Purchased THREE (3) Tesla Model S inside of 90-days!

My journey from my first to second and third Tesla, all within 90 days...

Last December (2014) we took the plunge, and purchased an inventory 2014 Model S 85. At time of purchase this vehicle had 1,500 miles on it and carried a $9k showroom discount. It replaced my Audi (which had actually also replaced a Volkswagen Touareg SUV just a year prior). This first Tesla is/was silver with the tech pkg, pano roof, 21" grey wheels, black nappa leather, and yacht floor. Part of the discount was obviously due to the age, seeing as how it was built Spring 2014 and was pre-autopilot hardware.

For the past 3-months we have put on over 4,000 miles on the Tesla, with my wife's Nissan Leaf (lease) pretty much sitting. Nobody wants to drive it! A few weeks ago we got to talking about how nice it would be to replace the Nissan Leaf with a more practical EV. Being 100% electric, and having enjoyed the Tesla as much as we have, it just made logical sense to become a two-Tesla household. So about a week ago we put down a deposit on an inventory car for her, another pre-autopilot car. This one is a pearl white Model S 60. It boasts tan performance leather, 21" silver wheels, alcantara headliner, carbon fiber decor, supercharging, and yacht floor. For what we need in a second vehicle, this is perfect-- the biggest reason? It has 5,600 miles and comes with an amazing $13,603 showroom discount! Yes, you read that right, almost $14k off sticker. Now again this car is pre-autopilot, and this one ALSO lacks the tech package. It will lease for just over $600 per month, which is just AMAZING! Perfect for her, and the color combo looks like a coach purse. She is VERY excited.

Of course the problem was that while she was shopping for an inventory Tesla, I was busy checking out the P85D and 85D inventory. I made the mistake of driving an 85D, and the rest was inevitable. After falling in love with the 85D, and realizing the P85D was just beyond my price range, I started to configure options and wants for an 85D build. Although I really wanted the next generation seats and subzero weather, they were able to find me an inventory car that lacks those two items, but still has the other features I wanted. This inventory car doesn't have quite the discount the prior two did ($6,500), but it will look gorgeous, and will replace my silver car I bought in December. It is a red 2015 85D, with black nappa leather, black alcantara headliner pano roof, 19" cyclone wheels, carbon fiber decor, dual chargers, tech pkg with auto pilot, and smart air suspension. At over 6% off MSRP it just seemed like a good time to buy.

Hopefully I won't regret not getting the NG seats, that is the one item that caused me a few days of contemplation. I'm a small framed male who finds the standard seats a bit too big for me, and would love that option... but if I ordered one with NG seats it would have been $2k more expensive, also no discount, and then I'd have gotten subzero, so we're talking with tax over $9k more to order a car that way. And for me that just wasn't worth it compared to this car. Not sure how quickly this will all come to completion ... but in the coming weeks then we'll be replacing BOTH cars in our garage with new (to us) Tesla vehicles. Just wanted to share in our excitement!

PS: The title of the thread is that I purchased 3 cars... technically one is in my wife's name, and also the first one is getting traded in for the 3rd one... but still, overall, 90-days from first deposit to last deposit, 3 inventory cars.. not too shabby, I'd say! Trifecta

brianman said:

May your wallet outlast your automotive desires.

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My wife would tell you that my "desires" for cars surpassed my budget LONG ago. Seems like we talk about this subject a lot in my household. I should post a thread showing how many cars I've owned. I'll turn 39 this year, and my total vehicle ownership is approaching 60 different cars, many which are in the same ballpark as the Tesla. Though many are also cars I paid cash for, like air-cooled Volkswagens and such. LOL

breser said:

I'm rather shocked that there are 85D inventory vehicles for sale already. My understanding is policy is that vehicles need to be 3 months old to be sold as inventory. I don't think there are any 3 month old 85Ds. There is the car they used at the Detroit Auto Show in January but it was white and I think it'd only be 2 months old.

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I was surprised about this, too. But you have to realize that most stores got 85D vehicles a few months ago the moment they came out, for purposes of test drives. And also for service loaners most of the stores have a selection of cars, different trim levels, etc. That being said, there are still P85 (RWD) vehicles in the inventory system too, some for $15,000 off or there about. I don't know if that 3-month old thing applies, either -- because my store manager told me there were inventory cars with $0 off, which makes me think those cars are brand spanking new on-site, test drive/loaner cars. Who knows...

CHG-ON said:

So...Now I officially hate you, though I have no idea who you are!!! Good on you for having such good fortune to buy three of the best cars on the planet! Enjoy.

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Thanks! I'm pretty excited about this situation for sure. And I count my blessings to have the opportunity to be in this situation.

apacheguy said:

Congrats! Also surprised there are this many inventory/showroom cars available and, of all places, in Ohio.

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Keep in mind these cars aren't actually in Ohio. They can be anywhere in the country, though typically you are limited to cars in region. For example, my red 85D is coming in from Chicago. I believe it is a test drive car, not a service loaner or floor/showroom car. There are tons of inventory cars though, all over the country ... actually, it seemed like most of the Ohio cars are in Cinci. Here in Cleveland, not so many.

Lump said:

Is that a record? Submit your story, you might make the blog. Customer Stories | Tesla Motors

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Ha! Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Though I know here in NE-Ohio there is a family that has 2 Model S and 2 Roadster Tesla vehicles (four total). So while I may have purchased the most in such a small period of time, I don't actually have all of them in my possession at the same time. Though I'll def TRY to take a photo of all 3 at the dealer/store if I can at once...

Cyclone said:

I test drove a P85D today and loved it. Thankfully, no need for the P for me! They found an inventory car that I am very, very tempted to take that carries a $9,800 discount. But I'm trying to be smart and wait for next quarter while I get some things in order. Plus then I could hopefully find it with a black headliner. What are your thoughts on the air suspension? That is one I still am undecided on. Not so much abut ride quality, but utility in general. I have driven SUVs before, so the sedan is a big difference for me. The rep said that he doesn't notice any loss using coils on 19" wheels, but then Miami roads are far different than those in NC!

And of course I got to see the colors in person. Striking blue off my prefered list and adding pearl white. The family and rep had quite a discussion of colors during the hour long test drive and overview! I tried both seats and see why some people say the next generation are a little snug. I will be going with standard seats with my footballer's broad chest.

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Glad to hear you finally got a chance to drive one. I agree that the P is just not necessary. For a $20k price hike, it just doesn't add up for my personal needs and desires. I do however want the AWD, which is the main motivation right now to be getting the 85D vs my current car. There are obviously other features I'm excited about, autopilot being one of them.

Air suspension: if you get the 21s, the ride quality from my testing seems far better. If you opt for the 19s (which for most people I would suggest), the air suspension isn't really a necessity. With the air the car drives more like a nicer BMW/Audi/Mercedes with air-ride. But if you've never driven those cars w/air, then you'll not care. To be honest, my desire for the air suspension is both the ability to set it to low ALL the time (because I love that look), but also then in winter time to be able to easily set it to Normal or High, for snow clearance. For you in NC, not an issue (snow) (except this winter, haha!). I'd say drive them both, but if you go 19s, air isn't a must-have.

Oh and as for the seats, yeah I am small, but I think many folks might find the NG seats almost too tight. And... as for colors, the wife would agree on the pearl white. She is excited for hers being that color (we almost got her a black 60 that had ZERO options... it was $71k sticker, seriously, zero options. She is glad we found the white one, instead. I like the blue, but its too dark. I think the silver is the most striking color, but its just, well, simple. The red one should be interesting for me, and I plan to "darken" it up with accents (dark wheels, tint, etc).

Ciao! - Ari

breser said:

That's just not true. P85D's started being available in December and started turning up in stores around November. But 85D vehicles didn't really start production until late January/early February. I'm not aware of any store having one available for test drives until after I received my vehicle. In fact the only 85Ds that were seen before eco5280's delivery (2/17) and mine (2/18) were the one at the Detroit auto show and the one being used in the double black tour. So most stores haven't had their vehicles more than a month and probably quite a few of them less than that.

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Hmmm interesting. I wasn't given any count by any means, but based on all the cars I was told existed, I'd say there were literally DOZENS of inventory 85D cars out there right now. Ranging from basically no miles, to a few thousand miles. Cars that also ranged from no discount, to $5-6,000 in money off MSRP. I'm guessing then that these discounted cars are probably test-drive cars -- but even then if we're talking only 30-days total, they've been getting a lot of action. And the discounts seem, well, pretty aggressive. Wonder if they are clearing them out because of changes coming down the pike? Who knows.... discounts have never appears to be quite this deep, even for end of quarter. There are cars scattered all around the country that are definitely worth picking up while they're cheap!

I know I was in a few days ago (when we put down the deposit on the wife's car)... there was an 85D with executive rear that the Cleveland store had gotten in just a few days earlier. They had a chance to PDI it, but the first day it was on the lot for test drives someone came in, drove it, and bought it! LOL

breser said:

Not saying I don't believe you. Just saying that this is an apparent change in policy. It is near the end of a quarter. I'd guess Tesla is trying to sell as many cars as they can in Q1 2015.

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Yeah that was our speculation (me, sales guy at store, etc). It is probably fueled by EOQ sales and a desire to make numbers look as good as possible. Of course, neither car we purchased is actually in town. So they now have less than two weeks to finalize docs and move those cars from their respective locations to Ohio. Should prove interesting, given the 2 weeks my last inventory purchase took to move 350-miles

Cyclone said:

Now I hope they have the same "problem" in Q2 2015 or else I will really regret the inventory car I turned down today!

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That was my dilemma, especially of the wife's car at almost $14k off MSRP. That car was a bit more obvious to just snag now while I could. But even then, what if an identical car came along in 6 months that also added tech pkg? And as for my 85D, as I said above, I kind of want NG seats. Did I make a mistake rushing to get this car now w/o them? Hmmm...

Maybe I'll luck into finding someone who orders NG seats but regrets it and wants to trade with me... that is my hope... LOL

shadowinstallz said:

Oh wow 85d inventory vehicle already.....with a pretty good discount . this was my plan before ,but I was under the impression from my Tesla showroom that they would not have any inventory vehicles for sale until a couple months after the initial deliveries.....uy....

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It was a huge surprise. We had been looking for a car to get the wife and the sales guy jokingly said "you want an 85D, right?" --- so I said "inventory 85D with discount sure!" -- and he was like "oh yeah, it appears we have some" -- he was as shocked as I was about the discounts. Yeah, VERY dangerous stuff here... most of them were only a few grand off he said, but definitely a few in the $4-6k off range... so if you're thinking about an 85D with a discount, it seems there may be some end of quarter discounts to check out!

mostapasta said:

How does the lease math work on your wife's 60kWh? Only ~$600/month is amazing does that include the trade-in knocking down some of the cost?

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It works out like this--- if you get on TeslaMotors.com and configure a car around $84k sticker (like hers), the payment ends up being around $1,000 per month for 12,000 miles per year. The price you are quoted on the Design Studio doesn't include local sales tax, so keep that in mind. I'm going to compare apples to apples here. Now her car has a $13,603 showroom discount. So you take that and apply it to the lease, as if you were putting that much extra down. So $13,603 divided by 36-months = $377 per month. $1000 less $377 = $623 per month.

She was quoted $613/mo for 10k, $636/mo for 12k, and $658/mo for 15k. Of course we still have to put down the mandatory $5000 cap reduction, $695 acquisition fee, title/registration fees, and other things. So basically the same stuff you see on the web site when you choose lease, that doesn't change. But the payment was hugely reduced because of the discount.

Keep in mind that MOST of the inventory cars seem to have $2,500 to $7,500 discounts. This car was a bit of a "white whale" because of the huge discount. That is due to age, mileage, and other factors I'm sure. But for my wife, whose old car was $500/mo, the price jump for this one was VERY reasonable. I also saw there were P85 cars with $12,000-14,000 discounts, so those cars would have the same nearly-$400 monthly savings. However, those cars are still expensive to begin with, obviously. But even a $5,000 discount over 36-months would save you almost $140 on your monthly payment plus tax! (the discount lowers the tax liability on the car, too!)