P100D Value Loss 70k in 1 year.

[Sertis]

Some cars / trucks are not that bad.

Paid $48K for a 2017 Jeep Summit.
Ran it for 36 months and 40K miles.

I got $33K in trade. That’s $15K for 36 mo

Amortize $15K over 36 months comes to $414/mo

Amortize the whole Vehicle over 10 years (for the life of the vehicle more or less). And that comes to $400/mo

So I’ve essentially lost nothing. Only paid for what I "used" really. Owning a $48K SUV isn’t free.

Now let's do similar math to OP's case.

I'm guessing his $144K is with taxes, destination etc. and no tax incentives.

So let's round that to just an MSRP of $130K (Model S/X dropped about $20K)

Amortize $130K over 10 year comes to $1083/mo (this is our reference monthly cost to own for life of vehicle).

Now OP says $70K on Trade in. Well, with Tesla Trades don't include software so a "normal" trade, say a trade on a TayCan might be more like $80K (way overly optimistic I know, but the math is easier, but it would probably be more than Tesla (as sad as that might be) if you can show the value of software )

$130K - $80K = $50K.

Now Amortize $50K over 12 months use comes to $4160 / mo. Yikes.

I guess that's why folks say it's a good idea to lease.

The trick is to drive the cars a lot longer. I paid 36k for a 2010 STI, and when I sold it 8 years later to get my Model S75, I got 22k for it so around 2k a year. I am pretty sure it'll take a bit hit after the first 4 years, but I think from years 5-8, it really won't make a big difference. I'll probably lose 35k on the S, but that's just 4k a year on a car that saves that much on gas.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

The Model S is a $50K car at the end of the day. I would not be surprised to see those price levels.

Go check out what $50K gets you from any German manufacturer.

I check them out every day as they grow smaller in the rear view...My five year old Tesla with 90K on the ODO still smokes all of them, and when was the last time your German car's app updated with Spotify? Slacker?, anything? Or your dealership called you to tell you they were coming by your office to remote into your car install a new airbag? Yeah, none of mine did that either. Keep your $50K Civic made in South Africa...

I guess you never owned a out of warranty German car, its like donating $2500 every quarter to your local dealership...

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I WISH I LEASED, AND I WISHED THE 144K WAS WITH TAXES, IT'S NOT. BUT I DID GET THE 7500 TAX CREDIT. SEE STICKER ATTACHED

Damn, MCU 1, UGGGHHH, that's like the Atari 2600 of hardware! (just kidding)

FUGAZI, you just missed it by 2 months with that Jan 2018 build date! Your timing wasn't the best.

So this is a pre-Raven, pre-3.0 AP, pre-2.0 MCU, pre-adaptive suspension, is in now the iPhone 8, and soon to be the iPhone 7. But does it have Ludicrous, my price stands at $72K until December when the real deals start happening.... you need to sell it fast before it drops again..... the great news is it has the now rare air PANO Roof... which the new ones don't have.... the should increase the price a $1k or so... $73K would be fair price.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I know amortized is big word, here you go.

Amortized cost — AccountingTools

To help you out. No, I approximated the Jeep or Tesla to be worth nothing ($0.00) in 10 years and amortized the purchase price over 10 years to approximate what it cost to own (monthly) that vehicle for it's useful life.

Apparently "a" is a big word too.

I see you left out any and all actual cost of ownership figures in your "in-depth" accounting figures trying to tell us how inexpensive your Jeep was. Convenient.

It's funny that you believe that I don't know what the word amortize means and that's my confusion with what you're saying.

It's even funnier to take financial "lessons" from someone saying the things you're saying. You conveniently leave out a lot of the figures that would make your examples useful in this conversation. As such, your statements hold little relevance to this conversation and prove only that you're susceptible to the most basic of sales tactics.

Example: telling us what your "trade value" was means absolutely nothing without knowing what you bought, what you paid, what actual cost was of what you bought and any cash or dealer incentives, dealer holdback, the terms of your loan (including what interest rate you signed at, the actual interest rate they sold your note at and any origination fees) assuming you didn't pay cash and all other relevant figures necessary to judge how much you actually lost rather than what you think you lost. Big difference.

Leasing a new car is a terrible financial decision so anyone who says leasing is a "good idea" shouldn't be trusted with financial advise.

tldr; maybe you shouldn't be snarky about your checkers prowess when addressing someone who may be a chess master.

 

[mswlogo]

tldr; maybe you shouldn't be snarky about your checkers prowess when addressing someone who may be a chess master.

Someone commented everyone takes a bath on any vehicle, as if the OP Depreciations was typical. I was showing that some cars are not bad at all. It wasn’t an EV vs ICE argument or cost of fuel or maintenance. Just buying, using and trading. Full size pickups hold their value too. My Jeep was no high end luxury vehicle but it wasn’t exactly cheap either. But they depreciated very reasonably (as quite a few vehicles do).

Some how you managed (mangled it) into thinking I thought my Jeep would be worth what I paid after 10 years use.

King me.

 

[Destiny1701]

I leased a 2018 100D back in July 2018.
The lease payment today on a brand new raven in much lower given the reduction in purchase price.

Lease or buy...everyone who bought during the higher priced era has lost.

With leasing at least I’m paying for the depreciation only to the end residual value. Figured Tesla is exactly like a cell phone in tech terms...models become outdated faster than the traditional auto market. I’m actually glad I didn’t purchase now after seeing how many price reductions occur every year.

I will likely hand in the keys at end of lease as the residual would likely be higher than the market value at that time. Not my problem.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Someone commented everyone takes a bath on any vehicle, as if the OP Depreciations was typical. I was showing that some cars are not bad at all. It wasn’t an EV vs ICE argument or cost of fuel or maintenance. Just buying, using and trading. Full size pickups hold their value too. My Jeep was no high end luxury vehicle but it wasn’t exactly cheap either. But they depreciated very reasonably (as quite a few vehicles do).

Some how you managed (mangled it) into thinking I thought my Jeep would be worth what I paid after 10 years use.

King me.

You come in hour spouting #'s & talking down to people like you're some sort of financial & investment wiz and yet you admit to paying $48k for a new Jeep. ROFL

Your valuation of your trade-in is flawed because you likely paid an inflated price for your new car. It's all a #'s game and you don't even know what you don't know.

The bottom line is that nobody with goals of financial independence is buying/leasing new cars. It's too big of a loss regardless of brand/model.

 

[mswlogo]

You come in hour spouting #'s & talking down to people like you're some sort of financial & investment wiz and yet you admit to paying $48k for a new Jeep. ROFL

Your valuation of your trade-in is flawed because you likely paid an inflated price for your new car. It's all a #'s game and you don't even know what you don't know.

The bottom line is that nobody with goals of financial independence is buying/leasing new cars. It's too big of a loss regardless of brand/model.

You have no clue what I paid. I paid about 6% below invoice (invoices are kind of fake though, but it's a common reference number). You could do a little better. Yes, I bought Jeeps for decades. Yes, I paid $48K for a Jeep and used it for 3 years and got back $33K. Doesn't really matter what kind of deal I bought it for. I stated what it cost to own (besides oil and gas) to own. So, you are basically saying I could of had even less deprecation. That May be !! Pick any Toyota or any full size Pickup, their depreciation is pretty low. I'm not saying the Jeep is unique, just sharing my own depreciation history and how I roughly calculate it. My point is there are plenty of vehicles that don't have very bad depreciation, nothing close to OP's case.

The Chess King could not understand my napkin calculation. I traded other expensive Jeeps after only 18 months and also did fairly well on trades. One cost me $5K to own for 18 month and 27K miles (bought for $37K and got $32K on trade). I always make a cash deal on purchase first, then I bring in the trade so I know exactly what I'm getting.

And yeah, sometimes you can get a false trade in value and think you got a good deal because it's rolled into the price of the new car. I never fall for that trick (will you be trading in today sir, no). This last trade was with Tesla and it was via a CarMax match. Now, believe me, the most financially dumb thing I ever purchased is two Tesla's. Don't get me wrong I love the Tesla, you only live once and I was tired of being practical and I don't mind helping the planet and feel a little less guilty running a large SUV.

Speaking of ROFL, I did way better on depreciation on my Jeep than I did on my Model 3. But I expected it and I expect it on the X too even at the much reduced price compared to OP.

No need to insult my choice of Jeeps either. I was extremely happy with them and they still did a number of things I had to give up on going to a Tesla X. I'm not going to get into that here.

Now I'm saying all that from the seat of my pants and decided to do a quick google.
Look at what's at the top, 2 Jeeps, #1 and #2, (I hate Wrangler's though), Followed by 2 Toyotas and the rest are all Pickup trucks !!

Cars with The Lowest and Highest Depreciation - iSeeCars.com

Unfortunelty the other car I just bought, which I also really like, a Chevy Volt, is #2 on the 10 worst depreciation list, ugh.

Oh and you'll see 50% depreciation after 5 years average on all cars. I consider 50% very acceptable after 5 years and that's just about what I got on my Jeep (but it was about 30% after 3 years, nothing spectacular). But we all know the depreciation is not linear. So 30% in 3 years is better than average and I was happy with it.

OP, got ~50% after 1 year.

I also probably would have done a lot better on the Model 3 if I didn't buy EAP/FSD and Performance (Stealth). That was $13K of software I know I only got a fraction back on that selling private. And if I did trade with Tesla it would have been way worse than it was. With Tesla it would have been 60% after 1 year. Selling private I got 77% after 1 year.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

You have no clue what I paid. I paid about 6% below invoice (invoices are kind of fake though, but it's a common reference number). You could do a little better. Yes, I bought Jeeps for decades. Yes, I paid $48K for a Jeep and used it for 3 years and got back $33K. Doesn't really matter what kind of deal I bought it for. I stated what it cost to own (besides oil and gas) to own. So, you are basically saying I could of had even less deprecation. That May be !! Pick any Toyota or any full size Pickup, their depreciation is pretty low. I'm not saying the Jeep is unique, just sharing my own depreciation history and how I roughly calculate it. My point is there are plenty of vehicles that don't have very bad depreciation, nothing close to OP's case.

The Chess King could not understand my napkin calculation. I traded other expensive Jeeps after only 18 months and also did fairly well on trades. One cost me $5K to own for 18 month and 27K miles (bought for $37K and got $32K on trade). I always make a cash deal on purchase first, then I bring in the trade so I know exactly what I'm getting.

And yeah, sometimes you can get a false trade in value and think you got a good deal because it's rolled into the price of the new car. I never fall for that trick (will you be trading in today sir, no). This last trade was with Tesla and it was via a CarMax match. Now, believe me, the most financially dumb thing I ever purchased is two Tesla's. Don't get me wrong I love the Tesla, you only live once and I was tired of being practical and I don't mind helping the planet and feel a little less guilty running a large SUV.

Speaking of ROFL, I did way better on depreciation on my Jeep than I did on my Model 3. But I expected it and I expect it on the X too even at the much reduced price compared to OP.

No need to insult my choice of Jeeps either. I was extremely happy with them and they still did a number of things I had to give up on going to a Tesla X. I'm not going to get into that here.

Now I'm saying all that from the seat of my pants and decided to do a quick google.
Look at what's at the top, 2 Jeeps, #1 and #2, (I hate Wrangler's though), Followed by 2 Toyotas and the rest are all Pickup trucks !!

Cars with The Lowest and Highest Depreciation - iSeeCars.com

Unfortunelty the other car I just bought, which I also really like, a Chevy Volt, is #2 on the 10 worst depreciation list, ugh.

Oh and you'll see 50% depreciation after 5 years average on all cars. I consider 50% very acceptable after 5 years and that's just about what I got on my Jeep (but it was about 30% after 3 years, nothing spectacular). But we all know the depreciation is not linear. So 30% in 3 years is better than average and I was happy with it.

OP, got ~50% after 1 year.

I also probably would have done a lot better on the Model 3 if I didn't buy EAP/FSD and Performance (Stealth). That was $13K of software I know I only got a fraction back on that selling private. And if I did trade with Tesla it would have been way worse than it was. With Tesla it would have been 60% after 1 year. Selling private I got 77% after 1 year.

How in the hell are we comparing a Jeep to a Tesla - that's like comparing Rosie O'Donnell to Heidi Klum.

Also I love this thread, the newly price P100D is an amazing car for the price! It must be crushing the German luxury segment.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Your used price is lower, but also the price of a replacement Tesla will be lower as well. Gotta look at the delta.

Also unreasonable to use Tesla trade in offer to determine depreciation. If you want to reduce your cost, simply sell the car yourself, on the open market for much much more.

Like how people making this worn out depreciation claim always forget to conveniently consider all the rebates and tax credits they got..

You want to see depreciation, check out the value of a used Maybach@

 

[Uncle Paul]

As a side note, Wranglers seem to hold their value well. One of the reasons is the price of a new one had almost doubled over the past 5 years. (In the same period, Tesla has reduced the prices of their cars significantly.

 

[drtimhill]

Is it really capitalism when the manufacturer sets, controls, and manipulates the pricing?

Er .. yes, it really is capitalism. If you don't like Tesla, or the cars, or the pricing model, go buy a BMW or a Nissan Leaf or whatever. How do you think airlines work? Or banks? Or supermakets? If you dont like the product/prices/business, you go elsewhere. It stops being capitalism when you CANNOT go elsewhere.

In fact, isn't Tesla the poster-child for capitalism? An entrepreneur disrupts a market where entrenched brands dont want anyone to rock the boat? Remember when every car maker chuckled at "those Tesla fools" for thinking they could make EV cars a success? And what are they all doing now?

 

[mswlogo]

How in the hell are we comparing a Jeep to a Tesla - that's like comparing Rosie O'Donnell to Heidi Klum.

Also I love this thread, the newly price P100D is an amazing car for the price! It must be crushing the German luxury segment.

I'm responding to ALL VEHICLES SUCK on depreciation. No, not all vehicles do. I wouldn't compare a Toyota Corolla to anything Tesla offers either. Nor currently any Pickup truck either. But they are all vehicles with low depreciation. And I bet there are some luxury Vehicles that don't tank either.

And no, last year the P100D was way overpriced and Tesla fixed it.

The OP got hit pretty damn hard. I started toying with getting a used X a few months ago.
Then I realized wait, it's cheaper to get a new one with more range, more features, free supercharging, and tiny tax break, no brainer !!

The average for all vehicles (yes, a Jeep really is a Vehicle) is 50% after 5 years. OP got hit with worse than 50% after 1 year. That's insane.

But it's an amazing car. I'm sure that makes him feel a ton better.

 

[mswlogo]

Your used price is lower, but also the price of a replacement Tesla will be lower as well. Gotta look at the delta.

Also unreasonable to use Tesla trade in offer to determine depreciation. If you want to reduce your cost, simply sell the car yourself, on the open market for much much more.

Like how people making this worn out depreciation claim always forget to conveniently consider all the rebates and tax credits they got..

You want to see depreciation, check out the value of a used Maybach@

OP did mention $7500 tax break.

With tax break he's still at 51% trade value after 1 year.

True, this is with Tesla, Tesla will match CarMax. You also lose taxes if you sell private. So now he needs to get ~$75K (depending on state) to beat Tesla Trade. Sure he can beat that, but it won't be "much much more". If I had to wild guess he'd get mid 80's private. That's still 62% after a year and he loses the tax advantage of a trade.

Keep in mind the current S/X has more range, much lower sticker, better suspension, HW3, free super charging and a small tax break.

I'm not blaming Tesla for anything. They did what they feel they needed to do.

But Tesla could take some of these factors into consideration on trades for loyal returning customers without much harm to their bottom line.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Damn, MCU 1, UGGGHHH, that's like the Atari 2600 of hardware! (just kidding)

FUGAZI, you just missed it by 2 months with that Jan 2018 build date! Your timing wasn't the best.

So this is a pre-Raven, pre-3.0 AP, pre-2.0 MCU, pre-adaptive suspension, is in now the iPhone 8, and soon to be the iPhone 7. But does it have Ludicrous, my price stands at $72K until December when the real deals start happening.... you need to sell it fast before it drops again..... the great news is it has the now rare air PANO Roof... which the new ones don't have.... the should increase the price a $1k or so... $73K would be fair price.

Forgot to mention that RAVEN also has more RANGE 345 Miles vs 315 Miles , Standard Ludicrous, higher top Speed 163 MPH verses 155 MPH, it charges faster and basically a much better car! and if you can stand an additional 1.3 seconds 0 to 60 the 100D should deserve a look, cause it beats about 99% of the euro luxury barges.

The new Raven 100D, non performance model S is essentially a better deal than a pre-RAVEN P100D and will give you 3.7 second 0-60, 370 miles of range and top end of 155 MPH with all the same equipment as the P100D (sans Ludicrous and pretty red paint on the brake calipers) for ~ $80K...

Just to give you a comparison on how far Tesla has come in 5 years, my 2014 P85+, which was the top end car in March 2014 cost me $127K, did a 0-60 in 3.9 secs, range is only 265 miles, it charges slower, limited to 155 top end, no adaptive suspension, no AP, no MCU 2.0, no ludicrous. So basically the old P is now the standard Model S + AP 3.0 + 105 more miles of Range + faster 0-60, + faster charging + MCU 2.0 + Adaptive Suspension and plenty of other changes, like higher quality seats, USB charging ports for the rear passengers, HEPA BIOHAZARD Mode, etc... making my old school classic P85+ pretty much a baseline vehicle (a paid off vehicle!)

Imagine what we see in the next five years from Tesla.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I'm responding to ALL VEHICLES SUCK on depreciation. No, not all vehicles do. I wouldn't compare a Toyota Corolla to anything Tesla offers either. Nor currently any Pickup truck either. But they are all vehicles with low depreciation. And I bet there are some luxury Vehicles that don't tank either.

And no, last year the P100D was way overpriced and Tesla fixed it.

The OP got hit pretty damn hard. I started toying with getting a used X a few months ago.
Then I realized wait, it's cheaper to get a new one with more range, more features, free supercharging, and tiny tax break, no brainer !!

The average for all vehicles (yes, a Jeep really is a Vehicle) is 50% after 5 years. OP got hit with worse than 50% after 1 year. That's insane.

But it's an amazing car. I'm sure that makes him feel a ton better.

There you go again, leaving important information out of your paraphrase to make your point.

All NEW vehicles suck on depreciation. This is as compared to their used counterparts.

I never said that a Jeep was junk nor did I say it wasn't a vehicle to stop putting words into my mouth. Stop trying to turn this into a Jeep v Tesla v Toyota thing when it's a New v Used thing. Nobody who cares about wealth accumulation buys new vehicles of any brand. Generally speaking, your new vehicle will lose about 30-40% of it's value within the first 3-4 years. We're in agreement on the 50% after 5 years although I would say that in my decades of experience this 50% comes sooner in most vehicles... probably more like 4-4.5 years.

This means that (again, rough numbers for conversation sake) you will lose approximately 10% in whatever the purchase price was every year on that new vehicle. 10%. Let that sink in. Now, apply this to any price... $100k is a nice round number. You'll lose roughly $10k per year on vehicle depreciation. Would you like to trim $10k off of your annual salary wherever you work? Of course not! Yet we as a nation have been fleeced into thinking this the "normal" think to do regardless of brand on the trunk. On top of that every finances because the "interest rate is just SO good" ROFL They then buy two cars on average per household and then wonder why they never get ahead in life with $3k worth of car payments that are losing $20k per year in depreciation.

To bring this all back to the point I was making: if you're worried about the financial aspect never buy a used vehicle. Buy used. Let someone who doesn't understand anything I just mentioned take the hit. Maybe they understand but they just don't care and make large purchases based on emotion rather than logic. Whatever. Then, don't finance... pay cash. Buy something 5+ years old that has been well cared for for a good price and pay cash. You'll almost never go wrong with this approach. Hell, I just sold a 10-year-old Tacoma for $3k more than I paid for it 7 years ago. This is the exception to the rule though and all vehicles depreciate is the rule one should plan on. Buying used will minimize this exposure to depreciation.

Also, Telsa is notorious for giving ridiculously low trade-in offers so this is the absolute worst metric to use when comparing the value of a used car. Even the low but lowball trade offers you normally see. You will get drastically better value on the private used car market but it amazes me how many people can't be bothered these days. You pay for convenience and if you want to walk into Tesla and hand them the fob for a car that has never been farted in you pay dearly.

 

[Ostrichsak]

But Tesla could take some of these factors into consideration on trades for loyal returning customers without much harm to their bottom line.

This is your final point? Tesla is a car company. Companies exist to create a profit by whatever method they've applied their expertise to. This idea that companies need to consider their customers feelings before their logic based data is hilarious. They can offer him $23k in trade and guess what... someone will take them up on it. That's why their trade values get lower and lower and lower. They already can't staff enough people to keep up with the used car sales segment they currently have so why not decrease work load while increasing profitability? They'll keep doing this until that number gets so low that nobody is taking them up on it and their new sales numbers take a hit or they don't have enough used car inventory. Simply supply v demand. That's the way companies work. They don't give a rat's a$$ about your feelings or this guy's feelings and the sooner we realize we're just consumers to companies and not people the better off we'll all be.

Loyal returning customers he says. ROFL

 

[mswlogo]

There you go again, leaving important information out of your paraphrase to make your point.

All NEW vehicles suck on depreciation. This is as compared to their used counterparts.

I never said that a Jeep was junk nor did I say it wasn't a vehicle to stop putting words into my mouth. Stop trying to turn this into a Jeep v Tesla v Toyota thing when it's a New v Used thing. Nobody who cares about wealth accumulation buys new vehicles of any brand. Generally speaking, your new vehicle will lose about 30-40% of it's value within the first 3-4 years. We're in agreement on the 50% after 5 years although I would say that in my decades of experience this 50% comes sooner in most vehicles... probably more like 4-4.5 years.

This means that (again, rough numbers for conversation sake) you will lose approximately 10% in whatever the purchase price was every year on that new vehicle. 10%. Let that sink in. Now, apply this to any price... $100k is a nice round number. You'll lose roughly $10k per year on vehicle depreciation. Would you like to trim $10k off of your annual salary wherever you work? Of course not! Yet we as a nation have been fleeced into thinking this the "normal" think to do regardless of brand on the trunk. On top of that every finances because the "interest rate is just SO good" ROFL They then buy two cars on average per household and then wonder why they never get ahead in life with $3k worth of car payments that are losing $20k per year in depreciation.

To bring this all back to the point I was making: if you're worried about the financial aspect never buy a used vehicle. Buy used. Let someone who doesn't understand anything I just mentioned take the hit. Maybe they understand but they just don't care and make large purchases based on emotion rather than logic. Whatever. Then, don't finance... pay cash. Buy something 5+ years old that has been well cared for for a good price and pay cash. You'll almost never go wrong with this approach. Hell, I just sold a 10-year-old Tacoma for $3k more than I paid for it 7 years ago. This is the exception to the rule though and all vehicles depreciate is the rule one should plan on. Buying used will minimize this exposure to depreciation.

Also, Telsa is notorious for giving ridiculously low trade-in offers so this is the absolute worst metric to use when comparing the value of a used car. Even the low but lowball trade offers you normally see. You will get drastically better value on the private used car market but it amazes me how many people can't be bothered these days. You pay for convenience and if you want to walk into Tesla and hand them the fob for a car that has never been farted in you pay dearly.

I think 10% a year on depreciation doesn't suck. 50% depreciation in 1 year does suck (the OP's case).
You are basically saying only old used cars that have no depreciation (more or less) doesn't suck. I disagree.
I'm happy with it being reasonable, 10% is reasonable. You get what you pay for.

$10K per year (10%) on a $100K Model X would be fantastic and I'm sure most Model X owners would agree !!

Most folks will happily pay that for the latest, greatest, safest newer vehicle. But even folks that are very well off will have concerns at a rate of 50% in the first year.

I traded in my previous vehicle to Tesla and got a very fair trade. I could not sell it privately for more, I tried.

It's fine to disagree with me.

The topic of this thread is excessive depreciation.

 

[P100D_Me]

I think 10% a year on depreciation doesn't suck. 50% depreciation in 1 year does suck (the OP's case).

Exactly, I'm not sure why people don't get that, except even worse 50% wasn't even over one year, it was over one weekend

 

[Ostrichsak]

I think 10% a year on depreciation doesn't suck. 50% depreciation in 1 year does suck (the OP's case).
You are basically saying only old used cars that have no depreciation (more or less) doesn't suck. I disagree.
I'm happy with it being reasonable, 10% is reasonable. You get what you pay for.

$10K per year (10%) on a $100K Model X would be fantastic and I'm sure most Model X owners would agree !!

Most folks will happily pay that for the latest, greatest, safest newer vehicle. But even folks that are very well off will have concerns at a rate of 50% in the first year.

I traded in my previous vehicle to Tesla and got a very fair trade. I could not sell it privately for more, I tried.

It's fine to disagree with me.

The topic of this thread is excessive depreciation.

We aren't comparing apples to apples for so many reasons here.

For starters, you're talking about a 50% number that's by no means the best the OP can do on their car. In fact, you couldn't produce a less flattering legitimate deal to compare to. Tesla is KNOWN to offer the absolute worst trade values of anyone offering trade values. The OP could do much, much, MUCH better. So that 50% figure is completely arbitrary. The real world number is probably more like less than 40% or so. We'll keep it on the high side for purposes of this discussion. Either way, still a lot of money on such an expensive purchase price but at let's at least be realistic about the figures we're talking about here.

Next, that 10% per year isn't linear so you can't even say 10% compares favorably to 40% because it's not a real comparison. Over a 5-year-average it may be 10% depreciation per year. The first year is probably more like 30% followed by 20% the 2nd year, 10% the 3rd year and then it levels off to somewhere under 10% each year thereafter.

Comparing real #'s here it's probably more like 30% versus 40% difference. That's 10% or less for the latest whiz-bang thing the buyer had to have. As you stated, "I'm happy with it being reasonable, 10% is reasonable. You get what you pay for."

I'm glad we're in agreement.

A couple of anecdotal stories I could tell about buying new vehicles: I'll spare you the details but one involves a friend's dad who bought a 1992 MKIII Toyota Supra brand new for like $35k literally weeks before the all-new and now iconic MKIV Supra came out. He wished he had lost only 50% of his purchase price a month or two later. The other involves a friend of a friend who bought a brand new, fully loaded Saturn SUV full sticker price w/ extended factory warranty shortly before discovering the company was defunct and would be closing shop. Ouch.

Moral: Buying vehicles is a total crap shoot. Vehicles aren't an investment and buying new is an even worse investment for a myriad of reasons. One of which is new models coming out and discounts of new models which consumers don't control. Don't like it? Don't buy new. Minimize your exposure to risk by buying a used car that has already taken the biggest hit and thus minimizing your chances of exposure to depreciation.

If you stop comparing apples to aardvarks I think you'll see that this isn't as much of an outrage as some make it seem.