Thinking of selling my Vette for a Roadster

[Crash83K]

Hey everyone. I'm new to the forum, but not new to electric cars.

I actually have been leasing an electric car, but it's a dinky Chevy Spark EV. Though, it's pretty fun to drive (400 FtLbs/tq), but it's really a pile at the end of the day. It was my daily driver until my girlfriend's car crapped out and now she daily drives my EV.

I'm currently driving my 2014 Corvette to work now. And honestly, I miss driving an EV. I've been torturing myself looking at these Roadsters available right now, and honestly, I'm getting less and less picky as I see the price tags on my ideal Roadster. LOL

Anyway, I'm trying to justify selling the Vette for a Roadster... My girlfriend doesn't want me to sell the Vette. (She loves it) But I'm really over driving a gas car. I bought two new cars from GM and it's sad that I want to drive the crappy electric car more than I want to drive the $80K sports car. (oiy)

So, I thought I'd introduce myself since I'm hopefully going to be joining the Tesla Roadster brethren.

 

[Takumi]

Welcome! I see you like the Kool-Aid, too!

No, your decision sounds reasonable to me. An ICE sports car is only fun at the track (How often do you track the 'Vette?). An EV is fun daily. I've driven a Ferrari, Porsche, blah, blah, blah...unless you're at the track, I really don't see the point. Every once in a while I drive my friends' ICE toys and I do enjoy the nostalgia, but at the end I don't miss exhaust, NVH, or rowing through the gears in traffic along with any other demerits associated with an ICE.

Has your girlfriend test driven the Roadster or the S?

 

[josh-io]

Welcome! I do hope you get a Roadster. They are the best cars I have ever owned, hands down. Happy to answer any questions!

 

[ecarfan]

Selling your Vette and buying a Roadster would definitely be a wise move.

Just realize that the Roadster was the first car Tesla made. It is a relatively basic car with no luxuries and very few modern convenience features. Less than 2,500 were made. Some parts and repairs can be very expensive. It cannot use the Tesla Supercharger network. I just want you to understand its limitations.

That said, it is an awesome car that will blow your mind! Find one you can test drive. Should be some for sale in your area. Report back!

 

[dhrivnak]

I love my Roadster and had the chance to race 3 different Corvettes at Street Fights one night at the Bristol drag strip and none could keep up in the 1/4 mile. It puts a good EV grin on my face.

 

[NicholasJB]

I agree with what ecarfan said. I'd also add that you will be out of warranty (as I believe the CPO program for Roadsters is gone), and repairs will be costly. And others may disagree, but I'd also go so far as to say repairs will be required often, and you have no choice about where to get them done, and for our service center in Cleveland at least the quality of service feels lacking. I feel like I've been dealing with issues with my Roadster more often than I've been able to enjoy driving it. Go in with both eyes open.

 

[ML Auto]

After 20K+ miles of driving a Roadster, I'm thinking the exact opposite. As much as I love driving electric cars, day to day comfort is increasingly more important, and the roadster is just becoming a really expensive toy.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

If your girlfriend loves the Corvette, ask her to make you an offer.

 

[ecarfan]

After 20K+ miles of driving a Roadster, I'm thinking the exact opposite. As much as I love driving electric cars, day to day comfort is increasingly more important...

The Roadster is not a "comfortable" car: the seat padding is minimal, the seat has no adjustments except for fore/aft, and of course getting into and out of the car is an effort especially for some older people.

That said, I put up with all that without complaint because I love driving the car! But it's not for everyone.

 

[wiztecy]

I think the Roadster works well with a specific body type for the most part. I'm 6', 170lbs, 44 years old and find it fits me like a glove, especially how minimalistic it is (which is my preference for cars). I wouldn't mind switching out the seats for more side supporting ones, preferably a full CF seat that fits my body as well. But if you're a lanky built person, one who's extremely tall or short, carries extra weight here and there, possibly not that much of an agile person, the Roadster can and will be an uncomfortable car. Although I'm sure there's people who are of any body type/age who like / dislike its comfort. Fitment of anything can be quite subjective to one's own personal comfort, appeal and expectations.

 

[Doug_G]

Corvette is a much larger car, way more trunk space, more comfortable.

Roadster is super fun to drive, nimble and quick. Mine has been very reliable so far. Not a track car, though. (I have an old C6 for that).

 

[gregd]

I think the Roadster works well with a specific body type for the most part. I'm 6', 170lbs, 44 years old and find it fits me like a glove, especially how minimalistic it is (which is my preference for cars). I wouldn't mind switching out the seats for more side supporting ones, preferably a full CF seat that fits my body as well. But if you're a lanky built person, one who's extremely tall or short, carries extra weight here and there, possibly not that much of an agile person, the Roadster can and will be an uncomfortable car. Although I'm sure there's people who are of any body type/age who like / dislike its comfort. Fitment of anything can be quite subjective to one's own personal comfort, appeal and expectations.

I wouldn't consider the range of "body types" to be all that narrow. 5'4" here, 135 lbs. I don't even need to bring the seat all the way forward (so could be a bit shorter and it'd still work), and find that the seats are quite comfortable. I'm the second owner, and though I have not met the first, whatever his body type, he did a good job breaking them in. But there were different seat options offered, so there is no substitute for actually sitting in the one you're considering buying before doing so. Getting out is not so hard, yet. (61 years here...)

By way of creature comforts, I'm not finding that I'm wanting much more than what I have, but perhaps it's that I don't know what I'm missing? It's definitely a compact car - you don't get into it, you put it on - and you will be very close physically to your passenger. There is only the one cup holder, and I have my HC Sharp CAN Adapter in there, and the trunk is tiny. An overnight trip with my wife filled it (75% hers ), and there's no back seat to toss things on. The audio system is adequate, but don't expect much from the AM/FM. Most of what I listen to is via Bluetooth from my phone.

The car is fun to drive, and fun to watch others' expressions when they see it.

 

[sprediletto]

After 5 years and 31,000 miles, I'm selling my 2011 Roadster 2.5. I've been eyeing a P90D to enjoy before taking delivery of Model 3 in a few years.

A Photostream highlighting Roadster 1172's spectacular life:
iCloud Photo Sharing

 

[Crash83K]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. It's a pleasant change from the Corvette Forum.

Selling your Vette and buying a Roadster would definitely be a wise move.

Just realize that the Roadster was the first car Tesla made. It is a relatively basic car with no luxuries and very few modern convenience features. Less than 2,500 were made. Some parts and repairs can be very expensive. It cannot use the Tesla Supercharger network. I just want you to understand its limitations.

That said, it is an awesome car that will blow your mind! Find one you can test drive. Should be some for sale in your area. Report back!

That's good information to know. Do the roadsters still charge at the super charger stations, even if it's not free? Or is the charging system completely different? My current EV has the standard J1772 charger input. I'm guessing the roadster doesn't have that.

How expensive are repairs? Any examples? In the past I've generally fixed things myself on my cars, but I probably wouldn't want to do that on an EV. I live in Los Angeles, so there's LOTS of Tesla stores around here.

I love my Roadster and had the chance to race 3 different Corvettes at Street Fights one night at the Bristol drag strip and none could keep up in the 1/4 mile. It puts a good EV grin on my face.

Yeah, my Vette has a 0-60 in 3.8 sec... IF I could drive it that well. LOL But since I'm not a pro, I probably might run a 0-60 in 4.0. I'm decent, but not a pro. It's simply hard to beat a push-n-go EV like a roadster.

I agree with what ecarfan said. I'd also add that you will be out of warranty (as I believe the CPO program for Roadsters is gone), and repairs will be costly. And others may disagree, but I'd also go so far as to say repairs will be required often, and you have no choice about where to get them done, and for our service center in Cleveland at least the quality of service feels lacking. I feel like I've been dealing with issues with my Roadster more often than I've been able to enjoy driving it. Go in with both eyes open.

Are there 3rd party warranties? If so, are they worth it? For most cars, I'm sure it's no big deal. But a with only 2500 sold, that might be a deal breaker for 3rd party warranty providers.

I know that, for the most part, EVs are not that problem prone. And considering my Vette has been in the shop twice in two weeks for the same issue (speed sensor), I'm pretty sure that it's still more reliable.

I read on here that Tesla isn't treating it's roadster owners like it used to. That's a shame. But I bought a loaded, top of the line Corvette from Chevy and they treated me no different than if I hadn't bought a car from them at all. So, no matter what it's no change for me. GM sucks in general.

Corvette is a much larger car, way more trunk space, more comfortable.

Roadster is super fun to drive, nimble and quick. Mine has been very reliable so far. Not a track car, though. (I have an old C6 for that).

Trunk space doesn't matter to me. I put my backpack in the passenger seat and go to work. My girlfriend mentioned trunk space too, but I said, "anywhere we go, we always bring just one duffle bag anyway." That made sense to her.

As for comfort, I've come from a lot of different cars. I'm 5'6" @ 160 Lbs, so I can pretty much fit in anything and get comfortable. My previous Corvettes had awful seats and I was still OK with them for long trips. Considering I won't be taking the roadster on long trips, I'm really not worried about it. But I'm sure the roadster is still more comfortable than the Chevy Spark.

 

[Doug_G]

Roadsters can't Supercharge. They are compatible with standard Level II AC charging stations (with adapter), and can charge at up to 70A.

 

[DaveD]

Roadsters can't Supercharge. They are compatible with standard Level II AC charging stations (with adapter), and can charge at up to 70A.

To expand on this a bit further, the Tesla Superchargers are completely useless to Roadsters - the Supercharging sites have no AC (Level 2) charging capability built into their hardware.

If you buy a Roadster that doesn't come with a J1772 adapter (none are included with the Roadster by Tesla), then you can buy one from either Tesla, or better yet, buy a CAN JR (and maybe a CAN SR, too) from @hcsharp.

 

[DaveD]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. It's a pleasant change from the Corvette Forum.

We're generally a pretty friendly and helpful group of people here in the Roadster section. Some people have strong opinions about certain subjects, but if things start to get personal, the moderators will step in and tell people to chill. That doesn't happen very often.

Just stay away from politics and religion, and you'll be fine.

 

[ecarfan]

My current EV has the standard J1772 charger input. I'm guessing the roadster doesn't have that.

The Roadster plug port is unique An adaptor cable to allow you to charge from a J1722 charger did not come standard with the car, but you can buy one from Tesla or even better buy one of @hcsharp's adaptors. The car came standard with a cable that plugs into a 110V outlet, which charges the car very slowly. There was an optional 240V cable and a wall mounted 70A charging unit with a hardwired cable, which I think is the ideal way to charge the car at home. See Tesla — Roadster > Charging for what Tesla sells.

How expensive are repairs? Any examples? In the past I've generally fixed things myself on my cars, but I probably wouldn't want to do that on an EV. I live in Los Angeles, so there's LOTS of Tesla stores around here.

You cannot make repairs to the Roadster drivetrain. Drivetrain repairs can be very expensive (many thousands) if a major part fails. That is simply the reality of owning a unique EV that is no longer in production and only 2500 were made.

Are there 3rd party warranties?

No.

On the plus side, Tesla recently offered for sale a replacement battery with more modern cells that is a higher capacity than the original and enables the car to go over 300 miles. On the minus side, the battery cost is $29,000.

 

[josh-io]

How expensive are repairs? Any examples? In the past I've generally fixed things myself on my cars, but I probably wouldn't want to do that on an EV. I live in Los Angeles, so there's LOTS of Tesla stores around here.

The drivetrain is not repairable by anyone but Tesla. And to echo ecarfan, almost any repair is expensive. I just had a switchpack fail, which will cost $1-1.5K. A PEM failure could be $5-10K.

Body work is similar. The carbon fiber body is very strong. But in a serious collision, it will crack, and replacement is the only option. When a truck hit my driver side door, the replacement of the outer door shell alone was over $2.5K.

Besides powertrain and body panels, I've found repair costs to be reasonable. Things like tires, brakes, and shocks have been unsurprising. For standard repairs and maintenance, there are shops I trust more than Tesla.

I know that, for the most part, EVs are not that problem prone. And considering my Vette has been in the shop twice in two weeks for the same issue (speed sensor), I'm pretty sure that it's still more reliable.

I would not call Roadster reliable. If the incredible experience of owning one outweighs the attention and hassle it takes to keep it on the road, then it may be worth it. I know it is for me (x100).

That's good information to know. Do the roadsters still charge at the super charger stations, even if it's not free? Or is the charging system completely different? My current EV has the standard J1772 charger input. I'm guessing the roadster doesn't have that.

I have a J1772 charger at home, with a Roadster adapter attached. (Tesla — Roadster J1772 Mobile Connector). On the road, I keep a CAN adapter (The CAN - Roadster to J1772 or Model S/X connector) in the trunk. Both adapters work great.

 

[DanielFriederich]

If it doesnt have to be a convertible for commute why not considering a used (depending on the wallet) Model S (with autopilot hardware) instead of the Roadster?
yes the Roadster is a hell of a fun car to drive and goes like a cart but for daily use in traffic and crappy weahter I prefer the MS.

Repairs: as long as battery, PEM and motor are ok the rest is basic (down to earth) car stuff much from the Lotus Elise (HVAC parts e.g.)