Sold my Model 3 after 3 years. Cost of ownership.

[Cares]

I just sold my 2018 Model LR RWD almost exactly on the 3 year anniversary date. What was my cost of ownership?

$62,488 Price out the door with features, taxes, and delivery
-$10,000 tax incentive
$52,488 net cost

Drove 39,800 miles using 10,003 kWh. Exclusively charged at home on TOU solar or free supercharging. But for calculation sake it was $0.12. I came from a 13 MPG SUV so the cost savings was huge. Would have used 3,061 gallons of gas. Assumed $4.50 per gallon cost.

$13,776 in gas cost
$1,200 in electricity cost
-$12,575 in mileage savings

Sold it for $42,000 + $12,575 = $54,575

After driving this car and enjoying it for 3 years I came out positive $2,087! This is insane. Even if you factor in the new set of tires I got after 25k miles and tint on the car I would still be slightly positive.

I traded up for a Model Y Performance and I hope to get many years of enjoyment like I did my 3.

 

[KenC]

Wow, $42k! Did you trade it in to Tesla, or sell 3rd-party?

 

[Cares]

No way, Tesla was offering me $32,000 and then they upped it to $33,000 after I ignored them...Tesla is the absolute worst in terms of value. You only do it for convenience and even then it isn't very convenient.

 

[PianoAl]

Actually, you had a slight loss. Inflation. Still impressive.

You paid $55,651 in 2021 dollars.

 

[RayK]

And if you really want to nitpick, average gas prices in Orange County over the last three years is more like $3.60/gal for regular. If you're talking about supreme, then I'd say maybe $3.85.

Gas Station Price Charts - Local & National Historical Average Trends - GasBuddy.com

Compare gas and crude oil prices over time for the US Average, Canada Average, and your hometown. View charts for the past month to 10 years.

www.gasbuddy.com

 

[ThomasD]

Is gas that expensive where you live that you would have spent 13,000 dollars. In 3 years I've put 40,000 on my pickup and only spent 1300 a year on gas. What is your gas tax?

 

[gaswalla]

You need to factor in maintenance and service for your 3 vs the ICe

 

[St☰v☰]

Is gas that expensive where you live that you would have spent 13,000 dollars. In 3 years I've put 40,000 on my pickup and only spent 1300 a year on gas. What is your gas tax?

When I moved out of that hell hole in June it was over a buck.

A recently-released study from Stillwater Associates notes that “price increases due to taxes and fees are not insignificant,” and calculates the government gas taxes and fees add about $1.19 per gallon to the price of fuel in the Golden State.

These include the federal excise tax (18.3 cents per gallon), state excise tax (50.5 cents per gallon), sales tax applied to the price of gas plus excise tax (which is effectively double taxation), underground storage tank cleanup fee (2.0 cents per gallon), cap and trade costs (about 14.3 cents per gallon), and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (about 22.6 cents per gallon based on current prices).

 

[Mikedrives]

Just hit 30K miles in our 2019 M3. I guess we've saved $300-$500 on the 7-10 oil changes we didn't get. Biggest outside expense so far has been wiper fluid- have had to fill it up 3 times now.

 

[earthwormjim]

Actually, you had a slight loss. Inflation. Still impressive.

You paid $55,651 in 2021 dollars.

View attachment 711013

That calculation only works for someone who paid cash and didn't get a loan.

For example, on my previous 2019 Model 3 SR+, I paid $38k for it after all taxes and fees, and financed $35k of it. When I sold the car for $42k with 34,000 miles on it this month, I had paid off roughly $10k of the loan, and paid around $1500 in interest. Roughly $6.5k in 2019 dollars were spent, and $3.5k in 2020 dollars, and about $2k in 2021 dollars. These are estimates since I don't want to go digging through the exact numbers.

So you really need to break the calculation up per year. $400 lost due to inflation in 2019, and $200 lost in 2020. Not sure where we stand with 2021 since you'd have to break it up by month but let's ignore it for simplicity's sake.

So adding together my extremely rough inflation loss and finance costs, I'm up almost $2000 in real dollars on my purchase. That brings my total cost of ownership, including insurance, tires and registration fees to around $800, since work pays for all my charging.

 

[SlimJim]

I save about $60/mo on gas so my monthly lease payment lower by that much in reality.
Annual oil change used to be about $45 so that is negligible.

 

[FFR6288]

There's another positive factor that you left out - the value of the smile you get every time you step on that right pedal. Priceless!

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

...Would have used 3,061 gallons of gas.

Gulp. This is insane.

 

[jaz4uk1]

Ignore cash or finance or inflation as its relative you need a car and the car either tesla or whatever will have similar charge and your wage goes up gas goes up.
Also I normally get a deal on screen price of my new car V PX Tesla nothing.

SO last time £46,000 7 day registered BMW M240 for £30,000 minus my BMW 4 year old Z4 so £12,000K cost to change BUT this not relevant.

I do 12,000 miles
BMW did 0-60 4.5Secs.
30 mpg. £6.50 a UK gallon.
Had service inclusive cost £600 but not available any more so every 18K is between £300 minor £600 major . Brake oil X2 and pads change £500.
Road tax £,1,200 + 250 first year then 350+250 2- 5 years
Warranty 3 years so 2 years at £600 py 1,200.

Tyres same so ignore
Insurance similar so ignore


NOW
BMW 240 PX £19,000 (NOT TESLA) and new now over £51,000 really so now in M3 range
Depreciation Loss £11,000 assuming the £30,000 cost but screen price it would be £26,000 and need to find another £5,000 on new price as inflation and whatever but PX will be higher next time
Service loss £1,700
Road tax loss £2,800
Extended warranty 2 years so loss £1,200
Petrol loss of 12,285
Total loss over the 5 years £28,385 / £5,700 a year/ £473 a month

So I am calculating in 5 years
Tesla M3LR red PX £23,000 loss of £27,500
Service £0 or £300 for filters and brakes
Road tax £0
Warrenty £0 (but like above need to add something for 4th year £600
Petrol £0 but electric £2,250 assuming 15pkw at 4 miles / kw Im getting it at 5p and free solar so less than £900
TOTAL loss over 5 years similar.

BUT I cant get the same discount now on the BMW or near so loss will be £16,000 more with the BMW.

THEN
No fossils
Its faster
I am ordering my car as per my specification not a pre registered and relying on a deal.

 

[iwannam3]

No way, Tesla was offering me $32,000 and then they upped it to $33,000 after I ignored them...Tesla is the absolute worst in terms of value. You only do it for convenience and even then it isn't very convenient.

Or to capture sales tax.

 

[advocate8]

Or to capture sales tax.

Tesla doesn’t want trades and only do it because they have to have that option... then set the price at such extortionate levels because they dont want to be bothered unless they can essentially pull off grand theft auto from the unsuspecting or those too wealthy to be be troubled to do more than one transaction when swapping out cars.
They offered me $44,000 for a 3P that THREE other standard dealers offered me $55,000 for, and another offered $53,000. Private sale meanwhile close to $60,000.
Their trade-ins are a joke.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

The used car market is being driven up by Carvana/Carmax/etc. all competing against each other for inventory and thus market share. Tesla isn't part of that industry so they have no interest in letting all their cash sit in used car lots when it could be used to build more factories.

The fact that they offered you $44K for a beat up old 3 that was only worth $55K when new is crazy in itself. You'd never get an offer that high from anyone in a normal year so to criticize Tesla is pretty unjust.

 

[SteelClouds]

Huh.. I paid about 46K for my M3standard plus a few weeks ago. About the going rate for a 2019 M3 in mint condition and 11K miles. I could have paid 10K more for a new one but could not have gotten in less than 6 months. Not to mention my insurance on this one is several hundred cheaper than the new 2022. The market is batch*t crazy.. the dealer paid me 19K for my 2016 A3 that I paid 13.5K two years ago

 

[advocate8]

The used car market is being driven up by Carvana/Carmax/etc. all competing against each other for inventory and thus market share. Tesla isn't part of that industry so they have no interest in letting all their cash sit in used car lots when it could be used to build more factories.

The fact that they offered you $44K for a beat up old 3 that was only worth $55K when new is crazy in itself. You'd never get an offer that high from anyone in a normal year so to criticize Tesla is pretty unjust.

The dealer who bought it was a Porsche dealer, not Carvana etc. The local Ford and GM dealers would have paid similar.
The market prices are due to a shortage of cars, not Carvana and CarMax taking losses. You can still sell private sale for more than they offer, so they def can turn profits.
It was not beat up, it pristine with 22,000 miles on it. iIt is pretty simple. If Tesla wants to be in the car business, and offer trades, they should do it properly. And do proper customer service, and proper quality control on basic things everyone else gets right like body panels and paint. They have the drivetrain engineering right but don't care much about any other aspect of being an auto manufacturer.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

After driving this car and enjoying it for 3 years I came out positive $2,087! This is insane. Even if you factor in the new set of tires I got after 25k miles and tint on the car I would still be slightly positive.

I traded up for a Model Y Performance and I hope to get many years of enjoyment like I did my 3.

Ugh, it's getting to the point where we have to factor in inflation in any cost calculations. Not loving that.