Long post, hope ya'll don't mind...
Out of the blue I got a text asking if I wanted to test drive a Tesla. After doing some follow up I said yes to the service rep (Ashton). I was nervous about the whole thing - but he knew I had ordered a Cybertruck and the address of the pickup was the "new" Tesla center in Raleigh and it turns out everything was legit.
Ashton told me the MY could tow my 3,000 lb boat and offered to let me take one home to verify it would work. We set up an appointment on a Sunday afternoon with "someone else" (he couldn't meet me there) and my wife and I drove 20 minutes to pick up the car. When we got there I was told there was no MY in Raleigh that had a hitch and they didn't know anything about my appointment. They did know Ashton though...
So, we test drove a very dirty Performance MY instead. It was horrible - it was like driving a bucking bronco. The acceleration was incredible - and made my wife sick. I tried to set cruise control and the car jerked us into the center of the lane (towards other cars). I then saw it was running beta software and I had put it in autopilot. The braking was in full regenerative which I knew about but didn't expect. When we got back my wife saw water on the inside of the window and the rep said Tesla isn't known for build quality but "software and safety". On the ride home my wife asked if I was disappointed and I say "yes".
Fast forward a week and Ashton contacted me again. He apologized and set up another overnight test drive (MY long-range with towing package). I reluctantly agreed to try again. This time the car was clean, easy to drive and was overall fantastic. Towing the boat was a mixed bag. I put it in tow mode and it had no problems pulling the boat or getting it up and down the ramp. However, I was surprised at how much the boat moved the car around. It would be replacing an xTerra where you can't even really tell the boat it back there. You could really feel the boat in the MY, especially when braking or maintaining speed. Speed limit is 45 to the boat ramp and I think I would be very nervous towing above 45 mph. It also ate up the battery, although not quite as much as I expected (about 20% for the 40 minute round trip drive).
So, take aways:
- Very mixed results at Tesla Raleigh, NC
- Probably should not let someone test drive the performance MY running beta software the first time they ever drive one
- It can tow a 3,000 lb boat but it feels like the car is really working at it
- I'm ordering a long range MY and looking forward to the Cybertruck
Out of the blue I got a text asking if I wanted to test drive a Tesla. After doing some follow up I said yes to the service rep (Ashton). I was nervous about the whole thing - but he knew I had ordered a Cybertruck and the address of the pickup was the "new" Tesla center in Raleigh and it turns out everything was legit.
Ashton told me the MY could tow my 3,000 lb boat and offered to let me take one home to verify it would work. We set up an appointment on a Sunday afternoon with "someone else" (he couldn't meet me there) and my wife and I drove 20 minutes to pick up the car. When we got there I was told there was no MY in Raleigh that had a hitch and they didn't know anything about my appointment. They did know Ashton though...
So, we test drove a very dirty Performance MY instead. It was horrible - it was like driving a bucking bronco. The acceleration was incredible - and made my wife sick. I tried to set cruise control and the car jerked us into the center of the lane (towards other cars). I then saw it was running beta software and I had put it in autopilot. The braking was in full regenerative which I knew about but didn't expect. When we got back my wife saw water on the inside of the window and the rep said Tesla isn't known for build quality but "software and safety". On the ride home my wife asked if I was disappointed and I say "yes".
Fast forward a week and Ashton contacted me again. He apologized and set up another overnight test drive (MY long-range with towing package). I reluctantly agreed to try again. This time the car was clean, easy to drive and was overall fantastic. Towing the boat was a mixed bag. I put it in tow mode and it had no problems pulling the boat or getting it up and down the ramp. However, I was surprised at how much the boat moved the car around. It would be replacing an xTerra where you can't even really tell the boat it back there. You could really feel the boat in the MY, especially when braking or maintaining speed. Speed limit is 45 to the boat ramp and I think I would be very nervous towing above 45 mph. It also ate up the battery, although not quite as much as I expected (about 20% for the 40 minute round trip drive).
So, take aways:
- Very mixed results at Tesla Raleigh, NC
- Probably should not let someone test drive the performance MY running beta software the first time they ever drive one
- It can tow a 3,000 lb boat but it feels like the car is really working at it
- I'm ordering a long range MY and looking forward to the Cybertruck