Another new Tesla day!

[Torrid]

@Torrid what are the details on the Carvana Telsla-3? How much?

(FWIW, I'd LOVE one for commuting and to save miles (and gas) on my Tacoma, but cannot stomach another monthly payment)

I got $22,000 for the car. Tesla only wanted to give me $19,200 for the car. That does sound like a lot of depreciation given the price of $47,000 just under 3 years ago which is only made worse by the price drops and the tax credit coming back, but I sold my Edge to Carvana at the time and really made out well on that one. I don't love the deal, but it was enough to want to still do the deal.

Really I should have bought her the Model Y at the time and we wouldn't have made this deal now coming out of the Ford Edge, but once I bought my Model Y she realized the space given up going to the Model 3. We bought the cheapest Tesla at the time we got the Model 3. I look at that as the cost to find out we actually like EVs. It's the car she should have had in the first place. I got her a RWD sedan when our climate benefits from AWD and once the space became a real issue we finally decided to make a change. It fits both of our needs so well that it's nice that with the refresh they don't look like the same car at least.

I still find humor in the fact that I went from hating crossovers to owning two. It's interesting how different they are from each other while just having different front and rear ends. I was surprised how much lower my Model Y Performance sits compared to the new Y which already sits lower than the regular model. I'm sure the new Y Performance will be low like mine too.

Opening the rear doors together was the most obvious way I could see to compare the heights between them.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@Torrid your path is similar to mine. In mid Dec '18, I was othe couch nursing my surgery; I could not drive. Wifey was working on her computer on the office desk. We had never discussed Teslas at all and had purchased a new RX450h earlier in February. Outta nowhere, I asked Sue if she would like to ride over to Tesla and look at the new Model 3, just for fun. She said, "OK". She drove us over and we joined the lookie-loos. Young man asked if we would like to drive one; she said, "OK". Sue is adventurous... I sat in the back with my crutches and she drove; out of the parking lot she simply said, "Oh wow...". It started to rain a little which was cool. A mile down the road we jumped on the freeway and he told her to click the stalk down and put it in EAP.

A few minutes later, we were back at the store. I said, "What do you think?" She said, "OK, let's do it." Remember, at this time Tesla was losing money hand over foot, the factory robotics were failing miserably and Tesla was supposed to go belly up any day. Tapped a credit card for $500 and week later the beautiful Mid Range was delivered to our door.

I fell in love with no gas stations and instead fueled up by the California sunshine.

A year ago about this time Fremont got their car back and we got this:

 

[Torrid]

@JeffKeryk I was really surprised by the impression it made on me. I was against the idea of Tesla just because of Elon's antics even back then overpromising, but the product speaks for itself. Now knowing what Tesla offers I may have changed my approach initially buying. I think what would have happened is that my wife would have had the previous Y Long Range and then I would have bought the new Model 3 Performance since it was available at the time that I got my Y Performance. Now having the space of the Y I wouldn't pick the 3 over it even though the performance is even better, but that definitely was the result of dipping my toe in instead of jumping in. While I liked them if it wasn't for my wife talking me into one for her I don't think I would have given EVs enough thought to ever buy one for myself.

I drove my first Tesla in 2014, the Model S. I really didn't consider it for myself at the time because I saw the Model S as a premium vehicle I couldn't afford at the time, though I thought it was a very unique experience. I've liked EVs ever since even when I didn't think they'd work for me. I was definitely wrong about it working for me knowing what I know now.

The way technology has moved is just amazing to watch.