Cars aren’t investments unless they’re collectible, which is kind of the opposite of mass market. I had a VW Beetle Diesel convertible, VW got caught and had to buy it back from us for sticker plus a penalty. My wife loved that car but we couldn’t be smug liberals driving around in a VW that was secretly rolling coal. Plus a convertible in Michigan (where we moved from California)? Not too useful.
Ok let’s put that VW $$$ in the bank and buy a Tesla when the model 3 comes out. Did so for $37k (minus $3750 tax credit at that point in 2019), realized that RWD is not optimal in Michigan, resigned to keep it… but then used Tesla prices went absolutely through the roof in 2022.
Sold the M3SR for $45k after placing an order for an LR at $51k; in some sense the AWD paid for itself (burned another $2k on acceleration boost, so let’s call it even). Is it worth less now? For sure. Do I care? Well, I used to always buy cars used, so someone else could eat the depreciation. There weren’t any used Tesla M3LRs for a sane price in 2022, and I wouldn’t even have been able to buy a new one until last week if I’d put in my order a few months later. So, nah. It’s been our only car for a year now, and none of us regret it enough to care.
Maybe I should be sad about Tesla cutting prices, but I’m happy more people have the option to drive one. I dislike driving most all non-Teslas now (e.g. the Bolt was a tin can or as my wife said “a shitbox”; even my beloved Toyota Tacoma pickup truck now has way too much crap to fiddle with in recent model years). Plus with my daughter learning to drive, I REALLY appreciate the safety features, doubly so when I am her passenger!
There was a moment in time where the only people in Michigan who had Teslas were those willing to go out of state to retrieve them. Mobile service was great; Tony the Tesla Tech is now a retired multimillionaire from his stock options. Things change. Service isn’t quite as awesome although the cars are quieter, faster, and easier to find parts for. But regardless it’s been a fun few years.
I hope my friends with Tesla stock sold it at the peak and retired. Tesla made a lot of regular people into multimillionaires. I don’t know what’s going to happen with their belt tightening. Most products in this world get cheaper, plastickier, and better as time goes by. That said, this is my favorite car of any I’ve ever owned, and it’ll be paid off in a couple months. Not planning on selling it, perhaps ever. I drove my old Volvo into the ground and I’ll probably do the same to the M3LR.