[Simonj]

Thought it an idea to let you all know about how I feel about the car after nearly five days.

The car is a 2016 facelift 75D in Pearl White with 55,000 miles that I bought from Tesla UK as a pre owned car. Price was a reasonable £34,000. The car certainly stands out in white and on collection last week I was immediately struck with the attention the car attracted wherever I drove or parked. I was concerned that the car would feel like a barge to drive but to my surprise out on the road the car seemed to shrink around me. But….and here is a big but. When I came to park the car for the first time I then became aware of it’s size. The turning circle seemed poor and after lunching in McDonald’s leaving the car park I was struggling to get the car out of my bay. I looked like a learner driver. The other issue was to do with curb clearance. I nearly scuffed the underside of my front spoiler. So lesson learnt was to park with caution.

The other observation to make was when I arrived home parking in my driveway.One of my neighbours rather sarcastically said…”new car, Simon” then walked away. No comment that it was is a nice car just a rather curt comment. So I realised that the car will possibly bring out the best and worst in people,those who would like the car and would show interest,and others who might be jealous.

Anyway,back on topic. The car drives superb. I now have no range anxiety. I can now travel anywhere at any time. No more faffing with planning a trip. Just get in a go. A lovely feeling. In some respects the car seems a bit dated. The 17 inch main screen is still cutting edge but the interior looks a tad dated in my opinion. There again the design is now 10 years old. The ride and handling are really good. Ride quality is decent. Perhaps the steering lacks a bit of feel and can seem a bit inert at times. The build quality of my particular car seems decent as well, I would say up to Audi level of build quality. My car has an interesting history in that it was a Tesla press car early in it’s life and was run as a long term test car by What Car ? magazine in 2019.

There are a few things lastly to mention. I miss one pedal driving,my previous car was a Nissan Leaf 40kwh and loved the e-pedal function. I also miss having the charge port at the front, reversing the Model S is a pain as it is so wide and long. Possibly some more practice might change my mind. I think also that the Leaf was a tad quieter at speed and that it’s steering had more feel. Basically the Leaf is not totally outclassed.

So, overall a happy bunny. Would I buy one again ? Possibly. If I do change in the future I would look at a Model Y first.

 

[Rooster-x]

Cool, enjoy! Have you tried Super Charging it yet? Will be interesting what speed it can do once you've run the battery down to 20% and got it warm after a long motorway stint.

I've always been tempted, but I prefer little hatchbacks for navigating the tight city streets of Lancaster where I live but always jealous of Tesla's cruising past me in the fast lane down the motorway and at the Superchargers that I can't use (yet?)

 

[srichards]

That's the weird thing with the S. On the open road it feels like a mid size BMW saloon. Once in a car park or narrow streets it's a transit van/canal boat.

 

[javadude]

So, overall a happy bunny. Would I buy one again ? Possibly. If I do change in the future I would look at a Model Y first.

Curious if you test drove a Y or 3 before buying the S?

 

[Thomas carter]

Great review, thank you - Ive been tempted to get an S and with used prices being similar to getting a new similar range other brand car its been tempting, mostly because the storage inside just seems much better (long boot good for dogs, frunk, lots of rear space for kids) however the size does put me off, and from your description I suspect it would be too much for the dodgy road surface and narrow streets and parking we have here - shame

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Nice looking car. Thanks for the review. I was always put off by the size of the S but it isn't bigger than a lot of similar cars in the same class and I would struggle with them also. If I lived in the USA it wouldn't be a problem I am sure but the parking spaces in the UK are rather narrow. I am not keen on Teslas but the S seems a good choice if you are

 

[Simonj]

Message to Javadude. I bought the car unseen via Tesla UK inventory. Came up for sale on their listing last week and snapped it up instantly. The price was good, £34000 for a facelift Model S 75D with a MCU 2 upgrade with mileage a reasonable 55k. I have owned three electric cars in the past and have driven a Model 3. The Model Y would have been out of my budget.

 

[Simonj]

Thanks for the comment Paul. Yes, the car is big but does feel smaller once on the road. The turning circle is poor when parking and there is no birds eye view camera. I am minded to use the car for long journeys only,and perhaps buy a cheaper ICE car as a daily driver for my supermarket runs.

 

[Hitstirrer]

I am minded to use the car for long journeys only,and perhaps buy a cheaper ICE car as a daily driver for my supermarket runs.

That's an inversion of most people's strategy. Most take advantage of the cheap EV motoring for 95% of their domestic work and retain their old workhorse ICE car for longer runs. But I suppose that with a Tesla, and its huge advantage of road trips using the supercharger network, then long trips are not now the problem. Instead, that barge of a car is just inconvenient for inner city work. Causing the inversion.

 

[Simonj]

It’s just that parking, manouvering,avoiding low curbs,etc is a real faff at the moment. Maybe once I grow accustomed to the size of the car I might decide to use it all the time.

 

[srichards]

With the S you have to mainly use the edge spaces only so there's a gap on one side of the car for extra room. You can't get into anything else easily. Or go for spaces opposite junctions in the car park then you can reverse straight out.

On street parking is also more of a challenge as it's wide enough to need all the bay so you have to be tight against the kerb.

You can set the mirrors to dip in reverse so you can see lines and kerbs etc more easily.

 

[Simonj]

The near side mirror dips on reversing. I don’t think the drivers side mirror is dipping as well.

 

[srichards]

The near side mirror dips on reversing. I don’t think the drivers side mirror is dipping as well.

If you select reverse then drop the driver's side mirror a bit further down manually it should remember it and do it each time.

 

[Simonj]

Thanks for that. Should the drivers side mirror also lower at the same time ? Can I ask you a quick question about the door handles. Even though I have toggled this feature within the settings screen the handles appear not to auto present.

 

[srichards]

Thanks for that. Should the drivers side mirror also lower at the same time ? Can I ask you a quick question about the door handles. Even though I have toggled this feature within the settings screen the handles appear not to auto present.

Mine do. Both mirrors dip down. They do need setting to do dip on reverse.

I had the handles weirdness as well. They only auto present for the first 2 days or so after you've last used the car. You can also set them not to do it at home as well. Mine were definitely a bit odd until I turned them off and on again in a location that wasn't at home. The not doing it when you've ignored the car too long thing also caught me out to begin with and I thought they must be faulty. I assume it's a security feature of some kind.

It's also worth putting a fresh panasonic lithium battery in the key fob and making sure the key fob software is up to date. You can only update it with the key in the centre tray thingy near the USB slots I think. It's a bit particular.

 

[E7EV]

With the S you have to mainly use the edge spaces only so there's a gap on one side of the car for extra room.

That’s what I do with my…e-208! I use the far side of car parks where the spaces either side are likely to remain empty. Not so much an issue with size as other people not being careful when they open their doors.

 

[Simonj]

Thanks srichards for the advice. The other item to mention is if I am in the car listening to the radio for say ten minutes the car seems to go asleep if I wish to drive away. I have to get the key out of my pocket and double click. Is there any way to avoid this faffing ?

 

[Jimbo]

Great car. Have to admit that I miss my 2017 90D. The car was such a perfect long distance cruiser, comfortable, with tonnes of storage.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I had a Model S for a 24 hour test drive a bit over three years ago. Absolutely loved the car, but found exactly as you have, that the width and turning circle were not best suited to the very narrow, mostly single track, lanes around here. Getting in and out of our drive was entertaining, and the width of the car was something I was always a bit wary of. Pity, as I ended up buying a Model 3 LR, and being very dissapointed with it, perhaps because my expectations had been raised by the Model S. The Model S was a very much better built car, and if the Model 3 had been even close to the same build quality I'd probably have overlooked some of the more irritating features.

 

[srichards]

Thanks srichards for the advice. The other item to mention is if I am in the car listening to the radio for say ten minutes the car seems to go asleep if I wish to drive away. I have to get the key out of my pocket and double click. Is there any way to avoid this faffing ?

I've not had that. If the key is in your pocket then normally just pushing brake pedal and putting it back into D should wake it up again so you can drive off.