Decisions, Which Car to Pick

[Jeep2003]

I have an option between 2 cars. I am a new member to the forum and have been scouring furiously and reading up but asking for advice on my on personal situation.

Please assist in choice and rational. BTW I live in Texas so, no snow, but heavy rain several times in year...and btw switching from a 10 yr old Toyota Rav4, mid 30's with a 2 yr old...hehe this is beginning to sound like an Aol Profile


1-2018 LR RWD
Manuf date 1/18
16000 mi
Black on Black
19" Wheels
AP
$33.5K


2-2018 LR AWD
Manf date 12/18
6200 mi
Black on Black
19" Wheels
AP
$40.7K

I am leaning towards the AWD one, but would love to get thoughts from real people not my own crazy thoughts.

Pros to pick #1 RWD
1-7K cheaper has value since it doesn't depreciate and makes me feel less guilt(though I can afford more, I usually get $20K cas)
2-allows me to rationalize switching out car sooner in 4-7 years instead of 8-10 years
a. since I think I want the Model Y as kids get older but am not sold yet it has more room in back seat
b. EV technology may theoretically get better in 5 years an even a better option and can use the $7K + trade in val

Cons
1-1 yr less warranty
2-more miles
3-RWD is a bit slower (is it really though in the real world)



Pros to pick #2 AWD
1-AWD so a bit quicker (but I'm switching from an Accord, so really, how much diff will this make to me...both..RWD/AWD are fast)
2-Increased safety not due to snow, but since we do get alot of rain multiple time in the year
3-1 more year of 4 year warranty

Cons
1-$7K(21%) more, so feel a bit guilty, and thus may keep vehicle longer to rationalize

As a note, on which ever car, I will be lowering 1-1.5" and putting on a staggered 20" Turbine Wheel setup

 

[Jeep2003]

Oh yes, and if your recommendation is to go with the RWD, what price difference would you justify to get the AWD one?

 

[azred]

FYI I have an S and also a RWD 3. My 3 VIN is 4xxx and was delivered 2/1/18 so it is almost the same build date as the one in question. After 18 months I couldn’t be happier with it. I did insist on a few fit and finish tweaks at delivery but other than that the car has been perfect. Thought this info might be useful as many people worry about early VINs. One thing that probably helped was that the 3s were rolled out very slowly — mostly to employees — for the first few months, so that might explain why my car has been so trouble free.

 

[OCR1]

I would not personally feel comfortable buying such an early VIN but I’m glad to hear @azred has not had any problems.

 

[AdamVIP]

I like the LR RWD as an option and wish it was still around but its been abandoned already by Tesla so I would step up to the AWD.

 

[Jeep2003]

@azred ,@OCR1 , @AdamVIP

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[David L]

I have a Mar. '18 build and it's been great, although I've been to the service center a few times to address both interior and exterior fit/finish issues. If you don't need AWD or the faster acceleration, the extra range of the RWD is very useful. In terms of interior comfort, the main difference is that the rear seat bench was upgraded around mid-'18 to a thicker design that provides a higher, more comfortable seating position. For ~$600, you can have Tesla install the new bench on the earlier build.

 

[Jeep2003]

My question is more so, what value would you place on these 3 differences.(in aggregate)

1)AWD (instead of RWD)
2)10K less miles (16K vs 6k)
3)1 yr more warranty (3yr vs 2yr)

Is it $7,000? If not, what amount would justify these 3 items?

 

[Nocturnal]

I don't think the AWD really gains you much in safety. Both will hydroplane or stop in the same manner. An extra year of warranty is nice, but 7k would buy a lot of warranty/repairs.

RWD is a "rare" model now, which may be relatively more desirable to Tesla nerds but I wonder if that will confuse buyers 5 years from now? If you really don't care about speed I think I'd lean towards the RWD. Your range will be longer which also means fewer cycles on your battery. FWIW I do not have the impression that early VINs had issues (right or wrong) seems like it's the late 18 builds that hit some bumps during the crunch.

Don't forget net present value of that 7k delta. You are either forgoing investment returns on that 7k for the next 5 years or paying interest. I could reasonably value that 7k today vs 5 years from now at 9k. (assuming 5% return after inflation) Insurance may be a little less also.

I'm a speed guy so I'd value AWD more than you would I think. Are you factoring in an possible purchase of FSD or autopilot into this? Edit. I didn't factor in the extra 10k miles. Makes it more of a toss up, unless you are budget limited and really wanted FSD perhaps.

 

[JasonR67]

1) I was looking for a new RWD a month ago. The increased range and lower price was attractive.
2) That's still pretty low mileage.
3) Thats the big one.. Is 1 year warranty (and it being a newer build) worth 7k? I don't think the warranty is worth 7k, but the newer build is worth a chunk of the 7k to me. Warranty: 2k.. newer build: 2k.

I think I'd go for the RWD, all things being considered. the RWD will seem faster and more agile than you expect.. the AWD will seem even more so.

 

[lampcord]

My question is more so, what value would you place on these 3 differences.(in aggregate)

1)AWD (instead of RWD)
2)10K less miles (16K vs 6k)
3)1 yr more warranty (3yr vs 2yr)

Is it $7,000? If not, what amount would justify these 3 items?

For me, in Minnesota, AWD is a no brainer. For you in Texas, not sure it makes that much difference.

So assuming I lived in Texas I would probably say:
1) AWD $2k
2) 10k less miles - So the battery warranty is 120k on a $50k vehicle (AWD). That works out to a little over $4k for 10k miles.
3) I'd say at least another $2k for that.

Also, the fact that the AWD is nearly a year newer which could translate to better build quality as it seems that is constantly improving and newer versions of some hardware. I guess that adds up to $8k + whatever value you put on newer build.

IMHO.

 

[Rockster]

I have a March 2018 RWD and I love it. That said, I have a RWD Model S also and have compared it to the AWD Model S and the AWD handles even more impressively. I have to believe that the AWD 3 would similarly impress. It would be worth it to me to spring for the AWD. In fact, the fact that I didn't hold off a bit longer and get the AWD Model 3 is my only regret regarding my purchase.

 

[Phlier]

I voted AWD. I'm old. And as I get older, I get more biased toward vehicle safety features. IMO, AWD is a very important (and under rated) safety feature for more reasons (and a longer discussion) than a short post would allow. Given a choice between a non-AWD car, and the same car in AWD, I'll take the AWD car every time, even though it's going to be more expensive; it's hard to put a price tag on safety.

 

[Jeep2003]

@David L, @JasonR67, @lampcord, @Rockster, @philier

Thanks for all your help! This is exactly what the feedback I was looking for !

AWD one it is!

 

[XLR82XS]

Later build: potentially more bugs/fitment/paint issues worked out.

 

[ZumZee]

I have a Mar. '18 build and it's been great, although I've been to the service center a few times to address both interior and exterior fit/finish issues. If you don't need AWD or the faster acceleration, the extra range of the RWD is very useful. In terms of interior comfort, the main difference is that the rear seat bench was upgraded around mid-'18 to a thicker design that provides a higher, more comfortable seating position. For ~$600, you can have Tesla install the new bench on the earlier build.

Good to hear. Considering a VIN 14XX LR RWD with 2K miles vs a new LR AWD. Savings is in the 3.5 -6K range and I'm torn. Fear about the early VIN is one thing that worries me, but so does build quality of the new ones when more are being made per week than had been made in total at the time this one was manufactured. Ramp ups in manufacturing scale are always a quality control nightmare.