Excellent information, and THANKS!
We're cash customers, but have limits. Also, due to sheltering it may not be possible to exploit the tax benefit on a new car.
We do not need FSD, performance, AWD, or other extreme options. In fact, we drive an average under 30 miles per day on city streets, so even a larger battery is unnecessary.
It appears that our best bet may be a used Y, built after Y2020. We have seen such cars with <50k miles for $35k or so, and prices may sag a bit when new models reach the market in September (?). Meanwhile, if someone approaches us with a lease takeover opportunity we'll certainly be interested.
That sounds prudent. Model year changeovers are not a tesla thing, but despite that there is some notable price difference. Model Y and Model 3 are both pretty much bulletproof with practically zero maintenance other than tires. With your driving habits and location you'll probably have a trouble-free experience. These days there are 2020 Model Y available around $40,0000 to $42,000 from Tesla:
Find new and used Tesla cars. Every new Tesla has a variety of configuration options and all pre-owned Tesla vehicles have passed the highest inspection standards.
www.tesla.com
If you're inclined there si an easy way to have the tax benefits even if you're not eligible, by leasing instead of buying. That is worth a look too, unless you really want a cash purchase.
For used Tesla cars bought from Tesla there is an additional year of warranty added after the original warranty expires. Here is the document:
As you probably know having a charger at home will eliminate almost all charging expense given your driving habits. Further, around Sarasota there are many free charging stations. The Plugshare app is the easiest way to find those. Here is the link:
Find EV charging stations with PlugShare, the most complete map of electric vehicle charging stations in the world!Charging tips reviews and photos from the EV community.
www.plugshare.com
As for actual living experience from a budgetary context it is almost unbelievable how cheap it is to operate a Tesla, and most BEV for tats matter, just not quite so cheap. Tesla has zero required maintenance, zero, nada. Many people change brake fluid after a couple fo years, but in practice ads never wear out because thanks to regenerative braking one almost never actually uses brakes.
Given that the calculus between new and used becomes less even since only new comes with new tires, while used ones can have the single greatest typical cost, new tires. /silly humor, usually true though.
With an eight year powertrain warranty with any Model Y having at least 100,000 miles the powertrain issues fade, and the odds of claims on those thus far, according to Warranty Week, are very, very low, substantially less than their accrual.