Tesla Model Y Accessories: The Stuff Tesla Should Have Included

After bringing home my Model Y 7-seater, I quickly figured out what every Tesla owner figures out: this is the beginning of your spending, not the end. The car is sold on a minimalism story — fewer features, fewer parts, lower price. What that actually means in practice is a thriving aftermarket where owners spend hundreds (or thousands) of additional dollars patching the gaps Tesla left.

Here’s everything I’ve bought, what worked, and what didn’t. This is the list I wish I’d had before I owned one.

Software and Connectivity

• Tesla Premium Connectivity subscription — needed for live maps and most of the in-car apps. After paying premium prices for the car, paying again to use its maps feels like a choice.
• No CarPlay or Android Auto. Owners have been asking for this for years. Tesla has not budged.
• CarPlay workarounds — third-party dongles like Carplay2air exist, but they’re cumbersome, need extra hardware, and the performance is often laggy or flaky.
• The native Tesla app selection is thin compared to anything you’d get through CarPlay or Android Auto.

Exterior — Wheels, Protection, Cosmetics

• Evannex 18-inch turbine wheels — possibly my favorite upgrade. Better look than the OEM 20s, and the extra sidewall means I’m not having a panic attack every time I see a pothole.
• Wheelership black lug nuts — the OEM lug nuts are meant to be hidden under caps, so they look terrible exposed.
• Center cap stickers — the Evannex turbines came with chrome caps and an EV logo. I pulled the caps, painted them flat black, and applied the stickers.
• Nokian WR G4 SUV All Weather 255/55R18 109V XL tires (Simple Tire) — I wanted extra sidewall for New York potholes.
• Tesbros PPF for front bumper and headlights — self-installed. Steep learning curve. Worth it.
• Tesbros PPF installation kit.
• Tesbros mud flaps.
• Air intake protective cover.
• Front hood weather strip.
• Tesbros jack pads — essential. You don’t want to lift this car wrong, because right below the lift point is the battery.
• Teslaunch rear spoiler.
• Teslaunch no-drill, no-adhesive front license plate holder — I had to remove the OEM plate holder to do the PPF, and the OEM is glued on. The aftermarket clip-on is much better.
• SAR side moldings — got a door ding the first week I owned the car. These should have been on it the day I picked it up.
• Blackout logos — three matte black T stickers covering the silver Ts on the hood, trunk, and steering wheel, plus a matte black “Dual Motor” badge.

Interior — Mats, Organizers, Living With the Car

• Glass roof shade — after reading enough horror stories about how hot this car gets in summer through the glass roof.
• TuxMats — which I managed to install inside-out the first time. Rookie move. I ended up pulling the front mats — they weren’t worth it for me. A thin under-layer version that could go below other all-weather mats would be perfect, and doesn’t exist.
• Tesmanian all-weather mats — layered on top because I didn’t love the TuxMat surface.
• Rear seat cover — returned. The seats are pleather, so you don’t need one.
• Backseat air-vent cover.
• Front footwell side panels (right and left).
• LASFIT premium seat-back covers.
• 3D MAXpider cargo liner.
• Pedigree frunk and trunk liners.
• Center console side anti-kick mats.
• Tesbros center console organizer.
• Tesbros armrest organizer.
• Tesbros cup holder insert — the OEM cup holders are sized for European cups, so American drink cups rattle around in them.
• Tesmanian side door storage organizer tray — to protect the door pockets from kids and spillage.
• Tesbros matte screen protector.
• 3D MAXpider rear seat sill protectors / side step — seemed to be the only option for the 7-seater.
• Under-seat / front rear seat slide rails protector (AliExpress).

Tech and Lighting Fixes

• Brighter interior lights — the stock lighting is surprisingly dim.
• Dedicated Sentry Mode drive — and Tesla specifies it has to be USB 2.0 backwards-compatible. Not exactly what you’d expect from a company that calls itself a tech company.
• Tesmanian brighter trunk light — the stock one is practically useless. Seems like they sacrifice everything for range, and then lie about the range anyway.
• Trunk side organizers — for better storage.
• Phone mount — since there’s no CarPlay, you need a real mount to use any navigation app that isn’t Tesla’s.

Sound Proofing — Mostly Didn’t Work

The Model Y is louder inside than I expected, and there’s a small cottage industry of YouTube videos promising to fix it. I worked through several. None of them really delivered:

• Front wheel-well sound proofing — didn’t fit. No idea if it would have helped.
• Door and trunk weather stripping — didn’t really do what I hoped.
• YouTube tubing fix in the rear weather strip — also no real difference. Source video: YouTube.

What I’d Tell You Before You Start

Budget at least $1,000–$1,500 in accessories beyond the price of the car. Some are essential (PPF, jack pads, Sentry Mode drive, mats), some are quality-of-life (organizers, lights, roof shade), and some are cosmetic. If you’re picking an order: protection first, then comfort, then looks.

Do the PPF early. Don’t wait until you have rock chips. Just know that cold weather and PPF installation do not get along — you’ll want a warm garage and a free Saturday.

Be skeptical of YouTube “fixes” for road noise. There’s an industry built on parents-of-teenagers-style hope, and not much of it actually works.

And factor in subscription costs. Between Tesla Premium Connectivity and any third-party software you end up needing (CarPlay dongle service, dashcam viewer apps, whatever), the recurring cost of operating this car is higher than the sticker suggests.