POLL: If the GOP tax reform kills the $7500 tax credit, will you still buy?

[HopeToGolf]

Yes, but I realize it's mostly a borderline fanatical devotion to Tesla's EV mission coupled with a healthy dose of spite for these oil industry funded clowns masquerading as Republicans that will allow me to do so. There are some very nice cars at this price range with proven track records. Buying a Model 3 is still a risk in comparison--a risk I think it is wise of the government to offset. People seem to think this is about helping out people who are already doing quite well with a huge tax break. Really, it is about incentivising a desired behavior until the industry can support itself. It's a carrot to help launch this technology through adolescence until it can hold its own, and hopefully thrive, in a free market. Everyone wins if it succeeds. It's a much better (and less Draconian) approach than just setting a target date for banning all gas vehicles.

This.

Besides Teslas the other EVs do not interest me. Even within Tesla, I don’t love the X and like the S but don’t want a car that large. The 3 is very interesting to me and that $7.5k credit in combination with all that the 3 offers was a nice incentive to get me to consider being an early adopter. I certainly view it not as a tax break as much as a carrot to consider an EV versus going with one of the other BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz and Porsche vehicles on my radar. Not one of these vehicle are a hybrid or EV and all are not great for the environment but are less risky, available . What really helps Tesla here is if I had to special order one of those vehicles it probably would take delivery to the same time as when the 3 would be available. We’ll see but now I don’t see the 3 as a nice value play.

 

[Aieukl378]

It would suck and I'd be pissed but hell yeah.

 

[flashflooder]

No. I can afford it, but it’s hard for me to justify spending $40+ on a car. The tax credit made it just reasonable enough for me.

I hope it doesn’t go away, because I really want this car.

 

[SeaDoc]

If they kill it, I'll be so ticked off that they're twisting the rules mid-game against one of the most innovative companies in the US since Henry Ford's namesake enterprise, that I'll have half a mind to run for some kind of office. And that's a seriously bad idea

You got my vote Dave!

 

[3Victoria]

Why should someone who is paying taxes but barely getting by have to help me to by [sic] a car?

The point of the rebate is not just to help you pay for your car, but to encourage the development of EVs --- its not all about you. You can argue whether a rebate is the right incentive, but if it didn't exist, it is much more likely that relatively inexpensive EVs would not exist, either.

 

[daniel]

It is so easy to justify why the government should give me some money. And so easy to explain why it's not really a give-away to me, it's actually making the world a better place for us all. I choose not to take that path. I'll take the money if they offer it, because I'm as greedy as the next person. But I'm honest enough to acknowledge it for what it is: Politicking that occasionally throws a few crumbs my way. I happen to feel that one party is mucking things up more than the other, but neither party is willing to do the things that need to be done, and both have had plenty of chances.

 

[Barklikeadog]

The point of the rebate is not just to help you pay for your car, but to encourage the development of EVs --- its not all about you. You can argue whether a rebate is the right incentive, but if it didn't exist, it is much more likely that relatively inexpensive EVs would not exist, either.

Maybe they'd be less expensive without falcon wing doors and other such unnecessary luxuries.

 

[K-MTG]

If I am a current owner in SoCal who reserved the 3 online before reveal and order first production...what are my chances for delivery this year?

Have a Nov-Jan estimate on MyTesla...I would assume I would be one of the first non-employees?

 

[Shock-On-T]

Yes but I would switch from a LR w/PUP in February to a SR-D w/PUP & white interior in August or so. I will also switch my Republican vote to Independent/Democrat.

Bite the bullet and go democrat.
Depending on your district you might as well abstain than vote independent.

 

[EinSV]

If the tax credit goes away, instead of First Delivery I may hold off until later in the year for AWD or P, depending on how it all plays out.

 

[gigglehertz]

I never counted on the federal tax credit. Why should someone who is paying taxes but barely getting by have to help me to by a car? The Model 3 is a car in my price range, it is the right size, performance is great and by the way, is a great looking car!! The fact that Tesla is helping the planet is just a plus, not the main reason that I am buying the car. The upcoming Kia Stinger and Alfa Romero Giulia would be my choices if the Model 3 does not happen.

Why should someone without children help pay for another family's per-child tax credit? Why should a renter help subsidize a richer person's home through mtge interest credits? I would love it if my tax bill contained a poll where I could pick and choose which taxes I wanted to pay for, but until then, you pay and they decide. Conservatives are always quick to point out that we are a republic, not a democracy, as if that legitimizes one party over the other. But you cry fowl anytime a vote by elected representatives doesn't go your way, that YOU do not personally approve and therefore demand it be overturned.

 

[timk225]

Huh?
You are saying that affordability is the same between $27.5k and $35k? That doesn’t make any sense.

At a higher price point (S/X), i would agree but not at the price of Model 3.

What I am saying is that if your budget for a Tesla (any model) was so tight that you needed the tax credit to barely be able to afford it at all, then you really can't afford it, because your budget is already stretched to the limit, or very nearly so.

 

[gregincal]

What I am saying is that if your budget for a Tesla (any model) was so tight that you needed the tax credit to barely be able to afford it at all, then you really can't afford it, because your budget is already stretched to the limit, or very nearly so.

That makes no sense. What if you are a sensible person who doesn't want to stretch to buy a car, and without the credit you need to stretch?

 

[SageBrush]

What I am saying is that if your budget for a Tesla (any model) was so tight that you needed the tax credit to barely be able to afford it at all, then you really can't afford it, because your budget is already stretched to the limit, or very nearly so.

Why are you still spouting this nonsense ? 'Affordability' is in the eyes of the buyer, and sometimes the lender of credit for the purchase.
Let me put it this way: do you care how I think YOU should spend YOUR money ? Didn't think so.

 

[T34ME]

Why should someone who is paying taxes but barely getting by have to help me to by a car?

For the same reason that someone who is paying taxes but barely getting by has to help pay for oil and farming (hello Modesto) subsidies. But I understand your point. Unfortunately we live in an imperfect system and we keep getting screwed by special interest lobbyists and the people they pay to get into political office. #RESIST

 

[Nuclear Fusion]

Yes, I will still buy. I oppose the whole idea of tax credits, as I argued in this thread: GOP tax reform bill would end the $7500 EV tax credit .

True.
The fossil fuel & ICEV industry has been getting a tax credit for over 100 years & continues to do so

 

[SageBrush]

It is so easy to justify why the government should give me some money. And so easy to explain why it's not really a give-away to me, it's actually making the world a better place for us all.

As a x-check of my ethics, I asked myself if I am happy paying taxes so (while) others buy EVs and I do not.

Absolutely

 

[alseTrick]

I would still get the 3, but drop an option.

Idk if I'd drop the premium package and keep the larger battery or vice versa though. I know they're not equivalent in price, but one of them would have to go. I'm just opposed to spending that much on a vehicle, and the tax credit made it a less abrasive proposition in my mind.

But that's the whole point of the tax credit, to hasten the development and adoption of EVs. You know, since even the Trump administration is releasing reports that climate change is real.

But I doubt the tax credit is axed. The legacy automakers need that credit, especially since most of them have barely even touched their "200k" limit. They'll be lobbying to keep it. They'll need it because of California and to help recoup EV development costs (indirectly through sales which will be spurred by the credit).

 

[SageBrush]

They'll need it because of California and to help recoup EV development costs (indirectly through sales which will be spurred by the credit).

That is a good point

 

[StationaryDave]

Yes, but it grates on me that this incentive is being pulled out from under us more than a year after we made a reservation. I will be lobbying my senators to vote against it, but since both are spineless Republications, I don't have much hope. Is it not obvious that this tax bill punishes those in red states?