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Fanatic1
Member
I am a newbie and have posted some comments here and there. After driving for over 2 months in my 85D, I thought I'd post my observations and reasons for picking the car I did even though I've never spent this much on a car and never thought I would... 
Some relevant background... I'm not a first adopter usually and even waited on the iPod, iPad and iPhone after a few generations before eventually getting these apple products. I've always had Macs both laptops and desktops. I usually buy the 2nd highest configuration for those items to get the most recent technological advances but at a slightly better value. I would usually get as much memory and CPU speed up front since I have come to believe that all these technologies last longer though all the upgrade cycles. Tried to heed advice of cost efficiencies but never liked the hassles of adding or upgrading internal components... I digress...
For the my Tesla Model S choice...
Range was my main requirement so went for 85D which I think also charges faster at Superchargers. I went to the local sales office and they can look up all the loaners for sale. Loaners are considered new cars so easier for 3rd party financing (credit union). They take off a dollar a mile off the price of the car. Mine came from Denver so I paid for shipping. One of my friends got 15K off since it had been driven that many miles as a loaner. I chose my car based on the following for another buyer's perspective:
Metallic paint - titanium color is unique. Silly but it hides dirt well. I think there are more coats or something so it should be a bit better than the standard paint. I wanted blue but I liked the old navy blue not the newest Royal blue.
19 inch wheels-longevity better, ride I've read and
is smoother, got regular rims but the cyclone style looks cooler
Pano roof-gives couple inches or so of headroom even when closed compared to non-sunroof ceiling which is a bit lower. I can open the sunroof while driving and hold up by hand my electronic toll tag at California Fastrak sensors while traveling under sensors to register toll road or bridge payments although can also just rely on the license cameras at these facilities (so a bit silly of me). Windshield has metallic layer so blocks toll tag sensor otherwise. I do like sunroofs and will use it here in NorCal.
Autopilot-I've been so used to assisted cruise control for the past 8 years on my Infiniti M35s that I won't live without it with all the freeway driving. The Tesla version is so much more advanced working at low speeds as well as in stop and go traffic and even in bright head on sunlight safely. Driving is so much less stressful and tiresome especially during incidences of possible distracted driving if answering a bluetooth call or texting with Siri. Parallel parking very useful with the smaller rear window and higher hatchback profile for squeezing in spaces. Autosteer-Much more useful than lane departure guidance in the Infiniti as you would expect. I pretty much turned it off in my Infiniti. Tesla has done autopilot pretty well. Still keep your hand on the steering wheel since it's autopilot not autonomous navigation.
Premium lighting-love the power lift gate (getting older and want to keep car for at least 8 years), fog lights handy and ambient lighting and leather trim cool in this luxury car
Smart air suspension-I use this all the time for parking lots and at home coming up the driveway for avoiding dinging the front fender which is lower than the rear fender. I think many people park rear end first because of this issue. Always will hit curb in parking lot unless suspension which is GPS activated is set to "very high." (Gotta love the "Easter egg" for the air suspension.) Don't know much about long term maintenance issues for this but got the 100K extended "transferable" service agreement since the car is such a complicated piece of fine machinery.
High fidelity sound (possibly could have done without but it was part of the car as setup above)-subwoofer...
Some relevant background... I'm not a first adopter usually and even waited on the iPod, iPad and iPhone after a few generations before eventually getting these apple products. I've always had Macs both laptops and desktops. I usually buy the 2nd highest configuration for those items to get the most recent technological advances but at a slightly better value. I would usually get as much memory and CPU speed up front since I have come to believe that all these technologies last longer though all the upgrade cycles. Tried to heed advice of cost efficiencies but never liked the hassles of adding or upgrading internal components... I digress...
For the my Tesla Model S choice...
Range was my main requirement so went for 85D which I think also charges faster at Superchargers. I went to the local sales office and they can look up all the loaners for sale. Loaners are considered new cars so easier for 3rd party financing (credit union). They take off a dollar a mile off the price of the car. Mine came from Denver so I paid for shipping. One of my friends got 15K off since it had been driven that many miles as a loaner. I chose my car based on the following for another buyer's perspective:
Metallic paint - titanium color is unique. Silly but it hides dirt well.
I think there are more coats or something so it should be a bit better than the standard paint. I wanted blue but I liked the old navy blue not the newest Royal blue. 19 inch wheels-longevity better, ride I've read and
is smoother, got regular rims but the cyclone style looks cooler
Pano roof-gives couple inches or so of headroom even when closed compared to non-sunroof ceiling which is a bit lower. I can open the sunroof while driving and hold up by hand my electronic toll tag at California Fastrak sensors while traveling under sensors to register toll road or bridge payments although can also just rely on the license cameras at these facilities (so a bit silly of me). Windshield has metallic layer so blocks toll tag sensor otherwise. I do like sunroofs and will use it here in NorCal.
Autopilot-I've been so used to assisted cruise control for the past 8 years on my Infiniti M35s that I won't live without it with all the freeway driving. The Tesla version is so much more advanced working at low speeds as well as in stop and go traffic and even in bright head on sunlight safely. Driving is so much less stressful and tiresome especially during incidences of possible distracted driving if answering a bluetooth call or texting with Siri. Parallel parking very useful with the smaller rear window and higher hatchback profile for squeezing in spaces. Autosteer-Much more useful than lane departure guidance in the Infiniti as you would expect. I pretty much turned it off in my Infiniti. Tesla has done autopilot pretty well. Still keep your hand on the steering wheel since it's autopilot not autonomous navigation.
Premium lighting-love the power lift gate (getting older and want to keep car for at least 8 years), fog lights handy and ambient lighting and leather trim cool in this luxury car
Smart air suspension-I use this all the time for parking lots and at home coming up the driveway for avoiding dinging the front fender which is lower than the rear fender. I think many people park rear end first because of this issue. Always will hit curb in parking lot unless suspension which is GPS activated is set to "very high." (Gotta love the "Easter egg" for the air suspension.) Don't know much about long term maintenance issues for this but got the 100K extended "transferable" service agreement since the car is such a complicated piece of fine machinery.
High fidelity sound (possibly could have done without but it was part of the car as setup above)-subwoofer...
Thanks for the 2 month report. I am a few weeks away from taking delivery of a 90D "loaner" being shipped in from St. Louis. I was targeting a CPO P85, but got talked into leasing a 3k mile "new" one instead. It's loaded with everything except rear seats & cold weather pkg. Reading all I can about living with it. Charging won't be an issue since I have level 2 outlet at home and a Blink charger at work. Interested to see if 21" wheels can handle snow (all 4-5 days of it we might have in Richmond, VA).
I am a newbie and have posted some comments here and there. After driving for over 2 months in my 85D, I thought I'd post my observations and reasons for picking the car I did even though I've never spent this much on a car and never thought I would...
Some relevant background... I'm not a first adopter usually and even waited on the iPod, iPad and iPhone after a few generations before eventually getting these apple products. I've always had Macs both laptops and desktops. I usually buy the 2nd highest configuration for those items to get the most recent technological advances but at a slightly better value. I would usually get as much memory and CPU speed up front since I have come to believe that all these technologies last longer though all the upgrade cycles. Tried to heed advice of cost efficiencies but never liked the hassles of adding or upgrading internal components... I digress...
For the my Tesla Model S choice...
Range was my main requirement so went for 85D which I think also charges faster at Superchargers. I went to the local sales office and they can look up all the loaners for sale. Loaners are considered new cars so easier for 3rd party financing (credit union). They take off a dollar a mile off the price of the car. Mine came from Denver so I paid for shipping. One of my friends got 15K off since it had been driven that many miles as a loaner. I chose my car based on the following for another buyer's perspective:
Metallic paint - titanium color is unique. Silly but it hides dirt well.
19 inch wheels-longevity better, ride I've read and
is smoother, got regular rims but the cyclone style looks cooler
Pano roof-gives couple inches or so of headroom even when closed compared to non-sunroof ceiling which is a bit lower. I can open the sunroof while driving and hold up by hand my electronic toll tag at California Fastrak sensors while traveling under sensors to register toll road or bridge payments although can also just rely on the license cameras at these facilities (so a bit silly of me). Windshield has metallic layer so blocks toll tag sensor otherwise. I do like sunroofs and will use it here in NorCal.
Autopilot-I've been so used to assisted cruise control for the past 8 years on my Infiniti M35s that I won't live without it with all the freeway driving. The Tesla version is so much more advanced working at low speeds as well as in stop and go traffic and even in bright head on sunlight safely. Driving is so much less stressful and tiresome especially during incidences of possible distracted driving if answering a bluetooth call or texting with Siri. Parallel parking very useful with the smaller rear window and higher hatchback profile for squeezing in spaces. Autosteer-Much more useful than lane departure guidance in the Infiniti as you would expect. I pretty much turned it off in my Infiniti. Tesla has done autopilot pretty well. Still keep your hand on the steering wheel since it's autopilot not autonomous navigation.
Premium lighting-love the power lift gate (getting older and want to keep car for at least 8 years), fog lights handy and ambient lighting and leather trim cool in this luxury car
Smart air suspension-I use this all the time for parking lots and at home coming up the driveway for avoiding dinging the front fender which is lower than the rear fender. I think many people park rear end first because of this issue. Always will hit curb in parking lot unless suspension which is GPS activated is set to "very high." (Gotta love the "Easter egg" for the air suspension.) Don't know much about long term maintenance issues for this but got the 100K extended "transferable" service agreement since the car is such a complicated piece of fine machinery.
High fidelity sound (possibly could have done without but it was part of the car as setup above)-subwoofer...
Great post very helpful! I've known people and friends that have air suspension on other cars and they are bound to fail or give out at some point in time and I know they aren't cheap to repair so that's my issue with them. If I didn't plan to keep the car long term then I probably would get it.
Unfortunately the only bummer about this whole thing is the CPO can't get the extended warranty. :cursing: Otherwise I would have thought about the Air suspension.
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Thats actually pretty neat, I will have to check that out.
I felt the exact same way, it's very awkward at first.
But then I got two small leather boxes (see: http://www.wayfair.com/Piel-Leather-Small-Jewelry-Box-2351-VW1045.html) which just fit in the space (they were much cheaper back then)...
Now I love the open space, and the two boxes give me just enough space to stash little stuff that accumulates (change, mints, wires,keys, glasses, etc).
I find the open space really drives home the point to passengers that this car is different. Very different.
edit photo:
HankLloydRight
No Roads
You can't turn Regen off, you can only turn it to "low" which about 50% of "full". Of course, setting it to "low" reduces the amount of regenerative braking energy that is fed back into the battery.
Fanatic1
Member
No problem! Your welcome!
I think everyone has a slightly different situation but if you read enough in these forums and get a bunch of different perspectives, I think you can make a best guess about which type of vehicle to get. I think if you are in cold weather a lot then the longer range battery you get the better, since temperature really affects battery range.
Remember to preheat your car (I think some have said to 80F is good for about 30 minutes) while it's plugged in since you will be using your home's power supply and not your car's before driving is optimal so less battery energy is being used for warming up the battery system. Also using the seat warmers can be better energy saving wise than using the heater at a higher temp.
I had an electrician install our 15-40 adapter at home for a 40A charging capability but I only charge at a rate of 30A each night to 90% capacity. The most miles I've used in a day so far is about 90 with about 140 miles remaining from a starting estimate of 242 miles every day. I think the car started back on 11/30 with a daily estimate of 244 the first few days of this charging cycle setting so haven't "lost much." I usually plug in at home at the end of the day even if I come home and go out again. I have charging starting at 12:05AM each night to take advantage of the PG&E E-6 with Smartrate plan. There is an EV-A rate that is similar. We use electricity during the day. I think my main breaker is 100A capacity but nothing significant is running that late so I didn't have to upgrade to 125A or 200A or something which can be very expensive and needs permits, upgraded wiring I think, etc. I just treat my car like my iPhone 6 Plus. I know I can get a day's use with it and I just plug t it every night. You shouldn't have to charge at work at all. I had been so nice not to worry about "range anxiety" of the gasoline type in an ICE car where you're sometimes going home and trying to figure out whether or not to stop at a sketchy gas station or wake up early to go to your usual one on the way to work. It's all good now! Congrats on you 90D! I like the idea of AWD too. Drives like it's on rails even in the rain with the all weather tires it comes with. I'm not sure about the 21 inch rims since I don't have them but they look really nice!
Fanatic1
Member
I didn't know that until one day I watched how the Energy monitor said the battery was charging while braking with the Standard was switched to "Low". Of course the setting does say "low" and not "off." BTW, when my son gets in the car as the passenger, the first thing he does is turn the setting to low since the normal setting seems to make him car sick even in the front seat. When he first sat in the back, I had tried to more gradually release the accelerator pedal to see if that helped in Standard regen mode and even have him move from the rear to the front seat but nothing worked. So "low" regen seems to be better when I have passengers. Maybe I'm not as good a driver as I thought I was. I used to pride myself with my ICE car about my "expert" skill at braking for a smooth stop, releasing the brake just right to avoiding the lunge that I have felt with some others driving.
Fanatic1
Member
I felt the exact same way, it's very awkward at first.
But then I got two small leather boxes (see: http://www.wayfair.com/Piel-Leather-Small-Jewelry-Box-2351-VW1045.html) which just fit in the space (they were much cheaper back then)...
Now I love the open space, and the two boxes give me just enough space to stash little stuff that accumulates (change, mints, wires,keys, glasses, etc).
I find the open space really drives home the point to passengers that this car is different. Very different.
edit photo:
My wife says they sell similar things at Home Goods so I guess I'll check that out too. Thanks for the great suggestion. I like the space too.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
My g/f's adult son has the same problem -- I have to turn it to low or else he gets car sick very quickly, so when he's in the car, I still try to go very easy on the regen. The problem is that I often forget that it's turned to "low" until I realize the car isn't slowing down like I expect it to.
Today when I took the car out of the garage, it was 15 degrees outside, and the car announce that ZERO regen was available..and boy howdy, was that a strange sensation to drive the car without any regen at all... it just seemed to glide from stop light to stop light. As I drove the car and the battery heated up, regen slowly returned.
hank. I literally had that happen too. Freaked me out. Thought something was broken. Darn this northeast cold wave.
You pretty much described my cpo car to the t. There were some good cars available back in December of so at the $60k level. I'm seeing things a bit north birthday now but the specs may be different.
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