I assumed op meant like 10 lattes from Starbucks a month or something…Cough, cough, erm... cough.
A Tesla Model 3 is not 'something better' than a motorcycle.
I love my bikes as well... it's just a different experience
we can eat more pies guilt free than you crotch rocket enthusiasts 
Cough, cough, erm... cough.I assumed op meant like 10 lattes from Starbucks a month or something…
But I’m team pedal power anyway
Though, I do like coffee....)
I am similarly old school. M3 was my first ever new car and I am 50.
+1.
I just want to throw one thing into the ring…
Absolutely, I have plenty of friends around my age who haven't managed to save up the deposit to buy their first house and even get a mortgage, let alone pay it off.As this seems to be devolving quite nicely into a general financial planning slinging match,
For those folks on this forum who are in a blessed position with their mortgage, it’s great to see what hard work can do. But we need to remember that house price vs standard earnings were a completely different kettle of fish 20-30 years ago (or even 15!).
There are many people in this country with a full time job, for whom finishing their mortgage and resting on a cushy pension at 55 are simply pipe dreams. I can’t find it in myself to tell those people they shouldn’t have a nice car if it makes them happy as long as it’s not going to put them or their kids on the street.
Many a true word. My parents were horrified by our £10.5K mortgage in the 70’s and again when we moved on to a £30K one in the 80’sAs this seems to be devolving quite nicely into a general financial planning slinging match,
For those folks on this forum who are in a blessed position with their mortgage, it’s great to see what hard work can do. But we need to remember that house price vs standard earnings were a completely different kettle of fish 20-30 years ago (or even 15!).
There are many people in this country with a full time job, for whom finishing their mortgage and resting on a cushy pension at 55 are simply pipe dreams. I can’t find it in myself to think those people shouldn’t have a nice car if it makes them happy as long as it’s not going to put them or their kids on the street.
More than that....Teslas are more skewed towards house owners rather than flat owners or renters....and especially bigger houses with drives..
For me the big driver was the environment. Global Warming is real and will be a huge burden on future generations. I want to be able to say I am sorry and I did all I knew how to do. We managed to cut our carbon footprint by 85% with Tesla being a large part of that. No other car allows me to take easy long trips like a Tesla and is still low carbon. Emissions are half that of the best in class Prius. Amazon.comJust wondering how many of you out there are buying Teslas on normal incomes and do you feel guilty about it? I keep going back and forth between excitement at getting a Model 3 LR, and guilt/worry about it being a stupid financial decision.
My personal situation is that I'm a higher rate taxpayer, but only just. I am in my late-30s, have no kids (nor want any), am dating but not cohabiting. I don't have any debt except my mortgage, which is about 75% LTV on a 2-bed property in a reasonably priced area (so, not London!). I currently have a VW ID.3 that I just sold for £33k, and a motorbike that is worth between £15-18k that I'm intending to sell this summer as I've fallen out of love with motorcycling a bit. The money I'm getting for the car and bike will essentially pay for the Tesla, and my excuse for getting the Tesla is that it will combine the 'fun vehicle' factor of my motorbike with the day-to-day practical car factor of my ID.3 into one vehicle. I have about £50k in investments in an ISA, £5k emergency cash fund, and I'm saving/investing about 20% of my salary each month. I also pay into my workplace pension.
So part of me thinks, I can afford this. It will make me happy, life is short, why shouldn't I buy it?
But another part of me feels sick at the idea of blowing £50k on a car. I drive around my neighbourhood, which isn't an affluent area, and see very few new cars, let alone new cars as expensive as a Tesla and think, am I mad? I could take the £50k, add it to the £50k I have in investments, and pay off my mortgage in a few years probably. I have to admit, I couldn't sleep last night with all the worry going around my head that I'm being far too extravagant for my means in getting this car. Was wondering how everyone else justifies it? Or maybe you're all like "meh, I earn £200k per year working in the City... £50k is nothing to me", or "it's a company car, I'd never get it as a private buyer"...?
I also know that an obvious partial solution is to get the RWD version instead of the LR. But I'll still feel guilty about buying a £43k car too...Also, the performance of the dual motor forms part of my justification for buying the car (the motorcycle replacement bit), and I'm a real audio snob and missing out on the premium audio system would be something I'd regret every single day.
