I can't tell you how thrilled I am with this car. I picked it up this morning at the San Diego Service Center. The car exceeded my wildest expectations! I've probably been in the showroom at the Westfield UTC showroom dozens of times but there are always so many people there you feel guilty spending too much time in the car exploring.
Plus I was told that my car was the first in San Diego to have the Park Distance Control so the girl was excited to show me everything and funny as I seemed to know as much as her from my many hours reading this and other forums.
I was one of those guys that reconfigured my car and spent thousands of dollars more to get the Park Distance Control sensors. I can't tell you how great they work! They really are great and accurate. I've tried it out quite a bit and it works very well. The only thing it won't measure is curbs that are too low, just as they explained online.
I had the print out from the great Check List from Nick but quite honestly I didn't even pull it out as I had everything memorized. An employee went through methodically and showed me everything. She was very thorough explaining everything.
I got the car with 227 miles so it was almost completely charged. I only had about 50 miles already on the odometer they explained from moving the car and testing, etc. The only bad thing about the location of the San Diego service center is it's near a Rock Quarry or something because there is tons of fine dust particles in the air. Although they cleaned my car, it was all dusty from the quarry. Not a big deal.
Also, the car had a red paint scratch near the back wheel well. It was very small but still noticeable. I asked them to remove it. I got a bit nervous when the main detail guy came out and couldn't remove it with solvent he had in a spray bottle but he took it into the garage and promptly removed it within 5 minutes. I'm not sure what it was from but the important thing is they removed it.
I did the docu-sign online before going in so the paperwork was VERY quick. Less than 10 minutes which consisted of me signing a few forms confirming receipt of delivery, paying them all that money for the car (balance due) and that was it.
They explained they were excited as my car was the very first delivery in San Diego with the Park Distance Control. My car almost was already updated to the latest 5.0 software. It was clear the girl had never seen it before as she said some things were new for her. She said it makes her job MUCH easier when people read everything online before they come in. I pretty much knew how everything worked but I still learned plenty of new things that I didn't know before.
For example, I didn't know that you could move the sound around to put focus on the sound in the front or back or one side, etc. Also, I thought only those that got the cold weather package got seat warmers but she said that with the leather package you get the seat warmers which was surprising to me. That was a nice surprise although I won't use them much in San Diego. I have the cold weather package in my Audi Q7 TDI and I've never used it in San Diego although I do use it when I go to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. I may try to make a road trip up to Lake Tahoe this winter.
I got a P85 and got just about every upgrade except the + and the cold weather package. But everything else including dual charger and jump seats. I tested my HPWC at home and true to the Tesla website, I got 60 miles per hour recharge.
I am blown away at the power of it. I did test drive it but those of you that test drive it know that you can't REALLY test drive it like you want to with a Tesla employee with you. And in San Diego they don't even allow you to go on the highway at all. The pick up is amazing! It literally feels like you are driving a spaceship or something. (Not that I've driven a spaceship before) but this is how you would imagine it! I've never seen so many people pointing at a car or taking photos of the car while I am driving. That feeling is totally new to me.
Also, I went to the store to get some ice cream and many people coming up to the car looking inside of it. I can imagine that could get annoying quickly if they are touching the windows, etc. I imagine the novelty will wear off as more and more people buy Teslas. I heard there are so many in the Bay area that they don't seem too special there now. I imagine San Diego will be the same way soon.
In my development where I live, I didn't see any of them before 2 weeks ago. Then in the last 2 weeks I've seen two of them up at the Country Club. I live in a pretty upscale neighborhood. For frame of reference, the San Diego Chargers Quarterback lives in my development. I am the third person already to get one so I imagine soon there will probably be a lot of them. LOL.
I haven't driven it enough to discover if there are any problems but so far in driving it all day I haven't seen any problems at all except these things:
- The front windshield doesn't allow my gate sticker to work from my development. I live in a gated community and it's so large there are several entrances and it didn't work at any of them so they had to give me an old fashioned device to open the gate. That's not uncommon with some newer cars. For instance, my Q7 didn't work either. So they gave me this front license plate device that you screw on. The problem is that I opted not to have a front license plate installed so I can't go with that option. I'll probably go with the option to install the license plate with the J hook screws without making a hole in the car and see if that will work.
- Twice while driving my front passenger window just opened a bit. I don't remember touching anything but my wife was in the front with me and it happened twice. I'm not sure if there is something that I'm doing that causes it to open slightly? I'd appreciate some insight there.
- I got the rear jump seats and they are great. But backing out of my driveway one of my kids accidentally touched the release and they fell forward. Is there any safety lock where it can't be opened while the car is moving? This seems like it could potentially be VERY dangerous if a child could accidentally touch this and they could fly forward. Could any of you that have them let me know if there is any way to safety lock these jump suits so your kids can't touch it and fly forward? If it happened with my kids, I imagine it could happen to others too. If there is no safety lock/latch, they need to figure out how to engage some safety lock that can NOT be unlocked while the car is moving. This could be VERY dangerous.
Other than that the car seems perfect. The car mats that came with them didn't seem nearly as bad as some claimed they were. I'm not sure which version I got but they don't seem bad. I already ordered the All weather mats for the entire car ahead of time but not sure they will look that great in the car as I got the Black/Black interior. But the frunk and trunk do look good with those mats and they are easy to clean.
I'm going to LOVE LOVE LOVE driving this thing. I have to give a BIG kudos and thanks to Jerome Guillen who emailed me immediately on a sunday night after this entire Park Distance Control came out. I had already ordered my car without them but my car didn't enter production yet so I felt for someone like me that added on just about everything and had to pay more to add them it wasn't really fair. But on reflection, I'm just darn glad I had the chance to add them even if it cost several thousands of dollars more.
Ultimately, I was fortunate that I could add them. They work GREAT and look great. If you have a black exterior they are barely noticeable. I know Jerome helped push my car so the original delivery date was honored. I emailed him to thank him for all his help and the guy emailed me back almost immediately. It's clear that he is passionate about the car and the company.
Also, I have to mention that this car and this technology gives me great hope what is achievable for the future. It also makes me VERY confident that those that say the USA's best days are behind it are clearly wrong. The USA's best days are ahead of it due to visionaries like Elon Musk and his team.
Thanks Tesla and thanks to so many of you that spend so much time posting valuable information on these and other forums.
Plus I was told that my car was the first in San Diego to have the Park Distance Control so the girl was excited to show me everything and funny as I seemed to know as much as her from my many hours reading this and other forums.
I was one of those guys that reconfigured my car and spent thousands of dollars more to get the Park Distance Control sensors. I can't tell you how great they work! They really are great and accurate. I've tried it out quite a bit and it works very well. The only thing it won't measure is curbs that are too low, just as they explained online.
I had the print out from the great Check List from Nick but quite honestly I didn't even pull it out as I had everything memorized. An employee went through methodically and showed me everything. She was very thorough explaining everything.
I got the car with 227 miles so it was almost completely charged. I only had about 50 miles already on the odometer they explained from moving the car and testing, etc. The only bad thing about the location of the San Diego service center is it's near a Rock Quarry or something because there is tons of fine dust particles in the air. Although they cleaned my car, it was all dusty from the quarry. Not a big deal.
Also, the car had a red paint scratch near the back wheel well. It was very small but still noticeable. I asked them to remove it. I got a bit nervous when the main detail guy came out and couldn't remove it with solvent he had in a spray bottle but he took it into the garage and promptly removed it within 5 minutes. I'm not sure what it was from but the important thing is they removed it.
I did the docu-sign online before going in so the paperwork was VERY quick. Less than 10 minutes which consisted of me signing a few forms confirming receipt of delivery, paying them all that money for the car (balance due) and that was it.
They explained they were excited as my car was the very first delivery in San Diego with the Park Distance Control. My car almost was already updated to the latest 5.0 software. It was clear the girl had never seen it before as she said some things were new for her. She said it makes her job MUCH easier when people read everything online before they come in. I pretty much knew how everything worked but I still learned plenty of new things that I didn't know before.
For example, I didn't know that you could move the sound around to put focus on the sound in the front or back or one side, etc. Also, I thought only those that got the cold weather package got seat warmers but she said that with the leather package you get the seat warmers which was surprising to me. That was a nice surprise although I won't use them much in San Diego. I have the cold weather package in my Audi Q7 TDI and I've never used it in San Diego although I do use it when I go to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. I may try to make a road trip up to Lake Tahoe this winter.
I got a P85 and got just about every upgrade except the + and the cold weather package. But everything else including dual charger and jump seats. I tested my HPWC at home and true to the Tesla website, I got 60 miles per hour recharge.
I am blown away at the power of it. I did test drive it but those of you that test drive it know that you can't REALLY test drive it like you want to with a Tesla employee with you. And in San Diego they don't even allow you to go on the highway at all. The pick up is amazing! It literally feels like you are driving a spaceship or something. (Not that I've driven a spaceship before) but this is how you would imagine it! I've never seen so many people pointing at a car or taking photos of the car while I am driving. That feeling is totally new to me.
Also, I went to the store to get some ice cream and many people coming up to the car looking inside of it. I can imagine that could get annoying quickly if they are touching the windows, etc. I imagine the novelty will wear off as more and more people buy Teslas. I heard there are so many in the Bay area that they don't seem too special there now. I imagine San Diego will be the same way soon.
In my development where I live, I didn't see any of them before 2 weeks ago. Then in the last 2 weeks I've seen two of them up at the Country Club. I live in a pretty upscale neighborhood. For frame of reference, the San Diego Chargers Quarterback lives in my development. I am the third person already to get one so I imagine soon there will probably be a lot of them. LOL.
I haven't driven it enough to discover if there are any problems but so far in driving it all day I haven't seen any problems at all except these things:
- The front windshield doesn't allow my gate sticker to work from my development. I live in a gated community and it's so large there are several entrances and it didn't work at any of them so they had to give me an old fashioned device to open the gate. That's not uncommon with some newer cars. For instance, my Q7 didn't work either. So they gave me this front license plate device that you screw on. The problem is that I opted not to have a front license plate installed so I can't go with that option. I'll probably go with the option to install the license plate with the J hook screws without making a hole in the car and see if that will work.
- Twice while driving my front passenger window just opened a bit. I don't remember touching anything but my wife was in the front with me and it happened twice. I'm not sure if there is something that I'm doing that causes it to open slightly? I'd appreciate some insight there.
- I got the rear jump seats and they are great. But backing out of my driveway one of my kids accidentally touched the release and they fell forward. Is there any safety lock where it can't be opened while the car is moving? This seems like it could potentially be VERY dangerous if a child could accidentally touch this and they could fly forward. Could any of you that have them let me know if there is any way to safety lock these jump suits so your kids can't touch it and fly forward? If it happened with my kids, I imagine it could happen to others too. If there is no safety lock/latch, they need to figure out how to engage some safety lock that can NOT be unlocked while the car is moving. This could be VERY dangerous.
Other than that the car seems perfect. The car mats that came with them didn't seem nearly as bad as some claimed they were. I'm not sure which version I got but they don't seem bad. I already ordered the All weather mats for the entire car ahead of time but not sure they will look that great in the car as I got the Black/Black interior. But the frunk and trunk do look good with those mats and they are easy to clean.
I'm going to LOVE LOVE LOVE driving this thing. I have to give a BIG kudos and thanks to Jerome Guillen who emailed me immediately on a sunday night after this entire Park Distance Control came out. I had already ordered my car without them but my car didn't enter production yet so I felt for someone like me that added on just about everything and had to pay more to add them it wasn't really fair. But on reflection, I'm just darn glad I had the chance to add them even if it cost several thousands of dollars more.
Ultimately, I was fortunate that I could add them. They work GREAT and look great. If you have a black exterior they are barely noticeable. I know Jerome helped push my car so the original delivery date was honored. I emailed him to thank him for all his help and the guy emailed me back almost immediately. It's clear that he is passionate about the car and the company.
Also, I have to mention that this car and this technology gives me great hope what is achievable for the future. It also makes me VERY confident that those that say the USA's best days are behind it are clearly wrong. The USA's best days are ahead of it due to visionaries like Elon Musk and his team.
Thanks Tesla and thanks to so many of you that spend so much time posting valuable information on these and other forums.
Sounds like they used it for a few joy rides.
