Would you still buy an X?

[PrGrPa]

Got an S. Tempted by the X at the time but the extra $$, ostentatious doors, styling, and slight size difference forced the S.

Had an X for a full day for my SO to test. Incredible. FWDs are so practical. I’d be happy with either an S or an X now. And weighing up how/whether to get an X anyway.

 

[Brian's ReX]

Had some pretty amazing, and FUN cars in my lifetime. Been quite blessed.

There are no cars, past or present, that I would trade my X for... period.

 

[Gwgan]

68,000 miles on 2016 MX90D and very few issues. All were fixed quickly at SC. Very solid. I am planning on keeping it past 100,000 miles.

Ditto. Many early version parts have been replaced by helpful service teams and the car ownership has mellowed into a sublime ride. The acceleration shudder is the only remaining design problem.

 

[henderrj]

Although the OP has already made his decision someone else may read this. I have an S, which I love. We got an X loaner and within two blocks my wife asked "so, we could trade yours in for this right?" Actually, I probably would. I was shocked to find out how much I like the Falcon Wing doors, and the great View, and the high seating position. Apparently I'm not the only one. The resale value of the x is much, much better than any other car in the market.

 

[Tic-tac-toe]

I test drove both the S and X P100D. I love them both but the S goes 0 to 60 in 2.3 secs vs the X which does it in 2.9. Bought the S. The main deciding factor was that I hate the falcon doors which hit me in the showroom as it was closing, hard enough to leave a bruise.

I am a very small adult, 4’11”, and I didn’t like the idea of my kid getting hit by those doors. Looks cool though.

 

[john85775]

Looks like you’ve already been convinced by the responses, but from another guy who almost got cold feet, it was the best car thing I ever did to take delivery on our 100D.

You will absolutely love it. Enjoy.

 

[Peteski]

I test drove both the S and X P100D. I love them both but the S goes 0 to 60 in 2.3 secs vs the X which does it in 2.9. Bought the S. The main deciding factor was that I hate the falcon doors which hit me in the showroom as it was closing, hard enough to leave a bruise.

I am a very small adult, 4’11”, and I didn’t like the idea of my kid getting hit by those doors. Looks cool though.

Our kids (6 and 9) must be smart then because they haven't been hit once by the Falcon doors in 15k miles! There's a quick learning curve involved and then you realise how much better they actually are if you have kids. Makes the school run effortless! My biggest fear with these doors was their reliability, but they have proven to be faultless so far.

 

[buckerine]

Our kids (6 and 9) must be smart then because they haven't been hit once by the Falcon doors in 15k miles! There's a quick learning curve involved and then you realise how much better they actually are if you have kids. Makes the school run effortless! My biggest fear with these doors was their reliability, but they have proven to be faultless so far.

As someone with two kids, delivery this Sunday, and still someone lingering doubt about how well the FWDs will work over time, this is really good to hear.

 

[HostileHarry]

My wife refuses to pickup the kids from school in the X because in her opinion, it's too 'showy'. I totally get that... but it's so funny.

I will agree that I could do without the FWD and I sure hope they won't be on the Model Y.

 

[gangzoom]

Our kids (6 and 9) must be smart then because they haven't been hit once by the Falcon doors in 15k miles! There's a quick learning curve involved and then you realise how much better they actually are if you have kids. Makes the school run effortless! My biggest fear with these doors was their reliability, but they have proven to be faultless so far.

Quite agree, anyone who moans about FWDs clearly have never actually used them on a regular basis. The ability to open fully even in tight parking spaces is fantastic.

Regarding reliability its reassuring to see very little nosie about FWD failures, infact your much more likely to get problems from the Model S door handle. I do wonder if Tesla overengineered the FWDs as they knew people would worry about reliability.

 

[hiroshiy]

Adding more enthusiasm to the thread! Yes I would buy again. The only complaint is the width being too wide - and too heavy for mechanical parkings (which most of you haven't seen any).

FWD opens in a really tight space - actually its ability to allow passengers ingress/egress is HIGHER than normal doors I think.

This is one of the tight paid parking lot in Tokyo, and in this case I just parked closer to the right car to record this video. So normally, in typical situations you have no issues opening FWD even in Tokyo.

BTW if you park in the center of the space, tires will step on yellow line halfway or in some smaller spaces the yellow lines are completely covered by rear tires. So you really need good parking skills if you live in a "city" .

 

[X Fan]

Have two...an early 3k Vin, 43k Miles and now a 6 month 103k Vin, 7k Miles.

Both have been terrific vehicles and the fit finish of new one is superb.

If it meets your family’s needs, buy one and don’t look back.

IMO: best vehicle on market today!

 

[Nilnoc]

Here's the thing about the X vs S: ease of entry and exit.

I've gotten older. Getting in and out of my daughter's S (and a show room 3) is a pain. Getting in and out of my X is a breeze.

If you're not old, this may not matter.

Also, I've been in and out of other SUV type cars. My X is still the easiest to live with.

And the view out the windshield!

 

[EV_enthu_jp]

BTW if you park in the center of the space, tires will step on yellow line halfway or in some smaller spaces the yellow lines are completely covered by rear tires. So you really need good parking skills if you live in a "city" .

The most popular paid parking is called "Times" in Tokyo.
Their Times Terms and Conditions of Use says as follows;
vehicle length limit = 5.0m
vehicle width limit = 1.9m

The model X exceeds these limits, therefore it was illegal to use the parking space.
I know no parking space wider than the Times in downtown Tokyo.

 

[Peteski]

As someone with two kids, delivery this Sunday, and still someone lingering doubt about how well the FWDs will work over time, this is really good to hear.

You'll be fine, just treat them with due respect (the doors that is!). I see a lot of people carelessly opening normal car doors, even small kids being allowed to fling open their doors at the side of the road, so it's something people should take care of anyway.

Do remember to switch on the child-proof locks, so the kids can't randomly open the doors from inside! I let them close the doors, but taught them to make sure they always ask me before pressing the button. They love it!

The advantages of FWDs (especially with small kids) are that they don't have to scrape past an often filthy door with their clothes on entry and no more muddy footmarks all over the inside of the doors on exit. Also makes fastening their seatbelts a lot easier - presuming they can't do it themselves. Once you realise the open door is completely out of your way even when stood tall (I'm 6' 1") it just makes the whole access that much easier. It's like removing the whole rear side of the car, including the roof panel! We had an S loaner the other day and that really highlighted how great the X is with small kids in tow. The kids much preferred the higher seating position in the X too.

This is coming from someone who was very sceptical of FWDs before buying the X. Now I'm a convert, although I could easily live without them. There are times when they can be less convenient, like the odd time when the sensors get spooked, but I find the manual override works fine in those scenarios. Also never depend on the sensors to detect obstacles. For the most part they are conservative, but sometimes they don't pick things up. So you need to treat them with the same caution as you would opening a manual door in a confined space.

 

[Logger]

It all comes down to what you'll be doing in my mind. At the time we purchased ours we lived much closer to family and figured we'd be hauling more people more often. We went with the 75D Six Seat option. Now that we're not close to family I dislike the 6 seat option. There is no way to fold down the 2nd row (which makes sense) but because of this hauling boxes or anything of decent size is pretty difficult. Also now being further away I would have preferred to go with the bigger battery. It makes complete sense now, but at the time I didn't do enough research (I did a lot but you don't know what you don't know) in that when you supercharge you're able to charge faster with the 100kWh vs the 75kWh pack. Side note as someone else mentioned explaining how to operate the doors to new people (on the older models) is a little frustrating after the 4th time to the same person haha. The newer models have 2 buttons with pictures of wings out and wings down and you press the wings down to close and wings up to open. The older models have this little silver 'lever' that you push in to close and pull out to open. Some people have a very hard time with this. We rotated at work who drove for lunch. I'd usually end up driving once a week. The same coworkers I'd have to explain every time how to open and close the doors from the inside and outside. I showed my brother once and I've never had to show him again even though he's probably done in a total of 10 times in the 2 years we've had the car. Some people just grasp the logic better than others.

To summarize, most of the issues I've come across have been redesigned and fixed in the current Model X. Personally since our circumstances have changed, if I were to purchase today with the knowledge I have, I'd go with the S or the 3. If we still lived in our old state I'd pick the X but would select the larger battery option. You make the decision using the information you have at the time and our circumstances changed where I'm not upset with our decision, but knowing where we'd end up and how we'd end up using our vehicle I'd have gone with the S or 3.

Edit - I know I sort of complained about explaining the FWDs to people but they really are awesome. We had some squeaks that needed looked at but they fixed that. I'd agree with the comment about them being flashy. My wife loves that the X looks just like a normal SUV if you aren't aware of Tesla or just kind of glance around a parking lot. That is until you open the doors. We've have multiple stares in parking lots and multiple requests to show people the doors. We almost always oblige unless it's crummy weather as I don't want to keep opening the doors when it's raining haha. Love the doors, but I'm very much looking forward to when they're more mainstream and people stop asking about them haha.

 

[john85775]

+1 on this:

It makes complete sense now, but at the time I didn't do enough research (I did a lot but you don't know what you don't know) in that when you supercharge you're able to charge faster with the 100kWh vs the 75kWh pack.

If we still lived in our old state I'd pick the X but would select the larger battery option.

Adding to this: the 100D will generally last longer given you don't need to charge it to 100% nearly as often. Plus will presumably get better resale value.

We were very tempted to save $$$ and get the 75, but SOOO glad we did the 100. Range is rather variable, and those extra 25 kWh have been essential to completely eradicating range anxiety -- and have made supercharging go marginally faster, especially for quick 10 minute sessions.

Invest in range - you simply can't predict when you'll need it, but glad you have it.

 

[Uncle Paul]

X has been the perfect car for me (and I am a car guy)

We use it for everything. Taking friends out to dinner is a breeze. They love the doors. Dog loves riding in the back, it carries a lot of stuff.
Grand kids love it, call it the space ship. The supercharger system makes road trips a breeze.
Great to start out each morning with a full charge. No more going to the gas stations and being upset when prices go up.
Easy to get in and out of. The panoramic windshield makes driving through scenery amazing.
Have used it to tow, taken it off road and on to beaches.
Best car I have ever owned.

 

[Derba]

Definitely. A very close friend of mine has an S, so I can drive either. I far prefer my X. I have 27000 miles in one year. Autopilot all the time. Have had six or seven passengers in the car numerous times. Tow my boat, tow motorcycles...just love this car.

I will have mine for a looong time.

 

[GoCanes]

Love my X after 2.5 years and 30k miles. So much fun to drive!