My best answer is where do you want to send your money, Saudi Arabia, or Silicon Valley?
Andrew
Model S #6151, Model 3 #1576
I've done a fair amount of reading on happiness and Positive Psychology over the years, and there are two key maxims that I keep coming across over and over again. If you want to be happy:
1. Be grateful.
2. Spend money on experiences, not things.
Driving our Model S still makes me giddy every single time - even after 50,000 miles. It's far less a thing than it is an experience. And for that, I'm outrageously grateful.
As a side note: Back in 2013/2014, I noticed a lot of Porsche Panameras on the road in Los Angeles. Every time I saw a new one, I thought, why the heck didn't they buy a Tesla? Today, I don't even remember the last time I saw a Panamera.
1. Be grateful.
2. Spend money on experiences, not things.
Driving our Model S still makes me giddy every single time - even after 50,000 miles. It's far less a thing than it is an experience. And for that, I'm outrageously grateful.
As a side note: Back in 2013/2014, I noticed a lot of Porsche Panameras on the road in Los Angeles. Every time I saw a new one, I thought, why the heck didn't they buy a Tesla? Today, I don't even remember the last time I saw a Panamera.
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Xenius
Active Member
I'm incredibly grateful that we're in a position where we could manage to buy a model S. And I'm also extremely grateful for the many positive people I've met at all the meetups I've now been to. It's a fantastic community and I'm excited to see it get larger with the model 3 coming out in larger numbers.
Bring on the 3, the Y, the semi, the truck and whatever other vehicle Tesla is going to convert from ordinary to extraordinary.
RedOctober
Member
Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks lke this. I have asked some of these people why they never bought a Tesla and here are a few answers.
1- the company is going to fold and you will be stuck with the car without a manufacturer
2- can’t put hydro in a can if you run out of power
3- I don’t want to drive a golf cart
4- waiting for the bugs to be worked out
Now there are others like price and range fear. The day these same people purchase an EV will be the day they made the right decision, until then it’s just silly to buy one.
When the electric car gets its power from coal, it is no using oil. Many of the countries that are awash in oil, are out enemies and/or support terrorism, e.g., Iran, Venezuela, Russia. When we use less oil, the world price of oil drops, and that hurts the countries that use their oil revenues to make this world a less safe place.
Eclectic
Member
Too bad that's totally misleading. The US imports only about a quarter of the petroleum used and the biggest source of those imports is Canada, not Saudi Arabia. And Silicon Valley doesn't generate the electricity used in an EV.
Pinot.Noir
Member
My 83 year old neighbor walked over to see my 100D the day I bought it, and broke out into a little dance when she saw it was a Tesla. She kept saying "my neighbor has a Tesla, my neighbor has a Tesla" during her jig. Pretty funny.
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
A few guys at work are gear heads and they say they would never buy an EV because you can't modify them. These guys are addicted to mods. Headers, superchargers, cold air intakes, tuner chips, etc. etc. I tell them you don't need to modify EVs because they are already fast but they just love the mod game.
AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
So she asks "Why". Does not sound like a challenge, but a request for information.
I got in line to buy a M3. Read these Forum pages like an addict and got so, so, intensively sold on the M3 that I asked myself Why. The answer came- the MS has a reputation, and I presume the M3 will live up to all the things the Legend is displaying. Well, why not just get the Legend and stop waiting? I did, and can not recall when I've had so much fun sharing the experiences with others. I am indeed grateful for the sled in my garage.
I don't care if anyone else buys one and gets the Tesla Grin. Wont change my life a bit. Except it is fun to see others driving down the road, and meeting Grinners, and chatting with them at various places....OK, I think the World need more happy people and I've yet to meet an unhappy Grinner. It just might change my life a bit!!
I got in line to buy a M3. Read these Forum pages like an addict and got so, so, intensively sold on the M3 that I asked myself Why. The answer came- the MS has a reputation, and I presume the M3 will live up to all the things the Legend is displaying. Well, why not just get the Legend and stop waiting? I did, and can not recall when I've had so much fun sharing the experiences with others. I am indeed grateful for the sled in my garage.
I don't care if anyone else buys one and gets the Tesla Grin. Wont change my life a bit. Except it is fun to see others driving down the road, and meeting Grinners, and chatting with them at various places....OK, I think the World need more happy people and I've yet to meet an unhappy Grinner. It just might change my life a bit!!
Yep I am in the same boat as you, in fact I never want to spend that kind of cash on a car ever again! I tell people I had to sell a kidney, and my kids kidneys as well
. Having said that, road tripping over the holidays with the Model X started so many great conversations I felt that opportunity for outreach was very worth while and dispelling some of the myths about fully electric cars.
nuclearfusion
Member
I'm from Oz. My neighbour is delaying replacing his Audi to get a Tesla Model 3.
Some background. Australia has the highest per capita roof top solar and the world's largest battery - Tesla of course. BUT we are the LOWEST per capita developed country for EVs. WHY? There is almost no government support for EVs.
My neighbour's interested because he's impressed by the 21st Century credentials of the Model 3. Lined up against his Audi (he normally replaces when warranty concludes) he likes the performance, the over-the-air updates and nightly refuelling from his roof-top solar. I'm just a reservationist - delivery some time in 2019 - and neither he nor I have owned an EV because until now their range was impractical and/or they were unaffordable.
Like me he's extremely concerned that, without action, we will leave our grand-children a bitter heritage of global climate devastation for which future generations will hold our generation responsible - both individually and collectively.
It's ironic that as the US east coast battles massive snow storms authorities here have issued catastrophic level fire warnings. Both events, of course reflecting the ever increasing levels of energy in the global climate system.
Some background. Australia has the highest per capita roof top solar and the world's largest battery - Tesla of course. BUT we are the LOWEST per capita developed country for EVs. WHY? There is almost no government support for EVs.
My neighbour's interested because he's impressed by the 21st Century credentials of the Model 3. Lined up against his Audi (he normally replaces when warranty concludes) he likes the performance, the over-the-air updates and nightly refuelling from his roof-top solar. I'm just a reservationist - delivery some time in 2019 - and neither he nor I have owned an EV because until now their range was impractical and/or they were unaffordable.
Like me he's extremely concerned that, without action, we will leave our grand-children a bitter heritage of global climate devastation for which future generations will hold our generation responsible - both individually and collectively.
It's ironic that as the US east coast battles massive snow storms authorities here have issued catastrophic level fire warnings. Both events, of course reflecting the ever increasing levels of energy in the global climate system.
Drove Jaguars for 30 years. Walked by a Tesla storefront and went inside. Was blown away by the technology. Made appointment for a test drive and the rest is history. My wife calls it a SKI car (spend the kids inheritance), I call it a great deal of fun.
Originally, I thought that completely, with only some minor hope that since there were so many fewer moving parts, the car might last a long time and that would allow me to keep it longer. Thus the comparison might be one Model S vs. two Audis.
But there has already been a surprise I hadn't planned for: regenerative breaking means my break pads and calipers don't wear nearly as fast. They were expensive to replace on my Audi S4 (V8). So there are more -- significant -- operational savings costs (besides the electric vs. gas, lack of oil changes, etc. that I'd already counted on).
But that said, cold financial analysis aside, Tesla built a super-car that even I could afford (granted, still expensive), that seats 5 (7 with child seats) and has a bloody hatch-back, which I love. Usually a Swiss Army knife approach means it does many things but nothing well. The Model S (also one of the safest cars on the road) does everything well and better than cars focused on specific things. Absolutely amazing.
David29
Supporting Member
Tell him you are a big fan of Consumer Reports because they have a long history of being totally objective, and that they rated the Model S as the best sedan they ever tested in their entire history, and that when you tried it you fell in love with the car and had to have it!
AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
I have spent a great deal of money on beautiful cars and fast women--
I thought it was fast cars and beautiful women [but then again I'm dyslectic]. Come to think back - it was the fast women that brought a lot of grief to my wallet, but contributed vastly to the grin. Kinda like now - wallet hurts, but the grin is fantastic!! and I'm back to a fast car. Women are ageing, like me, and not so beautiful on the outside. And like a fine wine that ages - some turn to vinegar.
This definitely works. I don't even mention environmental benefits anymore. Although I do mention the benefit of using the extra 1MWh of juice I generated last year from solar
It's like free gas.
