Apologies for the long post, executive summary:
- Coming from a Volvo XC90 diesel
- It's tech
- It's beautiful
- It's FAST
- It's practical enough for a three kid family
- It sort of green (no car is actually green, I realise that)
- Couldn't afford to buy it myself, but it's quite a "sensible" purchase as a company car
Long version:
I'm about to order a 19" fully loaded P85 - will go for it this weekend :smile:
Currently I have a Volvo MY2011 XC90 2.4 diesel Executive - so that's will every possible gadget on it, but it's a very old design and despite being extremely comfortable on the motorway, it's a real tractor. We bought it as I wanted to depreciate an expensive car as a business purchase as it was a well used tax saving in Blegium, plus wifey being Danish liked the idea of a safe Scandi car.
Then the Belgian government changed from centre-right to centre-left and one of the first things they did was to dramatically increase the benefit in kind of company cars based on cost and CO2 emissions. All of a sudden the Volvo because very expensive and I started to regret it.
A friend (who drives a Fisker Karma) sent me a link at the time of the MX unveiling and I was deeply interested. I'm quite a fan of Apple products and only buy organic food, so not surprising that the Tesla appealed, but with the production of the MX so far away I basically forgot about it.
Then, a few months back I happened to pass by a newly opened Tesla showroom here in Brussels and went in to look at the MS. I couldn't believe how spacious and practical it was - I hadn't even considered it an option before, but here was a car that could seat the whole family with a decent amount of luggage and could get us from home and back anywhere in this funny little country we live in on a single charge. Of course we go farther a field four or five times per year: up to Denmark, to Holland, Provençe, the usual stuff, but then when I saw the plans for the SC network I got the idea it might be feasible.
Next step was the first test drive and I can tell you that if you've never driven MS then you're just not prepared for the "Ohm-my-god" factor when you press the throttle. I couldn't believe it. Even more unbelievable was that my wife liked it - she said it was the first car she'd been a passenger in where she didn't feel sick - must be a combination of the smoothness of the delivery and the air suspension. She fully supported my desire to buy one.
Next came the finances and when I worked it all out on paper, with the various incentives it was about the same cost to my company as my current Volvo. Here in Belgium you still have to pay the VAT, but you can claim 120% of the cost as a business expense (there's a rumour this will increase to 150% next year). Furthermore, there's no tax when you register the car and the annual road tax is very low. Factor in the savings on diesel and it's a compelling case, further factor in the fact that the benefit in kind is dramatically reduced and your in profit.
Early in the New Year, Volvo will be up for sale. I've never been so excited about a car in my life and never could have imagined to have been able to afford such a car, in fact it's only feasible as I have my own company and the tax laws are very favourable for it.
Basically all the stars aligned for me.