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I want to buy a roadster.. what options are desirable?

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I want to buy a roadster..probably wont drive it much. What options or model year are people finding desirable? Sorry i know little about the car except i do own a MX and i want a very low mileage roadster.
 
Have you actually driven or ridden in a Roadster?
Might be best to have that out of the way first.

Their seating is very low to the ground, the suspension and steering is very direct and the headroom/legroom be less than adequate for taller folks.
But they are light, quick and very agile cars.
And the top does come off -- a true convertible.

Side note: I spent this morning in the company of TWO Red Roadsters @ Plano Cars and Coffee.
 
The most important option decision is whether to get one with the original or 3.0 battery. It's by far the most expensive option on the car. It's got plusses and minuses that are well documented here. The plusses are (obviously) longer range, as well as somewhat better performance. The minuses are added expense (it's a $30K option) and some question as to how quickly and how much the new battery will degrade (which is very well documented but still inconclusive).

Second is whether you want a 1.5 or 2.0/2.5 version of the car. The 1.5 has the VDS screen on the left, a gear shift lever, a separate tach but no power gauge and no glove box. The 2.0/2.5 is opposite on all of those things.

Third is if you get the 2.0/2.5 whether you want sport or base. Sport adds a little low end torque.

Then there are various interior options (different colors of leather, single vs. double din for the radio, carbon fiber accents). And, of course, the paint color.

But the truth is that there just aren't that many on the market for you to get a lot of choice, so really you'll pretty much just get to decide "do I want this one, or should I wait?"

The advice to drive one before buying is also very good. While most of us love our Roadsters, this is not a car for everyone. It's got some very rough edges, and it's hard to explain just how small it is until you've experienced it first hand.

Also, be very careful of scams. There are painfully many examples of them. Check the Roadster Orphan thread here, folks have a pretty good idea of what's real and what's a ripoff.

And good luck! They're amazing cars.
 
Roadsters were hand-built, and often modified by prior owners, so you will find each one has a unique personality. I recommend deciding on your high-level priorities (1.5 vs 2.0 vs 2.5, standard or sport, color schemes, etc.), then start searching. Be patient. Check out the next level of details on what you find, especially maintenance and logs if you can get them. When "your" car turns up, you will know it.
 
As mentioned first by bonnie in this thread, the most important thing to do is isolate why you want one while remaining within the context of not driving much:

a) future collectible (untouched)
b) a roadster, that when I you do drive it, you want the best performance absolutely possible (modifications are fine, sport will be worth it)
c) just want a good reliable roadster to drive (midway between a and b)

For such a small production car, there are a variety of viewpoints on what makes the best roadster. It
is highly individual.
For example, if you want a max collectible, you may go for a founder's (or at least a 1.5) with ultra low mileage, an iconic color and assume a possible reliability risk. For a more reliable roadster, you may want one that the previous owner drove a decent amount
and had problems sorted out with Tesla and upgrades/replacements installed.

I bought mine from someone I could trust with a great paper trail
who complained a lot when things did not work right and had items fixed early on under warranty. Not
a huge assortment of cars to personally see out in the northeast, so my options were limited, but
I am very pleased what i ended up with (I only had one restriction, it had to be a 2.0 vs 1.5 or 2.5 and a bright color
so I hopefully reduce my chance a bit of getting annihilated on the highway as we are so small). Just personal taste as
I am sure you will develop.

As with all cars, paper trail is key, know the repair and location history of the car. Be careful of strange gaps in history.
Then follow the other great advice in this thread and especially the forum. I read the forum 1-2 years before I bought mine,
it's required reading and the best education before you buy one ;)


Enjoy the process!
 
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I am leaning towards a founder’s edition without miles or modification. I don’t think I will drive it much when I have a MX. Thanks for the help. If you guys know where I can find one let me know

There are only 27 Founders' Roadsters in existence and a Founders' seems to pop up only every couple of years and they sell quickly. These cars were only sold to Tesla insiders and early investors. My best advice would be to regularly check all sources including TMC classifieds, AutoTrader, Cars.com, Craigslist, etc so you can get to it before the next guy. There are 100 Signature Roadsters in the US, and it seems that a Signature makes it on the market almost once a year. Most Founders' cars and many Signature cars were originally owned by celebrities and prominent company executives.

I believe the rarest special edition Roadster is the Final Five, which consists of the last 5 Roadster Sports in the US. I don't recall ever seeing one for sale and have no idea how much of a premium it'll command over a regular 2.5 Sport.
 
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Good point about the rarity of the final 5! (I assume there are the engineering and validation prototypes to include as ultra rare)

For desirability, a 2.x sport is clearly greater than the base, but remember the production numbers of the 2.x base were actually slightly less than 2.x sport (according to TEG's table), so the sports are not tremendously rare.

A fully optioned interior/exterior carbon fiber sport 2.5 in either an iconic or ultra rare color with a great paperwork trail may be a good choice as a next step after the others as a good collector...
 
I know I am biased but I like the 1.5 as there was some decontenting done to move to the 2.x such as:

· Carbon fiber center console and trunk well.
· Military grade quick connections on PEM
· Adjustable lumbar in seats that are also slightly thinner for about 1” more headroom
· VDS display by door (charging settings) is easily reached without having to climb in the car
· Full performance power is the default driving mode
· Storage shelf that is much larger than 2.x glove box
· Reliable TPMS

One big difference is the 2.x had sound dampening but that was an option that could be added after the fact as it was with my Roadster. The Sports are faster and have the adjustable suspension. But for full power you need to set the driving made to performance and do this each time you start the car. If you do not change to performance mode then the sport is actually slower than the 1.5.
 
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That is interesting, my early 2.0 trunk well is carbon fiber. Were these phased out in 2.0 or 2.5?

By the way, very sorry to see you are selling!

My guess they used the last of the carbon fiber trunks and then switched to plastic. So I assume you have an early 2.0.

As to me selling, I am not sure I really will. I have yet to have anyone give me a credible offer :). Unfortunately it is challenging for my wife with less than ideal knees to get in or out and to drive it. So it would be good to have a car we can both easily drive. But if no-one offers the asking price I will be here for the long haul, which really is not a bad thing. :)
 
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