Advice on Finalizing Your Order

[chmod a+wrx]

Great review, Todd! ! ! !

[Liz G]

FYI - I decided to skip the paint armor and have a local professional do it. Couple of reasons:
1. I want the entire hood protected, Tesla only covers the front 24in
2. I wanted the edges wrapped, usually factory install just goes up to or almost up to the edge

[contaygious]

Liz are you wrapping the whole car? I'm considering this on white. I also noticed the tesla armor only covers a small part of the hood.

[Jack]

FYI - I decided to skip the paint armor and have a local professional do it. Couple of reasons:
1. I want the entire hood protected, Tesla only covers the front 24in
2. I wanted the edges wrapped, usually factory install just goes up to or almost up to the edge

So how much does it cost to do it right?

[roblab]

So how much does it cost to do it right?

My bid for entire hood, ONLY, was $800. I am not too worried about soft bumpers and lower areas. On my present car, just about all chips are on the hood, and the hood is what people look at.

[ModelS1079]

I'm new to this forum and joined as i was searching for info on finalizing my order (#880) for my Model S. I'm seeking advice on 'must haves' and what to avoid on the options list. There are threads for many of the individual options, but none that i'm aware of for an 'all up' one place to go to get advice on finalizing from owners (please advise if there is).

I'd appreciate any high level safety tips before finalizing my order. I expect this to be the last car i buy and want to get it right. Goodbye to HMC and OPEC. Thanks. Jack.

Jack, Welcome, fellow Bostonian. I joined recently and the knowledge base folks on this forum have is invaluable. Loved Todd's review above - see also "Various Comments on Model S" thread. I signed my papers today - three years later. let me share that in the final days I made one big concession: I stepped down to a 60kWh battery to save money and allow me to take the tech and speaker packages and pano roof and air suspension. I added Twin Chargers which, at any station over 40A (including my home), will let me fly to a Full Charge and, along with Superchargers along the Boston NYC corridor (I presume), will leave me rarely concerned about range. I think! The key point is that Roadster owners had a 245 battery (version 2 - correct?) and I have not read about or met owners who ever expressed range concerns as owners. And I am certain - certain - I will love having 12 stereo speakers, all the Bling of the tech package, the perfect ride on Air suspension, and the blue sky above with Pano roof open. (Blue Sky - that could make the short-list for First Song). I surprised myself with this concession but - for me - it makes sense.

[Robert.Boston]

General production (not the performance model), thinking of silver, gray leather, lacewood, 85KW, 19" wheel (rep said performance tires wear after 8-10K miles and not so good for New England), most of the options - expect the S to last for a while.

Double-check that gray is available without delaying your delivery; with your low number, that might be a problem. I think the black leather looks sharp with the silver.

Otherwise, I agree with Todd's summary. I've ordered:

• Green paint. I strongly prefer getting a real color, not something in the black/gray/silver/white range. The blue was a close contender, but too close to black and very similar to a lot of cars on the road. The brown got vetoed by my family as too odd.
• 85kWh. Needed weekly during much of the year to get between our homes in Boston and Maine.
• Standard non-performance. I can't rationalize ~$10k of extra costs given my personal driving style.
• 19" wheels. Best choice for New England's crappy roads.
• Tan leather. Close call with black, but I like the spacious feel of the Model S cabin, and the lighter color enhances the openness.
• Lacewood. The piano black looks like plastic, and the obeche looks like fake woodgrain plastic. Lacewood is unique to the Model S and adds a nice texture to the interior.
• Pano roof. My son is 6'4" and growing, so he'll need the rear headroom.
• Tech package. Lots of my driving in Maine is in places with dubious or non-existent cell coverage, so this gives me GPS everywhere and bright headlights to avoid moose.
• Air suspension. I want my car this year, and I'd want this anyway to drive safely down the long gravel road to my Maine property.
• Paint armor. See "long gravel road" above.
• Sound studio. An indulgence, but I'm trained musician and really appreciate good sound systems.

[Liz G]

Liz are you wrapping the whole car? I'm considering this on white. I also noticed the tesla armor only covers a small part of the hood.

Contaygious - I asked for a bid that would cover everything that the factory was covering plus cover the entire hood and wrap all the edges. So far I have received 2 bids for this work: $1400 and $2000. The $2000 is a little high, but this was from the guy who does all the Lambos, Astons, etc for the high end dealership in town. So I'm guessing the 3rd bid I've asked for will come in around $1400. Either way for me the extra $money is worth it.

I sent the installer the specs posted on the Tesla forum.

Here is the exact quote that I received for the $1400 bid. Numbers listed below refer to the Tesla spec.

First, let me give you a quote on the factory coverage. The front numbers
1-8 would run $575.00 parts and labor. The rear bumper ledge (9) would be
$75. The cap top and pillars (13-14) would be $100. The rest of the
coverage (12 and 15-21) would be $125.

We would wrap all the edges at that price.

I would recommend covering the entire hood, entire fenders, and entire
bumper (same bumper coverage as before). That would be $1200 with wrapped
edges. At that time, some of the pieces (of 15-21) would be covered, so it
would eliminate that cost. In other words, with the entire front wrapped
and all the other pieces, you would be looking at $1400 TOTAL with wrapped
edges.

[mcornwell]

Clearly I'm in the wrong line of business. Does anyone else think the prices charged for this product/service are ridiculous?

[NigelM]

Clearly I'm in the wrong line of business. Does anyone else think the prices charged for this product/service are ridiculous?

Agree. Someone I know did it himself and it looks like it'll protect the paint just as well as professional job: