To Orange or not....

[AEdennis]

I'm going on 4 years of ownership with my Very Orange Roadster. I love the color, but it honestly gets a little too much attention. I still get stopped regularly in parking lots. I still see people taking photos of my car when driving. It's honestly a bit if a hassle and annoyance.

It also depends on how you plan to use the car. I don't drive my Roadster daily and usually drive a relatively nondescript silver Model S to work. But part of my job is working with underserved populations and when I do take the Roadster to work, there are usually a lot of comments about it from the clientele. I also have random people yelling at me sometimes, "Hey, man - how much did you pay for that car?" Also, my wife volunteers monthly and feels self-conscious about driving the Roadster to the shelter.

So, it's a mixed bag for me. It's a gorgeous car and great color, but I find the attention at times uncomfortable. Although I'm not certain a different colored Roadster would attract significantly less attention for me and the places I would take it.

I do have a Model 3 on order and when it arrives, my Roadster will probably assume full-on garage queen status.

My wife's Roadster is a very dark Sig Green and it still gets all sorts of attention. But we expect the Roadster to go in the garage for most of the time when her Model 3 arrives.

How far we have come when a Model S, of any color, can be called "nondescript".

Yup... Though I suspect, only in some parts of the country. Unfortunately, they're still rare in other parts.

 

[Rotarypower]

So after allot of research and staring at roadster pictures, even knowing they don't do the car justice, I've concluded that the very orange color is.......AWESOME! It's now on top of my list, surpassing fusion red.

One additional question, would anyone know the population density of each color? For instance, I see tons of radiant red roadsters for sale, while other colors are definitely rare. Just curious where the very orange sits, not sure if that has been discussed in the past?

 

[ecarfan]

Based on my non-random sample of more than 20 Roadsters in the SF Bay Area, Very Orange is uncommon but not as rare as some other colors.

The question of Roadster paint color popularity has been discussed in TMC. Try a search...

 

[adiggs]

I have never heard anyone joke about my Very Orange Roadster. I am not a flashy guy, and I have no problem driving it. It is my favorite Roadster color. It draws remarkably little attention. And that is not because of where I live: while Teslas are common here, Roadsters are rare. Months go by without my seeing another one.

If only there were so common here.

I've seen other Roadsters, but only at Tesla owner events / meetups. I've never seen another Roadster "in the wild" (that unexpected OMG that's a Roadster) - that's never happened for me. *sniff*

Now I've done that for plenty of other folks Even the black Roadster gets lots of attention.

(I wanted Very Orange originally also. After 6 months of hunting, I knew a good Roadster deal when I saw one, and I decided I could "live with" black. Oh the agony of having to make do with black )

 

[adiggs]

So after allot of research and staring at roadster pictures, even knowing they don't do the car justice, I've concluded that the very orange color is.......AWESOME! It's now on top of my list, surpassing fusion red.

One additional question, would anyone know the population density of each color? For instance, I see tons of radiant red roadsters for sale, while other colors are definitely rare. Just curious where the very orange sits, not sure if that has been discussed in the past?

The way I figure it, all Roadster colors are rare. Living in NC, there's a good chance that unless you go somewhere to see a Roadster, then the first Roadster you see will be yours when the truck drops it off. It could also be the last Roadster, other than your own, that you'll see.

That's at least been my experience living in Oregon, and I've got decent sized Roadster populations north (Seattle) and south (California) from me.


As a practical matter, when I was hunting for one, I figured out other features I wanted and focused on that. I also had a color list I really really wanted (Very Orange and Fusion Red were at the top of my list - I don't think any of the colors were definite no's though). The problem is that with the rarity, you can spend multiple years looking for exactly the right combination of color and features.

If it helps - look for anything with the right features, and plan to wrap it in a Very Orange(ish) wrap when you get it. I told myself I could do that, and it isn't even all that expensive. Four years later, it's still black Heck - if you wrap it, you can re-wrap it in a few years and everybody will be wondering if you got ANOTHER Roadster!

 

[Rotarypower]

So just an update here. I am now officially the owner of 5YJRE6A37B1001345, a 2011 2.5 very orange roadster! So, the seller put her back in the shop at San Rafael to get some issues sorted. Yesterday the roadster shipped on a large enclosed truck for the long trip to North Carolina. Hopefully I will see her this weekend. I'm definately AMP3D-UP!

 

[AudubonB]

I must be wearing my Moderator's hat too much....
just saw this thread's title and I cringed: "Oh no - not ANOTHER political thread."

 

[ecarfan]

VERY nice! Great look with the CF top and dark wheels. Enjoy...

View attachment 230134 So just an update here. I am now officially the owner of 5YJRE6A37B1001345, a 2011 2.5 very orange roadster! So, the seller put her back in the shop at San Rafael to get some issues sorted. Yesterday the roadster shipped on a large enclosed truck for the long trip to North Carolina. Hopefully I will see her this weekend. I'm definately AMP3D-UP!

 

[TEG]

Looks awesome, but are those wheels flipped around so that the pinwheels "spin" a different direction front vs rear? Seems like maybe the rear L & R are swapped ?

 

[Rotarypower]

@TEG yes, I noticed that when I inspected the car. I'll definately get them consistent once the car arrives.

 

[wayner]

Awesome looking car! When I took my Model S in to get the summer tires put on a little over two years ago I got a Very Orange Roadster as my loaner for a day - and it also had the black carbon fiber trim. I really enjoyed my 24 hours or so in that car - it was owned by Tesla Canada and they told me it wasn't for sale. I asked them to let me know if they ever wanted to sell it but they seem to have sold it and I never heard from them.

 

[DeedWest]

@wayner - Seems like you found that car...most likely was VIN 1345. LOL.

 

[wayner]

So it went from Toronto to California and now to NC? Here is a photo I took at the time:

 

[TEG]

Is that the same car? No sport badges and no sport seat stitching (at least not that I can see from that pic), and non-sport wheels too.

 

[Rotarypower]

Yep, that is not the car I just acquired. I know the lineage of my car, it was a single owner vehicle. Also, obviously that isn't a sport as noted by @TEG.

 

[DeedWest]

Agreed. That's a clearly a Base with the cast wheels and non-Sport seats, etc.
Now...I wonder which VIN this is.

 

[Rotarypower]

Alright so I thought I would update the community on my new roadster. This is really long (sorry) but I'm an engineer and brevity isn't in my genes. So, she arrived in North Carolina on Monday morning at my house. Huge truck came rolling in from San Rafael, CA to Cary, NC. Took exactly one very long week to make it here. My daughter and wife were there for a short time to witness the unboxing so it was kinda a family affair! Car arrived in pretty much the same shape as when I left her, so that was good. The transport truck driver asked me to drive her off the truck, I was a little hesitant but after watching him drive off the truck that was in the back of his enclosed transport, well, let's just say that made up my mind for me (he almost ran it off the ramps)!

A few things I was worried about. 1) carbon fiber front lip clearance into my driveway....ha no issue what so ever. 2) would my new NEMA 14-50 outlet work.....no issue with outlet, but see other problem below. 3) was my trip to San Rafael to check out the car a dream and did I really vet the car to the extent that it would not arrive bricked or burn up when I first started her....well....ok no problem there....shweeeeew! All good.

So, the issues....1). Alpine radio is locked up and non-responsive to input. It was working before I took possession. I've hit the front reset numerous times, pulled fuses, and cursed at the damn thing, but it just is not working. So, before I took possession the Service Center in San Rafael replaced the 12V battery, I am thinking that locked up the Alpine unit. I did find a thread about this and bottom line was digging into the dash and resetting the various input modules that feed the Alpine. Not sure I want to go digging so early, also, was hoping I would have a functioning radio for awhile before doing the often recommended replacement. Weird thing is the backup camera works and shows during reverse, I'm guessing that is controlled by a separate GPU within the unit 2) UMC (charger) that came with the unit. It was checked by the San Rafael SC and written up as fully functioning as part of the annual service right before I bought the car. So I was really crossing my fingers on this one as I've read that the UMC is poorly designed and not reliable. Well it seems to be faulting out. So far I have had probably 4 faults. First at 40 Amps several times, then 32 amps several times. I was able to get an hour or two between faults. I then reduced charge to 24 amps, well that seems to work ok. I noticed if I even slightly moved the cable it would fault at 40 amps, then the other faults occurred when the unit was static. So when a fault occurs. I get four red blinks on the UMC interface segment, the thing gets hot as hell. Could this be over heating? Also, I read on the unit it says to send back to Tesla if a malfunction occurs. Do they still take these for repair? Is that even an option? What does the community recommend for an alternative?

Ok so here are my first impressions. Wow. The car is a work of art, the sculpted body is absolutely beautiful. Pair that with the Very Orange color and the black carbon fiber and black wheels, it really pops out at you. I can't stop looking at the car. It certainly is a head turner. Quite a few people coming up and asking if it's new, even my geeky engineering friends and coworkers were not aware these cars existed. So once inside, I have to say I've heard allot of negatives about the spartan interior and amenities. I really think Tesla got it right. What else does the car need? I've got a real sports car that hugs the road and provides real feedback to the driver thru the steering wheel. Interior carbon fiber is cool and other than the radio issue, I'm really pleasantly surprised with the interior. As for the ride, I can only compare it to a slot car or go kart on steroids. The torque is instant and the power flow is so seamless it's like no ICE machine. I find the ride quite good. Not sure what setting my suspension is at, but it feels right. I do have a few crickets (squeaks) that sound like they are coming from the suspension. Are there grease zerks on the suspension? Do bushings need lubricating? This is very minor, not a big deal.

Overall I am ecstatic about the car. I think I'm going to enjoy the car for a long time. Thanks again to this awesome community of enthusiasts for your advice.

 

[EinSV]

View attachment 231493 View attachment 231494 View attachment 231495 View attachment 231496 View attachment 231497 View attachment 231498 View attachment 231499 View attachment 231500 Alright so I thought I would update the community on my new roadster. This is really long (sorry) but I'm an engineer and brevity isn't in my genes. So, she arrived in North Carolina on Monday morning at my house. Huge truck came rolling in from San Rafael, CA to Cary, NC. Took exactly one very long week to make it here. My daughter and wife were there for a short time to witness the unboxing so it was kinda a family affair! Car arrived in pretty much the same shape as when I left her, so that was good. The transport truck driver asked me to drive her off the truck, I was a little hesitant but after watching him drive off the truck that was in the back of his enclosed transport, well, let's just say that made up my mind for me (he almost ran it off the ramps)!

A few things I was worried about. 1) carbon fiber front lip clearance into my driveway....ha no issue what so ever. 2) would my new NEMA 14-50 outlet work.....no issue with outlet, but see other problem below. 3) was my trip to San Rafael to check out the car a dream and did I really vet the car to the extent that it would not arrive bricked or burn up when I first started her....well....ok no problem there....shweeeeew! All good.

So, the issues....1). Alpine radio is locked up and non-responsive to input. It was working before I took possession. I've hit the front reset numerous times, pulled fuses, and cursed at the damn thing, but it just is not working. So, before I took possession the Service Center in San Rafael replaced the 12V battery, I am thinking that locked up the Alpine unit. I did find a thread about this and bottom line was digging into the dash and resetting the various input modules that feed the Alpine. Not sure I want to go digging so early, also, was hoping I would have a functioning radio for awhile before doing the often recommended replacement. Weird thing is the backup camera works and shows during reverse, I'm guessing that is controlled by a separate GPU within the unit 2) UMC (charger) that came with the unit. It was checked by the San Rafael SC and written up as fully functioning as part of the annual service right before I bought the car. So I was really crossing my fingers on this one as I've read that the UMC is poorly designed and not reliable. Well it seems to be faulting out. So far I have had probably 4 faults. First at 40 Amps several times, then 32 amps several times. I was able to get an hour or two between faults. I then reduced charge to 24 amps, well that seems to work ok. I noticed if I even slightly moved the cable it would fault at 40 amps, then the other faults occurred when the unit was static. So when a fault occurs. I get four red blinks on the UMC interface segment, the thing gets hot as hell. Could this be over heating? Also, I read on the unit it says to send back to Tesla if a malfunction occurs. Do they still take these for repair? Is that even an option? What does the community recommend for an alternative?

Ok so here are my first impressions. Wow. The car is a work of art, the sculpted body is absolutely beautiful. Pair that with the Very Orange color and the black carbon fiber and black wheels, it really pops out at you. I can't stop looking at the car. It certainly is a head turner. Quite a few people coming up and asking if it's new, even my geeky engineering friends and coworkers were not aware these cars existed. So once inside, I have to say I've heard allot of negatives about the spartan interior and amenities. I really think Tesla got it right. What else does the car need? I've got a real sports car that hugs the road and provides real feedback to the driver thru the steering wheel. Interior carbon fiber is cool and other than the radio issue, I'm really pleasantly surprised with the interior. As for the ride, I can only compare it to a slot car or go kart on steroids. The torque is instant and the power flow is so seamless it's like no ICE machine. I find the ride quite good. Not sure what setting my suspension is at, but it feels right. I do have a few crickets (squeaks) that sound like they are coming from the suspension. Are there grease zerks on the suspension? Do bushings need lubricating? This is very minor, not a big deal.

Overall I am ecstatic about the car. I think I'm going to enjoy the car for a long time. Thanks again to this awesome community of enthusiasts for your advice.

Congrats -- what a beauty!

 

[TEG]

Yes, gorgeous! Thanks for posting more pictures.

Word of advice - be really careful about distance in front of you for stopping. Roadster has a lot more power and weight than the original Lotus chassis was designed to carry, and the stock braking system can sometimes be a little overwhelmed if pushed hard. Many of the damaged Roadsters I saw over the years were cases where the Roadster rear ended someone because it couldn't stop in time. That quiet relentless power also might sneak up on you and have you going quicker than you knew. If is has the stock rotors/pads you might want to get involved in one of the group buys to upgrade the braking system. Do you know if it has upgraded Xenon headlights? Many Roadsters also have weak stock headlights further risking short stopping distances.

 

[TEG]

Is the radio shut down because of a security feature? Some radios will go catatonic if they think they are stolen out of the car. I am not sure if the battery reset got it forced into some standby mode on purpose.