Premium Center Console questions

[roblab]

The one pictured and being discussed is available in the Tesla store.

There are other third-party consoles, but many of us feel the Tesla console is the best looking one.

(Many of us also would have liked it if Tesla had fulfilled their promise to make them in finishes other than piano black, to match our cars' finishes, but that's discussed plenty in other threads.)

For now all you need to know is that the door is available only in Piano Black.

Just to state it again, Tesla does not make the consoles. The third party supplier could not seem to get quality finishes in the wood grains or CF, and Tesla rejected them. So we have black. Black also looks pretty neutral sitting down there. I have one in obeche gloss which looks nice, but it's only a little square of trim. Not all THAT important. And that one piece of trim raised the price $50.

 

[DonL]

Center Console trim

Agreed. I'll be getting the CC when I order. Kid of hoping a redesign is in the works that offers all trim matching options, though. <Ducks behind cover...>

My interior trim is Carbon Fiber. I ordered flex wrap from Amazon (Black 3M DI-NOC Carbon Fiber) and had it installed by a "wrap" shop -- they charged me $20. Now my console matches the trim.

 

[Matteo]

I still have some questions

This video was on the order page. I guess the reason they removed it is because it shows a different trim. Tesla collected orders and payment for different trims but after months they said we give up, we can't do different trims and refunded the money.

 

[Andyw2100]

Just to state it again, Tesla does not make the consoles. The third party supplier could not seem to get quality finishes in the wood grains or CF, and Tesla rejected them. So we have black. Black also looks pretty neutral sitting down there. I have one in obeche gloss which looks nice, but it's only a little square of trim. Not all THAT important. And that one piece of trim raised the price $50.

I recognize that the trim not matching may not seem all THAT important to you. (Actually I really don't think this is something you are even qualified to weigh in on, since you received a center console that matches your car. It's pretty easy to deem something someone didn't get as unimportant when you got exactly what you wanted.) But I can't possibly overstate how important it is to me. You should respect that people feel differently about this before making blanket statements like "Not all THAT important."

You got on the waiting list for the console after you had ordered your car. When you ordered your car, the center console didn't exist. Perhaps that's one of the reasons you view the mismatch others are forced to live with as "not all THAT important." I, on the other hand, ordered my car knowing that I wanted the Tesla center console, and knowing that I wanted it to match my car's interior. The console was showing in the Tesla Store as "Coming Soon." It wasn't showing as "Coming Soon if we can figure out how to build it." It wasn't showing as "Coming Soon if we don't change our minds about the whole thing." It wasn't showing as "Coming Soon if the vendor we picked to build it doesn't screw up." It was just shown as "Coming Soon." To me that is a promise to deliver, at some point. Tesla broke that promise, to me, and to thousands of other Model S owners.

Every time I get in my car I see this ugly, glossy black rectangle staring at me. It matches nothing in my car, since I have the Obeche Matte trim. It reminds me, every single time, that Tesla screwed me over. I don't care that they had quality control issues with the part they promised to deliver. If the problems were really insurmountable with the vendor they selected, they should have gone back to square one, found another vendor, and kept working on it. They owed that to customers like me, who trusted them. Tesla violated that trust by selling me a $130,000 car that I expected to be able to put a matching console in, and then saying, "whoops--sorry--no console for you." They left me between a rock and a hard place. I could either install a console that didn't match my trim, or no console at all. That's just not right.

The way Tesla treated me and other customers who were waiting for the console in other trims has soured me on Tesla. I no longer enjoy driving my P85D the way I did. I've said it before--my Tesla grin is long gone because of this.

Plenty of people think I am over-reacting, and that's fine. I understand that. This is an important issue to me. I feel violated. I trusted Tesla, and Tesla let me down. I am left with a mismatched console that looks ridiculous in my car.

So please speak only for yourself when you say "Not all THAT important." Because it is THAT important to me!

 

[Matteo]

Andyw2100, you could follow this example if all else has failed.

 

[Jool]

My interior trim is Carbon Fiber. I ordered flex wrap from Amazon (Black 3M DI-NOC Carbon Fiber) and had it installed by a "wrap" shop -- they charged me $20. Now my console matches the trim.

I'm feeling pretty lucky to have this factory carbon fiber center console, but the wrap would've been a lot cheaper and probably a close enough match!

It is a shame that Tesla couldn't come through with a full production run of all the different interior trims for the console.

 

[stevesol]

I wound up having a wrap shop put a matte black wrap over the piano black that matches the rest of the console. Well worth the 20 bucks. I, too, couldn't stand that shiny black square. My interior is obeche gloss.

 

[Andyw2100]

I wound up having a wrap shop put a matte black wrap over the piano black that matches the rest of the console. Well worth the 20 bucks. I, too, couldn't stand that shiny black square. My interior is obeche gloss.

I'd love to see a picture, if you have the time to take and post one at some point.

I don't know that I'd go that route myself, as frankly I'm not sure that would make me feel much better about the mismatch, but then again, it could.

Thanks!

 

[LetsGoFast]

Its funny the little things you notice. I don't mind the fact that the phone cover isn't in carbon fiber, although I'll probably wrap it at some point, but the fact that the thread is white where all the other upholstery is dark thread bugs me frequently. I've been thinking about asking someone if they can dye the thread. I'm reluctant to admit this because I'm afraid it makes me look nuts.

 

[Andyw2100]

Its funny the little things you notice. I don't mind the fact that the phone cover isn't in carbon fiber, although I'll probably wrap it at some point, but the fact that the thread is white where all the other upholstery is dark thread bugs me frequently. I've been thinking about asking someone if they can dye the thread. I'm reluctant to admit this because I'm afraid it makes me look nuts.

Not only does it not make you look nuts, but this has been discussed a lot.

First of all, some people, including AmpedRealtor, managed to get the console with black thread, to match his older interior. (He was also one of the lucky few who received the carbon fiber door.)

There are a few different ways people talked about dyeing the white thread. Some people talked about using shoe polish. I think others talked about using some sort of marker. You can definitely find posts about this, though.

That would drive me nuts too, though unlike the matched interiors, the black thread was never promised. Even so, since Tesla knew they had interiors out there with black thread, they should have planned to make the console available with black thread as an option, and not just for a select few.

 

[P85_DA]

I'd love to see a picture, if you have the time to take and post one at some point.

I don't know that I'd go that route myself, as frankly I'm not sure that would make me feel much better about the mismatch, but then again, it could.

Thanks!

+1 can someone please post pic?

 

[roblab]

Plenty of people think I am over-reacting, and that's fine. I understand that. This is an important issue to me. I feel violated. I trusted Tesla, and Tesla let me down. I am left with a mismatched console that looks ridiculous in my car.

So please speak only for yourself when you say "Not all THAT important." Because it is THAT important to me!

I apologize. I understand that many things are very important, and I have paid extra and been deemed silly, or worse, at times.

I think if it were me, I would go with a can of flat black spray paint -- no, not really. But I do like the idea of putting a wrap on it, like the carbon fiber one bought from Amazon.

I sincerely hope you find a happy solution. And I hope Tesla helps you, as you feel they should. I know they read these forums, and it has happened in the past that Tesla has taken another look at certain issues and tried to fix them.

Wishing you a better experience.

 

[stevesol]

Matte black vinyl wrap

Here is a picture.

 

[Andyw2100]

I apologize. I understand that many things are very important, and I have paid extra and been deemed silly, or worse, at times.

I think if it were me, I would go with a can of flat black spray paint -- no, not really. But I do like the idea of putting a wrap on it, like the carbon fiber one bought from Amazon.

I sincerely hope you find a happy solution. And I hope Tesla helps you, as you feel they should. I know they read these forums, and it has happened in the past that Tesla has taken another look at certain issues and tried to fix them.

Wishing you a better experience.

I appreciate that!

A number of people at Tesla, including my service manager, know how I feel, and are keeping their eyes open for me. I'm hoping there may be a car that comes in as a purchase, to become a CPO car or whatever, someday that has the obeche matte console, and that one of the people who knows I'm anxious to get the obeche matte piece allows a simple swap of my piano black piece for the obeche matte piece.

Failing that, the other possibility I'm hoping for is that Tesla eventually releases a console that wouldn't be a mismatch, that I could install where this one is, without any of the holes that needed to be made to mount this one showing. I'd buy a new one, and just sell the current console. It's not about the money at this point.

Thanks again!

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Here is a picture.

That actually looks really good!

Did the wrap place have to disassemble the console to wrap the door, or did they just wrap it in place? If I were to find a place to wrap mine, and then somehow be lucky enough to have the option come up to swap it in the future, is the wrap removable in such a way that the Piano Black underneath would still look "As Good As New?"

Thanks for posting the picture, and in advance for answering the above questions!

 

[stevesol]

It was wrapped in place and smoothed with a heat gun. The wrap only covers the top and the readily accessible edges. Visually, you can't tell it's a wrap. The vinyl feels good and shows no fingerprints(!). The entire process was done while I watched and took about 10 minutes. I was told that minor scratches can be readily fixed with a heat gun and was also told it can be peeled off, without damage, going back to the underlying piano black, or replaced with the same material or something else. I, personally, would never go back... I really hope something like this is available in your area and will help ease your pain... I really like how it looks and now love the center console.

 

[Andyw2100]

It was wrapped in place and smoothed with a heat gun. The wrap only covers the top and the readily accessible edges. Visually, you can't tell it's a wrap. The vinyl feels good and shows no fingerprints(!). The entire process was done while I watched and took about 10 minutes. I was told that minor scratches can be readily fixed with a heat gun and was also told it can also be peeled off, without damage, going back to the underlying piano black, or replaced with the same material or something else. I, personally, would never go back... I really hope something like this is available in your area will be able to ease your pain... I really like it and now love the center console.

Thanks again for all the info. I will have to look into getting something like this done.

 

[stevesol]

You're welcome! Glad I could help and hope you find a good wrap shop in your area.

 

[ahm]

I know this is a discussion on the Tesla Front Console, but the other option is the Center Console Insert (CCI) from EVannex. They offer color and trim options to match our cars. The designs differ and this one may not be for everyone, but I have been very pleased with mine for over two years now.

 

[Andyw2100]

I know this is a discussion on the Tesla Front Console, but the other option is the Center Console Insert (CCI) from EVannex. They offer color and trim options to match our cars. The designs differ and this one may not be for everyone, but I have been very pleased with mine for over two years now.

That is definitely an option for some people.

For me, I just liked the Tesla version a lot better. One big reason for that was I didn't like the way the EVAnnex console has the cup holder as such a prominent part of the console. I like that on the Tesla console, the cup holders are hidden, and the space can be used for something else if you don't want to use the space for cup holders.

 

[gizmoboy]

Here is a picture.

That does look clean.

I'm thinking of glossy Obeche; I doubt there's a wrap for that, but this approach at least makes the console look like it's supposed to be all black leather.

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That is definitely an option for some people.

For me, I just liked the Tesla version a lot better. One big reason for that was I didn't like the way the EVAnnex console has the cup holder as such a prominent part of the console. I like that on the Tesla console, the cup holders are hidden, and the space can be used for something else if you don't want to use the space for cup holders.

Me too. I looked at the Evannex, and I really like the idea of the matching trim pieces, but the cup holder and far less storage space (plus the lack of a lightning dock) swayed me to the Tesla version.