OP, what better way to build your credit than by buying the car and making all your payments? It’s pretty clear from what you’ve written that you are a diligent and careful person, so you don’t really need a lot of financial or driving admonishments from others. I like afadeev’s post best because the only thing really holding you back here is first-time jitters. Even the jitters you are getting indicate your care and diligence…
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Should I buy a Tesla as a first car?
- Thread starter mobe88
- Start date
I hope you realize that financing and buying mean the same thing (no-one pays with cash upfront), and have identical financial implications to OP's monthly cash-flow?
If the OP owns his house free and clear, and/or has a sugar mamma paying for all of his living expenses, then sure, a new $45-60K luxury outlay should be manageable.
If a person has to pay his way for housing and food, then committing THAT much cash flow to transportation will put a major crimp on his lifestyle. Never mind the premium cost of insuring a Tesla vs. virtually any other vehicle this side of Lambo and Ferrari. Possibly doable, but not smart.
Virtually everyone earning <60K owns a car, just not a brand new Tesla.
Do you own after-tax cash-flow modeling to figure out how much of a car one can afford.
Or read here: How Much Should I Spend on a Car?.
HTH,
a
Some people actually do pay cash in full or cashiers check in full. Some tesla owners are of the mindset that if you have to finance a car, you can't afford it which is just a retarded way of thinking.
May not be the "smart" thing to do n buy a 45k car with an 80k income but it's comfortably doable. If someone wants something bad enough, sacrifices will be made to achieve those goals. Life is too short. There's more to life than just save save save save until you're an old fart to be able to buy what you want.......comfortably.
If you're able to, make necessary adjustments and just buy it. Drive it n enjoy the smiles.
May not be the "smart" thing to do n buy a 45k car with an 80k income but it's comfortably doable. If someone wants something bad enough, sacrifices will be made to achieve those goals. Life is too short. There's more to life than just save save save save until you're an old fart to be able to buy what you want.......comfortably.
If you're able to, make necessary adjustments and just buy it. Drive it n enjoy the smiles.
As others have noted, this isnt the best place to ask for $$ advice, but my advice would be to get the $25k car for now .. of course you WANT the Tesla now, but in reality 24 months isnt that long a wait, but a LOT can happen in that time. And don't get drawn into that "monthly payment" stuff .. look at what you are paying for the lifetime of the car. And look at it another way .. Tesla technology is evolving FAST .. in 2 years the new 4680 batteries may be here, with much longer range, and who knows what other advances that will make the car that much better.
Birdsfan
Member
Max_G
Everything needs to be defined :)
@mobe88 "Should I buy a Tesla as a first car?"
It doesn't matter what you buy as a first car! You can drive any car in a ditch or kill yourself (and others with it). It depends how you drive it. My daughter's first car had 600HP. The boys were making all sorts of fun, as in "too powerful", "you can't handle it", and what not. It was the boys who ended up in accidents, not her.
It doesn't matter what you buy as a first car! You can drive any car in a ditch or kill yourself (and others with it). It depends how you drive it. My daughter's first car had 600HP. The boys were making all sorts of fun, as in "too powerful", "you can't handle it", and what not. It was the boys who ended up in accidents, not her.
I'll finance every vehicle i buy, car or motorcycle. I can do more with 40k in my possession than worry about a tiny bit of interest over the course of a loan so actually, i LOVE the banks.
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Msjulie
Active Member
What's one more opinion right?
Personally I think the 3 is a great car, my questions would be do you have a safe place to park it and charge 'at home'? Tesla's get broken into a lot it seems, as if you are hiding great wealth in the car (sigh). Keep the back seat down as needed to show you have not left valuables in the car and don't leave valuables in the car
Any loan you get goes towards continuing to build credit rating, good or bad depending on you
Tesla offers insurance but for me our existing was less $
Enjoy your new 3 if you get one
Personally I think the 3 is a great car, my questions would be do you have a safe place to park it and charge 'at home'? Tesla's get broken into a lot it seems, as if you are hiding great wealth in the car (sigh). Keep the back seat down as needed to show you have not left valuables in the car and don't leave valuables in the car
Any loan you get goes towards continuing to build credit rating, good or bad depending on you
Tesla offers insurance but for me our existing was less $
Enjoy your new 3 if you get one
Yeah, and 95+% of the time those folks are usually drug dealers and/or money launderers.
Any cash transaction above $10K will put you on the money laundering list with secret service.
Most reputable auto dealerships will NOT take CASH payments for vehicles, ever.
Bring loan paperwork or cashier's check form a reputable financial institution, or go fish. As a strict policy against doing business with the above.
Agreed.
Financing is a mechanism for exchanging payment of sizeable amounts. Nothing more, nothing less.
You can (and many do) pay out the loan a few days after it was originated and title got transferred to your name. Zero downsides to doing that, plus you get a positive nudge on your credit history.
Sure, you only need 1 kidney to live...
Msjulie
Active Member
Huh? Back when we got our 3 you could pay by personal check and we did . My dad used to say that taking a loan for a car was a bad idea but whatever, do what works for you. And for me saving and paying outright was the plan I preferred. No lien on the car, no forced insurance minimums etc. Did that for years and this car I wanted to own out right right away.
And nope don't launder money or sell drugs.
Insurance only matters if you're tryin to be cheap about it. If you price out the difference between what's required for let's say a lease (i believe 100k/300k) and maybe something like 50k/100k, it's not a big difference majority of the time. Plus, the additional coverage is always better.....IN CASE something happens. Cheaping out on insurance coverage is a bad idea. Not exactly the place anyone should penny pinch.
Plenty of manufacturers offer a 0% on 5yr loans. Tesla may not but many owners go this route because it's a free loan. Why anyone would fork over a lump sum of money instead of borrowing that amount for free or close to free is beyond me. Unless you've got millions burning in your safe, it's just silly to do so but hey, your money, your decision.
Plenty of manufacturers offer a 0% on 5yr loans. Tesla may not but many owners go this route because it's a free loan. Why anyone would fork over a lump sum of money instead of borrowing that amount for free or close to free is beyond me. Unless you've got millions burning in your safe, it's just silly to do so but hey, your money, your decision.
Msjulie
Active Member
CaptUAL
Member
Work, Save and Buy. No debt. Bank pays me interest. Find a good used car while you save. Might be old school, but it keeps working for this old fart who owes no one and work owes me for two weeks.
Always interesting that there are two types of people. One is more comfortable with minimal or no debt. It gives them peace of mind. The other is a truly fiscal oriented mindset that looks at money as a mechanism for generating more money. With low interest rates and good market returns, that person borrows cheap money and invests it for 10-20% growth.
Neither is right or wrong, because it comes down to objectives.
Bringing it back to the OP, there appears to be an implicit desire for a Tesla and to get whatever joy comes with having it. The financial stuff is just a path to that goal. Borrowing money is a perfectly fine way to enjoy something now without completely paying for it immediately. Let the bank determine whether it’s too risky that the borrower cannot pay it back.
Neither is right or wrong, because it comes down to objectives.
Bringing it back to the OP, there appears to be an implicit desire for a Tesla and to get whatever joy comes with having it. The financial stuff is just a path to that goal. Borrowing money is a perfectly fine way to enjoy something now without completely paying for it immediately. Let the bank determine whether it’s too risky that the borrower cannot pay it back.
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
We don't know if he can afford it, because we don't know his other expenses. A $70K salary in San Diego may not go very far with housing costs...
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
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