When Long Island resident Richard Manfredi decided to buy full-page ads in The Daily News and another Palo Alto newspaper in the form of an open letter to Elon Musk, he didn’t expect to get a reply from the Tesla Motors CEO. But he wasn’t surprised.

“The man’s responsive to John Q. Public,” said Manfredi, who lives in Southold, N.Y. “I’m just an ordinary man who bought his car and loves it.”

His ad, which ran Friday in both The Daily News and the Palo Alto Weekly, calls Musk an “Automotive Visionary” and thanks him for “building the great American car.”

Along with the flattery, Manfredi threw in some recommendations for future models — seven of them, in fact. Voice-activated phone dialing would be nice, as would some blind-spot monitors and sound sensors. And, oh yes, bringing the cup holder forward would be good, too.

Instead of using his name and that of his wife’s — each owns a Tesla Model S sedan — he signed the letter-ad “two VERY highly satisfied Tesla owners from Southold, New York.”

In a message he tweeted to 863,000 followers on Sunday, Musk wrote: “Ad taken out in Palo Alto Daily by two Model S owners is right. Many of the suggestions will be implemented soon.”

The message from the billionaire entrepreneur made a lot of headlines, including such publications as the Christian Science Monitor, Popular Mechanic, Market Watch and Huffington Post, and by Monday it was retweeted by almost 1,500 people.

Manfredi was astounded by all the media buzz.

“It’s Mr. Musk that created the news, not me,” said Manfredi, who declined to state his occupation but proudly described himself as an environmentalist. “It’s all over the place.”

Manfredi told The Daily News on Monday that when he went to buy a car in 2012 he wasn’t planning to buy an electric vehicle. Instead, he ordered a brand new 2013 Lexus Hybrid 2013. But shortly afterward, he popped into a Tesla showroom in Long Island and fell in love with the Model S.

“I put my deposit down, having already ordered the Lexus,” Manfredi said.

Although he’s “not much of a driver,” Manfredi said he kept the hybrid for longer trips when electric battery chargers may be unavailable, but drives the Tesla most of the time.

“The Lexus has a little over 2,000 miles, the Tesla has 20,000. That will tell you what car I like to drive,” he said. “It’s the most fun, most exciting car to drive.”

And soon he’ll have another.

Manfredi said he’s already put down a deposit on the Tesla Model X SUV, slated to be launched next year. That’s part of the reason he took out the ad, hoping that the next model will be a little more perfect.

“They weren’t big deals,” Manfredi said about the recommendations. “I thought maybe some of the engineers would see it.”

Manfredi said he’s glad Tesla is getting some publicity from the ads, because he would like to see more environmentally friendly vehicles on the road. In fact, his seventh suggestion is for Tesla to take out more media ads promoting its products.

“I’m hoping the electric car really catches on,” Manfredi said.

A spokeswoman for Tesla, Alexis Georgeson, said in an email Monday that the company is “fortunate to have such passionate customers.”

Email Bonnie Eslinger at beslinger@dailynewsgroup.com; follow her at twitter.com/ bonnieeslinger.