#1293 - Jet Black [SOLD back to Tesla]

[Rodolfo Paiz]

I believe this is one of the last Roadsters to have been built, within 150-200 cars of the end of production. I was told that it has every update and all the latest technology. It's a regular (non-Sport) Roadster, with significant upgrades like the adjustable suspension, black forged wheels, "infotainment group" (upgraded radio/nav), and so on. I believe this is a better value than a Sport model.

I live in Miami, FL. It was delivered to me on August 30th, 2011. Since then, it has lived exclusively in an air-conditioned garage and accumulated just 3150 miles. One owner, one driver, zero damage. It is in great shape and looks like new. Its black-on-black look gets a lot of attention: understated, but sharp. Annual service done by a Tesla Ranger at my house.

I leased this car from Tesla, and there are 21 months remaining on the lease (not counting November 2012). Tesla tells me that the new owner will have the option to take over the lease, or buy the car outright. I'll be happy to provide more information to interested parties. In particular, anyone interested should ask their accountant whether they can still apply for the $7,500 federal income tax credit... since I have leased the car, not bought it, I have not applied for that credit and it should still be available.

Please see the attached PDF for detailed specs and initial configuration/pricing.

Thanks for looking.


Initial pricing and configuration when I acquired this car: View attachment Scan0001.pdf

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

I've now received trade-in and estimated market values from Tesla. If I trade it in, they will resell it for $110,000. If I sell it, their "private value sale estimate" is $104,500 so that's what I'm asking for the car. This price includes my Universal Mobile Connector (which was $1,800 or so) and a buyer should assume the car is in perfect condition. I'll be happy to repair any issues found before delivering it to its new home.

This car will only be available for the next 60-90 days or so. If it hasn't been sold when my Model S gets delivered, I'll trade it in.

Mileage is all the way up to 3350 now. :biggrin:

 

[smoothoperator2]

Any chance you have a Monroney you can upload? What color is the interior? Executive Leather Option?

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Update: my Model S should be here in late March or early April. If the Roadster isn't sold in the next six weeks, it'll get traded in. I'd like to find a great new home for "Vader" myself, so I'm reducing the price to $99,900. There will be no further price reductions, and this price is firm.

A little more about the conditions of sale, since several people have asked. I'll have the car checked by a Tesla Service Center before sale, and any problems found will be fixed at my expense before delivery of the car to its new owner, but the actual sale will of course be "as is" like any used car. The factory warranty is still active and the car will be under warranty until August 2014, so a potential new owner should feel quite comfortable that he/she will be getting a great car in great shape. Sale will be done according to the laws of the state of Florida where I live, but I'll happily help the new owner set up whatever shipping arrangements they need to any corner of the globe.

And mileage is now 3450.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Update: my Model S has arrived, and my Roadster has been traded in. It is, of course, no longer available for sale by me.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Update: my Model S has arrived, and my Roadster has been traded in. It is, of course, no longer available for sale by me.

Enjoy the S!
I Hope you put more miles on it, kinda hard not to!

 

[bart513]

Rodolfo,
Congratulations! I hope that they find a good home for "Vader."
Eric

 

[vfx]

Update: my Model S has arrived, and my Roadster has been traded in. It is, of course, no longer available for sale by me.

Are you happy with the trade in?

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Are you happy with the trade in?

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean exactly, but let me try to answer that. If I don't hit the point you wanted to cover, let me know.

1. I'm very happy with the process Tesla follows. They have been clear, open, transparent, and communicative throughout. They even sent me (on their own initiative, without a request from me) a list of past Roadster sales transactions so I could judge for myself whether I should trade in or sell on the open market. I'm comfortable that they are being as fair and reasonable as I could ask them to be.

2. I don't yet know the final price I'll get for my Roadster, since it depends on what -- if anything -- needs to be repaired. But I'm comfortable that my car is in great shape, and #1 above applies to how the final price is determined. So the price will be what it will be.

3. It took me a long time to accept the idea of letting go of my Roadster, simply because I have become so attached to that car (and I love convertibles). NOW and FINALLY, I can say that I'm fully happy with the pros and cons of trading the Roadster for the Model S, but the emotional transition took a few months.

 

[vfx]

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean exactly, but let me try to answer that. If I don't hit the point you wanted to cover, let me know.

Thanks,
Just follow up when it's all done.

 

[ohaq]

Update: my Model S has arrived, and my Roadster has been traded in. It is, of course, no longer available for sale by me.

Yeah dont forget to let us know what you got for your trade-in and what are they selling it for now on their website.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

The trade-in experience was superb in every way. Tesla explained the whole process to me, gave me a ton of information like recent sale prices of other Roadsters -- which they didn't really need to provide and arguably is against their own interests, but sure helped me -- even to the point of telling me that they try to make a 14% markup on trade-in vehicles and what price they would resell the car. I thought their trade-in price of $89K was fair. They told me that they would discount any necessary repairs from that number, but they found nothing wrong and there were no discounts (told you it was perfect ).

I had a chance to test Tesla's attitude and customer service during this process, because someone got too close to my car when we were stopped in traffic and scratched up the left-rear quarter panel. It's a $12,000 repair job because the carbon fiber construction and the way the Roadster is assembled means it has to get done a certain way to be just right. Tesla staff at Dania Beach didn't even blink... the Roadster went to their preferred shop for repair, we checked the legalities with HQ and with Liberty Mutual, then proceeded with the trade-in and Model S delivery processes. The delivery was done last Friday night at 10pm to get more cars out the door before the end of the quarter and to make me happy... that's a seriously committed bunch of people there.

They did not reduce the trade-in price of the Roadster due to the incident, which is uncommonly honorable on their part. Anyone else I ever met in the car business would have tried to argue for a reduced trade-in value to further pad their margins, but Tesla said there was no reason to reduce the price as long as they could be sure the repair would make it as good as new or better. That speaks volumes to me.

Now that I've lived with the Model S for a week, I'm very happy that I traded in the Roadster. Don't get me wrong, the Roadster is a phenomenal car and it's a better way to enjoy the driving experience than the Model S. It's not that one car or the other is "better", they're totally different and both are fantastic. But the Model S is an exceptional and more refined vehicle and fits my family and lifestyle so much better that the change was very positive for me.

 

[ohaq]

I guess as long as your happy that's good. So you were asking for 104 and traded it in for 89K and they will sell it for 101,460 includes the 14% margin almost comes to 104 that you were asking for initially.

Thanks for sharing the cost. This shows that the Model S should definitely have a higher residual value than 43% after 3 years and 36K miles.

The trade-in experience was superb in every way. Tesla explained the whole process to me, gave me a ton of information like recent sale prices of other Roadsters -- which they didn't really need to provide and arguably is against their own interests, but sure helped me -- even to the point of telling me that they try to make a 14% markup on trade-in vehicles and what price they would resell the car. I thought their trade-in price of $89K was fair. They told me that they would discount any necessary repairs from that number, but they found nothing wrong and there were no discounts (told you it was perfect ).

I had a chance to test Tesla's attitude and customer service during this process, because someone got too close to my car when we were stopped in traffic and scratched up the left-rear quarter panel. It's a $12,000 repair job because the carbon fiber construction and the way the Roadster is assembled means it has to get done a certain way to be just right. Tesla staff at Dania Beach didn't even blink... the Roadster went to their preferred shop for repair, we checked the legalities with HQ and with Liberty Mutual, then proceeded with the trade-in and Model S delivery processes. The delivery was done last Friday night at 10pm to get more cars out the door before the end of the quarter and to make me happy... that's a seriously committed bunch of people there.

They did not reduce the trade-in price of the Roadster due to the incident, which is uncommonly honorable on their part. Anyone else I ever met in the car business would have tried to argue for a reduced trade-in value to further pad their margins, but Tesla said there was no reason to reduce the price as long as they could be sure the repair would make it as good as new or better. That speaks volumes to me.

Now that I've lived with the Model S for a week, I'm very happy that I traded in the Roadster. Don't get me wrong, the Roadster is a phenomenal car and it's a better way to enjoy the driving experience than the Model S. It's not that one car or the other is "better", they're totally different and both are fantastic. But the Model S is an exceptional and more refined vehicle and fits my family and lifestyle so much better that the change was very positive for me.