My biggest mistake?

[Dutchie]

Hi everybody,

After lurking a year on this forum, watching every YouTube film there is about the Model S and drooling at the Bellevue store every time we were in Seattle I have made perhaps the biggest mistake of my life yesterday. I test drove a Model S here in Vancouver!! My expectations were high and but feeling that kick in back of the P85+ I drove, as soon as I hit the accelerator that was quite awesome. The car drove as there were on a virtual train track on the road, so stable and controlled. Two weeks ago we were in Disneyland and the acceleration reminded me of the Californian Screaming ride, you know at the beginning as you are being launched. The exception is that the MS just goes on-and-on-and-on. It was quite funny as the people from Tesla recognised me as the guy drooling often at the Belllevue store :crying:

Well, why is this a mistake you might ask, well just because that now I am hooked totally. As soon as I got home I went on the computer and reserved a Model X (Can P171). My goodness, the most expensive car I have driven so far is my current Hyundai Santa Fe which costed me less than $30,000 what am I doing here! I recently had some financial windfall and I can do so much more with the money, buy a house, save more for my retirement, etc. etc. but to spend about $100K on a car?!?! Luckily it is not all the money that is going into the Tesla and I can still do other things, but still , 100 K on a car?!?! I know it is just a reservation and I can cancel the reservation anytime but knowing me.... (BTW it was my wife who pushed me to droit at the end..:smile

The build quality of the car I drove was much better than the car in the store. The seats were better and it's smelled leathery. It was just a awesome car. The only downside was that the road noise was a bit more than expected. But anyway, I decided finally to register her on TMC and declare myself a full blown addict...

 

[Jason S]

Welcome. Bad news: this may become a lifelong obsession and it may be genetically transferable.

 

[Denarius]

A common "mistake" around here...

Welcome!

 

[Tacket]

Just about the same thing that happened to me including my wife basically ordering the car for me as she was tired of hearing me hem and haw about it all day!

 

[v12 to 12v]

Welcome. Since you have a windfall to tinker with and you still have time before your delivery, you might consider doing some reasearch and take a hard look at Tesla stock.

 

[montgom626]

I had the same experience when driving a P85 in Chicago. Placed my order after the test drive. Love the car.

 

[caddieo]

Made the same mistake, too. Wife kept objecting every time I proposed replacing the Audi A8 with the another one or a MB or BMW but more or less in the same price range. After we studied the car at a Tesla Gallery and took a test drive it was a done deal - no objections. :biggrin:

 

[Zythryn]

Yes, that is a common one, but only the third biggest mistake you could have made.
You could have shorted the stock, that would have been a bigger mistake, second only to the mistake of getting involved in a land war in Asia!

 

[Dutchie]

Thank you all for your reactions. Last Saturday I emailed Genny Carter from the Bellevue store thanking her for the opportunity of test driving the Model S and to inform her that I now reserved a Model X. I CC-ed the email to George Blankenship. This morning I received a nice email back from George basically welcoming me to the family. That such a busy man bothered to email me back was a pleasant surprise. That and all your reactions helps me to get over the post (pre) purchase remorse.... I have yet to hear from somebody who really regretted getting a Tesla.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Unless you desperately want the Performance version, you will probably be able to get that Model X for $70K or so instead of the $100K you're predicting.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Yes, that is a common one, but only the third biggest mistake you could have made.
You could have shorted the stock, that would have been a bigger mistake, second only to the mistake of getting involved in a land war in Asia!

You don't happen to be Sicilian, do you?

 

[abasile]

For exactly this reason, I am avoiding Tesla Stores and rides in Tesla vehicles for as long as possible. ;-) We intend to acquire a used Model S or perhaps a Model X, but only after reaching a couple of financial goals that we've set for ourselves. In the meantime, we can rack up tens of thousands of additional miles on our LEAF, something that's admittedly challenging at times due to the limited range.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

A made the 'mistake' of putting a deposit down early in 2010 knowing it was full refundable and expecting $70K if I went through with it and could afford it then.

Somehow I have a $100k now. and I love it :biggrin: and drive it to it full potential(at least my comfort level) in every aspect. Autocross, street legal drag races, many hardware store trips. Quite a few 310-320 mile trips with <2 hrs of 40A and a pretty full car. It it comfortable to sleep in and fits 10' boards inside.

 

[saprolf]

Guys, The addiction started with me already at the Roadster. Then I infected my wife. Now we got 2 in our garage, but we know that these cars will last a very long time. Almost nothing can break, because there is nothing to break on. We put our money down when we first saw the engineering Model S with all the wiring was hanging out. We really love our case. Look at the website if you like in the link below.

 

[Brit4864]

Same here. I took a trip to the local Dania Beach store last month and wow...I was blown away! Like Dutchie, the previous most expensive car I've bought was a new Honda Accord Coupe in 2005 and also like Dutchie, I came into some money this year so I've bought a house here and now I have an MS 85Kw about (or maybe already) being built as we speak. $96k (w/sales tax)...what am I thinking??! Fortunately I have no wife to nag me or push me into it :wink: I keep justifying it by telling myself to look at it over a 10 year period and think how much money I'd be spending on gas with something like a BMW 435i coupe which was my original choice. So far it's working :smile:

 

[smorgasbord]

Almost nothing can break, because there is nothing to break on.

Teslas are great cars, but let's be real: there are plenty of things on a Tesla that can break, and some things, like PEMS and charging connectors, break expensively.

 

[Colasec]

I CC-ed the email to George Blankenship. This morning I received a nice email back from George basically welcoming me to the family.

That's really cool. This company is really something. Congrats on your reservation, Dutchie!

 

[lmore]

Great cars and service, except for what smorgasbord points out above. Instead of offering to repair the battery (ESS) or electronics module (PEM), if it breaks you need to purchase a remanufactured unit for the price of a new unit.

Would be interesting to know often such very expensive parts break on the Model S. Perhaps such a thread could be started?