How Young is too Young for a Model S?

[dsm363]

Also consider repair costs out of warranty. Could you afford a few thousand dollars to fix something unexpected when the warranty runs out? Which ever way you go, good luck.

 

[Beavis]

After having some health issues, I can confidently say that you only live once. Live without regrets.

 

[efusco]

Nothing personal, but this statement is just ridiculous. If you make $300k a year and can barely afford an S, you have some problems.

Guess it depends upon how you look at it. I invest around 25% (including college savings accounts for my 3 kids), I pay taxes on almost 50% (state and federal), I have 4 mortgages (2 rentals, my primary home and a lake home--we pay around double our monthly minimum on our primary and lake mortgage payments), we travel--quite a lot actually. We have 2 cars purchased with cash. We have no debt other than the 4 homes.

If that sounds like a problem to you, then perhaps you're right. We'll have around $40-45k saved for down payment on the Model S by the time it's delivered this Fall, + the $5k deposit they already have. I'll probably get a $75k-$80k version, so let's estimate $30k I'll have to take a loan on. That is Bad debt and that is why I say it's a huge stretch for us. We hate and have no other bad debt and it is something that will take away from our other long term investments and mortgages until it's paid off.

It depends upon how you look at things. Sure, we could do a 60 month loan and cut back on long term investments and mortgage payments and never blink--but that's going to mean delaying retirement, or taking away from college investments. It's about priorities and how the money is best spent. I have no interest in paying non-deductible interest to anyone. So that's why it's a stretch.

 

[Trnsl8r]

+1. My feeling is if you have to borrow money, then you really can't afford it. The over use of loans and people living beyond their means is what got us into this financial mess in the first place. Now if you elect to borrow money because you believe your ROI on that money will be greater than the interest paid on the loan, well then that's a different story.

+2.

Also, IMHO age is a factor at 23, because any gas savings will be breakfast for the higher insurance premiums...

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Why would he pay California sales tax, too? Afaik, he'd only pay the registration fee. I thought sales tax would only be paid once, not every time you move from one state to another. When I moved to CA, I only had to pay registration fee for my cars, not sales tax.

Right, my bad. Would it be worth establishing residency briefly in Washington or Oregon later this year and buy the car there?! :wink:

SittingMoose, it's not bad at all to aspire to finer things; that could serve as one of the spurs to achieve great things in your life - in fact, cars (and to some extent, electronics) have always been my "weakness" that may have played some small part in my aggressively pursuing a rewarding career.

 

[onlinespending]

Right, my bad. Would it be worth establishing residency briefly in Washington or Oregon later this year and buy the car there?! :wink:

Good idea, though you are charged sales tax in the state you register the car, not at the point of sale. And I believe you'd have to have the car registered in Oregon for over a year before you can register it in California and avoid paying sales tax (or a use tax). I suppose, as you said, that you could establish residency in Oregon somehow, purchase and register it in Oregon, drive it in CA while still registered in Oregon (which is borderline fraud since you'd still be telling your insurance company and Oregon DMV that it's being driven in Oregon), and then finally transfer registration after you'd avoid paying sales tax in CA. Fortunately for me Jersey waives sales tax on all EV purchases. That amounts to $4000 - $5000 saved depending on the options

 

[Lyon]

Get it. Pay it off as quickly as you can and enjoy your youth while driving around picking up environmentally conscious young women (or men, your call). Life's short; youth, even shorter, enjoy it.

 

[Mookuh]

I find myself in a similar situation to Mr Moose (age 24, about to finish my bachelor, wanting a Model S), and I had similar thoughts than to what was mentioned here in the thread:

Disclaimer: This describes my thoughts, influenced by my own situation and might not be directly transferable, so take it with a grain of salt.

Owning a Model S should be precedented by owning a house. Looking at the amount of dirt our (significant other & moi) current Suzuki Swift is subjected to, I wouldn't want to leave a 50-80k vehicle parked roadside. Granted, living at your parents you will likely have a place to stable and charge it, but this brings us to the next point:
While it's more convenient to live with your parents, I found it very 'healthy' for my development to live away from home alone/with my fiancée.
I consider my parents rather liberal and not very demanding (product of having 3 older brothers, heh), but I still enjoy walking into my appartment because it's *my* place. Much more than my room used to be.

On the other hand, you are more likely to change your place of residence while younger / straight out of college, and a Model S is much more easily transfered than a house. Yes, a house can be sold and a new one bought as it's not/less depricable than a car, but it's much less of a hassle to get your car moved than to sell and re-buy, re-furnish and re-decorate a house.

Also, I can't speak for American customs here, but in Germany would be able to run the insurance of my car "on my parents", for the most part, meaning the insurance wouldn't be *that* expensive, tho still noteable.

My current aim is to get a Model S or similar car before I turn 30. This is more of a vision than a real plan, however.

Bottom line: It might be doable at your age, but in my similar situation I give priority to other things.
Also it depends on your driving style. Some people of your (our ) age would not be situated well behind the steering wheel of a vehicle that does 0-60 in 4.4/5.6

(A small anecdote to that: In Germany, the owner of a car will always be liable for anything done with it, even if a different driver is registered for the vehicle. This is to indicate the large amount of responsibility accompanied by owning a car which can, if used reckless, can easily cause a large amount of damage/injury or worse. or so our civil rights Professor told us...)

 

[onlinespending]

there's also too much risk associated with this first gen Model S. Even if Tesla survives and does well as a company, there's likely to be some issues with the Model S. There are always some kinks to work out for practically every new generation of a car, let alone an EV. Just look at the various issues facing the Volt, Karma, etc. My advice, just get whatever car can reliably get you around for now. If anything it'll force you to refine your game with the ladies and not fall back on your car And save up for the 2nd gen Model S, or perhaps some other EV down the road. This may only be a few short years from now and you'll have seen the viability of Tesla and allow them to work out any issues they may have with the first gen Model S.

 

[Citizen-T]

There's some psychology test they do with young kids where they put a cupcake in front of the child and tell them, "You may eat this cupcake if you like; but, if you wait 10 mins, I will give you 2 cupcakes." I don't know all the details, but the short of it is that those kids that can wait the 10 mins tend to be more successful in life.

I'm pretty young too (26), and I'm looking to time my reservation so that I can get my Model S in mid-to-late 2013. I have a very good, stable job, plenty of savings, investments, and max out my retirement account. I bought a house at the end of last year, and at my current rate I'll have my college loans paid off by mid-to-late 2013 just in time to take delivery of my Model S.

I know you want that Model S now, but in your position I'd pass. Maybe later in life you can have two Teslas. :biggrin:

 

[Bearman]

Go for it :love:

 

[Trnsl8r]

I'm always fascinated with what topics resonate with this crowd. :smile:

 

[W.Petefish]

No worries from me. You're never TOO young, (With the exception of being under 18) Or for that matter TOO old to appreciate performance and beauty.

 

[richkae]

Life is too short to spend it saddled with debt.
You are young and have few responsibilities - save the expensive cars for when you have more money than time instead of the other way around.

When thinking about a large purchase, think about all the things you can no longer do because your disposable income is tied up servicing that debt.
If I was 23 again, the most expensive things I would buy would be a backpack and plane tickets.

 

[ElSupreme]

Life is too short to spend it saddled with debt.
You are young and have few responsibilities - save the expensive cars for when you have more money than time instead of the other way around.

When thinking about a large purchase, think about all the things you can no longer do because your disposable income is tied up servicing that debt.
If I was 23 again, the most expensive things I would buy would be a backpack and plane tickets.

And a bicycle! :tongue: Cover more ground faster. Hell I was about 1 month away from selling everything and getting the Peace Corps to buy me a backpack and plane ticket when I was 24.

 

[Andrew Wolfe]

There's some psychology test they do with young kids where they put a cupcake in front of the child and tell them, "You may eat this cupcake if you like; but, if you wait 10 mins, I will give you 2 cupcakes." I don't know all the details, but the short of it is that those kids that can wait the 10 mins tend to be more successful in life.

I'm pretty young too (26), and I'm looking to time my reservation so that I can get my Model S in mid-to-late 2013. I have a very good, stable job, plenty of savings, investments, and max out my retirement account. I bought a house at the end of last year, and at my current rate I'll have my college loans paid off by mid-to-late 2013 just in time to take delivery of my Model S.

I know you want that Model S now, but in your position I'd pass. Maybe later in life you can have two Teslas. :biggrin:

In the original tests it was a marshmallow, and yes, deferred gratification was very highly correlated with later success. I don' t know that anyone has performed a similar test with 23 year olds

 

[ElSupreme]

In the original tests it was a marshmallow, and yes, deferred gratification was very highly correlated with later success. I don' t know that anyone has performed a similar test with 23 year olds

I am a 'take the money and run' sort of person. But even as a kid I would be able to hold off 10 minutes for a marshmallow, I disliked them. :biggrin:
I consider myself a success, so it all works out. Plus I am here discussing buying an expensive automobile ad-nauseam a year before I can even buy it, so I might actually be sucessful. :wink:

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

But if you only want one marshmallow?

 

[ElSupreme]

But if you only want one marshmallow?

You don't possess the 'good greed' gene and won't ever make obscene amounts of money. QED not sucessfull! :tongue:

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I don't want to make obscene amounts of money, just have obscene amounts of greed-free fun!
And I didn't eat the first marshmallow(roadster?), I have patience and am waiting for the second. (since march '10 or so)
the first marshmallow was small anyways and I want one I can toast over the fire with some friends... a Smarshmallow

Greedy people suck