2016 Tesla Model S with Autopilot 2.0 hardware. 75D fully loaded.
Just had the wheels powder coated with a glossy black from Prismatic Colors. Reflective red accents on the front, back, and wheel caps. Next I'll be doing a chrome delete and getting the windows tinted.
Here's a shot of the front from before I had the wheels done:
@xblackerrthing: Modern Chargers are nice. I briefly considered getting that as my primary car before I settled on the Model S. I get those and rentals from time to time and they are pretty fun, even in a crappy rental config. Last trip to New Orleans I splurged and sprung for a Charger with a Hemi for the week.
@Byshop: If you're going to do that to the wheels you HAVE to keep the tires shiney or it just looks like ass, like in the picture you posted. Otherwise sweet ride.
@Byshop: If you're going to do that to the wheels you HAVE to keep the tires shiney or it just looks like ass, like in the picture you posted. Otherwise sweet ride.
I need to get the sidewalls dressed. It wasn't an issue until I had the wheels powder coated, but now it's conspicuously obvious. That photo was also taken early in the morning so the sunlight was -very- direct. The difference isn't quite that pronounced in most light. This was right after I got the car back from the detail shop that did the powder coat so I haven't had a chance to dress the tires yet but that's next on my list.
2005 Honda CR-V (only picture I have of it above) - not very exciting but I needed something with at least some capacity and offroad capabilities I could also drive to work every day.
I'll get a proper 4x4 one day (hopefully a 4Runner or Nissan X-terra)
@Macutchi: Thanks, I like it a lot. I had a Model X (the SUV version of my car) as a loaner while mine was in the shop for annual service and I enjoyed that one quite a bit, too. The vertical rear doors were pretty cool, and all four doors being capable of opening and closing automatically was also pretty neat. I'm not a fan of the body style of that one, though. It just looks ugly to me compared to the S.
They are really fun to drive. Pressure on the pedal directly translates into forward momentum, and the torque off the line is crazy. It's a bit like driving a very fast golf cart, but it's super smooth with the air suspension. Plus the only time I visit a gas station these days is to top off the air in my times or grab some drinks.
@Byshop: i love the falcon doors. teslas aren't common at all over here in england, or at least i rarely see them. they're really appealing though, not least because of the battery. i've had a lot of performance cars, and i wouldn't like to think how much i've spent on fuel these past few years, it's not cheap over here
@Byshop: i love the falcon doors. teslas aren't common at all over here in england, or at least i rarely see them. they're really appealing though, not least because of the battery. i've had a lot of performance cars, and i wouldn't like to think how much i've spent on fuel these past few years, it's not cheap over here
I was in Basingstoke and London for a couple weeks in the beginning of December for work and I saw very few over there. Some European countries have tons while others very few. Even in the US, it really varies by state. For example, California accounts for nearly half of Tesla's sales in the US. Probably not coincidentally, it's also one of the states that has a decent tax incentive for buying an electric car and it's where Tesla is headquartered. I live in Colorado, where the incentive was 6k when I bought the car (5k now) and the federal tax incentive is still 7.5k, so I got 13.5k off the price of the car in tax refund.
The doors are very cool. They have proximity sensors and will open differently depending on what's around the car. If you're close to other cars, then they will open straight up instead of out. If there's no clearance, they'll only open so far as they can without hitting something.
Plus they can do this:
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I love the practicality of the Model X if you have kids (which I do) but I'm not a big SUV guy and I still think the car's ugly compared to the sedan. Besides that, the Model S has another option for kids seats that I went ahead and sprung for:
I've owned my E46 M3 from new in 04 and she's still as strong as a horse.
As far as I'm concerned it's the greatest car in the world because I can use it everyday and it's comfortable yet when it wants it can seriously worry 911's on a drive through the hills or mountains.
An old Mazda Demio. It might be old, but this thing runs without any problems and that's all I ask for. Have it for like 10 years and never had an issue with it. That's all I want froma car, just run and don't break. If it ever dies, I'll probably get an electronic car.
2014 Sentra and 2005 Altima. The Altima is limping as of late, though. Not sure if I put the money into repairing and maintaining or getting something newer.
I am thinking of doing the same thing as well for another car and keeping the miles off my Lotus. My wife has the SUV (2014 Acura MDX) for the long haul family vacations and store trips but I need something more pratical for myself as well. I have been kind of following the prices of the used market on the P90/100's. The cars I will say do not seem to hold their resale value very well after a few years but then they do plateau. I am finding them for under $80k with low miles. It could be the Seattle area though because Telsa's are a dime a dozen here. They are everywhere.
Nissan 350z. Great shape, new convertible top. But the thing burns oil like crazy. Should have been a factory recall. Tons of owners have experienced it for the year/model. Fortunately I'm only at 60k Miles...
I am thinking of doing the same thing as well for another car and keeping the miles off my Lotus. My wife has the SUV (2014 Acura MDX) for the long haul family vacations and store trips but I need something more pratical for myself as well. I have been kind of following the prices of the used market on the P90/100's. The cars I will say do not seem to hold their resale value very well after a few years but then they do plateau. I am finding them for under $80k with low miles. It could be the Seattle area though because Telsa's are a dime a dozen here. They are everywhere.
The original model Tesla (the first Tesla Roadster) used a Lotus Elise body. Teslas are very fun. Some purists will never like a car that doesn't have a proper gasoline engine, but I actually like how different it feels from a normal car. The issue with resale value is that Tesla is an "innovative" company and they've specifically said that if you want to buy a car that won't be rendered at least a little obsolete because they promise to make significant improvements to their cars every 18-24 months. Starting with the Model S the big distinction was the Autopilot capability. 2012 through 2013 cars have no AP capability, so when AP came out in 2014 it had an impact on the value of the earlier models. In late 2016, Tesla announced that all cars made from October onward (Model S, Model X, and the at the time to be released Model 3) would have AP 2.0 hardware which would eventually be capable of Full Self Driving (which hasn't happened yet). Even though AP 2.0 and up are only capable of what AP 1.0 are capable of, the potential future of what they'll be capable of has impacted the value of cars made before 2017. My first Tesla was actually an inventory Model S with AP 1.0 hardware, but when AP 2.0 was announced I immediately traded it in against a custom AP 2.0 car order. The elective vehicle tax incentives made it so I didn't lose money on the first car, but only because I sold it with very low mileage. They've also been slowly increasing the performance of the cars over the years to the point that the higher end non-performance cars are actually a bit faster than the oldest performance cars. Under 80k though seems pretty do-able depending on exactly what you want to get. If you just want a fast Tesla and don't care about autopilot then you can even go down to the 40s or 50s. Autopilot is pretty cool, though...
They are fairly common cars in Seattle, but there are other places that are just lousy with them. San Fran, San Jose, and a few other places in California (the state that makes up like 45% of Tesla's US sales) you see them everywhere. Surprisingly, I even saw a ton in Houston which is obviously a big oil town (in fact I was there consulting for an oil company). I even caught a few when I was in the UK last month. In Colorado they are an uncommon sight, which was part of the appeal of getting one but even if they were common here it's the ultimate tech geek nerd car.
@needhealing: There have been some recent videos posted in the EV blogs of the performance of the new modestly priced Model 3. The performance model of the 3 won't be out until sometime next year but the non performance model is rated for 0-60 in 5.1 seconds but tests are coming out even better than that.
Nissan 350z. Great shape, new convertible top. But the thing burns oil like crazy. Should have been a factory recall. Tons of owners have experienced it for the year/model. Fortunately I'm only at 60k Miles...
I love Zs. I had a red 1992 300zx TT from 2000 until a year ago. A Japanese style arcade near my house has Initial D Stage 8 and of course the first car I bought and stored on my memory card was a 350zx.
Here are some pics of my old car. Had a custom sound system installed with two ceramic 10s right behind the seats in a custom box with a motorized screen and DVD navigation and the ability to play AV media. Pretty cutting edge stuff back in 2000, but not even remotely special now.
@Byshop: I haven't driven one but I have taken a ride in a P85. I have a friend that loves electric cars. Ya know one of those buddies that read up on them years before a purchase. He had a Leaf then upgraded to the P85. An Upgrade??! As if you can call it that! :) From the passenger seat I fell in love with the speed and tech.
About your comment on the roadster...bad @ss car! I followed them when they came out since they wore born of the Elise chassis. I have a 2005 Elise with an aftermarket supercharger and some other performance and light weight bits :) Always wanted a Tesla roadster and am excited about the new one!
@Byshop: I haven't driven one but I have taken a ride in a P85. I have a friend that loves electric cars. Ya know one of those buddies that read up on them years before a purchase. He had a Leaf then upgraded to the P85. An Upgrade??! As if you can call it that! :) From the passenger seat I fell in love with the speed and tech.
About your comment on the roadster...bad @ss car! I followed them when they came out since they wore born of the Elise chassis. I have a 2005 Elise with an aftermarket supercharger and some other performance and light weight bits :) Always wanted a Tesla roadster and am excited about the new one!
Nice. The cars have gotten faster than the older ones. These days a non Performance 75D is the same speed as a P85 RWD for a lot less money, and the P100D is crazy fast. The Roadster 2.0 is ridiculous, but so is the price. Regardless of how much you -can- spend on a car, there's a limit to how much you -should- spend on a car because they aren't really investments, and I already blew past that price to buy my Model S because I really, really wanted one. Originally I was a Model 3 reservation holder but I talked myself (and my wife) into a Model S instead. The Roadster 2.0 is impressive as hell, but there's no way I'm spending over 200k on a car when I can put that money towards investment real estate.
I love the practicality of the Model X if you have kids (which I do) but I'm not a big SUV guy and I still think the car's ugly compared to the sedan. Besides that, the Model S has another option for kids seats that I went ahead and sprung for:
-Byshop
I've said this with the E wagon (which had a similar feature) and I will say it again: this is a great idea for other peoples kids, but I would never ever put my own kids in those seats. All it takes is a large vehicle rear ending you.
@bmanva: I did a lot of research and there are pros and cons. For front and side collisions these seats are actually safer than anywhere else in the car. Rear collisions are a concern of course, but at the end of the day there's no place I can put someone (adult or kid) in the car where they are completely safe from every direction of impact. That said, the rear facing seat option also includes a structural re-enforcement of the rear end which is why it's a factory-only option because the modification has to be done at the time of the car's manufacture. Also, Teslas are crazy highly safety rated tanks. The Model S is literally the highest safety rated car on the road.
This was a Tesla that did -not- have the rear re-enforcement. It was able to drive away and the trunk even still opened and closed. That's not to say that a Tesla can't get crushed by a larger vehicle (and has) but it's much tougher than most cars. Also, I drive with the rear facing camera on all the time so I can keep an eye on cars approaching from the back, just in case.
Although I'm just waiting for the day that someone calls the cops for stuffing my kid in the trunk.
any more pics of the c63? my e63 was all de-chromed, de-badged and blacked out too. i didn't have a machine gun mounted to the bonnet though, slightly jealous of that
I have a Hyundai Santa Fe. Compact SUV, 2006 model with 4x4 and a V6. Although its a fairly weak V6.
Wish I can post a pic, but can't from the mobile site. Its by far my favorite car I ever owned. More spacious, with better visibility and higher ground clearance. Combined with winter tires and 4x4 (which I haven't really need to use yet). Its a sweet reliable beast. Likewise, I would want to get a little more recent Santa Fe model in better condition with a more powerful engine. When I have the funds.
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