TMC Members! What was your first Tesla experience?

[Btrflyl8e]

I happened upon a roadster in the wild, a beautiful dark blue one. I did a quick Google search and saw it was electric, and the price. Yikes. But I was smitten. Had to have been 2010?.

Then I saw some piece on TV about the building of it, and they talked about the coming sedan. I'm more of a coupe kind of girl, but filed that away in my brain.

In late 2012 I was sitting at a light where there is an interstate offramp, and a black Model S glided off the ramp and passed me. I instantly knew what I had seen, even though I had not really thought about it much or seen one before. That was it. Love at first sight. With... Shudder...a SEDAN.

I built several configurations on the Tesla site, tried to justify the cost to myself... Also, the closest Tesla anything was all the way in Miami. Too far for a test drive for me. A few months later, feeling the most work stress I've ever experienced, I had a few late nights just staring at the RESERVE button. It beckoned me. If I clicked it, I'd have to get through the tough stuff at work, I couldn't afford to quit with a big pricey car. Late one night while my bf was asleep... I.just.clicked.it. "it's refundable" I told myself. For some reason, I thought it would still be a year before I'd be asked to confirm. This was March 17, 2013. 2 days later I got the email telling me it was time to confirm! I didn't see it until March 21, however. I was panicked and giddy all at once. I confirmed, and then the most excruciating wait ever began. And a LOT of posting here. I'm sure there are still those that recall my manic postings!

So yes, I was one of those who bought without seeing or driving one. And my first experience was the day I took delivery, May 7, 2013. Oh what a glorious day that was, as every day has been since. I am so in love with my big, 4 door, blue electric beauty!

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Saw a Tesla Roadster on the cover of car and driver back in 2009 I think. Than I saw an actual one in San Jose when I was up there for basketball. Hated all alt. energy cars because I still didn't realize a full electric could actually make sense on a cost/benefit/environmental scale. Than I read a great 4 page case study in Management seminar class discussing the companies plight and the recent Fremont factory purchase and the lightbulb went off over my head.

 

[Merrill]

My experience was hearing about this company making a very expensive all electric sports car. This guy who was putting up a bunch of money with some other investors to build it. Frankly my first thought was he is crazy, and I do not want an all electric Lotus. Not sure when this was maybe 2006 or 2007. Saw the first one a local winery owner purchased in 2008 and it was green and said to myself not bad but not worth $125,000. Then I installed solar in 2010 and started thinking an all electric car was in my future, around 2012 started seeing this sedan called the Model S getting all these great reviews, received my monthly subscription to Automobile Magazine and it was there car of the year. Starting doing research on Tesla and Elon and realized this guy is may not be crazy. Reserved one and went for a test drive at the Menlo Park store, and you know the rest. Now I do not want any ICE cars in my garage, so cannot wait for the Model X.

 

[Sparrow]

I bought my first EV in 2001, my beloved Sparrow, and caught the EV fever. Over the intervening years I bought more than a dozen EVs anything from poor conversions of Ford Escorts up to the original Toyota RAV4 EV. I knew about the Roadster and avoided seeing it in person, being afraid that I might end up wanting one. Time went by and I was waiting for the Nissan Leaf to come to the Atlanta market. Finally an EV that could be serviced locally, which was the main attribute in an EV I was looking for at the time. We got the news that the Leaf was again delayed coming into Atlanta and I did what I always had done and searched eBay for EVs. I found a used Glacier Blue Roadster for sale and my wife just happened to be in the room at the time of my search. I kind of jokingly asked her what she thought of the Roadster. She took one look and immediately said "you should get it." I very quickly put my bid down on the car and within a week I had won the auction. After driving the Roadster for a couple of weeks and reading a lot of posts on TMC, I decided to put my deposit down on a Signature Model S in early 2011. Funny if it were not for the Nissan Leaf delay coming to Atlanta I might not have 2 Model Ss and a Roadster. My 2008 Roadster will almost certainly get the 3.0 treatment this year and my Signature S will be in the family for a long time. Hoping to convince my wife to move from her S to an X in a couple of years.