How is the Model S as a family car?

[aus]

Family cars need to be safe cars. Vans are no where near as safe as model S. It's strange how far we get away from safety concerns when buying cars

You ever go skiing with 3 kids on a 6 hr drive? Good luck fitting all that gear into an MS. Not to mention the lack of a DVD that keeps them busy for a few hours of the trip, and they all have space to sleep and not touch each other
My van is plenty safe, mainly because we pay attention when driving. My tires are always inflated properly. I don't rely on the car to keep my family safe.

Not to mention the required 2-3 thirty to forty minute stops I'd have to do to make it there.
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[Canuck]

I don't rely on the car to keep my family safe.

I sure do. In my business, I've seen the most safe drivers injured and killed through absolutely no fault of their own. You need to watch dash cam motor vehicles accidents on Youtube to understand how out of nowhere you can, within an instant, lose or have your life drastically changed as you safely drive down the road -- and in many of those accident, you may possibly walk away from it in a Tesla:

TESLA: Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested - Business Insider

As to your other comments, people are doing it all the time. My kids sleep very well in my S. Then again, they often rest on each other while sleeping. I find it strange you think there's something wrong with that. And 2 to 3 forty minute stops to go on a 6 hour drive?, well I drive to my cabin over two mountain passes, for 3.5 hours, and don't stop once. When we do stop on other trips, I have a lot of fun with my kids getting out and stretching our legs. And a DVD? In 2016? Can you even find DVD's and, if so, when's rental return time?

 

[m2140]

DVD players in cars are completely useless these days. I have an iPad for my kids loaded up with tons of their movies and games and it cost far less than your typical DVD upgrade in a van.

 

[mwulff]

Simple:

1. Give your wife the X. It's a family car and is the most useful for what she does.
2. Get rid of the Porsche 911-jokster dinosaur.
3. Get Model S P90DL for yourself.
4. Work 2000 hours a week to pay for it.

 

[whitex]

And in many of those accident, you may possibly walk away from it in a Tesla:
TESLA: Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested - Business Insider

Canuck, yes, you are correct that Tesla scored highest. HOWEVER, at some point it becomes a game of points and there is a small incremental benefit over other cars that have all 5-star ratings. You can find family vans or cars with 5-star ratings. It is hard to tell by how much Tesla exceeded the star rating system, as the scoring system was not designed for numbers above 5 stars. Tesla tried to advertise their 5.4 stars, but since 5.4 stars is not well defined by NHTSA (outside of valid range), we cannot really interpret it (kind of like Tesla's advertising of the 691hp - open to wide range of interpretations). Also, I can bet you there are a number of accident scenarios that you could walk away from if you were driving a Marauder, but would be hurt or dead if you were driving a Model S. Does that mean you will go out and buy one tomorrow and tell everyone to sell their Model S and buy a Marauder instead? It seats more people and has more cargo room too. Only $450,000 USD too, but you cannot put a price on safety. :wink:

Tesla is a great car. It's not cheap though and it doesn't fit every application either. There are trips I can do with the van that I cannot do with the model S (buy large items for example). It is also not the cheapest bang for dollar either, you can get a car almost as safe for less than half price. And then you can get even safer car like the Maurader for 3x the price.

 

[Nototrader]

Simple:

1. Give your wife the X. It's a family car and is the most useful for what she does.
2. Get rid of the Porsche 911-jokster dinosaur.
3. Get Model S P90DL for yourself.
4. Work 2000 hours a week to pay for it.

You guys are all too nice to your wives. I'm nice enough already. I'm thinking almost similar though.

1. Keep the model X for myself
2. Get rid of 911 - btw it's a tremendous car. Super fun to drive. Amazing connection with the road. I need to see if the model X will fill that need for me or if I will be sad
3. Get wife a used p85d
4. Trade in the mini cooper
5. Lease a cheap ice suv as a family 3rd car

result. Costs stay the same. Down to 3 cars. Only question is if I will miss the Porsche and regret it?

 

[dsm363]

How much does she drive and does she like performance cars? Could consider an 85 or 90D as well and save a little money.

 

[Nototrader]

How much does she drive and does she like performance cars? Could consider an 85 or 90D as well and save a little money.

Im saving money on the pre owned vs new. The "P" is an insurance policy for when she finally nags me to the point where she takes my X and I start driving the S. Always have to think two steps ahead!

 

[thx1139]

Couple of comments.

Why have a her car and a your car? Each day my wife and I determine based on what we are doing that day who drives what car. This used to be between a 2007 Camry, 2012 Volt and 2007 Mercedes R class. Then it became between a 2012 Volt, a 2014 Volt and the Mercedes R class. Now it is between the 2 volts and our Model S. This is with 3 drivers. The 2 of us and a high school son. It used to be most of the time our son since he drove the shortest distance between school and home drove the Mercedes and whoever had the longest drive drove the most fuel efficient car. Now my wife also feels that the Model S is a sales resource for her when she visits clients so that comes into play.

As for space the Model S has tons. Our whole family drove ours to Florida from Chicago this christmas break. That is 2 parents and 14, 18 and 20 year old sons. They may have complained here and there. They do range from 5'8" to 6 feet tall, but for the most part they had no problems.

Finally when you have that sporadic need for something larger then rent it.

 

[FlasherZ]

Why have a her car and a your car? Each day my wife and I determine based on what we are doing that day who drives what car.

This is essentially what ends up happening here, too; whoever is shuttling the kids around takes the Model X. That said, she considers the Model S the "his" car and the Model X the "her" car, mostly because she wants to be able to say she has the P90DL.

 

[Nototrader]

This is essentially what ends up happening here, too; whoever is shuttling the kids around takes the Model X. That said, she considers the Model S the "his" car and the Model X the "her" car, mostly because she wants to be able to say she has the P90DL.

im not sure if this is a tesla thing....but you guys are way more organized than we are. Our respective cars have our respective "crap" inside. I don't want to drive around with her crap, nor does she want mine. To say that a car will change how you live and how you are would be ignorant and short sighted. Know thyself. So, in short, I love what you guys do but it just doesn't work in our household.

 

[Bimbels]

Taking the kid thing out of the equation - our experience (as sharing joint custody of a MS, no kids) has been that the car was "his" but now it is definitely "ours." Our situation is different with our job commutes but it has turned out I have put twice as many miles on "his" car than he has.

Add to that I can hardly stand driving my Lexus now because of being completely spoiled by the driving experience, and especially the AP. Hence I have not driven it in approximately 2 months. And that time 2 months ago was the first time in 2 months. Since we got the MS in July I have seriously driven "my" lexus maybe 4 times. We are waiting on the model 3 reveal to decide if we wait for that (because we don't need 2 big cars) or just go with another S or an X.

The Model X seems to have been built specifically with moms juggling kids in mind. For that reason I expect she will attempt to steal your MX once she drives it.

Even without kids: she would attempt to steal once she drives it. Between the driving experience and the design around families - forget it. Just go get yourself a P90D and be done with it. :tongue:

 

[Max*]

While we have our "his" and "her" commuter cars (my S, her ICE), when one of us needs to run an errand on the weekend it's always in the S.

 

[FlasherZ]

While we have our "his" and "her" commuter cars (my S, her ICE), when one of us needs to run an errand on the weekend it's always in the S.

Before we had dual Teslas, the person driving the furthest took the Tesla, maximizing fuel savings.

 

[Drucifer]

I lucked out. My wife is afraid of curbing the rims and won't drive my car.

 

[Canuck]

I lucked out. My wife is afraid of curbing the rims and won't drive my car.

Ha! Same here. I always tell my wife to drive the Tesla but if it's a short trip, she drives the Leaf, a longer trip, her BMW, but if we're out and I've had a couple she'll drive the Tesla. Other than that, she tells me she's too afraid she'll hurt my "baby".

 

[mwulff]

You guys are all too nice to your wives. I'm nice enough already. I'm thinking almost similar though.

1. Keep the model X for myself
2. Get rid of 911 - btw it's a tremendous car. Super fun to drive. Amazing connection with the road. I need to see if the model X will fill that need for me or if I will be sad
3. Get wife a used p85d
4. Trade in the mini cooper
5. Lease a cheap ice suv as a family 3rd car

result. Costs stay the same. Down to 3 cars. Only question is if I will miss the Porsche and regret it?

1. Coming from a 911 you will regret the ride height and the softer feel (it's a tall car so no matter how good it is it will swerve, they all do).

2. Neither the X nor the S is a sportscar. The lower height of the S and the low center of gravity somewhat makes up for it but it is a 2 ton car.

3. Unless your wife has an interest in performance cars you are wasting your money. Get a 70D, 85D or maybe a 90D. The P cars are for people with an interest in performance (or a testosterone enhancer). A standard S/X will easily outrun most ICE cars of the line. As for top speed that is completely irrelevant unless your wife has a habit of breaking the law.

4. Another ICE dinosaur - get rid of it while people still want them (partial joke here)

5. What on earth would you use a 3rd car for? Unless you have two wives and they both need a car. Seriously between an S and an X you should have more than enough capacity to carry anything you might need at any given time.

Having owned performance cars before we got the S I would say: It depends. I don't miss them at all, but I have accepted that fact that the S is a GT car and that my sportscar days are behind me.

If you want that nimble nippy feeling you get from hitting an apex of a curve with the rear wheels barely gripping then you will miss the 911. If you can enjoy insane acceleration and taking curves at a comfortable pace then you won't miss it.

That being said I have found that the S has changed my driving style. I've become more patient and good natured in traffic. I suspect it has to do with the fact that when you can outrace any car on the road, why would you bother?

 

[aus]

I sure do. In my business, I've seen the most safe drivers injured and killed through absolutely no fault of their own. You need to watch dash cam motor vehicles accidents on Youtube to understand how out of nowhere you can, within an instant, lose or have your life drastically changed as you safely drive down the road -- and in many of those accident, you may possibly walk away from it in a Tesla:

TESLA: Tesla Model S Achieves Best Safety Rating of Any Car Ever Tested - Business Insider

As to your other comments, people are doing it all the time. My kids sleep very well in my S. Then again, they often rest on each other while sleeping. I find it strange you think there's something wrong with that. And 2 to 3 forty minute stops to go on a 6 hour drive?, well I drive to my cabin over two mountain passes, for 3.5 hours, and don't stop once. When we do stop on other trips, I have a lot of fun with my kids getting out and stretching our legs. And a DVD? In 2016? Can you even find DVD's and, if so, when's rental return time?

Happy for you, but I don't want 3 heads next to each other in the back bouncing around in an accident.
And you have to stretch your legs frequently because you don't have enough space to stretch out in the van.
As for the DVD, it's an older van and was very relevant when we bought it. You get 3 movies on a $10 DVD. They have ipads too, but we prefer they watch a movie together- family movie time in the van.
This also avoid the headrest stands behind seats, that I also don't like for safety reasons.
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