Model S Buyers: What's Your Income?

[strider]

Let's spare a thought for those hardworking (and seemingly overworked) folks at Tesla many of whom apparently do not fall in the higher income bands in this poll (and might possibly struggle to afford a Model S if they cared to):

I have an acquaintance who is friends with some Tesla employees and a year or so back, right after I got my Roadster he was saying how his friends were jealous of people who could afford to buy Roadsters but they were looking forward to being able to buy one of the lower priced models in the future. Note that these people are 10-15 years younger than me. I didn't RTFA but let's hope they have stock options that will help too.

But not being able to afford the products that your employer makes is not unusual.

 

[ckessel]

Let's spare a thought for those hardworking (and seemingly overworked) folks at Tesla many of whom apparently do not fall in the higher income bands in this poll (and might possibly struggle to afford a Model S if they cared to):

A big chunk of those salaries can afford the Model S, at least the base model. My salary as a software engineer isn't that much higher than a lot of the salaries noted in those links. Dual household incomes can get into that 140-200 bracket with fairly standard professional level incomes.

Make no mistake, the Model S is expensive, but it's not out of reach for a lot of Tesla folks.

 

[Robert.Boston]

But not being able to afford the products that your employer makes is not unusual.

Ask almost anyone in the restaurant trade!

 

[MarkR]

I'm interested in knowing the income distribution of Roadster owners. I tried searching the archives without success. Does anyone know if someone took a poll of this question?

I suppose that I'd be interested in a poll of Roadster owners, but I certainly would never have been a respondent to that poll. Too rich for my taste . . . but very cool.

 

[smd]

I think net worth would be a better indicator of wealth than annual income. That would be an interesting poll. What should the top tier be, >10M?

 

[Lloyd]

Yep you don't have a negative scale.

 

[BYT_P1837]

Another piece missing from this poll is the cost of living. We pay a higher premium to live in parts of Northern and Southern California for example that doesn't apply to those who live in say, Utah?

 

[Majerus]

I could not stop laughing with "swimmin' in cash" . I am kinda shocked with how many in the 60-80k are getting the car. I suppose most of the individuals in that range are near the higher end.

 

[thelastdeadmouse]

I could not stop laughing with "swimmin' in cash" . I am kinda shocked with how many in the 60-80k are getting the car. I suppose most of the individuals in that range are near the higher end.

If you're like me and you're single with no children and living in a area of the country with fairly low cost of living, the two 40-80k per year brackets are more doable. Still probably not a "wise" decision, but I've already begun saving aggressively to put down a very large down payment to purchase midyear next year to keep the monthly payment down.

 

[ElSupreme]

I could not stop laughing with "swimmin' in cash" . I am kinda shocked with how many in the $60-80k are getting the car. I suppose most of the individuals in that range are near the higher end.

As long as you have credit to get financing, and know how to save properly it can be done. I am expecting my Model S ($63k, before tax breaks) to cost about the same as a $35-40k car over 5 years. And cost much less over 8 years. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but not the dumbest. Not any dumber than buying a G37, and I know a lot of people who meet that income, and bought a G37.

EDIT: I actually found out last year that if I didn't have a fiancee and still lived in my crappy apartment. I could already have 1 Porsche 911 paid off, and be paying down a second one. It really just boils down to priorties, and credit.

EDIT: That and you can have a small income, but have a serious trust fund. I have a friend like that.

 

[Majerus]

Good point about the trust fund. I am at the low end of the 60-80k bracket. I currently could not afford the model S , hopefully when the cars start to ship the stock goes crazy. The thing that is a concern to me is debt to income ratio of the people in this bracket purchasing the car. That is what is scaring me away from it really. I drive about 120 miles to work and back every day and even paying gas currently I just do not think I could do it. However it is good for those that can

 

[dsm363]

Hopefully in two years or so a few used Model S cars will hit the market making entry into the segment a little easier.

 

[Liz G]

Wanted to bring this thread back to the top, as this data will be helpful when stating my case for installing charging sites at hotels.

If you haven't voted, I would appreciate it if you did. The more data points the better the information.

 

[AbeFromin]

the Sausage King has no earned income. he lives solely off of his investments.

some might consider this "snooty". others might say i'm being "snotty". i don't really believe in elitism, i believe in myself.

 

[Canuck]

This is an ANONYMOUS poll...

Is it really? It may be for the members and guests but I bet the mods can see who polled in each category. I say that because the mods were able to tell us who voted for "July" in the poll for the date the first Canadian Supercharger would open, and even told us all the forum names of those who voted for July, then selected one for the "prize".

 

[Lloyd]

I say NUNYA

 

[thx1139]

Would be great to have a Model S Buyers: What's Your Net Worth? poll. Probably a better gauge. Would also help push my wife over the edge and allow us to order our Model S.

 

[Pilot_51]

Would be great to have a Model S Buyers: What's Your Net Worth? poll. Probably a better gauge. Would also help push my wife over the edge and allow us to order our Model S.

I agree. Even though I have a decent salary, I've only had it for 2 years and my net worth is easily less than my car.

 

[Daniel R. Lucas]

A big chunk of those salaries can afford the Model S, at least the base model. My salary as a software engineer isn't that much higher than a lot of the salaries noted in those links. Dual household incomes can get into that 140-200 bracket with fairly standard professional level incomes.

Make no mistake, the Model S is expensive, but it's not out of reach for a lot of Tesla folks.

This. I'm also a software engineer, and once married with dual incomes plus investment properties, we'll be at $200k. No plans for kids any time soon... that should help

 

[bollar]

This doesn't really matter. The universe of people who can afford $70K+ cars is finite and extremely well analyzed by consumer goods marketers and carmakers.

The one big unknown is the demographic of people who went well out of their price range to buy the car for purely "green" reasons. But maybe this explains Superchargers located at a Holiday Inn Express...