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There are two more cons:
1) If you have a SO and only one Tesla, you may not get to drive it all that often.
2) The wait period before delivery seems like it's forever--even if it only a couple of days for an inventory car.
1) If you have a SO and only one Tesla, you may not get to drive it all that often.
2) The wait period before delivery seems like it's forever--even if it only a couple of days for an inventory car.
roblab
Active Member
I'm not an owner, yet.
But I'm pretty sure it all boils down to:
Pros - it's an amazing awesome car
Cons - it's really expensive
Walter
Only it's not as expensive as it first seems when you realize you won't be making weekly payments at the "gas" station (I've saved around $8000 so far not buying gas- and I have solar, which saves even more in other places) or trekking off for half days for "service" and paying exorbitant prices for something like an oxygen sensor, getting your oil changed, or getting the "dealer" who is there to protect you, to fix the rattle under the dash or repair the off center bearing in the engine. Oh, fun, yeah, but more fun NOT doing all this.
So I would say "expensive" rather than "really expensive", but you get much greater value per dollar than in anything else.
Of course, that's my personal opinion, after 2 years and 56,000 miles. Love this car!
Yes, a car that's going to save me $20k+ in 10 years (at today's gas prices) isn't quite as pricey as first glance might suggest. To me, that's gravy on the biggest pro about ownership: the driving experience is second to none. The technology, performance, and looks make it a joy to drive.
The Model S is not perfect, but the criticisms of the Model S are primarily trivial things like cup holders, turn signal lever placement, etc. which, to me, are roughly equivalent to complaining that your supermodel spouse sometimes snores.
The Model S is not perfect, but the criticisms of the Model S are primarily trivial things like cup holders, turn signal lever placement, etc. which, to me, are roughly equivalent to complaining that your supermodel spouse sometimes snores.
Kalud
Active Member
Okay in a more serious tone since the OP has a very valid and genuine question.
PRO
- Zero emissions.
This is easy. Energy source varies and will always do. I live where its like 95% hydroelectricity and maybe 5% solar. Sometimes its less emissions free but combined well to wheel is still better than regular ICE (age) cars.
- Truly amazing to drive.
There are so many small (and large) things that make it awesome to own.
- Being able to pre-heat/cool is one.
- Smooth accelerator feeling and one-pedal driving (much less brake pedal usage).
- No dumb automatic transmission to drive you crazy, always in the wrong gear...
- No manual transmission either, still miss it sometimes but really, no transmission at all is so smooth that there is no going back.
- Brutally fast from standstill
- Will always evolve, software is continuously being enhanced.
Sometimes not fast enough for some, sometimes too fast for others (bugs) but they have so many things possible with the current hardware.
- Never bought gas since November of last year...
Car is always full in the morning, no stop to put in gas when you are in a hurry or its cold, windy, rainy (or all of these)...
- SO MUCH ROOM.
We are 5 (3 children) and expect one more eventually. Name me ONE other car available that can sits 7 and their luggage and still looks great and can do 0-60 in about 4 sec ?
- Cost the same to own (per month) than our previous BMW 335i coupe (that could sits 4) when you include energy costs. All that cash goes to Tesla instead of 2/3 to BMW and 1/3 to oil companies (screw them)
- We imagine swapping the 85KWh battery in 5-6 years for what new tech will be available then and the car will be new again. Okay maybe the auto-pilot and other stuff will make us get a new Model S before... Damn...
One could imagine keeping that car for a very long time, even with eventual battery degradation, if you have Superchargers everywhere then the issue is so far less important. Heck they placed 16 Superchargers stalls (5 stations) in a 10mi radius in London, UK.
- No oil changes, easy maintenance, tires and alignment are about the only really important stuff to look at.
CON
- Right now you can't just pack and go for more than 250mi (200mi in winter conditions) without any planning unless there are Superchargers in your route.
You can mitigate this by some planning and making some efforts to time your lunch / dinner / rest with charging. You will actually get this to work because all the PRO will make you want to use that car and avoid an ICE at all costs.
- You will probably drive more KM per year that with the former ICE
Yes, you'll understand once you switch. Our average 15,000 miles per year is now 22,000 miles.
You will start to consider using the car instead of the plane, even more with 3 children. We did this summer, went from Montreal, QC to Florida for one month. We might go to California next year. The round-trip cost was 0$ for 3,400 miles.
- You are stuck with Tesla (or eventual other EVs)
You will never want to go back to an ICE. Right now, in case of accident, I don't imagine ordering another Model S or maybe a Model X for my wife
PRO
- Zero emissions.
This is easy. Energy source varies and will always do. I live where its like 95% hydroelectricity and maybe 5% solar. Sometimes its less emissions free but combined well to wheel is still better than regular ICE (age) cars.
- Truly amazing to drive.
There are so many small (and large) things that make it awesome to own.
- Being able to pre-heat/cool is one.
- Smooth accelerator feeling and one-pedal driving (much less brake pedal usage).
- No dumb automatic transmission to drive you crazy, always in the wrong gear...
- No manual transmission either, still miss it sometimes but really, no transmission at all is so smooth that there is no going back.
- Brutally fast from standstill
- Will always evolve, software is continuously being enhanced.
Sometimes not fast enough for some, sometimes too fast for others (bugs) but they have so many things possible with the current hardware.
- Never bought gas since November of last year...
Car is always full in the morning, no stop to put in gas when you are in a hurry or its cold, windy, rainy (or all of these)...
- SO MUCH ROOM.
We are 5 (3 children) and expect one more eventually. Name me ONE other car available that can sits 7 and their luggage and still looks great and can do 0-60 in about 4 sec ?
- Cost the same to own (per month) than our previous BMW 335i coupe (that could sits 4) when you include energy costs. All that cash goes to Tesla instead of 2/3 to BMW and 1/3 to oil companies (screw them)
- We imagine swapping the 85KWh battery in 5-6 years for what new tech will be available then and the car will be new again. Okay maybe the auto-pilot and other stuff will make us get a new Model S before... Damn...
One could imagine keeping that car for a very long time, even with eventual battery degradation, if you have Superchargers everywhere then the issue is so far less important. Heck they placed 16 Superchargers stalls (5 stations) in a 10mi radius in London, UK.
- No oil changes, easy maintenance, tires and alignment are about the only really important stuff to look at.
CON
- Right now you can't just pack and go for more than 250mi (200mi in winter conditions) without any planning unless there are Superchargers in your route.
You can mitigate this by some planning and making some efforts to time your lunch / dinner / rest with charging. You will actually get this to work because all the PRO will make you want to use that car and avoid an ICE at all costs.
- You will probably drive more KM per year that with the former ICE
Yes, you'll understand once you switch. Our average 15,000 miles per year is now 22,000 miles.
You will start to consider using the car instead of the plane, even more with 3 children. We did this summer, went from Montreal, QC to Florida for one month. We might go to California next year. The round-trip cost was 0$ for 3,400 miles.
- You are stuck with Tesla (or eventual other EVs)
You will never want to go back to an ICE. Right now, in case of accident, I don't imagine ordering another Model S or maybe a Model X for my wife
Larry93428
Member
smsprague
Member
Alysashley79
Active Member
the annual service is a choice not a HAVE to AND if you shop around...by default if you look at th prices say at the cost of an annual of a Honda civic say (they actually do them by mileage)and they require them to keep their warrants and must be done every 7500 miles at $350 each so...they're actually quite a bit more expensive than the annual for the tesla....and that's for w HONDA!
pros - everything everyone above has said just about covers it...
cons - I'll have had my car for a year on 11/15 and while I think it's the best car I've ever driven I'm getting extremely worried..here's why... I live in washington w state where they don't allow the extended warranty so...I've had to replace the drive unit(yes I know now covered under the me warranty) oh and did I mention I'm 31,000 miles in...
three full tail light bodies
6 UMC's due to complete failure
1 master charger
1 charge port due to complete failure
4 door handles ( to be changed out at my upcoming annual on the 2nd)
1 headliner due to a leaking window
1 drivers side window due to something in the door causing a scraping from the factory
so so while I do love my car and I hope that everything has been resolved and they were all flukes I can't help but wonder what's going to happen in 20,000 miles when my warranty is up and I start to see $ signs flooding in to pay for all of these things...most of us are having things replaces under warranty...what happens when it's no longer under warranty...so that's my major con...
smsprague
Member
Wow that's expensive for a Civic - had no idea - I get my 5 year old MDX serviced every 10K miles for under a $100 vs $600 every 12,500 for the Tesla
I love my model S85. I got rear ended 23 days ago and I am STILL waiting to get the car back. Driving the rental has been brutal for the past three weeks. I have had to go to the gas pump THREE times. Makes me want to vomit. Fingers crossed, was told it would be ready today...
I state this so you can get an idea of how addictive this car is. My nine year old son yelled at me this morning demanding to know what was taking so long for the tesla to come back.
I DO have a con for you, though, and it is a pretty significant one if you drive on fffed up roads on a daily basis like I do in Queens, NY. Have had four flats. Four. One of them stranded me on the side of the road, right after I had gotten my car back from repairing TWO BENT WHEELS caused by a nasty camouflaged pothole on the Horace Harding. Nasty mind you, but not so nasty that multiple other cars which hit the same hole didn't just keep driving. Three of the them pulled over in horror and got out to look at their ICE car... and then got back in and drove away. Sigh.
Of course I have the 19 inch. Two things I was concerned about purchasing my beautiful Tesla, delivered in May of 2013: 1) Lack of front or AWD, 2) them wheels look mighty frail. Got slammed last winter, but for a car its weight the Tesla did OK in the snow (except for a couple of days where it was just a nogo... days which my previous 97 Camry would have managed). Got the 19s up front hoping that would solve the crappy road problem. It must have worked to a degree. I can only imagine the problems I would have had with the 21s.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I still LOVE THIS CAR. If I had purchased a high end ICE and experienced the same issues it would be unloaded AT A LOSS right now. Happily. I would be back in my 97 Camry counting the dents and not giving a damn. Don't get me wrong. I WILL unload this car... when I trade it in 18 months for a D X or S. It might be a P as well (but only if they come to their senses with this 21 wheel thing).
PROS: BEST DAMN CAR EVER (except for the D autopilot which just came out)
CONS: Darn wheels. Why can't my government use the taxes I pay to actually fix these cruddy roads?
I state this so you can get an idea of how addictive this car is. My nine year old son yelled at me this morning demanding to know what was taking so long for the tesla to come back.
I DO have a con for you, though, and it is a pretty significant one if you drive on fffed up roads on a daily basis like I do in Queens, NY. Have had four flats. Four. One of them stranded me on the side of the road, right after I had gotten my car back from repairing TWO BENT WHEELS caused by a nasty camouflaged pothole on the Horace Harding. Nasty mind you, but not so nasty that multiple other cars which hit the same hole didn't just keep driving. Three of the them pulled over in horror and got out to look at their ICE car... and then got back in and drove away. Sigh.
Of course I have the 19 inch. Two things I was concerned about purchasing my beautiful Tesla, delivered in May of 2013: 1) Lack of front or AWD, 2) them wheels look mighty frail. Got slammed last winter, but for a car its weight the Tesla did OK in the snow (except for a couple of days where it was just a nogo... days which my previous 97 Camry would have managed). Got the 19s up front hoping that would solve the crappy road problem. It must have worked to a degree. I can only imagine the problems I would have had with the 21s.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I still LOVE THIS CAR. If I had purchased a high end ICE and experienced the same issues it would be unloaded AT A LOSS right now. Happily. I would be back in my 97 Camry counting the dents and not giving a damn. Don't get me wrong. I WILL unload this car... when I trade it in 18 months for a D X or S. It might be a P as well (but only if they come to their senses with this 21 wheel thing).
PROS: BEST DAMN CAR EVER (except for the D autopilot which just came out)
CONS: Darn wheels. Why can't my government use the taxes I pay to actually fix these cruddy roads?
Pros : all of the above. The car is addictive, and I find myself actually looking for reasons to drive it. In my old ICE I would make sure to do everything in one trip. Now I'll "forget" things so I can drive it again.
-the quietness of the car. I don't realize how much I enjoy it until I go into an ICE.
Cons : I've only had mine since April, and have 25000km on it. I haven't had any bad experience with it. Noticed condensation on the inside of the taillights yesterday. I'll go with the paint...never had to be so careful washing a car before.
-the quietness of the car. I don't realize how much I enjoy it until I go into an ICE.
Cons : I've only had mine since April, and have 25000km on it. I haven't had any bad experience with it. Noticed condensation on the inside of the taillights yesterday. I'll go with the paint...never had to be so careful washing a car before.
hmmmmm..... so you're saying that if you hit a bad enough pot-hole, it doesn't matter if you have the 19" or 21", they will both fail.
how interesting, yo.
i'm assuming he meant that he had 21s first but after that whole fiasco he switched to 19s so that it wouldn't happen again.
