were there. Frankly, if I had waited California changed their rebate law and I would have missed their rebate. So timing is always a different perspective.

I buy new cars every 10-12 years, but this is my first Tesla. I think the best I can do is wait a few years, pay this one off and then see what I can do.

I knew this would be the best or the worst of my auto decisions and looking at this event, really shouldn't affect that result.

Pouting but positive.