Not confident this is a good road trip vehicle for me...

[green1]

Incorrect. No other vehicle (that I'm aware of) has built-in car seats that can't be moved to another vehicle if there is a breakdown.

That's a plus for the Tesla, not a minus. In any other car you would need a car seat, apparently you still need one in the Tesla in some cases, but not all.

I also hear (through the forums, not personal experience) that unlike most other vehicle brands it is difficult or impossible for third-party repair shops to get parts. This would require at least some work to be done only in Tesla service centers of which there are a lot fewer than third-party repair shops.

My work truck was until very recently a Ford F-series, "best selling truck in North America" despite that, I had several occasions where the Ford dealership needed to order parts from out of province and wait several days for their arrival. Drive a Mercedes or BMW to the middle of nowhere and try to get a repair with parts on hand. It won't happen for anything but the most minor issues.

Road tripping involves risk. Road tripping in a Tesla doesn't change that.

 

[Drucifer]

Would a spare wheel fit in the Frunk?

We have Winter / Summer tyres and when we go on a long trip (not often) we always take one of the other-type as a spare. We haven't owned a Make/Model of car in UK that had a spare for quite some time now - the saving in weight gets them some Green Eco points which reduces the Tax on the vehicle etc. etc. etc. Of course the first time you have a flat and have to get a tow truck out you've probably used up all the possible Planet Saving that was on offer.

Same here. One of my summer 21" is in the frunk now, while my winter 19" wheels are mounted. Note that I have rear wheel drive. With a front motor, the tire would not fit.

 

[Nigel16494]

I have found my Tesla better than the BMW X5 for road trips, TACC helped me a lot. The X5 also had run flats, no spare. I drove 6K miles a year in the BMW, 10K in the Tesla since the road trip came back. And it's free pollution free travel.

 

[trils0n]

Also important to note that as winter gets started and the weather gets colder, be sure to check your tire pressures. Under-inflated tires blow out more easily, and cold weather leads to under-inflated tires. Cold weather means the air is denser/shrinks and you will need to add more air to your tires to get them to the proper pressure. Check pressure when cold in the morning, before driving.

 

[jgs]

I have found my Tesla better than the BMW X5 for road trips, TACC helped me a lot.

Amen. I just completed my first decent road trip in mine, and from now on, Autopilot or equivalent is table stakes for any new vehicle purchase I make. Changed the experience completely for me.

 

[bhzmark]

19 > 21

 

[Max*]

Amen. I just completed my first decent road trip in mine, and from now on, Autopilot or equivalent is table stakes for any new vehicle purchase I make. Changed the experience completely for me.

Considering that TACC is available on cars that cost 1/3 of the Tesla price, it wouldn't surprise me to see AP out in all luxury cars within a few years and all mid level cars within 5 years.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Oh good lord! Five pages over essentially nothing.

Your entire focus is on the car seats. For goodness sake, stow a spare car seat in your car and get over it. Flat tires happen to everyone. Find a way to deal with it.

 

[Max*]

Oh good lord! Five pages over essentially nothing.

Welcome to TMC, you must be new?

 

[sitter_k]

Incorrect. No other vehicle (that I'm aware of) has built-in car seats that can't be moved to another vehicle if there is a breakdown.

UGH just pretend they aren't there then! Do what you would do in any other car, problem solved.

"Oh but then there's a third row seat doing nothing...." is it an option YOU ordered or something standard you couldn't opt out of? If YOU ordered it and YOU don't like it now, then next time don't order it right?

This is the equivalent of saying you shouldnt get a Tesla because then you wont know how to drive a car without a 17in display

 

[jgs]

Considering that TACC is available on cars that cost 1/3 of the Tesla price, it wouldn't surprise me to see AP out in all luxury cars within a few years and all mid level cars within 5 years.

I expect so. Interesting article here about it, The High-Stakes Race to Rid the World of Human Drivers - The Atlantic

(As an aside (wait this is already an aside (oh well)), I admired the chutzpah of the GM rep who in one part of the article said "If you see a Tesla on the road, he joked, “stay behind them”" and in another, said he's planning to ship Cadillacs with AP-equivalent in the 2017 model year. All part of the competitive FUD game, I guess.)

 

[kirkbauer]

UGH just pretend they aren't there then! Do what you would do in any other car, problem solved.

"Oh but then there's a third row seat doing nothing...." is it an option YOU ordered or something standard you couldn't opt out of? If YOU ordered it and YOU don't like it now, then next time don't order it right?

It's now an obvious disadvantage that wasn't apparent when I ordered the vehicle. I will have to advise others to consider this downside when ordering a MS. I'm not likely to be ordering another $100k+ vehicle any time soon but yes I will know better next time. I don't see why this post was such a problem for everybody, but at least some people provided helpful suggestions.

- - - Updated - - -

That's a plus for the Tesla, not a minus. In any other car you would need a car seat, apparently you still need one in the Tesla in some cases, but not all.

I agree it is a plus for the Tesla but not as much of a plus as I had thought when I ordered it.

In any other car you would never be on the side of a freeway in the middle of nowhere with no safe way to get your kids home (unless you took them there unsafely without a car seat in the first place).

I'm not knocking Tesla, but it is a non-obvious disadvantage of the third-row seats. It is also something other buyers should be more aware of. I also received some useful suggestions on here (the most useful of which was the BubbleBum option which I had never heard about). I don't see the harm in my post and why I received so much negative feedback.

I didn't say the MS was not a good road trip vehicle. I didn't even say it wasn't a good road trip vehicle for me. I simply said I'm not confident it is a good road trip vehicle for me. That means I'm not sure. It also doesn't imply it isn't a good road trip vehicle for you or anybody else.

Finally there is an obvious way that Tesla could mitigate the situation if they wanted to: their Tesla-certified tow trucks could have two booster seats in them (like the BubbleBum).

If that is too arduous or expensive for Tesla then perhaps they can come up with a better plan for roadside assistance to use in this case. For example, find a local Enterprise dealership who can deliver a car with one or two carseats already installed.

I really don't understand the amount of negativity I have received. Tesla has a unique feature and this makes it a less valuable unique feature. There have been some good ideas here on how to mitigate the partial disadvantage. There are also ways Tesla could mitigate the partial disadvantage. How is this a harmful discussion?

 

[Max*]

It's now an obvious disadvantage that wasn't apparent when I ordered the vehicle. I will have to advise others to consider this downside when ordering a MS. I'm not likely to be ordering another $100k+ vehicle any time soon but yes I will know better next time. I don't see why this post was such a problem for everybody, but at least some people provided helpful suggestions.

I've been advising people to think long and hard about the RFS. Not for the reasons you listed, though those are good points. But because of the lack of air in the back. My daughter hates it, and refuses to ride back there. My son likes it, but he does everything my daughter does, so the RFS almost never get used. If I need to fit 7 people, I ask both kids to sit there, and they reluctantly do, but "just for fun" no longer happens.

 

[kirkbauer]

Oh good lord! Five pages over essentially nothing.

Your entire focus is on the car seats. For goodness sake, stow a spare car seat in your car and get over it. Flat tires happen to everyone. Find a way to deal with it.

If you don't have anything nice to say...

- - - Updated - - -

I've been advising people to think long and hard about the RFS. Not for the reasons you listed, though those are good points. But because of the lack of air in the back. My daughter hates it, and refuses to ride back there. My son likes it, but he does everything my daughter does, so the RFS almost never get used. If I need to fit 7 people, I ask both kids to sit there, and they reluctantly do, but "just for fun" no longer happens.

I do agree that without better cooling it gets hot in the summer, but the rest of the year (depending on where you live) the temperature seems just fine. Fortunately my older daughter loves it and my younger one can't wait to sit back there. I'm looking forward to a future without car seats in my car

 

[andrewket]

Another vote: it's the 21s, not the car.

It's the 21's combined with the weight of the car. Get yourself 19's and you'll be much happier. I switched after replacing 3 tires in 4 months and have been very happy since.

On very long trips (especially if driving through the desert) I carry a spare.

 

[mikeash]

yes, I know, the 21" rims isn't making things better

Well, I mean, there's your problem. You put fragile performance tires on a car, use it as a family kid-hauler, then blow two tires at once and and wonder if the car is suitable for you.

In my opinion, the inconvenience you face when getting a flat tire is irrelevant (assuming you don't die or get severely injured) because it should happen almost never. If you have to spend twelve hours getting it towed to a service center, that should still be fine, because it's something you should be dealing with maybe once a decade if that.

The car is fine. Your wheels aren't. Put 19s on there and solve the problem from the right end.

 

[kirkbauer]

Well, I mean, there's your problem. You put fragile performance tires on a car, use it as a family kid-hauler, then blow two tires at once and and wonder if the car is suitable for you.

It sounds like there is a consensus. A MS with 21" wheels is not suitable for me to take on road trips with my kids. That's all I was wondering. Good thing that isn't the primary purpose of the vehicle. I think it could be made suitable but most people in this thread don't seem to want to focus on that.

And since any vehicle can lose a tire, even with 19" wheels, then it sounds like most people in this thread think I shouldn't be using any sort of MS for a road trip with my kids.

In my opinion, the inconvenience you face when getting a flat tire is irrelevant (assuming you don't die or get severely injured) because it should happen almost never. If you have to spend twelve hours getting it towed to a service center, that should still be fine, because it's something you should be dealing with maybe once a decade if that.

It is a good point. This is my fourth "on the side of the road with a flat tire" incident in 20 years so for me it is more like twice a decade. This was the first one without a spare tire, the first one where I lost two tires at once, and the first one with kids. Also the other three incidents involved tires that make the 19" standard wheels seem like scary low-profiles, so it sounds like I should expect much more frequent occurrences going forward.

 

[Max*]

And since any vehicle can lose a tire, even with 19" wheels, then it sounds like most people in this thread think I shouldn't be using any sort of MS for a road trip with my kids.

Most people have their head stuck too far up... nevermind.

By the end of this month, my car will be 6 months old and 14k miles on it. Of those 14k, I'd say at least 8k are roadtrip miles (My folks like 250 miles away, my inlaws live 500 miles away. We also took a vacation down south, and a few other small trips here and there) all done with 2 kids in the car.

The Model S is a GREAT roadtrip car.

 

[ilg]

It's now an obvious disadvantage that wasn't apparent when I ordered the vehicle. I will have to advise others to consider this downside when ordering a MS. I'm not likely to be ordering another $100k+ vehicle any time soon but yes I will know better next time. I don't see why this post was such a problem for everybody, but at least some people provided helpful suggestions. - - - Updated - - - I agree it is a plus for the Tesla but not as much of a plus as I had thought when I ordered it. In any other car you would never be on the side of a freeway in the middle of nowhere with no safe way to get your kids home (unless you took them there unsafely without a car seat in the first place).

You keep saying this, but that doesn't make it true. Model S is not the only car ever made with built-in child seats. A very popular mini-van had them as an option. I think it was Chrysler. And Mercedes and Volvo have already been brought up in this thread as having built-in child seats - rear-facing, even!

I'm not knocking Tesla, but it is a non-obvious disadvantage of the third-row seats. It is also something other buyers should be more aware of. I also received some useful suggestions on here (the most useful of which was the BubbleBum option which I had never heard about). I don't see the harm in my post and why I received so much negative feedback.

Some of the negativity may be due to the fact that you appear to be ignoring or dismissing several pertinent counter arguments. The whole thing comes down to the fact that you configured your car in such a way that it conflicts with your mission. That's a shame, for sure. Especially so, when you had to spend a bunch of money on it. But, you can't really fault the entire Model S line because you ordered the wrong wheels/tires and you didn't have a spare child seat.

 

[Todd Burch]

Yep, dump the 21s.

35,000 Model S miles on 19s, no problems.
25,000 more Model S miles on 20s, no problems.