When did the original blue go away?

[KenEE]

Hi,

Do any of you know exactly when the original dark blue was replaced?
I have an original blue 2012 that will be falling off its extended warranty soon and am looking for options.

I've been planning/leaning toward keeping my 2012 "forever", but have been considering my options. I would like the new range and suspension of the Raven refresh, but its not an option due to lack of pano roof, leather, and third row jump seats. (plus the color choices do not appeal to me)

So, I'm thinking a good option might be a 2016 model with gen2 seats, pano, and third row jump seat and my favorite dark blue. But I'm not sure when the dark blue was discontinued.

If I wind up keeping my 2012 I plan to upgrade the seats to gen2...

TIA

 

[Akikiki]

Early 2015

 

[KenEE]

Thanks Akikiki!
So was that before the gen2 seats were available?
That is, was there any time overlap where the original dark blue was available with gen2 (cushy) seats?

 

[Akikiki]

Part of the fun is finding stuff you were not looking for. Here. This might help you and amuse you.
Model S - Options by Year - Tesla Motors Club Wiki
There's also a couple of threads on TMC about upgrading from Gen 1 to Gen 2 seats. Carefully.

 

[glide]

Thanks Akikiki!
So was that before the gen2 seats were available?
That is, was there any time overlap where the original dark blue was available with gen2 (cushy) seats?

I have a dark blue P85D w/ next gen front *and* rear seats.

Edit: not sure if you mean the “old gen” gen 2 seats.

 

[KenEE]

Wow - reading the Options by year wiki I see there were many many seat versions! gen1, gen1.5, "Premium", netxt gen,....
All I know is I've driven loaners with much nicer/cushier leather seats than my 2012 P85. But looks like any newer dark blue with all the other options I want would be a candidate. Just have to try out the seats to evaluate.

glide - how long do you plan to keep your P85? I was thinking someone should start a thread for "lifers" Could collect info on aftermarket services, best swaps (drive units, batteries, suspension components, seats, everything you would need to know to maintain and improve your classic...)

 

[Akikiki]

KenEE, One thread would be to small and become to complex to manage or find something. However, as a whole, that's what TMC is about. It would be a nice feature if we could search by a year tag to group everything together.

 

[IchDochNicht]

Change of blue was around the same time as the availability of Dual Drive. I have seen some with Dual Drive and the old, darker blue.

Personally, I prefer both the newer deep blue and the facelift...

 

[KenEE]

I'm a toss up on the facelift vs cone. Colors are a huge deal to many, and the number of choices is far to small IMO. In the beginning they talked about and even did a few custom colors. You can get any color you want on a Panamera for (I think) $12k.
But the S is a very classic and timeless style imo, and I think will look good indefinitely. (like and early jaguar for example)

 

[Akikiki]

Yes, there were a few custom colors. Here in Hawaii, we try to keep up with Teslas we find in the wild. We keep track of model and colors.
We've been receiving Tesla's in Hawaii since 2012. If we are representative of the over all selections of Tesla's this might shed some light on popularity of colors.

From the 1650 we are tracking, The least popular owned colors are:
Green 12 or 0.7%
Brown 10 or 0.6%
Sig Red 7 or 0.4%

I guess since we can order our color, Tesla opted to reduce over all cost by eliminating lesser chosen colors ?? Make sense?

 

[glide]

Wow - reading the Options by year wiki I see there were many many seat versions! gen1, gen1.5, "Premium", netxt gen,....
All I know is I've driven loaners with much nicer/cushier leather seats than my 2012 P85. But looks like any newer dark blue with all the other options I want would be a candidate. Just have to try out the seats to evaluate.

glide - how long do you plan to keep your P85? I was thinking someone should start a thread for "lifers" Could collect info on aftermarket services, best swaps (drive units, batteries, suspension components, seats, everything you would need to know to maintain and improve your classic...)

I was actually thinking of selling it...

 

[Akikiki]

2012-2014 Model S's make great EV starter cars for new owners that are unsure til they own it.

That's been my experience.

 

[Fred42]

Hi,

Do any of you know exactly when the original dark blue was replaced?
I have an original blue 2012 that will be falling off its extended warranty soon and am looking for options.

I've been planning/leaning toward keeping my 2012 "forever", but have been considering my options. I would like the new range and suspension of the Raven refresh, but its not an option due to lack of pano roof, leather, and third row jump seats. (plus the color choices do not appeal to me)

So, I'm thinking a good option might be a 2016 model with gen2 seats, pano, and third row jump seat and my favorite dark blue. But I'm not sure when the dark blue was discontinued.

If I wind up keeping my 2012 I plan to upgrade the seats to gen2...

TIA

Aren't you going to have difficulty finding what you want with the jump seats, which I don't think was a real popular option?

You can have any color you want by wrapping it.

When I Googled I quickly found leather seat covers for S's including early model years.

You can get three seat rows in an X.

I can't help with the pano roof.

 

[KenEE]

I could probably live without the jumpseats... well actually that would be hard to do. Just thinking about all of the fun my kids and their friends have had riding back there! Plus our nieces and nephews and soon our grandchildren.
I remember my youngest daughter and her friend making faces at the car behind us at the light. (all in good fun) And I opened the rear hatch. The people behind us and the girls had great fun with it!

In general I think lowering the options is a step backwards. It's not about whether the remaining options are the most popular. In the modern competitive world consumers expect to get things the way they want it.

I think its awesome for the people who don't value or want the pano roof, but trust me, there are plenty who would not consider a car like this without it. You can read plenty of posts on this forum to that effect. Not having it as an option clearly lowers the competitiveness.

All in fun. I see it as a fun challenge to get around. I'll bet there are others who feel the same. (not everyone of course)

 

[BPeter]

I think I read that it is possible to install the rear-facing seats on cars that shipped without them. You'll need to install a reinforcement bar behind the bumper. The parts are available and it is possible AFAIK.

 

[Akikiki]

BPeter is correct. There was even a Tesla service bulletin released that guided people to accurate parts lists.
My DIY Rear Facing Jump Seats Retrofit (with Service Bulletin / Official Instructions)
First post of linked thread has Third Row Seat Installation service bulletin.

 

[KenEE]

For anyone interested in better seats for the MS, here is an excellent summary of most/all of the seats ever offered on the S. There is also a good bit of additional info down in the comments.