My Tesla 1 Year Later

[pedriscoll]

I passed the 1 year mark this past week; hit 20000 miles on the anniversary date. I have zero range anxiety but also have an 85D. I commonly take round trip drives of 300 miles in the course of my work, but do have superchargers on those routes, so no worries.

I love just about everything with the car and have had great experiences with our service center. From this community, it is evident that service quality can be spotty and Tesla needs to fix that before the Model 3 rolls out.

 

[xav-]

OP,
is the dual drive option really worth it in SoCal?
Thanks

 

[TJ&TheBeast]

Thanks OP for posting your experience!

I'll take a little inconsistent service over consistent crappy service from BMW any day of the week and double on Saturdays.

 

[smilepak]

OP,
is the dual drive option really worth it in SoCal?
Thanks

Depending on ur driving style. Some say no. For me I like it. Accerlation up hill like the 241 Toll is nice and smooth

 

[msnow]

Depending on ur driving style. Some say no. For me I like it. Accerlation up hill like the 241 Toll is nice and smooth

Better range in addition to performance too.

 

[whitex]

I've never had noise due to the pano.

You misunderstood. My comment was that every MS with pano had the noise that MS without Pano don't have. I drive a car without Pano, so whenever I got a loaner with one I notice the increased noise. What I will say however is that I usually get used to it rather quickly and not even notice it after as short as a few minutes ride.

 

[whitex]

Regarding 2015 versus earlier cars I think even Elon, while responding to the CR article on customer complaints, said the later cars (late 2014 and 2015's) were put together better and were under represented in CR's survey.

So pure conjecture based on Elon's comment to some reporter? I bet if you asked Elon to clarify whether he meant pre-2015 cars are noisy and not worth buying he would strongly disagree. As for consumer reports survey in question here, it came back saying 2015 cars scored worse than 2014, and I suspect that is what Elon was responding to. Of course, if you want to go by the survey only, you should be recommending 2014 cars over 2015.

 

[msnow]

You misunderstood. My comment was that every MS with pano had the noise that MS without Pano don't have. I drive a car without Pano, so whenever I got a loaner with one I notice the increased noise. What I will say however is that I usually get used to it rather quickly and not even notice it after as short as a few minutes ride.

I didn't misunderstand, that's what I thought you meant. I have friends with non-pano cars and I've also had loaners without pano's and didn't notice any difference in noise, nada. Maybe some do and some don't.

 

[msnow]

So pure conjecture based on Elon's comment to some reporter? I bet if you asked Elon to clarify whether he meant pre-2015 cars are noisy and not worth buying he would strongly disagree. As for consumer reports survey in question here, it came back saying 2015 cars scored worse than 2014, and I suspect that is what Elon was responding to. Of course, if you want to go by the survey only, you should be recommending 2014 cars over 2015.

I'm really only referring to the CR findings on fittings, rattles and such as well as consumer complaints not general noise and that's not how I remember the report. Elon said the builds have gotten better year over year. So that means 2015 VIN's were built better than 2014's and so on. The areas where 2015's were worse was climate control and suspension and maybe one more. That was the conclusion so we will just have to agree to disagree. Sorry

 

[kort677]

OP,
is the dual drive option really worth it in SoCal?
Thanks

the dual drive is worth it anywhere

 

[Khatsalano]

I'm also a little over one year in, 45,000 miles.

I don't agree with the noise issues for the pre/post-2015s. I've had older loaners that are far quieter than mine ... most of it seems to do with the RWD version (quieter) vs. our D versions which make more motor noise. 19" vs 20" wheels and tire selection have a substantial impact on road noise, with 19"s being the quieter choice for the most part if you have good tires, but not if you go budget. On the 21"s, the Continentals with the Contisilent foam technology are a dream ... until the end of tire life around 30-40k and then it's pretty noisy.

I'm also not sure why you would still have range anxiety after so much driving experience! I literally never worry or think about it anymore. There are SCs everywhere by now and I can charge up at home on my HPWC to my satisfaction every night. I've also driven to Canada and to SoCAL (LA, SLO, SB, etc.) and it's been worry free. Now if you're worried about mileage because of financing/lease terms (per your comments), that seems like a different kind of anxiety.

Thanks for writing a 1-year post!

- K

 

[whitex]

I'm really only referring to the CR findings on fittings, rattles and such as well as consumer complaints not general noise and that's not how I remember the report. Elon said the builds have gotten better year over year. So that means 2015 VIN's were built better than 2014's and so on. The areas where 2015's were worse was climate control and suspension and maybe one more. That was the conclusion so we will just have to agree to disagree. Sorry

So your conclusions that it's better to have "climate control, suspension and maybe one more" issues than squeak and rattles. Agreed to disagree there

 

[msnow]

So your conclusions that it's better to have "climate control, suspension and maybe one more" issues than squeak and rattles. Agreed to disagree there

Nobody agrees on everything. At a higher level it makes sense that technology and manufacturing know-how improves over time and I believe Tesla is doing exactly that.

 

[whitex]

Nobody agrees on everything. At a higher level it makes sense that technology and manufacturing know-how improves over time and I believe Tesla is doing exactly that.

So you don't even agree with OP's original statement that started our little discussion "If you thinkingof buying CPO, make sure it is post 2015model."? You would go farther and say "Make sure you don't buy CPO, because the latest model from the factory floor is so much better"?

 

[msnow]

So you don't even agree with OP's original statement that started our little discussion "If you thinkingof buying CPO, make sure it is post 2015model."? You would go farther and say "Make sure you don't buy CPO, because the latest model from the factory floor is so much better"?

To be accurate, he said that wrt to noise not more than that and I have no idea. There's a lot of good reasons to buy a CPO car but the latest greatest should be evolutionary better.

 

[smilepak]

To me Tesla is a technology car....ill leave that point there..

There many reason to buy or not to buy pre 2015 models. But each have to evaluate it themselves.

My take for not buying is the three loaners I had, the motor noise was noticeablely loud. Second, battery life depreciate over times.

But the reverse can argue the price point is better and some can say no issue with noise.

To each their own....

As for range anxiety. I don't have them now. My point was mainly the experience of owning a first EV. The fact of the matter has cars been around for decades and driving habits are in grain into us. From when to pump gas to how we drive. We don't pump gas often and there no need. A station is on almost every corner or mins away. Pumping gas take minutes.

EV the other hand is a lifestyle change. You have to plan. You spend time at charging stations. You plug in as often as you can because you'll never know you need to go somewhere quick and no time to charge. Or you going with a group of cars, ur the only EV and they all have to wait for you to charge, more often than them...

Like I said to each their own experience....

 

[buckerine]

To me Tesla is a technology car....ill leave that point there..

There many reason to buy or not to buy pre 2015 models. But each have to evaluate it themselves.

My take for not buying is the three loaners I had, the motor noise was noticeablely loud. Second, battery life depreciate over times.

But the reverse can argue the price point is better and some can say no issue with noise.

To each their own....

As for range anxiety. I don't have them now. My point was mainly the experience of owning a first EV. The fact of the matter has cars been around for decades and driving habits are in grain into us. From when to pump gas to how we drive. We don't pump gas often and there no need. A station is on almost every corner or mins away. Pumping gas take minutes.

EV the other hand is a lifestyle change. You have to plan. You spend time at charging stations. You plug in as often as you can because you'll never know you need to go somewhere quick and no time to charge. Or you going with a group of cars, ur the only EV and they all have to wait for you to charge, more often than them...

Like I said to each their own experience....

Very reasonable and I completely agree. Driving an EV is definitely a lifestyle change unless you happen to live in an area where you can charge easily at both home and work, AND you rarely leave that area. And, your last point about traveling with people who don't have EVs is huge. Driving the EV clearly means you're slowing down the crew, even if you stop at a supercharger. High speed charging isn't common enough yet to completely not require some planning.

 

[mwulff]

That's mainly for once you reach your destination, you might go elsewhere before heading home. Like to dinner or end up going further to meet up ppl. There unexpected situation and it's good to be ready.

Like if u are going to dinner, suggest to the group a place you know with free charging so you'll have the extra juice to go elsewhere afterwards.

I might be weird but I never even think of that. We just go where we need to go and if necessary use a supercharger on the way home. Maybe because our country is smaller and we have good supercharger coverage this really never becomes an issue for me.

Also almost every friend we ever visit has offered to let us have some power at their place. I only think I've taken them up on it once or twice.

 

[whitex]

TThere's a lot of good reasons to buy a CPO car but the latest greatest should be evolutionary better.

I think we'll have to just agree to agree on that one

 

[smilepak]

Oh one thing I noticed and might be normal for other. Coming from a Lexus GS 350 to this, i do feel the 70D either is lower or have a weak spring / strut or longer wheel base or something. I find myself scraping the bottom more often than in other cars I have had. Like going over bumps at parking lot or entering / leaving parking lot with a small dip. Having drive very very slow to prevent it.