Hi all,
This is more of a financial question but related to my Model S. Hope you guys can provide some POV's and maybe even validate my thought process.
Situation:
- I bought my Model S in Oct 2016. It currently has 9,500 miles.
- I used to commute about 80 miles a day. I could charge for free @ work, needed the carpool sticker.
- Definitely paid more than I normally would for a car, but I spent so much time in the car and decided to treat myself.
- I've started working from home and I now drive the car about 5 miles a day.
Since I barely drive my car, I am pretty sure I want to sell it. My rationale:
- At this point, I feel like I'm overpaying for the car to sit in my driveway. Whenever I drive it, I love it, but that's about 10 minutes or 5 miles a day. Probably more on weekends but I still feel like it's more car than I need, especially since the gas and time savings are non-existent.
- I also have my eye on another car that has more functionality (all wheel drive, compact SUV) but most importantly way cheaper. Monthly payment is about $300 bucks. It's certainly not as nice as a Tesla but it gets the job done and for the amount I drive, even if I missed my Tesla, it would be a short-lived feeling. Plus when I hit the slopes during winter, I'd probably be grateful that I had the car and space.
- Financially, I'm not swimming in cash, but I live comfortably. I have healthy retirement contributions, education contributions, etc. My family and I are pretty happy and have what we need, and if we had more money we would use it to save even more, and use it on something I would actually be able to enjoy (a new patio to hang out in, trips w/ the family, etc).
What I need advice on:
- I do feel like the wise thing to do is to sell the car, but it will be at a loss (maybe $3-5K loss, but who knows). I probably end up saving about $800 bucks a month so I would make the money up in half a year, but is there a limit to how much I should be willing to lose? Let's say that I lose $10K on the car, at what point does it become a dumb decision to sell the car, knowing that I would make that amount back up in a year? Is there even one? I still have 4 more years of payment so that would be 4 years of savings!
- Secondly... is there any reason that I should keep the car? I can't think of any, especially w/ the savings. If the savings was significantly less, it'd be a different story. Initially I thought that "if I can afford it, let's just keep it", but if I'm not using it, I don't even see the point in that! Am I missing something?? Let me know!
Final thoughts:
- I know that the first year is when I lose the most, but it'll only continue to depreciate.
- I was also worried about the sunk costs (I did titanium coating, blacked out chrome, tinted windows) but I'm over that!
- And finally, here is what I have to look at every day! So sad!
Any comments and POV's are appreciated. Thank you!
This is more of a financial question but related to my Model S. Hope you guys can provide some POV's and maybe even validate my thought process.
Situation:
- I bought my Model S in Oct 2016. It currently has 9,500 miles.
- I used to commute about 80 miles a day. I could charge for free @ work, needed the carpool sticker.
- Definitely paid more than I normally would for a car, but I spent so much time in the car and decided to treat myself.
- I've started working from home and I now drive the car about 5 miles a day.
Since I barely drive my car, I am pretty sure I want to sell it. My rationale:
- At this point, I feel like I'm overpaying for the car to sit in my driveway. Whenever I drive it, I love it, but that's about 10 minutes or 5 miles a day. Probably more on weekends but I still feel like it's more car than I need, especially since the gas and time savings are non-existent.
- I also have my eye on another car that has more functionality (all wheel drive, compact SUV) but most importantly way cheaper. Monthly payment is about $300 bucks. It's certainly not as nice as a Tesla but it gets the job done and for the amount I drive, even if I missed my Tesla, it would be a short-lived feeling. Plus when I hit the slopes during winter, I'd probably be grateful that I had the car and space.
- Financially, I'm not swimming in cash, but I live comfortably. I have healthy retirement contributions, education contributions, etc. My family and I are pretty happy and have what we need, and if we had more money we would use it to save even more, and use it on something I would actually be able to enjoy (a new patio to hang out in, trips w/ the family, etc).
What I need advice on:
- I do feel like the wise thing to do is to sell the car, but it will be at a loss (maybe $3-5K loss, but who knows). I probably end up saving about $800 bucks a month so I would make the money up in half a year, but is there a limit to how much I should be willing to lose? Let's say that I lose $10K on the car, at what point does it become a dumb decision to sell the car, knowing that I would make that amount back up in a year? Is there even one? I still have 4 more years of payment so that would be 4 years of savings!
- Secondly... is there any reason that I should keep the car? I can't think of any, especially w/ the savings. If the savings was significantly less, it'd be a different story. Initially I thought that "if I can afford it, let's just keep it", but if I'm not using it, I don't even see the point in that! Am I missing something?? Let me know!
Final thoughts:
- I know that the first year is when I lose the most, but it'll only continue to depreciate.
- I was also worried about the sunk costs (I did titanium coating, blacked out chrome, tinted windows) but I'm over that!
- And finally, here is what I have to look at every day! So sad!
Any comments and POV's are appreciated. Thank you!
Attachments
Last edited:
