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Considering getting the Model S P85

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talhas3

Licensed Real Estate Salesperson Rochester NY, NJ
Jul 2, 2014
203
39
Rochester NY
Hey guys

I have just started my Real Estate company and am considering getting the Model S P85 on a business lease. I've bought cars with the cash I have till now so I don't have any credit score really.

I am thinking though it would be awesome to have this car to drive personally and to give a good first impression to people I work with in my business. This will help me secure deals better.

My questions is, are all or most of the people here who own the Model S super rich? I am still building my business so I am very careful with my finances.
However, I see the benefits of having this car. I would most likely finance it so I can purchase the car at the end of the loan term.

For the P85, my monthly payment came out to about $1292/month. This is with the lady going over the options for the car over the phone.

What are some of your monthly payments like... and what kind of questions did you ask yourself and Tesla before you decided to pull the trigger on the car.

My test drive is schedule for this Saturday at the Short Hills NJ Tesla center. I'm really excited and cant wait.

Eager to hear your responses. Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum. From what I recall from polls and prior threads, there was a wide spectrum of ages and income levels for model S owners. I think a lot of people who are in the market for a BMW/Mercedes for example would seriously consider Model S. When you factor in the gas savings, many have made the decision based on 5 or 8-year cost of ownership and upgraded from their Honda/Toyota to Model S. There's a ton of threads on possibly every topic you could imagine and the search bar at the upper right is a great place to start. There is at least one real estate agent on here who uses Model S for clients. That $1292 you quoted is likely at the very top of the range. If cost is a big factor, consider an 85 non-P. It's still more power than 95% of what's on the road. My understanding is that there is also significant savings if you plan to use this car for business.
 
I'm not a Real estate agent. I buy houses.. fix them up and sell them. So I have to usually drive a lot to see houses and go on appointments.

Not having to pay for gas would be so awesome.

If $1292/month is on the top of the range, what are most people paying for it. Around $600-$800?

I just came across this forum so I'll be spending quite some time going over the different threads and asking questions.

Appreciate the replies so far.
 
You'll find plenty of threads on the different aspects of Model S ownership, including income levels. There are some who have the Model S in the garage with super cars such as Ferraris, etc and others who eat ramen noodles to make the payment. The Model S is a perfect car for a real estate agent, especially with the full screen map, but I see your focus is different. In your shoes, if a couple of hundred dollars on the monthly payment are important (it was for me, mostly on principal, I did not want to drive a >$90K car) I would consider the standard 85, especially coming from a Highlander. I think the P85, while a total kick in the pants, only makes a significant day to day difference to people coming from other performance cars with sub 5 second 0-60 times or similar performance.

FYI my payment is about $900 but only financed 50K.
 
Why not look at a 60KWh? Would you be driving more than 200 miles a day? It's still plenty fast. Can you charge at the office when not driving clients? You're in NJ so there's no sales tax and don't forget about the $7500 tax credit. My $70K S60 effectively was the same as buying a $58K car in my mind. I put $19K down (sale of my previous car) and my payment is under $800. That accounts for the $2,500 deposit I had to put down though.
 
Why not look at a 60KWh? Would you be driving more than 200 miles a day? It's still plenty fast. Can you charge at the office when not driving clients? You're in NJ so there's no sales tax and don't forget about the $7500 tax credit. My $70K S60 effectively was the same as buying a $58K car in my mind. I put $19K down (sale of my previous car) and my payment is under $800. That accounts for the $2,500 deposit I had to put down though.

Did you put $19k down or $2500 deposit?

- - - Updated - - -

Yes a big benefit I have is that I have the NEMA 6-50 outlet in my office so I can charge there. I'll have to hang the cable outside the window since my office is on the 2nd floor.
 
Hopefully this will help...I have a good friend and we do some investments together, his are mainly real estate. I have been talking to him about Tesla for over a year, but he had never seen one. He was down in Texas with some large players looking at retail properties and they needed to tour the city to look at different locations. One of the guys suggested they take Jim's car...which was a Tesla. My buddy said it was awesome because all 4 people in the car used the 17in screen to map out routes, look at Google Earth for surrounding neighborhoods/info...he said they spent 8 hour driving around and it was great. He is now a huge advocate of Tesla and especially it's utility in Real Estate.
 
Fully loaded P85 I put around $11k down and financed 92k. My payment is around $1225/month. And no I am not rich. Far from it. I was paying about $965/ month for a range rover Evoque plus another $700 a month in gas so technically the model S is saving lots of money every month despite costing twice as much as the Evoque. It's amazing how much money is thrown away driving a gas car.
 
Welcome Talhas to TMC. I used to live in Edison and am 2 towns over now.

Everybody's credit is different, and I do not know anything about Tesla's "business lease program"...

I have pretty good cerdit, and no debt, but all my previous car loans were in the $25k range, so no history of large loans. Going through Tesla loan program, they required a larger 30-40% down payment for myself, which was no problem as I wanted to keep my payments below $900-1000 per month.

So I would say don't be surprised if your down payment might be larger...again, not sure how high they do that with the business lease program.

Any questions, feel free to IM me here.
 
Based on what I've read on this forum, more "poor" people buy a Tesla than any other $90,000 car. If it weren't for Tesla, half the people here would never consider getting a $90,000 car. I sure wouldn't. Maybe $35,000 tops for a non-Tesla.

If you might drive clients around for 8 hours, get the S85. You don't want range anxiety while you're trying to focus on your clients, especially in winter.

Realtors that cater to high end homes always seem to drive expensive cars so obviously it's not a problem for that market segment. I wouldn't worry about coming across as arrogant selling lower end homes because Tesla is a unique car, hopefully the wave of the future, and a great conversation piece.

Only you can determine if you can afford it. Some owners have gotten amazing financing, 1% or so. There are quite a few threads on this topic. Since you can use it primarily for business you'll get a nice tax break. I hope it works out for you.
 
No credit and I put $40k down on top of $2500 deposit and have a minimum payment of $819 for 5 years, though I'm currently paying $2000 because I hate the idea of being in debt and want to pay it off ASAP. I can do that because I have relatively minimal financial obligations, keep other spending very low, and have what I think is a typical salary for mid-level Android developers in my area.

Everybody approaches financing differently and most aren't as "afraid" of debt as me. So, I'd say if it fits comfortably in your budget, by all means, go for it. It is a fantastic car, I couldn't imagine myself being satisfied with any other car currently in production, certainly not an ICE.
 
Just did my test drive today at the Short Hills NJ showroom. Man am I excited. The car is amazing. All the features.. its just too exciting.

Now just have to figure out my charging situation. I live in a condo so my charging option is limited to a supercharger nearby (they are putting one in Edison sometime this year) or at my work. The owner advisor was nice enough to let me try the charging at my office to see if it works out. Once I get that all settled out, I'm gonna order the 85.

Still have to see if I will go with Tesla financing since I have zero credit (this will be my first financed car) or an outside company like Alliance. I'm gonna have my cuzin co-sign for me since he most likely has good credit.
 
Just did my test drive today at the Short Hills NJ showroom. Man am I excited. The car is amazing. All the features.. its just too exciting.

Now just have to figure out my charging situation. I live in a condo so my charging option is limited to a supercharger nearby (they are putting one in Edison sometime this year) or at my work. The owner advisor was nice enough to let me try the charging at my office to see if it works out. Once I get that all settled out, I'm gonna order the 85.

Still have to see if I will go with Tesla financing since I have zero credit (this will be my first financed car) or an outside company like Alliance. I'm gonna have my cuzin co-sign for me since he most likely has good credit.

How fortunate to have a cousin generous enough to co-sign for you! Good luck talhas3, I hope it all works out. Then you just have the w.a...i.....t ahead of you. :biggrin:
 
This is interesting info. I just took my test drive Monday and loved it as it was about what I had hoped and expected. Now, I am getting their help in selling my car and once we know the market I can order the MS and relist my car as it approaches delivery. But, I had my lease at $1,524 a mo and that is with only the $2500 down. I asked what was the REAL discount realized and that would be only gas and the $2,500 credit from the state. Equating it all is reduced my first year pmt to $1,024 a month, which is doable. All other deductions come at tax time, of course, and though real, they don't stop the monthly payment realization going out each mo. Heck of a car and I am on board. Currently considering an inventory car as it wouldn't bother me a bit to get one. I just don't know if you can lease them. Rich? Nope, but I am a Realtor here in Manhattan Beach Calif. so my lifestyle is pretty cool.
fred z:love: