Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Review of 2021 MSLR: likes and dislikes

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I have now driven the car 2000 miles, including eight 200 mile road trips. Here are my likes and dislikes. This is my third MS; Been driving one since 2013.

Likes
400 miles range is I suppose nice but I'm not certain how much I will ever use it. It is apparently much quicker 0 - 60 but that is of no use to me. I like these two features because they will be good for resale.

Unlike the pre 2021, on which the feature was absolutely useless, the automatic windshield wipers work brilliantly. it is actually the car's best feature and it's only Improvement over prior years, which is pretty sad, actually.

In terms of actually driving the car, it is in no way any better than my 2017 S100.

Neutral: features that are okay but that I can easily live without:

Yoke. don't mind it at all but in no way prefer it to a wheel. And it could be a resale negative.

Complete shutdown on releasing the seat belt

Haptic turn signals. These are surprisingly easy to adapt to and I like them fine. I do feel that the limited real estate on the yoke could be put to better uses, however.

Dislikes
In general, having to do almost everything except cruise control and radio volume on the touchscreen is a major, major setback and a major disadvantage to this car.

Much of this is probably just personal preference but these certainly are mine.

Two of my favorite features on my previous two Model Ss were the ability to change media stations, and the ability to adjust the climate control temperature, with the scroll wheels. One also had the ability to bring up almost any feature on the instrument panel with the scroll wheels. The 2021 has none of that and I believe the fact that you have to go to the touch screen for almost everything is not only very inconvenient but very, very dangerous. It is baffling to me why I can't open sxm or change stations or bring up a station with voice control. If I ask the car to open Sirius XM and it tries to navigate me to SiriusXM. It can never find it. If I asked it to put on Fox News it navigates me to Fox News in New York. Wow.

Example: doing almost anything with the climate control requires looking away from the road, finding the little button, bringing it up and figuring out where on the display is the thing you want to do and then do it. Too much time with the eyes off the road. You can change the temperature with voice control, when it works, which is not all the time.

Example: changing a media station, in this example,SXM. With the pre 2021 interface, your favorites are always listed on the bottom of the screen and you could scroll through them and change stations with a scroll wheel. For this car, they are only displayed once you open sxm and select the favorites tab; not by default, which is LOGICAL,. Once you then choose a favorite, the favorites disappear and are replaced by suggested similar stations to that particular favorite. So if you were listening to a favorite like BBC and want to change to Fox Sports you have to take your eyes off the road and go to the main screen, find and touch the select favorites button and then find the favorite you want, and they're always in a different order. Too much time with the eyes off the road and too dangerous.

The fact that the nearest , lightest touch activates the windshield wipers drives me absolutely batty as it happens accidentally and constantly. It should be relocated to the inside and and/or require a firm conscious push to activate it.

Tiny haptic horn button makes a quick horn difficult

No heads up display

No odometer display available in the instrument panel

No BSW in the mirror. The BSW “chime” feature doesn’t even work

Can’t view Sentry events. What good is it?

The $110,000 car does not come supplied with the necessary equipment to charge it at home. For home charging, Tesla recommends a 220 V 50 amp line with a NEMA 1450, which I have, but then they only supply a three prong 110 V plug. Not only do they make you buy this, they don’t even advise you od this at any time in the sales or delivery so you get home with no ability to charge your car. This is nickel diming your customer in a disgusting fashion.

The all glass panoramic roof is awful, because It acts like a gigantic radiator, absorbing the sun and cooking the inside of the car. I put an infrared reader on it and have gotten temperatures of 160 degrees. I spent $500 for the best tint made and it helps very little. Also, here in Arizona, flying stones which destroy windshields are very common - in 20 years we’ve averaged about one per year per car. -Fortunately, this costs nothing with good insurance, but glass coverage does not cover these roofs so I am sometime in the next year looking at a $1,000 deductible repair. Count on it. it will probably be an annual event.
 
Nice writeup. A question
- I have always read very positive reviews of the Raven suspension over non raven. You seem to detect zero difference in handling/ride quality, etc in the suspension between your pre refresh (non Raven) and your refresh (with Raven)
-Have you tried a test of using your infrared somewhere other than on the glass? Its my understanding that the actual interior cabin temp does not rise due to pano roof, and those who tinted the roof got minimal of any, actual temp reduction in the cabin itself.
-Have you considered this for your roof? Madico | Ceramic Window Tint & Clear Windshield Protection
 
  • Like
Reactions: VikH
Always love reading these write-ups before my car (finally) arrives and I can form my own opinion.

This car is definitely unfinished and rushed. Not just in software but in overall build. A shame, really.

How is cabin noise in comparison to your old car? Are you on 19” wheels?
 
I agree.. this car is rushed. I wrote another thread that it's dangerous to drive. Nothing is intuitive. The turn signals... I miss pressing them half the time. You constantly need to use the touch screen for stuff.. I thought they would make the car safer with the display in front of you.. instead they made it more dangerous. No obvious way to scroll through your favorites in radio.. you have to keep using the touch screen. The horn is unusable, you never can find it. This is my 3rd Tesla.. I think its the last. EM has lost touch with his customers.
 
I had a Raven Model X and liking the S Refresh more every day.

People raved that the Raven was a big step up, Consistently. Ride wise, Refresh probably similar to Raven. And I’m sure it’s way better than 2017 which didn’t even have adaptable suspension.

Model X had no issue with a hot roof. But I am in the northeast. But July can be damn hot. Surprised how cool it stayed. Any car will get hot if you leave it baking in the sun. Besides you can crack and close windows from the phone. I expect S roof to be fine. If I do park in the sun I always use a windshield sunshade.

I’m also loving the UI. I think a bunch of stuff that is missing will come in time.

Radio is about the same. Maybe a touch better.

Still evaluating ANR.

Car is pretty quiet. 19” wheels.

Range is awesome and I use it. Main reason I upgraded from X to S.

Still think Portrait screen made more sense. It looked like it belonged. Vs landscape it looks like a wart.

I like the camera display from blinker more than I expected.

Yoke is better than expected. I’d have to try a round wheel in Pre refresh again to decide which I prefer.