Automobiles

[funcrusher]

Are they not making a stick?
Gorgeous looking car but at a base price of $225k, surely you could build something similar with an older air cooled 911 with all the aesthetics and more character? You know 2400 of these will never touch anything tougher than a grass parking lot at a yacht rock concert venue.

No manual. Try finding an air cooled 911 in good condition at a decent price!

[Saab2000]

I loaded up on some liquid courage back in March and put down a $250 deposit on a Tesla Model Y Long Range. I got the metallic gray color because I am not seduced by their red or blue options, both of which are an up charge. Opted for the black interior which comes with fake wood and genuine vegan leather (read: vinyl - though it's not unpleasant in texture or softness/firmness). No rich Corinthian leather here. Not even from Corinth.

I picked up the vehicle on Wednesday.

The one option I opted for is the 2" trailer hitch receiver, which is going to be a PITA to access but at least it's there and has the wiring for taillights. I'll test this out today. It's intended for my bike rack.

My initial impressions are quite positive. No creaks or rattles. Panel gaps aren't Audi-like, but are consistent and I haven't seen anything that will require a service visit. The delivery appointment is a bit of a disappointment with the gentleman doing my delivery not as knowledgeable as he should be for a vehicle in this price class. But I'm naturally curious and will get it all figured out. Tesla includes a whole bunch of tutorial videos in their screen to instruct on the processes.

The screen is quite nice and generally not too distracting though I wish Tesla would consider a heads-up display in the windshield or something straight ahead. The speed readout is in the upper left of the screen and not hard to read from the driver position. Speaking of which, the driving position has rapidly grown on me. The steering wheel is slightly smaller in diameter than my Tiguan and thicker in the rim than the Tiguan. It reminds me of my old GTI, which is a good thing.

A few minor gripes.

• The car doesn't come with a few things that it should come with standard, especially at this price point. Why the eff do I have to order the little trays for the center console?
• And why is Home Link not part of every car? Why do I have to order it and set up a service appointment to have it installed? If they don't want to deliver it on every car it should be an option box in the ordering process.
• Finally, the all-season rubber floor mats appear to be made by Weathertech and aren't nearly as nice as the mats that I got with my Tiguan. The VW group makes far nicer rubber floor mats that don't come across as an afterthought. This is likely because VW is in Germany, where there's winter. And Tesla is a California (now Texas) company where the people making these decisions have never experienced a nasty winter with salt and sand and snow, etc.

None of these gripes are dealbreakers of course, but they're things Telsa could do better.

Initial driving impressions are quite positive. It's extremely quick and extremely smooth in the drivetrain. Handling is much sharper than my Tiguan of course, but less of a precision instrument than my GTI was, which was never not a total joy to drive in traffic. The Model Y is not a small car but honestly, it drives small. It's a nice piece to just use as a daily driver it would appear though I only have a day and a half in it. The cruise control is really nice and easy to engage with the stalk. This is the best one I've used.

Many of the functions are controlled by the scroll wheels on the steering wheel and while not initially super intuitive, I think they'll become second nature very quickly. They feel as though they're quality pieces with positive clicks and rolls.

First impressions are quite good. Let's see how it is going forward. The Tiguan will be sold in the next six weeks or so, making the Model Y my only car for now. There will be a learning curve with regards to road trips but while I'm within a 100 mile radius of my house I'll likely only ever be doing home charging.

[Tom]

Karen and I Ubered across town to meet some friends out and we rode in one similar. I was impressed. The driver loved it, went on and on about it all the way to our destination. He demonstrated the acceleration and you could see how the torque comes on quite differently. We're not replacing either of our cars for 10 years if everything goes correctly but I would definitely give one of these serious consideration. I think you're going to like it a lot.

[vertical_doug]

Saab, now that you have your daily driver, maybe you need a car for some me time.

I am happy to enquire for you.

[Saab2000]

Saab, now that you have your daily driver, maybe you need a car for some me time.

I am happy to enquire for you.

I want a Porsche 718 4.0 GTS. But that Ferrari would look nice from the driver’s seat!

[bigbill]

I loaded up on some liquid courage back in March and put down a $250 deposit on a Tesla Model Y Long Range. I got the metallic gray color because I am not seduced by their red or blue options, both of which are an up charge. Opted for the black interior which comes with fake wood and genuine vegan leather (read: vinyl - though it's not unpleasant in texture or softness/firmness). No rich Corinthian leather here. Not even from Corinth.

My sister and her husband have that model and have now done two long road trips in it. DFW to Phoenix was their latest trip for thanksgiving. Two years ago, they drove from DFW to Vegas. The most recent trip was easier because of added superchargers on their route.

[vertical_doug]

https://www.hrowen.co.uk/used-car-de.../id-504494123/

This is truly a splendid car.

[Saab2000]

Karen and I Ubered across town to meet some friends out and we rode in one similar. I was impressed. The driver loved it, went on and on about it all the way to our destination. He demonstrated the acceleration and you could see how the torque comes on quite differently. We're not replacing either of our cars for 10 years if everything goes correctly but I would definitely give one of these serious consideration. I think you're going to like it a lot.

So far, so good. I’m a bit surprised that the crazy torque and acceleration don’t seem to taper off at highway speeds. It’s stupid easy to shoot into gaps.

There’s definitely a learning curve WRT the UI on the screen. I’ve become extremely used to using Apple Car Play and its UI but Tesla is different. All the car’s settings are controlled by the touchscreen initially but many can be accessed via the steering wheel buttons. I’m sure it’ll all become second nature soon enough but for now I’m not 100% comfortable with everything. It’s like an old man (me) going from a rotary analog phone to an iPhone.

My 1UP-USA bike rack works without a hiccup. This pleases me very much as it was a concern of mine that I might need to get an extender for the 2” receiver. I won’t need to do so.

It’s in the parking lot in Chicago Midway airport at the moment and has lost 1% of the battery in 36 hours parked in cold temps. Not bad. I do like that I can check on it remotely on my phone. Can’t wait to warm it up and pre-condition the car remotely so it’ll be warm when I get in.

I’ll be taking it to Michigan this week and getting my first medium road trip experience. Reports to follow if interested.

[Too Tall]

https://www.hrowen.co.uk/used-car-de.../id-504494123/

This is truly a splendid car.

#millemiglia and all is right in the world.

[rec head]

Something I was thinking about with all the fuss about EV's and road tripping. I have only needed to charge mine once while out on the road and it was a fun experience so I'm no expert.

When you're out on the road the extra time to charge will be a bigger inconvenience. No doubt there. I was looking at driving Chicago to Denver and charging adds hours to the trip because there aren't enough charging stations and I would need to wait to charge to 90% or better at each station. But overall I think my time at charging stations will be much less than my time at gas stations because I'm not driving out of my way to fill up whenever I need gas. Plus the lines at Costco can be irritating to say the least. I get home plug it in. It is something that I will tell myself while out travelling. We still have an ICE car too and as it nears a 1/4 tank I'm not looking forward to having to fill it up.

[72gmc]

Does the Y come with good tires for winter driving? I’ve wondered how careful one needs to be about the weight of a winter wheel + tire set for an EV.

[bigbill]

So far, so good. I’m a bit surprised that the crazy torque and acceleration don’t seem to taper off at highway speeds. It’s stupid easy to shoot into gaps.

The ability to accelerate quickly was a battery killer on my sister's first big road trip. I-40 has dense big rig traffic with rolling terrain so they were "shooting gaps" to pass trucks and it affected their battery life. When they stopped to visit us in NW Arizona, I directed them to historic Rt66 to bypass I-40 so they could avoid braking or accelerating.

[Saab2000]

Does the Y come with good tires for winter driving? I’ve wondered how careful one needs to be about the weight of a winter wheel + tire set for an EV.

All-seasons. I’m having winter tires installed on Thursday. I’m a believer. They will surely reduce range and efficiency but IMHO they’re worth it for the added safety.

[Tom]

I think being a cyclist helps one drive economically. Personal experience of burning my matches constantly accelerating and decelerating reminds me to drive straight and don't turn gasoline into brake dust.

[72gmc]

I find that being a cyclist causes me to drive different routes than most. More than once I've been happily driving to a destination, only for my wife to tell me I'm not on my bike and the faster way is over there.

[AngryScientist]

My uber driver this morning was driving the Tesla SUV thing.

Two things came to mind:

1) the economics of owning an expensive e-car and driving for uber are......interesting
2) between the tablet like dash thing and fiddling with the phone based uber app suction cupped to the windshield, there is a lot competing for eyeball time with the road.

[rec head]

1) the economics of owning an expensive e-car and driving for uber are......interesting

I see this fairly often and I'm confused.

[Kev inc.]

This reminds me of the high school kid with a BMW who delivers pizzas.
They are always working to pay for their sweet ride!

[j44ke]

My uber driver this morning was driving the Tesla SUV thing.

Two things came to mind:

1) the economics of owning an expensive e-car and driving for uber are......interesting
2) between the tablet like dash thing and fiddling with the phone based uber app suction cupped to the windshield, there is a lot competing for eyeball time with the road.

There have been some articles written on the way Uber drivers get their cars. Some of the arrangements sound a bit like indentured servitude through auto sales. Sharecropping. I feel like it hasn't really been discussed by the press in enough detail though.

[jimcav]

lovely, but ludicrous price. Several years ago I looked into a replica from Tribute Automotive that converts a BMW Z3--wish I'd done that. But then around '99 or 2000 I almost but a z3 m-coupe-but my wife thought it ugly...