New to the family

[Jazz_MIII]

Hey all. Lurked on here for hours and hours over the last couple weeks as I researched incessantly about my purchase. I eventually put a deposit on a showroom SR+ with 400 miles and was really excited. But then I kept reading about buying as much range as you could afford and started questioning the decision. I love speed so the “justification” for a bigger battery had a real fun/enjoyment factor attached to it, especially on some possibility of future upgrades/updates to unlock power we are pretty confident is software limited. I also figure in Arizona they will stop issuing the special plates to allow HOV access before too much longer, in which case I’ll be driving it as long as I can. Put all this together and I was able to justify a 25% price increase on an already expensive car…

So Saturday I took delivery on a LR AWD. MSM w/ white interior and aero wheels.

I resisted the whole EV thing for a long time. As someone who likes sports cars, engine noise, even rowing my own gears, I wasn’t a fan.

Not any more.

This thing is amazing. I picked up my wife and kids after taking delivery and we went driving. When I got on the accelerator, my 3 kids literally started squealing in the exact same way they do when they ride a roller coaster. My 4 year old said it tickled his penis

Yesterday I was supposed to fly to San Diego for business yesterday and of course cancelled my flight so I could road trip (from Phoenix).

Sheer joy. AP was fantastic. The torque going uphill through the mountains was unreal. Acceleration at highway speeds is just awesome. ABRP delivered. Supercharging was easy. Driving the speed limit was extremely hard

Anyway, great community here. Thanks for all the great info pre-purchase. I just love my car. Now I just need to get my home charging situation squared away. I am planning to just install a NEMA 14-50 outlet to save some money. The HPWC seems overkill for now…

Cheers!

Welcome to the family! I am two months new and also LOVE this vehicle! I had the same thought in mind to get the longest range I could and ended up buying the LR RWD Model 3 with same white interior and aero wheels...we had already pre-installed a NEMA 14-50 outlet months ago so we were ready to go! I even convinced a fellow coworker to buy one after he was able to see mine firsthand for himself! I hope you're enjoying your car as much as I am here in NorCal -jazz

 

[Urbancowboy]

Congrats from a fellow Gilbert, AZ based new Tesla owner!

Your config is still my favorite color combo. Just got my first Tesla last week and still on a high (used White on black AWD, 19's with 10k miles). My kids love the roller coaster too but are too focused on the whoopee cushion and arcade games now

Just got my 14-50 installed too, after at least 5 quotes I cannot recommend Alan Bishop (928-533-0051) enough. Literally saved me thousands, and just the kind of small business owner and human you want to give you hard earned money to. Tell him Jason P. sent ya.

Enjoy the ride!

Thanks, Jason! Alan is going to come out this weekend to take a look and provide an estimate. Hoping to get it done soon but I’m still waiting for my adapter

For buyers who keep their cars for a long time, an additional justification for buying an LR model is that, as the batteries degrade slightly, you'll be able to absorb that loss without it affecting anything.

Definitely a consideration!

Also, for people that live in sunny climates such as Arizona's, combining an EV with solar panels at home is a truly synergistic combination that provides a zero carbon footprint, and which can pay for itself (depending on many things) in around 7 years.

Gotta research solar next. The tax rebates are really compelling, and obviously we get enough sun

Just ordered a second Tesla yesterday. Blue LR Model 3 with white interior. Supposed to arrive in 2 weeks!

LOVE the blue on white. Enjoy!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. I haven’t ever had a welcome post get so much love on any car forum before, so that’s cool.

Still loving the ride. Got a huge rock chip in my windshield Wednesday driving home from SD, so here starts my first experience with support and service.

And my buddy wrecked his M3 last week (drunk driver at 8am?? ) and has no idea when it will get fixed.

The nightmare horror stories around getting a M3 fixed after major damage are terrible. Tesla has to up their game.

Drive safe everyone.

 

[SMAlset]

....Still loving the ride. Got a huge rock chip in my windshield Wednesday driving home from SD, so here starts my first experience with support and service.....

You may find that Tesla doesn't handle windshield repairs in your area. Think they are seen as something windshield companies are qualified to do and it frees up time in the Tesla body shops. In my area you get referred out to 3rd party glass shops who still have to get the windshield from Tesla but in other areas of the country they still seem to be doing the work. In any case your car will need to be recalibrated so ask about how that gets arranged. Try scheduling the work through the app and see what someone who calls you back says.

How bad is the rock chip? I would definitely suggest calling someone like SafetyLite now to see if it can be at least filled with that epoxy or whatever they put in to prevent a small chip/crack from expanding. With hot AZ temps and using A/C you could see that expand quickly and then it's definitely a replacement. If you need to get the whole thing replaced well so be it but if not at least it's usually a free repair under most insurance companies. Some people have taken out replacement glass insurance under their policy as with all the road debris and maybe due to the aerodynamics of the car, road chips seem to occur some think more frequently. Probably some truth to that as the car's front isn't a rectangle higher off the ground and has a grill that can catch some of that stuff.

 

[Urbancowboy]

You may find that Tesla doesn't handle windshield repairs in your area. Think they are seen as something windshield companies are qualified to do and it frees up time in the Tesla body shops. In my area you get referred out to 3rd party glass shops who still have to get the windshield from Tesla but in other areas of the country they still seem to be doing the work. In any case your car will need to be recalibrated so ask about how that gets arranged. Try scheduling the work through the app and see what someone who calls you back says.

How bad is the rock chip? I would definitely suggest calling someone like SafetyLite now to see if it can be at least filled with that epoxy or whatever they put in to prevent a small chip/crack from expanding. With hot AZ temps and using A/C you could see that expand quickly and then it's definitely a replacement. If you need to get the whole thing replaced well so be it but if not at least it's usually a free repair under most insurance companies. Some people have taken out replacement glass insurance under their policy as with all the road debris and maybe due to the aerodynamics of the car, road chips seem to occur some think more frequently. Probably some truth to that as the car's front isn't a rectangle higher off the ground and has a grill that can catch some of that stuff.

Yeah I was told Safelite is authorized to replace and will use Tesla glass but cannot calibrate, so that will need to be done at Tesla.

I was also informed this morning that my insurance company will reimburse the full amount if I want to pay out of pocket and get it replaced at Tesla.

Tesla sent me a text yesterday saying I could go through my insurance company or have it replaced at their service center and pay out of pocket.

<rant>It’s really annoying that you can’t call Tesla service. I get wanting to push everything through digital channels, but it isn’t always more efficient, especially for the end customer.</rant>

Technically it’s something that can probably be patched. It’s about a silver dollar size, but it’s a bad one. Even if patched you’ll still see it. My OCD self would really like new glass since the car is a week young, and I have a $0 deductible glass replacement on my policy (pretty standard in AZ).

 

[SMAlset]

I’m not a fan of going digital for almost all communications either. There are times it’s not expeditious for certain. I spent an hour on chat the other day checking on an account issue and had wanted to save the chat to my computer but no option. Thought the arrow with line might have been that but it wasn’t. Went back into chat after to at least pass on the feedback they should add that as a feature like many other corporate chat software does. If more people using chat do the same, hopefully it will get changed to include it. Good to have a log of what was said and info passed on.

 

[Urbancowboy]

I’m not a fan of going digital for almost all communications either. There are times it’s not expeditious for certain. I spent an hour on chat the other day checking on an account issue and had wanted to save the chat to my computer but no option. Thought the arrow with line might have been that but it wasn’t. Went back into chat after to at least pass on the feedback they should add that as a feature like many other corporate chat software does. If more people using chat do the same, hopefully it will get changed to include it. Good to have a log of what was said and info passed on.

For sure. I worked for Apple from 07-11, and the Tesla car reminds me of Apple in many ways with respect to a lot of the details and elegant integration of HW and SW.

But Apple didn't just stop with the end products. The attention to detail at EVERY LEVEL of the organization was unbelievable. At every customer touchpoint they were trying to create an amazing experience. Sure they have issues like every company, but Tesla seems to be a complete s***show internally by comparison.