My current car, a 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid has about 90,000 miles on it. It's been great, reliable, low to no maintenance. I bought it new. Have been a Tesla fan all along. Twice in the past year and a half I was about ready to pull the trigger on an interim car - a Ford Edge or newer Accord Hybrid. My justifications were to get CarPlay and a little more cargo capacity (Accord Hybrid trunk is small). Anyway, at the beginning of the year it seemed that the stars have aligned and I think I'm ready to get a Tesla.
Actually grabbed a last minute order for a Model Y SR after they pulled it from site. Spent a day at Tesla last week drive the Y and the 3 and am 90% on board for the 3 and will likely forfeit my $100.
Drove a Mach-E yesterday. Really nice. But it's TOO NEW. I've wanted a Tesla forever, since before the Model 3. A friend reminded me of this. So, I want to do it.
BUT...
There's the tax credit coming back and I wonder about the LFP batteries.
First the batteries. I'll buy an SR+. I know they're using the LFP batteries in China builds. Some early issues, but from what I can tell they're a good fit, especially the long lifetime aspect. I don't plan to keep this car for more than a couple of years, so I won't drive it 1,000,000 miles. But it might help resale. So I wonder if waiting a bit for those would make sense. But does anyone know when Fremont cars will start using LFP?
Second the tax credit. A bill was introduced in February that would extend the credit and new Teslas would get $7,000 credit. Even a base Model 3 is expensive to me, so that $7,000 is a big deal. Some have said optimistically maybe we'll see that by the end of the summer. But who really knows? It might be even later, next year maybe, or not even pass.
If I wait for it and it doesn't pass that would suck. Would also suck if I buy now then it passes in a couple of months.
If it does pass some have said that Tesla may bump prices a bit. Might be a run on orders and they'll be hard to get. Also, it's really more like $6,000 in savings over the life of the loan when I factor in the added sales tax and interest, especially if I don't use the proceeds to pay down the loan next April.
Guess there's never a perfect time, always something better. Just need someone to push me off the dock.
Actually grabbed a last minute order for a Model Y SR after they pulled it from site. Spent a day at Tesla last week drive the Y and the 3 and am 90% on board for the 3 and will likely forfeit my $100.
Drove a Mach-E yesterday. Really nice. But it's TOO NEW. I've wanted a Tesla forever, since before the Model 3. A friend reminded me of this. So, I want to do it.
BUT...
There's the tax credit coming back and I wonder about the LFP batteries.
First the batteries. I'll buy an SR+. I know they're using the LFP batteries in China builds. Some early issues, but from what I can tell they're a good fit, especially the long lifetime aspect. I don't plan to keep this car for more than a couple of years, so I won't drive it 1,000,000 miles. But it might help resale. So I wonder if waiting a bit for those would make sense. But does anyone know when Fremont cars will start using LFP?
Second the tax credit. A bill was introduced in February that would extend the credit and new Teslas would get $7,000 credit. Even a base Model 3 is expensive to me, so that $7,000 is a big deal. Some have said optimistically maybe we'll see that by the end of the summer. But who really knows? It might be even later, next year maybe, or not even pass.
If I wait for it and it doesn't pass that would suck. Would also suck if I buy now then it passes in a couple of months.
If it does pass some have said that Tesla may bump prices a bit. Might be a run on orders and they'll be hard to get. Also, it's really more like $6,000 in savings over the life of the loan when I factor in the added sales tax and interest, especially if I don't use the proceeds to pay down the loan next April.
Guess there's never a perfect time, always something better. Just need someone to push me off the dock.