What did you drive before getting the model S and why did you change?

[JGard]

While I don't have an S, yet, I do plan on it within the next two years, I feel like I'm the only one here w/o a luxury car past, which is amusing. I currently have a '13 Tundra, last car was an 09 WRX, and before that was an Acura RDX (so I guess that's almost a luxury car).

It's going to be tough to part with a truck, but I bought it when I commuted exclusively via motorcycle, and now that I'm in Austin, that isn't the case, so a Model S would be a wonderful commuter compared to a 14mpg V8 truck.

 

[Gynob001]

I drove a 2012 Lincoln MKZ hybrid (a great car). I was attracted to Tesla's technology attracted me. But I feel disappointed by poor attention to navigation, voice technology, central console etc. It is a high priced toy and hopefully it will keep me amused.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I drove a 2012 Lincoln MKZ hybrid (a great car). I was attracted to Tesla's technology attracted me. But I feel disappointed by poor attention to navigation, voice technology, central console etc. It is a high priced toy and hopefully it will keep me amused.

toy, funny
I used to drive a Toy Rav4. The S is better for everything except deep snow.
more dog room, more room for hardware store trips, fast, fun, quiet, better road trip car

navigation sucks as of now but it will be better soon. only complaint

 

[AMN]

We didn't really sell anything to buy the Tesla... yet.

We have a 2009 911 Turbo with about 800HP and a 2013 ML63. The ML will be the first thing to go even though the car is absolutely fantastic - it just isn't driven much. It will be traded in for the Model X next year, so we have a winter car with higher than Model S ground clearance for days or weeks when Minnesota weather isn't cooperating.

 

[Borgie]

I wanted to buy the Model S from the first moment I heard about it. Great story, and turns out it's a great car also. I was drawn to it by the backstory, but the car has proved to be much, much more than I had anticipated. My other cars are a 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo (which I am selling) and a 2010 Audi R8 4.2. I have great respect for the Cayenne, as it can act like much more than an SUV. And I love the R8. Lot's of drama without problems. Very neutral and very sweet once the revs are up over 5-6K (and the exhaust note is NICE). However, I find myself driving the Model S almost exclusively. It is clearly what the ideal car should be. The instant acceleration is absolutely amazing and even a great ICE like the R8 can't compare.

Can't wait for a new sports car from Tesla!

 

[Mayhemm]

And don't shoot the messenger, but I think the X kinda looks like Aztec--just saying.

No angry replies necessary, just my opinion. LOVE the S though! :biggrin:

While I don't see the Aztec comparison, I do think the Model X resembles a Model S that has led too cushy a life and has let itself go. :tongue:

Yet, I still have a reservation...

 

[jvonbokel]

I feel like I'm the only one here w/o a luxury car past, which is amusing.

This thread may not be representative, because I know I've seen a broader variety of examples in the past. Personally, I drove a '97 S-10 Pickup before my Model S.

'89 Chevy S-10 ($800) -> 2000 Dodge Dakota ($8k) -> 2000 Mazda Protege ($6k) -> '97 Chevy S-10 ($4k) -> 2012 Tesla Model S

If it weren't for the Model S, I probably would've bought a Mustang GT, and possibly kept the S-10.

 

[ZipByICE]

While I don't see the Aztec comparison, I do think the Model X resembles a Model S that has led too cushy a life and has let itself go. :tongue:

Yet, I still have a reservation...

Do you have a reservation for reservation or just a reservation? :wink:

 

[Mayhemm]

Just a plain, old, everyday reservation. Nothing special, you know. :biggrin:

 

[kirkp]

2012 Infiniti M35h Hybrid: Great car, best luxury-performance hybrid IMO, 360 HP, 28-30 real-MPG, 0-60 MPH in 5s, 7-sp. auto, heated & cooled seats, adaptive cruise, blind spot warning, fabulous interior, up to 70 mph on electric-power alone, etc. Very similar in overall size to the Model S.

My biggest complaint w/ the Infiniti was responsiveness at-speed, and is common to all modern multi-speed auto-equipped cars -- when you need to make a quick lane change or other fast move, having to wait even a few fractions of a second for the transmission to down-shift 3-4 gears (not to mention possibly kicking in the gas engine over the electric) seems interminable, and is potentially dangerous. While the Infiniti was very quick off-the-line when the transmission is simply sequentially shifting up, it's a totally different story in more-typical stop-and-go driving. After I test drove the Tesla, the Infiniti seemed to always be in the wrong gear for any quick-acceleration while moving. And while the Infiniti interior is like a plush Gentlemen's club, all cushy leather & fine wood, the Tesla is much more open and modern. The Infiniti user interface is quite good, but I counted over 60 buttons on its dash versus two on the Tesla. Enough said there…

My other ICE car (which I still own for the occasional longer trips until the Tesla SC network is fully built-out) is a 2005 Mercedes C55 AMG. The AMG is a super-car by any measure, 367 HP normally-aspirated V8, 5-sp Speed-Shift auto, 0-60 MPH in 4.8s, even rarer than the Model S w/ only 1,299 built for my MY. But damn, even it feels sluggish compared to the Tesla, again the fault of having to wait for even a fast transmission to downshift and the ICE to come into its power-band. I told this to a friend of mine who has owned multiple AMGs and she was incredulous; but after riding w/ me she had to agree. Who'd have believed any car could make an AMG feel "sluggish"?

I've driven quite a few other very nice cars: MB SLS AMG, MB SL65 AMG, Audi R8, Ferrari F430, etc., Now they're all-like, blah… The Tesla Model S is the new dream-car to strive for.

Nothing compares to the Tesla Model S for me. I look forward to seeing all the other luxury gadgets like adaptive cruise, auto-braking, lane-keeping, night-vision, eventually migrate to the Tesla; but for now, the Tesla's superior driving experience and service is all I need.

The Tesla Model S is a total game-changer, and I was fortunate enough to have been well-positioned in TSLA stock options to pay for my P85 after their 2013 Q1 Earnings Report.

This is an expensive car, and is embarrassing to discuss w/ coworkers without seeming to brag. But gosh, is it better to be totally quiet about it, or to at least advise your colleagues about its historical significance & future potential?

I'm not a one-percenter, barely into the six-figure income bracket myself, and this is by-far the most expensive car I've ever bought. But I've never over-indulged myself before, and I was able to now thanks to good-fortune in TSLA stock options, so I figured WTH, I'm never getting any younger…

My dream-car for-free, I doubt I'll ever do better than this.

 

[Cottonwood]

Not exactly my drive before the MS, but all of these great cars got me thinking of when I first got my hands on an electric car...

First a little background, I was a Freshman at MIT in the early 70's, and got a part-time job at the Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory. This was a place that just exuded electric power to make magnetic fields. They had their own electric substation and kept a part of the Charles River ice free in the winter with the waste heat from the experiments! My student supervisor was Sumner Brown, who it turns out was a member of the MIT team that was in the MIT/Cal Tech Electric Car Race. Its great that they used the term Supercharger in the 60's for their 400 Amp connections.

With this background, Professor Thornton contacted Sumner to ask him to get an old, donated electric car running for some show that they were doing in the early 70's. I don't remember the exact car, but it was something like an early electric car owned by Edison. We reverse engineered the circuits, and put in some fresh lead acid batteries, before going for a test drive. What was completely amazing was that as I recreated the wiring diagram between the batteries and motor, Sumner and I realized that the 1910-somthing electric car had regenerative braking! It was quite a thrill at age 20 to hear the relays click and know that the deceleration was recharging the batteries in a car designed in the 1910's!

It is an incredible pleasure to own a Roadster and an MS today!

 

[paulkva]

When I pick up my Model S in a week or two, I will sell a 2004 Mazda 6 wagon which I bought new, so I'm also in the "non-luxury past" group. In fact, the base S60 price is more than what I paid for all other cars I've ever bought for myself (2 new and 3 used)... combined. Although before I decided on the Model S, I was looking at "entry-level" luxury cars like the Infiniti G37 and Lexus IS350.

Why the Model S? Kind of a long story...

I test-drove it on a whim, really, because I was curious and it sounded interesting. I had been hoping for a fun-to-drive car that got decent gas mileage, but I thought the S would be way out of reach. Of course the test drive blew me away, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it from that point forward. I also had a non-Tesla investment pay off around the same time, so suddenly the S was quite a bit more accessible to me.

I test-drove the Lexus IS before and after the Model S -- after because of the new model year and because I was still wrapping my head around the idea of buying a Tesla -- and I was thoroughly underwhelmed the second time. The awesome luxury car (at least from the perspective of owning an 8-year-old Mazda wagon) suddenly felt clunky and noisy, and it threw off SO much heat while idling.

I talked with a couple friends about it, and one recommended I try driving other higher-end cars for a fairer comparison. But I never did, in part because I still couldn't justify spending $70K+ on a car whose maintenance and fuel bills would also be proportionately higher than the Mazda, and in part because so many people here and on teslamotors.com were comparing the Model S so favorably against $100K+ cars.

I had to schedule a second Model S test drive to convince my wife -- I was just as blown away the second time, and for her it was the only car I had tested where she couldn't find anything she didn't like. We placed the order immediately after the second test-drive.

A few days later, I happened to drive a Ferrari F430 around a test track (my wife gave me a "dream car sprint" for Father's Day, which she planned before I had expressed interest in the Tesla). While it was a ton of fun, I could never see myself owning a Ferrari, and the P85 test car was about as much fun for me.

 

[AudubonB]

Cottonwood: that is a GREAT story. Love it!!!!

Me:
1. F-350 diesel crew cab long bed pickup (2008). Not giving it up....expect it to haul the Model S to/from AK & AZ. It's also got our camper atop it...sometimes. Model S "camping" doesn't quite do it here.
2. F-250 (1998) flatbed. It's my plow truck and "yard machine", so not giving it up.
3. VW Golf TDI (ie, diesel) (2006). It gets just under 50mpg to/from Fairbanks or Anchorage, so not giving it up.
4. E-350 12-passenger van - diesel. It's great for hauling lots of guests around on our nature tours, so not giving it up.
5. 1980 BJ-40 Toyota Land Cruiser. NOT an "FJ-40" - that's a gasser. This is a diesel, and rare as hen's teeth, and it's great fun here, so not giving it up.
6. 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback. That's Jenny's, so can't give that up!

So...I guess...in the words of

1. Tim Allen/Jason Nesmith/Cmdr. Peter Quincy Taggart ("Galaxy Quest"): NEVER give up! NEVER surrender"

and

2. Shania Twain "I....ain't...no quitter"

I guess I just am not giving up any of them!

 

[RclKag]

2003 Mini Cooper S loaded (with NAV(rare)), for nice days, ( go-cart on rails ), still have it for longer distance trips.
2003 Hummer H2 for not nice days, sold few years back, replaced with 1999 4Runner Ltd just in case the weather gets ugly.

I do collision/painting repairs, so no better way to understand/repair EV's than to own one!

 

[sgblank]

Last 20 years:
two Lexus LS 400's > two Jaguar XJR's > Porsche Panamera 4S > Model S P85

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

More reasons why people are buying the Model S in this thread:

Would you have bought your Model S if it wasn't electric?

 

[NoMoDinos]

What a great story! Thanks for sharing some history, too.

 

[AC1K]

History looks like this

2002 Mazda protege 5 (~18yr old)
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 (26)
2013 Tesla Model S (30)

for me every new car must be an upgrade in the majority of its specs or else i wont buy it (it would feel like a downgrade otherwise), brand names and looks are not really anything i consider, only specs.

Power 130HP > 306HP > 416HP
Torque 135 > 266 > 443
0-60 8.9s > 5.5s > 3.9s
1/4 16.5s > 14.0s > 12.3s
Braking 60-0 116ft > 109ft > 108ft
Wheels 16/17" > 18" > 21"
Drag coeff 0.32 > 0.32 > 0.24
FWD > RWD W/ LSD > RWD /w Open Diff
5spd > 6spd > 1spd
Warranty 3yr > 5yr > 4yr
Gas millage 27 > 25 > 129 (yes i can squeeze 129MPGe in the tesla if i drive normally)

Bluetooth No > yes > yes w/ A2DP
USB 1x USB> 1x USB > 2x USB
HID No > Yes > Yes w/ LED DRL
Sunroof No > Yes > Pano
2.5" Screen > 4" Screen > 17" Touch screen
Ultrasuede racing seats > Heated Leather > Heated napa leather with ultrasuede/alcantara
Regular Key > Push button engine start > no engine
really big trunk (it was a hatch back) > small trunk > 2 trunks
Seats 5 > 4 > 7

Will there be an upgrade to the tesla? not anytime soon unless some car has more than 416HP and better than 129MPGe

i do miss my old vehicles though,

the protege5 had the best stereo (1000W RMS total power), it also had the best handling out of any car ive ever driven, the suspension was so tight after modification i could slalom at over 72mph,
after installing 17" wheels with BFG gsport comp rubber, tokico racing shocks, eibach springs, tie bars, strut bars and a massive rear anti-sway bar it could corner so hard i would get too scared before the car let loose took a 2 turn lane downtown corner at over 90kph and the wheels wouldnt even squeal

the genesis had the best seats and also the quietest sunroof in vent mode

 

[bareyb]

I had an 87 Corvette before the kids came... It's been SUV's ever since. This (will be) the first fun car I've had in 14 years.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Looked through this thread, but seems no-one reported abandoning an Evo yet Well I've not yet gotten my MS, but I've made the deposit and right now the order is on hold until I can figure out the insurance. However so far I drive a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. It's an excellent rally car and up until recently if anyone asked what car I'd drive if I could choose any car my answer was I already drive it. However the Model S is so much more. I've always waited for a real electric car with the benefits that electric motor brings (constant torque, powerful engine that's compact etc) and the Model S is the first true everyday car that hits all the marks (all the other contenders are purely crap, really). So now even though the car is 2-3x more expensive than any car I've bought so far I've decided to get the Model S and the Evo will go on sale once I know when the MS arrives.

Even though Estonia is a tiny country, the two major cities are separated by 190km. Driving back and forth is 380km and for real I'd not really want to charge EVERY time I have to take the trip. So the only car so far that can do this trip also in the dead cold winter is the Model S with 85kWh battery. And this is a tiny country!