Boy, I sure wish all of my bad decisions turned out to be this good. I suspect there are thousands of other members of this forum who would agree with me. Picked up my car on January 26th. Haven't stopped smiling since. Like many, I literally look for an opportunity to drive it. Never experienced that with any other car I have owned. Not a minute goes by where I say to myself, "did I buy the right car?" Or, "I should have bought the MB/BMW, (insert any other car company here). My only regret is not pulling the trigger sooner.
So why listen to the handful of people here that had a bad service experience or feel that their car was not perfect when delivered or are unhappy about AP2? Are you giving the same deference to the hundreds of people who say the exact opposite? There will always be people who are unhappy with what they bought or how they were treated or whether their car was serviced properly. Have you ever purchased a product that had bad reviews? How about eaten at a restaurant that several people said was serving food that taste like dog food? Did you always agree with with their opinion? I bet not. Are there no horror stories from BMW owners, MB owners? By the way, did I mention that I know a guy who purchased an MB and it was a lemon? In service for months at a time and they could never find out what was wrong with it. Ask him if you should buy an MB. I am sure his experience is isolated.
I agree with
@rory breaker (above), "there is so much misinformation in this thread it's ridiculous". Filter out the "noise" and get the big picture. How does Tesla stack up on the national customer satisfaction ratings? How does Tesla stack up on the national polls that ask if owners would buy one again? I think that you will find that Tesla does pretty darn well. That does not mean that a Tesla is perfect for everyone or the perfect car. I'll tell you, it isn't. But nothing is.
Reading your post(s), I see why you are leaning toward the MB. Seems to be a better fit for you based upon what you identify as important. For me, it was the opposite. The Tesla was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition in areas that I felt were important. But the car is being purchased for you. Nobody else. The only person that truly knows what you want is you. People on this message board have biases, agendas, axes to grind, etc... And that includes me. I love my car and everything that Tesla stands for. So why listen to what I say, when I tell you that you should definitely buy a Tesla over that piece of #$@$@ MB you are considering.
You seem to be very concerned about Tesla service. In fact, that may be your biggest fear in buying a Tesla. Assuming that to be true, If I were you, and I was going to listen to the advice of others as to my purchase, I would listen to the opinions of people who have used the service center that you would use. As you can see by the posts on this message board, the service will apparently vary greatly from SC to SC. Maybe the one(s) near you are outstanding and everyone loves them. So why listen to people that hate their service center in (insert city here) if you would never use that SC. Though I have fortunately never had the need to use it, I hear the SC close to my house is outstanding. That is good enough for me. Of course, that can change over time.
Sorry for the long post, I have to work on that. But I will leave you with this thought. It is said that the only things in life that we regret are the things that we didn't do. I am sure that the MB is a fine automobile. It is a safe choice. But if you bought the MB, every time you get passed (read:smoked) by a Tesla
, will you regret not purchasing the Tesla? I suspect that if you purchased the Tesla, you would almost certainly not ever feel that sense of regret thinking that you should have purchased the MB. Take the leap. Take the risk. Take the chance. You (probably) won't regret it. Then again, I could be wrong because I love my Tesla.
Best of luck. If nothing else, be thankful that you have the opportunity to purchase either one of these fine automobiles.