First time Car buyer

[Walkingbird]

Hi Community member, it’s my first time buying a car and I placed the order for model y last year in Nov. it has been a grueling wait since then.
As a first time car buyer what are your thoughts , should one go for ice vehicle or electric , also I don’t have home charging since my apartment does not have it and I will be charging mostly at superchargers.
Keeping those things in mind , what do you guys think , model y or Ice ( I am considering BMW X3).
I really love Tesla but the wait and quality issues I have seen in forums/internet have worried Me since then.

 

[nate704]

wow. congrats. your parents must be rich!. I don't think I will buy any Tesla for my kids since it is way too fast for them to handle.

 

[Red Ryder 3]

If you don't have "at home" charging, stick with the ICE vehicle.

 

[nate704]

Also, frequent supercharging will degrade the battery really quick!

 

[jcanoe]

Download the Plugshare app onto your phone. Plugshare can show you the available charging stations nearby where you live, work or go to school. If you drive ~30 miles per day (which happens to be the average in the US) then you can manage your charging with a little planning using public Level 2 charging infrastructure.

You are not restricted to using the Tesla Supercharger network. You can charge a Tesla vehicle at any Level 2 charging station using the Tesla SAE J1772 charging adapter that comes with every Tesla vehicle. (Many times Level 2 charging is free for the first few hours while shopping or dining.)

Tesla now sells a CCS charging adapter (currently available online from S. Korea for ~$300 US) that enables you to charge the Tesla vehicle at the increasingly common DC Fast Charging stations such as Blink, EVgo and Electrify America.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

...
I really love Tesla but the wait and quality issues I have seen in forums/internet have worried Me since then.

Walkingbird you haven't given us enough info to be really helpful. Couple of questions:

• Do you have access to a charger (level 2) at work?
• Where do you live in NJ?
• Are there any chargers (level 2 or DCFC or Superchargers) relatively close by?
• How many miles do you put on a car in a week? If around 100 then you can probably get away with owning an EV. More? Depends on how many miles you drive a week.
• Can you have a level 2 unit or outlet put in where you live?

Anyway, those are just off the top of my head.

Good luck,

Rich

 

[Walkingbird]

wow. congrats. your parents must be rich!. I don't think I will buy any Tesla for my kids since it is way too fast for them to handle.

Lol I wish ,I am self financing it. Never bought a car coz I use to live in a pretty good public transport metro. Never felt the need , was saving money all this while for a car. Buying a car pretty late as per age goes !!

 

[Walkingbird]

Walkingbird you haven't given us enough info to be really helpful. Couple of questions:

• Do you have access to a charger (level 2) at work?
• Where do you live in NJ?
• Are there any chargers (level 2 or DCFC or Superchargers) relatively close by?
• How many miles do you put on a car in a week? If around 100 then you can probably get away with owning an EV. More? Depends on how many miles you drive a week.
• Can you have a level 2 unit or outlet put in where you live?

Anyway, those are just off the top of my head.

Good luck,

Rich

Valid questions
- nope , won’t be traveling daily to work once or twice a week , 50 min round trip .
- north nj
- 1 supercharger nearby , don’t think level 2 chargers nearby.
- weekly drive might not be much except 200-300 mile drives on weekends (once a month maybe )
- It’s rental so unfortunately no.

 

[yellowr6]

How u test drove a MY yet? U should if u havent. Also the x3?

my sister has a x1 and I will never drive that over my Y. IMO.

I have no issues with my built from my two MY. Most ppl won’t have any issues but there will be some unlucky folks. Service center should be able to fix most of its issues but again, some ppl are experiencing horrible service or expectations. Lower ur expectations and you will be happy. Sad to say but it’s true. You’re buying a tech on wheel.

 

[npa201]

I live in north jersey (Bergen county). There is a service center near by which can be useful. There are also several superchargers within 15-20 minutes of me. I’ve been driving about 50 miles a day 3x a week and this has been a great commuter car.

However, I own a house and installed a charger in the garage. Makes it super convenience as I go from 80% to about 55%-60% each day and then fill up at night when I get home. When I first got the MYP, my electrician had some difficulty getting some parts for my installation and so for the first 3 weeks I used the superchargers. I never had to wait for a supercharger in my experience those three weeks but generally the chargers were 75%-90% full of cars every time I showed up and many were NJ/NY plates. Makes me believe that these were people with rentals that had to drive out each week just to charge their car. Seemed super inconvenient to me to be doing this and if I was a renter, no way would I be buying a EV.

For the price of a MYP now, you can buy a x3 m40i that is nicely equipped. And it will have decent pep, a nicer interior, Apple CarPlay integration (I assume android). Or you can get a regular X3 and save the money and allocate that to gasoline.

I’m an EV convert commuting but again that’s because I have a house where I can charge easily. Also, while Tesla does have a great charging network, you’d probably still be better off from a convenience factor road tripping in that X3 m40i. Just my two cents.

I mean the positive for you is you ordered in NOV (which I assume means you ordered an LR) so your lower price was locked in. Still, I’m fairly confident you can go into a BMW dealership and order an X3 exactly as you want and get it in about 12 weeks right now…the only potential issue is they are switching to the model 2023 year and so I’m going to assume there won’t be many deliveries in Sept or even early Oct.

 

[aspushkin]

First accident for the first car is matter of months. Then, you’ll be waiting for parts for many more months, high cost insurance will go even higher, and you’ll end up driving a rental. Go with a 2012 corolla or something instead

 

[karkrazy]

Recommend the X3 for now… more convenient for your lifestyle. As things change, you can consider the MY (or any EV) again. X3’s have decent pricing, not pre-Covid pricing, but you can find decent deals with current availability.

 

[Krash]

Schedule delivery when it is done. You can reject it in the really rare case that you don’t like something that they can’t fix. In the also rare case that you don’t like the hassle of charging it, because your car has had several price increases after you made the reservation, and because they are hard to get, you can easily trade it for something else. I bet you love it.

 

[astrobill]

I've owned a 2020 Model Y for two years and an all-electric Volvo XC40 Recharge for a year.

Since the removal of radar (not to mention passenger side seat electric adjustments) from the Model Y and the increase in price of the Long Range Model Y -- with red paint and tow bar -- of over $15K since I bought mine, I'm no longer recommending the Tesla Model Y to folks.

Side note: A ton of fan bois insist the radar in Teslas that had it is not used anymore anyway with the transition to "Tesla Vision". However, as established on many other threads on here by two of the most recognized independent experts, it definitely is still used for cruise control, emergency braking, collision warning, and *possibly* even at other times. And the loss of radar in new Teslas puts it at a safety disadvantage compared to other EVs that have radar and LIDAR, etc.

I now tell folks consider the Volvo XC40 I have or, for more range with little sacrifice in cargo space, the more streamlined Volvo C40 (both offer all-electric models). Also, the Polestar 2 or upcoming Polestar 3 SUV are fantastic. The Polestar 3 looks sweeeeeeet and costs about the same as the Model Y Long Range now. Also, the Mustang Mach-E is pretty sweet with similar range. Sooooo many EV options.

All-electric is the way to go in my mind, unless you do daily trips of greater than 200 miles. Ditch gas completely...you'll love never having to use a gas station again and the simplified maintenance that comes with ditching gas.

I prefer most aspects of my Volvo, the build quality is faaaaaaar superior to the Tesla, and it comes with an electric retractable roof sunshade and some of the physical controls missing from the Model Y so you can concentrate on driving.

 

[Walkingbird]

How u test drove a MY yet? U should if u havent. Also the x3?

my sister has a x1 and I will never drive that over my Y. IMO.

I have no issues with my built from my two MY. Most ppl won’t have any issues but there will be some unlucky folks. Service center should be able to fix most of its issues but again, some ppl are experiencing horrible service or expectations. Lower ur expectations and you will be happy. Sad to say but it’s true. You’re buying a tech on wheel.

Yeah , I test drove x3 , GLc and model y , MY driving dynamics in terms of handling and sportiness were best , comfort in x3 .

 

[WhiteWi]

Get Y and never look back! Your first car should be the best one.

 

[Walkingbird]

I live in north jersey (Bergen county). There is a service center near by which can be useful. There are also several superchargers within 15-20 minutes of me. I’ve been driving about 50 miles a day 3x a week and this has been a great commuter car.

However, I own a house and installed a charger in the garage. Makes it super convenience as I go from 80% to about 55%-60% each day and then fill up at night when I get home. When I first got the MYP, my electrician had some difficulty getting some parts for my installation and so for the first 3 weeks I used the superchargers. I never had to wait for a supercharger in my experience those three weeks but generally the chargers were 75%-90% full of cars every time I showed up and many were NJ/NY plates. Makes me believe that these were people with rentals that had to drive out each week just to charge their car. Seemed super inconvenient to me to be doing this and if I was a renter, no way would I be buying a EV.

For the price of a MYP now, you can buy a x3 m40i that is nicely equipped. And it will have decent pep, a nicer interior, Apple CarPlay integration (I assume android). Or you can get a regular X3 and save the money and allocate that to gasoline.

I’m an EV convert commuting but again that’s because I have a house where I can charge easily. Also, while Tesla does have a great charging network, you’d probably still be better off from a convenience factor road tripping in that X3 m40i. Just my two cents.

I mean the positive for you is you ordered in NOV (which I assume means you ordered an LR) so your lower price was locked in. Still, I’m fairly confident you can go into a BMW dealership and order an X3 exactly as you want and get it in about 12 weeks right now…the only potential issue is they are switching to the model 2023 year and so I’m going to assume there won’t be many deliveries in Sept or even early Oct.

Yeah all very good points , thanks for that. If superchargers are full it might cause issues for me as I am mainly dependent on superchargers.
Since I had Nov rate locked in , I was wondering if I should take delivery , experience it for few weeks and sell the car If it’s too much of an inconvenience.

 

[thesmokingman]

Yeah , I test drove x3 , GLc and model y , MY driving dynamics in terms of handling and sportiness were best , comfort in x3 .

 

[kelpcar]

Also, frequent supercharging will degrade the battery really quick!

for someone that is charging it once a week, as seems to be likely for the OP, I don't see the degradation fear as that true. My neighbor exclusively uses the SC near her kids school to charge her X. The BMW gets the spot in the garage, apparently. Her's it left on the driveway.

OP - will your charging situation improve in next few years? If no, definitely reason to consider a plug in instead. The resell on your Y will be strong, but you need to be in a state that won't charge you sales tax for both the Y and the car you move on to (like California). Else, you don't want to take delivery.

Charging can be a nuisance, but so is maintenance for an ICE. A lot of people slack on these, esp if they're low mileage drivers.

Do you have very much driving experience at all? If no, keep it in chill mode for a while. This thing has speed to get you in trouble and you shouldn't rely on the throttle or the safety systems to get you out of it.

 

[Walkingbird]

for someone that is charging it once a week, as seems to be likely for the OP, I don't see the degradation fear as that true. My neighbor exclusively uses the SC near her kids school to charge her X. The BMW gets the spot in the garage, apparently. Her's it left on the driveway.

OP - will your charging situation improve in next few years? If no, definitely reason to consider a plug in instead. The resell on your Y will be strong, but you need to be in a state that won't charge you sales tax for both the Y and the car you move on to (like California). Else, you don't want to take delivery.

Charging can be a nuisance, but so is maintenance for an ICE. A lot of people slack on these, esp if they're low mileage drivers.

Do you have very much driving experience at all? If no, keep it in chill mode for a while. This thing has speed to get you in trouble and you shouldn't rely on the throttle or the safety systems to get you out of it.

Atleast for an year I would have to charge at supercharger or l2 chargers . Yeah I have been driving cars for 10+ years .