Funny how putting non-refundable money down makes you think harder. My wife and I are now having second thoughts about getting our Model S at this moment in time. And, it's mostly interior related.
We went out this evening for dinner and grocery shopping, so instead of Roadster we took our BMW X5 (last of the pre-iDrives, btw). Since we need to lock down by Aug 13, we were talking about Model S, and my wife started ticking off the things she's going to miss (I added in my things to her list as well):
1) Steering wheel: The diameter, nice thick rim, heated, and with all the convenience buttons and stalks just right.
2) Seats: 16-way comfort seats. We especially love the way the shoulder support angle is adjustable separately from the lower back angle.
3) Steering feel. The BMW servotronic is effortless yet gives you great feel for the road at all speeds.
4) Driver Storage: Door pockets. Center console storage tray and under armrest storage.
5) Park Distance Sensors.
6) True panoramic sunroof with no bars obscuring it. Power integrated sunshade.
7) Tow hitch.
8) Drink holders in the back. Heated seats in the back. Door pockets in the back. Back of front seat pockets. Foldable arm rest in the middle of the back.
9) Headroom in the back (our son is 6'3")
10) Tilt down right hand side mirror when in reverse (does Model S have this?)
11) Visibility out the back window.
12) Vanity mirror light for passenger.
13) Luxury: Burl wood, leather covered seat backs. Black headliner.
14) Ability to run a 110 volt inverter to power a portable printer or drink cooler.
15) 4 wheel drive. Handy during heavy rain storms. We don't travel to snow areas much, so this isn't that big a deal for us. We have done Tahoe trips in the past, so it's certainly a nice to have.
Do all of these things matter? No, of course not. There are things about the X5 we don't like:
1) Nav system sucks big time.
2) Rear tailgate isn't powered
3) Rear window gets dirty after one drive.
4) Stereo system isn't well integrated with iPod, has cassette player in front.
5) It's a gas car and gets pretty bad mileage.
6) It has 106K miles and if something goes wrong, it's going to be expensive to fix.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not bashing Model S or Tesla. I'm trying to decide if now is the time to get our Model S. I'm not interested in a different new car - our alternative is to make our current car last another year or so - until a more nicely equipped Model S V2 is available.
For instance, we both love the power and handling of Model S Performance. As a daily Roadster driver, I know what Tesla's electric drivetrain means, and I really don't want to have to wait another year to get that in both our main cars. I believe the air suspension will make for better ride quality as well as better handling than our X5 (which has the Sport Package, btw). And, to be fair, Model S does have some very cool features that I'm sure we'd love, like the touchscreen with 3G connectivity, keyless "start", and the frunk.
So, while it's fair to say that we're sold on Model S, right now we feel it's a tough choice whether to get our Model S V1 as scheduled, or wait for a V2. Having been in a v1.5 Roadster for a couple extended trips, I'm glad I have a v2.5 just for the interior comfort. If our X5 had 20K less miles, we'd almost certainly be waiting. As it is, I think we need to decide if we want to gamble the expense of having something go wrong with the X5, which could be costly.
If I had the money, I'd get Model S and immediately drive it down to LA to give it the Al & Eds treatment, but I suspect that'll start at $20K minimum, which is money I really don't have at this time.
We went out this evening for dinner and grocery shopping, so instead of Roadster we took our BMW X5 (last of the pre-iDrives, btw). Since we need to lock down by Aug 13, we were talking about Model S, and my wife started ticking off the things she's going to miss (I added in my things to her list as well):
1) Steering wheel: The diameter, nice thick rim, heated, and with all the convenience buttons and stalks just right.
2) Seats: 16-way comfort seats. We especially love the way the shoulder support angle is adjustable separately from the lower back angle.
3) Steering feel. The BMW servotronic is effortless yet gives you great feel for the road at all speeds.
4) Driver Storage: Door pockets. Center console storage tray and under armrest storage.
5) Park Distance Sensors.
6) True panoramic sunroof with no bars obscuring it. Power integrated sunshade.
7) Tow hitch.
8) Drink holders in the back. Heated seats in the back. Door pockets in the back. Back of front seat pockets. Foldable arm rest in the middle of the back.
9) Headroom in the back (our son is 6'3")
10) Tilt down right hand side mirror when in reverse (does Model S have this?)
11) Visibility out the back window.
12) Vanity mirror light for passenger.
13) Luxury: Burl wood, leather covered seat backs. Black headliner.
14) Ability to run a 110 volt inverter to power a portable printer or drink cooler.
15) 4 wheel drive. Handy during heavy rain storms. We don't travel to snow areas much, so this isn't that big a deal for us. We have done Tahoe trips in the past, so it's certainly a nice to have.
Do all of these things matter? No, of course not. There are things about the X5 we don't like:
1) Nav system sucks big time.
2) Rear tailgate isn't powered
3) Rear window gets dirty after one drive.
4) Stereo system isn't well integrated with iPod, has cassette player in front.
5) It's a gas car and gets pretty bad mileage.
6) It has 106K miles and if something goes wrong, it's going to be expensive to fix.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not bashing Model S or Tesla. I'm trying to decide if now is the time to get our Model S. I'm not interested in a different new car - our alternative is to make our current car last another year or so - until a more nicely equipped Model S V2 is available.
For instance, we both love the power and handling of Model S Performance. As a daily Roadster driver, I know what Tesla's electric drivetrain means, and I really don't want to have to wait another year to get that in both our main cars. I believe the air suspension will make for better ride quality as well as better handling than our X5 (which has the Sport Package, btw). And, to be fair, Model S does have some very cool features that I'm sure we'd love, like the touchscreen with 3G connectivity, keyless "start", and the frunk.
So, while it's fair to say that we're sold on Model S, right now we feel it's a tough choice whether to get our Model S V1 as scheduled, or wait for a V2. Having been in a v1.5 Roadster for a couple extended trips, I'm glad I have a v2.5 just for the interior comfort. If our X5 had 20K less miles, we'd almost certainly be waiting. As it is, I think we need to decide if we want to gamble the expense of having something go wrong with the X5, which could be costly.
If I had the money, I'd get Model S and immediately drive it down to LA to give it the Al & Eds treatment, but I suspect that'll start at $20K minimum, which is money I really don't have at this time.
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