I did a 24 hour test drive of a MS 90D Tuesday- Wednesday and was definitely impressed. I first saw the car in 2013 and thought that was nice and then slowly became obsessed and started saving a lot (and thanks to the IRS for a refund on an amended return) for a down payment. I now have down payment sufficient to keep my same car payment I have had since 1995 (a prerequisite, I never touch allotments from DFAS since they previously messed up my pay and it took them 10 years to fix it), so the time is now. Understand this is replacing a 2010 Prius, so the 85 mile drive home after returning the car was underwhelming.
The car was a white 90D (pre-refresh)with Autopilot, Pano, Upgraded interior, Premium sound, subzero, Air, black Next Gen seats, 19” wheels
Pros:
- Car is FAST. Crazy fast. I have driven powerful cars (Mercedes 280 CE coupe- Euro spec) as well as dogs (hello, 1980 Plymouth Horizon), but this is just unreal
- Car is Safe. The speed actually helps me avoid the crazy Texas drivers and allows me to slip gracefully out of the way. I am no longer gambling when I do the U-turn or get on the freeway.
- Love the instrument cluster. Took me a few minutes to get used to the scroll wheels, but seems pretty intuitive. The monitor is huge, but not distracting
- The much maligned sound system isn’t bad – it isn’t great, but isn’t bad. Bass is lost in never never land. I am not sure how I lived without internet radio in my car to date. Love my Sirius XM, but this is a new level of must have.
- Seats are as comfortable as the wife’s car (Mini Coupe, JCW package) but those are Recaro as well, so no surprise.
-The car does not drive like a big car. It is nimble. The Finance Minister approved and she would prefer to drive a rocket powered roller skate to any big car.
-It was fast enough for my wife (a pilot as well as the myriad of her other talents) not to want the P90D, she was actually nervous about punching it with the 90D. That saved me $20K
- zero pressure sales. They did ask me back to look at the inventor cars – there was a P85D with everything EXCEPT the color I wanted for about the price of the 90D, but it had the exec rear seats which was a deal breaker for she who must be obeyed. I really really don’t want black in San Antonio and out here at the Casa. I would be washing it every 5 minutes. But for 18K off, I could live with it. No Ludicrous upgrade on it
Cons:
- Cupholders. WTF? Without a center console getting a drink is painful (bum shoulder). Does Elon have something against liquid? That part of the cockpit seems poorly designed. I can see what they were going for, but too cute by half.
- limited storage in front. For all the vaunted Frunk and trunk space, there is no good place to put sunglasses, cell phone, change,etc. The stuff of normal life. I finally found the space beneath the monitor, but that seems to be more like a launching pad for those things on a quick acceleration. Good move to put a console back in. I know EV annex has them, but something so basic should have been better thought out.
- Sound system. It is supposed to have a subwoofer. Could have fooled me. For the cost, it should be much better. However, since SXM is a deal breaker, it is a must have
- Nav system. I HATE that you can’t turn off the turns window on the map. What is this 2006? That should be an option you turn of or minimize and only pop up at a set distance to your next turn/landmark. My Prius has a better system.
- this is peculiar to my situation, but the charging cable is too short. When I built my house, I had a NEMA 14-50 installed in the garage, but the cable is 3 feet too short to reach the charge port unless I back in. I will install the HPWC so I can nose in (and get the higher charge rate), but why only 1 length of cable? We will have to move the 14-50 to another location for the model 3 the Frau wants.
- miles remaining battery indicator next to speedo. I hope I don't obsess over that, but unlike a gas gauge where I can dream on how much farther I can go, this is stark reality
Push:
- Autopilot. The TACC is nice, but my Prius has it (but only down to 27mph). Did not do a long enough distance drive to see if the rest was a gimmick. I had a death grip on the steering wheel until I was moderately comfortable
-Autopark. Did not use. The Autopark in the Prius is a neat gimmick, but I can parallel park in ¼ the time. If I could get out of the car and have it back into charging position that would be great. I don’t see it happening.
- Summon. Did not play with it, but I really don’t see me parking so close to someone that I would need this. Why would I invite door dings? Seems like a parlor trick.
The negatives were minor and now I am just waiting on the next set of incentives and for me not to drive 85 miles per day on a commute. I will probably order in the next month.
If you are seriously considering purchasing, offer a noncritical body part to get an overnight test drive. That will put your mind at rest. If you are not serious, don't or you may end up walking out with a new car.
The car was a white 90D (pre-refresh)with Autopilot, Pano, Upgraded interior, Premium sound, subzero, Air, black Next Gen seats, 19” wheels
Pros:
- Car is FAST. Crazy fast. I have driven powerful cars (Mercedes 280 CE coupe- Euro spec) as well as dogs (hello, 1980 Plymouth Horizon), but this is just unreal
- Car is Safe. The speed actually helps me avoid the crazy Texas drivers and allows me to slip gracefully out of the way. I am no longer gambling when I do the U-turn or get on the freeway.
- Love the instrument cluster. Took me a few minutes to get used to the scroll wheels, but seems pretty intuitive. The monitor is huge, but not distracting
- The much maligned sound system isn’t bad – it isn’t great, but isn’t bad. Bass is lost in never never land. I am not sure how I lived without internet radio in my car to date. Love my Sirius XM, but this is a new level of must have.
- Seats are as comfortable as the wife’s car (Mini Coupe, JCW package) but those are Recaro as well, so no surprise.
-The car does not drive like a big car. It is nimble. The Finance Minister approved and she would prefer to drive a rocket powered roller skate to any big car.
-It was fast enough for my wife (a pilot as well as the myriad of her other talents) not to want the P90D, she was actually nervous about punching it with the 90D. That saved me $20K
- zero pressure sales. They did ask me back to look at the inventor cars – there was a P85D with everything EXCEPT the color I wanted for about the price of the 90D, but it had the exec rear seats which was a deal breaker for she who must be obeyed. I really really don’t want black in San Antonio and out here at the Casa. I would be washing it every 5 minutes. But for 18K off, I could live with it. No Ludicrous upgrade on it
Cons:
- Cupholders. WTF? Without a center console getting a drink is painful (bum shoulder). Does Elon have something against liquid? That part of the cockpit seems poorly designed. I can see what they were going for, but too cute by half.
- limited storage in front. For all the vaunted Frunk and trunk space, there is no good place to put sunglasses, cell phone, change,etc. The stuff of normal life. I finally found the space beneath the monitor, but that seems to be more like a launching pad for those things on a quick acceleration. Good move to put a console back in. I know EV annex has them, but something so basic should have been better thought out.
- Sound system. It is supposed to have a subwoofer. Could have fooled me. For the cost, it should be much better. However, since SXM is a deal breaker, it is a must have
- Nav system. I HATE that you can’t turn off the turns window on the map. What is this 2006? That should be an option you turn of or minimize and only pop up at a set distance to your next turn/landmark. My Prius has a better system.
- this is peculiar to my situation, but the charging cable is too short. When I built my house, I had a NEMA 14-50 installed in the garage, but the cable is 3 feet too short to reach the charge port unless I back in. I will install the HPWC so I can nose in (and get the higher charge rate), but why only 1 length of cable? We will have to move the 14-50 to another location for the model 3 the Frau wants.
- miles remaining battery indicator next to speedo. I hope I don't obsess over that, but unlike a gas gauge where I can dream on how much farther I can go, this is stark reality
Push:
- Autopilot. The TACC is nice, but my Prius has it (but only down to 27mph). Did not do a long enough distance drive to see if the rest was a gimmick. I had a death grip on the steering wheel until I was moderately comfortable
-Autopark. Did not use. The Autopark in the Prius is a neat gimmick, but I can parallel park in ¼ the time. If I could get out of the car and have it back into charging position that would be great. I don’t see it happening.
- Summon. Did not play with it, but I really don’t see me parking so close to someone that I would need this. Why would I invite door dings? Seems like a parlor trick.
The negatives were minor and now I am just waiting on the next set of incentives and for me not to drive 85 miles per day on a commute. I will probably order in the next month.
If you are seriously considering purchasing, offer a noncritical body part to get an overnight test drive. That will put your mind at rest. If you are not serious, don't or you may end up walking out with a new car.
