I have just crossed the one year mark of owning my 2021 Model Y Dual Motor vehicle. I have ONE issue and would appreciate any advice.
But first a little automobile history:
At 67, I am an EXTREMELY careful driver, and have owned about 30 cars in my 50 years of driving, about half were driven by my wife when we had kids.
I had muscle cars like my 68, 69 and 70 (which was a Z28) Camaro all Chevy 350 engines, then when the oil embargo hit, I traded the Camaro for a fuel sipping Honda Civic, from there and as my family grew, I owned a Monte Carlo and my wife drove Toyota wagons, then moved up to Volvo because it had a built-in child seat, next we moved to Lexus with my SC400 in the late 90's and my wife an RX300 in the '00's. Once our kids were old enough, we began to leave the station wagon and when my son graduated from college, at the reception, my wife noticed a red BMW 323i sedan. That's where a love for one brand began - her BMW was a great car that gave us about 6 years without anything I couldn't fix myself, and of course maintenance for oil changes, brake rotors and pads, and other consumables like wiper blades. When it came time to trade the RX, I bought an X5 in 2011, which I gave to my son and his wife who have 3 kids. A few years go by and we are enjoying lunch in a restaurant where cars were parked just on the other side of the restaurant window glass. She watched this gentleman take out his BMW 325Ci key fob and lower the top and the windows without getting up from his seat until the waitress returned with his credit card. Then he and his lumch companion got in with the top down and drove away. My bride of 25 years simply said "I want one of those." so we ended up buying a 2004 325Ci Convertible automatic. I have maintained that car for nearly 18 years and just this past Tuesday 3/15 we decided to spend a little of our tax return and had a Ceramic Pro coating (which included paint correction, and a PDR for a ding). The shop in Savannah did an incredible job and it truly looks BETTER than new. The paint on an 18 year old car actually looks WET!
Why did I prepare that last paragraph? Well there are American made cars, Japanese made cars, and, in the last 20 years, German made cars. Not ONE of the cars I owned before my Model Y EVER had any of the curb damage I've endured in the less than 12 months of my owning my Tesla Model Y which has been driven less than 9,000 miles. EVERY wheel seems to have a gap where the wheel sticks out at least 1/4"-1/2" between the edge and tire. The car came (as most do) with Continental ProContact tires. Now to be fair, I recently replaced the factory hubcaps with the Tesla Center cap and chrome caps for the lug nuts. Not only do I think it looks better, I don't have to wory about losing a single wheel cover and spending $150 to replace it. But as you can see in the photos I attached, every wheel has some road rash. I am having a mobile wheel repair guy come to my house and repair them all at an estimated cost of $125 each, though once he sees the ones that have about 1-2 inch scrape vs 4-6 inch scrapes there might be some room for negotiation.
My question is has anyone bought a WIDER tire than the factory Contis that came with the car? If you did can you share the size, brand and where you sourced it? I openly admit that it's my fault that they are scratched BUT never once did I have so much damage, even parking closer to the sidewalk to have plenty of room between me and the driver who will park next to me. It just seems like the aluminum (I think) the wheels are made of are SOFTER (and probably a lot lighter than the wheels from previous cars,
But first a little automobile history:
At 67, I am an EXTREMELY careful driver, and have owned about 30 cars in my 50 years of driving, about half were driven by my wife when we had kids.
I had muscle cars like my 68, 69 and 70 (which was a Z28) Camaro all Chevy 350 engines, then when the oil embargo hit, I traded the Camaro for a fuel sipping Honda Civic, from there and as my family grew, I owned a Monte Carlo and my wife drove Toyota wagons, then moved up to Volvo because it had a built-in child seat, next we moved to Lexus with my SC400 in the late 90's and my wife an RX300 in the '00's. Once our kids were old enough, we began to leave the station wagon and when my son graduated from college, at the reception, my wife noticed a red BMW 323i sedan. That's where a love for one brand began - her BMW was a great car that gave us about 6 years without anything I couldn't fix myself, and of course maintenance for oil changes, brake rotors and pads, and other consumables like wiper blades. When it came time to trade the RX, I bought an X5 in 2011, which I gave to my son and his wife who have 3 kids. A few years go by and we are enjoying lunch in a restaurant where cars were parked just on the other side of the restaurant window glass. She watched this gentleman take out his BMW 325Ci key fob and lower the top and the windows without getting up from his seat until the waitress returned with his credit card. Then he and his lumch companion got in with the top down and drove away. My bride of 25 years simply said "I want one of those." so we ended up buying a 2004 325Ci Convertible automatic. I have maintained that car for nearly 18 years and just this past Tuesday 3/15 we decided to spend a little of our tax return and had a Ceramic Pro coating (which included paint correction, and a PDR for a ding). The shop in Savannah did an incredible job and it truly looks BETTER than new. The paint on an 18 year old car actually looks WET!
Why did I prepare that last paragraph? Well there are American made cars, Japanese made cars, and, in the last 20 years, German made cars. Not ONE of the cars I owned before my Model Y EVER had any of the curb damage I've endured in the less than 12 months of my owning my Tesla Model Y which has been driven less than 9,000 miles. EVERY wheel seems to have a gap where the wheel sticks out at least 1/4"-1/2" between the edge and tire. The car came (as most do) with Continental ProContact tires. Now to be fair, I recently replaced the factory hubcaps with the Tesla Center cap and chrome caps for the lug nuts. Not only do I think it looks better, I don't have to wory about losing a single wheel cover and spending $150 to replace it. But as you can see in the photos I attached, every wheel has some road rash. I am having a mobile wheel repair guy come to my house and repair them all at an estimated cost of $125 each, though once he sees the ones that have about 1-2 inch scrape vs 4-6 inch scrapes there might be some room for negotiation.
My question is has anyone bought a WIDER tire than the factory Contis that came with the car? If you did can you share the size, brand and where you sourced it? I openly admit that it's my fault that they are scratched BUT never once did I have so much damage, even parking closer to the sidewalk to have plenty of room between me and the driver who will park next to me. It just seems like the aluminum (I think) the wheels are made of are SOFTER (and probably a lot lighter than the wheels from previous cars,
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