Love my roadster, but it is currently my nice weather weekend car. I hate subjecting such a beautiful car to harsh weather, and the don't like to park such a exotic car for Walla Walla at work. It'd fit in nicely at my place in Portland, but it get hit with doors and cars there. The steep slopes on entrances due to rain would be cruel on the low front too.
So, I'm saving it until I can migrate south for winter to California. Sun and crazier cars seem to be plentiful
there.
I'd say just drive it
There's no better place for an exotic car to be other than on the road. Its also nice to see people's expressions who've never seen the Roadster in real life before and say to their friend, "Hey, do you see that!?!? That's a Tesla Roadster!!!" The nice thing about the Roadster is that its not subject to the typical door dings that a Model-S or other metal shelled cars, the carbon fiber actually absorbs the impact of the door hit pretty darn well. With that the paint seems to flex with it too. I don't have any door dings and I've driven mine much in public, parked in public places like shopping malls, public garages, etc.
Also people drive these things in snow, yes, snow
However its probably the one season I'd personally skip if the state uses road salts, reason being is that it can be quite corrosive to the A-Arms and suspension and random nuts / bolts / hardware that are not stainless, painted or aluminum. The aluminum frame / undercarriage does well however since its treated. But I've seen Lotus Elise's / Roadsters that have been driven in salty road conditions and it does beat up the suspension quite well with corrosion. I just replaced my ball joints and upgraded my A-arm bushings, did the job myself, and happy to see my A-Arms in great condition. Just a little road grime / grease which cleaned off easily... all at 60k miles driving in central California all year round.
One place I do say to drive the Roadster with caution is in the city, in particular parking in the city or for that matter anywhere that you have to parallel park. The Roadster as you know is extremely low, it can be quite easy for someone to back into and over the nose of the car not even noticing they did. My Roadster when I bought it at 3k miles had shown evidence of someone backing into the front, minor, but I can tell. I also had someone do the same to me in San Francisco parked on a city street over night. Nothing major, just a lesson to find a solution to a potential problem that can occur or not park there at all. One solution I was thinking is some sort of flag or fold down / pop up cone. One I can retract and put in the trunk. Even one with a flat base and tube that can stow in the trunk. One thing it would need is a lock so people don't walk off with it and leave you vulnerable again. Key is to make it tall enough that its in a typical SUV rear window view and if possible can wave in the wind, like a flag.
Yes steep slopes and dips can be an issue in the Roadster, I've learned how to take course on the majority of them. But I've had to back out of a few. For sure the Roadster is not the car you'd want to give anyone a detailed tour of SF in.
I also feel that cars that have character, nicks, scrapes, and wear marks of love and use (not abuse) are more valuable (to me) for that this car has many stories to tell, and still after the rugged course of time, has more to share in the future. Actually, the Roadsters driven in the snow are just that showing how rugged and versatile they truly are. Whereas a garage queen, well, its more like a painting on the wall that can be appreciated rather than a tested legend that is purely admired.
