Does your wife get better with time (through OTA updates)? Is your wife infinitely cheap when it comes to running costs? Is your wife quiet yet fast? Is your wife always ready to go in the morning? Can you pre condition your wife using a smart phone app?
^^ This really is the best argument I've seen in a while... 'preconditioning' is the ultimate luxury...! :biggrin:
I've skimmed the posts here quickly, so might have missed the point I'm going to make... hopefully not a complete repeat - but worth of repeating in my opinion anyway!
Yes, it's an expensive car. But it really is more than that, on many different levels. Everyone will have their own reason, or set of reasons, for justifying the purchase. For me, it was an opportunity to do the right thing, in a practical sense.
I've never hugged a tree. I don't have a long unkempt beard, wear Birkenstocks or eat granola. Not to disparage those who do, but it's important to understand that even though I'm more right wing than left wing economically and politically, I have a soul and conscience. Well, the ex might dispute that, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it...
Like many other owners, I spent way more on my Model S than I would have on any other car. ANY other car. If someone offered me a new Maserati at 50% of the typical price, I still wouldn't have bought it (except maybe to re-sell at a profit). I'm smart enough to see that the planet has a big problem - namely, us. If we're smart enough as a species to do something about it, it won't be without significant cost and disruption. Buying the car was my contribution to the change... I'm not dumb enough to think it will be my last. Yes, it's costly, but not as much as you'd expect when you amortize it over the longer haul. I can live, and work to earn a living as I need to with this car, but I wouldn't have been able to do so with a Leaf or similar. So the Tesla was the practical solution, and realistically, the only solution. When my home solar panels are finally installed, I'll generate more power than the car will consume in a typical year. I can drive virtually as much as I want with an entirely clear conscience. And the car is an advertisement that says "Change is possible, change is good, and change is pretty damn cool in
this car!"
I've only had my car for a couple of months now, but I have ZERO regrets, unless you count 'why didn't I do this sooner?' as a legitimate regret. It's the best car I've ever driven - by leaps and bounds - period.
I guess what I'm saying is, this car isn't an extravagant purchase like an S-Class is at the same price. Yes, it's an expensive purchase, but it's completely justifiable at many different levels... unless you're putting your family in harm's way by stretching to do it.
So that's my conclusion... Expensive - yes, Extravagant - NO.