What did you have before the Roadster?

[mpt]

Or, what do you have now that the Roadster will replace?

The press has a lot to say about wealthy Tesla owners but I'm curious and I don't think that most of us who are ordering or driving Roadsters are giving up a Ferrari or a Lambo', perhaps we are?

I'll start:

MINI Cooper S JCW

I have an '05 MINI Cooper S that I JCW'ed in 2007-2008... A fun project as it included persuading my brother to bundle up the UK-only JCW seats in a big box for the postman to carry to the USA!

 

[NEWDL]

Um...yeah...

I would love to see those JCW seats....

I drive a 2004 MC40 Mini Cooper S...

I like to say that the roadster is replacing our 2005 HUMMER. I know it is insane to have a HUMMER and a Tesla. It is used to tow an 18' trailer and classic Jaguars...

This way when we average the HUMMER and Tesla's MPG it is still above a Pruis!

Honestly...The Roadster is another car..it is not replacing anything...but it will be driven as much as possible so that we can use less gasoline.

 

[DaveD]

I, for one, get annoyed when I read articles that refer to Tesla owners as being uniformly "wealthy". Not all of them are. I'm certainly not. I just happen to habitually save most of the money I make. I'm not a big consumer. I must be a terrorist and hate America, according to some.

I have a 2003 Nissan 350Z and a 2006 Scion xB. I bought the 350Z new. At the time, it was twice as much as I'd ever paid for a car before (~$37K). Now that I have the Tesla, I expect I'll be getting rid of the 350Z. I'll keep the xB as my gasser backup.

 

[Lancelac]

I think I can say with confidence that my Telsa (#690) will replace the crappiest auto of any owner (or prospective owner), unless of course they don't have car. I drive a 1991 Acura Integra with about 280k miles on it. My insurance company values the car at $900. I'm hoping she survives until August (delivery)!

 

[vfx]

I think I can say with confidence that my Telsa (#690) will replace the crappiest auto of any owner (or prospective owner), unless of course they don't have car. I drive a 1991 Acura Integra with about 280k miles on it. My insurance company values the car at $900. I'm hoping she survives until August (delivery)!

Agreed. Though that was not always a crappy car...

 

[Palpatine]

I currently own two Prius hybrids.
2009 Prius (#6) with the Hymotion Plug-In upgrade. (my car)
2005 Prius (#2) normal hybrid. (wife's car)

I will be selling the 2005 Prius when the Tesla Roadster Sport arrives.
Then my wife will get the 2009 Plug-In Prius.

So at that point, every vehicle in my garage will be a plug-in of some sort.

check out the links below for more info.

 

[SteveF]

I will be selling my BMW X5 when I take delivery of the Roadster, which will then become my daily driver. Obviously I haven’t been too environmentally conscious up to this point, having driven a gas-guzzling SUV for several years. But after the price of oil tripled some months back, the pain I was feeling with each fill-up at the gas station got my attention, as did my frustration with the insane, unfounded profits the oil companies and the middle eastern terrorist states were raking in.

In addition to my new-found desire to be more green, I also reached a point in my life where a sports car finally made sense for me – my kids were about to be out of the house, and a two-seater wasn’t totally impractical. I was shopping for a Porsche, as I had promised myself that one day I would buy myself one. And about that time was when I first started to hear about the Tesla Roadster. After I looked into it more and more, I realized that I could actually do better than a Porsche for about the same money – because the Roadster is faster, sexier and certainly more green. When I finally saw the car in person at the San Francisco Auto show a couple of years ago, my decision was made.

And I will enjoy not supporting both sides of the war on terror as I “fill up” my Roadster in the near future.

 

[graham]

I am currently driving my 1999 Mercedes SLK230 as my daily commuter.

I do not plan to get rid of the SLK right away, even though the Roadster will be my daily commuter once it arrives. The Mercedes has been an awesome car for the past eleven years (and 225000 miles). It will probably take me a while until I am confident that the Roadster range and comfort etc is sufficient enough for me to not need my old car as a backup vehicle. Since it only has a 4-cylinder engine in it (granted, supercharged) the gas milage is not bad enough to have to dump it immediately.

 

[donauker]

My Roadster is intended to replace my 2003 Mercedes SLK32 AMG although it is really going to be hard to sell it. The SLK has only been an occasional use fair weather car but the Roadster will be used as much as possible.

My current (almost) daily commuter is my Vectrix, it is only bad weather or the need to carry larger items that force me to occasionally use my 2006 Lexus RX400h.

Since my commute is short and nice weather is around the corner I have been trying to convince my girlfriend that she should plan on using the Roadster for her much longer commute. Even after driving a Roadster three times she is still somewhat reluctant to consider leaving her beloved 2005 MINI Cooper S Convertible parked in the garage while using the Roadster instead!

 

[BillB]

Before the Roadster?

Wealthy? Not so much. We just rarely buy cars, buy reasonably nice ones new, and drive them a long time (together we've bought 4 new cars in 35 years).

I've always been interested in cars slightly off the mainstream. I've had 2 Mazda Rx7s, an '83 (wrecked, not by me) and my current '94. I tend to buy a car and become very attached to it - it's going to be painful to let the Rx go. My wife loves her '92 Honda Civic (40+ MPG), but I've convinced her that I deserve an airbag on my side too, so we're planning to get a '10 Prius. The Tesla is a miracle - a supercar for me that's green enough for her... she actually suggested I buy it.

We'll continue to conform to my wife's maxim - 2 drivers, 2 cars. The Roadster will be my daily driver and commute car (though I'll probably end up taking a taxi to the airport for trips rather than leaving the Roadster parked there).

#244 arrives next month.

 

[vfx]

... We just rarely buy cars, buy reasonably nice ones new, and drive them a long time (together we've bought 4 new cars in 35 years)...


#244 arrives next month.

BillB,

Welcome.

Asuming this is your excellent blog in handing over the keys Bill, I hope you come back and tell us all about your first (and later) driving experiences!

 

[mpt]

I will be selling my BMW X5 when I take delivery of the Roadster

Everyone loves a reformed sinner

 

[SteveF]

Hallelujah. I have seen the light!

 

[TEG]

My Roadster is intended to replace my 2003 Mercedes SLK32 AMG although it is really going to be hard to sell it.

Hard to sell because you don't want to part with it, or hard to sell because it will be hard to find a buyer willing to pay a reasonable price in this economy?

I have been trying to convince my girlfriend that she should plan on using the Roadster for her much longer commute. Even after driving a Roadster three times she is still somewhat reluctant to consider...

Tesla fans roll their eyes thinking of you having to convince someone to drive your roadster!?

 

[donauker]

Hard to sell because you don't want to part with it, or hard to sell because it will be hard to find a buyer willing to pay a reasonable price in this economy?

I guess it would be the combination of the two. The current selling prices are below the amount that it would take for me to be willing to part with it. :redface: Problem is garage space.

Tesla fans roll their eyes thinking of you having to convince someone to drive your roadster!?

Yeah, what can I say. She is a die-hard MINI lover.

 

[DisneylandIsHome]

The roadster will replace a 1994 Buick Regal GS and the Model S will replace a 2006 GMC Envoy. Nothing will replace the 1950 MG-TD, so we'll still have a "gas hog."

 

[SByer]

I'm replacing a 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet I bought used 6 years ago. I've always had small cars - the 911 is the biggest I've driven (2+2). I previously had an '92 MR2.

The Tesla is going to be my daily driver - Adobe even has electric car only parking spots (with outlets and paddle chargers) left over from the EV1 days. I'll miss having a full convertible, but I'm not going to miss having an ICE.

My wife has a Subaru Outback that is also due for replacement, but replacing any car nowadays with something that isn't at least a plug-in hybrid seems a crime. We do take road trips from time to time, so we need that "other" car to have range. And be able to carry the dogs (though I have taken the dogs up to the vet in the 911 a number of times).

 

[Tdave]

I've always been interested in cars slightly off the mainstream. I've had 2 Mazda Rx7s, an '83 (wrecked, not by me) and my current '94. I tend to buy a car and become very attached to it - it's going to be painful to let the Rx go.[/I]

Another twin-turbo RX-7 owner here. I already did let it go, though - sold after 10 years for a bit more than half what I bought it for. Loved that car more than any other I had ever owned. The Tesla will fill that void for me.

 

[Kevin Harney]

I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. It is my 5th Jeep and I am sure that I will hang on to it after I get the Model S. At least for a while - unless I have sold my boat by then. Hard to tow 3,000 lbs witha Model S and get more than 1 block LOL.

 

[graham]

I probably should have mentioned that we will need to replace my wife's old 1999 Saturn soon as well. I have hopes that the Model S might work for her, but I need to finish figuring out how to pay for the Roadster before I jump on the Model S train.