r/teslamotors • u/WankSyrup • Aug 02 '21

If Tesla’s are so expensive, and consider luxury cars, why do so many people buy them? Are there that many rich people?! General

It might sound like a stupid question, but I’m genuinely wondering. Like will having a Tesla even attract attention anymore? Or is it so common that it’s practically the new Toyota Camry or Honda accord ?!

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123

u/pn_dubya Owner / Investor Aug 02 '21

Its funny, since I bought a Model Y I’ve had comments on how i must be Mr Moneybags, however it cost less than half the loaded pickups on my block. And yeah they’re becoming super common in my area, let alone the west coast.

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u/dcdttu Model 3 LR-RWD | White Aug 02 '21

I will save $10,000 in fuel over 10 years by driving my Model 3 over my last car, a 2009 Civic. Ten thousand dollars, in fuel alone.

People need to be talking about the total cost of ownership.

-17

u/jarf1337 Aug 02 '21

But the increased cost in tires, insurance, etc. are going to eat that up. Not to mention the car payment ...

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u/dcdttu Model 3 LR-RWD | White Aug 02 '21

Tires aren't really any more than any other tire of that caliber, and my insurance is about the same as full coverage was on my last car. I pay less than $600/6mo. The safety equipment in Tesla vehicles really gets the discounts with insurance. AEB especially.

I absolutely guarantee you that neither of those is going to eat up $10k in 10 years.

9

u/Finch2192 Aug 02 '21

To be fair, I do think Teslas chew through tires faster than other cars. They’re really quite a bit more torquey and quite a bit heavier than a normal car.

10

u/dcdttu Model 3 LR-RWD | White Aug 02 '21

They can get chewed up fast if you drive them like they're on a sports sedan - but then again so does a 3 Series BMW.

I'm 3 years into my car with about 30k miles, on original 19" Continentals and they will need replacing in about 5k more miles.

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u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 02 '21

I found that to be true of my Model 3's OEM tires, but the replacements I got after the OEMs went bald at 20k miles are so far looking to last at least 35-40k, which is pretty typical for tire age.

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u/dcdttu Model 3 LR-RWD | White Aug 04 '21

What tires?

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u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 04 '21

OEMs were Michelin Primacy MXM4s. The new ones I got are Michelin CrossClimate+. There's also CrossClimate2s, now, which I've heard are even better.

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u/dcdttu Model 3 LR-RWD | White Aug 04 '21

Did you make sure they're low rolling resistance tires? Helps a lot with range.

​

(Wearing them out at 20k sounds like maybe you're a spirited driver?)

1

u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 04 '21

They're not specifically low rolling resist, but they made no noticeable difference in my efficiency. The CrossClimate2 are supposed to be specially formulated for EVs, though, so maybe those ones are LRR? Not sure, though.

And no, I'm not a spirited driver at all. My tires were defective. They went from 4/32" remaining tread at the rotation I did at about 19,000 miles down to 1/32" within less than a month. They were also wearing unusually fast before that.

I've seen several reports from other people who also bought a Model 3 in mid-2018 having to replace their OEM tires shockingly fast, so I think Michelin may have just had a bad batch of MXM4s.

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u/Position-Immediate Aug 02 '21

I'm in my mid 20s and insurance cost a couple dollars less for my Model Y than my previous car (2011 Audi A3) assuming full coverage on both (Tesla Insurances vs generic other insurance company).

Car Payment, def higher though. If you're on a budget, this is not the car to buy lol you can fool yourself to think you will save money in gas and maintenance, but you are still spending over 50k on a car. You can purchase a good $10k car and with gas/maintenance still save money in the long run if you sell it and buy another 10k car in about 5years

3

u/bronxct1 Aug 02 '21

Insurance really varies depending on the person. I moved from 2012 Ford Focus to a 2019 Model 3 and my premium went down even though I dropped my deductible from 1k with the Ford to $500 with the Tesla including full glass. We now have 2 Model Y's and my insurance is cheaper than when we had a Focus and a CX-5.

Tires will really depend on how you drive, but even that cost will be offset by no oil changes and brakes that won't need replacing for a longer timespan.

3

u/questionableintentsX Aug 02 '21

People bitching about tires are driving it to show off their acceleration turn on chill mode and your tires will outlast a camera lol

1

u/Speciou5 Aug 02 '21

You'd have to buy new tires every four month for that math to work out. That obviously isn't how fast they wear out.

15

u/sunbomb Aug 02 '21

The price of a fairly middle-tier-optioned pickup truck really surprised me, not being in the target demographic. And for a completely loaded one, that really rocked me. No wonder the manufacturers are trying to sell more pickups, since the margins are probably delicious.

1

u/jonnycarroll1337 Aug 03 '21

Don’t leave me hanging, what numbers are you seeing?

2

u/sunbomb Aug 03 '21

A Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro is about $45K, which boggles my mind, since to a suburban guy like me, the fuel economy is terrible, but ok, I can periodically lend out the truck to my friends or family to haul stuff. A Ford F-150 Limited is almost $75K. I remain so unaware or ignorant of that market though, so these might be great prices for someone who uses these trucks for work. But for the vast majority of folks that I see driving them, how are they affording the truck and the associated lack of fuel economy? (Don't answer that.)

1

u/DammitDan Aug 03 '21

Another option for the Y or X if you only occasionally need to haul something is to get the tow package and then rent a utility trailer for $20-30 whenever you need to haul something. Way less expensive than paying to fuel up a truck all the time.

2

u/sunbomb Aug 03 '21

Yep, got the towing package for my MYLR. In 10 months, haven't used it once. At least I was correct about my potential usage of a truck - not much.

13

u/stubept Aug 02 '21

My neighbor said the same thing. Then I reminded him that he owns A BOAT!

53

u/y90210 M3LR, CT Tri reservation Aug 02 '21

People need to do the math - if you buy a 32k jeep, you aren't considered rich, but if you buy a 40k model 3, people think its expensive. Now factor in that the jeep will likely cost $2000 a year more in fuel, and the Tesla is cheaper during the average length of ownership.

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u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 02 '21

but if you buy a 40k model 3, people think its expensive

I think a lot of this comes from Tesla's reputation that it gained while the only cars they sold were S and X. The SR+ is half the price of an S, but many people still think Tesla only sells $80k+ vehicles.

7

u/DammitDan Aug 03 '21

It so weird. My MY cost me more than all 5 of my previous vehicles combined, including a Lexus. But every time I'm asked what I paid out the door, the response has always been something to the effect of, "Oh, that's not that bad." Like, what?

10

u/egam_ Aug 02 '21

Plus the tesla holds its value better.

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u/katze_sonne Investor Aug 03 '21

Well, I consider people as rich if they have a 32k jeep 🤷🏼‍♂️ or at least as wealthy.

4

u/y90210 M3LR, CT Tri reservation Aug 03 '21

In the United States, the average selling price for a new light vehicle came to around 38,960 U.S. dollars in 2020

Since that number is going to be mixing in large trucks, expensive vehicles, etc; here is the number broken down by segment:

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-is-the-average-price-for-a-new-car/

18

u/ItalicsWhore Aug 02 '21

I went and looked at a Tacoma the morning I ordered my Model 3. The dealer wanted $52k. The MSRP on the truck was $42k. I looked at the Tesla site and ordered a M3 SR+ for $39k and have a car payment that is slightly more than my Jeep Wrangler and I’m saving upwards of 200/mo in gas. Really a no-brainer.

20

u/QuestionAxer Aug 02 '21 edited Aug 02 '21

Also, one of the best parts about buying a Tesla is the fact that you don't have to go to dealerships and negotiate with car salespeople over multiple visits and phone calls haggling them over features and a couple thousand dollars here and there while they pressure you into making the purchase.

I literally clicked the "Buy Now" button on the Tesla site and the car arrived in my driveway a month later. It's a huge disruption of the archaic and incredibly cumbersome car purchasing process.

14

u/ItalicsWhore Aug 02 '21

Picking mine up tomorrow and the wife and I have decided we’re never setting foot in another car dealership again.

9

u/Speciou5 Aug 02 '21

That many states are trying to make illegal. Goddamn USA and lobbying.

7

u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 02 '21

Not trying: already did. These laws have been in place in half the US for decades. It's just that no one really opposed them until Tesla came along with their much better model.

What's happening now is that Tesla is lobbying to get those laws repealed.

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u/bremidon Aug 05 '21

When the laws were made, they made sense. Dealerships were doing the actual work in the markets and the manufacturers would swoop in once a brand was established in an area.

This was before the internet. Now you can look up prices online and order a car like a pizza. Dealerships are simply not needed for the sales process anymore.

It does mean that Tesla (or any manufacturer that ditches its dealerships) is going to have to step up its service game for after sales tasks, although I can't complain myself.

I do have some empathy for these dealerships. It must be hard to see your entire business model being made completely irrelevant.

1

u/bremidon Aug 05 '21

There was someone on here not too long ago that was claiming that they were being conned and upsold at a "Tesla dealership". When I confronted him on it, he deleted his post.

Why do people come on here to just post crap? I seriously don't understand the inferiority complex needed in order to think that this is an ok thing to do.

1

u/HastroX Aug 02 '21

Isn't the Tacoma a pick up truck? Shouldn't it be compared to the Cyber truck then?

9

u/y90210 M3LR, CT Tri reservation Aug 02 '21

He's comparing MSRP, they're similar, but with dealer markup its no contest.

8

u/ItalicsWhore Aug 02 '21

I switched my whole mentality because they pissed me off. I just figured I’d buy an electric truck later.

2

u/coredumperror LR RWD , 2 Shares Aug 02 '21

The base model Cybertruck actually costs the same amount as the Model 3 SR+.

1

u/clarkster Aug 03 '21

True, the Cybertruck is the same price as the Tacoma then.

1

u/Herradrjoli Aug 03 '21

The cybertruck is not out yet so we don't know for sure what it will cost.

1

u/ackermann Reserved Aug 05 '21

and ordered a M3 SR+ for $39k

Curious about this. I was just about to order a Model 3 myself yesterday (LR though). Then I was glancing at Cybertruck for fun, and, I guess I never realized how cheap it is. Turns out that the LR Cybertruck is... the exact same price as the LR Model 3! Cheaper than any other Tesla!

Since I have a garage that can fit a Cybertruck, and it can park itself, I'm really questioning whether the Model 3 is a good value. CT is a far more capable vehicle, for the same money. Much roomier, seats 6, hauls stuff, pulls trailers, boats and RVs, etc. Not that I necessarily need any of that... but it feels unwise financially not to take it, for the exact same price.

Especially in terms of the resale value of my Model 3, once Cybertruck releases.

I mean, you can argue that a BMW 3 Series has a similar starting price to a new Chevy Silverado. But the BMW car will have a far nicer interior than the Chevy truck, much better acceleration, and much better auto-steer. That's what you're paying for. But does anyone really expect Cybertruck's interior to be much worse than Model 3's interior? Surely they'll reuse a lot of the same interior components? And Model 3's interior is already pretty minimalist.

Thoughts?

2

u/ItalicsWhore Aug 05 '21

The Cybertruck wasn’t really an option for me. The wife hates it. I’ll probably end up doing the electric F150 or Rivian or something. That’s a few years away for me yet.