Help me not be an idiot

[mspohr]

Except there are people who don't want to (not can't) spend that much money on a diminishing asset, or take long distance road trips often (13+ hours) and don't want to add the extra 2-3 hours of charging to the trip, etc.

Those are just a few friends with whom I spoke who "can" afford it, but will not buy one.

Oh, now that's funny! My wife and I -- especially my wife -- said the same thing on our way to our test drive. Upon getting out of the car her second foot hadn't hit the ground before she said "We've gotta have this!".

If you want to make a rational, reasoned, well thought through decision then DO NOT TAKE A TEST DRIVE.
I took a test drive with my wife and we both had the same reaction... "We have to have this!" (and ordered the same day).

 

[RogerHScott]

No Autopilot? What's the point then?

Oh, you know! Some silly people think they want to actually drive their cars. Such dinosaurs!

 

[Chopr147]

If you're not an MS owner (and, quite possibly, even if you are) I wouldn't be counting my M3-in-'18 chickens before they hatch.

No, you are right. Which is why I am seriously looking into an S. I will not cancel my M3 reservation just yet though. My wife may get the used S and I'll take the new M3

 

[RogerHScott]

my wife was the one that pushed me to actually buy the car after talking about it for so long

Were her exact word, by any chance, "Go ahead and buy the damned thing already!"?

 

[msnow]

If you want to make a rational, reasoned, well thought through decision then DO NOT TAKE A TEST DRIVE.
I took a test drive with my wife and we both had the same reaction... "We have to have this!" (and ordered the same day).

Same here. My wife test drove it first while I was in the back seat. I could tell by her smile she loved it. On the changeover for my turn at the wheel she said "we should order this right away".

 

[RogerHScott]

I let the kids eat in i[t]

Nooooooooooooooooooo! Say it ain't so! You .... you ... MONSTER!

 

[xav-]

It all depends on what you want or don’t want as far as things like equipment, how long you plan to keep the car, etc.. Some Tesla CPO prices/deals are ‘better’ than others but I agree that it’s worth comparing against custom order or discounted new inventory cars as well as leasing vs. buying.

True. my point is that maybe leaving some options off the table and getting the car new may be a better option. Also, as i mentioned in my follow up post I do not see many cars with AWD and higher ranges for that price. Maybe that will change though.

 

[STbreaker]

Were her exact word, by any chance, "Go ahead and buy the damned thing already!"?

Yeah, how'd you know?

 

[EVgeek]

So the obsession continues...

I've gone through about two different "I'm going to get an S" phases. Both times I made the correct decision to not spend four times the amount on a car that I've ever paid before. I currently have a reservation down on a Model 3.

Again I'm feeling the call. I can "afford" this car in that I can afford the payments on it. I can't pay in cash "without selling investments" and wouldn't want to.

Family income solidly in the middle of 100-200k, but wife may not be working after the summer, knocking is down to closer to 100k give or take.

I don't drive that much (~22k miles on a car I bought in August 2013). My daily roundtrip communite is < 15 miles. Sometimes I work from home on fridays as well. I also don't like "luxury" cars and would NEVER consider buying an M7 or whatever the equivalent Acura might be. I like to keep fixed expenses low.

That said....I wouldn't be surprised if my willpower fails. My wife has been on board since last time I went through this phase, and I was the one who bailed.

Here's the car I'm looking at:
60D AWD
AutoPilot
Interior Upgrade
Cold Weather Package
Blue
Pano Roof
Standard 19" wheels

Cash price 80,000

Amount available in "Tesla Fund" - 17,422
Dealer trade in value of current car - 14,730
Federal Tax Rebate - 7500
State Rebate - none, expires 6/30/2016 (will not order before then even if I decided to)

Effective Loan - Assumed 80k, financed @ 2%, 60 months = 1,400 /mo
If cash on hand and from sale of current car applied before loan - 50k @ 2%, 60 months = 876/mo
Current rate of savings to Tesla fund, 1105/month

Thoughts?

If you can, lease it. Three years with monthly well below $1k/month. Future proof. The math roughly equals ownership for six years and you get the next S when you may be able to buy. That's what I did.

If you can afford, get AP and UHFS.

 

[rjcbox]

Went through similar circumstance, back and forth for a year. One the one hand, waiting benefited me by getting autopilot and 70D option. On the other hand, I missed a year of not enjoying such an awesome car.

 

[GasKilla]

So the obsession continues...

I've gone through about two different "I'm going to get an S" phases. Both times I made the correct decision to not spend four times the amount on a car that I've ever paid before. I currently have a reservation down on a Model 3.

Again I'm feeling the call. I can "afford" this car in that I can afford the payments on it. I can't pay in cash "without selling investments" and wouldn't want to.

Family income solidly in the middle of 100-200k, but wife may not be working after the summer, knocking is down to closer to 100k give or take.

I don't drive that much (~22k miles on a car I bought in August 2013). My daily roundtrip communite is < 15 miles. Sometimes I work from home on fridays as well. I also don't like "luxury" cars and would NEVER consider buying an M7 or whatever the equivalent Acura might be. I like to keep fixed expenses low.

That said....I wouldn't be surprised if my willpower fails. My wife has been on board since last time I went through this phase, and I was the one who bailed.

Here's the car I'm looking at:
60D AWD
AutoPilot
Interior Upgrade
Cold Weather Package
Blue
Pano Roof
Standard 19" wheels

Cash price 80,000

Amount available in "Tesla Fund" - 17,422
Dealer trade in value of current car - 14,730
Federal Tax Rebate - 7500
State Rebate - none, expires 6/30/2016 (will not order before then even if I decided to)

Effective Loan - Assumed 80k, financed @ 2%, 60 months = 1,400 /mo
If cash on hand and from sale of current car applied before loan - 50k @ 2%, 60 months = 876/mo
Current rate of savings to Tesla fund, 1105/month

Thoughts?

Be sure to order by July 15th to take another $1,000 off the purchase price with this link Referral | Tesla Motors hopefully that extra $1,000 off will push you over the edge. Think of it as a free Cold Weather Package. Enjoy your new Tesla!

 

[Xenius]

@GasKilla any rumors on if that deadline will be extended? Not likely to order by July 15th...if I do.

 

[GasKilla]

@GasKilla any rumors on if that deadline will be extended? Not likely to order by July 15th...if I do.

It ends when they say it ends. But they've done it a few different times so it may come back, but you never know.

 

[msnow]

It ends when they say it ends. But they've done it a few different times so it may come back, but you never know.

It's been successful for them. When they want to reach quotas they extend it. I wouldn't worry about it anyway. A thousand bucks on a $100k car is 1%.

 

[RogerHScott]

Not likely to order by July 15th

That's ok. It's not like you'll obsess about Teslas each and every day, dreaming about them at night, have the rest of your
life fall apart due to your inability to concentrate on anything else, or anything like that. Nope, none of that. Just take plenty of time.

 

[v8eater]

I'm not an S owner currently but I'll chime in anyway.

I'm active duty military with just about 23 years in. Started enlisted and became an officer back in 2005. Gross income is currently 122k. My wife works as a personal trainer mainly because she loves it. We don't need or count on her income.

We finally paid off our 12 Explorer in Oct of 15. The truck cost 48k and I put 10k down. Financed at 1.79% and my payments were still over 700/month. The only other consumer debt I have is a stupid CC that we are working (all extra income) on paying off.

I COULD have bought an S back in Oct but decided to get a Volt with the intention of giving it to my daughter in two years. I think this was the right decision for us for many reasons.

1. My son will start college in 2017 so I'll need some extra money toward that I'm thinking (GI bill will pay for most)

2. I'm up for promotion in 2019. As an officer, if you get passed over twice, your out. Didn't want to have the financial burden of a large car payment if that happens.

In the end I'll save and see what shakes out in 2019 career wise. By then I'm planning on having 40k to put down on a car. That should get the payments within reason.

Moral of the story is do what is comfortable for your situation. If you follow Dave Ramsey you wouldn't buy anything unless it was cash money. Very few can afford a S and pay cash.

 

[nexsuperne101]

In UK worth thinking about current government incentives ... if, as seems reasonably likely, they tail off before M3 arrives then that's £5,000 towards the Model S pot now ... plus save £100 a month per 10,000 miles p.a. that you drive (my figures comparing Economy-7 to Petrol and an average MPG ICE) between now and M3 arriving ...

... or just fall back on "Couldn't afford not to have it"

In the UK at the moment, I think the government grant has fallen to £4500. I could throw my leaf at it, which will give me another £8k, plus I can get a £1k discount code from another Tesla owner. I just need to find another £13k to make the £22k shortfall on the "man maths" add up. If I was driving an ICE, then I wouldn't think twice, but the Leaf is really cheap to run, so my "fuel savings" are sod all, whereas the pick up I had previously was costing me £7000 a year on diesel.

 

[nexsuperne101]

Interesting. Have you considered getting the solid white (save 1.5k) instead and AP? I read it was nearly identical to the pear white..?

I would have to have a look at one to see how similar the whites are. AWD is a must. AP can come later. Pano and black leather are not essential but very nice to have. Roads here are full of potholes, so 19" will be a must. Luckily the new style 19"s look good, the originals were hideous. If it was just a bit cheaper (like £50K instead of £62K), then it would be easier to bear.

 

[Nosken]

Do it NOW!
I was on the fence, until I read this post, it made my decision simple. I ordered mine Christmas day 2014. I've had the Tesla Grin ever since March 3, 2015.
Why you should not wait to buy | Tesla Motors

 

[WannabeOwner]

In the UK at the moment, I think the government grant has fallen to £4500

Thanks - sadly falling all the time, whereas I think we should increase / extend the incentive and move as many people to EV as possible (and reduce foreign petro-£ costs / dependence). Currently there is a referral discount too (forgotten how much - £750 perhaps?)

I placed my order on long lead-time (9 months max to still qualify for Government grant, I think). During my wait there were 2 price increases (not applied to my purchase), and I got the full government grant (as at the time of ordering) and the referral-discount that was in place at that time. And got the some of the refresh which was in place by the time car went into production. I was given the option to bring my delivery date forward (presumably to inflate some end-of-accounting-period figures), so my guess is that that would be an option too, if finances were in-order before the lead-time was used up.