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Is there anywhere to see production stats on Roadsters?

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I'm beginning what I'm sure will be a long search for a new (to me) Roadster, and it's difficult to decide what I should hold out for and what's too rare to be realistic. For instance, my dream Roadster would be yellow with the black CF hood, but if there was only one of those made then it's not worth passing up a good deal now in hopes of it popping up for sale. On the other hand, if 15% of all Roadsters were yellow (I know they weren't), then it doesn't make sense to compromise as it's just a matter of time.

So is there anywhere on this forum, from Tesla themselves, or in an outside resource that breaks down production numbers by year, option, color, etc?

Thanks.
 
If someone twisted my arm, I could come up with close estimates of production by year, and split of sport vs non sport, but colors are not deducible from VIN info.
Anecdotally, I think black, silver, red, and blue are most common. Yellow and orange not so much. Gray and green somewhere in between. White was unusual in the early years, but became more common later.
 
I began my search over three years ago, and in the process, began a log in my iPhone Notes of every Roadster that would appear for sale (I checked about six times a day; still do). At the moment, I have 211 of the approx. 1464 logged, including salvage, with options, colors, pricing, etc.

I'm not sure how much help this is, but upon looking at my logs, I have listed only THREE in Brilliant Yellow. Two are 1.5s, and the other is a 2.0 #780, which still appears to be for sale on AutoTrader at $93,000. However, it's been up there since 01/11/15, so perhaps you could contact the seller and work out a deal. The car has the exterior carbon fiber accents like you desire, so if you're ready to buy, it might be worth jumping on.

I've definitely concluded that Brilliant Yellow is one of the rarest colors. Personally, I was out for an Electric Blue, and waited for a long time for the right one. In the end, I ended up finding a 2011 2.5 in Very Orange that I now own and love more than anything. My advice would be to see as many as you can in person in various colors. You just might find you fall in love with something else. Hope I could help!
 
I began my search over three years ago, and in the process, began a log in my iPhone Notes of every Roadster that would appear for sale (I checked about six times a day; still do). At the moment, I have 211 of the approx. 1464 logged, including salvage, with options, colors, pricing, etc.

I'm not sure how much help this is, but upon looking at my logs, I have listed only THREE in Brilliant Yellow. Two are 1.5s, and the other is a 2.0 #780, which still appears to be for sale on AutoTrader at $93,000. However, it's been up there since 01/11/15, so perhaps you could contact the seller and work out a deal. The car has the exterior carbon fiber accents like you desire, so if you're ready to buy, it might be worth jumping on.

I've definitely concluded that Brilliant Yellow is one of the rarest colors. Personally, I was out for an Electric Blue, and waited for a long time for the right one. In the end, I ended up finding a 2011 2.5 in Very Orange that I now own and love more than anything. My advice would be to see as many as you can in person in various colors. You just might find you fall in love with something else. Hope I could help!

For what it's worth, I've had a 2010 brilliant yellow 2.0 sport for three and half years (683.) I bought it used.
 
I'm a proud owner of a Very Orange 2.0. My first choice was actually yellow and I simply couldn't find one.

In the end I love the Very Orange and for better or for worse it gets a lot of attention.

Remember, you can always wrap your car and make it yellow (or whatever color you want).
 
I was very lucky as brilliant yellow was my first choice (not necessarily sport as that was a pricey option.) But since I do have it, I have to admit that the extra kick in the butt it offers is a lot of fun. It also has factory microfiber seats which I would never have paid extra for, but after driving with them, I absolutely love them. Every time I take it for its yearly maintenance, I get compliments on the seats!

IMHO, you should find the car you like, with the options you want, then, if it's the color that you can live with, great!

Everything is a compromise, especially cars.
 
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Thanks for all the insights.

It's true that buying a car is always a compromise. I am pretty dead set against red, though, given that every sports car I've owned since 2002 has been some shade of red. Before that I had pewter and silver and was really hoping for something different this time around. Yellow doesn't work on every car, but on the Roadster it just seems to fit so comfortably. And I had completely forgotten that orange was an option; I think I like that even more than the yellow. Beautiful cars guys!

I did see the yellow Roadster on Autotrader. That one is just about everything I was hoping for. But $93k is a bit out of my price range. I know car prices involve some haggling, but I'd really need to bring that one down by some $20k to make it work, and that seems insultingly low. I've mostly been looking at 2008s due to my financial limitations, though I'd love to find a 2.x that happens to be priced low. :)

I hadn't even considered repainting. Manufacturers generally bake their paint on giving it more resilience; I've never had aftermarket paint that stood up as well as factory paint. Does Tesla do that or is their paint similar to aftermarket work? If the former, has anyone who has repainted found a way to keep their paint job safe from wear? I'll be buying this as a 'daily driver'; I work at home so usage won't be too heavy, but out on the harsh Pennsylvania roads...

Thanks again for all the responses!
 
If you mean the "Lightning Green" Roadster color I've seen a couple of them, and it's an awesome color.

And yes, "Very Orange" is nice :)

(NOTE: don't want to derail this thread with questions about this photo, I just want to convince Nicholas to consider that color, so to answer in advance, that is my 1.5 charging from a Model S HPWC using Henry Sharp's CAN SR adaptor, there is a thread about the SR)
6f9095d3e9852893463ca1c95a0956a0.jpg
 
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We might as well have a picture of a yellow one here...this is my Roadster under a solar-panel-covered charging station in Shoreline, WA back in 2010.

Yellow_Tesla.jpg


The paint (which Lotus calls "solar yellow", and Tesla calls "brilliant yellow") is a bright yellow with metal flakes. Then it's covered with a clear layer that also has metal flakes - and a small bit of red tint, so the end result is slightly orangish. We picked the color because it's the most visible color in daylight (at night the lights are what is visible) and that seemed important in a car that is so low and moves so fast. It's not for everybody; the polite ones ask me if the car comes in other colors. But even after 5.5 years I still love it.

The Roadster seems to look great in just about any color.
 
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View attachment 74262

My British Racing Green next to a Lightning Green :)


That's a cool shot with the comparison.

I remember talking to the first UK country manager in the early days, saying that I thought the British Racing Green looked a bit dowdy on the car. I said I thought it needed a bright metallic green that stood out from the crowd and emphasised the car's "green" credentials.

A few months later he took me down to the basement of the old London store to show me something I might like. There was the first lightning green Roadster.

Yeah, I'm claiming it ;)
 
DeedWest: are you on the DFW Tesla Owners Google Group yet? Via Kevin, I understand there's now two orange Roadsters here. Maybe y'all are at cars & coffee as we speak! I only just got up, so I'm not planing to head up there.
 
@stevejust:

I am not...yet! I've hardly had the chance to update or write a post on my experience yet, as I've been completely enthralled with the car. As for C&C, I will most definitely be there at the April date, which I've already spoken with Kevin about! Hopefully I can meet Seth and his #94 & our cars can have a proper date...

As for the OP: here's another enticing photo of a Very Orange: my 2011 2.5 #1213.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1425860430.807258.jpg