They have their annual check up which the sales rep basically said amounts to a brake job. That costs $600 and he said you can realistically do it 1 time every 2 years. Or you can just buy the 8 year/100,000 mile service plan for $3,800. The battery comes with an 8 year/unlimited mile warranty. I don't know how much repairs are outside of the 4 year/50k mile bumper to bumper warranty.
My cousin owns one. He also owns a Lambo, AMG SL55, and got rid of Ferraris California to make room for it in the garage. He says its the best car he has ever owned. They have tons of low end torque which would cause your car to "fish tail" if you hammer the pedal while in a turn.
How are you doing test drives? I thought that wasn't allowed in Texas? They can't even answer your questions from what I was reading regarding the dealership laws. I've never driven one so I can't give you any advice. I want one but not as my primary car.
You schedule an appointment for a test drive on the website and then show up at the showroom. The Tesla rep rides with you in the car too.
If I was hammering the pedal I would have expected it, but sadly I wasn't. I didn't feel comfortable pushing it hard thru turns, but the torque is ****ing amazing.
I've had one for about 3-4 months now and absolutely LOVE it! Granted it's really the first nice car I've ever owned, but I would find it difficult to go back to an ICE. Can't comment much on how the interior compares to the Benz, BMW's, etc. but its nice enough for me. You get used to the regenerative breaking within the first few hours. If anything, I find it a little annoying when I have to drive my wifes car. I've never had a problem with fishtailing, but I'm not going superfast so maybe thats why? My favorite things about it: The exterior - Hands down the best looking luxury sedan IMO 0-60 - Damn its fast! And I only have the 60. Wish I had forked out for the P85+. But I plan on upgrading after a few years. Dashboard - In the beginning it was a little annoying without the buttons and knobs, but I got used to real quick. I know a few others that own a Tesla and they all swear its the best car they have owned.
Cool! Thanks for the feedback! What color did you get? The car I test drove had the dark blue that I thought looked pretty damn good.
Robbie, just FYI... The "auto braking" is regenerative braking. What's happening is the kinetic energy of the car is being used to charge up the batteries (instead of dissipating as heat). Like R0ckets03 said you'd probably get used to it pretty quickly.
Just put in a deposit for one last month. Wife and I both enjoyed driving it. My main gripes were as follows: a) the back seat is a bit tricky to get into due to the way the shape of the car body - you can easily hit your rear end against the car frame b) the interior definitely isn't over the top like you find in other luxury cars but in my view, the technology (and that fact that it is continuously being upgraded via downloads) is so far ahead from other companies, it offsets the other areas. We didn't drive it enough to factor in the lack of knobs, but a pretty good review on extremetech also brought this up (http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...t-sports-sedan-fabulous-ev-excellent-commuter) We'll use this as our base car for Austin and in-state driving and use another vehicle for long road trips (or maybe get another ICE sedan and just rent an SUV when hauling the kids somewhere).
I think it's a cool car and all... ... but OP, it sounds like your trying to talk yourself into one... which likely means if you do make the purchase, you'll like it, you'll convince yourself it is awesome and the best purchase you've made for a while, and then in a year or two think it's pretty rad, but your life is no better for it.. ... or something :grin: Something I could see myself doing.... which is why I didn't do that with my last car decision, and instead went practical (though still luxurious and fast)... of course, I still have the same thought process now, it just ends with, "such a logical and smart decision, but it sure would be cool to be driving that [insert 'cool' luxury brand here] about now"
The regenerative braking was the biggest thing I had to get used to. You can switch that feature off if it bothers you. I never experienced the fishtail issue or heard anything about it from the two people I know who own it. My biggest beef with the Model S is the interior though. Pretty basic and plain for the money you spend. While the display is nice, it has a lot information and things you don't really need and navigating was confusing at times.
Friend in Silicon Valley has one. Loves it. That's all I can contribute to this thread as I think spending more than $25k on a chunk of metal to get you from one point to another is absurd, as is naming cars after numbers.
It's not a sports car so maybe it's not as relevant. But if high end sports cars ever went fully electrical, I would totally miss the wide open throttle sound of the exhaust. I would definitely welcome a hybrid model like the Porsche 918 or the LaFerrari where you have the motor assisting the engine.
Well, I need to get a new car since mine has 120k miles on it and things are just starting to break down. I wasn't even looking at a Tesla until last week. A friend at work suggested that I look at them. The car was about to sell itself until that handling issue that completely threw me off.
I got the Glacier White with the light brown interior. My favorite options: The pano-roof is an absolute must. Changes the whole feel on the inside. Upgraded audio - Again, I have nothing to compare to. And some other Tesla owners feel its overpriced, but I absolutely love it! Tech package - I wouldn't consider getting a Tesla without it. IMO this shouldn't even be an option, but rather included in the sticker price.
I'm just messing with ya. I'm in Austin, too, and probably see 1-2 a day in between downtown and home. I think they are sleek cars, for sure. I was just noting that it seemed like you were trying to convince yourself into buying one and overlooking the flaws you found. at a minimum you need to figure out the fishtail issue... cause even if it is "driver input error"... which isn't saying you're a bad driver, just something about the way you drove around those turns, if it's going to happen, obviously that sucks. Also, I concur about the touchscreen. Increasingly there are fewer things that really need that tactile feel... but what I use most commonly are volume control and even on/off on audio, and climate. Both of those are nice to have tactile control over. As an aside, I've actually grown to dislike the Tesla look more and more over the last 12 months. At first I thought it was super sleek looking. But increasingly where I thought it might resemble a slightly less exotic Maserati... now when I see one, my first impression is a slightly more upscale Ford Fusion. The Ford Fusion is a pretty sleek looking budget sedan mind you, just noting that whatever that special something is in the Maserati or Porsche, or even in BMW, Mercedes, etc. that make it distinctly their brand and distinctly premium at first glance, has become less obvious on the Tesla for me. Just a personal observation, and might speak as much to how the competition has moved towards the Tesla from a design perspective. I mean check out the new Kia Cadenza for example... they all have that exact same look now, just change out the grills.
