Weirdest "admirer" experiences?

[Brandonm]

Anybody else had weird experiences where people chase them down/go out of their way to talk/ask about their Model S? Today I had a woman jump out of her car in the Starbucks drive through and come and knock on my front passenger window to gush about how she was a stock holder and thought the car was cool, and mine was the first one she'd seen.

Which I wouldn't mind under most circumstances, but my 11 month old son was asleep in the back seat and she woke him up. I was still cordial, but my wife and I were a bit weirded out and annoyed

 

[Twiddler]

Have had someone knock on my window in a drive thru 4 times now. I keep mace in the kangaroo pouch, and there has been at least one time that I was freaked out enough to casually grab it

 

[Doug_G]

No issues with the Model S, but I had a guy physically block my Roadster, i.e. walk in front of it to make me stop, so he could ask me about it. I was pretty annoyed because I nearly hit him - he approached from the passenger side in a poorly lit area. He asked if I did the body modifications myself (WTF?), and I said, "no it's stock" and drove away. That was the only time I've refused to answer people's questions.

 

[ElSupreme]

I had done a impulsive long roadtrip one Saturday with a 80% charge in the morning. After I ran a Lowes/Home Depot/Lowes run in the morning. And needed to do a round trip to work to check on some work, that should have been done late Friday after I left. Which is a 60 mile round trip. I charged to 65 miles rated range and then went to work.

As I was putzing in the right lane at 55-60 (which in Atlanta is 10 under the slower traffic) I was slowly overtaking a car. Every now and then you get a truck you need to pass but a car. As I got closer the car started looking faster, and more expensive. Then I recognized it as a Nissan GT-R. Brand new.

Baffled at why a New GT-R was going 55 or less on an open Atlanta interstate I merged one lane to the left to pass. As I was passing I got the "roll 'em down" motion. Then he proceeded to try to talk to me at 55mph on the interstate. I mostly got, I am only driving this slow because I saw your DRLs when I merged onto the interstate. That car is so cool. Where can I get one.

I basically gave him the thumbs up. Told him I was driving for work so no risk of speeding tickets. Then after I passed him. He pulled out his phone, took a bunch of pictures. Then proceeded to go even slower (I assume to send them to someone). About 45 seconds later he was screaming by in the leftmost lane well into the triple digit speeds.

Man GT-Rs are loud at WOT.

 

[deonb]

mine was the first one she'd seen.

Happened in Seattle? How...?

 

[Jouler]

Some random admirer followed Zex around town and then down our street.... Glad I wasn't along for that drive as it would not have been a particularly appreciated gesture and I don't think I would have been nearly as gracious fielding his questions.

 

[Crispix]

I'm guilty of being one of those stalkers. I was stuck in traffic a few months ago, noticed a Model S right next to me, was the first I'd seen on the road. Dark color, I think. I made a motion to roll down the window and the driver obliged. The conversation was basically this:

Me: "Is it awesome? Don't tell me it's awesome!"
Him: "It's pretty awesome!"
Me: "I'm sooooo jealous!"

Anyway, if you're a San Diego MS owner on this forum and remember the guy in the convertible on Mira Mesa Blvd a few months ago who was jealous of your ride, that was me. Now I have one on order!

 

[Brandonm]

Happened in Seattle? How...?

No clue, I was down in Renton but even down there I see a couple a week.

Also, Mods, how is this Off Topic? The "Is that a jaguar" topic has been in that forum for like a week, yet this somehow gets moved. Whatever....

 

[NigelM]

Also, Mods, how is this Off Topic? The "Is that a jaguar" topic has been in that forum for like a week, yet this somehow gets moved. Whatever....

Because that other thread was about comparisons of Model S to other cars; this one is about the weird lady at the Starbucks drive-thru..... Sorry if that makes you unhappy for whatever reason.

 

[Lloyd]

I'm guilty of being one of those stalkers. I was stuck in traffic a few months ago, noticed a Model S right next to me, was the first I'd seen on the road. Dark color, I think. I made a motion to roll down the window and the driver obliged. The conversation was basically this:

Me: "Is it awesome? Don't tell me it's awesome!"
Him: "It's pretty awesome!"
Me: "I'm sooooo jealous!"

Anyway, if you're a San Diego MS owner on this forum and remember the guy in the convertible on Mira Mesa Blvd a few months ago who was jealous of your ride, that was me. Now I have one on order!

Chalk up another sale!!

 

[Brandonm]

Because that other thread was about comparisons of Model S to other cars; this one is about the weird lady at the Starbucks drive-thru..... Sorry if that makes you unhappy for whatever reason.

It's about peoples stories of other people admiring their Model S, actually. and I happened to kick it off with my own story. As I said, whatever

 

[clmason]

I'm guilty of being one of those stalkers.

I do this too. I have gone very green, moved <1 mile to my office and walk to work for 5 years+ plus. About 6 months ago I noticed a model s pulling into the office building next to mine. I followed him into his spot one day and chatted him up. Now i seem him about once a week on my walk/commute and give him a thumbs up every time. Scripps Ranch S owner, I'm not stalking you, I promise.

Mira Mesa Blvd a few months ago

I see so many S's just down the 15 on Mirramar Road, its awesome!

 

[Al Sherman]

On I74 West of Cincinnati I had a guy hanging out the window of a Ford Expedition giving me the longest and most enthusiastic thumbs up I've ever seen. He was hanging out so far he almost touched my car and fell out at 65 mph.

 

[neroden]

I'm up to 33 people stopping to gawk or ask about my car (though I'm not sure my count is exact). None of them have been that weird, though.

 

[bonnie]

I don't keep count. Or 'too many to remember'. Or something like that.

The only weird one was the guy who walked up and offered me money to take him on a test drive. Ummm, letmethinkaboutthatNO.

 

[ZBB]

My strangest was a guy that sat down next to us inside Starbucks one afternoon. About a minute later, he looks in my direction and says "so do you like it?" I had no clue what he was talking about, and in the split second before I could respond, he adds "I saw you get out of it, that's why I'm asking" -- and I realized he was asking about the car.

He also asked if I had a hard time "finding electricity since there aren't very many places to get it around here." I told him that there are hundreds of public chargers around town, including some at the Ikea less than a mile away that we had just used... But I then told him I mostly just charge at home every night -- he didn't realize you could do that. He seemed genuinely interested, but it reminded me that most people still have limited knowledge of EVs...

A couple weekends ago we had a more scary experience. We were on the freeway on a Saturday afternoon. I was going a bit over the limit, and I was about to slowly overtake a mid-90s GM sedan one lane right of me that had peeling paint and the windows down (it was 112+). As I got closer, the guy driving slowed down a bit, and then turned his head to look at the Tesla. He kept slowing down with his head turned too -- and I was worried he'd start to swerve since he was no longer watching the road, so I slowed down to stay behind him. I probably dropped to 45 -- all while he looked left and back at the Tesla -- easily a good 7 or 8 seconds. When he finally looked at the road again, I got past him as fast as I could. Freaked my wife out too...

 

[Doug_G]

That is actually quite dangerous. There's a saying in motorsports, "look where you want to go." The car indeed tends to go where you are looking! I've seen someone nearly crash into my parked Roadster, because he was staring at it as he drove by.

 

[mhpr262]

That phenomenon also exists -and is a lot more pronounced -with motorcycles ... I wonder if Tesla is considering making motorcycles too :love:

 

[Curt]

I don't keep count. Or 'too many to remember'. Or something like that.

Same here. I generally try to factor in an extra 10 to 15 minutes on every trip for questions.

Here's my strangest one, though...

Leaving a BBQ at a friend's house last weekend, I was just turning the corner coming out of the housing development and starting to accelerate on the main road, when I heard I guy standing on the corner yell "I love you, Batman". Might have been more fitting if I had a darker car, but I'll accept it.

 

[joefee]

I had a guy gawking in a bug exterminator truck do 3 circles around the car while I was parked and of course there is the daily walk-up iphone picture takers!