Car Prices -- what is going on? Get a Tesla?

[schildi]

Short story:
Bought a new Rav4 Prime in April of 2021 at MSRP for $41k. Got $10k back in tax rebates, so total cost was $31k.
Yesterday, Tesla offered me $41k for it as a trade. Car max offer is very similar, so 10k more than what we paid after 2 years and 20k miles. 😳. Totally crazy ... Right?
Anyways, new model Y would be $53k minus $7,500 in tax rebate, so $45.5k. That means I would have to add $5k.
Would you do it??

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Woah! Probably. 

I'm in the "should I buy a hybrid or an electric" car next? phase. That's another thread though. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Or you could even make money by getting a model 3? My vote would be yes, seems like a really good deal for you and planet.












^{full disclosure:I am a tesla fan and own stock}

[minnesotapaintlady]

Well, I wouldn't because I'd rather have the Prime for multiple reasons, but if you were shopping for a Tesla anyhow it sounds like a good deal.  

[jerseygirl]

Yes yes yes!

I love my Tesla S . It’s so easy to own no gas no oil and much simpler mechanically than an ICE.
Mine is almost 5 yrs now and most of car including battery still under warranty till year 8
Why don’t you test drive different models first

[Opti]

May 14, 2023 10:23:44 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, I wouldn't because I'd rather have the Prime for multiple reasons, but if you were shopping for a Tesla anyhow it sounds like a good deal.  

I agree it totally depends on what you want and need. I don't want totally electric right now because I rent and am not on the first floor. I personally would like a hybrid. Runs on gas but will run on electric as well. That way I have options if charging is hard to find or gas stations are closed.

That said, the Y is pretty nice from when I briefly sat in one.

[schildi]

We need ground clearance to get to where we live, and trunk space. That makes the Y win easily over the 3.
For you people who own Teslas: how expensive is your insurance, especially collision?

[Opti]

FWIW, I always just call my car insurer when I shop cars to get some estimates of insurance costs on different vehicle choices. I think some car insurance websites might even have cost estimators online.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 14, 2023 14:58:31 GMT -5 schildi said:

We need ground clearance to get to where we live, and trunk space. That makes the Y win easily over the 3.
For you people who own Teslas: how expensive is your insurance, especially collision?

get tesla insurance. On my model 3 it started at 125.xx/month as the base, it tracks how safe you drive and I am down to 58.56/month. It changes monthly as they gather data on your drivine habits.

it also includes tesla roadside.

[schildi]

Yeah, I will definitely call my insurance tomorrow.
Thanks for all the responses. I think we'll do it if the insurance premium isn't too bad.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 14, 2023 19:19:49 GMT -5 schildi said:

Yeah, I will definitely call my insurance tomorrow.
Thanks for all the responses. I think we'll do it if the insurance premium isn't too bad.

Did you see my post above this?

[schildi]

May 14, 2023 19:40:10 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

May 14, 2023 19:19:49 GMT -5 schildi said:

Yeah, I will definitely call my insurance tomorrow.
Thanks for all the responses. I think we'll do it if the insurance premium isn't too bad.

Did you see my post above this?

I did. Will look into it. Not sure how compatible Tesla car insurance is with homeowner and umbrella though. Any feedback on that?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 14, 2023 23:45:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

May 14, 2023 19:40:10 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Did you see my post above this?

I did. Will look into it. Not sure how compatible Tesla car insurance is with homeowner and umbrella though. Any feedback on that?

not sure about the umbrella connection though! sorry!

[jerseygirl]

Tesla insurance is available only in some states
ODS just bought a Tesla 3 , it has 18,000 miles, nice shape, and a very good warranty. He’s in California and is hoping to install solar that will allow charging as well. It was about $40000

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 15, 2023 8:43:18 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Tesla insurance is available only in some states
ODS just bought a Tesla 3 , it has 18,000 miles, nice shape, and a very good warranty. He’s in California and is hoping to install solar that will allow charging as well. It was about $40000

did not know that!

Tesla Insurance is available to Tesla owners in the following states:



Arizona

California*

Colorado

Illinois

Maryland

Minnesota

Nevada

Ohio

Oregon

Texas

Utah

Virginia

*Insurance using real-time driving behavior is not available in California.

www.tesla.com/support/insurance

When I had previously been looking to upgrade vehicles about 5-8 years ago (after renting a nice big one for a long road trip with my dad who had some mobility/comfort issues) I thought I could afford the car upgrade - but when I looked into insurance, I think it was nearly 300/month so I just said forget it. 


So the tesla insurance was really a welcome surprise. Lower for a newish M3 than for a 10 year old LE corolla with progressive....

[jerseygirl]

Just spoke to son
The Tesla 3 he’s getting has the long range about 325 miles
Insurance for my Tesla S is $2800/year
But the S is a larger car and this insurance is in NJ - sn expensive state 😒

[Opti]

Things can vary a lot depending on what is being stolen, what has claims against it  etc. I like Lancers, WRXs, and Audis, but I think back when I was looking the first two were stolen a lot and I think it may be Audi that regularly had their headlights stolen because they were desireable and $$$.

Also a 3 series coupe with a soft top was cheaper to insure than my hard top sedan because of the assumption it is driven less often and is a summer car. Have no idea if it is true. But it was a significant difference back then.

Now with parts costs and my current insurer try to pass that cost across all renewals, it will be interesting. I may drop them and go with someone else. One of the high rated choices though only has two in person locations in NJ and I am not near either. Used to work near one, but unless I get a better than average cheap used car, not sure I want to try them. 

[Opti]

May 15, 2023 11:21:48 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Just spoke to son
The Tesla 3 he’s getting has the long range about 325 miles
Insurance for my Tesla S is $2800/year
But the S is a larger car and this insurance is in NJ - sn expensive state 😒

NJ insurance is high, but we also do not have the huge tags cost that some states have. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

May 15, 2023 11:25:12 GMT -5 Opti said:

Things can vary a lot depending on what is being stolen, what has claims against it  etc. I like Lancers, WRXs, and Audis, but I think back when I was looking the first two were stolen a lot and I think it may be Audi that regularly had their headlights stolen because they were desireable and $$$.

Also a 3 series coupe with a soft top was cheaper to insure than my hard top sedan because of the assumption it is driven less often and is a summer car. Have no idea if it is true. But it was a significant difference back then.

Now with parts costs and my current insurer try to pass that cost across all renewals, it will be interesting. I may drop them and go with someone else. One of the high rated choices though only has two in person locations in NJ and I am not near either. Used to work near one, but unless I get a better than average cheap used car, not sure I want to try them. 

teslas are a tough cookie to steal! I try to always keep mine in surveillance mode so it starts recording video if anyone comes within a foot of the car. So any malicious vandalism, it's recorded. Also - I would think that if anyone did steal it, tesla knows where the car is at all times. so like having free lojack on the car - google says that is a ~1k/year value add!

the price tag on tesla is pretty steep, but the savings from my POV just keep snowballing.

I don't yet have solar, but I can program the tesla to have a charge pattern to only charge when electric rates are low from my utility. pretty sweet! I usually don't do this as I just want to charge when I can. But between no oil changes, no gas, lower insurance and included roadside and theft protection. Not to mention will video in the event of any accident - it just keeps getting better. 

[Opti]

The automatic video in case of an accident sounds nice. Do you have any idea what the triggers for that are? Like if my BMW had been a Tesla, would it wait to start recording until after it hit the curb and the retaining wall first? Does it have a loop of video that it records over when in surveillance mode?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

The warnings I've gotten occurred in parking lots. It is over people edging between cars, and so far no one actually touches the car, just gets "too close" per the algorithm.

When an event occurs, the recording is retained like 5-10 minutes prior to the event, so you can review how the object came to be so close to the car.

[Opti]

My 3 was unattached to the tow bed when it was fully tilted. Have no idea what really happened, but I am beginning to believe the guy was so tired he thought he put on my tow hook and did not. He may have pulled it up using the big hook or if it was mine, forgot to tilt the bed flat and strap down the tires ASAP.

I will likely never know, but it would have been nice if the Red Knight could have started recording for me, the minute he started moving my vehicle without me being present.

[schildi]

Insurance seems very high on the Y.
$800 per year more than our current Rave 4 Prime.
Need to think about that.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

As much as I’d like a fully electric car, it is just not feasible for us yet. When my Subaru goes, I’ll likely be looking at a hybrid. My vehicle is the road trip car, and we have driven distances enough to know that once you get out of metro areas, charging isn’t as readily available.

[schildi]

May 16, 2023 2:40:15 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

As much as I’d like a fully electric car, it is just not feasible for us yet. When my Subaru goes, I’ll likely be looking at a hybrid. My vehicle is the road trip car, and we have driven distances enough to know that once you get out of metro areas, charging isn’t as readily available.

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

[Opti]

May 16, 2023 10:04:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

May 16, 2023 2:40:15 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

As much as I’d like a fully electric car, it is just not feasible for us yet. When my Subaru goes, I’ll likely be looking at a hybrid. My vehicle is the road trip car, and we have driven distances enough to know that once you get out of metro areas, charging isn’t as readily available.

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

 also I understand from an owner of a Y, you can use a regular wall outlet to charge it up if you had to. Probably slow, but it is something.

[minnesotapaintlady]

May 16, 2023 10:04:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

May 16, 2023 2:40:15 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

As much as I’d like a fully electric car, it is just not feasible for us yet. When my Subaru goes, I’ll likely be looking at a hybrid. My vehicle is the road trip car, and we have driven distances enough to know that once you get out of metro areas, charging isn’t as readily available.

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

This probably works if you stick to interstate driving and plan all your stops ahead of time based on where the chargers are.  With the road trips I take all electric just isn't there yet.  It's getting better, but there are definitely a lot of "dead" zones and you can't just decide to spontaneously jump onto a scenic side road like you can with the gas back up. 

[jerseygirl]

May 16, 2023 10:25:12 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 16, 2023 10:04:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

 also I understand from an owner of a Y, you can use a regular wall outlet to charge it up if you had to. Probably slow, but it is something.

A wall outlet is so very slow it’s essentially useless

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 16, 2023 10:04:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

May 16, 2023 2:40:15 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

As much as I’d like a fully electric car, it is just not feasible for us yet. When my Subaru goes, I’ll likely be looking at a hybrid. My vehicle is the road trip car, and we have driven distances enough to know that once you get out of metro areas, charging isn’t as readily available.

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

Have you looked at where superchargers are across the US?  Once you get past the coasts, they are not readily available.  I was keeping an eye out for them when we drove to Calgary last year, and when we did a cross country drive a few years ago.

It’s not the stopping that’s a problem, it’s access.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 16, 2023 10:43:02 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

May 16, 2023 10:04:27 GMT -5 schildi said:

I thought so too, untill I started looking at it closer. With the model Y, you get 330 miles of Range, so 5 hours of nonstop driving. When you do stop at one of their superchargers, it just takes 15 mins to gain another 160 miles. Or 30 mins to full.
It's a safety thing also to stop and take a break every once in a while anyways, so with the above charging times, I think it's feasible now

This probably works if you stick to interstate driving and plan all your stops ahead of time based on where the chargers are.  With the road trips I take all electric just isn't there yet.  It's getting better, but there are definitely a lot of "dead" zones and you can't just decide to spontaneously jump onto a scenic side road like you can with the gas back up. 

This pretty much mirrors what we saw driving.  As long as you remain on a coast, you are golden.