Plaid Regrets?

[buckets0fun]

Yea the faster zero to 60 is great and all.. but in the MYP you need to replace the tires every 10,000 miles.. especially if you are demonstrating the faster speed. Not being able to rotate the tires is a HUGE mistake.

The ride quality not “being so bad” is subjective to the locale. On a freshly paved road I’m sure it’s fine. But the moment you get to a bad road the MYP is jarring to drive. I understand that Tesla did not fit the 3/Y with air suspension for many reasons.. but the first 2 production years of the Y have the worst coil suspension I’ve ever had. It’s actually quite shocking how bad my ‘21 LR feels, I understand that the ‘23 model rides much better but this should have been addressed from the jump. A $50-$60k car should not ride worse than a Honda Civic

Get a proper alignment. Factory toe settings in the rear chew tires.

A good reason to jump on the $15k ceramic brakes

Nah.... never CCBs on something you wish to track, let alone something this heavy. But yes, upgrade to a set of massive AP racing or StopTech and save a ton of cash, have better pad selection, and cheaper consumables.

 

[Carson Lohr]

Yea the faster zero to 60 is great and all.. but in the MYP you need to replace the tires every 10,000 miles.. especially if you are demonstrating the faster speed. Not being able to rotate the tires is a HUGE mistake.

The ride quality not “being so bad” is subjective to the locale. On a freshly paved road I’m sure it’s fine. But the moment you get to a bad road the MYP is jarring to drive. I understand that Tesla did not fit the 3/Y with air suspension for many reasons.. but the first 2 production years of the Y have the worst coil suspension I’ve ever had. It’s actually quite shocking how bad my ‘21 LR feels, I understand that the ‘23 model rides much better but this should have been addressed from the jump. A $50-$60k car should not ride worse than a Honda Civic

Yeah and especially In the plaid, with the fast 0-60, you know what your getting yourself into with the tires needed to be replaced

 

[DayTrippin]

That’s what I’m saying! There are TONS of used plaids out there around 80-90k

Exactly. That is why I pounced on one that seemed like a good deal for me. Their asking price was low enough for the car and they offered me good money for my trade. Factor in the sales tax savings of having a trade, and it was a no-brainer. They were asking 90's, and gave me 70's for my LR (a 20k trade diff) and I paid sales tax on the 20k and no crazy BS admin fees. I didn't really care as much what they were asking as what I was looking for trade difference in my situation (within reason). I went in thinking if I could do the deal for an out of pocket difference of 20k, I was good. Obviously, if they had it for sale for 70k, I'd just buy their car outright and sell mine to a wholesaler. Saving sales tax on $70k+ is significant.

As I mentioned, this Plaid was newer than mine as far as production date, less miles (so more warranty), with nice 21" Signature wheels, and had the upgraded matrix lights, new taillights, charging door as well as steam which mine didn't. The only thing missing so to speak was the tilt screen which I don't care about. I wanted a 2022 as USS is more important to me than HW4. I will never buy FSD but good parking sensors are a huge benefit to me. AP works fine for me with HW3 anyway.

To put this all into an even better perspective, my LR was at the 79k purchase price when I ordered. So that was my initial buy-in for my MS LR. Another benefit of the car I was buying is the tires were just replaced on the car as well with all new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s with less than 1k miles on them. The Signature wheels are about $7500. They are actually wheels I would have bought and look amazing on the car. If I were to back out the wheels and tires, even at a used value, would put me in the 80's with a trade-in of the 70's.

So to look at it conservatively factoring in the value of the wheels/tires, I am maybe 15k out of pocket, or less, if I were to sell the wheels, and put back on 19's that were on my LR. I have to say the wheels look phenomenal on the car and even though I am not a hug fan of 21's, these really fit the car. An added bonus is this car was also put together better than my LR from a fit and finish standpoint.

I couldn't get the deal done fast enough. Even if values drop, I am in at a price where there isn't a better performance bargain out there. If I buy the track pack (more like when), I'll sell my Signature wheels (or maybe not as they look sick) and recover some of that upgrade cost.

While at this point in time, it seemed like a good deal, I am sure there are other opportunities out there equal to or better than this. For me, it was an absolute no-brainer to swap out my MS LR for Plaid. So I have absolutely no regrets buying the Plaid whereas I had a few about the MS LR. YMMV.

 

[Carson Lohr]

Exactly. That is why I pounced on one that seemed like a good deal for me. Their asking price was low enough for the car and they offered me good money for my trade. Factor in the sales tax savings of having a trade, and it was a no-brainer. They were asking 90's, and gave me 70's for my LR (a 20k trade diff) and I paid sales tax on the 20k and no crazy BS admin fees. I didn't really care as much what they were asking as what I was looking for trade difference in my situation (within reason). I went in thinking if I could do the deal for an out of pocket difference of 20k, I was good. Obviously, if they had it for sale for 70k, I'd just buy their car outright and sell mine to a wholesaler. Saving sales tax on $70k+ is significant.

As I mentioned, this Plaid was newer than mine as far as production date, less miles (so more warranty), with nice 21" Signature wheels, and had the upgraded matrix lights, new taillights, charging door as well as steam which mine didn't. The only thing missing so to speak was the tilt screen which I don't care about. I wanted a 2022 as USS is more important to me than HW4. I will never buy FSD but good parking sensors are a huge benefit to me. AP works fine for me with HW3 anyway.

To put this all into an even better perspective, my LR was at the 79k purchase price when I ordered. So that was my initial buy-in for my MS LR. Another benefit of the car I was buying is the tires were just replaced on the car as well with all new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s with less than 1k miles on them. The Signature wheels are about $7500. They are actually wheels I would have bought and look amazing on the car. If I were to back out the wheels and tires, even at a used value, would put me in the 80's with a trade-in of the 70's.

So to look at it conservatively factoring in the value of the wheels/tires, I am maybe 15k out of pocket, or less, if I were to sell the wheels, and put back on 19's that were on my LR. I have to say the wheels look phenomenal on the car and even though I am not a hug fan of 21's, these really fit the car. An added bonus is this car was also put together better than my LR from a fit and finish standpoint.

I couldn't get the deal done fast enough. Even if values drop, I am in at a price where there isn't a better performance bargain out there. If I buy the track pack (more like when), I'll sell my Signature wheels (or maybe not as they look sick) and recover some of that upgrade cost.

While at this point in time, it seemed like a good deal, I am sure there are other opportunities out there equal to or better than this. For me, it was an absolute no-brainer to swap out my MS LR for Plaid. So I have absolutely no regrets buying the Plaid whereas I had a few about the MS LR. YMMV.

Curious weather you bought from Tesla directly? Seems like you did

 

[DayTrippin]

Curious weather you bought from Tesla directly? Seems like you did

I shopped my car everywhere (local and national wholesalers, Tesla included). I also checked a lot of sites to get an idea of retail and see how long cars were sitting there (if possible). With this knowledge, I set up a search on Autotempest to aggregate a bunch of sites into one search stream as well as additionally shopping Tesla inventory.

I originally wanted an X Plaid but when I found out the middle seats don't fold it killed it for me. However one of the dealers (quasi-local) I was working on a deal for the X had an S Plaid. Anyway, I found local dealers can be a bit more flexible on pricing (if you are willing to negotiate hard) than the national one-price ones. I was then able to find another dealer with an S Plaid, even closer and with the wheels. They had no idea of the value of the wheels and were very close to the same price as the other dealer. Based on what I could tell at the time that I pulled the trigger, the dealer's price was comparable to Teslas, maybe a bit cheaper, and no transfer fee (2k was the closest one like I wanted). Not to mention Tesla typically won't refund the transfer fee if you aren't happy with the car and even worse in Texas, you have to pay for the car before you getting based on the stupid state laws here. They can have pretty massive scratches and still won't refund the transfer fee.

If I went through Tesla, and bought one of their used ones, I'd have been at least 20k worse off based on their trade offers. So definitely not worth it. The real key for me was doing the Autotempest search after finding a good idea of the wholesale value of my car. I scoured the ads to make sure the ones I was interested in had the matrix lights. That was another must-have if I was going to upgrade.

 

[Carson Lohr]

I shopped my car everywhere (local and national wholesalers, Tesla included). I also checked a lot of sites to get an idea of retail and see how long cars were sitting there (if possible). With this knowledge, I set up a search on Autotempest to aggregate a bunch of sites into one search stream as well as additionally shopping Tesla inventory.

I originally wanted an X Plaid but when I found out the middle seats don't fold it killed it for me. However one of the dealers (quasi-local) I was working on a deal for the X had an S Plaid. Anyway, I found local dealers can be a bit more flexible on pricing (if you are willing to negotiate hard) than the national one-price ones. I was then able to find another dealer with an S Plaid, even closer and with the wheels. They had no idea of the value of the wheels and were very close to the same price as the other dealer. Based on what I could tell at the time that I pulled the trigger, the dealer's price was comparable to Teslas, maybe a bit cheaper, and no transfer fee (2k was the closest one like I wanted). Not to mention Tesla typically won't refund the transfer fee if you aren't happy with the car and even worse in Texas, you have to pay for the car before you getting based on the stupid state laws here. They can have pretty massive scratches and still won't refund the transfer fee.

If I went through Tesla, and bought one of their used ones, I'd have been at least 20k worse off based on their trade offers. So definitely not worth it. The real key for me was doing the Autotempest search after finding a good idea of the wholesale value of my car. I scoured the ads to make sure the ones I was interested in had the matrix lights. That was another must-have if I was going to upgrade.

Nice!!!

 

[URBAN LEGEND]

It’s unfortunate, just about everyone won’t even attempt to race a plaid

It’s unfortunate, just about everyone won’t even attempt to race a plaid

No one should go through this.

 

[dev_lvl80]

Did not read all comments, but this

. Do any plaid owners get bored with the acceleration and regret spending the extra money on a plaid V an S Lr

Nope. Car has some issues, but, acceleration is mind blowing.

 

[NeuroRad]

For the money I could have gotten a better car, but not a faster one. I actually find myself less inclined to go fast in this car, so when I do I still get the tinglies. Prior to this car, my daily was a modified C7 Audi S6. That car produced around 600hp or so and had a non-resonated exhaust with free-flow cats. Hammering that car still brought smiles to my face up to the day I sold it, and it was almost 11 years old when I moved on to the Plaid. The real question is how long does that performance capability distract you from the crap build quality, lack of intuitive controls for certain key functions required to operate the car, and the assclownery that is Tesla service.

I don’t think the S actually has bad build quality. The interior is pretty well put together. The body itself could have been designed better. Cost was probably cut in favor of drivetrain and electronics. Id like more solid feeling doors. I don’t like the handles. They’re too slow to pop out and people not familiar don’t know how to get in the car.

The longer I spend with S, more I like it.

The acceleration is muted over time for me but still incredible. Very sterile experience compared to a high power ICE.

 

[s1rk]

My first time owning a Plaid and I came from a 2018 100D... I don't think I can get used to this acceleration. The 0-60 is obviously incredible, but the pull after that is what's mindblowing to me..

I felt just how insane this car's power is a couple of days ago when a car blatantly cut me off on a 2 lane highway. I was worried he was going to brake check me so I swapped to the other lane to make a pass going around 70mph. Coming from a 2018 100D, when I stomp on the go pedal past 60mph you'll get some acceleration but I was NOT ready for what it did in the Plaid. When I stomped on the go pedal, the car blasted well past 100mph so quick that I scared myself and learned that I really need to be careful in this monster because I am no pro driver and that was just too much power.

 

[Carson Lohr]

My first time owning a Plaid and I came from a 2018 100D... I don't think I can get used to this acceleration. The 0-60 is obviously incredible, but the pull after that is what's mindblowing to me..

I felt just how insane this car's power is a couple of days ago when a car blatantly cut me off on a 2 lane highway. I was worried he was going to brake check me so I swapped to the other lane to make a pass going around 70mph. Coming from a 2018 100D, when I stomp on the go pedal past 60mph you'll get some acceleration but I was NOT ready for what it did in the Plaid. When I stomped on the go pedal, the car blasted well past 100mph so quick that I scared myself and learned that I really need to be careful in this monster because I am no pro driver and that was just too much power.

I’m sure it felt so good to jet past the person who cut you off. Thanks for the story!

 

[momoz74]

I don’t think the S actually has bad build quality. The interior is pretty well put together. The body itself could have been designed better. Cost was probably cut in favor of drivetrain and electronics. Id like more solid feeling doors. I don’t like the handles. They’re too slow to pop out and people not familiar don’t know how to get in the car.

The longer I spend with S, more I like it.

The acceleration is muted over time for me but still incredible. Very sterile experience compared to a high power ICE.

you say that until you drive a gasser or a M3 standard. You get used to pulling out in traffic where other cars just can't.. (not dangerous speaking.. but just being able to go!). Whew.. It is mind blowing TBH and coming from M3P, the band is insane.. 70MPH pass on interstate and you can easily be at 100 without realizing... The smoothness/suspension and lack of road-noise you have to pay attention!

Having had High performance gas V6t/V8/V10, it is sterile a bit huh? The engine and exhaust roar does add to the feel, and without it.. I feel it creates more "head cloud" feeling.

 

[Carson Lohr]

you say that until you drive a gasser or a M3 standard. You get used to pulling out in traffic where other cars just can't.. (not dangerous speaking.. but just being able to go!). Whew.. It is mind blowing TBH and coming from M3P, the band is insane.. 70MPH pass on interstate and you can easily be at 100 without realizing... The smoothness/suspension and lack of road-noise you have to pay attention!

Ik I got used to the m3lr which isn’t anything crazy, but still zips. And got into another car that was a generally slower car and pulled right out infront if someone not thinking I wouldn’t be able to get to speed in time. I didn’t wreck or anything but still

 

[NeuroRad]

you say that until you drive a gasser or a M3 standard. You get used to pulling out in traffic where other cars just can't.. (not dangerous speaking.. but just being able to go!). Whew.. It is mind blowing TBH and coming from M3P, the band is insane.. 70MPH pass on interstate and you can easily be at 100 without realizing... The smoothness/suspension and lack of road-noise you have to pay attention!

Having had High performance gas V6t/V8/V10, it is sterile a bit huh? The engine and exhaust roar does add to the feel, and without it.. I feel it creates more "head cloud" feeling.

1000 hp t6 turbo v8 is a completely different experience compared to the plaid. More exhilarating, and much more nerve wracking. Oil fire or some other major issue always on the back of the mind.

I appreciate the plaid because i can get in and go and not worry about a thing. And nothing factory will touch it on the street. Ultimate DD for someone who needs to go fast.

 

[borntodubb]

I just picked up my 2023 MSP last month, I had driven a MS in ludicrous mode and that was a blast, but the first time I stomped on the Plaid was actually really short….IT WAS SHOCKING!!! I have had a lot of quick and fast ICE cars, but nothing prepared me for the Plaid. I am now used to it, but every time I experience it…it is a BLAST. I know I will be buying a lot of tires, but I will have a lot of fun using therm.

 

[Propofoln]

I just picked up my 2023 MSP last month, I had driven a MS in ludicrous mode and that was a blast, but the first time I stomped on the Plaid was actually really short….IT WAS SHOCKING!!! I have had a lot of quick and fast ICE cars, but nothing prepared me for the Plaid. I am now used to it, but every time I experience it…it is a BLAST. I know I will be buying a lot of tires, but I will have a lot of fun using therm.

For sure get the camber arms. After a year of ownership from my 2021 Plaid, they only last 10k miles. After camber arms, should get double that. Pays for itself in 20k miles. Traction supposedly better also

 

[borntodubb]

Hey I’m new to Tesla, so thank you. What brand of camber arms? Also, any downside to them?

 

[Propofoln]

s

Hey I’m new to Tesla, so thank you. What brand of camber arms? Also, any downside to them?

n2itive

Downside- spend less on tires? Cost for install?

 

[aerodyne]

Now that the Release notes for 2023.12.8 have been released and revised, those with that track package can unlock the 200mph top speed.

One less reason for plaid regrets, albeit at a 20kish price.

 

[polyphonic54]

I just think it’s crazy to not at least test drive the other premium EV sedans. Unless you’re a real speed freak and must have the fastest thing ever. It’s just one aspect of a car.

There was some talk earlier about the acceleration being sterile. EV acceleration to me is impressive, and makes you feel like you’re driving the future. Plaid is the top of the top, well until the Sapphire Air is available.

ICE acceleration on the other hand (a nice engine, not your old Toyota RAV4), I find to be more satisfying. White claw vs scotch.