New Roadster Goodies for 2014

[hjr]

The largest service center int he US (by square feet0 just opened 1 mile from my office in Milford, Connecticut. They have been super nice but they are nt as versed in Roadster issues as the staff was in NY. I understand that - there are not many Roadsters and we have one of the largest fleets of Model S in the world in our region from NY to Westport... there are only 2 Roadsters in the immediate area.

Firmware updates - there is only 1 thing I want right now which is the ability to monitor temperatures by seeing actual numbers and not just the bar graphs and not be in diagnostic mode....perhaps some more battery life info without having to parse.

 

[Jackyche]

As far as firmware - I would like new tire learning feature on the 1.5's.

 

[andy-sf]

You think that's bad, one year a tech put 20 mi on my Roadster on the Jersey Turnpike and I got a ticket mailed to me for blowing through a toll booth without paying!

Can I ask if you contacted Tesla about it, and what they did? Just got my Roadster back from its annual maintenance. After dishing out over $850 is service fees, they returned the car to me with 50 miles of range. This basically tells me they never charged the car while they had it for 3 days. I barely made it home, and am waiting to hear a reply from Tesla. I have never had a pleasant experience with their service department, and I get my car services in Fremont, which you would think would be the best. Next time, I will have to record the mileage as well.

 

[Chris Lockfort]

Can I ask if you contacted Tesla about it, and what they did? Just got my Roadster back from its annual maintenance. After dishing out over $850 is service fees, they returned the car to me with 50 miles of range. This basically tells me they never charged the car while they had it for 3 days. I barely made it home, and am waiting to hear a reply from Tesla. I have never had a pleasant experience with their service department, and I get my car services in Fremont, which you would think would be the best. Next time, I will have to record the mileage as well.

Ouch. Sorry to hear about all of the bad service stories. For what it's worth, just a few miles away in Palo Alto I have only had extremely excellent service; they usually pick up my car from work and either swap it for a loaner or are able to get all of the work done that day and just deliver my car back before I leave work. I don't even think you can /pay/ for that level of service anywhere else. (And the test drives they take are all very reasonable and they've found the same problems that I normally encountered while driving during them, so they ended up being very useful)

The only time it was ever less than the best auto service I've ever encountered was right before they made a $40K decision to give me a new battery/HV system under warranty, and were really trying to rule out every possible thing before doing the replacement. (Which I find an entirely reasonable course of action, even if it meant that they gave me back the car a few times with more and more random part swaps and debugging hardware/software enabled in it)

 

[bonnie]

fwiw, I've never had anything but excellent service at the Menlo Park, Fremont, and now Rocklin locations. Their customer service is a large part of why I'm such a loyal Tesla owner.

 

[wiztecy]

fwiw, I've never had anything but excellent service at the Menlo Park, Fremont, and now Rocklin locations. Their customer service is a large part of why I'm such a loyal Tesla owner.

I also recommend Burlingame which is close to SF. Many of the senior techs from Menlo Park relocated there, also Johnny Chan moved up there as well where he leads that office for service / repair. A+++ to him as well as the tech's there.

 

[hcsharp]

Can I ask if you contacted Tesla about it, and what they did? Just got my Roadster back from its annual maintenance. After dishing out over $850 is service fees, they returned the car to me with 50 miles of range. This basically tells me they never charged the car while they had it for 3 days. I barely made it home, and am waiting to hear a reply from Tesla. I have never had a pleasant experience with their service department, and I get my car services in Fremont, which you would think would be the best. Next time, I will have to record the mileage as well.

They said "send us the ticket and we'll take care of it." They needed to drive it to test the repair so I didn't mind the miles. I assumed the ticket was a result of the tech thinking I had EZPass mounted in my bumper or dash but I didn't. I usually have a good experience with service, but not always. They always charge it, and frequently wash it.

 

[slcasner]

I'd like to be able to set the cruise control at 25mph.

 

[markwj]

I'd like to be able to set the cruise control at 25mph.

+1.

 

[Doug_G]

I'd like to be able to set the cruise control at 25mph.

And have it retain the setting when you stop.

 

[dsm363]

The largest service center int he US (by square feet0 just opened 1 mile from my office in Milford, Connecticut. They have been super nice but they are nt as versed in Roadster issues as the staff was in NY. I understand that - there are not many Roadsters and we have one of the largest fleets of Model S in the world in our region from NY to Westport... there are only 2 Roadsters in the immediate area.

Firmware updates - there is only 1 thing I want right now which is the ability to monitor temperatures by seeing actual numbers and not just the bar graphs and not be in diagnostic mode....perhaps some more battery life info without having to parse.

You should buy OVMS. It allows you to see that and is very useful anyway.

 

[ViperDoc]

Cruising

And have it retain the setting when you stop.

Agreed on both counts. I have too many small VT towns where the limit is 25 mph and it is hard to keep it steady—and what is with the re-engage at prior speed feature, it works so irregularly.

 

[strider]

Personally I think it's all fruitless to speculate anymore. I think that Tesla has moved on, and forgotten us early fans. No firmware updates, no contact - we have been used and now are to be ignored (until you buy the next car).

I continue to find this whole discussion amusing. Why the * do you think you've been "used?" You got a car for your money. For Tesla to spend any serious engineering time on the Roadster is a really bad idea from a company standpoint. Model X is already late and Gen 3 is going to be late too as Model X gets pushed. Those are the models that will make or break the company, not Roadster updates. I want a Performance model Gen 3 with AWD, sub-3 second 0-60, massive range, and all the creature comforts plus more of Model S for less than $100k. Is Porsche still offering factory upgrades to the 356? No. And it's actually quite a terrible car when compared to a modern one in regards to power handling, etc. A modern Corolla will outperform it in all categories. Yet it is an iconic car. What's my point? The Roadster will follow a similar path. You should get comfortable with the idea that the Roadster is frozen. You should enjoy it as you would any car that is destined to become a classic but it's not going to get "better" except in the aftermarket. I'm sure someone will update it in the same way people are taking older muscle cars and putting modern FI engines in them. Someone will take Roadsters w/ trashed batteries or whatever and put the latest tech in them for someone w/ money. But I say again it's a terrible idea for Tesla to spend time on the Roadster.

So all that to say, my wish for the "big surprise for 2014" is the release of a proper service manual so the aftermarket will be able to take over.

 

[ecarfan]

Is Porsche still offering factory upgrades to the 356? No. And it's actually quite a terrible car when compared to a modern one in regards to power handling, etc. A modern Corolla will outperform it in all categories. Yet it is an iconic car. What's my point? The Roadster will follow a similar path.

@strider, well said, and good analogy. Regarding Porsche, when the new 911 was introduced the company pretty much abandoned the 356 and even went so far as to throw away large numbers of 356 spare parts in the 1970's. Porsche had moved on.

Tesla is a small company with limited resources. I am surprised that they are devoting engineering time to make some sort of unspecified (to date) "improvement" in the such a limited production car years after the final Roadster was completed. That is remarkable. I think Elon has, understandably, a soft spot for the Roadster.

I am sure the Roadster will become a classic that at some point could start appreciating in value. I hope to own one someday before that happens. ;-) I can't wait around for the next generation Roadster!

 

[djp]

@strider, agreed 100%. My Roadster still outperforms all expectations from the day I bought it. Tesla doesn't owe us anything. New upgrades would be nice, but I'd rather see them focus on Gen 3 and Roadster 3.0.

 

[Mitrovic]

And I do not agree with strider.
60's and 70's were different. Now the German car makers are so strong because they look after their heritage, You can easily get any parts for the classic Porsche's from Porsche today.

And Tesla is obliged by law to deliver parts for the roadster for, I think , 10 years. So it would be a clever trick for Tesla if they could adopt some parts of the Model S technology to the roadster. I'm thinking e.g. battery or charger. If in some 5 - 7 years some 1000 Roadster's need battery replacement and Panasonic does not produce any Roadster cells anymore, and that is already for years, what will Tesla do? So it would be a clever trick to offer a better battery pack with technology of Model S. Easier for Tesla to produce, they can ask more money for it as it is a better battery, they can oblige to the law and they have a marketing winner: Look if you buy Tesla you are safe to get a car for the future!

 

[TEG]

I moved a bunch of posts debating obligations to provide ongoing Roadster spare parts to here:
Roadster spare parts situation?

 

[TEG]

Related other threads:
Roadster - new options
Time to revive WHAT IS THE BIG 2014 SURPRISE FOR THE ROADSTER????

 

[bart513]

IMO it is very understandable that us Roadster owners would have feelings about certain things like not being able to charge at the SC stations and the multitude of other things that have been mentioned. In this way we have MS envy! I'm sure that there are many people such as myself that chose to buy a Roadster over a Model S and are thrilled every time we get behind the wheel. When the Co-founder says that there is something special or something cool coming for the Roadster by the end of the year of course we will speculate the heck out of what it might be! Whatever it will be we hope that it is something exciting. I'm sure there are other Tesla owners/investors that don't understand this but that is why we have this forum
So I say Yay for those of us pontificating and for those that are annoyed well there are many other threads to enjoy!

 

[hjr]

How about a handsfree microphone that is noise cancelling? One that really works. I would love to be able to have a telephone conversation while screaming down the highway with the top off.

The battery/pem replacement option is really a great idea but probably too much to wish for. I cannot imagine there would be too many takers at the cost it would take to do that (unless they give us a real deal as a favor). It does make me a little crazy when I see the S'ers filling up on free tesla juice at the superchargers!

Then we would also need an adapter from Roadster to S-type plug (Henry?).