Need a new car in the near future and refuse to make a terrible deal…so, the other day I put down a $100 for a base model Tesla 3 to be, hopefully, delivered in September.
I guess I could lease a Niro or Bolt for less (right?)…I’ll check those out, though my guess is the wife won’t be enamored with either.
Still deciding whether to buy or lease…normally wouldn’t be a decision…but Tesla leases can’t be converted into ownership.
I don’t understand the logic. In order to avoid buying a car that isn’t at much of a discount, you’ll buy a car at full sticker?
So you choose a car that offers 0 room for negotiation and has an interior worse than a $20k Corolla? Interesting logic.
I did the same thing but for Model Y. I still may cancel the order, but I wanted to have delivery somewhat coincide with my current lease end. I know I can get a base model Corolla for less, and I know I am paying a huge premium for a Tesla, but I am becoming okay with that. But really, what’s the difference between paying full sticker or getting a $500 discount?
One of the only reasons I am doing it is because I will have several thousand dollars in equity in my current lease, which I look at as free money, because it’s not coming out of pocket that I can put down. I am also financing for 72 months and will look to sell after 36. If Tesla’s residual values are even close to what they are today, my total cost of ownership should be right around what it has been for my Accord Touring for the last 3 years.
There are still a few other cars I want to check out. But I don’t care about getting a good deal on something just to get a good deal, if it’s on a car that I don’t really want. I’d much rather pay a little more for a car and get something that I am going to enjoy driving.
So true.
A deal just for the sake of getting a deal isn’t really a deal 
I wouldn’t buy a Tesla again. The battery degradation is pretty bad after two years, about 12 percent, and it will probably keep getting worse. That could be the case with all electric cars, not sure, so I doubt I’ll purchase another one, just lease.
It’s a fun car to drive, but I wouldn’t let the fact that you can’t purchase the car from a lease stop you from leasing it, it’s not worth buying. I also wouldn’t count on the residuals staying as high as they are now. In three years, there will be even more used Tesla’s on the market, so I don’t think the resale value will stay the same.
I say all this to say, if you want a Tesla, and are okay with paying a premium, I’d lease it. Three years from now you may want another Tesla, but I doubt you’ll want the one you have.
I would at least research the implication of the infra-structure bill with regards to new EV tax credit. At one point there was language for $7500 for like Tesla and even more for GM because it’s a union shop.
7500/10k/12.5k (ev, build in us, with union labor) but that never made it to markup.
Any changes would be after Jan 1st, nothing retroactive.
Don’t hold your breath waiting on new Federal BEV tax credits.
Buy your car while dollars are still worth more than pesos.
Sticker is a meaningless number.
What he’s saying is he’d rather buy something at a transaction price close to that of the pre-shortage era.
As opposed to transaction prices that are 10, 20 or maybe 30% higher than before.
I’ll remember that as tesla removes features and bumps up the msrp over and over again… like they did in March, April, and June.
Exactly…I knew people would chime in the lack of discount, full price or no negotiations…but those are positives, IMHO, for the Tesla buyer. Look at the Apple stores…people love to pay full retail!
As for those Tesla critics…everyone I know who has one loves them, and it seems that at least half the new cars in my neighborhood (canyons of Los Angeles) are Teslas.
As I’ve said before regarding any lease…it’s just a rental!
We have two and are pretty happy with them 99% of the time.
It’s that 1% that turns a lot of luxury car consumers off though.
Admittedly I have not been following the price/feature changes super closely. What was the price of a base Model 3 (SR+ with no options) before those increases?
And what features are now missing (for someone not ordering FSD)?
They’ve bumped the price about $3k since March.
Missing thins are the standard chip shortage things… lumbar, etc. The difference is when normal companies stopped offering options, they don’t still charge for them.
The stripper/OTM Model3 has been $35k-ish
Well since you pay msrp, there is no good or bad time to buy a Tesla. Just don’t lease. I think I’m going to treat myself to either a 3 or Y performance when my current lease is up.
Except for when the msrp is lower…
True, Elon can change the msrp any time he wants. But it’s just been going up, and Tesla’s are sold out for the quarter, so with strong demand, and no time machine, I’m not sure how long before the msrp goes down again
That sounds exactly like the market for everything else right now.