As a few of you old-timers may remember waaay back, I was active here in the early days of this forum and was on the waiting list for the Roadster when it was still in development. After many delays, much sturm und drang (or "drama" as we euphemistically call it nowadays), and 18 months of waiting, I was worn out. It was just too much for me, I was overwhelmed and fatigued, and I cancelled my order.
I still have the little laser-cut paperweight that they sent out to people who pre-ordered Roadsters, too.
Without rehashing all of that, let's just say that years have passed and things look a lot different now than they did back in those days, and I've had plenty of time to get over that angst. Although I wasn't active on the forum for a long time, I was always watching the EV news, and the Tesla news. And I finally decided, you know, that I still want a Roadster. The desire just has not gone away. So a couple of months ago I started watching the listings on eBay, just to get some idea how often they come up for sale, what they are going for, and the like. And I came into it with my eyes open. I remembered what it was like owning that Lotus Esprit V8 for a couple of years, and I know from experience that whenever exotic sports cars are involved, there is always some sort of drama.
Still... I didn't really expect so much, so quickly.
A couple of Radiant Red Roadsters were listed, one in California and one in Dallas. Dallas! That's close! Well, semi-close. And it looked good. And the price was acceptable. But... The timing didn't work for me. The listing was up right when I was paying for foundation repairs on my house *and* getting another, far more utilitarian (but hardly cheap) vehicle. Buying a Roadster at the same time was too much. Then after Tesla announced the 400-mile upgrade, both of those red Roadsters disappeared from the listings very quickly.
There was a Midnight Blue 2008 model in Houston. Houston! That's... ehhh, not close, but it's in the same state as me, anyhow. And Midnight Blue isn't exactly my favorite color, but it could probably grow on me. The Roadster is a beautiful car, and it looks good in just about any color except black. (I can't abide black cars in general.) So, I called Texas Auto Direct and started asking questions. Well, it turned out they got this car at auction. Bankruptcy auction? Estate auction? Police auction? The latter would be my guess, but I never really found out. I also learned they only had one key and didn't know the PIN. I knew I could get Tesla to make more keys and recover the PIN, but... Getting the car and then immediately having to take it 120 miles to Austin to get it straightened out didn't sound like fun. There's a Tesla service center in Houston! Wouldn't it be easier for Texas Auto Direct to take care of that before selling it? But no... TAD is all about volume, volume, volume! They're like the Sam's Warehouse of used car dealers! So... I quickly lost interest in that. Plus, I was beginning to think I'd really like a 2.0+ model.
The *other* Radiant Red car I'd been watching before -- this one in California -- reappeared in the eBay listings! And it was a 2.0 Sport! And it had a cool red-and-black interior! It was like what I might have ordered from Tesla back when they were in production! I phoned the car dealership (which shall remain NAMELESS) and asked some questions. They said the previous buyer had backed out of the deal. I thought it was strange that they had zero feedback on eBay, but they said they were just getting started in eBay sales. (I also thought it odd that the listing showed it with "power steering" and a "recent oil change"!) Still, it was so *exactly* what I wanted, I thought it over for a while, and then early one morning I went to the page and hit the BUY IT NOW button. I also sent an email asking for instructions on how to complete the transaction, i.e. where to send my money. And then I waited. And waited. Two and a half days later I finally got someone on the phone who said the car was sold. To me, right? Right?!? He didn't know much, but he said, "We already shipped it out." WHAT?? I needed to talk with someone who really knew the score.
After a few hours of me pacing around, furiously ranting and spitting nails, I finally got a call back from someone who explained that they hadn't sold the car at all. They couldn't sell it because, at the last minute, they'd found a terrible defect. It wasn't charging right, and it might take $20,000 to repair. They had shipped it back to the "wholesaler" they had gotten it from. It sounded like a fishy story to me, but what could I do? I'm several thousand miles away, I can't really investigate them. At least I didn't send them any money first and then have to try and get it back. So... My heart was just a little broken because the most perfect car I'd seen got away from me *after* I thought I had a sealed deal to get it. Lesson learned: don't fall in love with one until it's in your garage!
And now... Hot on the heels of that debacle, I think I have a line on another one that looks promising. So, the hunt continues! I'll keep y'all posted.
I still have the little laser-cut paperweight that they sent out to people who pre-ordered Roadsters, too.
Without rehashing all of that, let's just say that years have passed and things look a lot different now than they did back in those days, and I've had plenty of time to get over that angst. Although I wasn't active on the forum for a long time, I was always watching the EV news, and the Tesla news. And I finally decided, you know, that I still want a Roadster. The desire just has not gone away. So a couple of months ago I started watching the listings on eBay, just to get some idea how often they come up for sale, what they are going for, and the like. And I came into it with my eyes open. I remembered what it was like owning that Lotus Esprit V8 for a couple of years, and I know from experience that whenever exotic sports cars are involved, there is always some sort of drama.
Still... I didn't really expect so much, so quickly.
A couple of Radiant Red Roadsters were listed, one in California and one in Dallas. Dallas! That's close! Well, semi-close. And it looked good. And the price was acceptable. But... The timing didn't work for me. The listing was up right when I was paying for foundation repairs on my house *and* getting another, far more utilitarian (but hardly cheap) vehicle. Buying a Roadster at the same time was too much. Then after Tesla announced the 400-mile upgrade, both of those red Roadsters disappeared from the listings very quickly.
There was a Midnight Blue 2008 model in Houston. Houston! That's... ehhh, not close, but it's in the same state as me, anyhow. And Midnight Blue isn't exactly my favorite color, but it could probably grow on me. The Roadster is a beautiful car, and it looks good in just about any color except black. (I can't abide black cars in general.) So, I called Texas Auto Direct and started asking questions. Well, it turned out they got this car at auction. Bankruptcy auction? Estate auction? Police auction? The latter would be my guess, but I never really found out. I also learned they only had one key and didn't know the PIN. I knew I could get Tesla to make more keys and recover the PIN, but... Getting the car and then immediately having to take it 120 miles to Austin to get it straightened out didn't sound like fun. There's a Tesla service center in Houston! Wouldn't it be easier for Texas Auto Direct to take care of that before selling it? But no... TAD is all about volume, volume, volume! They're like the Sam's Warehouse of used car dealers! So... I quickly lost interest in that. Plus, I was beginning to think I'd really like a 2.0+ model.
The *other* Radiant Red car I'd been watching before -- this one in California -- reappeared in the eBay listings! And it was a 2.0 Sport! And it had a cool red-and-black interior! It was like what I might have ordered from Tesla back when they were in production! I phoned the car dealership (which shall remain NAMELESS) and asked some questions. They said the previous buyer had backed out of the deal. I thought it was strange that they had zero feedback on eBay, but they said they were just getting started in eBay sales. (I also thought it odd that the listing showed it with "power steering" and a "recent oil change"!) Still, it was so *exactly* what I wanted, I thought it over for a while, and then early one morning I went to the page and hit the BUY IT NOW button. I also sent an email asking for instructions on how to complete the transaction, i.e. where to send my money. And then I waited. And waited. Two and a half days later I finally got someone on the phone who said the car was sold. To me, right? Right?!? He didn't know much, but he said, "We already shipped it out." WHAT?? I needed to talk with someone who really knew the score.
After a few hours of me pacing around, furiously ranting and spitting nails, I finally got a call back from someone who explained that they hadn't sold the car at all. They couldn't sell it because, at the last minute, they'd found a terrible defect. It wasn't charging right, and it might take $20,000 to repair. They had shipped it back to the "wholesaler" they had gotten it from. It sounded like a fishy story to me, but what could I do? I'm several thousand miles away, I can't really investigate them. At least I didn't send them any money first and then have to try and get it back. So... My heart was just a little broken because the most perfect car I'd seen got away from me *after* I thought I had a sealed deal to get it. Lesson learned: don't fall in love with one until it's in your garage!
And now... Hot on the heels of that debacle, I think I have a line on another one that looks promising. So, the hunt continues! I'll keep y'all posted.
