Not a bad idea - I'd really love the extra seating and don't care about AP yet, but the S is just too large for our small garage and I'm sorta concerned about potential maintenance on a post-warranty Tesla. Also, after looking at Volvo's CARE and thinking about car ownership in general, it seems like waiting for Tesla to come out with a subscription service would be the best route for us to join the Tesla family. I'd love to subscribe to an S for a decent monthly payment that included insurance and maintenance, with the option to upgrade within 1-3 years after newer versions or other models hit the market.
I agree with Volvo and some others that owning a car today just seems to make less sense than it did before, and will certainly make less sense in the future.
We've financed and leased several cars, and have never kept a vehicle for longer than 5 years or come remotely close to even 80k miles. The only car we've ever owned outright - 2006 Civic - met its end via being totaled in an accident with a city bus.
That said, I still briefly search at least once a day for a quality used S that won't break our car budget, lol. Maybe someday that unicorn will emerge.
If it's something you'd want to explore more, you can ask in the S section or talk to owners at a local Tesla meetup. I remember asking if there were major maintenance issues that cost them absurd amount of money at the local meetup. I was told nothing remarkable, just wear and tear stuff like brake pads.
For me, I have to cross the bridge when I get there but I've tend to hear more anecdotes about "FEAR of x,y,z" versus actual damages resulting from "x,y,z". I'm not personally experienced enough with research backed by statistically significant sample sizes to either say "you should be really worried about an out of warranty Tesla or say "it's not a big deal, look at the 200,000 mile Tesloop Tesla with minimal issues".
I have an X and had creaking issues (somewhat common) but that was just replacing some seals. I don't what else would go wrong that would be catastrophically expensive outside of warranty but I can't let worry about potential unknowns ruin my day to day enjoyment. I'll be forthcoming with my experiences with what happens when I am out of warranty for future owners.
I did review Volvo Care and its essentially a different look of structuring a lease. While you can change a car after 1 year, it's just resetting the actual 2 year lease. So you will be perpetually stuck with Volvo until you finish off a term or break the lease.
Insurance isn't free - you might get better rates shopping for that independently and you lose benefits like combined home/auto, or multi-vehicle discounts when you segregate policies.
The equivalent of death and taxes in the automotive world is always:
1 - Paying vehicle depreciation
2 - No equity in leases
Some would pay 1500, 2000, perhaps 2500 to change to a new Tesla every year but that is a substantial outlay with no end in sight. I for one will be glad to be done with X payments, end of next year.
Personally, I think a 7 seat older Model S retains its utility forever. Even if it doesnt have the newest gadgets, its going to always be a great town car.
