Should I sell or hold on to my Roadster?

[Onepointfive]

Quick background. Owning the original Roadster 1.5 had been a dream since the day it was announced. Was finally able to purchase one in 2016. All black, fully loaded 1.5, in essentially new condition. I’ve been taking great care of it (short drives every week or so, always plugged in, garaged and covered) so five years later it‘s still in like new condition with only 6k miles on it.
I’ve always believed that one day the Roadster will be a collectible but never thought it would happen this fast. I don’t consider myself a car collector and with prices way over $100k for even a daily driver Roadster, I’m wondering whether I should sell despite the fact that I enjoy owning the car and believe its value will only continue grow.
Thoughts?

 

[Matteni]

I am a little out of touch with the market but are you seeing daily driven Roadsters consistently fetching $100k+?

Not talking Signature or the very last one hand-signed my Musk - daily driven?

1.5s?

 

[Sparrow]

I was going to sell my 1.5 and even had it posted for several months. Prices looked good and I was getting afraid to continue owning the Roadster.

My biggest concern was having the support of a Roadster technician nearby. I had already tried Tesla's email service, but I could not get them to communicate with me. I tried several times over the course of 8 months with no luck. Even had our local service center manager try to get in touch with them and they ignored him too. Then a few months after I posted my Roadster for sale, my local service manager told me he found out that there were Roadster techs at the cross town Service Center. So when i was on that side of town I dropped by and was able to schedule an annual service visit plus had a couple of minor issues resolved.

Add to that, I added Medlock's lower door seals which help keep dirt off the door sills I need to touch to get out of the car and some new rear tires and I am happy once again driving my Roadster.

Anyways, if I were living where you are, I would not even consider selling mine.

 

[IslandRoadster]

Quick background. Owning the original Roadster 1.5 had been a dream since the day it was announced. Was finally able to purchase one in 2016. All black, fully loaded 1.5, in essentially new condition. I’ve been taking great care of it (short drives every week or so, always plugged in, garaged and covered) so five years later it‘s still in like new condition with only 6k miles on it.
I’ve always believed that one day the Roadster will be a collectible but never thought it would happen this fast. I don’t consider myself a car collector and with prices way over $100k for even a daily driver Roadster, I’m wondering whether I should sell despite the fact that I enjoy owning the car and believe its value will only continue grow.
Thoughts?

I'm in exactly the same position as you, @Onepointfive. I love my Roadster, but am having a hard time justifying the ownership. I don't drive it much and I think the funds would be better used elsewhere. What you could do is list it for the price you want and see if it sells. If it doesn't, the universe was telling you to keep it, at least for now. But if it does sell for whatever insane price you list it for, good for you.

I sold one Tesla on Autotrader and one on OnlyUsedTesla.com. I was thinking that if I sold mine, I would list it also for $100k. Many would call that priced too high, but if it sells, I guess the price was not too high.

 

[backmost]

Mine is currently being repaired, but I don’t think I could ever sell it no matter what the price gets to. I always knew it would become a collectible someday but didn’t think it would happen so soon.

for me the car helped me through some of the darkest moments of my life and during the spring wave of COVID last year here in New York, there were so many grueling nights leaving my hospital job I’d be so emotionally drained, but taking the top down and just ripping down the highway home kept me sane.

I hope we can keep these cars operating as long as possible but only time will tell.

 

[hanknum]

I'm going to throw my hat in here too...

I've had my 1.5 for a little over 2 years now. I traded my '78 Ferrari 308 GTS for it... straight across no dollars changed hands. I owned the 308 for 24 years. With my family, I did not have time to maintain the 308 like I should, so the move to electric made sense for me. I do enjoy the car, but am old school and miss the revs, exhaust note, shifting, etc. With the demand for these cars it is tempting. Mine has 57k so it is no garage queen, but it is in excellent condition. I'm sure everyone has heard of the signature model that sold on BAT for $182k back in January. And, yesterday, one was listed on Autotrader for $130k with something like 46k miles.

I don't want to be greedy, but I don't want to be stupid either. If I could sell in the neighborhood of $100k or more, that could fund the purchase of some other interesting toys. What I've mostly been eyeballing are the following...
- Alfa Romeo 4C
- Audi R8
- Newer Ferrari 360 or California
- Then the wild cards... BMW I8 or Mclaren MP4-12C

I think our Roadsters will continually be sought after in the near future. I've been told that a true car collection would not be complete w/o the Tesla that started it all. I think currently, a regularly driven Roadster should "easily" sell for in the high 90's to low 100's. I also think that if/when the new Roadster comes out, there will be even more interest in the original Roadster. Who knows, 5-10 years from now we might even be looking at $250k... I'm only speculating of course.

Just my ramblings... let me know what you think.

 

[Matteni]

I'm going to throw my hat in here too...

I've had my 1.5 for a little over 2 years now. I traded my '78 Ferrari 308 GTS for it... straight across no dollars changed hands. I owned the 308 for 24 years. With my family, I did not have time to maintain the 308 like I should, so the move to electric made sense for me. I do enjoy the car, but am old school and miss the revs, exhaust note, shifting, etc. With the demand for these cars it is tempting. Mine has 57k so it is no garage queen, but it is in excellent condition. I'm sure everyone has heard of the signature model that sold on BAT for $182k back in January. And, yesterday, one was listed on Autotrader for $130k with something like 46k miles.

I don't want to be greedy, but I don't want to be stupid either. If I could sell in the neighborhood of $100k or more, that could fund the purchase of some other interesting toys. What I've mostly been eyeballing are the following...
- Alfa Romeo 4C
- Audi R8
- Newer Ferrari 360 or California
- Then the wild cards... BMW I8 or Mclaren MP4-12C

I think our Roadsters will continually be sought after in the near future. I've been told that a true car collection would not be complete w/o the Tesla that started it all. I think currently, a regularly driven Roadster should "easily" sell for in the high 90's to low 100's. I also think that if/when the new Roadster comes out, there will be even more interest in the original Roadster. Who knows, 5-10 years from now we might even be looking at $250k... I'm only speculating of course.

Just my ramblings... let me know what you think.

I really like the cars you are interested.

I had a NSX I too couldn't maintain properly, loved shifting, loved the sounds, and owned for 23 years before the Roadster.

Purchased with 186 miles standard charge last year with 10k miles for 40k. Never had the hard top off, soft top still in the bag, everything perfect.

Had Carl do $20k of mods and bought the clear hardtop from Visium.

Still in love but knowing it is worth more than $100k does give one thoughts and options.

I would say life is short and you should get what you want.

I would just see if you can rent on Turo first and make sure you love it.

I rented a California T in Vegas which was fun but cured me of the obsession I had for owning one.

 

[hanknum]

I really like the cars you are interested.

I had a NSX I too couldn't maintain properly, loved shifting, loved the sounds, and owned for 23 years before the Roadster.

Purchased with 186 miles standard charge last year with 10k miles for 40k. Never had the hard top off, soft top still in the bag, everything perfect.

Had Carl do $20k of mods and bought the clear hardtop from Visium.

Still in love but knowing it is worth more than $100k does give one thoughts and options.

I would say life is short and you should get what you want.

I would just see if you can rent on Turo first and make sure you love it.

I rented a California T in Vegas which was fun but cured me of the obsession I had for owning one.

Thanks Matteni. Each of the cars tick a box...
Alfa: new old school sportscar, light, kick in the ass to drive, starting to appreciate
R8: probably the most reliable and practical of the batch, German engineering
Ferrari: A Ferrari is a Ferrari, probably the most $ for maintenance... and I don't really want to be doing my own anymore.
Mclaren: wow would of thought a Mclaren would be under a $100k now... amazing, but what if something broke???
I8: starting to think about this more... could this actually fill my internal combustion itch and be electrically efficient. My commute to work is only 7 miles each way, so I could do that all electric, then hit the canyons on the weekends. This may even be collectible some day... not sure though.
A friend had an NSX... amazing car.

Wow, I thought I got a good deal on my Roadster... you got a steal.

I may toss the Roadster in the market at a price that would work for me and see what happens...