Tesla Full Self Driving...

J3ff

If you haven't checked this out.....you might want to at least take a test drive (its free and done through an app, you just show up and the car is ready for you)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQnY_0_ZD60

I will go out there and say that I was a huge Elon fan before he turned into what he is today.. the first time he lost credit with me was when he chopped twitter in half and named it X.. and well the rest is political so no need to talk about that.

Now, I've had hondas for my last 3 cars/truck... 4 months ago I had to turn the honda in and had been looking for cars for 6 months prior. 

If any of you have been looking for a new car, I was completely shocked that the corona pricing on cars hadn't changed. These kia's hondas, toyotas, fords, etc.. they all wanted CRAZY money per month, large down payments, etc etc.. It didn't matter if you were leasing or financing. If you were paying cash they wanted 40k+ for a mid level anything, didn't matter the brand. If you wanted high end features (the bigger motor, remote start, the better self driving on the highway) we're talking 55+ now.. Don't even get me started on what a 60,000 jeep wrangler looks like these days..

I've been a person who thought 100% electric would never work. I've driven a few older tesla's and their range wasn't great, the AC didnt work well enough for FL and they just weren't that fun to drive. 

Then a friend said "check out tesla, they have a deal right now on the base level model 3 for 299 a month with zero down" 

So I did, and a week later I was picking it up.. no test drive, just youtube videos... I didn't realize that the newer Model 3 was a fresh design and was actually fun to drive, the AC is TOO cold a lot of times and then the one thing I hadn't really given much attention to was the "full self driving".. 

After four months of this car, I have to say it's completely amazing and if you're looking for a car, you should check this one out.. now since Elon has backed off of trying to save the world and the hate level has come down a bit the deal isn't as good, it was only 299/0 down for about 3 weeks... imagine that 2 or 3 really bad earnings reports were the cause of that one.. but a friend of mine who's looking reminded me yesterday that even though it's not as slick of a deal as it was, the current deals on the base level Model 3 is still better than most out there!

Either way, it's been a great choice, I didn't realize how many FREE chargers there are out there... (so when I went to sarasota for a week and paid 88/night at a hotel in July, I didn't pay one penny in charging, since the hotel had 4 free chargers) and the milage on the model 3 RWD is pretty fantastic.. btw the total $ spent on charging for a 1 week trip to sarasota from the keys was 22.00 - and since work has free chargers just sitting there, I've spent 65 total on electricity to charge in 4 months! 

Just thought I'd put it out there for anyone looking. Even if you don't agree with the ceo (I don't) the car and people behind it really are amazing.. it's worth a look! 

Ian

I got my 2025 model 3 AWD long range in April and love it. Drives well, comfortable, Great pickup for the clowns that speed up when you indicate to change lanes and range is pretty good. I head to Boston often, get there and start to head back and it tells me where to best get a quick charge from to make it home with spare. A week ago at a golf tournament the hotel had free chargers too. What I don’t like - no Apple CarPlay. Can it do similar - yes, as easy and nicely, no.

I am no fan of the man but only of his technical brilliance, innovation and wacky ideas that will become reality. Anyone remember the UK puppet show the Thunderbirds where the rocket landed itself - a totally unthinkable thing to be able to do? Nearly every week now.

PickleRick

Elon has Asperger's syndrome.   He lacks the social skills to edit himself as to not pi$$ off other people.  Plus he's smart and rich so he doesn't care if he pisses them off.  If I were in his family I'd sell stock before he takes off on Twitter then buy back the next day.  


If he were a 40 year old drive thru window clerk at Taco Bell he would act exactly the same way.   Someone with that level of autism can't read a room.  

captkevin

Going to be interesting to see what happens Oct 1 once the rebates end

Lake_Bum

He's an absolute GENIUS.  The masses took the bait the media set the trap for.  Pretty pathetic on what the outcome was.  Trashing what their own like-minded people drove.  
Elon is not done doing amazing things in his lifetime. 

J3ff

Lets not totally focus on Elon here. 

The point is Full Self driving is incredible.. I use it everyday.. it makes the regular commute so much more relaxing.. very comparable to what it feels like to use Autopilot on a boat. 

Lake_Bum

J3ff said:

Lets not totally focus on Elon here. 

The point is Full Self driving is incredible.. I use it everyday.. it makes the regular commute so much more relaxing.. very comparable to what it feels like to use Autopilot on a boat. 

Well I'm not focusing on him, just countering the "drive-by" that was mentioned haha.  
Do you guys have Waymo in Florida? They aren't in my city, but they are in Phoenix now.  It is a driverless Uber! Pretty wild.  I'm not interested in hopping in that car.....yet. 

PickleRick

It took a change in South Carolina State law to finally (2024) allow a Tesla dealership to be put in our state.

Manufacturers are not allowed to sell direct to consumers in our state.

There's now a loophole just for EV manufacturers.

Before that a secretive/illegal service center was put in Columbia as Musk felt it was a constitutional right for his customers to have easy access to service of their vehicles.  Before that they were being towed into Georgia for repairs here in the upstate. Time consuming and impractical for your daily driver.

Now that it will be easier to both purchase and after the sale service I expect to see more Tesla's on the road locally. 

I have zero interest in any Tesla models, other than the truck none could fill my needs. 

The EV extended range Scout that has a facility being built near Columbia South Carolina looks to check all the boxes I'd need. 

They are unfortunately fighting both local state and country wide state laws over how they will be sold, much like Tesla they want to sell direct to keep pricing down as distribution through dealership could hike end costs 40%

I'm interested if theses also provide the self driving capacity.  

The extended range feature 4 cylinder VW gas motor that powers a generator getting you a little over 500 mile range (adds about 200 miles to the range)

The VW invested interest is why they are hitting snags on the direct to consumer sales. 

Lake_Bum

Rivian's are actually by far superior to Tesla's.  But they don't get the press that Tesla does, so they've sorta fallen by the wayside.  I have no interest in buying any of the EV's, but I still find them interesting.  

J3ff

Had it drive me to miami and back today.. the more people experience this the more will pick it up.. it's crazy how good it is.. put it into "hurry" mode for a bit to see how it'd handle traffic.. was nuts to see it driving like a slightly less looney miami person. 

PickleRick

The only bad part about the Florida keys is it's closed proximity to Miami and their traffic.

Ian

PickleRick said:

The only bad part about the Florida keys is its closed proximity to Miami and their traffic.

And its Florida…

PickleRick

I am a big fan of seasons, just not the crappy ones like fall, winter or spring...so I like Florida. 

J3ff

I spent a couple weeks in the North East (my home) this summer, a week out in yellowstone/Wyoming at a ranch and a week and a half in Siesta key/Lakewood ranch... all in the same 6 weeks.. 

I couldn't wait to get home to the keys.. just the drive today to miami and back, even with the car doing 98% of the driving.. makes you realize how amazing the keys are.. sure it helps to have two boats in the water at docks waiting for you... but man, the more I live here the more I cant imagine moving anywhere else. 

Ian

PickleRick said:

I am a big fan of seasons, just not the crappy ones like fall, winter or spring...so I like Florida. 

Not a fan of having to don a SCUBA kit to be able to breath when above the waterline…. The humidity up here is bad enough.