Test drives @ stores

[mknox]

I dropped by the store on Monday and got an appt for Thursday. I think my calendar was the limiting factor, as I had stuff at work I couldn't skip out on before Thursday afternoon. They said week days are better for drives than weekends. Hope you can get a drive in.

I stopped in at the Newport Beach store and got my test drive on the spot. They were originally going to schedule me in for the next day, but came back and said they could take me right then. They have a cool Tesla-branded parking spot in the garage below the mall.

I drove a blue Performance model with tan interior and sunroof. This is the second blue car I've driven (first was a non-Performance), but I was glad to experience the sunroof in the bright California sun. I was worried that it might be too bright in the car without a shade, but that was not the case at all. The brightness was quite comfortable in the car, and there was no glare or washout on the screens.

The car did have illuminated mirrors on the visor, but didn't have the little cubby below the center screen.

One nice touch I hadn't noticed before are the downward-pointing LEDs on the door handles to light the ground at night. (My car has ground lights on the bottom of the doors themselves, but it was kind of cool to see them on the actual door handles).

The car also had the gloss Obeche Wood finish, which I was leaning towards, and now can confirm that's what I want. I had also been going back and forth over tan vs. black interior, but having seen this tan interior, I can now also settle on the tan.

I was really surprised how much I liked the first blue car I saw in person (had been leaning towards grey), and now having seen this second car, I can firmly say that the blue is for me.

The had a non-Performance version in the store with cloth interior and in the new 2013 red color. I liked the color more than I thought I would, but would still prefer the Sig Red.

Of course, I picked up some swag and left with my nice cloth Tesla bag.

For yuks, I swung by a Coda dealer afterwards. That is all I have to say about that.

 

[Lyon]

I stopped in at the Newport Beach store and got my test drive on the spot. They were originally going to schedule me in for the next day, but came back and said they could take me right then. They have a cool Tesla-branded parking spot in the garage below the mall.

I drove a blue Performance model with tan interior and sunroof. This is the second blue car I've driven (first was a non-Performance), but I was glad to experience the sunroof in the bright California sun. I was worried that it might be too bright in the car without a shade, but that was not the case at all. The brightness was quite comfortable in the car, and there was no glare or washout on the screens.

The car did have illuminated mirrors on the visor, but didn't have the little cubby below the center screen.

One nice touch I hadn't noticed before are the downward-pointing LEDs on the door handles to light the ground at night. (My car has ground lights on the bottom of the doors themselves, but it was kind of cool to see them on the actual door handles).

The car also had the gloss Obeche Wood finish, which I was leaning towards, and now can confirm that's what I want. I had also been going back and forth over tan vs. black interior, but having seen this tan interior, I can now also settle on the tan.

I was really surprised how much I liked the first blue car I saw in person (had been leaning towards grey), and now having seen this second car, I can firmly say that the blue is for me.

The had a non-Performance version in the store with cloth interior and in the new 2013 red color. I liked the color more than I thought I would, but would still prefer the Sig Red.

Of course, I picked up some swag and left with my nice cloth Tesla bag.

For yuks, I swung by a Coda dealer afterwards. That is all I have to say about that.

Please tell me that you took pictures of the test car! That's the exact configuration I ordered and I'd love to see photos of it!

 

[capt601]

i stopped by there yesterday and got a few photos. and it is also the exact config we have selected for ours. looks beautiful. i even asked them if we could just take it home today as they wouldn't need to change a thing, but no luck.
didnt really get any interior photos, as we only sat in it for a few minutes. gonna get the wife a test drive in a few weeks, seeing that she let me drive during the Hawthorne event.

 

[brianman]

It seems 1201 is another unicorn. Non-signature blue exterior color, but Signature badging on the rear chrome.

 

[mknox]

Please tell me that you took pictures of the test car! That's the exact configuration I ordered and I'd love to see photos of it!

Sadly, no, but thanks to capt601 for posting the pictures he got! That's the car I drove.

I was fully expecting to have to make an appointment, at which time I would have brought my brother along to shoot some video and take some pictures.

I couldn't resist the offer to take the car out then and there!

 

[Lyon]

Excellent pictures, thanks! I'm getting the carbon fiber spoiler and I can't tell if that's got the same mates obeche that I ordered, but it's a stunning looking car. I know it's harder to tell on a dark car, but the panel gaps look much improved.

 

[FalconNinetyD]

It seems 1201 is another unicorn. Non-signature blue exterior color, but Signature badging on the rear chrome.

Guessing that's what was in the parts bin since they weren't making non-sigs for the first 4-5 months...

 

[mknox]

Excellent pictures, thanks! I'm getting the carbon fiber spoiler and I can't tell if that's got the same mates obeche that I ordered, but it's a stunning looking car. I know it's harder to tell on a dark car, but the panel gaps look much improved.

The Newport Beach car has gloss Obeche Wood, and in my opinion, looks great.