A couple of months ago I bought a 2024 Tesla model Y long distance very similar to the 2021 that I leased for three years. This time it was a purchase and not a lease. Tesla offered a very low interest finance rate and I just could not turn down money loaned to me at lease than 1%. Plus I think this car is a keeper so buying it is better.
According to Elon Musk and other news the Tesla Model Y is the best selling car model in the World. After having two I can see many reasons why this would be the case. It is really the perfect size for a daily use mid size SUV. The exterior size is moderate and the inside is relatively large. The seats are comfortable and the large doors make entry and exit easy. I like the look of this car. It has a aerodynamic sleek shape that is to me modern looking. I also like the way it looks in this red color. Although the Tesla blue is attractive too. I find the shape of it has very good visibility for parking or staying in a lane.
The Tesla Model Y is the best overall car to drive of all the cars I have owned. The acceleration, steering, and braking are all coordinated to be easy to use and give you a confident feel when you drive this car. A bonus is the regenerative braking which slows the car down when you lift up on the accelerator. The result is that in most cases you will not need to use the brakes. And when you are going downhill to slow you just lift up a bit on the accelerator. This ease of driving combined with the moderate size of the car makes for low effort needed to get around town or get out of town. An added bonus is that this car is fast when you need it. Merging into traffic on a freeway or expressway is very easy to do. This car has very fast reflexes and can go as fast as you want to go or need to go.
My last Model Y had the beta self driving software which I found remarkable. For the most part you could drive around town or on the highways and I only had to correct the mistakes. The mistakes were fairly frequent and in no way was it a car that could drive itself without supervision. The 2024 Tesla Model Y long distance with FSD is even better. This system is easily the best self drive system I have ever used. I have a 2024 Acura MDX Type S with their best adaptive cruise and lane keeping systems. The Tesla is far more effective at driving itself, but it is still not full self driving, it is self driving with supervision. It does seem to get better all the time.
Controls. I would much prefer simple controls with buttons, switches, or dials that go directly to what you want to do. Preferably controls that were easy to use without looking. My old Jeep Wrangler has that. I drove it recently for a few days and right away my fingers knew where the AC, power windows, and audio controls were and I could use them without looking. That said, the Tesla physical and screen based controls are fine after you get used to them. However, I have been using a Model Y for over three years and I still have to putz around trying to figure out how to control the car sometimes. I have recently bought back my old Acura MDX 2008 from my oldest daughter. It has very easy buttons and controls plus some auto controls like AC. The audio system works quite well and is not nearly as confusing and hard to use a the 2024 Tesla or 2024 Acura MDX sound systems. It is very easy to use the older cars audio systems while you are driving. That is only sometimes true when driving the Tesla. The Acura is also not good to try and change the audio when driving. To me the Tesla AC and Audio systems are much more difficult to use than the ones in the older cars.
The new Tesla 2024 has a good upgrade from the 2021 Tesla for parking. The Tesla new system tells you how far away you are from objects to avoid. And when you park it tells you right away how close to the parking lines you are. I have used the auto park system and that also works well. The Tesla system for parking using the driver inputs is so good though that I normally use that.
The 2024 Tesla Model Y does not have a spare tire. But then my 2024 Acura does not either. I think you need one if you go into the boon docks. My 2022 Acura had a spare tire. I have bought a tire repair kit and an electric pump to leave in the Tesla, but still would prefer a spare tire. One of the reasons I am OK at this point without a spare is that both my Apple watch and iPhone have a sat communication system that can reach help when you are out of cell phone coverage. I would guess fairly soon Tesla cars will come either standard or optional with a Starlink antenna that will cover you if you are out of cell coverage and need help. Via sat internet.
Conclusions. To me there are good reasons the Tesla Model Y is the World’s best selling car. The last one I leased was a great car to drive and had few problems. I did have to wait several weeks for a heat pump part when that stopped working, but overall the problems were handled quickly by Tesla sending out a repair person to my house. But, and it is a big but. To me the Tesla is a good car to own if you also have a gas car. For almost all situations an electric car is fine. However, going on a car vacation trip is just much easier when you just have to look for gas, which is everywhere, and takes 5-10 minutes to fill up. Plus, as far as I know Teslas cannot be left in a parking lot for more than a couple of days. So if you want to drive to the airport and leave the car for a week, but might not run when you come back. If you are planning to drive off road I would not use the Tesla. It does not have a lot of ground clearance and the battery is on the bottom and could get damaged. I am sure I could think of a couple more disadvantages, but for me the extended car trip is the big one. Plus after three years my 2021 Tesla battery lost about 12% of it’s storage capacity over the time I used it. And that makes me wonder what six years and 60,000 miles would do to the battery. For now I am charging the battery only to 80%, but that means you only have about 240 miles of range. And my past experience is that if the Tesla miles till empty estimates say 240 miles you really have about 192 miles till you need to charge. But if you drive in an area where Tesla superchargers are common charging is a simple thing and after about 30 minutes you are good to go.
Bob Nuttmann 