Specific scenario to buy used MS to get M3 sooner?

[thegooch49]

Not everybody has the same opinion, though; the important one here is omar10r1's (who should buy what he wants, rather than what he thinks the next owner might want). That is a pretty low price, and it no doubt already reflects the tech package not being there. Most people have some option they think is a requirement, and I agree the tech package is really popular; but cars without any options still manage to get sold.

I agree with Daniel's take. If you don't have an EV now, and you can afford this, you will be glad that you made the jump as soon as possible rather than waiting.

I agree that it's a good price, but the whole premise of the OP's post was to re-sell it down the road and get a model 3. This is probably the reason why it's on the low end of KBB. I personally think that selling a car without tech package would be a much more painful proposition.

 

[daniel]

I agree that it's a good price, but the whole premise of the OP's post was to re-sell it down the road and get a model 3. This is probably the reason why it's on the low end of KBB. I personally think that selling a car without tech package would be a much more painful proposition.

I predict that the OP will have serious second thoughts about selling the Model S. What's the point of selling an S to get a 3? Unless the S is too big a car. The OP will decide he likes the S and just keep it.

 

[number12]

Thank you!

My depreciation assumption felt low too, but I was going off of a mix of this recent graph and KBB (I think?) saying the car would depreciate ~$5600 over the next five years. I know linear extrapolation rarely applies to real life, but I took that amount and estimated from there.

Mistake is on the bid ask spread.

And effort to sell at full "retail"

 

[Napboy]

Don’t you have to pay sales tax on the model s?

 

[Esme Es Mejor]

I got a CPO Model S almost a year ago & KBB values it today at $1k more than I paid for it. Factoring in sales tax, I’m down almost $3k, but that’s Honda Civic level costs to drive a Tesla.

I plan to keep the S after I get my Model 3, but sell it before the CPO warranty ends.

 

[Phrixotrichus]

I´d never ever pay 35k for a 4+ year old car with close to 100k miles. No matter the brand or class.
Just from a technical standpoint I´d not deem it worth it.
And in this situation it kinda seems the OP is stretching financially, too.
I´d go with a really cheap used car other than tesla if the old one really needs replacement urgently. Betting on not losing or only slightly losing money on an aging car is never a good idea.

 

[daniel]

I´d never ever pay 35k for a 4+ year old car with close to 100k miles. No matter the brand or class.
Just from a technical standpoint I´d not deem it worth it.
And in this situation it kinda seems the OP is stretching financially, too.
I´d go with a really cheap used car other than tesla if the old one really needs replacement urgently. Betting on not losing or only slightly losing money on an aging car is never a good idea.

What you are not taking into account is the 3/4 of a year (maybe a full year if there are additional delays) of driving electric. That year will never come back. Buying the Model S will get the OP into an electric car now and provide these additional months of the joy of driving an electric car.

Whether that's worth the money has to be a personal decision based on his finances and how badly he wants to start driving electric, vs the other things he could use that money for.

 

[run-the-joules]

I'd consider temporarily picking up a model S if the prices for everything with autopilot weren't laughably high. There's no point in a Tesla without autopilot in my life, and I'm not going to eat $6k in sales tax on a used car (and likely more of a loss than that, all told) just to MAYBE speed up delivery a little. Can't even be sure because of how opaque Tesla are being about the whole reservation priority process (and how the hell does it make sense that they give you priority for buying a used car from someone besides them, anyway?)

 

[jsrawa]

I'd consider temporarily picking up a model S if the prices for everything with autopilot weren't laughably high. There's no point in a Tesla without autopilot in my life, and I'm not going to eat $6k in sales tax on a used car (and likely more of a loss than that, all told) just to MAYBE speed up delivery a little. Can't even be sure because of how opaque Tesla are being about the whole reservation priority process (and how the hell does it make sense that they give you priority for buying a used car from someone besides them, anyway?)

I’m on the same page as you. As my patience wears thin I am continually tempted to go with a CPO or used S but while it would mean going electric it seems like a waste without autopilot as well and the prices are just too high unless I was just going to buy an S and forget the 3. When I consider that I’ve already waited this long already I always come to the conclusion I just need to keep being patient.

 

[run-the-joules]

I’m on the same page as you. As my patience wears thin I am continually tempted to go with a CPO or used S but while it would mean going electric it seems like a waste without autopilot as well and the prices are just too high unless I was just going to buy an S and forget the 3. When I consider that I’ve already waited this long already I always come to the conclusion I just need to keep being patient.

Yeah, I tried to talk myself into buying a new S several times but it's just not the car I actually want. I'm a lot calmer today than I was the last couple of days, but that doesn't mean I'm patient

 

[daniel]

... There's no point in a Tesla without autopilot in my life ...

... it seems like a waste without autopilot ...

My Tesla does not have autopilot, and while I look forward to having AP in my Model 3 when it comes, My Tesla is extreme fun to drive. AP will be nice to have, but driving electric is, by itself, a real thrill. Before the Tesla, my Zap Xebra also didn't have autopilot. And that thing was the most fun I'd ever had driving a car, before the Roadster.

I would not pass up a year of driving electric just because the car didn't have autopilot. (Though if the money is a squeeze, that's a very good reason for waiting.)

 

[run-the-joules]

My Tesla does not have autopilot, and while I look forward to having AP in my Model 3 when it comes, My Tesla is extreme fun to drive. AP will be nice to have, but driving electric is, by itself, a real thrill. Before the Tesla, my Zap Xebra also didn't have autopilot. And that thing was the most fun I'd ever had driving a car, before the Roadster.

I would not pass up a year of driving electric just because the car didn't have autopilot. (Though if the money is a squeeze, that's a very good reason for waiting.)

The money's not really the issue, it's the quality of life afforded by autopilot/adaptive cruise. Bay Area traffic is slowly killing my will to live and adaptive cruise is the only salvation. My current car can handle SOME of my commute via adaptive cruise but once we drop below 20 it makes me take over, negating a lot of the utility… but not all of it. Going to a non-autopilot Model S would be an enormous downgrade for commuting. Plus for me, we're hopefully only talking about 1-3 months if they can hit the delivery estimate. Even if I'm being a pessimist I can't *really* see myself getting the car later than June, and once springtime rolls around again I'll switch to the sportbike if the Model 3 isn't here yet.

 

[daniel]

The money's not really the issue, it's the quality of life afforded by autopilot/adaptive cruise. Bay Area traffic is slowly killing my will to live and adaptive cruise is the only salvation. My current car can handle SOME of my commute via adaptive cruise but once we drop below 20 it makes me take over, negating a lot of the utility… but not all of it. Going to a non-autopilot Model S would be an enormous downgrade for commuting. Plus for me, we're hopefully only talking about 1-3 months if they can hit the delivery estimate. Even if I'm being a pessimist I can't *really* see myself getting the car later than June, and once springtime rolls around again I'll switch to the sportbike if the Model 3 isn't here yet.

I hear you. I could never live in a place like that. I kind of miss my old place in rural North Dakota, where occasionally I'd drive 20 or 25 miles without seeing another car. The cold pushed me out after 25 years there, but the lack of traffic was very nice. In Fargo, a "traffic jam" was when, maybe a couple of times a year, a traffic light would go through a full cycle before I got through on the second green.

 

[omar10r1]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all of the discussion, and sorry I went AWOL for a bit...been trying to wrap up the semester here.

So, I ended up buying the S! It was in fantastic condition for 79k miles, had all maintenance records kept meticulously, and my daily commute is so short (6mi. round trip) that the high miles and no AP don't bother me. I'm coming from a 14-year old car with ZERO tech, so I'm quite happy with what I've got.

What really sold me was the larger frunk of the older S's. I'm a professional musician (percussionist) and move gear a lot. I was ready to give up that capacity for the 3 and use my wife's ICE SUV when needed, but I'm not so sure now, I may just ride out the next few years in the S and hold onto the 3 res. until I feel like jumping into it. Plus, Tesla's are still not common at all around here, so I'm not worried about a resale in the short term if it comes to that.

The great part of all this (and we all probably saw it coming) is that my wife loves the S so much that she is considering taking the 3 now!!

 

[WileyTheMan]

Nice! Grats on the purchase.