Hi everyone, this is a follow-up of this thread: Advice on Buying a CPO Model S. I'm in the market for a new car and have been looking at Teslas, primarily for autopilot capability. I rented a 2015 S70 with AP1 and a bunch of premium options from Turo over the weekend and wanted to post some thoughts and impressions to help other potential buyers. I'd also like to get your comments to make sure I've given the car a fair shot. Thanks in advance!
Note that the points below are not necessarily weighted equally. I'm just writing up various likes, dislikes, issues, and comments about the car.
Likes
Honestly, I'm not a really big car enthusiast in general, and it's important to me that I get reasonable value for money spent. My feeling is that a ton of the money is spent toward the car being electric, which I don't care about that much about one way or another. A lot of the car's current features seem a little gimmicky, out of date, or functionally unusable. But my main focus was on its automation features. AP1 was great, no doubt about it. However, looking at a lot of CPO offerings, they're priced in such a way that it's probably better to buy a new one. I'm just not sure about AP2. If I saw more progress on that front (especially surpassing AP1), then it would change my mind somewhat.
So at the moment, I'm leaning slightly toward a pass on the Model S, but I'll keep watching things through the end of the year.
Note that the points below are not necessarily weighted equally. I'm just writing up various likes, dislikes, issues, and comments about the car.
Likes
- The car's acceleration and handling were nice, and I had no problems with the size of the vehicle. It's actually a bit reminiscent of my old main driver, a 1999 Nissan Maxima that had a V6 engine, though it's not really a comparison. (I ended up replacing it with a crummy NIssan Versa a few years ago - the thing struggles to climb even moderate inclines. The car was pretty much a downgrade in all areas, really.)
- The accelerator control was very precise. My impression from reading forum posts beforehand was that it would be a dramatic change from a regular car. It really only took about five minutes to understand the concept and about a day to fine-tune using it. I actually prefer this way over the idle creep / coasting.
- The AP1 system was very stable. I made several hour-long rides very little fatigue. It was especially game-changing in stop and go traffic. There were some instances where it crapped out - mostly where lanes were merging or weren't clear. It was easy to see in advance to switch to manual control.
- There was a ton of storage space. I liked the little side cubbies. I stored some wine bottles in there after a trip to the nearby wine country and didn't have to worry about them rolling around.
- There are quite a few superchargers around the Los Angeles area, and they seem to be placed in pretty key locations.
- I didn't have any range anxiety at all driving around the region. The range estimate given by navigation seemed pretty accurate, so I was able to plan accordingly.
- I found it very difficult to find a comfortable seating position, and I was still unable to find one after a whole weekend. I don't know if I just need more trial and error.
- The seat adjustment controls were crammed next to the door. It was difficult to get to while the door was closed (e.g. for small adjustments at a stop light).
- I didn't like how the seat is designed to wrap around your body. It made it difficult to move around, e.g. my elbows would collide with the wrap-around any time I reached for the window controls, which themselves were awkwardly placed.
- I like to sit pretty far forward so that I can reach the pedals easily. It made the seatbelt difficult to reach.
- Superchargers were pretty busy and some locations are in very crammed areas. I visited one supercharger at a mall where I had to manually back into a spot next to a pillar. It was very difficult (the rear view camera + ultrasonics were very helpful, but I wasn't sure how much to trust the latter - got a red warning about the pillar and had to visually confirm that I would not strike it). I also question whether the superchargers will even be usable after the Model 3 reaches full production.
- Autopark was not always available where I needed it (e.g. Superchargers) due to absence of two cars or just not detecting a space.
- The structural pillars around the front window created really large blind spots and were difficult to see around.
- The MCU user interface seemed very old for 2017. I found the music player to be unusable (couldn't really play albums, just general genres with songs played randomly), and the navigation somewhat clunky with a little bit strange routing at times.
- Brake light activation during regenerative braking seemed too sensitive. On the freeway, sometimes I would release the pedal just enough for the brake lights to activate for a second. It could be annoying or confusing for drivers behind me.
- I had an issue with the key fob where the top button became jammed against my keys and wallet in my pocket as I was walking around the car. It actually triggered summon. I quickly pulled the fob back out and cancelled it. If I end up with the car, I will probably disable summon as I have no use case for it.
- The car got high approval from family, neighbours, and friends. I got some advice from a neighbour about how he regrets not owning a few nice things when he was young. He said that if I have the means and like the car, then I shouldn't hesitate. I see quite a few people around my age (I'm 28) around Tesla forums debating whether or not they should buy one - so I guess this is something to consider.
- I got a lot of attention from people in public places. I was rolling through a parking lot and some kids actually called out to me and said "nice car!". It's kind of cool to be noticed, but at the same time, it's against my mode of operation to draw attention to myself.
- Looking at other luxury cars on the market, it feels like I can get additional and up-to-date features with a nicer interior for half the price from traditional automakers. More Level 2/3 autonomous systems will be appearing over the next year as well.
- I'm a little uncertain about Tesla's manufacturing quality control, based on threads I've seen around Tesla forums. I'm also not sure about the current state and future of the car's software. My main idea for considering Tesla is that its autopilot offering would help me a lot in my daily commute, and it would also help me in getting out more. (Los Angeles area traffic is really no joke!) It's not too reassuring to see that AP2 still does not match AP1.
Honestly, I'm not a really big car enthusiast in general, and it's important to me that I get reasonable value for money spent. My feeling is that a ton of the money is spent toward the car being electric, which I don't care about that much about one way or another. A lot of the car's current features seem a little gimmicky, out of date, or functionally unusable. But my main focus was on its automation features. AP1 was great, no doubt about it. However, looking at a lot of CPO offerings, they're priced in such a way that it's probably better to buy a new one. I'm just not sure about AP2. If I saw more progress on that front (especially surpassing AP1), then it would change my mind somewhat.
So at the moment, I'm leaning slightly toward a pass on the Model S, but I'll keep watching things through the end of the year.
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