Episode 1
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The Why Tesla Model Y Podcast Episode 1. It is February 12th, 2024. I appreciate you guys tuning in. I'll be posting weekly. As noted in the show description, the primary goal of the show is just following the weekly happenings of the Tesla Model Y subreddit.

Not affiliated with Tesla or Reddit in any way, but scrolling through nightly, seemingly the R slash Tesla Model Y subreddit, I figure there's got to be a better way to consume this content. So for those of you that can't get enough on the Tesla Model Y or Tesla in general,

That's what we're here for. I prefer to listen to my podcasts on the road, on the way to work, on the way home from work during my commute, and what better way to catch up on all the hot posts on Reddit for the week than by listening to a podcast. So I appreciate you guys tuning in. Without further ado, I want to kick things off as I'll do every single week with my weekly shout out for the best looking why of the week.

This one comes to us from user Coach Donuts. Fantastic name right there. The caption reads, stealth gray with stealth expel PPF wrap.

i should actually back up a bit it's technically not a wrap it's the the one step above it the expel ppf so you got obviously the paint protect protection if you guys have been reading through the subreddit for really any period of time that is one of the first things i noticed was how seemingly cheap the tesla paint is how common it is to get rock chips scrapes anytime you touch that paint

odds are you're going to need to touch it up but but shout out to coach donut donuts i know i know a

Visual shout out for a picture doesn't do much justice on a podcast, but an absolutely gorgeous looking Stealth Gray Model Y. I don't know what year this is, but that matte satin looking Expel PPF looks absolutely amazing. You notice, and it seems that they're going to do it on the Cybertruck offer wraps at the time of purchase to get kind of that matte finish look.

as opposed to the standard steel, silver steel that you see on most images or Cybertrucks driving around. But the Stealth Expel PPF system

Looks like it costs anywhere from $4,000 to $7,000, which the second I get that kind of money to throw around on my car, that will be the first thing that I do is throw probably a black wrap or perhaps the Expel PPF on it. So shout out Coach Donuts. Highly recommend going to find that post. Absolutely beautiful car.

Next post I want to get into, really a post that caught my attention this past week. I'll hit on a few posts that are trending or really just posts that caught my attention over the past week. The first one was posted by user OK_VARIATION5463. This is one I can relate to and it reads, the title is, "Reading this sub is making me nervous." So pretty self-explanatory and for a little bit of backstory,

I purchased my first Tesla, my Model Y, in January of 2024. So I'm a relatively new owner, recent buyer. I can't relate to this post anymore. The second that I got into the Tesla wormhole, to even back up further, I drove my sister's Model 3 that she had. First time ever driving a Tesla.

Ever since I test drove it, every single day I couldn't stop thinking about Tesla. And so I ended up making the purchase, got a Model Y about a month later. And this exact post was exactly what was going through my mind as I found this subreddit. So the post from OKVariation5463 reads, Does anyone love their MY and have zero issues? I have already ordered and reading all the posts here are not making me feel secure. Happy people, please respond.

I gotta say the top post on here was probably the most relevant comment to read here on this post and hopefully puts the mind at ease for those that are in the market, those considering Model Y.

This comment, the most upvoted comment on the post is from SpinHut1689. It reads, "The majority of posts on any forum will be one of a few things. One, look at my new car. Two, complain about a problem. And three, asking for advice on a build and price."

Point number two, complain about a problem is seemingly all that we see on this r/TeslamodelY subreddit. And frankly, when I was in the market, that was the thing that scared me the most. It was almost anytime you log in, there's somebody complaining about range issues or suddenly my car battery dropped to zero and I had to get it towed or I've got rattles all over the car.

Or flat tires seemingly every week. Or I log in in my, I shouldn't say log in, I sit in my car and it pops up on my dash that my tire pressure's dropped to zero. So I think that that comment sums it up in that frankly it's true.

Most of the time when we post on this subreddit or we go to Reddit in general and we actually click that create a post button, it's typically to get help. We have a question, what's happening, hopefully this is happening to somebody else as well and they can provide feedback.

Really, that's what happens here. Same thing. Anytime there's a problem, there's an anomaly, it's posted about. And so the second you log in, you check out the channel, that's typically what you'll see are the unique instances where somebody runs into an issue. To add to that,

Another comment I liked on that post from user Beach Crow, another fantastic name, reads 109,356 members, a handful of posts each day. Do the math. Congrats on your new car. That's really what it sums up to is that there's so many members in the channel

that's not including all Tesla Model Y owners. And typically there's a handful of posts each day with issues, with rattles, with squeaks, whatever it may be. And sure, as we know, the Tesla build quality, there can be issues here and there. But I think that sums it up is that

Typically, we go to post when there's an issue and it's not truly representative of every single owner. You take it into account percentage-wise, it's got to be 2% to 3% of people that are posting on there with issues, the other 95%, 97%, 98%.

my assumption but likely have no issues as i said i purchased in in january of 2024 i purchased a used 2021 model y absolutely love it i will say within the first really day of driving i immediately ran into an issue i was buying used sight unseen which is scary enough i noticed the second that i got my car over 70 miles per hour

I would feel crazy vibrations in the driver's seat, the passenger seat, cups in the cup holder were shaking, crazy vibrations on the steering wheel.

frankly thank you for this channel because I found that likely the issue was a tire and wheel balance issue or it was simply the foam within the tire that's supposed to you know suppress the road noise typically that can come loose or sometimes that can come loose and one of those two things is likely the culprit sure enough I took it to the Tesla service center within an hour or two they said yep the foam has totally come loose on your front left tire um

They ended up actually stripping out the foam altogether, putting the same tire back on, rotating the tire to the back. They warned me that perhaps there'd be a little bit more road noise, which I haven't noticed at all. Now the vehicle drives completely fine, and I was out of there for $7. They didn't charge me for the service. They charged me for my yearly inspection, which was what I needed to go in for anyway.

But that was a fantastic alternative to the alternative option they presented me with, which was a $400 new tire altogether.

So sure, there's issues. My one experience with the Tesla Service Center has been great. I know there's horror stories out there, long wait times for parts, but so far so good on my end. And so keep that in mind, especially for prospective buyers. 100% relate with this post. Reading the sub is making me nervous. From OK Variation 5463 was the user that posted that post.

But at the end of the day, back out with a little bit of perspective, recognize that typically folks go to post when they run into an issue, not when things are running smoothly. So I wanted to call that out before we jump into anything else. The second post that caught my attention over this past week got a ton of engagement on this post. It's from user Hardvig.

It reads, at least the title, finish this sentence. I wish the Model Y had. So we got a lot of good comments on there. There were over 570 comments. The most upvoted comment on this post was from user IceYNYO. It just simply says front camera.

this is something whether you have an older model like like i do 2020 2021 you've got the the uss basically radar in the vehicle which seems to be more accurate when you're parking

Newer models have abandoned those sensors altogether and strictly gone to Tesla Vision, which I've heard folks obviously running into walls because they trust their Tesla Vision and it's tough to gauge exactly how far away you are. So 100% agree with that. The good news, if you may have noticed on the Tesla Cybertruck, there is a small front camera system.

So you've got to think that if they're adding that to the Cybertruck, yes, that's a very high-end, high-priced Tesla vehicle. You've got to think it's coming for us Tesla Model Y owners as well. Hopefully with that Juniper refresh that, you know, by the looks of it will come in 2025.

So the other comments on this post, I'll just read through a few of them in real time here. Again, the post was, "Finished this sentence. I wish the Model Y had." This is something you'll see all the time in this subreddit. This comment is from DangerousAvocado27. Just simply said, "Wipers that work properly." Again, in my experience, I've only owned it for about a month.

But the wipers seem to work fine. Auto wipers, the other day I was in light rain, I turned the wipers on auto. For whatever reason, the wipers didn't seem to detect rain. So I simply toggled over to manual wiper settings and put it on the one level. Worked fine.

ventilated seats that's a great comment uh the heated seats being able to turn those on from your phone the heated steering wheel for 2021 models and above didn't realize how much I would absolutely love that feature but uh coming up here in on on Texas summer here in a few months I 100 will probably agree with that comment

Yaboy Tony commented, "Unlimited range, but realistically I'd say USS, automatic frunk, and usable auto wipers." James A says, "Programmable and non-subscription based garage opener that's been in cars for over a decade and a trunk cover that doesn't require rocket science to slide back and forth."

I got to say with the garage opener is obviously kind of Tesla's motto is, you know, the best kind of button is no button. That seems to be what they did with nearly everything on the Tesla vehicle, excluding your front two lights in the cabin and the HOV signal lights. That's a button right up there near the interior cabin lights up by the driver. But yep, garage opener, completely separate.

StakeComprehensive35 commented an automatic frunk. 100% agree. The frunk in general seems to be relatively flimsy, really thin metal. Can be tedious to shut that thing, so if I could click a button, would be so much better. Showbed, this next comment by Showbed reads 360 camera or view.

doesn't seem too far-fetched with all the cameras that Tesla has on the vehicle. I mean, shoot, you got a couple on the sides, you got a rear camera, you got the front camera, obviously for autopilot. You got to think with the Tesla UI, the software engineers, surely they can put together a 360 view, which would absolutely help in parking situations and things of the like. And then we'll wrap up with this comment. This is from Raman Shouyu.

ventilated front seats, a speedometer, so a screen or a cluster in front of the driver. I saw, yeah, a few comments on here as well for a heads-up display, which would be nice. Power frunk as well. A sunroof shade, a rear screen, a retractable rear cargo cover, more sound insulation. I think all Tesla owners could agree with that.

softer suspension option. Fantastic comment there as well. Um, again, reading through the subreddit gave me nightmares as, as I was waiting for my car to be delivered about the suspension for the 2020 and 2021, uh, model Y models. It hasn't been too bad though. Again, I have a 2021 Tesla model Y it was an October build. Um,

It's fine. I was expecting it to be a lot rougher, so I think I'd prepared for the worst, hope for the best, and it hasn't been too bad, but that would be an awesome upgrade rather than paying $6,000 for enhanced autopilot, $12,000 for autopilot, $2,000 for a paint color. How about an alternative suspension option? I think that's a great idea.

More range, I think that's fair. 400 miles, 400 real miles, this user says. Better cup holders, optional Android Auto. The grab handle above each door, which 100% agree. I didn't realize Teslas didn't have those until the other day when I reached for the handle and it wasn't there.

Projector headlights, a spare tire option, rear cross traffic alert, 360 camera, cargo net, and then fog lights that only turn on independently of headlights or parking lights. So obviously a lot of repeat comments there. I won't read through all of them. Well, I will read through this last one. Monty Sucks comments, a sunglasses holder built in.

It really is the small things. I realized within my first month of ownership, there are so many accessories that are built into other vehicles that you seemingly have to purchase with Tesla and accessories in the category of storage.

And so things like center console storage and my recent favorite is the under screen storage that pops down, pops up. You can throw your keys, throw your phone in it, throw your wallet in there and pop it back up. There's plenty of storage in the Tesla. Don't get me wrong. The front, you've got the rear trunk, you've got the storage underneath the trunk.

really deep center console storage but basic things like trays like floor mats often are our additional purchases so crazy engaging post they're great idea people obviously go on for days about what they want to see the next post that caught my attention over this past week is from DJ mojo

It says, my Model Y is retaining water in the hatch after light rain. This was a post from, I believe, earlier today. The picture is daunting. It's a photo of an open rear hatch, so open rear trunk, with the actual latch of that trunk. There's water spewing out of it.

The post reads,

Agree, 100% terrifying. You've got to think potential mold issues, rust issues, given that it's actually inside the frame of the trunk and the hatch itself. Hopefully that's something Tesla service can get fixed up for you and free of charge.

The best comment that I saw here by far, more comedic than helpful, but was from IcyNYO. I think I shouted them out on this last post as well. The comment simply reads,

The best part about Tesla, as we all know, with the software updates, the recalls, the crazy recall that made news recently, Tesla pushed an update basically the next day, essentially just enlarging the text of their safety warnings, which was pretty hilarious that it made nationwide news. Oh my gosh, Tesla's are failing. There's a massive recall.

Didn't seem to be a big deal, but long story short, they can push those over the air updates to make even the hardware better, to make the brakes more efficient, to make the acceleration more efficient. So the over the air shower upgrade comment was absolutely hilarious. That was all I wanted to report on that one. DJ Mojo, hopefully you get that fixed. Absolutely terrifying photos and hopefully it all works out there.

Next post that caught my attention over this past week was from Dr. Lobster, lobster with a Z. Um, the post just simply reads looking for any excuse to drive around LA. Again, I just purchased my, my model Y about a month ago. Uh,

100% can relate to this post. The post just has an absolutely gorgeous photo of what I imagine is Dr. Lobster's vehicle in deep blue metallic. The clouds are shining off of it. Again, I know describing a photo is the best I can do on a podcast. I wish I could show it to you. Feel free to look up the post on your own time, but obviously that's why you're listening to the podcast is to not have to scroll through and catch up as we all do.

But again, I wanted to call this out because I 100% relate to this. I'm a month in, I'd see the same for a year in, two years in, three years in. I look for any excuse to drive. I was coming from a 2013 Kia Optima, which rode fine. It was in great shape. It treated me well, no major issues, no

But again, going back to that story of a month ago, or I should say two months ago, driving a Tesla for the first time, it was a Model 3. The regenerative braking pissed me off to start. But once I got the hang of it, I was like, this is the best vehicle I've ever driven. So 100% agree, Dr. Lobster, I still look for...

any and every reason to drive my car around. For the first week or so, I was nightly asking my wife, hey, what errands do you need me to run tonight? I was thinking of things that I really could have waited a month or two that I went and knocked out within the first couple days. I think I got two car washes in two days. There were nights where I just drove around just to drive around.

Um, but that's what the Tesla is for. And it's, it's guilt-free driving because sure you're putting miles on it, but you don't have to worry about, oh man, I got that impending, you know, service visit or oil change or, um,

Oh man, I'm wasting gas. I got to go fill up. Thankfully, I have a, shout out Volta, a Volta free charger walking distance from me. So that's worked out well for me. I'm actually apartment living. I'm not home charging, which there's a lot of posts in the Tesla Model Y subreddit that are violently against anybody purchasing an EV that does not have home charging or

and while i agree it would make it a heck of a lot easier a lot more convenient a lot more reliable a lot more predictable with a tiny bit of planning it's it i found it to be great um owning an ev in an apartment thankfully i live in in a in a in a big city there's tons of charging options around i've got a supercharger walking distance i've got this volta free charger walking distance

I think I've spent $8 on charging over the past month or so of ownership thanks to primarily this free charger I've got right down the road.

So I add that to the post, you know, this post read that reads looking for any excuse to drive around LA and that there's truly something to it and that it's, you know, cars are meant to be driven. And given that we, you can drive, drive a Tesla guilt-free, not having to worry about burning gas, you know, you can plug in for, for much, much cheaper than, than filling up the tank. Um,

I think enjoy it, right? I mean, even if you're a year, two years, five years, 10 years into ownership, that's what the car's for, is drive it, enjoy it. Don't get too caught up in the subreddit of complaints or differing opinions. If you bought the car, whether you bought it at 65K or 30K, enjoy it.

Next post that caught my eye over the last week, this is from Caleb Dunn 23. And I wish I had seen this post, frankly, a month or two ago before I purchased, because I was looking for something exactly like this. Basically, it's a photo of, it just reads matching Ys. And it's a photo of a black Model Y and a white Model Y, both with seemingly the 20-inch induction black wheels.

The post reads, my best friend and I both got Model Ys in the same month. That's a dream right there. I wish I had a buddy with a Model Y. We could geek out together. It says, came from a Toyota Tacoma and absolutely love these cars. My friend's black 23 Performance and my white 21 Long Range. Stoked to be part of the group.

Caleb Dunn, welcome. So I got that wrong. One of them has those 21 inch, I believe the Uberteen tires or the Uberteen wheels. So slightly larger, but they look pretty dang similar to those 20 inch induction wheels. Regardless, I say I wish I saw this post really a couple months ago is because I was stuck on these two colors, was white or black.

I always wanted a black on black car, black wheels, black interior. That is what I ended up getting. But there's something about the white that looks so good on Teslas is because of, I think it's that contrast between

Obviously those side repeater cameras are black. The wheels are black. The door handles are black. Some of the trim pieces are black and there's no chrome on it. So the white looks really, really good, especially if you get those front windows tinted to match the back. It's really, really good look. But anyway, I ended up going with the black. I just thought this was a unique and helpful photo for those that are...

Probably in the same position I was of Mandu. I go with the white or the black. Next post that caught my eye over the last week. This is from Turbulent-Bag800. The post reads, or at least the title reads, the safety score is a joke.

Um, it's got a photo of at 7 57 AM aggressive turning was logged in his safety score, his or her safety score for 39 seconds. There are obviously people commenting, how the heck do you make an aggressive turn for 39 seconds? Uh,

I read this post out because again, 100% relatable. The second I bought a Tesla, the cheapest possible insurance option was Tesla insurance. When I found out Tesla had an insurance option, as user friendly as Tesla software is, as the purchasing is, you can do it right there in the Tesla app.

The price was the most competitive I could find. I signed up. However, the safety score, the driver monitoring that's in the Tesla insurance, it was way too big brother for me. I found that even though I didn't want it to and I had read posts against it, I

Oftentimes, I say oftentimes, but literally every time I got in the car or my wife got in the car, I was really, really cautious about how hard am I braking? How hard am I turning? How hard am I following the car in front of me? Do I have it in autopilot?

And so it's in the back of your mind every single drive of I've literally got this safety score, which goes up or down based on how you drive in every little category from braking to turning to

The killer for me was late night driving. So if you drive from, I think it's 10 p.m., which I think is a bit early, to I think it's 4 a.m., you get dinged on your safety score. It's weighted by time of night. So if you drive from 10 to 11, it dings your score a bit less than if you drive from 2 to 3 a.m.,

But, um, that was absolutely killer. It went through my mind one night when I parked in the garage, I walked back in, I was still thinking about it like, oh man, I got to check my safety score. How'd I drive tonight? Um, it feels like you're back in high school, right? Like you've, you've got a curfew. Hey, you've got to be back at by 10 o'clock. And it wasn't how I wanted to drive. Um, not that I'm a crazy driver by any means. Um,

But especially you buy a brand new car, you buy a Tesla, it's a high end, it's a performance vehicle, it's fast. The best part about the Tesla is the acceleration. It's got the low center of gravity because the heavy battery pack is underneath the vehicle. So you can make some aggressive turns if you need to without fear of rolling over. Again, not at all how I typically drive.

But I don't want to get dinged if I'm needing to make a quick turn or if I'm needing to hit the brakes or if I'm driving at 10:30 p.m. I don't want to get dinged on my insurance and have premiums go up. So back to the post, turbulent bag 800.

100% agree with you. The safety score was a killer for me. There's comments on here that read, don't get me started on the BS false frontal collision warnings. Another post or comment agreed, switch to non-Tesla insurance. Yeah.

And a final comment I'll read from LB Terra reads, this is why getting any kind of insurance that tracks your driving habits isn't worth it. It isn't contextual and it just ends up costing you more in the long run. Long story short, at least in my scenario, I tell friends, it sounds like an ad, but I ended up switching to Geico. I literally saved instantly $500 on my six month premium.

I could be in an ad for Geico. I'd love to be in an ad, but that's literally what it was. I thought Tesla was the cheapest around. I had a sibling who switched to Geico. They saved money. I saved even more money coming from Tesla insurance to Geico. So highly recommend it for those that are still on the Tesla insurance, that feel they're paying too much for whatever insurance you have. While Tesla makes it really, really easy to cover your car through their insurance plan,

It's tricky to stay within their safety score guidelines. So check out GEICO and have a look around at other options out there.

Next post and really final post for this first episode that caught my eye over this past week was from Euromite69. It reads, Welcome. And so clicking on the post, obviously I know you guys can't see it. This is a podcast.

It's just an image of the massive monitor that's within every Tesla. And it's got a few indicators on the far left side of that monitor. One of which that's been circled in this post with an arrow pointing to it is what looks to be a green regenerative braking icon. So I learned something from this post, again, within my first month or so of ownership,

It was just a simple question, hey, can anybody tell me what the heck this means? The first comment on there, which is accurate, 178 upvotes, was from user and also the trees. It just reads, it means the car regenerative braking capability is limited, cold, or max charged. The

I think most helpful comment on here that helped me out though was from CWhite51. It reads, "The correct answers have already been shared, but I'll add, you can tap the icon or other icons for more information to explain what it means." There's a comment underneath that one that says, "Hey, I'll be honest,

two years in and I didn't know you could click the icon. Which would have been me had I not seen this post. So for those out there, any of your icons on the left side, whether it's your headlights, it's this regenerative braking icon that clicks up, that's the best part about having your indicators not on a dashboard where you just have to view them and look up on Google what the heck it means.

Within a Tesla, it's on your monitor. It's on your screen. So you can click the screen, click the icon. It typically takes you to a prompt or to a separate setting and tells you what it is.

So shout out Tesla. The software itself, I work in tech, so the software won me over. The driving mechanics won me over. The one pedal driving with regenerative braking. It took a while for me to get used to, but I highly recommend the hold mode. I'm sure a lot of folks out there can agree and highly recommend Tesla in general.

But anyway, that'll wrap episode one of the why Tesla Model Y podcast. I appreciate you guys tuning in. My plan is to post weekly. Again, following the happenings, the trending happenings on the r slash Tesla Model Y Reddit channel. See you guys next week.