Really Really on the fence . . .

[LoL Rick]

Good point, I see you are in the Pasco/Hillsborough area. Any issues with TACC on your AP1? Do you travel 75/275 often?

My car was built 3 months before the Autopilot hardware was introduced. At that time nobody had ever heard of it.

However, my friend @Btrflyl8e is hooked on it. She traded her 2013 for a new 90D after having a loaner with autopilot. She lets it drive her from Seminole to south Tampa every day. In fact, she said last week that there are some parts of Park Blvd (I think) where the lanes are really narrow and she lets the car drive now because it does a better job than she does.

If you're really seriously considering this, then I think your best bet is a CPO with AP1. You can get a nicer car for less money, the depreciation won't be as bad, and the autopilot works today.

 

[RollinMS]

No, I mean the car will get better over time..although I do think cars with free unlimited supercharging will depreciate less than ones bought in two weeks. Now I think you're wanting us to talk you in to buying one. If that's the case read below, if not stop here.

Dear Rollins, get your checkbook out of your purse and grow a set. These cars are light years better NOW than your lexus or most any car on the road today. Maybe you need the next gen seats to make it seem more "luxury" or worth your money but the truth is, it's the guts that most people are buying the car for. Want to go fast to impress your friends ? Sure go Ludicrous but no real need. It'll easily keep pace with your current ride and you will blow past gas stations and be able to take your eyes off the road once on a while and enjoy some form of AP in the near future. Will you be sad that you don't have the latest crap in a year or two, just like your phone, yes you will. Will you get over it and not pollute the Gulf ? We all hope so...looks like you may even still qualify for free lifetime SC but the cojones will have to drop really soon.

Damn, you're right. Ok ok, I'll keep an eye on things this week. Assuming nothing crazy happens I'll probably make the move next week. I want to wait as long as possible. Maybe the higher the vin the better? If anyone needs me, I'll be in the white S60 at the SuperCharging station in Brandon FL, every other day from 4:00-5:00.I'm gonna squeeze every penny I can out of this thing. . . Thanks guys

 

[Electroman]

One thing though - with the 60 you are really not road tripping. Although some folks have done it, I wouldn't recommend it for long distance trips.

 

[RollinMS]

One thing though - with the 60 you are really not road tripping. Although some folks have done it, I wouldn't recommend it for long distance trips.

Yeah, you're right for sure. I never road trip. If I go anywhere far it's on a plane. I'll literally be going to my son's school, work, school, home. We have the Escalade for the family car. When FSD is available I plan on getting an extra hour of sleep every day.

 

[thimel]

Damn, you're right. Ok ok, I'll keep an eye on things this week. Assuming nothing crazy happens I'll probably make the move next week. I want to wait as long as possible. Maybe the higher the vin the better? If anyone needs me, I'll be in the white S60 at the SuperCharging station in Brandon FL, every other day from 4:00-5:00.I'm gonna squeeze every penny I can out of this thing. . . Thanks guys

It is really so much easier to charge overnight in your garage, that the money saved using free supercharging for local driving is not worth it IMHO.

 

[RollinMS]

It is really so much easier to charge overnight in your garage, that the money saved using free supercharging for local driving is not worth it IMHO.

Damn it, cant you just leave me with the dream that lm never gonna pay for fuel again!!

 

[Deans]

If you don't get the Tesla, are you going to buy a different car? If so, what is your other choice?

If the cash flow isn't crippling, don't get hung up on the outlay. Focus on total cost. A 60S with EAP is $73,000. $72,000 if you use a referral code. That's $32,000 more than the $40K Lexus. That's maybe $34,000 when you consider sales tax. You'll get $7,500 back in federal tax credit. With your mileage, you'll probably save at least $6,000 in fuel costs over 4 years, assuming you charge at home. You should get back $17,500 (that's a guess, I didn't calculate that) on residual trade in value in 4 years. You'll save $1,500 at least on routine ICE maintenance (oil changes, etc.). Save another $1,000 on brakes. You'll miss out on maybe $4,000 after tax opportunity cost ($26,500 could be in the stock market). That nets out to about an extra $4,500 to drive a 60S vs $40K Lexus for 4 years. Maybe add a little more for insurance too. So maybe $6,500 extra over 4 years. That's the number you should focus on, not the price of the car.
Like I said, I didn't do a throughout evaluation of depreciation at your 25,000 miles of driving. This is more of an example than a real calculation.

As for your other questions, I would bet EAP will be to parity with the AP1 within the next month or two.
I doubt FSD will be available until a minimum of 2 years, and I think that's being very optimistic. More likely 3 years. I would treat that as a lottery ticket. Don't buy the car expecting it to be here in a year.

Having said all that, I don't see any reason for you to buy one until EAP gets back to having AutoPilot at full speed. The 60S rates just went up and are unlikely to increase again anytime soon, and the federal tax credit will be around until Q2 2018. So why buy now if you main reason is to use AP1 or better functionality?
Fair disclosure : I just picked my 60D up last week, but I ordered one day before the $2,000 price hike and Colorado dropped their tax credit by $1,000 on Jan 1,2017. So it was going to cost me $3,000 to wait.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Tesla....Lexus? Hmm pretty tough decision. Might be a little tougher decision if it wasn't for those ridiculous looking hourglass grills.

 

[CSFTN]

Buy it or don't buy it, but don't fool yourself. Electricity is cheap - so long as you don't live in CA. Time is valuable. Please, stop fooling yourself into believing that sitting in your car charging at least an hour a day is worth the paltry $4 it is saving you.

Also, it will be several years at least until the federal government allows Tesla to certify as either Level 4 or level 5, even if they have the technology in 1 year. You will not be permitted to sleep in the car, while you are sitting in the drivers seat, for at LEAST 2 years, and I would bet 4-5 years, so take that out of your math too.

Its not a Lexus, and I personally hope it will never be a Lexus (or an Escalade). I don't know what new guy from Volvo is going to do, and neither does anyone else outside of Tesla. Buy it for what it is, now for what you hope it will become.

And if you do buy, please don't come back here and whine that the interior isn't "what it should be for a luxury car."

 

[Btrflyl8e]

Yeah, you're right for sure. I never road trip. If I go anywhere far it's on a plane. I'll literally be going to my son's school, work, school, home. We have the Escalade for the family car. When FSD is available I plan on getting an extra hour of sleep every day.

This is exactly what I said before I bought my first Tesla, so I got the 60. Then, I found out it made me want to road trip everywhere. I wasn't expecting that...YMMV

 

[Akikiki]

Hey all, been reading a lot lately at all the good and bad press. Just can't quite get the balls to pull the trigger.

Here is my situation, Not quite as willing to spend the big bucks as most of you are. I've been driving a Lexus GS350 for a while. For a $40k car it felt and drove great. Obviously the S is not quite as comfortable but with the next gen seats its getting close. I'm currently looking at making a move on a S60. I'm trying to keep costs low. I've read a couple threads on how to keep things down. From my perspective to spend $70,000 on a car it must absolutely do everything as advertised, or at least be able to do so sooner rather than later. For me that means, Summon on AP2 in a tight garage, EAP, FSD on the horizon. My commute is about 50 miles each way of which 45 of that is Interstate. I plan on using the hell out of EAP when it hits AP1 ability.

Anyway, I thought I was all but out when they ended free Super Charging for Jan 1, I know it's not a huge value but again to me I need EVERY thing I can get to justify the cost. Without the auto driving capability this feels like a $40,000 car to me at best. EV adds value to me as well as FSD. The question is, is it really worth the gamble? It would be one thing if there was a $10,000 discount right now for all of those taking the "leap of faith" that EAP and FSD will work at some point. But at the current cost we are paying the price as if its 100% for sure happening.

Basically what I'm getting to is: What is your gut feeling about Elon's ability to deliver? Do you guys really think FSD will happen soon? What are the odds that they release AP2, do some extensive testing, and the regulators say . . . 8 cameras? We'll approve if you add a 9th. Something that is not software related. Screw the $3,000 FSD upgrade, I'm driving a car that feels really OK, but not great and no longer has one of its major redeeming qualities. I work for a fellow Silicon Valley software company, I'm not used to press releases without 100% confidence on an impending release. Think hearing about the Iphone 8 with all the cool new features that you won't be able to get for another year at best.

If you are not sold on the idea, don't buy the car. Seriously, don't. We don't want people owning these cars that are not sure they want to have it. Please do us all a favor.

 

[Watts Son]

What will make this generation of cars age faster isn't the EAP, its the V3 supercharging IMO...free slow charging or fast pay to play charging on ....maybe Model 3's ?
Sorry man...didn't wan't to be charged with non disclosure if you buy one and didn't know about this. Carry on. I'm still getting this gen and will definitely use for some road trips so I'm OK jumping in now and I think there will be a market for these down the road if, as I understand it, free lifetime SC follows the car. If IT hits the skids you can cruise the country and live in the car...for FREE !

 

[Hrhkee]

Tomorrow will be 1 week with Mjölnir. The first thing I'll share to get you off the fence is this. I will never buy gas from a gas station again. Never for this car.

Finally...my cost of <$4/day jumping on it would be cheaper than a 4 cylinder economy car commuting to work 100 round trip.

 

[Spacex]

Im thinking in ordering a Tesla model s 60. I have been thinking about it for awhile. I was trying to decide to order mine by January 1, 2017 so i could get the unlimited lifetime supercharging but I didnt pulled l the trigger.
I heard that the extended it to January 15, 2017. I think it is a sign that I should get it. I think im going to so I can get the unlimited supercharging for life. What is your experience dealing with the Tesla financing and how does it work. I would like to use the Alliant credit union so I can get the 1.99% for 72 month. Anybody have any experience with them. I have 800 credit score.

 

[HX_Guy]

Im thinking in ordering a Tesla model s 60. I have been thinking about it for awhile. I was trying to decide to order mine by January 1, 2017 so i could get the unlimited lifetime supercharging but I didnt pulled l the trigger.
I heard that the extended it to January 15, 2017. I think it is a sign that I should get it. I think im going to so I can get the unlimited supercharging for life. What is your experience dealing with the Tesla financing and how does it work. I would like to use the Alliant credit union so I can get the 1.99% for 72 month. Anybody have any experience with them. I have 800 credit score.

I went through Alliant credit and it was a very easy and smooth process. The application was done over the phone (name, address, social, stated income) and then a phone call a few minutes later with the approval. Without showing proof of income, the max I was approved for was $75,000.00, so I financed that amount and paid the remaining $28,500.00 in cash. Once I let the lady on the phone know I was ready to move forward, I was emailed a docusign link where I digitally signed everything and that was it. Super super easy.

 

[Spacex]

I went through Alliant credit and it was a very easy and smooth process. The application was done over the phone (name, address, social, stated income) and then a phone call a few minutes later with the approval. Without showing proof of income, the max I was approved for was $75,000.00, so I financed that amount and paid the remaining $28,500.00 in cash. Once I let the lady on the phone know I was ready to move forward, I was emailed a docusign link where I digitally signed everything and that was it. Super super easy.

Thank you so much. All that information really helps. Should I call them or should I just do the aplication in the Tesla website?
Do you think with a 800 credit score I would be able to get the 1.99% interest rate on the loan.?

 

[Spacex]

The Tesla i want to get is around $70000

 

[Watts Son]

You can get the same 1.99/60 months through Tesla

 

[HX_Guy]

You can get the same 1.99/60 months through Tesla

I don't think Tesla does direct financing, do they?

I actually went "through Tesla", but it was Alliant that called me, so I think that's is their in house financing more or less.

 

[HX_Guy]

Thank you so much. All that information really helps. Should I call them or should I just do the aplication in the Tesla website?
Do you think with a 800 credit score I would be able to get the 1.99% interest rate on the loan.?

Should not be an issues at all, my score is in the 780 range. Not sure how it works if you want to pre-qualify, I did not do that...I bought the car, put the down the deposit and went forward confident that I would be approved, which I was. If you have a car already picked out, or if you are building new, your best bet would probably be to contact a rep at a Tesla store, assuming you have one fairly close to you, and they can guide you through the process.