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Some of you witnessed my struggles to get comfortable with S85 vs. P85. Having driven the various flavors there is no doubt that I would have been thrilled with an S85, it is an awesome and fun car to drive. The P option was a bigger stretch than I (and certainly my better half) were expecting to make. It was neither out of reach nor a trivial change. I was losing sleep over this decision and beginning to question my purchase altogether even though I love this car. In the end I came to believe that my internal struggles were my subconscious telling me that I really wanted to take that next leap. I made the call to upgrade to a P.

Only time will reveal whether we will wish we had that last $10K (or the purchase price) back. I hope not. Essentially I am betting money on Tesla to make me a happy and loyal customer. If they can do that I know we will never look back, will be the marketing that Tesla needs for long-term growth, and will strongly consider a Model X, and Y, etc.

For now and for better or worse I am at peace once again. And patiently waiting for my car.

Lesson to all here. Don't be too eager to click CONFIRM. Give yourself time to reflect on and re-consider your choices. I thought clicking CONFIRM would get me my car faster. It won't, not with the expansion into new regions. By clicking too early I didn't give myself the time to think things through, discuss trade-offs calmly with my family and change my order a few times to see how it feels. If you are at all like me YOU WILL second guess yourself. It isn't really fair to Tesla to confirm early and then ask for changes. I appreciate how understanding and helpful they were through the process.
 
Nice work upgrading! I was in the same boat, and went through the same thing. Literally sleepless nights where I would weigh out my options and think if I would be ok with "just" the S85. I think a lot of us are thinking the same thing and then end up upgrading. You will have to keep us in the loop when you get your car!
 
Congrats on this big decision. I'm sure there will be no regrets with the "P". And thanks for sharing how you came to terms with your choice. Interesting point you made about the two week period in purgatory.

I'm going through "the Tesla process" now: Today was sort of a breakthrough were I moved from agonizing over whether I should buy the car at all, to agonizing over the options. Current insomnia caused by suspension dilemma! To air or not to air!
 
P85 | Black / Black Leather | Carbon Fiber | 19" Primacy | Tech | Parking Sensors | Fog Lights | Parcel Shelf | Pano Roof | Air Suspension | Ultra Sound | Ambient Lights
I'm certainly biased, but were I to make the purchase today I would consider cutting all of the underlined before letting go of the Performance.

Don't know if this is useful, but I felt compelled to share.
 
I'm certainly biased, but were I to make the purchase today I would consider cutting all of the underlined before letting go of the Performance.

And that's why there's options. My inclination is more towards a fully loaded Standard. I actually wish there were more options available when I ordered (like the Cold Weather and Parking Assist that you can now get).
 
I'm certainly biased, but were I to make the purchase today I would consider cutting all of the underlined before letting go of the Performance.

Don't know if this is useful, but I felt compelled to share.

I agree Brian. If I hadn't clicked CONFIRM I would probably have explored trading a bunch of the loaded options for the performance and see how I felt. That would have helped me stay price neutral and evaluate the pros and cons. As it is I now have a nearly fully loaded P.

- - - Updated - - -

And that's why there's options. My inclination is more towards a fully loaded Standard. I actually wish there were more options available when I ordered (like the Cold Weather and Parking Assist that you can now get).

Yes. That was my original plan. To max out a standard. And I think I would have been very happy with that.
 
Extremely useful @brianman. Thanks. No question about P.
So you would stick with 19" and air for sure if you had to do it again?
Tires/Wheels ...
That's a good question. When I bought mine originally the 21s were "no cost upgrade" or, as others put it, "no credit" downgrade to 19. I like the look of 21s and the "impracticality" of the 21s hadn't really sunk in yet. Ordering today I'd be looking at the cyclones if there wasn't a price bump for it. Hm, not trying to be evasive but frankly I hadn't really thought about this choice given "modern pricing" decisions so I don't have a crisp answer on that one yet.

Air ...
Some on the forum have expressed concerns about the wear/tear/repair situation with Air in the long-term but that hasn't swayed me (yet?). I'd still get the Air if I was to order the vehicle with today's options/pricing matrix. I'd probably get it before Perf -- or more precisely I wouldn't buy a non-Air Perf but I'd prefer to get both.
 
Wow. This I did not expect:
I'd probably get it before Perf -- or more precisely I wouldn't buy a non-Air Perf but I'd prefer to get both.
So you're saying that the Active Air option is above almost all else? It's the one option that would make you sacrifice getting the Performance? That says a lot. Again, thanks for the helpful insights.
 
Wow. This I did not expect:

So you're saying that the Active Air option is above almost all else? It's the one option that would make you sacrifice getting the Performance? That says a lot. Again, thanks for the helpful insights.
Sorry, let me try to be clearer.

AFAIK, there is nothing wrong with the non-air suspension on the Model S. And there's nothing "weird" with the idea of getting a Perf without getting the air suspension.

My comment was that I consider air suspension as something I valued ahead of perf -- for Model S. I don't know whether I'll feel the same for X, Gen 3, etc. But, again, for me I think of the air suspension somewhat like the tech package -- it's part of what makes an S an S for me. Also, I feel like they have a lot more prioritization and focus of resources on nailing the air suspension as their premium user experience. The pano roof is almost in the same category, but not quite. Again, all personal preference and impression ("vibe") -- nothing about the quality, maintenance, etc. ("practicality").

Another way of thinking about it -- some would say "don't get a Perf without 21 wheels" and others would said "don't get a Perf without Plus (now that it's offered)". I don't agree with either assertion broadly -- i.e. for all customers -- but I understand why some people feel this way for the decision tree on their own vehicles.

Hope this helps.
 
Probably depends on your usage, what car you're coming from, and what you're looking for. If you're looking for comfort or are coming from a high-end luxury vehicle, I can see the air being a huge selling point. I drove a P85+/air, a S85/coil, and an S60/air, and loved how communicative the S85/coil's suspension was compared to the others. I didn't mind the ride quality hit, because my current car is fast, raw, noisy, and bumpy, and I kind of like it like that. I'm not worried about driveway curbs, because I don't have any, and my current car is low so I'm already trained to be careful about clearance when out and about.

I also went against conventional wisdom and got the 19"s. Despite what you would think, they have a larger contact patch (more rubber on the road) than the 21"s. The main problem, IMO, is that they're saddled with touring all-season rubber. With better rubber I'd expect launches to match 21"s, though the contact patch advantage will be offset in the corners with the larger sidewalls. In exchange you have less concern about wheel damage and, IMO, a lighter, better-looking wheel.

So as you can see, my priority was Performance over most of the other options.

What I'm getting at is, don't listen to what other people say are must-haves. They're not you, they don't know what you're looking for, and at least in some cases are attempting to justify the options they've purchased as being the ideal configuration.

That includes me. Don't listen to me, either. :wink: