New owners and early adopter owners: Do I detect a major difference?

[ecarfan]

At the end of the day, the Model S is a car...not a cause...which is undoubtedly why it is like most other car forums on here. Flame away!

Tesla is a cause, embodied in the company mission statement.
The Mission of Tesla | Tesla Motors
"To accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible."
As an owner and shareholder, I'm onboard with that.

 

[jeffro01]

At the end of the day, the Model S is a car...not a cause...which is undoubtedly why it is like most other car forums on here.

I couldn't possibly disagree more with this sentence. If you think it's just a car then you are totally missing the point. A BMW is just a car, a Porsche is just a car, so is a Ford, and so on and so forth...

Jeff

 

[jimmy82abn]

I just counted and Tesla was the 12th car I've ever bought. It was a long term sustainably decision after I added solar. It's a very fast car, very technical car so I would expect things like fit and finish to be show quality as those things seem easier then auto pilot, lol.

I'm not a Fan Boy of anything until I've fully ran it through its paces and lived with it for a good while. Last year I day traded thousands of shares of Tesla stock because it was such a volatile stock.

Tesla is far far ahead of any EV car out there but I do appreciate every dollar I've ever made and I can say as a shareholder I must question the service, quality, and treatment of such product in which I hold ownership in.

The reason they call it Cutting Edge Technology or as we also like to say "bleeding edge" technology there are huge risks for early adapters of this platform or anything else like it.

Personally I like the model X but would I want to be the first owner of it, Hell No. I've got kids, I want bugs worked out before I put my most valuable possessions in this new platform.
My decision to buy a model X in 3 years during my 36 to 39th month buy back will be based on my thoughts and impressions of the model s.

To date, the car is great. Fit and Finish is about an 8 out of 10.
I'll continue to use the car and over time I'll be either a long term customer or someone who was happy to have sold the car for a different platform in the coming years.

Truth be told the battery race is on. With Tesla being in so much debt they could begin share charging to other EVs as years go by. That would change things considerably.

 

[Raven]

I wonder of there are any generational differences fueling this.

*I'm editing out my own snippiness* For those more "generationally advanced", I hope you can see how indignant some of you behave with the younger crowd. I ordered mine in 2012 at the age of 33. Many were much younger than me. The differences have VERY little to do with age, I believe. Mikeash said it best below:

This happens with basically every product. Early adopters are enthusiasts and much more forgiving. As the product gains widespread appeal (assuming it ever does) then you get more picky people. Enthusiasts still buy, but they become a smaller proportion. It's no surprise that it's happening with Tesla too. Consider it to be a sign of success.

 

[napabill]

I'm currently looking for a therapist, since it appears I'm a nerdy sycophant. Want me to look for you, too?

I would, however I can't afford it. Need to save my money to pay for my 2nd Tesla, an X currently reserved.:smile:

 

[JenniferQ]

I was using AP again today in the dark and in the rain, and once again marveled that Tesla has been able to accomplish so much for a young company in such a short period of time. Imo, AP excels where I cannot - the sensors seem to be able to pick up lane markings in the dark even when they fail to in the daytime. I assume because the lights reflect on them in the dark, but it may be it's something else. I used to hate driving in the dark, feeling much less confident in my visibility. AP has changed that significantly for me.

And that's when it hit me, that even though I arrived "late" to Tesla (mostly due to family circumstances with 4 kids and needing a 6/7 seater all those years even though we had a deposit on a Roadster long ago when we still lived in Australia), I am still an "early adopter" by virtue of trusting this company and its product and by using AP. There isn't anything hotter right now than all this talk about autonomous vehicles. We are able to experiment with the very first, best one, for the consumer market. It doesn't get much more Early Adopter than that.

I would, however I can't afford it. Need to save my money to pay for my 2nd Tesla, an X currently reserved.:smile:

That's all the therapy you need!

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

If you think being able to outdrag literally every car on the road without getting a ticket for exhibition of speed, sure... boring.

well a P(lain)85 will do that too but I can turn off TC and get the EX of speed if I want to...NG seats are nice though!

AWD is SICK in a straight line! after 45 mph, not a lot of difference to me
in wet, amazing, yes. But I did a 180 to park today in the wet. also really fun


^^^
but AP in the dark. interesting potential there

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

I remember using Apple II’s in high school and being fascinated by the Macintosh when it was first introduced. I even convinced my parents to buy one, then a second as my siblings aged and we began competing for computer time.
I remember using IBM’s at my first job out of college and wondering why it was so much more difficult than the Mac. Couldn’t everyone see Macs were clearly superior?
Years later, I remember convincing the powers that be at my company to buy a few Macs, which was a mistake. They went underutilized because people didn’t get the interface.
I remember passing the Tesla boutique when we were shopping for a new car and being in awe of the design and the overall concept. How was something like this possible? Better yet, why did it take an upstart to produce a machine so different?
I’ve met owners who think the MS is just another car. Sure, a little different/special because it’s electric but still just a mode of transportation. I’ve met other owners that get that they are driving something truly groundbreaking, truly different. The whole back-story and vision for the future are like a book you don’t want to put down. Both types of owners are represented along the entire VIN spectrum.
Would I rather interact with owners that appreciate the car? Sure. Do I understand owners for whom it’s just a car? Yup. Every car I’ve owned up to the MS has just been a car.

 

[JenniferQ]

<snip>Every car I’ve owned up to the MS has just been a car.

Exactly.

 

[Discoducky]

Opinions? Let the flaming begin

We are all owners and by and large expect value for the money to varying degrees, but all the same, expectations will go up overtime.

Over the past 3 years of ownership I'm still expecting better things from TM each day.

Are they learning? Yes
Fast enough? Maybe...
Focus in the right place? Here's where I criticize
Is my criticize based on a viable business model? YMMV
Is this different from what I hear from new owners? Not really IMO

What I see as the main difference between now and the past 5 years I've been on the Tesla forums is that there are a huge # of voices and it is very hard to keep up with all the different voices.

Is that a bad thing? Hell no
Would it be awesome to have better forum tools to help with this issue? Hell yes!
Do I have opinions about these new tools? Sure, but could just put them into specs to others to develop

Anyway, that's my opinion...BTW, Artsci has some awesome upgrades!

 

[kevincwelch]

*I'm editing out my own snippiness* For those more "generationally advanced", I hope you can see how indignant some of you behave with the younger crowd. I ordered mine in 2012 at the age of 33. Many were much younger than me. The differences have VERY little to do with age, I believe. Mikeash said it best below:

It was just a question being posed. I was on the younger side as well.

 

[ohmman]

This reminds me of the times in college when we thought we were so "cool" because we knew a band before anyone else did, or before they hit it big. We need to be careful that the early adopter mentality isn't crossing lines with the hipster mentality. There is some kind of relationship between those two things.

At the same time, I'm a big believer in constructive criticism, assuming you're doing something about it (tell Tesla AND this forum, not just this forum, for instance). So criticizing with the intent of improvement - that's a necessary thing and not an indicator that someone's not an early adopter/cool crowd/whatever. I agree with AmpedRealtor's assessment that over time, it's reasonable to expect more of a company.

I've said this many times in the forum, but because I love Tesla, I really want some of their issues to be cleaned up now before there is serious competition. When that competition arrives, I don't want them to be leaning solely on charging infrastructure or their history in the field. I am hopeful their execution on timing and communication, specifically, will improve. I want the competition to succeed, but I want Tesla to lead.

Final thought returns to the hipster idea:

Why did the hipster burn his mouth?

Because he was drinking coffee before it was cool.

 

[kevincwelch]

I personally was horrified at some of the behavior I witnessed at the D event last year. I'd never seen Tesla owners act like that and realized that times had changed. But it doesn't mean that all owners are like that.

Horrified? What happened?

 

[bonnie]

Horrified? What happened?

Oh, let's see.

Well, the first *event* was outside in the horrid traffic snarl. I was with my sister in her minivan. We were informed by a Model S driver that HE was a Model S owner and we needed to let him in because HE owned a Model S and we didn't. I would have climbed over her and out the driver window to get at him, but it was my sister. She didn't budge. Bless her.

Then in line, waiting to get in, I heard more than one owner demanding a VIP line for Model S owners. It was a sense of entitlement I hadn't heard before.

The funniest though, was when I was talking to someone in Tesla mgmt and this guy kind of jumped into our conversation cutting me off mid-sentence, huffily informing me that he was 'one of the early adopters'. I immediately said 'cool!', assumed he must have been an early Roadster owner & asked him his VIN. He kind of stumbled over his words, said it was '5000-something', I looked confused because that's not a Roadster VIN - and the Tesla person immediately jumped in with 'oh Bonnie has a Roadster'. And someone else grabbed me, said 'oh you should have a black wristband for the test rides, you're a Roadster owner, you don't have to wait. Come with me'. Normally I wouldn't take advantage of that, but considering the immediate circumstance ... heck yes.

Lots of little micro-events like the above that happened throughout the evening of people pushing their way through because they were 'Model S owners'. Stuff I hadn't seen before. And while I was sad to see it happen, I also recognized it as a sign of Tesla's success, moving into broader markets. And that's a good thing.

 

[Raven]

It was just a question being posed. I was on the younger side as well.

Your comment simply reminded me of the disappointing behavior I've seen out of older owners over the years. Seems as though I didn't earn the car like they did or something. It used to be that Tesla owners were so excited to see another owner that we would drive hundreds of miles to meet up. Now I too often find that approaching the Tesla in the next SC stall is faux pas.

Sometimes I feel the Model S is a baby we all helped raise. Newer owners are helping with the newest features so I can't really say only early adopters had a part in it. Hell, my S85 doesn't even have backup sensors let alone autopilot so I'm not providing any help towards improved AP.

Maybe those of us from farther back(yes, yes. It's all relative) have a stronger feeling about the car and company because we took a larger risk. Tesla was barely solvent and relatively unheard of. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about owning a very expensive paperweight the first year or so.

 

[CHG-ON]

Wow! Did this get a ton of fast responses.

I bought in 9-14. While not an early adopter, I do consider myself of that ilk. I am thankful to have the car and very tolerant of the growing pains. Though I must admit that I am getting a little annoyed at the little problems that I have had, noted in another post. But the service makes it all good every time.

I love the car and am not a luxury car kinda guy. So I like the fairly austere character of the car. It fits me to a tee. I paid for the driving experience, the tech and the electric. Not the cush. Though I wouldn't push a MB Brabus 900 to the curb!

- - - Updated - - -

Max*: "Nothing useful to add, just want a front row seat for this."

Ha ha!

 

[Raven]

Oh, let's see.

Well, the first *event* was outside in the horrid traffic snarl. I was with my sister in her minivan. We were informed by a Model S driver that HE was a Model S owner and we needed to let him in because HE owned a Model S and we didn't. I would have climbed over her and out the driver window to get at him, but it was my sister. She didn't budge. Bless her.

Then in line, waiting to get in, I heard more than one owner demanding a VIP line for Model S owners. It was a sense of entitlement I hadn't heard before.

The funniest though, was when I was talking to someone in Tesla mgmt and this guy kind of jumped into our conversation cutting me off mid-sentence, huffily informing me that he was 'one of the early adopters'. I immediately said 'cool!', assumed he must have been an early Roadster owner & asked him his VIN. He kind of stumbled over his words, said it was '5000-something', I looked confused because that's not a Roadster VIN - and the Tesla person immediately jumped in with 'oh Bonnie has a Roadster'. And someone else grabbed me, said 'oh you should have a black wristband for the test rides, you're a Roadster owner, you don't have to wait. Come with me'. Normally I wouldn't take advantage of that, but considering the immediate circumstance ... heck yes.

Lots of little micro-events like the above that happened throughout the evening of people pushing their way through because they were 'Model S owners'. Stuff I hadn't seen before. And while I was sad to see it happen, I also recognized it as a sign of Tesla's success, moving into broader markets. And that's a good thing.

I'm gonna get flamed for taking on the Great Bonnie (much respect): I'm sure you're downplaying the guy's behavior but this comes across as quite condescending and unlike the Bonnie I've seen on here for years. As I say of everything in life, "it's all relative". Devil's advocate.... Would Steve Jurvetson call you an early adopter by your metric above? I hope he would.

 

[bonnie]

I'm gonna get flamed for taking on the Great Bonnie (much respect): I'm sure you're downplaying the guy's behavior but this comes across and quite condescending and unlike the Bonnie I've seen on here for years. As I say of everything in life, "it's all relative". Devil's advocate.... Would Steve Jurvetson call you an early adopter by your metric above? I hope he would.

Really? It came across as condescending? The guy jumped into our conversation, cut me off, informed me that HE was an early adopter with a truly condescending tone of voice. Sorry, but I didn't bring the Universe down on him. I asked his VIN as I would with any Roadster owner. That's not a put down. That's a normal intro among Roadster owners.

I'm human. After he was so rude to me, to have someone grab my arm and offer me a ride ... well I'm human. There is not a thing I did there that I'd consider condescending. I'm surprised you thought it was.

Keep in mind that in more than one post on this forum, I've made clear that as a Roadster owner with a VIN of 1194, I don't see myself as an early adopter. I knew I'd get my car. I consider the early adopters on this forum to be the guys here who put money down not knowing if they'd every get a car or not. True respect there.

So I'm not one of those who call themselves an early adopter. I don't need to label myself. But I am amused when I have someone in my face, informing me that THEY are an early adopter, as if somehow that makes it okay for them to cut me off mid-conversation.

 

[Raven]

Really? It came across as condescending? The guy jumped into our conversation, cut me off, informed me that HE was an early adopter with a truly condescending tone of voice. Sorry, but I didn't bring the Universe down on him. I asked his VIN as I would with any Roadster owner. That's not a put down. That's a normal intro among Roadster owners.

I'm human. After he was so rude to me, to have someone grab my arm and offer me a ride ... well I'm human. There is not a thing I did there that I'd consider condescending. I'm surprised you thought it was.

I think you're taking my comment too personally. As I said, you may have downplayed the extent of his behavior. I wasn't there. I'm just explaining how I perceived it straight from written word. It didn't seem like the Bonnie I've seen on here. You see the situation vividly in your head and, even though you wrote it, you see your text coming across just as vivid as in your head. What I see is something that I might do in a bout of excitement. Jump in and say I have one of the early(Model S) cars. It seems this guy was a jackass and I apologize that I didn't read it that way the first time. But, in my opinion, it's always good for us to have a devil's advocate every once in a while. Believe me, if I didn't have a good friend that did that to me on regular occasion, I would be one very, very ignorant person. Not saying you are...

Edit: I replied before your edit. I now see this guy was much more than just an overly-excited owner at an exciting event. Seems he was a Napoleon Complex individual and you WAAAYYY under-reacted! haha Thanks for the other clarification also. Now that's the Bonnie I "know".

 

[bonnie]

I think you're taking my comment too personally. As I said, you may have downplayed the extent of his behavior. I wasn't there. I'm just explaining how I perceived it straight from written word. It didn't seem like the Bonnie I've seen on here. You see the situation vividly in your head and, even though you wrote it, you see your text coming across just as vivid as in your head. What I see is something that I might do in a bout of excitement. Jump in and say I have one of the early(Model S) cars. It seems this guy was a jackass and I apologize that I didn't read it that way the first time. But, in my opinion, it's always good for us to have a devil's advocate every once in a while. Believe me, if I didn't have a good friend that did that to me on regular occasion, I would be one very, very ignorant person. Not saying you are...

Of course I took it personally when you called me condescending. I'm glad you have good friends who can set you straight upon occasion. .