Hello all, first post here.
So, I drove the model 3 and loved it - as I'm sure all of you here do as well! It's the first non-sports car I've ever driven that has made me sit here and think about seriously purchasing it new (I'd never buy new!)
A couple of things that I've been finding it difficult to pull the trigger:
Basically every thread I've read says go with the longest range you can afford! But at this point it's only long range or short range.
For new, I see no point of getting a LR AWD when you can get the performance software for 2k more. The only problem is that while I think that the acceleration is fun, I have fun sporty cars that are slower, yes, but I still think more fun to drive. So the performance wasn't the biggest turn on for me as it is for some. But range, I would love to have a longer range! So that leaves me with a used LR RWD or a new P3D- (think I'm using that correctly). The LR RWD's I've seen are as low as 42900 used with no autopilot to around 45k with autopilot. At that point it's about the same price as the performance since tax credits and I live in PA so there's an additional 1500.
That all being said, honestly it is kind of a stretch for me to do 45-50k anyways. I'm not allowed to trade in two cars. My two car payments add up to $600/mo which is comfortable for me. Adding on a $600/mo payment on top of a $200/mo payment is a little much, but I was told that Tesla only accepts 1 car to trade-in now.
So, I reconsidered and drove the SR+ which is a fun car still! The lighter weight you can definitely feel around the bends, and the power is more than enough for a daily (wrx/330i/maxima territory). Though, obviously I only get 240 miles of range (less in winter/80% charge) with that and a whole bunch of downgrades like no rear heated seats and what not. AWD is not a seller for me. My concern is that with battery degradation and newer EV's making 250 miles the standard range, the prices are gonna plummet for SR+, while I feel the P3D- will hold value well. I think it's crazy how well these cars have held their value, but they've also had some odd MSRP changes that I don't think the used car market knows how to deal with. Also, cars traded back into Tesla are probably not being all put up for sale keeping the used car market stable.
I do plan on doing uber premium/turo'ing the car to cover extra costs because I like driving and I have other cars - only way I can justify this purchase is by using it to get some money back somehow, or else I would just buy an older bmw 335 x drive or something. For me, I personally plan on using it for road trips or driving around when I'm not working. The car I'm trading in is an s2k (maybe I should hang on to that? but the trade-in is amazing on it)
Finally, I was told that Tesla isn't selling their demo models anymore at the local dealer, but that's not true apparently since I just read some threads where people were being offered demo models. Can anyone clarify? If I can pickup a demo model that would make this easier!
This is quite the word salad, but just some of my rambling thoughts that I'm sure I am not the only one that has had them. Thanks for any help! Hoping to clear my head out some.
So, I drove the model 3 and loved it - as I'm sure all of you here do as well! It's the first non-sports car I've ever driven that has made me sit here and think about seriously purchasing it new (I'd never buy new!)
A couple of things that I've been finding it difficult to pull the trigger:
Basically every thread I've read says go with the longest range you can afford! But at this point it's only long range or short range.
For new, I see no point of getting a LR AWD when you can get the performance software for 2k more. The only problem is that while I think that the acceleration is fun, I have fun sporty cars that are slower, yes, but I still think more fun to drive. So the performance wasn't the biggest turn on for me as it is for some. But range, I would love to have a longer range! So that leaves me with a used LR RWD or a new P3D- (think I'm using that correctly). The LR RWD's I've seen are as low as 42900 used with no autopilot to around 45k with autopilot. At that point it's about the same price as the performance since tax credits and I live in PA so there's an additional 1500.
That all being said, honestly it is kind of a stretch for me to do 45-50k anyways. I'm not allowed to trade in two cars. My two car payments add up to $600/mo which is comfortable for me. Adding on a $600/mo payment on top of a $200/mo payment is a little much, but I was told that Tesla only accepts 1 car to trade-in now.
So, I reconsidered and drove the SR+ which is a fun car still! The lighter weight you can definitely feel around the bends, and the power is more than enough for a daily (wrx/330i/maxima territory). Though, obviously I only get 240 miles of range (less in winter/80% charge) with that and a whole bunch of downgrades like no rear heated seats and what not. AWD is not a seller for me. My concern is that with battery degradation and newer EV's making 250 miles the standard range, the prices are gonna plummet for SR+, while I feel the P3D- will hold value well. I think it's crazy how well these cars have held their value, but they've also had some odd MSRP changes that I don't think the used car market knows how to deal with. Also, cars traded back into Tesla are probably not being all put up for sale keeping the used car market stable.
I do plan on doing uber premium/turo'ing the car to cover extra costs because I like driving and I have other cars - only way I can justify this purchase is by using it to get some money back somehow, or else I would just buy an older bmw 335 x drive or something. For me, I personally plan on using it for road trips or driving around when I'm not working. The car I'm trading in is an s2k (maybe I should hang on to that? but the trade-in is amazing on it)
Finally, I was told that Tesla isn't selling their demo models anymore at the local dealer, but that's not true apparently since I just read some threads where people were being offered demo models. Can anyone clarify? If I can pickup a demo model that would make this easier!
This is quite the word salad, but just some of my rambling thoughts that I'm sure I am not the only one that has had them. Thanks for any help! Hoping to clear my head out some.