It is interesting to see the justifications that people use for deciding on one variant or the other.
In a lot of ways you can see the psychology of marketing of various levels working it's magic. Where people find all sorts of ways of convincing themselves of whatever the right choice is. When the reality is 90% of the time you're not even in the car, and when you are you're probably stuck behind a Prius.
I can't tell someone which model is right for them. Chances are their subconscious has already made the decision, and they're just looking for ways to justify it to their conscious selves.
I argued with myself constantly between the 60, 85, and P85 then it became an argument between the 60, 85D, and P85D. I eventually went with the 60 because I felt like Tesla was moving so crazy fast that anything I got would be obsolete before it even arrived. Ironically (or maybe not so ironic) a couple weeks after I ordered Tesla came out with the 70D so I switched over to that. It solved most of my reservations about the 60. I get to have the all-wheel drive which is important in the rainy pacific northwest, and it gives me a bit more range. Most importantly it didn't really cost anymore (base was more expensive, but the options I got were cheaper). About the only thing I lost out on was the rear next-gen seats. The 60 I ordered had them, but the 70D only had the front ones. Oh, well. it saved me $1000, and they still don't allow driving from the back seat so I see no problems with it.
For myself I've always known the Tesla MS wasn't the exact car I wanted. Simply put its way too big for me so it's mostly a 3-4 year thing so I can get my Tesla fix. There are a lot of intangibles about the Tesla that's hard to put down. It's not just a car company, or a car. It's the whole car then solar panels, and then a ticket to space? Or something like that. Maybe my subconscious just loved the idea of contributing to a vision for the future. Or maybe I just wanted to roam without feeling guilt.
Whatever the case might be Tesla changed the entire game without really even having that reliable of a car. Absolutely not a single issue I've been concerned about for the last 2 years has been solved by Tesla. They still have 12V battery issues, and they still have inverter whines/failures. It's impossible to gauge percentages, but we still have cases of people stuck without a working car. Something that hasn't happened to me EVER. Sure I've had hoses break, and O2 Sensors fail. You just duck tape the hose, and you can limp along with the bad sensor till you replace it.
I ordered the Tesla despite all the threads on here about reliability issues, and I'm absolutely not someone that falls in love with a manufacture. I strongly believe in pushing a manufacture to build the best widget it can, and imposing as much pressure as I singlehandly can on them. In fact they should have gone Soap Nazi on me, and not allowed me to order it. Of course I don't believe in lawsuits, the media, or any of that. I simply believe in pushing engineers to do what they get paid to do.
Maybe I got it because cars these days are kinda boring they're so good. If you really think about it, it's amazing how well cars are these days. Most of the complaints you see on Consumer reports are really about the Media electronics and interfaces than the car itself. Even Jaguar manages to produce a reasonably reliable car. I almost got it (the Jaguar F-Type), but the Tesla messed up that idea.
That's what it really comes down to.
There were a lot of great cars I looked at, but everything felt like it was the old world. I also ended up ordering just before the really awesome hybrids came on board. The Volt is a cool hybrid, but it's not awesome in the sense a BMW I8 is or an Acura NSX.
I absolutely fell in love with the 2015 Ferrari California T, but it would have required pulling way too much money from investments. I just couldn't pull the trigger.
In a lot of ways I was divided between the best of the old world, and the best of the new world.
I was forced to make a decision because of the pending sales tax exception ending that's really what pushed me to order a couple months ago.
So now I'm one week away from the delivery of a 70D which is a pretty amazing feat because I've never in my life managed to wait for a car, and I've been anxiously checking this thread for those of you getting yours before I get mine.
