How Can I sway the better half?

[ModelS8794]

We typically have a sizeable cash position in our bank accounts but right now that isn't the case due to the spending on the Solar and investing in TSLA, so that makes her feel a bit uneasy.

This may well be the real issue then. Settle the rest of your finances (sell the TSLA? aggressively save for the next few months?) so you feel comfortable again with your emergency fund cash position, and then revisit the new car needs/wants questions with a more focused perspective.

(easier said than done... must. have. car. NOWWWWW :love: )

 

[kendallpb]

Her response when I talk about the numbers is "I see that the numbers make sense, but I can't get over the fact that it's a 90k car!".

It's only a 90k car if you make it so. Would it make sense to compromise on price (i.e., on features!) to get to a lower price that she might be more comfortable? "Now how much would you pay?" as the game show would say. Could you--heck, could she!--bear to give up some options? You didn't mention your preferred options. (I realize this may not really be all that negotiable down to a significantly lower price.)

Another possibility--a not-quite-new one from Tesla (from people trading up, etc.). I think a few people have already bought lightly-used ones from Tesla; you may want to just drop a line to them and keep checking back till something close to what you want's available. It'd be cheaper than new.

If not, I'm surprised you're considering a regular gas or diesel car; surely you could find a used hybrid, to at least get partway? Maybe even a plug-in hybrid?

 

[sub]

Thanks for all the replied. My wife did read through some of this thread, I think it helped. We talked last night and the main issue is our unusual low cash reserves. We both agreed once we have that built back up it won't be an issue to pull the trigger. In the mean time it looks like I will be putting a little more money into our old wagon and hoping it will survive another 6-12 months. She can do a rental car on the trips that are a but more remote.

 

[texex91]

Thanks for all the replied. My wife did read through some of this thread, I think it helped. We talked last night and the main issue is our unusual low cash reserves. We both agreed once we have that built back up it won't be an issue to pull the trigger. In the mean time it looks like I will be putting a little more money into our old wagon and hoping it will survive another 6-12 months. She can do a rental car on the trips that are a but more remote.

Bummer...oh well, you can sleep well knowing you tried.

Maybe the X will be out when your ready.

In the mean time a few test drives may still do the trick longer term.

 

[Lloyd]

By that time also there should be a better used market. It might be better for you to find one that is a year or so old and already lost the ugly 1st year of depreciation!

 

[sub]

By that time also there should be a better used market. It might be better for you to find one that is a year or so old and already lost the ugly 1st year of depreciation!

Yes I've considered this, wouldn't mind picking up a used one if a few come available. Ideally I would like to get a good look at the X first, just need our current vehicle to survive long enough.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Happy to hear a Model S seems to be in yours and Mrs. Sub’s future! Well done both of you!

 

[Auzie]

Her response when I talk about the numbers is "I see that the numbers make sense, but I can't get over the fact that it's a 90k car!".

This response is telling. It reveals your wife's mind set.

Years ago, I was trapped in a similar mind set and drove unapeealing cheap cars with hefty maintenance issues. My spell was broken by my son, he just said: Mum, you do not have to drive these old cars, you can afford much better car. Not sure how he broke the spell with these words, but I bought Audi after that. Here in Australia Audi is much more expensive that in US or Europe.

In my case I think the mind set of not spending too much money on a car was due to my personal financial insecurity and job insecurity. Perhaps if you can understand what causes your wife to feel the way she feels about $90K car you might have a better chance of addressing the underlying reason head on. Once the spell is broken your wife will accept that she can afford to drive a good expensive car. Good luck and let us know how you go.

 

[sub]

Having issues posting on my iphone, hope I haven't done multiple posts. Anyways, I may be ordering a model S soon after all. I may have got caught selling calls on my TSLA stock. If we are going to take the tax hit it makes sense to order now to recoup some of that in addition to reasons I've mentioned previously. Stay tuned.

 

[texex91]

Having issues posting on my iphone, hope I haven't done multiple posts. Anyways, I may be ordering a model S soon after all. I may have got caught selling calls on my TSLA stock. If we are going to take the tax hit it makes sense to order now to recoup some of that in addition to reasons I've mentioned previously. Stay tuned.

That didn't take long :biggrin:

 

[neroden]

My wife recently got a new job with a hefty raise but she is traveling more, probably 1000-1500 miles a month (reimbursed by employer). Our current vehicles are a 13 year old 3 series wagon and a 20 year old Landcruiser that I use for towing and snow duty as well as short trips around town as my DD. Both vehicles have 150k+ miles.

Your wife drives a lot -- the gas savings on an electric car are likely to be more than $20,000 / year. You don't drive outside the range of the car -- so there's no practical downside to the car. You are the ideal market for the Tesla Model S.

Yes, you need to keep a cash cushion in case of emergencies. If you're uncomfortable with reducing your cash level, then finance the car while keeping enough cash to pay off the loan at any time. Essentially you'll be paying interest in order to have a larger cash cushion.

Alternatively, if you have the ability, you may wish to find a way to get access to a low-interest-rate line of credit by some other means; if you have a lot of stocks you can often get good rates on margin loans, for instance. You wouldn't plan to *use* the credit, but it would be an alternative to holding lots of cash in case of emergencies.

I will say this: if you're concerned about economics, skip a bunch of the options. Don't get "Performance". Get the cheapest 19" wheels. The 85 battery is likely to be worth it if you need to drive long distances. Everyone loves the tech package. I still think dual chargers ("high power home charging") are worth it, though possibly not if you plan to stay in California all the time. Air suspension, parking sensors, and fog lamps may be useful to you or may not be. The rest of the options are mostly cosmetic, and they're *expensive* cosmetic options, so you can cut the final price down a lot by avoiding them. With California tax incentives, you can keep the final out-the-door price below $90,000.

 

[dsm363]

Having issues posting on my iphone, hope I haven't done multiple posts. Anyways, I may be ordering a model S soon after all. I may have got caught selling calls on my TSLA stock. If we are going to take the tax hit it makes sense to order now to recoup some of that in addition to reasons I've mentioned previously. Stay tuned.

A pre-Congrats! Definitely get 85kWh and twin chargers/HPWC.

 

[sub]

well, it was not the plan. I still have time for things to turn around, I would rather not get hit with this tax bill. It's nice to know if I do we will probably buy the Model S though, Win Win.

 

[David_Cary]

Your wife drives a lot -- the gas savings on an electric car are likely to be more than $20,000 / year. You don't drive outside the range of the car -- so there's no practical downside to the car. You are the ideal market for the Tesla Model S.

Yes, you need to keep a cash cushion in case of emergencies. If you're uncomfortable with reducing your cash level, then finance the car while keeping enough cash to pay off the loan at any time. Essentially you'll be paying interest in order to have a larger cash cushion.

Alternatively, if you have the ability, you may wish to find a way to get access to a low-interest-rate line of credit by some other means; if you have a lot of stocks you can often get good rates on margin loans, for instance. You wouldn't plan to *use* the credit, but it would be an alternative to holding lots of cash in case of emergencies.

I will say this: if you're concerned about economics, skip a bunch of the options. Don't get "Performance". Get the cheapest 19" wheels. The 85 battery is likely to be worth it if you need to drive long distances. Everyone loves the tech package. I still think dual chargers ("high power home charging") are worth it, though possibly not if you plan to stay in California all the time. Air suspension, parking sensors, and fog lamps may be useful to you or may not be. The rest of the options are mostly cosmetic, and they're *expensive* cosmetic options, so you can cut the final price down a lot by avoiding them. With California tax incentives, you can keep the final out-the-door price below $90,000.

$20,000 a year?!? What was described is 15k miles/year - even at 15 mpg - you get $4500 a year. Bump to an a 30 mpg car (like most BMWs on the highway) and you have $2250 - maybe you missed a decimel.

 

[sub]

Our cash position is only short term, plus I have the stock to back us up and I have a margin account if the sky fell. It's really not a stretch for us financially, we have enough extra funds a year to buy the car cash. I didn't want to pull money out of TSLA if I didn't have to and I just dropped a large sum on our solar so we need a few months to replenish.

The build I was looking at doing to keep the price in a range I can live with:

85kwh
Tech
Fog lights
Parking sensors (for resale if ever, don't need them but they aren't expensive)
Standard suspension (We are use to driving our 3 series wagon with sport package, very low and we have no issues. Never wished I had air suspension in the wagon either).
Standard wheels, I would like the new 19 inch cyclone but I can buy those down the road or do aftermarket if I see something I like
Panoramic roof ( I like the open feel plus the head room in the back seat)
Paint: Wife Likes Grey, I prefer white, so we will be getting grey
black leather interior.

I think we can get by just fine without the twin chargers and the HPWC. If that turns out not to be the case, I believe those can be added afterwards with a slight price increase, I'm willing to take that risk.

I think this build comes out to about 89k. Will have to see how the stock plays out, Looks like it's 50/50 at this point.

 

[Crispix]

Great choices on the car design. I like it all.

 

[sub]

Wanted to give an update. We have been going back and forth on our car situation with more
problems popping up with our current vehicle. I talked my wife into another test drive then our plan (not really) was to
go look at ice cars. We were lucky enough to get back to back test drives in a standard 85 and a p85. I then spent time talking to the salesman and we went over the available loaner/marketing car availability list. If we pull the trigger now I want the car before the end of the year for tax purposes, doubt there is enough time to order if I wait 2-3 weeks.

after driving back to back and seeing the cost discount on the loaners, I'm more than happy to save some money and buy a performance and get it most likely within a week.

when we got back in our car to leave I asked my wife if we were still going to look at other cars and she said she wasn't interested. I think she is on board to buy a performance loaner in 2-3 weeks. I want to wait until the Q3 ER before selling a portion of my stock for the purchase. If the stock tanks I probably won't move forward but I expect a reasonable move up.

I'll report back if we make the purchase. Thanks for the help.

 

[DIL]

Wanted to give an update. We have been going back and forth on our car situation with more
problems popping up with our current vehicle. I talked my wife into another test drive then our plan (not really) was to
go look at ice cars. We were lucky enough to get back to back test drives in a standard 85 and a p85. I then spend time talking to the salesman and we went over the available loaner/marketing car availability list. If we pull the trigger now I want the car before the end of the year for tax purposes, doubt there is enough time to order if I wait 2-3 weeks.

after driving back to back and seeing the cost discount on the loaners, I'm more than happy to save some money and buy a performance and get it most likely within a week.

when we got back in out car to leave I asked my wife if we were still going to look at other cars and she said she wasn't interested. I think she is on board to buy a performance loaner in 2-3 weeks. I want to wait until the Q3 ER before selling a portion of my stock for the purchase. If the stock tanks I probably won't move forward but I expect a reasonable move up.

I'll report back if we make the purchase. Thanks for the help.

sounds like success to me!