Long Term Depreciation of the Plaid S

[TMThree]

It takes 2 things for a car to become collectible and garner "investment" level increases in value:

* exclusivity
* devoted following among extremely wealthy people

It CAN happen that certain cars are not very exclusive when new, but become exclusive due to attrition as they become older and become collectible. 60s muscle cars are an example. But that took many decades. I cannot see that happening with the Plaid.

I think the iphone comparison is valid with Tesla vehicles.

How much are people paying for the old iphone 4, 5, 6?

The original iphone would be the roadster.

It's older tech, slower, less battery life, doesn't run the new apps and games. Less features, lower res display.

Not a lot going for it.

 

[BestRadar]

Do you think the plaid Model S will follow the same route as a lot of exotic cars/super cars and rapidly depreciate, bottom out and then actually start appreciating? Or do you think it will mostly just be considered outdated tech in 10 years?

In 2 years it will probably be $20k+ less if history repeats itself. Original P100D was $134k and after 4 years they were selling the same vehicle for under $100k.

 

[glide]

Never? Tesla might currently build disposable single use cars, but EVs in general can be maintained forever. Most other companies have battery replacements and upgrades to keep them on the road, and Jay Leno has one with a 100 year old battery running fine.

Don't let teslas current slump convince you all electric cars will be batterygate garbage after 6 years.

Never. Until there is an upgrade path.

And if you feel I’m incorrect, how much are OG roadsters going for these days? How about “founders series” MS/MY?

 

[Uncle Paul]

Roadsters have been going up in price for a while. Becoming collectors items that can be daily driven as well.

 

[Zorak03]

Maybe this would be a good upgrade for the Testarossa if the engine ever blows up.

 

[arghx7]

It's entirely possible that widely available, relatively inexpensive aftermarket remanufactured batteries will be available for Teslas in 5-10 years. If you have a 20-30 year old GM pickup truck, you can literally go to an autoparts store and order a remanufactured small block V8. They're just that widespread and replaceable.

Tesla batteries and EV Powertrains are already becoming the "LS1 swap" of the auto world.

 

[HarleyW]

It's entirely possible that widely available, relatively inexpensive aftermarket remanufactured batteries will be available for Teslas in 5-10 years. If you have a 20-30 year old GM pickup truck, you can literally go to an autoparts store and order a remanufactured small block V8. They're just that widespread and replaceable.

Tesla batteries and EV Powertrains are already becoming the "LS1 swap" of the auto world.

But that small block will end up in a vehicle which is not locked down to prevent the use of non OEM parts.

People who bought Lithium 12v batteries ran into the problem not long ago.

 

[Tiger]

I’m not buying one solely as an investment. I had a poster of this car on my wall when I was in the third grade. I don’t think I’ll ever sell it.

Word of caution: never meet your idols.

 

[TMThree]

Word of caution: never meet your idols.

lambo countach in person is underwhelming. The interior doesnt even look like its kit-car quality. There was one for sale near me in NJ around 1998. I passed on buying it. It definitely would have appreciated in actual value if I had bought it. I had two Porsches at that time and was already getting tired of repair costs. So I wasn't anywhere near seriously looking at it.

 

[Uncle Paul]

I predict a large % of degraded Tesla auto batteries will be sold and repurposed as home electricity storage solutions.

Will not need to be recycled, but repurposed.

Could also be reused, along with used Tesla motors in Kit Cars and boats.

 

[coolmanfever]

if you can afford model S plaid, you are wealthy enough to not worry about depreciation of just a car.

if you are worrying about depreciation of model S plaid, you are not wealthy enough to afford model S plaid. Invest in TSLA stock now and hope your share will appreciate to afford model S in the future !!

 

[aerodyne]

Or you can get one of these, well past the depreciation curve, and not worry about the battery...

With Stanley Steamers, It's All in the Details (Published 2000)

 

[Cheburashka]

if you can afford model S plaid, you are wealthy enough to not worry about depreciation of just a car.

if you are worrying about depreciation of model S plaid, you are not wealthy enough to afford model S plaid. Invest in TSLA stock now and hope your share will appreciate to afford model S in the future !!

Agree. Every 130k luxury car depreciates pretty bigly and Tesla is no exception.

 

[aerodyne]

Agree. Every 130k luxury car depreciates pretty bigly and Tesla is no exception.

I took half my profits from my modest holding in TSLA and cashed them out.

Now "Funding Secured" for my CT res...

In 18 months, might do well enough to get the plaid plus instead...

 

[David_Cary]

The thing about depreciation is that this forum is filled with complaints about P100D depreciation. It was brutal when Tesla dumped the price on performance cars. Those cars were $130k new. So people do care.

Just because you are wealthy, doesn't mean you like to waste money. I mean some people are completely ok with it at certain income levels and some are not. Also financial position changes - quite a bit at times - and then the depreciation really hurts.

I know folks that are worth over $10M and would never pay over $100k for a car. And others that are worth less than $1M and are perfectly fine with $1500 lease payments.

I would not trust Tesla with Plaid+ money, but alas I am more frugal. I don't need the range. And I certainly don't need to drive the fastest car ever produced. What else does Plaid+ get you? .... crickets (I fully understand that there may be things we don't know about yet).

For those with the coin and need the range, Plaid + will be great. Within 2 years from delivery, there will be a sub $100k car with the same range. The resale on the Plaid + will be around $90k. So you need to be comfortable with losing (or consuming) $50k in 2 years.

 

[SO16]

The thing about depreciation is that this forum is filled with complaints about P100D depreciation. It was brutal when Tesla dumped the price on performance cars. Those cars were $130k new. So people do care.

Just because you are wealthy, doesn't mean you like to waste money. I mean some people are completely ok with it at certain income levels and some are not. Also financial position changes - quite a bit at times - and then the depreciation really hurts.

I know folks that are worth over $10M and would never pay over $100k for a car. And others that are worth less than $1M and are perfectly fine with $1500 lease payments.

I would not trust Tesla with Plaid+ money, but alas I am more frugal. I don't need the range. And I certainly don't need to drive the fastest car ever produced. What else does Plaid+ get you? .... crickets (I fully understand that there may be things we don't know about yet).

For those with the coin and need the range, Plaid + will be great. Within 2 years from delivery, there will be a sub $100k car with the same range. The resale on the Plaid + will be around $90k. So you need to be comfortable with losing (or consuming) $50k in 2 years.

So people should NOT be surprised when the depreciation happens again. We have a choice. Be one of the first and pay top dollar or wait. Pretty simple.

 

[Ofarlig]

I go into any car expecting to lose half in 3 years, so far I have mostly been pleasantly surprised every time I go to sell it after 2-2.5 years most of the time. The exception was the first model S I got that lost 33% in 18 months due to Teslas price cut in 2019 so it was right on target with expectations.

I fully expect we can see the same thing happening again so I am going into the refreshed S expecting to lose 50% in 3 years.

 

[aerodyne]

So people should NOT be surprised when the depreciation happens again. We have a choice. Be one of the first and pay top dollar or wait. Pretty simple.

It just occurred to me that with a plaid plus reservation I am paying top dollar AND waiting....could use that 1k deposit to buy a share or so of TSLA...

 

[SIXF80]

A factor that I don't believe has been mentioned is the hit that the Plaid would take once the roadster V2 is released. Roadster is going to be faster, and many of the Plaid owners will easily switch to the Roadster, flooding the supply in the used market. From the Tesla side, I can def see them discontinuing the Plaid to concentrate on the Roadster.

Thinking about it, if they discontinue the Plaid, it might actually hold value or dare I say it, increase.

 

[SO16]

A factor that I don't believe has been mentioned is the hit that the Plaid would take once the roadster V2 is released. Roadster is going to be faster, and many of the Plaid owners will easily switch to the Roadster, flooding the supply in the used market. From the Tesla side, I can def see them discontinuing the Plaid to concentrate on the Roadster.

Thinking about it, if they discontinue the Plaid, it might actually hold value or dare I say it, increase.

There’s still a considerable price difference between the roadster and plaid. Not to mention that the plaid still has lots of utility, seating, storage. I doubt too many people will be driving a roadster in snowy areas either.