Owners delivery stories, photos and first impressions

[UMD86]

Ok guys. Let's get back on the positive side of things :smile:

Received my MS on the 15th, but have been too busy enjoying the beast to write anything detailed.

The lease on my BMW 328i coupe was going to expire on late April 2013 so I started to research what kind of car I would get next back in Oct. '12. I had pretty much narrowed it down to an M3, but kept on reading auto magazines until I happened upon the Road and Track issue with an awesome write up about the Model S. I was immediately intrigued and started to pick up whatever info I could about Tesla and their new clean sheet production. Reservation/deposit was put in on November, as the conventional wisdom at the time placed the estimated time of arrival in May or June. I figured I might be car-less for possibly a month or so, but it would be worth the wait. To my surprise, the finalize button came sooner than expected and I did not hesitate. As the time drew nearer, I realized that there would be some overlap with the BMW lease, but I was so anxious to receive it I didn't care. In fact, I got to pestering the new Tesla repair specialist, Barry Abe, that just got sent down to open the soon-to-be-open service center and asking when I could take it (I knew the boat had arrived a couple of days prior). He was swamped and hadn't had any days off as he is overseeing the construction of the service center, as well as preparing/organizing the distribution of all arriving Model S', and did I mention he also has to be a repair specialist? :biggrin:
Barry is a one-man show currently, and a hard-working dedicated technician. We're lucky to have him as our rep.

View attachment 18631

I didn't want to make his work load harder, but at the same time I didn't want to wait to get my MS, so when I found out the thing holding it up would be the detailing, I told him I would pick it up as is and would do the detailing myself. He understood the urgency and said go ahead and come on down. The car had a half charge, identifying marsh pen markings on the glass, and was a little dirty. It didn't matter. Barry started to walk me through some of the things, but I said "I've got it. I've watched all of the Ben Goodwin videos and also the official one from Tesla on Vimeo. Plus I've basically scoured the TMC postings for the last 4 months". He said it was the easiest delivery he had ever done and passed me the key fobs.

I have never driven, much less owned, a car that is this fast. Closest thing was my 535i. The Model S is in a league of its own. Seriously fast, and fun to drive.
I thoroughly enjoy Tesla Time, and have had all sorts of people asking me about it. Today I spotted a lady in my rear view mirror putting her phone up to her windshield snapping photos of the MS. I tried to bring out my camera and get a pic of her taking a pic of me, but I was too late and the light turned green. She managed to pull on the side of me, and at the next light she was trying to get my attention so I rolled down the window. She was quite a stunner! She asked how I liked it, and said her husband wants to get the Model X. Many compliments and I'm on my way.

Same stretch of road and another young man in an old beat up mustang pulls up alongside and was gawking horribly at my car. He was making the funniest facial expressions, and looking at me and shrugging his shoulders as if to say "what the heck is THAT!" He tried to engage in conversation but we were rolling and didn't catch any lights. When we reached the freeway I stretched the MS' legs a bit to show what it could do

When I went to the gas station to get the required safety check inspection, many customers were gawking, as well as the attendants. They all gathered around and I showed them the two trunks and the older guys were scratching their heads trying to grasp the concept of no engine and gas tank. One was inspecting all over the car, making comments about what on the car they can possibly fix. He asked me if it requires oil changes, LOL! In the end I think he only could say for sure they could do the brakes (I'm not so sure of this, since it also has regen braking and may take special training to fix the regular brakes too).

Took about 2 hours to do everything necessary to get my car legal here in Hawaii, and I had enough time left over to snap some pics up on a nearby mountain lookout (Tantalus). And dammit! I just realized that the handles were extended when I shot these. Sorry, not a professional photographer and just using an iPhone for pics, but oh well!
View attachment 18637

Congrats Stephen - I noticed there are a lot of 21" wheels at the service center. Hope the Mayor starts his road improvement plan soon!! Great pics - were they taken at the entrance of Punchbowl??

 

[nanimac]

Awesome pics! The white looks beautiful! I've driven by the service center twice hoping to catch Barry and check out some Teslas..been dying to see a blue one in person!

Ok guys. Let's get back on the positive side of things :smile:

Received my MS on the 15th, but have been too busy enjoying the beast to write anything detailed.

The lease on my BMW 328i coupe was going to expire on late April 2013 so I started to research what kind of car I would get next back in Oct. '12. I had pretty much narrowed it down to an M3, but kept on reading auto magazines until I happened upon the Road and Track issue with an awesome write up about the Model S. I was immediately intrigued and started to pick up whatever info I could about Tesla and their new clean sheet production. Reservation/deposit was put in on November, as the conventional wisdom at the time placed the estimated time of arrival in May or June. I figured I might be car-less for possibly a month or so, but it would be worth the wait. To my surprise, the finalize button came sooner than expected and I did not hesitate. As the time drew nearer, I realized that there would be some overlap with the BMW lease, but I was so anxious to receive it I didn't care. In fact, I got to pestering the new Tesla repair specialist, Barry Abe, that just got sent down to open the soon-to-be-open service center and asking when I could take it (I knew the boat had arrived a couple of days prior). He was swamped and hadn't had any days off as he is overseeing the construction of the service center, as well as preparing/organizing the distribution of all arriving Model S', and did I mention he also has to be a repair specialist? :biggrin:
Barry is a one-man show currently, and a hard-working dedicated technician. We're lucky to have him as our rep.


I didn't want to make his work load harder, but at the same time I didn't want to wait to get my MS, so when I found out the thing holding it up would be the detailing, I told him I would pick it up as is and would do the detailing myself. He understood the urgency and said go ahead and come on down. The car had a half charge, identifying marsh pen markings on the glass, and was a little dirty. It didn't matter. Barry started to walk me through some of the things, but I said "I've got it. I've watched all of the Ben Goodwin videos and also the official one from Tesla on Vimeo. Plus I've basically scoured the TMC postings for the last 4 months". He said it was the easiest delivery he had ever done and passed me the key fobs.

I have never driven, much less owned, a car that is this fast. Closest thing was my 535i. The Model S is in a league of its own. Seriously fast, and fun to drive.
I thoroughly enjoy Tesla Time, and have had all sorts of people asking me about it. Today I spotted a lady in my rear view mirror putting her phone up to her windshield snapping photos of the MS. I tried to bring out my camera and get a pic of her taking a pic of me, but I was too late and the light turned green. She managed to pull on the side of me, and at the next light she was trying to get my attention so I rolled down the window. She was quite a stunner! She asked how I liked it, and said her husband wants to get the Model X. Many compliments and I'm on my way.

Same stretch of road and another young man in an old beat up mustang pulls up alongside and was gawking horribly at my car. He was making the funniest facial expressions, and looking at me and shrugging his shoulders as if to say "what the heck is THAT!" He tried to engage in conversation but we were rolling and didn't catch any lights. When we reached the freeway I stretched the MS' legs a bit to show what it could do

When I went to the gas station to get the required safety check inspection, many customers were gawking, as well as the attendants. They all gathered around and I showed them the two trunks and the older guys were scratching their heads trying to grasp the concept of no engine and gas tank. One was inspecting all over the car, making comments about what on the car they can possibly fix. He asked me if it requires oil changes, LOL! In the end I think he only could say for sure they could do the brakes (I'm not so sure of this, since it also has regen braking and may take special training to fix the regular brakes too).

Took about 2 hours to do everything necessary to get my car legal here in Hawaii, and I had enough time left over to snap some pics up on a nearby mountain lookout (Tantalus). And dammit! I just realized that the handles were extended when I shot these. Sorry, not a professional photographer and just using an iPhone for pics, but oh well!
View attachment 18637

 

[Papafox]

StephenM,
Aloha, and many thanks for the posting. Here's hoping that when the service center opens on Oahu isle residents will be invited to visit. Since I'm waiting for a 40kwh model, my wait will be a long one. Anyway, StephenM, she's a gorgeous car and congratulations!

Has anyone out there been invited to a service center opening elsewhere in the country? Is it done?

 

[StephenM]

Regen is in the motor so the brakes shouldn't require anything special. They also probably won't need any service since the regen handles most of the braking loads. In some areas the rotors could rust a bit I suppose from lack of use, so it might be a good idea to do some hard braking occasionally to clean them off.

That's what I love about these forums. I knew someone would know and would answer the question! Thanks for that.

Congrats StephenM on your delivery...posts and pictures like yours take what my wife has termed "Tesla Porn" to a whole new level!

I passed the time waiting for my MS by reading this thread and definitely was obligated to pay it forward :smile:

Congrats Stephen - I noticed there are a lot of 21" wheels at the service center. Hope the Mayor starts his road improvement plan soon!! Great pics - were they taken at the entrance of Punchbowl??

The pot holes on our roads are definitely scary! It almost got me to switch to the 19"
The pictures are taken at the first lookout on Tantalus (Round Top Drive).

Awesome pics! The white looks beautiful! I've driven by the service center twice hoping to catch Barry and check out some Teslas..been dying to see a blue one in person!

The blue looks AWESOME!! You will not be disappointed.

StephenM,
Aloha, and many thanks for the posting. Here's hoping that when the service center opens on Oahu isle residents will be invited to visit. Since I'm waiting for a 40kwh model, my wait will be a long one. Anyway, StephenM, she's a gorgeous car and congratulations!

My pleasure, and thanks Papafox!

 

[montgom626]

Only one. Yes really. It’s been thrashed around ad nauseam. Now that I’ve driven the car 200 miles I can say it. The B Pillar WILL be an issue for me. It’s too far forward.

Give credit to crash standards for the huge B pillar. Now an issue with almost all new cars.

Great story!

 

[joer00]

Finally having my car and being over the first hours of "not being able to do anything but drive", I now can write my "story". (Pictures and short "got delivery" is in the Delivery Update Thread"


Before I ordered the MS last year I asked my bank if they would have a problem financing it. Their answer was " no problem we financed Bentley's in a higher range", so I went ahead and put the order in. My delivery button gave me March 13-27. I called in the last February week to get an update and they told me the car is not in production yet. So I thought the car will most likely come at the last day of the window and put my final financing application in on the first week of March. After taking the application and running my credit the bank told me that they have a rule to not finance electric cars and my rep "unfortunately" did not know it !


Now the stress started. I am born and raised in Germany, a country where people have little debts and usually pay everything cash except the residence which is very difficult to get financed without putting 20 % down. If everybody would have acted like me, we would not have a financial crisis. BUT it's ME who gets punished for not having enough debts. My next bank attempt was denied due to "limited credit history". The next bank I tried, which holds by rental business accounts, denied because they consider Tesla to be an exotic car and they do not finance such. As I also have a relationship with Wells Fargo, I called them. I was able to speak with a manager and he told me that they really do not like to finance Teslas and the most they ever approved for a guy with a 830 credit rating was 62k !


So things started to get difficult and than comes that phone call on the 13th, the FIRST day of my delivery window. "Joe your car is ready to be picked up". OMG ! Now the hard rate went up.


I contacted hershey101 as he posted similar problems and he suggested to contact Matt Franzella at Tesla directly. From here on the Tesla awesomeness started ! Matt told me to not apply trough the normal Wells Fargo channels and that he should have a better chance to get this approved. The same credit history came up but Matt fought hard and got an approval for 65k, with the "s%^$@!y Wells Fargo interest rate, but at least we got it going. Only requirement was to trade in my Audi A5. Autonation gave me a s#$%!@" quote of 31k. Than Mark stepped in from the Tampa Tesla center and found me a buyer. He offered 34.5k. I went to to carmax who offered me 33k and to my Audi dealer who gave me a 34 quote. I talked to Matt and he said he would renegotiate with Auto Nation. He obviously tried hard but only got them to 32k, which with the tax rebate would be the same thing as the 34k from the Audi dealer.


Unfortunately we cold not get the things all signed last Friday, so we where set for Monday delivery. I opted for autonation as I could just leave my Audi with Tesla and I scheduled with Ben, the DS, for 6PM. At around 4 PM Ben calls me that Autonation first needs to inspect the car and that it can take up to two days ! Now the super run started. Calls to the Audi dealer to sell them my car in 30 Minutes, and my wife to pick me up there. In between I have to run to the bank to get the check for the negative equity for the Audi plus the big check for Tesla. There was no way I could make this until 6 pm ! I called Tampa and got Kim on the phone with her nice and calm voice, "don't worry we are here waiting for you". I arrived around 7:30 and Ben took all the time he had to go with me through the car and sign all paperwork in an extremely calm and friendly manner.


Well some people complained about their Tesla experience, mine was just awesome ! Matt, Mark,Ben and Kim, THANKS SO MUCH !!


Now to the car. When I lived in Germany I drove four Porsches (two 911, one 911 biturbo and a 928). One BMW M5 and a Mercedes S600 with the V12 400 HP engine. None of them I drove with such a pleasure like my P85 ! My opinion to most discussed items:


1.) Suspension
The ONLY downside of this car !! It cannot in any way compete with my A5 ! In this category the Germans are just still way ahead ! The MS is not stable, if you wiggle on the wheel it starts wobbeling like most American cars. They are much more comfortable, but the German cars just "glue" on the street. This is not an issue for me here in USA where we anyway can only go turtle speed, but I am sure the first road tests in Germany will give the car a bad mark in this category. When I floor it I also have a hard time staying on track. With the rear wheel drive it seems that all weight goes to the back and I think there is just not enough weight on the front wheels to keep the control. The Audi's with their quattro ride just like being on train tracks !


2.) Engine
I don't think there is anything in the world which can compete ! When I test drove the car in California the streets where wet, so I could not really floor it. When I took delivery I did not eat for 7 hours and I almost past out when I floored it on the first traffic light ! Pitty that I could not take a photo of myself, I think I had the biggest grin since years on my face , I am so glad I went with the Performance model. What is most amazing is the easiness of the power. Many ICE scream when you floor them, the MS just seamlessly shoots ahead. And the "gas pedal" is just awesome. You can drive the car as slow and easy as you can drive it aggressive fast.


3.) Noise
Driving slowly away from anywhere always gives me the "aaahhhhh" factor. You sit in the car with zero noise and you expect that some noise will happen once you get your feed on the pedal, you just drive away and there is no noise ! It's so amazing.


4.) Sound System
What's wrong with you guys ? You call this mediocre ? I have the upgraded system and I had to move the basses up and the pan a little to the back and now it sound awesome ! Much better than my Audi. Nice basses and clear trebles. The Slacker is so awesome, better than Pandora ! I put my favorite Pandora "Saga" station in and I was just driving and dreaming of the good old times listening to the 80s songs ! Volume was at 10, just awesome !


5.) Navigation
Another aaaaaahhhh effect ! I HATED my Audi nav the day I bought the car, it was a waste of money. Most cars have those mini screens and that stupid wheel with buttons around it where you need 10 minutes to put your destination in ! The Tesla works 100 % perfect, like one expects it to work. Big keyboard and after entering the first 2-3 letters I see already in the list my destination, a single click on it and here it goes ! The map and directions than also appear on almost half of the dash display to the left, awesome ! I cannot think of any way this could have been done better.


6.) Cruise control
I am used to the Mercedes "stick" similar to the MS. Absolutely LOVE it ! I don't understand why some people complain. With the steering wheel based or Audi "strange stick buttons" I was never sure if I pressed the right thing. The MS is clear, NEVER failed in my driving doing the wrong thing. And the small triangle showing up on the odometer where the cruise control is set is just one of those awesome details.


7.) Interior
Did not like it when I saw it first, but start to like it ! It's just different to what we are used. But it is clean and has a simple beauty ! Especially I begin to like the huge space everywhere ! I think I would feel claustrophobic now in my Audi.


8.) Seats
I think they are beautiful, especially the P model in black with the red stripe . No complains so far about the seating comfort.


Cars are just "things" not important in our live. But since Monday I am just a happier person ! This car makes me smile every time I see it and drive it ! This is PRICELESS ! I cannot understand that people who drove the MS are still asking "should I buy an Audi or BMW ?". But of course that's just my opinion !


I hope my long post did not get boring


Joe

 

[EdA]

Joe, not boring at all. Sorry you had such drama but it worked out with only a slight delay.
It is amazing to hear from someone who has owned "all" of the Germany luxury/performance
cars and their impression with the MS.

I don't have the performance version but every day I drive the car I am smiling and I can't
wait to get back in...

 

[montgom626]

5.) Navigation
Another aaaaaahhhh effect ! I HATED my Audi nav the day I bought the car, it was a waste of money. Most cars have those mini screens and that stupid wheel with buttons around it where you need 10 minutes to put your destination in ! The Tesla works 100 % perfect, like one expects it to work. Big keyboard and after entering the first 2-3 letters I see already in the list my destination, a single click on it and here it goes ! The map and directions than also appear on almost half of the dash display to the left, awesome ! I cannot think of any way this could have been done better.

I agree with the terrible Audi nav system. My 2009 AUDI A8L was so bad I never used it. Worst I have ever seen in any car. Otherwise the Audi was superb.

 

[hershey101]

Finally having my car and being over the first hours of "not being able to do anything but drive", I now can write my "story". (Pictures and short "got delivery" is in the Delivery Update Thread"


Before I ordered the MS last year I asked my bank if they would have a problem financing it. Their answer was " no problem we financed Bentley's in a higher range", so I went ahead and put the order in. My delivery button gave me March 13-27. I called in the last February week to get an update and they told me the car is not in production yet. So I thought the car will most likely come at the last day of the window and put my final financing application in on the first week of March. After taking the application and running my credit the bank told me that they have a rule to not finance electric cars and my rep "unfortunately" did not know it !


Now the stress started. I am born and raised in Germany, a country where people have little debts and usually pay everything cash except the residence which is very difficult to get financed without putting 20 % down. If everybody would have acted like me, we would not have a financial crisis. BUT it's ME who gets punished for not having enough debts. My next bank attempt was denied due to "limited credit history". The next bank I tried, which holds by rental business accounts, denied because they consider Tesla to be an exotic car and they do not finance such. As I also have a relationship with Wells Fargo, I called them. I was able to speak with a manager and he told me that they really do not like to finance Teslas and the most they ever approved for a guy with a 830 credit rating was 62k !


So things started to get difficult and than comes that phone call on the 13th, the FIRST day of my delivery window. "Joe your car is ready to be picked up". OMG ! Now the hard rate went up.


I contacted hershey101 as he posted similar problems and he suggested to contact Matt Franzella at Tesla directly. From here on the Tesla awesomeness started ! Matt told me to not apply trough the normal Wells Fargo channels and that he should have a better chance to get this approved. The same credit history came up but Matt fought hard and got an approval for 65k, with the "s%^$@!y Wells Fargo interest rate, but at least we got it going. Only requirement was to trade in my Audi A5. Autonation gave me a s#$%!@" quote of 31k. Than Mark stepped in from the Tampa Tesla center and found me a buyer. He offered 34.5k. I went to to carmax who offered me 33k and to my Audi dealer who gave me a 34 quote. I talked to Matt and he said he would renegotiate with Auto Nation. He obviously tried hard but only got them to 32k, which with the tax rebate would be the same thing as the 34k from the Audi dealer.


Unfortunately we cold not get the things all signed last Friday, so we where set for Monday delivery. I opted for autonation as I could just leave my Audi with Tesla and I scheduled with Ben, the DS, for 6PM. At around 4 PM Ben calls me that Autonation first needs to inspect the car and that it can take up to two days ! Now the super run started. Calls to the Audi dealer to sell them my car in 30 Minutes, and my wife to pick me up there. In between I have to run to the bank to get the check for the negative equity for the Audi plus the big check for Tesla. There was no way I could make this until 6 pm ! I called Tampa and got Kim on the phone with her nice and calm voice, "don't worry we are here waiting for you". I arrived around 7:30 and Ben took all the time he had to go with me through the car and sign all paperwork in an extremely calm and friendly manner.


Well some people complained about their Tesla experience, mine was just awesome ! Matt, Mark,Ben and Kim, THANKS SO MUCH !!


Now to the car. When I lived in Germany I drove four Porsches (two 911, one 911 biturbo and a 928). One BMW M5 and a Mercedes S600 with the V12 400 HP engine. None of them I drove with such a pleasure like my P85 ! My opinion to most discussed items:


1.) Suspension
The ONLY downside of this car !! It cannot in any way compete with my A5 ! In this category the Germans are just still way ahead ! The MS is not stable, if you wiggle on the wheel it starts wobbeling like most American cars. They are much more comfortable, but the German cars just "glue" on the street. This is not an issue for me here in USA where we anyway can only go turtle speed, but I am sure the first road tests in Germany will give the car a bad mark in this category. When I floor it I also have a hard time staying on track. With the rear wheel drive it seems that all weight goes to the back and I think there is just not enough weight on the front wheels to keep the control. The Audi's with their quattro ride just like being on train tracks !


2.) Engine
I don't think there is anything in the world which can compete ! When I test drove the car in California the streets where wet, so I could not really floor it. When I took delivery I did not eat for 7 hours and I almost past out when I floored it on the first traffic light ! Pitty that I could not take a photo of myself, I think I had the biggest grin since years on my face , I am so glad I went with the Performance model. What is most amazing is the easiness of the power. Many ICE scream when you floor them, the MS just seamlessly shoots ahead. And the "gas pedal" is just awesome. You can drive the car as slow and easy as you can drive it aggressive fast.


3.) Noise
Driving slowly away from anywhere always gives me the "aaahhhhh" factor. You sit in the car with zero noise and you expect that some noise will happen once you get your feed on the pedal, you just drive away and there is no noise ! It's so amazing.


4.) Sound System
What's wrong with you guys ? You call this mediocre ? I have the upgraded system and I had to move the basses up and the pan a little to the back and now it sound awesome ! Much better than my Audi. Nice basses and clear trebles. The Slacker is so awesome, better than Pandora ! I put my favorite Pandora "Saga" station in and I was just driving and dreaming of the good old times listening to the 80s songs ! Volume was at 10, just awesome !


5.) Navigation
Another aaaaaahhhh effect ! I HATED my Audi nav the day I bought the car, it was a waste of money. Most cars have those mini screens and that stupid wheel with buttons around it where you need 10 minutes to put your destination in ! The Tesla works 100 % perfect, like one expects it to work. Big keyboard and after entering the first 2-3 letters I see already in the list my destination, a single click on it and here it goes ! The map and directions than also appear on almost half of the dash display to the left, awesome ! I cannot think of any way this could have been done better.


6.) Cruise control
I am used to the Mercedes "stick" similar to the MS. Absolutely LOVE it ! I don't understand why some people complain. With the steering wheel based or Audi "strange stick buttons" I was never sure if I pressed the right thing. The MS is clear, NEVER failed in my driving doing the wrong thing. And the small triangle showing up on the odometer where the cruise control is set is just one of those awesome details.


7.) Interior
Did not like it when I saw it first, but start to like it ! It's just different to what we are used. But it is clean and has a simple beauty ! Especially I begin to like the huge space everywhere ! I think I would feel claustrophobic now in my Audi.


8.) Seats
I think they are beautiful, especially the P model in black with the red stripe . No complains so far about the seating comfort.


Cars are just "things" not important in our live. But since Monday I am just a happier person ! This car makes me smile every time I see it and drive it ! This is PRICELESS ! I cannot understand that people who drove the MS are still asking "should I buy an Audi or BMW ?". But of course that's just my opinion !


I hope my long post did not get boring


Joe

Hey Joe,
Great post! glad to see everything worked out (more or less). I'm super excited to take delivery of my car in a month.

 

[yobigd20]

Hit my first 1000 already in 2 weeks of ownership. Love the car! I could give a long detailed description of everything that's awesome about the car, but that's already been rehashed about 1000 times on here from things like it's silent, smooth, fast, fun to drive, turns heads (a LOT of heads), slacker's awesome, comfortable...yada yada. You know the deal!!! Thank you Tesla for building the most-awesome car in the world!

 

[PeterSZ]

@Joer00

Vielen dank fuer deine fabelhafte story! It sounds very encouraging to hear such positive comments from a critical European.

 

[hershey101]

You should take your Model S up Mauna Kea. That would make an awesome Photo Op.

Ok guys. Let's get back on the positive side of things :smile:

Received my MS on the 15th, but have been too busy enjoying the beast to write anything detailed.

The lease on my BMW 328i coupe was going to expire on late April 2013 so I started to research what kind of car I would get next back in Oct. '12. I had pretty much narrowed it down to an M3, but kept on reading auto magazines until I happened upon the Road and Track issue with an awesome write up about the Model S. I was immediately intrigued and started to pick up whatever info I could about Tesla and their new clean sheet production. Reservation/deposit was put in on November, as the conventional wisdom at the time placed the estimated time of arrival in May or June. I figured I might be car-less for possibly a month or so, but it would be worth the wait. To my surprise, the finalize button came sooner than expected and I did not hesitate. As the time drew nearer, I realized that there would be some overlap with the BMW lease, but I was so anxious to receive it I didn't care. In fact, I got to pestering the new Tesla repair specialist, Barry Abe, that just got sent down to open the soon-to-be-open service center and asking when I could take it (I knew the boat had arrived a couple of days prior). He was swamped and hadn't had any days off as he is overseeing the construction of the service center, as well as preparing/organizing the distribution of all arriving Model S', and did I mention he also has to be a repair specialist? :biggrin:
Barry is a one-man show currently, and a hard-working dedicated technician. We're lucky to have him as our rep.

View attachment 18631

I didn't want to make his work load harder, but at the same time I didn't want to wait to get my MS, so when I found out the thing holding it up would be the detailing, I told him I would pick it up as is and would do the detailing myself. He understood the urgency and said go ahead and come on down. The car had a half charge, identifying marsh pen markings on the glass, and was a little dirty. It didn't matter. Barry started to walk me through some of the things, but I said "I've got it. I've watched all of the Ben Goodwin videos and also the official one from Tesla on Vimeo. Plus I've basically scoured the TMC postings for the last 4 months". He said it was the easiest delivery he had ever done and passed me the key fobs.

I have never driven, much less owned, a car that is this fast. Closest thing was my 535i. The Model S is in a league of its own. Seriously fast, and fun to drive.
I thoroughly enjoy Tesla Time, and have had all sorts of people asking me about it. Today I spotted a lady in my rear view mirror putting her phone up to her windshield snapping photos of the MS. I tried to bring out my camera and get a pic of her taking a pic of me, but I was too late and the light turned green. She managed to pull on the side of me, and at the next light she was trying to get my attention so I rolled down the window. She was quite a stunner! She asked how I liked it, and said her husband wants to get the Model X. Many compliments and I'm on my way.

Same stretch of road and another young man in an old beat up mustang pulls up alongside and was gawking horribly at my car. He was making the funniest facial expressions, and looking at me and shrugging his shoulders as if to say "what the heck is THAT!" He tried to engage in conversation but we were rolling and didn't catch any lights. When we reached the freeway I stretched the MS' legs a bit to show what it could do

When I went to the gas station to get the required safety check inspection, many customers were gawking, as well as the attendants. They all gathered around and I showed them the two trunks and the older guys were scratching their heads trying to grasp the concept of no engine and gas tank. One was inspecting all over the car, making comments about what on the car they can possibly fix. He asked me if it requires oil changes, LOL! In the end I think he only could say for sure they could do the brakes (I'm not so sure of this, since it also has regen braking and may take special training to fix the regular brakes too).

Took about 2 hours to do everything necessary to get my car legal here in Hawaii, and I had enough time left over to snap some pics up on a nearby mountain lookout (Tantalus). And dammit! I just realized that the handles were extended when I shot these. Sorry, not a professional photographer and just using an iPhone for pics, but oh well!

 

[joer00]

@Joer00

Vielen dank fuer deine fabelhafte story! It sounds very encouraging to hear such positive comments from a critical European.

Bitteschoen

However I doubt the car will have any success in Germany ! When I lived there it always drove 160 miles/hour when the traffic allowed it. Not only can't the MS go that fast, the batteries would be empty in minutes. This is the perfect car for America and I am sure it's time in Germany will come. Either when Germany will have speed limits everywhere (which they try for years to get passed), or when the batteries have 800Kw/h which I am sure will happen. It's just a matter of time. The ICE is dead, it's also just a matter of time.

- - - Updated - - -

Some more "aaaaaaahhhhhh" effects from the first days of driving:

1.) The climate system is awesome. I was concerned with the pano roof and no sun blinds that the car would be terrible hot (I live in Florida !). The opposite is the case ! It is MUCH cooler than my Audi A5 and the inside temperature is just perfectly regulated. Especially when one starts to heat/cool before getting into the car. It's my breakfast and last 30 minutes of work routine to check the temperature and start cooling or heating over the mobile app.

2.) The navigation is SUPER awesome. I expected that with google maps and the big screen it will be great, but today I got surprised by an beautiful "virtual reality" picture on my dashboard. I will never miss any exit again

 

[brianman]

However I doubt the car will have any success in Germany ! When I lived there it always drove 160 miles/hour when the traffic allowed it.

Perhaps our resident Germans could chime in here...

Is this still a relatively common occurrence these days, or have the typical speeds been moderated somewhat?

 

[Eberhard]

i am waiting for more than 2 1/2 years for getting my Model S Sig P85 in July. Speed is no longer a problem after getting used with my roadster to travel long distances with 55mph only. I see an increased speed to 65mph, a huge improvement. After 131.000km you love the country roads and the serpentines in the alps.

Best improvement will be the 3-phase charging with 20kW compared to my roadster with mono-phase 32A = 7,2kW only.

But the Renault ZOE will be able to charge here with even 43kW, half the speed of a SC at 3x63A AC, filling his small 24kWh battery within 20min to 80% SOC, quicker than the Model S and SC.

liebe Grüße

Eberhard

 

[PeterSZ]

Bitteschoen

The ICE is dead, it's also just a matter of time.

Please note that this quote comes from a multiple Porsche-owning Petrolhead......

 

[zero]

@StephenM... Fantastic photos!!! I've been patiently waiting and reading threads looking for photos of white with 21" wheels to reinforce my decision. Congrats!!

 

[Crawdad]

Great Stuff, Joe.

Glad you got good service; sounds like a happy customer. Good to know to get the Finances early, and make the lazy bank guys confirm. Any glitches so far?

Finally having my car and being over the first hours of "not being able to do anything but drive", I now can write my "story". (Pictures and short "got delivery" is in the Delivery Update Thread"


Before I ordered the MS last year I asked my bank if they would have a problem financing it. Their answer was " no problem we financed Bentley's in a higher range", so I went ahead and put the order in. My delivery button gave me March 13-27. I called in the last February week to get an update and they told me the car is not in production yet. So I thought the car will most likely come at the last day of the window and put my final financing application in on the first week of March. After taking the application and running my credit the bank told me that they have a rule to not finance electric cars and my rep "unfortunately" did not know it !


Now the stress started. I am born and raised in Germany, a country where people have little debts and usually pay everything cash except the residence which is very difficult to get financed without putting 20 % down. If everybody would have acted like me, we would not have a financial crisis. BUT it's ME who gets punished for not having enough debts. My next bank attempt was denied due to "limited credit history". The next bank I tried, which holds by rental business accounts, denied because they consider Tesla to be an exotic car and they do not finance such. As I also have a relationship with Wells Fargo, I called them. I was able to speak with a manager and he told me that they really do not like to finance Teslas and the most they ever approved for a guy with a 830 credit rating was 62k !


So things started to get difficult and than comes that phone call on the 13th, the FIRST day of my delivery window. "Joe your car is ready to be picked up". OMG ! Now the hard rate went up.


I contacted hershey101 as he posted similar problems and he suggested to contact Matt Franzella at Tesla directly. From here on the Tesla awesomeness started ! Matt told me to not apply trough the normal Wells Fargo channels and that he should have a better chance to get this approved. The same credit history came up but Matt fought hard and got an approval for 65k, with the "s%^$@!y Wells Fargo interest rate, but at least we got it going. Only requirement was to trade in my Audi A5. Autonation gave me a s#$%!@" quote of 31k. Than Mark stepped in from the Tampa Tesla center and found me a buyer. He offered 34.5k. I went to to carmax who offered me 33k and to my Audi dealer who gave me a 34 quote. I talked to Matt and he said he would renegotiate with Auto Nation. He obviously tried hard but only got them to 32k, which with the tax rebate would be the same thing as the 34k from the Audi dealer.


Unfortunately we cold not get the things all signed last Friday, so we where set for Monday delivery. I opted for autonation as I could just leave my Audi with Tesla and I scheduled with Ben, the DS, for 6PM. At around 4 PM Ben calls me that Autonation first needs to inspect the car and that it can take up to two days ! Now the super run started. Calls to the Audi dealer to sell them my car in 30 Minutes, and my wife to pick me up there. In between I have to run to the bank to get the check for the negative equity for the Audi plus the big check for Tesla. There was no way I could make this until 6 pm ! I called Tampa and got Kim on the phone with her nice and calm voice, "don't worry we are here waiting for you". I arrived around 7:30 and Ben took all the time he had to go with me through the car and sign all paperwork in an extremely calm and friendly manner.


Well some people complained about their Tesla experience, mine was just awesome ! Matt, Mark,Ben and Kim, THANKS SO MUCH !!


Now to the car. When I lived in Germany I drove four Porsches (two 911, one 911 biturbo and a 928). One BMW M5 and a Mercedes S600 with the V12 400 HP engine. None of them I drove with such a pleasure like my P85 ! My opinion to most discussed items:


1.) Suspension
The ONLY downside of this car !! It cannot in any way compete with my A5 ! In this category the Germans are just still way ahead ! The MS is not stable, if you wiggle on the wheel it starts wobbeling like most American cars. They are much more comfortable, but the German cars just "glue" on the street. This is not an issue for me here in USA where we anyway can only go turtle speed, but I am sure the first road tests in Germany will give the car a bad mark in this category. When I floor it I also have a hard time staying on track. With the rear wheel drive it seems that all weight goes to the back and I think there is just not enough weight on the front wheels to keep the control. The Audi's with their quattro ride just like being on train tracks !


2.) Engine
I don't think there is anything in the world which can compete ! When I test drove the car in California the streets where wet, so I could not really floor it. When I took delivery I did not eat for 7 hours and I almost past out when I floored it on the first traffic light ! Pitty that I could not take a photo of myself, I think I had the biggest grin since years on my face , I am so glad I went with the Performance model. What is most amazing is the easiness of the power. Many ICE scream when you floor them, the MS just seamlessly shoots ahead. And the "gas pedal" is just awesome. You can drive the car as slow and easy as you can drive it aggressive fast.


3.) Noise
Driving slowly away from anywhere always gives me the "aaahhhhh" factor. You sit in the car with zero noise and you expect that some noise will happen once you get your feed on the pedal, you just drive away and there is no noise ! It's so amazing.


4.) Sound System
What's wrong with you guys ? You call this mediocre ? I have the upgraded system and I had to move the basses up and the pan a little to the back and now it sound awesome ! Much better than my Audi. Nice basses and clear trebles. The Slacker is so awesome, better than Pandora ! I put my favorite Pandora "Saga" station in and I was just driving and dreaming of the good old times listening to the 80s songs ! Volume was at 10, just awesome !


5.) Navigation
Another aaaaaahhhh effect ! I HATED my Audi nav the day I bought the car, it was a waste of money. Most cars have those mini screens and that stupid wheel with buttons around it where you need 10 minutes to put your destination in ! The Tesla works 100 % perfect, like one expects it to work. Big keyboard and after entering the first 2-3 letters I see already in the list my destination, a single click on it and here it goes ! The map and directions than also appear on almost half of the dash display to the left, awesome ! I cannot think of any way this could have been done better.


6.) Cruise control
I am used to the Mercedes "stick" similar to the MS. Absolutely LOVE it ! I don't understand why some people complain. With the steering wheel based or Audi "strange stick buttons" I was never sure if I pressed the right thing. The MS is clear, NEVER failed in my driving doing the wrong thing. And the small triangle showing up on the odometer where the cruise control is set is just one of those awesome details.


7.) Interior
Did not like it when I saw it first, but start to like it ! It's just different to what we are used. But it is clean and has a simple beauty ! Especially I begin to like the huge space everywhere ! I think I would feel claustrophobic now in my Audi.


8.) Seats
I think they are beautiful, especially the P model in black with the red stripe . No complains so far about the seating comfort.


Cars are just "things" not important in our live. But since Monday I am just a happier person ! This car makes me smile every time I see it and drive it ! This is PRICELESS ! I cannot understand that people who drove the MS are still asking "should I buy an Audi or BMW ?". But of course that's just my opinion !


I hope my long post did not get boring


Joe

 

[StephenM]

You should take your Model S up Mauna Kea. That would make an awesome Photo Op.

I agree!! Too bad Mauna Kea is on a different island :smile:

@StephenM... Fantastic photos!!! I've been patiently waiting and reading threads looking for photos of white with 21" wheels to reinforce my decision. Congrats!!

Thanks zero!

 

[mhpr262]

Perhaps our resident Germans could chime in here...

Is this still a relatively common occurrence these days, or have the typical speeds been moderated somewhat?

I do not know when and where joer lived in Germany but that certainly isn't typical for German Autobahns. The vast majority of traffic moves at speeds that are similar or just slightly above the speeds on major American freeways (80-95mph maybe). One does get the occasional driver who passes you travelling well in excess of 120mph, but that is really just a few cars every hour. We may not have a speed limit but we have gas prices of more than 8 or 9$ per gallon ... :frown:

Also, one thing that is rarely mentioned: if you crash into another car while traveling excessively faster than the federally recommended speed (~81mph) you will automatically be apportioned 50% of the blame, even if the other driver was clearly at fault, blind, drunk and has never had a driver's licence.
It can get expensive ...