Owners delivery stories, photos and first impressions

[vic55]

Just got this 2021 Plaid in MSM with black on carbon interior--- Its my first all EV and the only other hybrid I had was a 2018 Acura NSX. I have had 12 AMG's, 11 M's, 9 Porsche's, 3 R8's, Ferraris, Lambo, blah blah blah but you get the drift. I had to see what the speed was all about and my lord there is a hell a lot of it. All I can say is I'm having fun learning the car, dynamics, tech, handling, chassis, and of course that Yoke thing

Its easily the faster car Ive ever owned and I have modded quite a few of my Porsche Turbo S's but I rarely go past the BPU's (basic performance upgrades aka exhaust and tune). I will say this will all honesty was that I never got a prior Tesla because I love engine noise, rpm's thru the ranges, and just the glory of a high performance wail. But the level of performance is so extensive here for the money spent; I had to try it out. I got lucky and just went the Tesla website, started a chat with a representative and he found me a car outside of the 200 mile range on the ground- 1 week later it arrived and Ive been smiling and flying since.

I did add some minor mods to maybe differentiate from the other S's out there visually:

35% Ceramic Tint
Ceramic Coating
Lowering Links via RSX-1 PLAID Ride Height Adjustment Lowering Link Set Tesla S/X

I still would like to get some spacers but am having a hard time finding ones for these new Plaid wheels. My local shop, SupremePower in Fullerton, did all the work and lowered it but the spacers they got from H&R (20mm adapters) did not work right with the OEM studs still hitting wheels. If anyone knows what will work on the Plaid, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[David29]

Just got this 2021 Plaid in MSM with black on carbon interior--- Its my first all EV and the only other hybrid I had was a 2018 Acura NSX. I have had 12 AMG's, 11 M's, 9 Porsche's, 3 R8's, Ferraris, Lambo, blah blah blah but you get the drift. I had to see what the speed was all about and my lord there is a hell a lot of it. All I can say is I'm having fun learning the car, dynamics, tech, handling, chassis, and of course that Yoke thing

Its easily the faster car Ive ever owned and I have modded quite a few of my Porsche Turbo S's but I rarely go past the BPU's (basic performance upgrades aka exhaust and tune). I will say this will all honesty was that I never got a prior Tesla because I love engine noise, rpm's thru the ranges, and just the glory of a high performance wail. But the level of performance is so extensive here for the money spent; I had to try it out. I got lucky and just went the Tesla website, started a chat with a representative and he found me a car outside of the 200 mile range on the ground- 1 week later it arrived and Ive been smiling and flying since.

I did add some minor mods to maybe differentiate from the other S's out there visually:

35% Ceramic Tint
Ceramic Coating
Lowering Links via RSX-1 PLAID Ride Height Adjustment Lowering Link Set Tesla S/X

I still would like to get some spacers but am having a hard time finding ones for these new Plaid wheels. My local shop, SupremePower in Fullerton, did all the work and lowered it but the spacers they got from H&R (20mm adapters) did not work right with the OEM studs still hitting wheels. If anyone knows what will work on the Plaid, I would greatly appreciate it.

Congratulations! For a Tesla newbie, you have certainly jumped right into the deep end! And you were very, very fortunate to get your car in a week! I am sure that many others on this forum will be envious of that delivery time. I hope you continue to enjoy it thoroughly -- and safely!

 

[Drew-MS]

Just got this 2021 Plaid in MSM with black on carbon interior--- Its my first all EV and the only other hybrid I had was a 2018 Acura NSX. I have had 12 AMG's, 11 M's, 9 Porsche's, 3 R8's, Ferraris, Lambo, blah blah blah but you get the drift. I had to see what the speed was all about and my lord there is a hell a lot of it. All I can say is I'm having fun learning the car, dynamics, tech, handling, chassis, and of course that Yoke thing

Its easily the faster car Ive ever owned and I have modded quite a few of my Porsche Turbo S's but I rarely go past the BPU's (basic performance upgrades aka exhaust and tune). I will say this will all honesty was that I never got a prior Tesla because I love engine noise, rpm's thru the ranges, and just the glory of a high performance wail. But the level of performance is so extensive here for the money spent; I had to try it out. I got lucky and just went the Tesla website, started a chat with a representative and he found me a car outside of the 200 mile range on the ground- 1 week later it arrived and Ive been smiling and flying since.

I did add some minor mods to maybe differentiate from the other S's out there visually:

35% Ceramic Tint
Ceramic Coating
Lowering Links via RSX-1 PLAID Ride Height Adjustment Lowering Link Set Tesla S/X

I still would like to get some spacers but am having a hard time finding ones for these new Plaid wheels. My local shop, SupremePower in Fullerton, did all the work and lowered it but the spacers they got from H&R (20mm adapters) did not work right with the OEM studs still hitting wheels. If anyone knows what will work on the Plaid, I would greatly appreciate it.

UPD and Bosnoss have 15mm and 20mm spacers with the bolts as one piece.

Edit: Ultimate Performance & Design "UPD" have spacers in 7075 T6 aluminum (stronger than 6061 T6) for the plaid.

 

[Drew-MS]

UPD and Bosnoss have 15mm and 20mm spacers with the bolts as one piece.

Edit: Ultimate Performance & Design "UPD" have spacers in 7075 T6 aluminum (stronger than 6061 T6) for the plaid.

I thought the UPD spacers for the prior Model S would work on the Plaid which turned out to be wrong. The 5x120 and 64.1 are the same but now we know about the shorter snout on the plaid. Thanks Vic55 for the good information provided in your other post.

At the moment, it's Motorsport-Tech for the correct Plaid spacers.

 

[BlackLight]

12 years ago this was Jonker Nissan. They wanted to charge me $15k market adjustment to buy a GT-R. Now they are gone and my new car is a lot faster.

 

[dropgems]

Just noticed this… within spec? (Wonder if me taking my front plate off could’ve shifted it or if it’s typical Tesla spec).

 

[Ribeyesteak]

For those of you that came from a "fast" car (whatever that means nowadays) and have driven the Plaid for a few weeks/months, has the novelty of the instant torque subsided? I ask because my friend and I both had Plaids on order but after he drove a rental Plaid for ~1000 miles, he decided to cancel his order. Him and I both come from the modified car world with cars that run mid 3 second 60-130mph. I was also thinking the same thing - the lack of visceral sensations. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

 

[dropgems]

For those of you that came from a "fast" car (whatever that means nowadays) and have driven the Plaid for a few weeks/months, has the novelty of the instant torque subsided? I ask because my friend and I both had Plaids on order but after he drove a rental Plaid for ~1000 miles, he decided to cancel his order. Him and I both come from the modified car world with cars that run mid 3 second 60-130mph. I was also thinking the same thing - the lack of visceral sensations. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

I came from a tuned McLaren 12c. They’re both totally different animals. Plaid still pulls super hard, it def hasn’t gotten old but initial shock of it wears off. Still love the car all around.

 

[Ribeyesteak]

I came from a tuned McLaren 12c. They’re both totally different animals. Plaid still pulls super hard, it def hasn’t gotten old but initial shock of it wears off. Still love the car all around.

Appreciate it. Your experience reminds me of first riding motorcycles - pulling the throttle was scary at first then it became "did my bike lose power?"

 

[dropgems]

Appreciate it. Your experience reminds me of first riding motorcycles - pulling the throttle was scary at first then it became "did my bike lose power?"

Yea man… I’m ready for 8’s lol.

 

[MrMichaelB]

@Ribeyesteak - After 250 miles I have gotten use to the Plaid acceleration (yes, quickly). However it is without a doubt shockingly fast, but think about it, even Top Fuel drag racers get use to severe acceleration pretty quick.

I have a garage with plenty of fast cars ~ and they all still feel fast. I have a wheel standing Dodge dragcar (single digit 1/4 mile). A Ferrari. A RennTECH S-Class Benz. A Porsche racecar. A 944 sleeper that I put a supercharged LS V8 swap in, and more quick others. But I still wanted a Plaid. Its not about just the 1020HP for me. I am a FSD affectionato, and the body shape is sexy, the new interior is comfortable. I looked at loads of others (including the EQS, Tycan, E-Tron GT and Lucid) but the Plaid had so many more positives. Do not cancel your order. If you tire of it, buy it then flip it for a profit.

 

[chirowolf]

@Ribeyesteak - After 250 miles I have gotten use to the Plaid acceleration (yes, quickly). However it is without a doubt shockingly fast, but think about it, even Top Fuel drag racers get use to severe acceleration pretty quick.

I have a garage with plenty of fast cars ~ and they all still feel fast. I have a wheel standing Dodge dragcar (single digit 1/4 mile). A Ferrari. A RennTECH S-Class Benz. A Porsche racecar. A 944 sleeper that I put a supercharged LS V8 swap in, and more quick others. But I still wanted a Plaid. Its not about just the 1020HP for me. I am a FSD affectionato, and the body shape is sexy, the new interior is comfortable. I looked at loads of others (including the EQS, Tycan, E-Tron GT and Lucid) but the Plaid had so many more positives. Do not cancel your order. If you tire of it, buy it then flip it for a profit.

nice trunk on the Plaid

 

[eipi10]

Thoughts are:

Car looks terrific and drives well.
MSLR max acceleration is much faster than is useful / safe for any ordinary driving purpose.
Yoke is very comfortable. Took some practice to get used to winding parking garages (but became easy when I learned to use an upside down yoke technique with my hands in normal position). It is hard to imagine ever going back to a steering wheel.
Glad all the stalks and gear shifter are gone. They look trashy on other cars now. The yoke buttons are great.
Sound system is very good with Tidal. Excellent detail.
White / white looks great, better than I expected.
All aspects of customer service, including delivery, were terrible.

 

[SoCalDude]

Thoughts are:

Car looks terrific and drives well.
MSLR max acceleration is much faster than is useful / safe for any ordinary driving purpose.
Yoke is very comfortable. Took some practice to get used to winding parking garages (but became easy when I learned to use an upside down yoke technique with my hands in normal position). It is hard to imagine ever going back to a steering wheel.
Glad all the stalks and gear shifter are gone. They look trashy on other cars now. The yoke buttons are great.
Sound system is very good with Tidal. Excellent detail.
White / white looks great, better than I expected.
All aspects of customer service, including delivery, were terrible.

Yes on Tidal! I signed up for the $9.99 a month plan and the quality is excellent. I can’t imagine that the $19.99 plan can be that much better.

 

[hridge2020]

Unhappy Customer review

 

[planetary]

Unhappy Customer review

1. Broken door handle breaking. Fair, and it's indeed inexcusable. Relatively minor, but insane that it's a thing. QC is terrible.
2. Missing trunk panel, two problems (a) how is it that boards and carpet are [STILL] on backorder? (b) how is it that nobody told him?
3. Yoke complaints, mostly he thinks "it's stupid" (but bought the car anyway). He also complained about the non-variable ratio, and the amount of lock-to-lock travel, which seemed fair.
4. Some fit and finish complaints. Fair.

Had a lot of positive things to say. Closed with an observation that the S and X are finicky, which I think is correct for a lot of people. Alas.

 

[Jabbahop]

• Careful delivery inspection 12/4 - complete
• Careful 300 mile drive home to avoid rock chips 12/4 - complete
• PPF install to protect paint 12/8 - complete
• Double coat wax 12/19-20 - complete
• Test Tesla paint quality & PPF protection by having costco folding table fall from garage shelves onto hood 12/15 - complete :-0

My lovely wife comes in from the garage and says - “I did something really bad” with almost tears in her eyes and explains how the table slipped down from shelves when she was rearranging things and fell on the car.

What can you do…

So now have an appointment at end of Jan to fix our new car and then will need ppf reapplied to the affected sections.

Bummer but still love this thing.

 

[HHHH]

oh man, so sorry to hear that, hopefully it'll all be well soon!

 

[hazeleyes]

• Test Tesla paint quality & PPF protection by having costco folding table fall from garage shelves onto hood 12/15 - complete :-0

Oh man -- that hurts just to look at

I'm sure your wife feels even worse than you do -- mad props to you for your "what can you do" response! I'm sure the car will be back in shape after your service visit, and then you both will have a great story to tell!

 

[planetary]

This forum really needs something like an "Arrgh!" reaction icon added to the menu.