Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Folks who stretched: Will you do it again given another chance or regret buying Tesla

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
#43
aaron0k said:
Would the 40kwh have been a more justifiable option for some of you? vs. no MS?
Click to expand...

For me and anyone else on a budget, the 40kWh would have sold as hot cakes as it came out. As long as the range fits your daily needs. With the 60kWh battery software limited to 73% SoC and upgrade option to 60kWh plus super charging, that really would've been be a future proof entry drug.
 
#44
VolkerP said:
For me and anyone else on a budget, the 40kWh would have sold as hot cakes as it came out.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this. There are a few reasons it did not sell well when it was available.

1. The EPA range numbers where not released until after it was impossible to order one. Many people (like myself) who were planning on getting a 40 were waiting on the range numbers to finalize, as we needed to be sure it would meet our needs.
2. Battery degradation concerns. At the time it was available, it was understood that the 40 would use the same chemistry as the roadster, not the newer, more durable chemistry of the Model S. This, combines with the unknown actual range, made many people uncertain as to weather it would meet their range requirements long term.
3. For most 40 buyers, money was a bigger issue than it is for the higher end purchasers (lets face it, if they could afford and 85, they would probably be buying that, not a 40). For many of these potential buyers, tying up $5000 for 1-2 years on a reservation was a tough sell.
4. The uncertain delivery time also really hurt the 40 sales. Nobody was really sure when they would start to be delivered until after it was cancelled. Since the average 40 buyer was likely going to be stretching the budget, and since no trade in program was available at the time, it was important to be able to time the disposition of your old car with the purchase of your Tesla.


I am a firm believer that is the 40 was re-introduced now, even with an actual 40 kWh pack instead of software limited 60, it would sell VERY well.
 
#45
with every single new car that has come out i have combed over the specs and nothing comes close to the Tesla.

this is just to give you a picture of how far i stretched...

Time of purchase approx salary $65K

1st car 2001 - 2008 = Protege 5 = $20K
2nd car 2009 - 2013 = Genesis coupe = $32K
3rd car 2013 - now = Tesla Model S = $121K

would i do it again? yep, there is still no car that comes close.
 
#46
VolkerP said:
For me and anyone else on a budget, the 40kWh would have sold as hot cakes as it came out. As long as the range fits your daily needs. With the 60kWh battery software limited to 73% SoC and upgrade option to 60kWh plus super charging, that really would've been be a future proof entry drug.
Click to expand...

When I reserved my 40kwh, It was because it was the "cheapest" and range isn't an issue for me. My "cheap" MS still cost $67k..the most expensive car I've owned ...although I did have a $50k Audi before it...then I drove a P85 loaner and easily tossed around the idea of selling my 40/60 and spending the extra $40k...Lol

In other words...buying a Tesla may NOT be a rational decision for a lot of people...but owning the BEST car in the world is totally worth it!! :biggrin:
 
#49
OK, my order is going to be finalized today and I am looking at 85 K car. This is 11K less than 96K :) Between order and confirmation, added Rear Seats and switched between 60 and 85 couple of times. Finally settled at 60. I don’t think I stretched financially for the car but it is beyond what I had ever expected to pay for a car. So I stretched mentally. Before this my costliest car was my Odyssey where I added everything including additional warranty and paid 36K. I was looking for a Mercedes E (new) or S (CPO) to replace my Nissan Altima. I had also bided on some cars but the bid did not go through. Then I became aware about Tesla by one of my friends who had bought it. I was very impressed but thought it was way beyond what I was comfortable to spend. Then I guess technology drew me to the car. All of your comments helped me to buy this car and feel reassured that I am doing the right thing. Looking forward to Feb, when I will get it :)
 
#50
I stretched. I had to give my Wife the hard sell to do it. Now we are expecting another baby and the stretch is seeming too much. previously i had a $500 PM Payment inc gas. Now I'm at $1000. My wife is having to sacrifice a nice car when her lease runs out in feb so I can keep the Tesla. Would I do it again? … No because It has caused some major arguments . do I love the car? 1000% yes. alas I have to sell it . but Ill be back for another in a couple of years .
 
#51
aaron0k said:
Would the 40kwh have been a more justifiable option for some of you? vs. no MS?
Click to expand...

I was originally looking at the 40kwh. I've owned 3 cars since 1990:
1979 Trans Am (used) ~$5000
1991 Dodge Stealth (lightly used) $$18000
2004 Mazda RX8 (new) $32000

The RX8 was starting to show it's age, but I hadn't really considered buying a new car for another 2-3 years since I try to get 10 years on each car (well, not the old Trans Am). I heard about Tesla in Jan 2011 and figured the 40kwh wasn't far off from the $35000-40000 car I was looking at eventually getting when you considered gasoline savings. We're a 2 car family, so for the few distance trips we'd take the ICE.

Through a sequence of events, I came into about $50k I didn't have before (inheritance and a layoff severance package). The wife and I shrugged, said it wasn't money we'd expected to have anyway, so we went all out on the Model S. She did sort of roll her eyes at my wanting the Perf option :)

So, I would have gotten the 40 and been quite happy, but ended up with the P85. As it turns out, the car was nearly free. Thanks to having the money in TSLA, I was able to pay off the car and we've got the same extra $50k we originally had... If I hadn't heard of Tesla, the money would have gone into some index fund that wouldn't have made much, relatively speaking.
 
#53
I definitely stretched. I've never spent much on cars. My most expensive car prior to the Tesla was my 2006 Prius that I bought for $26k. In fact, I spent less on the 6 cars I've owned in my life before the Tesla combined than I spent on the Model S. I'm not wealthy and spending this much on the Model S means significant sacrifices in other parts of my life and impacts the rest of my family. Our vacations will be much smaller, our gift giving more restrained, our savings are noticeably smaller, etc.

Not a single regret from me or my wife.

The car's worth it and I can't imagine buying car from another manufacturer ever again.
 
#55
It was a stretch for us, though I guess I've always spent a relatively high proportion of my salary on cars, though in the past that was justifiable as I was driving 30k miles+ per year. In the S it's nearer 14k a year, but I still have no reservations, not a single one. Well, maybe a small regret about not waiting for a while until the parking sensors were available, and I do like the multi-coat red (which wasn't an option when I ordered). Also slightly concerned that the resale values do not seem to be holding up as well as expected, and I am the type of person that gets bored with cars, so I'll likely be selling in 3 years, maybe for another S, maybe for an X. Almost certainly a Tesla though :)
 
#56
It was more of a mental stretch for me. The most expensive car I have bought was a 2008 Corvette, but it was just a weekend car I kept for 4 years and enjoyed it. This will be my company car and daily driver. We get a monthly allowance and a per mile rate to cover fluctuations in fuel prices. This alone will cover about 40% of owning the car over the next five years. I also get a $5000 state tax credit for the car. Being an engineer, I just had to put all of this into a spreadsheet and worked out that the car will cost me $25K more to own than my current vehicle (A 2011 Ford Ecoboost F150 Crew Cab 4x4 truck) Once the wife saw those numbers (She is an accountant) she loosened her grip and let me breathe again.

It was still hard to hit that CONFIRM button on a $92,000 car before tax and rebates or $85K afterward. However, a couple of shots of Makers Mark did the trick... ;)
 
#58
gglockner said:
You're not going to get an honest assessment here. Anyone who posts to this discussion group is a fanboy (or fangirl) - if they weren't, they would spend time elsewhere on the internet. Statisticians call this "selection bias".

You can't justify a Model S on cost alone. Even with an aggressive increase in the price of gasoline, there are other luxury cars that have a far lower total cost of ownership.

If a Model S fits your budget, you will likely be very happy with the purchase. If not, then either adjust your budget or get something else, like a used Model S.
Click to expand...

Honest Assessment? It is Electric. All those other "luxury" cars are not. That's a difference you can't compare.

But, I stretched. On the FIRST electric vehicle, not on this one.

A dozen years ago, my mother-in-law, then 85, wanted to know about solar panels, something she had seen on TV. I looked it up, and ended up putting up about 6 kW on the roof.

Then I started thinking, "Hey, this will be paid-for generation in about 6 years. What are my plans?" At about this time, Toyota had a couple hundred electric cars for SALE at about 20 dealerships, and I agonized paying some $30,000 bucks for one. I had never paid more than about $20K ever, ever, for a car.

The Toyota had a little more than 100 miles range. In a very short time, we began to experience "range anxiety", not being able to go certain places, or come back, without hours of charging. I dreamed of more electric miles and followed every EV on the internet, specifically one called AC Propulsion, the precursor to the Roadster. Over 200 miles and NOT a hybrid.

But there was no way I could ever afford a Tesla! They were over $60,000! Impossible! But something was happening. The Toyota RAV4EV experienced high demand, and I was offered double what I paid for it. There was my down payment. Can't say I saved anything, or planned, or stretched. I just knew what I wanted and dumb luck ruled.

I also decided I liked this new company, and bought a bunch of stock at $20. Guess What?

My wife and I have always lived simply, give abundantly, and try to make intelligent decisions. We got one of the first 100 Model S and paid more than I even know. It was a bunch, is all. But we have never been sorry.

I also doubled my solar array this year. I probably won't be sorry about that, either.
 
#59
Some of you who have been following my journey to own Tesla know how I have been in a dilemma between 60 & 85 kWh. I have called Tesla, 8 days after order was confirmed, on 28-Dec and upgraded the car to 85 kWh. They were able to do so. Now my cost is back to 96 K :) Looking forward to Feb when I get hold of the car. Cheers, Amit
 
#60
Well I had always bought cars in the cheaper range. My first car cost about 1000 eur (Toyota Corolla GT) that was gifted to me by my grandfather. Then I came onto Audis and bought them used for 10-15k eur or so for almost a decade. Then being better off and being able to use company funds I bought a Volvo XC90 as a new car. That was a total stretch and a mental rethink going for a brand new car. It cost me 40k eur and my ex-wife is still driving it now 7 years later. At some point an opportunity rose and I could buy a 25k eur Subaru WRX STI that I kept for a few years until my wife left the company and we returned the car to them. Then four years ago after a divorce I bought an Evo X for 28k eur and considered that an expensive car because of both the up front cost and the fuel costs. And then when we were discussing changing cars this summer for an Audi A6 or so I was only contemplating a new car and was doing the math. Then out of curiosity as I had kept an eye on Tesla for years I checked out how realistic it would be to get a Model S and found out after some TCO analysis that not only was the Model S cheaper to own than a brand new Audi A6, but it was only about 40% more expensive than my Evo X which was a 4x cheaper car. If I included all the repair costs of the Evo over the last 12 months it actually costs the same as owning the Model S so it was a no brainer.

Of course then I ordered a 78keur costing S85 and the next day after hitting confirm a friend asked why I didn't get the P85. So agonizing a bit and comparing configs I discovered it was only 8.6keur more for the P85 and I'd be getting a 4s car vs 5s car. So I called Tesla and made the change. I had gone with 19" wheels as I didn't believe in 21" or considered them way too expensive. Then rolled around November and I got a chance to swap my ordered car for one that is already produced and whos owner was looking for someone else to buy it out from Tesla (he had ordered two). The config matched mine except for 21" wheels, the extra superior sound and lighting, but lacked twin chargers. I agonized again a bit, but being able to get the car 2-3 months earlier for an extra cost of 3.5k I went for it (his car had the lower pricing as well from earlier). So I ordered a 78k eur car after a long agonizing calculation and lobbying of insurance and financing companies and ended up purchasing a 90k eur car (without VAT as I bought it with a company and from outside my country, but in EU. with VAT it's 108k). This car costs more than 2x what I had ever contemplated spending on cars, but as the TCO analysis showed it will actually cost me less than buying an Audi would have had thanks to the 18k eur subsidy from the state as well as the ultra low running costs.

And do I regret? Not a single second. This car is the best car I have ever driven and it requires no compromises. I effectively bought three 30k eur cars. One sports car (like the Evo X), one minivan or SUV for the capacity and one Prius or what not for the fuel consumption ;) And there is no need to give up the fun of driving if besides dogs we should ever have children that require loads of capacity to just get around. It's a perfect midlife crisis car that suits both her and him ;) no arguments, pure joy.

It's only been 1 month since I paid for it and got it, but I'm utterly satisfied. Didn't even consider the 60 because of range issues and it's my single driver with no superchargers foreseen in the region for another couple of years. But the charging infra we do have is excellent and the country is relatively small so getting anywhere is not an issue even in winter. In most cases you can also get back without charging :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JetFalcon
Who buys Tesla Model 3 with 100k miles at CarMax?
Replies
16
Views
3K
Model 3
JetFalcon
JetFalcon
F
Risk Manangnent of Buying AP1 Model S
Replies
19
Views
726
Model S
MSJack
M
P
Poor Experience buying a Tesla Model 3
Replies
20
Views
9K
Model 3: Ordering, Production, Delivery
ValenciaUSC
V
K
And another change to screw potential owners (no lease buyout)
Replies
10
Views
3K
Model S
dbldwn02
dbldwn02
F
Non Tesla luxury/performance EV's
Replies
2
Views
679
Off Topic
FastDoc
F
Top
Back
Blog
New
Forum list
Marketplace
Menu