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Thinking of Trading My Fiesta ST for a 2021 Model 3 LR as my Daily

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Well, hello guys. First post on this forum! My name is Kevin

I have been a car guy my entire life. My current weekend car is a Sonic Blue 03 Cobra making 931whp, and my daily driver is a 2018 Fiesta ST with 66k miles. I have always been a gas engine guy buy last year I rented a Model 3 Performance, and it blew my mind. The way the electric motors put down their torque, without any wheelspin or tire noise is what stood out the most.

The wife and I work at the same place, and work the same shifts usually. Commute is about 15 miles each way. I do however like taking longer trips to the mountains of NH to go fishing or what not. I believe the Model 3 Long Range is really just about the perfect daily driver for my lifestyle. PLUS, my electric company offers a huge discount to charge an electric car from 9pm-7am, I think around 9c per kW.

I am also debating waiting for a 2022 model, but unsure as the 3 was just refreshed.

Well anyways, just wanted to say hi. Look forward to doing a bit more research before pulling the trigger

Photo of the ST and Cobra for the hell of it


DSC_2729 by Intervention302, on Flickr


2245553 by Intervention302, on Flickr
 
Hi, Welcome to TMC,

if you dont "need" a car right now, you might consider waiting to see if any tax credits come back. Tesla has been slowly raising prices, but so has every other vehicle manufacturer in one form or another, due to vehicle scarcity.

sounds like you already have the bug, so I am sure you will end up with one of these cars eventually :p
 
Good morning and welcome!

Just one bit of advice …. Tesla isn’t predictable with their model years. When changes are ready, they just implement them — they don’t hold things back. So in other words, waiting for a “2022” model year car could very well be exactly the same car you’d buy right now. Or, not.
Changes happen as they go rather than on a MY basis.

My point being … if you like the current package, go ahead and buy it! Waiting for 2022s just means more time without a Tesla. :)
 
Tesla is constantly updating their cars, they don't do it by model year they just introduce improvements as they become available so there is no point in waiting because you'll wait forever. However the point about the tax credit is valid, give Congress a couple of months to see if they pass the new credit bill and if it will apply to Tesla. The Massachusetts rebate cuts out at $50K including the destination charge, that excludes AWD Model 3s that aren't white, I could imagine Congress doing something similar.

As for going to the mountains in NH in a Model 3 AWD, it's no problem I've done it lot's of times. In New England Vermont is very well covered with Superchargers, NH has enough to get anywhere but it would be nice if they got around to installing the planned Supercharger in North Conway. Maine could use more Superchargers but you can get anywhere as long as you do a little planning. In the Berkshires there are two Superchargers in the Tanglewood area, Lee and Great Barrington but none on Route 2 so as long as you top off in Lee you are fine if you want to come home via Route 2. Cape Cod is peppered with Superchargers so no problem there. Rhode Island could use more, the one planned for Middleton isn't scheduled until 2022, however Rhode Island is the size of a postage stamp so there is no real problem because there are Superchargers nearby in MA and Conn.
 
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Used car prices and values are unusually high right now due to overall inventory shortages (new and used) so now would be the time to sell the Fiesta. Whether or not it's the best time to buy a new Tesla is more unprediictable as it can depend on where things go from here as far as potential tax credits, ongoing chip shortage issue, etc. Hopefully inventories and pricing will get back closer to "normal" before too long.
 
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I sold my Subaru BRZ (in rally Blue) for an M3 LR. Used prices are insane right now. I sold it for about $2K less than I bought it used for 3-4years ago and found out Carmax is reselling for $3K more than I bought for. As @CapeOne suggested you'll get a good price for the Fiesta right now.

I’ll include a pic of the Subie.


The LR's acceleration is great, immediate and really strong, (plus the $2K option to knock another .5s of the 0-60 time if you need more). It puts the Subaru to shame. The M3 corners flat but I can tell it's a heavier car than my previous BRZ which cornered like a go-kart. The M3 also handles rough roads much better than the BRZ especially since I had aftermarket suspension.

The mileage has been decent but for my usage I'm not range constrained. I have to charge maybe once or twice a week. (from about 100miles - 300 miles of range) at home. 120V charging is at 4-5mph and NEMA 14-50 240V charging is at 33-34mph which means about 6 hours for 200miles or 10 hours for a completely drained battery.

The sound system, once you tweak the EQ settings to your liking is really good.

The few issues I've had aren't deal breakers for me or won't impact you. I damaged my bumper pulling into the garage after a month so hopefully you won't do that. I had some issues getting the car registered but that's a Texas problem. The only minor irritations with the car are the lack of satellite radio, (I use the app on my phone for that) and lack of Carplay, (although the car interfaces with my phone well enough). I also wish the rear seats had a usable manual unlatch in case of power loss like the front doors, (there is a manual release but it'ss really for maintenance.) Oh and my service center is about 45 minutes away.

The reason to get the LR over the SR+ or Performance for me is it's fast enough and has enough extra range that even allowing for 20-80% nominal charge range, losses from using the AC or heater (heat pump in the 21's), and generally spirited driving I have no day to day range anxiety, (We have a 3 row SUV for family trips/hauling stuff)
 
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Congratulations!

I was coming in here to tell you not to do it…… find a way to keep the ST as it’s a classic. But it’s done, enjoy the Model 3, it’s the perfect commuter.

ST served me really well and the dealer got me a great price. It would have depreciated 6k in value by the end of the year/chip shortage
Sweet! Congrats on the new ride. Is that Cobra gonna get any action anymore?

Also... is that a blue Model 3, or is it silver with a blue reflection from the Cobra? Hard to tell.

Tesla and Cobra both blue :)
 
Congrats! You’re living the dream with a Tesla and a Cobra in the garage! BTW your YouTube delivery day video just popped up in my feed like 20 minutes after I saw this post! Great color choice, but I guess I’m biased! Go Team Blue!
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