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Life is all about your mental health and outlook. The Tesla Model S is the best Therapy that money can buy. If you have a ****** day at work, just jump into your Model S and life will be all good once again! You can not put a price on safety and your mental health. With this in mind, if you will stress out on the cost or anything else about the purchase....I recommend to not buy it.:smile:
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
I guess the thread title makes me disqualified to answer the question, since I’ve never been able to spend that amount of money on a car. 
But if I may…
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the Tesla financing reminder evme brought up in post #8, but it feels like there are to many unknowns for me to be able to comment on that one.
So that option aside: It seems the choice you two are facing boils down to:
Is the risk of financing about 75% of the car worth all the good things that come from buying a Model S, and as you yourself have stated (getting off gas/oil (in Post #13)). And also perhaps the P acceleration that you seem to be somewhat fond of, and which you also seem to be able to justify by going the used car route.
No matter how ethical and moral all the good things that come with getting of oil and gas in a Model S are – if they down the road somehow end up placing you in a financial pinch, then I can of course see how that can complicate things.
It seems to very much be a very personal decision that only the two of you can make.
But if I may…
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the Tesla financing reminder evme brought up in post #8, but it feels like there are to many unknowns for me to be able to comment on that one.
So that option aside: It seems the choice you two are facing boils down to:
Is the risk of financing about 75% of the car worth all the good things that come from buying a Model S, and as you yourself have stated (getting off gas/oil (in Post #13)). And also perhaps the P acceleration that you seem to be somewhat fond of, and which you also seem to be able to justify by going the used car route.
No matter how ethical and moral all the good things that come with getting of oil and gas in a Model S are – if they down the road somehow end up placing you in a financial pinch, then I can of course see how that can complicate things.
It seems to very much be a very personal decision that only the two of you can make.
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sub - You are very rational in your process, now's the time to let that sit and trust your heart. If you trust your heart and buy the car and then something goes wrong that makes you need to get out of it, no worries, you are now selling the most desirable car on the market. You'll be buying way more than a car too, what price history? I seriously get joy thinking like that every day.
Since the loaner discount is $1 per mile, a P85 loaner with many more options than an S85 would have to have well over 10000 miles on it, and loaner miles tend to be harder in the car the owner miles.
That kind of mileage put the car pretty heavily in the used car category for me (even if legally it was never titled)
RoverS
Banned
buying THINGS, especially cars, does not help save the planet. there is an extraordinary amount of raw materials and energy that go into making a Tesla. 99% of the environmental impact of an ICE car.
please, people, larger picture --- you can never help the environment by BUYING THINGS. that's what companies try to get you to believe, but it is not true. the only way you can help the planet is to NOT BUY THINGS. walk or ride a bike to work. even riding a bus is many orders of magnitude better for the environment than buying a Tesla. or a Prius. or anything else.
yes, i'm saying this after buying two new cars in a year, one that gets 14mpg. however, i'm not claiming i'm saving the planet either. i bought the Tesla because it's a great car, period. nothing environmental about the decision at all.
Owner
Active Member
I completely agree that buying less is the first thing for the environment. And in the US we buy far far too much stuff.
But in the US, we also live in a country that was built around the automobile. I do not live anywhere near public transportation, and in non-urban areas walking/biking everywhere are simply not viable all the time.
I had a 14 year old car that I needed to replace with I think 150K miles, so I did need a new car. And with solar panels an electric car really was an environmental choice. I put down my Roadster deposit gosh 8 years ago? in order to move this electric car technology forward.
But in the US, we also live in a country that was built around the automobile. I do not live anywhere near public transportation, and in non-urban areas walking/biking everywhere are simply not viable all the time.
I had a 14 year old car that I needed to replace with I think 150K miles, so I did need a new car. And with solar panels an electric car really was an environmental choice. I put down my Roadster deposit gosh 8 years ago? in order to move this electric car technology forward.
SwedishAdvocate
Active Member
May I ask where you got that percentage?
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May I also ask: Specifically what make and model is that ICE car?
Gizmotoy
Active Member
I'll probably be flamed, but IMO, there is no way for most people to justify the purchase of a $95k car. It's something you want, and you just accept you're paying a lot of money for something you want. Essentially $50k evaporates into the air over your first three years (offset slightly by reduced energy/maintenance costs).
Certainly there are some shining exceptions in this thread. If your household is 100% generated from renewable with enough headroom to charge the car, and you require the range/storage of the Model S, you can justify it for staying green. Or maybe you have an extreme hatred of oil and can't stand using gas for one more month, and require the range/storage of the Model S, maybe you can justify it. Maybe you were going to spend $100k on a car no matter what, then you could probably justify it.
Otherwise, in a year or two it would be much easier to justify a slightly used Model S (let someone else take the giant financial hit) or Model E.
Certainly there are many things that help soften the blow (great for families, great safety record, no more gas stations, always full, and so on), but I find it pretty hard to say that even when combined that they overcome that ~$40k loss.
Certainly there are some shining exceptions in this thread. If your household is 100% generated from renewable with enough headroom to charge the car, and you require the range/storage of the Model S, you can justify it for staying green. Or maybe you have an extreme hatred of oil and can't stand using gas for one more month, and require the range/storage of the Model S, maybe you can justify it. Maybe you were going to spend $100k on a car no matter what, then you could probably justify it.
Otherwise, in a year or two it would be much easier to justify a slightly used Model S (let someone else take the giant financial hit) or Model E.
Certainly there are many things that help soften the blow (great for families, great safety record, no more gas stations, always full, and so on), but I find it pretty hard to say that even when combined that they overcome that ~$40k loss.
My intention was not to start arguments with this thread, nor have people make the decision for me. My question was how did you justify buying the car for yourself, hoping to get different perspectives from my own. Maybe using the word "justified" is the issue, maybe I should have said "thought process". I agree, there is no way to justify a 95k car. Of course there is a significant percentage of "want" in this decision. To try and answer some of the questions:
A leaf will not work, wife does trips of 300-500 miles over 1-2 days 3-4x a month. I live in the foothills of California, I couldn't even make it to the next closest town and back in a leaf. There is no public transportation here either, not an option. It's a 220 mile round trip to the nearest airport, I want her to be able to make that without charging.
Some people have not read the entire thread, I have solar that I paid cash for, 8kw system. I have had it for about 5 months and it took about 2 months for PG&E and my contractor to get all the paperwork done, so I lost some of my excess power. Since that has been completed, and correct me if i'm wrong please, I've turned the meter backwards about 2300 kwh? I think i'm producing more than enough to power a model S with my solar, I think I make enough to charge it from empty to full 2-3 times a week. When not using AC we use about 15kwh a day. Yes, I understand my power production will decrease through the winter, I will still have excess.
I'm looking at getting a loaner, Tesla is smart in that most loaners and marketing cars are PERFORMANCE. I know there are some standards, but not many. We need a car now, and by buying a loaner it brings the price down enough so I can get a performance. Yes, it's $1.00 per mile but it's also 1% a month from production (vins I have looked at range from 9,--- to 12,7--). The cars I had looked at on the list had approximately 5-6k miles on them. Think about it, if you have a performance and you have that many miles on it, how much could you sell it for right now? We know that as soon as you drive a new car off the lot the price drops significantly initially then it's a slow decline from there. Yes, the cars have taken some use, the loaners not as much as the marketing cars so I will try and get one of those if I decide to do it. To balance that, I'm not getting hit with that big depreciation the first week. Warranty is as new and probably a lot of the little issues have been taken care of, so there is some upside. Of course I would prefer to have a brand new car for the same price! If I buy an ICE it will also be used.
I hope this makes it more clear, but I think I've already made most of these points. There is no way to justify a car that costs more than the absolute minimum and gets you to where you need to be, so even a 10k car is unjustifiable when a 1k car will get you there. I hear this argument from people that can't afford a model S and are against the company and EV's, their comment is "it's a rich mans car". They for some reason think their 20k car makes them a better person, but not to the person that can barely afford a bus pass.
I call BS on the claims that a Tesla is harder on the environment including emissions, especially when powering from Solar. Yes, I get that i'm using the grid technically to charge the car at night but during the day someone else is using my excess solar, wash. My wife and I both work from home when she is not traveling so the car will be charged during the day if needed.
A leaf will not work, wife does trips of 300-500 miles over 1-2 days 3-4x a month. I live in the foothills of California, I couldn't even make it to the next closest town and back in a leaf. There is no public transportation here either, not an option. It's a 220 mile round trip to the nearest airport, I want her to be able to make that without charging.
Some people have not read the entire thread, I have solar that I paid cash for, 8kw system. I have had it for about 5 months and it took about 2 months for PG&E and my contractor to get all the paperwork done, so I lost some of my excess power. Since that has been completed, and correct me if i'm wrong please, I've turned the meter backwards about 2300 kwh? I think i'm producing more than enough to power a model S with my solar, I think I make enough to charge it from empty to full 2-3 times a week. When not using AC we use about 15kwh a day. Yes, I understand my power production will decrease through the winter, I will still have excess.
I'm looking at getting a loaner, Tesla is smart in that most loaners and marketing cars are PERFORMANCE. I know there are some standards, but not many. We need a car now, and by buying a loaner it brings the price down enough so I can get a performance. Yes, it's $1.00 per mile but it's also 1% a month from production (vins I have looked at range from 9,--- to 12,7--). The cars I had looked at on the list had approximately 5-6k miles on them. Think about it, if you have a performance and you have that many miles on it, how much could you sell it for right now? We know that as soon as you drive a new car off the lot the price drops significantly initially then it's a slow decline from there. Yes, the cars have taken some use, the loaners not as much as the marketing cars so I will try and get one of those if I decide to do it. To balance that, I'm not getting hit with that big depreciation the first week. Warranty is as new and probably a lot of the little issues have been taken care of, so there is some upside. Of course I would prefer to have a brand new car for the same price! If I buy an ICE it will also be used.
I hope this makes it more clear, but I think I've already made most of these points. There is no way to justify a car that costs more than the absolute minimum and gets you to where you need to be, so even a 10k car is unjustifiable when a 1k car will get you there. I hear this argument from people that can't afford a model S and are against the company and EV's, their comment is "it's a rich mans car". They for some reason think their 20k car makes them a better person, but not to the person that can barely afford a bus pass.
I call BS on the claims that a Tesla is harder on the environment including emissions, especially when powering from Solar. Yes, I get that i'm using the grid technically to charge the car at night but during the day someone else is using my excess solar, wash. My wife and I both work from home when she is not traveling so the car will be charged during the day if needed.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
This is true, however, I think that many potential Tesla owners would never buy a Porsche, BMW, Audi, or Mercedes because they cannot justify the cost. Tesla is definitely drawing from a slightly different crowd, and some/many may need more justification than is typical in the high-end automotive space.
Basically this. A used car is really the way to go if just looking at numbers. Model S becomes more than just numbers. It is American made, safe , fast, cool looking and he future on top of being fun to drive and energy efficient. Total package. Not a perfect car but hits almost every category and scores well.
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