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Tesla Model S Purchase Experience and First Impressions
- Thread starter hershey101
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- Model S
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
I think many people on this thread severely underestimate the starting salary and earnings potential of a comp sci graduate today.
A Model S is hardly a stretch for someone coming out of a top school into a top tech company. If anything, we should applaud this and encourage more students to take up CS degrees.
A Model S is hardly a stretch for someone coming out of a top school into a top tech company. If anything, we should applaud this and encourage more students to take up CS degrees.
Citizen-T
Active Member
I was a CS major and could have easily afforded this car right out of college. Now, I wouldn't have done that. My priorities were paying down debt, buying a house, and investing everything else. But I could have if I wanted to.
I think you are right, many are underestimating the earnings potential of top CS majors.
Sent from my XT912 using Tapatalk 2
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
Trading seems like an easy way to make money in a Bull Market, but it can turn ugly very quickly when the Bears arrive. Investing for the long haul, not trading, is what builds wealth. I've seen people burn up a lot of money in trading, and these aren't small amounts either: one friend lost $5M over the course of 2 years, another saw $500k evaporate on margin calls. It seems like you can do no wrong when stocks are flying high, right up until it all crashes into the ground.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
It could be a bit of a cultural thing too (I'll take the liberty of speaking to it as I come from the same); many hardworking Indian immigrant families tend not to saddle college-going kids with any student debt and also, tend to provide extensive financial support afterwards for house, car and so on. So, a nice car may not necessarily come at the expense of other priorities. Of course, the earnings potential of an Ivy League CS degree is significant.
Apologies to Hershey for any stereotyping.
Apologies to Hershey for any stereotyping.
If you are referencing this:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100690864
I find that a bit offensive, and I would like you to apologize for such an insensitive remark
Hershey101...
I don't usually make judgements on people's choice unless they ask me, but after reading this thread and your story, I'm a bit surprised by your thinking. (although I sort of understand as a Model S owner).
First of all, you should not ASSUME that many people on this forum have not seen the poverty that you've seen. I'm a 1.5 generation who came to this country at a young age from a place that was as poor as you can imagine. And I know, because I've been to India, spent 2 months in a small village just outside of Madras (Keelotivakum), working with orphans.
Now, having said all that, I'm very proud of you and your parents for having achieved the ultimate American dream. I was in your shoes, exactly 20 years ago (holy ****, I'm old). As a graduation present and having been accepted into medical school, I got my first BRAND NEW car-- Honda Accord LX ($17,000--leased initially since that's all my parents could afford). I was very excited and felt bad at the same time since I really felt like I had not earned it.
Fast forward a bit. I kept that car for 14 years before I sold it and bought a used car for 3 years before I learned about Tesla and ordered one. Before then, I would've never thought about buying a luxury car (the most I had spent previously on a new car was $40k for my wife's MDX). Finally, after getting married, having a kid, I had a chance to buy my Tesla. Knowing that I can pay my mortgage, pay my loans, stash away money on retirement and save some for college funds.
I know I sound judgmental, but I'm not trying to be. I just want to share my experience since I DO understand where you're coming from. I know the car is awesome. But, you also mentioned that you were ready to buy a BMW550x. unless you come from money, or you are getting a HUGE bonus as part of your first job, such cars are hard to afford--as you mentioned with your troubles with getting it financed.
If there is one piece of advice I can give you, it's this: SAVE SOME MONEY for retirement NOW. As many on this forum will tell you, your age is your best friend at this time. Since you already bought the car, ENJOY. We all do.
I don't usually make judgements on people's choice unless they ask me, but after reading this thread and your story, I'm a bit surprised by your thinking. (although I sort of understand as a Model S owner).
First of all, you should not ASSUME that many people on this forum have not seen the poverty that you've seen. I'm a 1.5 generation who came to this country at a young age from a place that was as poor as you can imagine. And I know, because I've been to India, spent 2 months in a small village just outside of Madras (Keelotivakum), working with orphans.
Now, having said all that, I'm very proud of you and your parents for having achieved the ultimate American dream. I was in your shoes, exactly 20 years ago (holy ****, I'm old). As a graduation present and having been accepted into medical school, I got my first BRAND NEW car-- Honda Accord LX ($17,000--leased initially since that's all my parents could afford). I was very excited and felt bad at the same time since I really felt like I had not earned it.
Fast forward a bit. I kept that car for 14 years before I sold it and bought a used car for 3 years before I learned about Tesla and ordered one. Before then, I would've never thought about buying a luxury car (the most I had spent previously on a new car was $40k for my wife's MDX). Finally, after getting married, having a kid, I had a chance to buy my Tesla. Knowing that I can pay my mortgage, pay my loans, stash away money on retirement and save some for college funds.
I know I sound judgmental, but I'm not trying to be. I just want to share my experience since I DO understand where you're coming from. I know the car is awesome. But, you also mentioned that you were ready to buy a BMW550x. unless you come from money, or you are getting a HUGE bonus as part of your first job, such cars are hard to afford--as you mentioned with your troubles with getting it financed.
If there is one piece of advice I can give you, it's this: SAVE SOME MONEY for retirement NOW. As many on this forum will tell you, your age is your best friend at this time. Since you already bought the car, ENJOY. We all do.
highfalutintodd
Member
A bit of unsolicited advice: In my experience, easily offended or thin-skinned people shouldn't post their life stories online for comment. It usually doesn't end well.....
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
I love my dad a lot and we're still really good friends but I DO wish he'd bought me the new Schwinn StingRay. It was kind of traumatic having the first one stolen.
huntjo
Member
The part that worries me is that you are going back in two years for a PhD which means years of not $100k+ salaries until your are done and go back into the workforce. I may have that wrong though. Either way, enjoy the car.
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
You're not wrong. Every PhD I know spent a minimum of 4-5 years earning that doctorate, and during that time, they earned only enough money to pay for living expenses. For some of them, it was worth it because they wanted to teach and research at a university. From a purely financial perspective however, it makes a lot more sense to get a Master's or Professional degree and have an employer pay for some or all of it.
At least most Engineering and CS PhDs can go to work right away after that 4-5 years. A PhD in theoretical Sciences or math can look forward to additional years of low pay as a postdoc while they struggle to get published and hopefully land a place on the tenure track. Again, for some people who love the research and can live within the financial constraints, it may work out. It's not a path I would have ever chosen.
Relax dude. You are a bit too uptight:
(a) I was not referencing the story you mentioned,
(b) HOWEVER, even if I were, it's fine because I was born in India (and I'm very well cultured) and have seen far worse than what you can imagine (I'm very well connected in Bollywood), in ref to that article.
Congrats on the car - I'm very happy for you and your family (especially since you are a fellow Indian) But, you really do need to relax a bit.
+1 totally agreed.
Krugerrand
Meow
OP, thanks for sharing your story. Enjoy the car. I'm of the school of thought that it's one more S on the road and that's a good thing.
Right on the money, my friend. I'm a programmer, holding a MS degree and have many years of experience (i've been coding since I was 13 or 14).
deonb
Active Member
The other piece of advice in your situation that I regret not doing: Since you like trading stocks and seem to be comfortable with it - get a Roth IRA for yourself and contribute the whole allowable yearly amount to it. You're going to hit that silly low contribution limit within 3 to 5 years after college (if that), and then you can't contribute further to it without a lot of pain. But at least you'll be able to trade using that initial amount over the years until you retire.
I think that's because $125k is on the low side for a P85. My financing was also more than 2x my previous highest loan amount, and it was never even brought up. My income is far over $125k though.
Also take a look at this thread:
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/7238-Model-S-Buyers-What-s-Your-Income
Most Model S owners (and that poll include 60's and at that time 40's) make $140k+, which 46% making $200k+. So I don't think it was predominantly a loan history issue.
As for the rationality of your purchase - my first car (straight out of college) was a BMW 850i. (Lovely, but hugely impractical car.). Payments were like 50% of my income initially - but I don't regret it at all. I lost over 90% of my holdings at the time the market crashed in 2000. If I saved up more money instead of buying the car, I would have just lost more. But nobody can ever take away the experiences I had with that car.
And worse, a couple of months before the market crash in 2000 I was in the process of buying a boat (60-foot Sunseeker) for $650k - and I almost did, since hey, I was young, single, and had the money. But that would have been pretty much all I had at the time. So I backed out at the last minute, because boats are like the worst investments in the world, right? Turns out no...
So there. Enjoy your car - I'm sure you will. Nobody knows what the future is going to bring. But get that Roth IRA.
Yea, well lets see how that works out. The way I see it, I'm still ahead since I'm finishing w/ an undergrad + MEng in 3 yrs so no rush even if a PhD takes 4-5 years (I'll just save up 2 yrs income and live off the investment profits, which I have a good track record of over the past 7 years)
Fair enough, it just came off the wrong way when I read my email as I got out of bed this morning.
Anyway I hope to enjoy the car (I'm planning on my first ever road trip next weekend as I bring it up from LI to Ithaca, hopefully it doesn't leave me stranded somewhere). That would be very disappointing.
But the main reason I started this thread was to describe how terrible Tesla communication is.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I'm still struggling with the trauma of not being allowed a Barbie. I feel your pain. Fortunately, a Roadster seemed to help.
