Deciding on Trim level when purchasing - a general thought exercise

[gutowscr]

My oldest child will start driving in 2 years. I loved my MME CR1 enough that when it's time to look for a 3rd car for the family, I will be looking for a '21-'23 Select for the best price possible, preferably a RWD. As the family's 3rd car and main use as a "kid's car" to get to school, sporting events, and (hopefully) their jobs, a low trim MME with likely huge depreciation will fit that use perfectly. The Select has just enough of the creature comforts to be useful but not overly distracting, and still enough fun for me to drive occasionally ?

@B177y check insurance premiums. My son turns 16 next month. Wife has 2024 MME, I have 2021 F150, son will be primary on a 2017 Wrangler. Current monthly insurance payment is $207/month for all three cars. New premium will be $817/month when he gets his license. Little cheaper actually as we always pay 6 months at a time. We have no driving citations or accidents. Crazy rate hike for kids.

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[B177y]

@B177y check insurance premiums. My son turns 16 next month. Wife has 2024 MME, I have 2021 F150, son will be primary on a 2017 Wrangler. Current monthly insurance payment is $207/month for all three cars. New premium will be $817/month when he gets his license. Little cheaper actually as we always pay 6 months at a time. We have no driving citations or accidents. Crazy rate hike for kids.

Yeah, the rate hikes are coming no matter what. Even the biggest beater car causes phenomenal increases. Might as well look for something with modern safety features in it as the cost is almost all for liability on the new driver.

 

[E90alex]

I was set on a Premium with Sport Appearance Package when it was first announced late last year. I didn’t need a GT but I liked how the GT looked more so that was perfect.

After the order guides and configurator with pricing came out, I ended up ordering a GT with the bronze package. I absolutely hate all black wheels and that’s the only option with the sport appearance package (and the base GT now).

From my calculations if I leased a premium with sport appearance package and upgraded to new wheels and tires, the cost would come out to about the same as leasing a GT. I am sad about missing out on ventilated seats though.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I should note that I went with a GT-PE because of: 1) Big brakes. 2) Magneride. 3) Metal roof. I got a bonus 5 second limiter in the bargain. Then I traded that in on a '24 GT (with PU) and lost the limiter. ??

 

[MonkeyNutz]

We ordered a ‘25 Premium AWD extended range battery. Panoramic glass roof, molten magenta exterior and light gray interior.

Honestly had some trouble deciding between the GT and Premium. GT gets the MagnaRide suspension upgrade and performance better than our Model Y LR dual motor. But also adds a good bit to the price. While the interior is a dark gray, it’s not black so it’s better, IMO. Seats are supposedly nicer in the GT, but I didn’t have the opportunity to assess that. Not interested in the Rally trim overall. Looks fun, but this is my wife’s daily driver. I would really like to have those fog lights though…

Premium gets the ventilated seats, which I really appreciate on long drives in CO, NM, AZ in the summer. Along with the light gray interior option that I much prefer over the black or even the darker gray of the GT. Performance is still very good even though it’s not as quick as our Model Y, but only slower 0-60 by about 0.4s. Like I said, it’s my wife’s daily driver and she really enjoyed the ‘24 Premium she test drove.

So based on all that, the Premium won out due to the ventilated seats and lower price. Lighter interior/seat color is a small bonus. We chose the glass roof as we really like it in our Model Y and previous Tesla.

I’m not partial to red cars at all. My wife usually isn’t either, but she’s been kinda drawn to red this time around, mostly would prefer a darker red or something not as typical. The Molten Magenta color seems to fit that bill so she picked that color. We both really like Vapor Blue, but it’s almost identical to the Azure Gray on my Lightning and she didn’t want to have something that was almost the same color. We almost bought a ’24 Premium we test drove, configured the same way. And we both liked the Glacier Gray color. But running some numbers and knowing the ‘25’s get the ventilated seats on the Premium and all models get the heat pump we decided to order. Even with all the special year-end deals at the time, we’re still paying less for the ‘25, after some special pricing there, than we would have for the ‘24…

Anyway, that’s our thought process on why we picked what we did.

 

[E90alex]

Performance is still very good even though it’s not as quick as our Model Y, but only slower 0-60 by about 0.4s. Like I said, it’s my wife’s daily driver and she really enjoyed the ‘24 Premium she test drove.

MYLR 0-60 is 4.8 sec. 4.4 sec if you have the acceleration boost.

2024+ MME ER AWD 0-60 is 4.1 sec

 

[Eagertrader]

If you appreciate blazing fast acceleration out of any situation, the GT or GTPE are for you, otherwise any of the other trims would be more than fine.

 

[Tom L]

As the title says, I'm curious about how people decide and prioritize what Trim / package they decide to purchase.

For the past several cars I've been focusing on finding the sweet spot where the car has most of the amenities I need at a price I can live with. For my prior vehicle, there were two tiers of performance (the MME has three). With my prior vehicle I was aiming for the higher performance with the fewest additional upgrades. That changed as my needs changed this time around.

Here's a quick rundown of my needs/priorities, this obviously varies for each of us:

• Moonroof -- something I've only had twice in a vehicle, is mostly a liability (leaking, motor issues, broken glass) and even worse in the desert due to allowing in more heat if sitting in the sun during the summer, even with the shade pulled.
• Sound system upgrade -- in the past car the stock speakers weren't very good, so I upgraded what I could and that bought me more than enough satisfaction. The base stereo in the MME is fine for the short periods of time I'll be driving it. A nice sound system pays on road trips and long commutes.
• Actual miles driven -- my commute was longish and my prior vehicle not very fuel efficient. I alternate days in the office so that helped. Recently moved offices to much closer to home, which accelerated my already planned new vehicle purchase. The low miles/low commuting time plays into just how important amenities are overall as well, since I'm literally only spending at most 10 minutes each way in the car (5 minutes if I don't get stuck at the two lights on my route to/from home).
• Heated / cooled seats (or steering wheel) -- heated seats aren't very useful in the desert, maybe a handful of times each winter do they seem helpful. Cooled seats are nice in the hot summers, but not having those in the prior vehicle and 'surviving' 4 years without when being honest with myself it's not a necessity.
• Blue cruise/driver's assistance -- I fought Blue Cruise and lane keep assist all the way home from the dealership on the highway, turned it off as soon as I realized it was on. Not my cup of tea, and not using the MME for long trips I don't see ever needing it. Smart cruise is more than adequate (standard on the Select). Front collision avoidance is a nice perk because you never know (this is also standard on the Select).
• Auto Hold -- For whatever time I spend at a light, I appreciate this feature. My last couple cars had it, I use it.
• Seat Settings Memory - In 4 years no one else drove my car, so not even on the needs list.
• Cargo capacity -- I don't haul a lot of things very often, not a priority but will get occasional use.
• Off road capabilities -- I don't feel it 'safe' with the big battery under me to risk taking any non-purpose built EV off road. My last car was not offroad capable. The second vehicle in the home is a gas powered SUV, we'll continue to use that.
• Track performance -- few EVs are truly track capable, though quick at the drag strip. We're probably a new battery formulation (or three) away from having cars light enough to challenge the better actual track capable ICE vehicles. Handling wasn't a priority, despite my prior vehicle having some toss-ability. The MME is better than I expected, but still not 'sporty' by any stretch. They hide the battery weight well.
• Battery formulation -- the LFP battery in the base Select has its perks, it's a good fit for my expected case use and living in a mostly warm climate. LFP can last a while, so it will factor into whether I buy out the lease at the end of term, knowing the battery won't likely be an issue past the 8 year warranty.
• Cost -- the MME Premium trim would have been $50+ more each month on lease. Not a huge ask for the perks, but the return on investment due to the factors described above had me lean heavily into the Select from the start.
• Availability/promotions -- The best lease deals were on the Select and Premium trims at the time I purchased my MME. A lot of this could be decided for a particular buyer depending on what stock is available at the time of purchase. As of February 2025, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of MMEs available nationwide which is why the lease deals exist.

Thanks for posting this. I found it helpful.

 

[Goober96]

Premium gets the ventilated seats, which I really appreciate on long drives in CO, NM, AZ in the summer.

Why do you think they didn’t put ventilated seats on the GT?

 

[HuntingPudel]

Why do you think they didn’t put ventilated seats on the GT?

Ford already said this. It’s because the Premiim already has perforated upholstery on its seats. The Ford Performance seats in the GT do not. They further said that they didn’t get the feeling that owners of the performance model cared about that so it wasn’t a priority. ??

 

[MonkeyNutz]

Why do you think they didn’t put ventilated seats on the GT?

Ford already said this. It’s because the Premiim already has perforated upholstery on its seats. The Ford Performance seats in the GT do not. They further said that they didn’t get the feeling that owners of the performance model cared about that so it wasn’t a priority. ??

Yeah…. “Our internal polling shows people wouldn’t want it.” That’s never good reasoning and I wish the auto industry would stop listening to their internal “experts” who are really just a bunch of old farts and bean counters. It’s also the go-to excuse when an obvious feature turns up missing.

Almost guaranteed that we’re dealing with a sunk-cost fallacy here. It doesn’t work in their plan, or with current production commitments, to redesign and contract new upholstery surfaces for the GT and Rally at this time.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Yeah…. “Our internal polling shows people wouldn’t want it.” That’s never good reasoning and I wish the auto industry would stop listening to their internal “experts” who are really just a bunch of old farts and bean counters. It’s also the go-to excuse when an obvious feature turns up missing.

Almost guaranteed that we’re dealing with a sunk-cost fallacy here. It doesn’t work in their plan, or with current production commitments, to redesign and contract new upholstery surfaces for the GT and Rally at this time.

Probably some combination of the reasons you mentioned making with their polling. Personally, it’s an option that I am not interested in. It wouldn’t be to the magnitude of the presence of a glass roof for me (deal-breaker), but it is something I would eventually remove. ?‍?

 

[StevenC56]

Ford already said this. It’s because the Premiim already has perforated upholstery on its seats. The Ford Performance seats in the GT do not. They further said that they didn’t get the feeling that owners of the performance model cared about that so it wasn’t a priority. ??

Are you sure about the GT seats not being perforated?
ActiveX® Trimmed Seats with Unique Miko® Perforated Reflective Insert

 

[HuntingPudel]

Are you sure about the GT seats not being perforated?
ActiveX® Trimmed Seats with Unique Miko® Perforated Reflective Insert

Ford’s representative in the video said that the reflective insert is solid, precluding the use of a ventilation system. It’s a decorative perforation in the top layer of the upholstery, with a solid reflective under layer. They would need to overhaul the upholstery design and manufacturing techniques in order to make two separate units out of one and place the air channels between them. ??

 

[StevenC56]

Ford’s representative in the video said that the reflective insert is solid, precluding the use of a ventilation system. It’s a decorative perforation in the top layer of the upholstery, with a solid reflective under layer. They would need to overhaul the upholstery design and manufacturing techniques in order to make two separate units out of one and place the air channels between them. ??

Interesting. Where can I view this video?

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