Thank you for all the responses thus far, but you guys aren’t making this decision any easier. Haha
I come from M3, M5 and 911 all in manual transmissions. And you know how slow they are in the real world driving unless you are driving like an idiot. This is going to be my first EV, and I think I’ll be happy either way.
I was in exactly the same shoes as you are, back in June when I literally spent a weekend stressed and obsessed about my decision. I oscillated between the two options like crazy and ordered the Plaid….and then changed it to the LR within 3 days. Let me share why…
1. With all new Teslas, the car that is first released is a “just in time effort” by the company aka we are way past the deadline, let’s release it and we will slowly fix and enhance things we ran out of time for. So the first version always has some disadvantages. I did not want to spend $160k for a car that likely will prove to have shortcomings and subsequent releases will have them addressed.
2. Not having 500 miles, no 4680 batteries added further ammo to the argument that this is the initial cut of next gen Teslas that will likely hit the range and battery promises Elon made in due course…and when that happens I will be more comfortable buying the Plaid version or equivalent.
3. The only difference being in the acceleration of 1 second was not motivating enough, when I could get that same acceleration, nicer upgrades, better mileage a couple or more years from now
4. This last point here was the one that helped me firm up my decision: A lot of us make such decisions to get the “best” because subconsciously we are trying to satiate a need to feel accomplished. (Not sure if you fall in this category; if not, skip to my bottom line point below)And we want to personify the emotion of feeling accomplished by something tangible, for example, every time I enter my house or every time I get in my new car or every time I step into my club that I got the membership to, etc. etc. Like you, I can afford another $50k to get the Plaid version, so I decided instead, to put the $50k difference towards an investment option. Most likely it will be stock investment or could land up getting real estate (50k-100k downpayment) not fully sure yet. And my goal is to manage this by myself, not a financial advisor but personally manage it. That way, it’s “play money” but something that I can take responsibility for, enjoy a new hobby or learn something new like crypto currencies, day trading (although that may be expensive time wise) or just good old stock investments. That way, if I am able to turn it into $150k in 3-4 years it will emulate the same sense of euphoria or sense of accomplishment for me and will get me ready for my next cool Tesla or another EV
Bottom line: I am happy with the LR decision because this is my first Tesla, I typically don’t like big cars but willing to give the S a try and the one second exhilaration may not be appealing to me in the long run, given the fact that enhancements to the S are bound to happen…so for the next 3 years, the LR is a fine choice, for me. You, do you sir. Either way, be grateful and happy