why SHOULDN'T i buy a model s?

[jerjozwik]

Try calling the Century City store direct to set up a test drive 310-553-5767 I am sure they can accommodate a serious buyer, they are also having a test drive event on June 10th Test Drive Model S in Century City! | Events | Tesla Motors

yes, thats the reason i filled out the web forum. if they dont contact be by monday ill give them a ring.

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There are a few downsides to owning a tesla...
*you will likely have to fight your spouse every day for who will get to drive the tesla to wherever you are going

ok, thats a good reason
the model s was the wifes dream car, i have since assimilated her dream and am trying to convince her that brown is a better color than white.
on a positive note, it is a largish car so i would get to drive it more frequently. she is still used to smaller vehicles.

 

[JonathanD]

1) it's expensive
2) if it's your only car (I wouldn't risk my total mobility on new technology)
3) if you aren't willing to learn new things and break out of the gasoline paradigm
4) if you drive really long distances on a regular basis

 

[CDT]

Picked mine up today. It will spoil you. No other car will be good enough. Your wife will want to use the car. You will be overcome with joy and scream at the top of you lungs as you rocket around a corner on the back roads as the full moon rises.
If any of these sound bad do not buy a Model S.

 

[Jason S]

Only real reasons I can think of for somebody in California:
1) it is unreasonably expensive for your budget
2) it is unreasonably inconvenient to charge daily (since you have electric cars, I imagine this isn't an issue)
3) you really want a smaller car

The S drives like a smaller car (very nimble, imho) but parks like a big car. Get used to backing in to parking spots, imho. On the other hand, soooo much storage space for those trips to Costco. I never use the back seats for groceries anymore.

Otherwise... it is a really nice car and I've no idea what I'd ever replace it with.

 

[Matias]

First disclaimer: I’m going to buy Tesla as soon as Tesla officially comes to Finland.
But to OP’s questions from devil’s advocate perspective:

-Tesla is a young company. One cannot be sure, if it exists ten years from now. If you have a car and the manufacturer is in bankruptcy that is not nice situation.
-Many here have had multiple warranty replacements, there are owners with third drive unit. Of course warranty replacements are free, but it would be nicer to drive your car than have it in service. Plus it is not nice to wait for flat bed in the side of the road. Especially, if you should be somewhere else.
-What about drive unit replacements, when the warranty period is over?
-Battery technology develops fast. Perhaps it would be good to wait few years for better and cheaper batteries?
-You get ICE car with same specs cheaper than Tesla (well not in Finland, but in USA).

 

[jerry33]

-Tesla is a young company. One cannot be sure, if it exists ten years from now. If you have a car and the manufacturer is in bankruptcy that is not nice situation.

Like GM, Chrysler, Saab, British Leyland, etc. Young doesn't mean much.

-Many here have had multiple warranty replacements, there are owners with third drive unit. Of course warranty replacements are free, but it would be nicer to drive your car than have it in service. Plus it is not nice to wait for flat bed in the side of the road. Especially, if you should be somewhere else.

I had far more warranty replacements on my VW TDI in the first year than I have had on the Model S.

-What about drive unit replacements, when the warranty period is over?

Compared to transmission and engine replacements on an old fashioned car.

-Battery technology develops fast. Perhaps it would be good to wait few years for better and cheaper batteries?

Yes, you can wait forever and miss the driving enjoyment. There will always be something better later.

-You get ICE car with same specs cheaper than Tesla (well not in Finland, but in USA).

Not really. You're talking an M5 or S Class. And certainly not if you're talking total cost of ownership. You can get a car with lower specs for less.

 

[Chipper]

hello forum, new here and ive read quite a few posts and articles praising the model s. while im still waiting for my test drive request to be fulfilled, i know that ill be awestruck by driving the model s.

that being said i joined this forum to see pretty pictures of model s...es? in the wild and to read what issues people are experiencing.

so... why should me and the wife not pull our financial resources to buy a model s 85kwh? :tongue:

I can think of several reasons, but here are my top ten:
1. I have always liked how my ICE heats up the garage nicely after I bring it in and park it. (Not so much with the S.)
2. I really like the guys down at my local Jiffy Lube. There will come a time in the not-so-distant future when they will have to find other work and...well...they are not the kind of guys that will transition easily.
3. Right next to Jiffy Lube is my local mechanical repair shop. These guys have been great over the years too. Usually they can figure out the problem with only two or four visits.
4. My son would really miss out on running out to the cold or hot garage to turn on the car for heat or AC. That whole phone app thing...well I am not into those gizmos and gadgets.
5. I have always liked pumping my own gas, especially in the cold and rain. I like supporting countries whose primary goal is the destruction of mine! It keeps the world in balance, don't you think?
6. Speed. Who needs 0-60 in 5 seconds?
7 I have always enjoyed the throaty growl of a V-8. I will let my grandchildren worry about what that's doing to our atmosphere. It's their problem, not mine.
8. I absolutely HATE attracting attention everywhere I go. I usually have to plan on being somewhere at least 15 minutes early and I NEVER get to leave as soon as I get back out to my car as there is always someone there who is drooling all over the car and has 14 silly questions I have to answer. They don't believe me anyway--250 miles??? 20 minutes at a supercharger???
9. My banker and my broker!!! OMG what would happen if I took 100K out of my accounts? It's FAR safer to have it sit in my savings account earning .72% interest. And my broker? He was absolutely certain that Enron would bounce back...maybe it still will and I will be in the catbird's seat then, by golly!
10. What a pain I have with friends and neighbors. None of them EVER asked if they could take my Civic for a test drive. None of the neighborhood guys ever looked longingly as I drove past them on the street. Now, it seems EVERYone wants to come and ogle at the car. They don't think of me as a person. They just want me for my car.

 

[AustinPowers]

Don't buy a Model S if you love the smell of gasoline.

=> insert generic racing car driver's name here

Don't buy a Model S if you love to get greasy and fix a car yourself.

=> Ed China

Don't buy a Model S if you love the roar of an engine.

=> Jeremy "Braindead" Clarkson

Don't buy a Model S if you love visiting your dealership and haggling over purchase price and every single repair.

=> are there people like that?

Don't buy a Model S if you love sitting in traffic.

=> actually, why? one might love sitting in traffic, he can still do it in style ;-)

 

[Alysashley79]

I can think of several reasons, but here are my top ten:
1. I have always liked how my ICE heats up the garage nicely after I bring it in and park it. (Not so much with the S.)
2. I really like the guys down at my local Jiffy Lube. There will come a time in the not-so-distant future when they will have to find other work and...well...they are not the kind of guys that will transition easily.
3. Right next to Jiffy Lube is my local mechanical repair shop. These guys have been great over the years too. Usually they can figure out the problem with only two or four visits.
4. My son would really miss out on running out to the cold or hot garage to turn on the car for heat or AC. That whole phone app thing...well I am not into those gizmos and gadgets.
5. I have always liked pumping my own gas, especially in the cold and rain. I like supporting countries whose primary goal is the destruction of mine! It keeps the world in balance, don't you think?
6. Speed. Who needs 0-60 in 5 seconds?
7 I have always enjoyed the throaty growl of a V-8. I will let my grandchildren worry about what that's doing to our atmosphere. It's their problem, not mine.
8. I absolutely HATE attracting attention everywhere I go. I usually have to plan on being somewhere at least 15 minutes early and I NEVER get to leave as soon as I get back out to my car as there is always someone there who is drooling all over the car and has 14 silly questions I have to answer. They don't believe me anyway--250 miles??? 20 minutes at a supercharger???
9. My banker and my broker!!! OMG what would happen if I took 100K out of my accounts? It's FAR safer to have it sit in my savings account earning .72% interest. And my broker? He was absolutely certain that Enron would bounce back...maybe it still will and I will be in the catbird's seat then, by golly!
10. What a pain I have with friends and neighbors. None of them EVER asked if they could take my Civic for a test drive. None of the neighborhood guys ever looked longingly as I drove past them on the street. Now, it seems EVERYone wants to come and ogle at the car. They don't think of me as a person. They just want me for my car.

^^^^^^^ ++1000 LOVE this! This is perfect and says all!

 

[jerjozwik]

I can think of several reasons, but here are my top ten:

hahah, nice work.

 

[AudubonB]

Back to seriousness here -

in addition to other points made, I would counsel those who haven't garages, or even driveways in which to park, to think long and hard about any fully electric vehicle at present. One of the So-Obvious-It's-Hard-To-See major great points about a Tesla is that every morning, your "fuel tank" is full. And that's really, really difficult to accomplish if you haven't the ability to plug it in...

 

[jerjozwik]

a valid point, but no applicable for me. while i do have a garage, right now its filled with big block mopar engine parts and a 196-something nsu prinz shell.
we have a 240 connection to the garage and a electric car charger on the outside, j1772.

 

[Beckler]

Here's what I've come up with so far:
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And lastly,
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Hope I didn't miss anything.

 

[Apoclyps]

as someone pointed out earlier, if you happen to have a flat or car is not driveable, and you are in the middle of nowhere... it may take hours to find a tow company willing to haul the car (requires flat bed and too new/expensive a car for them to risk liability (??))

 

[rolosrevenge]

You shouldn't buy a Model S if it will straddle you with more debt than you reasonably afford. If it cuts into longer term financial goals and retirement and financial security. Don't do it.

 

[yobigd20]

perhaps if you live in a northern alaska in a remote location and live off grid using solar energy where during the dark winters you cannot even generate and store any power, well then I wouldn't really recommend buying a Model S. outside of that and outside of financial stress, I can't think of any good reasons. ICE vehicles just dont make sense anymore. I can't even fathom going back to one. I'm electric from here on out forever.

 

[AudubonB]

perhaps if you live in a northern alaska in a remote location and live off grid using solar energy where during the dark winters you cannot even generate and store any power

Yew talkin' to me, Joiseyman?????:biggrin:

 

[hsctiger93]

I'm taking delivery on 6/6, but if I had any of the following issues I wouldn't get one:

1. Agree on the apartment/flat issue. If you don't have a designated parking spot and must pull out 100 feet of extension cord to charge it nightly I wouldn't get it.
2. Technology. I think about my mom and how she freaks out over Kayak.com constantly tweaking its site to make it just a little better every day. She despises changes to websites. If you're the kind of person who gets red-faced every time your favorite site makes changes (even small ones) I suspect that all the upgrades on the Tesla might drive you a little batty.
3. Financing. Totally agree that if this causes major stress to your nest egg, just wait and save up.


And now for some fun reasons...
1. If you're an executive of ExxonMobil or BP or any of the other oil companies, it probably wouldn't be too wise to show up in the parking lot with an EV. I come from an old tobacco family. Back in the day it was better for your career to die of lung disease than to show up to the office and declare you quit smoking. That's like signing your own pink slip.
2. Ditto if you run car dealerships or work for the dealership cartel fighting the direct model in various states.
3. If you're a certain New York Times writer who got busted trying to bash Tesla in your review. Wouldn't look so good for the image to, you know, look like a hypocrite.

 

[yobigd20]

Maybe you shouldn't buy "a" model S, but instead buy "two" model S?

 

[Objective1]

But seriously: Model S is too expensive. If you wouldn't consider buying a $50K ICE car, then maybe you should think twice about Model S.