Letter to Mr. Musk from a 1-day old outdated Model S owner

[GaryH]

Leasing also has a major issue in itself. You are paying an exhoberent amount of money to 'rent a Tesla' and returning a premier vehicle just because it doesnt have as many dohickies as one 2 months later.

In the survey I took, most people preferred to buy and were satisfied with their result.

Is it actually smart to lease a Tesla?

Yes because I can offset 100% of the lease from my corporation tax so a no brainer in my case or for anyone else that can as indeed my neighbour does, so we're not renting a premium vehicle for an exorbitant cost we're taking advantage of tax incentives. Horses for courses

 

[MXWing]

Yes because I can offset 100% of the lease from my corporation tax so a no brainer in my case or for anyone else that can as indeed my neighbour does, so we're not renting a premium vehicle for an exorbitant cost we're taking advantage of tax incentives. Horses for courses

Not quite a no brainer event for a business. There are many scenarios when you are looking at trying to leverage tax deductions, capital assets, depreciation, etc.

I am talking about W2 income earners, that when they lease, they are paying way above the expected rent of what the Tesla should be relative to its MSRP.

100% offset implies 100% business usage. How it works out is between you, your accountant and your tax authority.

 

[Shumdit]

leases are not a problem for obvious reasons.

Wait, what? Leases are not a problem? Do leases customers not not have the right to expect what you as a purchaser has? I mean, it's either one way or the other. Either you feel slighted/cheated/mislead as a buyer OR a lease customer or neither of you do. The only argument you could make that would make sense is if you are worried about resale as your motivation for being cheated/lied to, etc. because in any other scenario you have an advantage. The lease customer is "stuck" for 2-3 years but you could "upgrade" any time you wanted correct? If that was your motivation you should not have bought any luxury car. You should have bought a Jeep Wrangler unlimited.
'

 

[Shumdit]

.

Let me ask a question. How long will AP 1.0 be supported by Tesla? How long will software / hardware upgrades be presented?

Well the earliest Model S cars are still getting upgrades over 4 years later. Does that help answer your question?

 

[Garlan Garner]

Wait, what? Leases are not a problem? Do leases customers not not have the right to expect what you as a purchaser has? I mean, it's either one way or the other. Either you feel slighted/cheated/mislead as a buyer OR a lease customer or neither of you do. The only argument you could make that would make sense is if you are worried about resale as your motivation for being cheated/lied to, etc. because in any other scenario you have an advantage. The lease customer is "stuck" for 2-3 years but you could "upgrade" any time you wanted correct? If that was your motivation you should not have bought any luxury car. You should have bought a Jeep Wrangler unlimited.
'

What?

As I said. A person can get out of a lease at the end of the lease. No matter what version of anything they have. There is no depreciation in a lease. There is no loss of value in a lease. You just walk away in the end. There is no worry that you are stuck with $150 worth of hardware and software that won't be upgradable in the future.

I don't know why that isn't logical?

 

[Garlan Garner]

So you are equating being unhappy about your car options to being our Lord and Savior?

What? Are you kidding. I'm referring to standing alone. Standing alone when you are right. And letting folks pounce on you anyway.

Really?

 

[Garlan Garner]

Well the earliest Model S cars are still getting upgrades over 4 years later. Does that help answer your question?

There are no hardware issues getting updates from the earliest Model S's. Now there are concerning AP. We are only talking about AP.

Come on people.

 

[787steve]

Your car is not outdated. In fact, is well ahead of the curve of all cars on the road. But it will soon be superceded by yet another Tesla advancement. For some it takes months, for some it takes weeks. Unfortunately for you, it took one day.

There is a way to avoid this in the future. When you are on your death bed, have someone go buy the newest Tesla, iphone, macbook, golf clubs, etc. That way you can die with all the right stuff. But you wouldn't get to enjoy any of it!

If that doesn't appeal to you, realize that you are simply experiencing life in the fast lane. Turn off your emergency flashers, and go with the flow.

 

[Garlan Garner]

We have been hard on poor GG here. I will confess to a tinge of regret when this was first announced (but kept it to myself). The real issue is that the new hardware is not going to realize its full potential for quite some time. It is entirely likely that further hardware refinements will follow from lessons learned from 2.0 data and software development. I'm going to wait for hardware 2.1 or 3.0 that benefits from this. It's pretty sweet to own an AP 1.0 car for now. No regrets. No apologies.

Thanks divesturner. Its ok. Much of this is expected. I didn't expect so many personal attacks though. Personal insults and massive strings of dislikes are amazing. I know that there is only one option left - ( if I say it.... this will get moved to the bad peoples thread).

 

[Garlan Garner]

Your car is not outdated. In fact, is well ahead of the curve of all cars on the road. But it will soon be superceded by yet another Tesla advancement. For some it takes months, for some it takes weeks. Unfortunately for you, it took one day.
I have put a plan into effect with my wife. When I am on my death bed, she is to go buy me the newest iphone, macbook, golf clubs, etc. That way I can die with all the right stuff. Other than that, you are simply experiencing life in the fast lane. Turn off your emergency flashers, and go with the flow.

Ok thanks.

I don't like what happened - not to myself, but in general. I'm not upset. I'm not losing sleep. I'm ok folks. I'm not having a heart attack. Nothing of the kind. Amidst the personal attacks and insults...I'm ok.

I just don't like what Tesla did concerning AP.

I'm ok. no problems. Feel free to continue to question my intelligence or whatever you have to do.

I'm outta here.

 

[8XATL]

Ok thanks.

I don't like what happened - not to myself, but in general. I'm not upset. I'm not losing sleep. I'm ok folks. I'm not having a heart attack. Nothing of the kind. Amidst the personal attacks and insults...I'm ok.

I just don't like what Tesla did concerning AP.

I'm ok. no problems. Feel free to continue to question my intelligence or whatever you have to do.

I'm outta here.

Hey man, I was really pissed off too at first because mine is currently still in production but then I went to sleep. When I woke up, I reminded myself that I got to dream about other things besides owning a Model X because mine will be on the way soon. Maybe I'm wrong to think this but it might be better to have a Tesla that has a lot of the bugs worked out. The first year for the Model X was rough and I hear it was far worse for the Model S back in 2013. I'll be thankful for a vehicle that I don't have to part with every month or so because it needs repairs. Let's enjoy our Teslas and the privilege of being part of this club!

 

[GaryH]

Not quite a no brainer event for a business. There are many scenarios when you are looking at trying to leverage tax deductions, capital assets, depreciation, etc.

I am talking about W2 income earners, that when they lease, they are paying way above the expected rent of what the Tesla should be relative to its MSRP.

100% offset implies 100% business usage. How it works out is between you, your accountant and your tax authority.

Like I said horses for courses

 

[CraZ8]

My two cents. Between when I configured my car then ordered a week later the new lighter blue came on line. I couldn't be happier! I was one of the first to get it on the east coast. Then I found about after getting the car I missed the LTE chip by no more than a couple days according to the build date. Ok didn't see that coming. Then my P85D gets super ceded by the P90D and then in quick succession a version 2.0 then version3.0 then the P100D, each more powerful and quicker then the last. And the face lift, and better lights, and a centrol consul standard etc etc
The point is tesla unlike other car companies does not bundle nearly all their improvements into tidy new year packages. That's just how they roll. Rather than bemoan that fact of life I have decided that I will wait another year or so ( I did the ludicrous upgrade on mine so there is that small consolation ) and spring for the p100D or hopefully the 105 or 110 with max plaid since you just never can tell with Tesla. Enjoy what you have, tradein and upgrade in two years or so!

 

[jgillispie]

It's not really fair to compare their upgrade process to other auto manufacturers because a Tesla has more in common with a PC than an ICE. Look how fast the computer market changes compared to autos. It's frustrating to see a new chipset or technology come out just a few months after you buy it but that's the price of progress.

 

[Shumdit]

Hey man, I was really pissed off too at first because mine is currently still in production but then I went to sleep. When I woke up, I reminded myself that I got to dream about other things besides owning a Model X because mine will be on the way soon. Maybe I'm wrong to think this but it might be better to have a Tesla that has a lot of the bugs worked out. The first year for the Model X was rough and I hear it was far worse for the Model S back in 2013. I'll be thankful for a vehicle that I don't have to part with every month or so because it needs repairs. Let's enjoy our Teslas and the privilege of being part of this club!

Really 2012 was more of the bad year. The 2013's were better and my 2013 which was a mid year production has been really almost flawless. Far better than any other car I have owned in recent memory.

 

[Shumdit]

There are no hardware issues getting updates from the earliest Model S's. Now there are concerning AP. We are only talking about AP.

Come on people.

Actually there are. My tesla never gets updates related to AP1.0 because I don't have it. My tesla never gets updates related to the operation of folding mirrors, the subzero options, or the parking sensors, because I don't have that hardware. That being said, it still gets lots of other updates. You won't get updates that will allow full self driving but AP1.0 will still get updates as the data collected benefits the process of making it more reliable and safer. You are just in a negative mindset and therefore are a glass half empty kinda guy at the moment. Given time you will come to see I (and many others here) are right and you will see more updates to AP1.0.

 

[Shumdit]

What?

As I said. A person can get out of a lease at the end of the lease. No matter what version of anything they have. There is no depreciation in a lease. There is no loss of value in a lease. You just walk away in the end. There is no worry that you are stuck with $150 worth of hardware and software that won't be upgradable in the future.

I don't know why that isn't logical?

You have made multiple references before that you are upset because you don't have the latest and greatest but the reality is you dislike that your car might have lost a couple of grand in value. That was not how your reason for being upset was portrayed and in reality, we don't know if there is any actual depreciation yet or how much it would be since the new option is currently inactive (therefore inferior to AP1.0) and required more outlay if cash to buy/use. And as I said before, if depreciation concerns were a big factor, you should not buy any luxury car that is mass produced, and especially not the most expansive version. That's on you. You can get out of your car tomorrow if you want to "upgrade". The lease customer can not. There IS depreciation on a lease (the residual is the percentage of value it is "estimated" to rbe at the end of the lease. The risk is on the company offering the lease but they often hedge their bets so sometimes leases net out to be more costly for the buyer in the end unless the manufacturer subsidizes it to help move cars). Plus you are limited to what you can do, modification/customization-wise and the condition/mileage are both a big reason leases are not attractive for many people. I will say again, as many others here have said: if you bought a Tesla thinking it would be the latest/greatest for a year (or even 6 months) you have not been doing your homework. Your "regret" is the result of irrational/spontaneous decisions by you. I would say maybe stick with a g-wagon. They have not changed nearly as fast since the late 70's when they were introduced. It's hard to feel real sympathy when you could have just asked before you ordered to others here in the forums or just read up and known you were playing roulette if you bought thinking you would have the "top dog" for long. More changes could come with other aspects of the car within months. It's how it has been since the beginning of Model S production and it likely will continue until they redesign/replace it. Maybe when that happens you can buy the last version of the current design and will always have the latest and greatest of that model at least? Otherwise I just see more unhappiness for you.

 

[Shumdit]

What? Are you kidding. I'm referring to standing alone. Standing alone when you are right. And letting folks pounce on you anyway.

Really?

Standing alone when you are right? Is this The Donald using a pseudonym to post on TMC? Sounds like it.

 

[MrJones390]

You are free to sell your car and buy the newer one if it means that much to you.

 

[FlatSix911]

What?

As I said. A person can get out of a lease at the end of the lease. No matter what version of anything they have.
There is no depreciation in a lease. There is no loss of value in a lease. You just walk away in the end.
There is no worry that you are stuck with $150 worth of hardware and software that won't be upgradable in the future.

I don't know why that isn't logical?

Your logic is flawed. A lease is based on depreciation and a finance charge ... A loss of value over time