Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

"Trade in" for a D, only to find ...

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
So, a lot of people here are trading their "original" cars for the P85D.

What happens if, you do this ... take delivery in, say, March 2015 and within a year or two TM announce an over 100 battery bringing the range to, say, 400 or more BUT the new battery is not compatible to the D?

Then what? Upgrade yet again?
 
So, a lot of people here are trading their "original" cars for the P85D.

What happens if, you do this ... take delivery in, say, March 2015 and within a year or two TM announce an over 100 battery bringing the range to, say, 400 or more BUT the new battery is not compatible to the D?

Then what? Upgrade yet again?

The car will undoubtedly continue to improve.
I could have traded in when the parking sensors and winter package became available.
The question to ask yourself is, "is the new Model S worth trading up for", not "will they have another upgrade I want in the future" because they always will. It's just a question of when.
 
For me I always really wanted an AWD though in fact the RWD Has been fine so far. I would have paid to have more of the auto pilot features but that wasn't a show stopper. My only other minor concern was with the seats. The fact that they have released a new version with all of this plus better performance and range basically made this a must have for me. I can't think of anything else that would make me upgrade now, at least not for at least 2-3 years. If they bring out a new battery I would be extremely surprised if it wasn't swappable but even so I would probably not jump immediately.
 
The future new features that I would be mildly disappointed about if not offered as a retrofit:

ventilated front seats
heads up display
usable rear cupholders
LTE cellular

Beyond that, there's really isn't anything else on my wish list that the P85D doesn't have (or will have via software upgrade). 265 mile range has been great. 285 mile range is even better. If 100kWh battery is available as a retrofit, I'd definitely consider it. But if it's not retrofittable, I doubt I would upgrade to a whole new car.
 
The future new features that I would be mildly disappointed about if not offered as a retrofit:

ventilated front seats
heads up display
usable rear cupholders
LTE cellular

Beyond that, there's really isn't anything else on my wish list that the P85D doesn't have (or will have via software upgrade). 265 mile range has been great. 285 mile range is even better. If 100kWh battery is available as a retrofit, I'd definitely consider it. But if it's not retrofittable, I doubt I would upgrade to a whole new car.

For me, nice to have but it won't bug me: ventilated seats, heads up display, rear cupholders, 100 kWh battery (85kWh w/super chargers is enough)
Annoyed: LTE. I've used my mobile phone as a hotspot a few times, and LTE makes a big difference. No buffering of slacker, and the map display is far more responsive.
 
Sorry to go OT, but Andrew I'm wondering why you went from black to tan?

Also, how are you handling withdrawal?

I switched in part to try something new. One of the reasons I didn't choose grey or tan the first time was that I really didn't like the look on the b-pillar where the white headliner met the rest of the car. On a black interior it was fine. On grey or tan the colors didn't work well together. This time I choose the black headliner so it won't be a problem with the tan interior. Personally I think black with the black headliner is way too dark.

With respect to withdrawal, it's killing me. It really makes you appreciate the model S even more. Stopping for gas, the vibrations, the lack of immediate torque. At least on the weekends I can drive our volt, which so far has 98% electric miles after ~20k miles.
 
Last edited:
With respect to withdrawal, it's killing me. It really makes you appreciate the model S even more. Stopping for gas, the vibrations, the lack of immediate torque. At least on the weekends I can drive our volt, which so far has 98% electric miles after ~20k miles.

Interesting. I have the exact same experience. I rented a Subaru Legacy while waiting for my P85D. I traded my P85. On the weekend, I drive my wife's Volt!
 
So, a lot of people here are trading their "original" cars for the P85D.

What happens if, you do this ... take delivery in, say, March 2015 and within a year or two TM announce an over 100 battery bringing the range to, say, 400 or more BUT the new battery is not compatible to the D?

Then what? Upgrade yet again?

Given the rapid pace of innovation at Tesla, I think you have to take this as a given, and either be willing to trade up again in 2 years if that feature is important to you, or simply accept you won't have the top car anymore 2 years out. But what you will have is an _amazing_ car the whole time.

What I recommend is making a list of the features most important to you, order a car today if enough are met, and be willing to let the others go, or upgrade when your specific remaining must-have features finally ahow up.

I bought my Model S two years ago knowing it was the best car Tesla had made up to that point, but the worst car they would make thereafter. My remaining must-have list was simple: AWD, sport seats, and collision avoidance. So it was easy to ignore all the other improvements that rolled out, like P+, parking sensors, and folding mirrors. likewise, I'd have ignored a larger battery option as it wasn't on my must-have list.

When Tesla announced The D with all three of my must-haves I knew it was time to upgrade.
 
I'm not trading for a P85D, but for an 85D. I'm trading because of the Autopilot. Went ahead with the D since it gives me more confidence to ditch the 4x4 F150 I keep around for the winter. I've always seen it as just a money pit (it sits most of the time), but given my location a necessary money pit. Plus a bit more range is attractive.

Not worried about: Improved performance (not focused on this anyway), HUD, ventilated seats (not hot enough here to care), rear cupholders (don't have rear passengers enough to care), bigger battery (2-3 hours is plenty far to go before stopping for a bit for me), LTE (only concerns me if 3g stops working).