I'm in the process of buying Model S and I've been wondering how unique my situation is, in particular the fact that I'm buying it as my first car.
If it is your first car and especially if you went through struggles to be able to afford it, I would like to hear your story.
My story
I first learned about Tesla over 6 years ago when Jason Calacanis was talking about and showing off the Roadster before it went into production. I've been dreaming of owning a Tesla vehicle ever since, but for the first few years it seemed like it would remain only a dream.
My first "real" job was minimum wage at a struggling startup between 2009 and 2010. After being laid off, I started learning Java and Android development in my parent's basement, only using free online resources and encouragement from family and friends. Using the skills I built up over 2 years, I landed my current Android developer job in August 2012. From day one, I've been saving up nearly all of my money not going towards required expenses (rent, insurance, gas... that's about it), which has been approximately $2500/month.
I was driving the family '97 Honda Odyssey until a couple months later when my brother got a job and started carpooling me. Shortly after regular maintenance, the Honda started burning through about a bottle of oil a day and the engine had to be replaced; the dealer wasn't much help and supposedly caused the problem with contaminated oil, so we went to an independent shop. Last year, my dad bought a Ford C-Max Energi (no doubt because of my EV evangelism) and had NEMA 6-30 + J1772 installed for his car and NEMA 14-50 installed in anticipation for my Model S. He sold his '02 Ford Explorer to my brother, so I started paying more for half the gas (about $200/month for 80 miles/day). The distance between our workplaces left me stuck at work for 10 hours each day and, including commute, made my day nearly 12 hours. I've been sacrificing sleep to make up for the lost free time; in fact, it's an hour past my "bed time" as I type this.
I bought my first shares of stock last October almost immediately after the first fire, thinking I'd take advantage of the dip. When the other two fires made it drop further, I bought a bunch more. I currently have 75 shares with just over $2600 (21%) gain.
I went to the last two Detroit auto shows to see Tesla, 2013 being the first time I saw Model S with my own eyes. I signed up for a test drive after this year's show, but the dealers forced it to cancel and leave about an hour before I got there, so never had a chance to drive or even ride Model S. I've even been keeping track of all my "in the wild" Model S sightings on a spreadsheet, which is currently up to five.
I had every intention to save up until I could buy Model S with cash, leaving financing out of the question in an effort to stay out of debt, but the stress from carpooling was wearing me down. For a few months, I had considered a Nissan Leaf or Ford Focus Electric as a stop-gap, but the limited range was a stretch, the Leaf had unacceptable safety ratings, and the Focus had some glaring quality issues, so I decided to wait for Model S. I created a spreadsheet to help me calculate when I could afford it with various options and had to recalculate a few times after realizing certain costs like sales tax (which I initially thought would be paid later as use tax). Once it was all worked out, I realized I wouldn't be able to afford it until at least next year. I concluded that avoiding a year or two of debt isn't worth the stress of carpooling for another year, so made the decision in early April to go with financing. I placed the order on the 14th and allowed it to sink in for a while, asking TMC for opinions on my choices (where people revealed their passion for the 85, to say the least), and confirmed on the 22nd. The rest is, well, future.
If it is your first car and especially if you went through struggles to be able to afford it, I would like to hear your story.
My story
I first learned about Tesla over 6 years ago when Jason Calacanis was talking about and showing off the Roadster before it went into production. I've been dreaming of owning a Tesla vehicle ever since, but for the first few years it seemed like it would remain only a dream.
My first "real" job was minimum wage at a struggling startup between 2009 and 2010. After being laid off, I started learning Java and Android development in my parent's basement, only using free online resources and encouragement from family and friends. Using the skills I built up over 2 years, I landed my current Android developer job in August 2012. From day one, I've been saving up nearly all of my money not going towards required expenses (rent, insurance, gas... that's about it), which has been approximately $2500/month.
I was driving the family '97 Honda Odyssey until a couple months later when my brother got a job and started carpooling me. Shortly after regular maintenance, the Honda started burning through about a bottle of oil a day and the engine had to be replaced; the dealer wasn't much help and supposedly caused the problem with contaminated oil, so we went to an independent shop. Last year, my dad bought a Ford C-Max Energi (no doubt because of my EV evangelism) and had NEMA 6-30 + J1772 installed for his car and NEMA 14-50 installed in anticipation for my Model S. He sold his '02 Ford Explorer to my brother, so I started paying more for half the gas (about $200/month for 80 miles/day). The distance between our workplaces left me stuck at work for 10 hours each day and, including commute, made my day nearly 12 hours. I've been sacrificing sleep to make up for the lost free time; in fact, it's an hour past my "bed time" as I type this.
I bought my first shares of stock last October almost immediately after the first fire, thinking I'd take advantage of the dip. When the other two fires made it drop further, I bought a bunch more. I currently have 75 shares with just over $2600 (21%) gain.
I went to the last two Detroit auto shows to see Tesla, 2013 being the first time I saw Model S with my own eyes. I signed up for a test drive after this year's show, but the dealers forced it to cancel and leave about an hour before I got there, so never had a chance to drive or even ride Model S. I've even been keeping track of all my "in the wild" Model S sightings on a spreadsheet, which is currently up to five.
I had every intention to save up until I could buy Model S with cash, leaving financing out of the question in an effort to stay out of debt, but the stress from carpooling was wearing me down. For a few months, I had considered a Nissan Leaf or Ford Focus Electric as a stop-gap, but the limited range was a stretch, the Leaf had unacceptable safety ratings, and the Focus had some glaring quality issues, so I decided to wait for Model S. I created a spreadsheet to help me calculate when I could afford it with various options and had to recalculate a few times after realizing certain costs like sales tax (which I initially thought would be paid later as use tax). Once it was all worked out, I realized I wouldn't be able to afford it until at least next year. I concluded that avoiding a year or two of debt isn't worth the stress of carpooling for another year, so made the decision in early April to go with financing. I placed the order on the 14th and allowed it to sink in for a while, asking TMC for opinions on my choices (where people revealed their passion for the 85, to say the least), and confirmed on the 22nd. The rest is, well, future.
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