Author Topic: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...  (Read 4196 times)

reformingSucka

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I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« on: January 03, 2018, 04:14:41 PM »
I currently drive a 13 year old Camry with over 185K miles on it. My total cost of ownership is about $2400 a year, including insurance/gas/maintenance. I drive roughly 8K miles per year, so total cost per mile is about 30 cents. My power locks don't work anymore - as it was too costly in my MMM opinion, so I just use a key. There's a couple of other quirks, but none so compelling to get me to buy another car. Until.... the Tesla Model 3.

Because it is such a cool car, and I love the idea of 100% electric. But I've done the math, and even if I paid cash for the car (factoring in lower cost of electric vs. petrol)... my cost per mile would go up, and it won't really come down closer to my current cost of ownership until well over 100K miles, and considering that it is a battery operated car, I don't really know how long the batteries will last beyond 100K before needing a (very) expensive replacement.

I may have already put in my $1000 deposit... which I confirmed is refundable...

Face punches welcome.


SwordGuy

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2018, 05:15:06 PM »
I think it's unfair to punch the mentally infirm.   :)

Llewellyn2006

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2018, 07:20:48 PM »
Facepunch from me. Go and get your deposit back. Actually even if you can't get it back you might be better off walking away now and putting it down to experience and learning from the mistake.

Sibley

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2018, 07:38:01 PM »
Go get the money back. You can drool and watch the car drive by. You can watch youtube videos of it. And when you find a used one in good condition for a reasonable price that you can pay cash for without compromising your finances, then you can buy one.

Syonyk

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2018, 09:04:58 PM »
Are you quite wealthy and retired already?

No?

Yeah, probably not a smart decision.

Get your $1000 back, spend a bit of it fixing your locks, and spend another bit of it detailing your car inside and out.  You'll like it a lot more after cleaning it and fixing the annoying little issues.

FiveSigmas

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2018, 09:41:14 PM »
When you've taken this many blows... Stay down!


Abe

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2018, 10:32:53 PM »
The Model 3 is turning into a fiasco. Get your money back while you can, and buy a real car instead of a fantasy.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #7 on: January 04, 2018, 07:21:07 AM »
The Midel 3 isn't a fiasco, and it is a real car, but there's no reason to buy a new one. Wait a few years.

If you want to go electric, and have a reasonable range need, there are many cheap used options now. They're not as cool...until you look at your cash flow.

I drive a C-Max Energi that I bought used, and not buying gas really is great. But you don't need a Tesla to not buy gas.

ketchup

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #8 on: January 04, 2018, 07:50:17 AM »
Get your money back.  Drive your Camry another ~5 years, and there will be many more electric options available then.  The opportunity for cost-per-mile to go way the fuck down is coming, but it's not quite here yet.

Carrie

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #9 on: January 04, 2018, 08:15:00 AM »
Wait a few years, see how they do for a bit, then pay half price for a nice used one. That's our plan.

rubybeth

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2018, 08:26:57 AM »
Nooooo.

If you like Toyota and want electric, get a freakin' Prius, which you don't need a special charging station to run. You can get a brand new one if you really need a "new" car, and it will be amazingly reasonable and HUGE upgrade from your 13 year old Camry.

frugaliknowit

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #11 on: January 04, 2018, 08:43:05 AM »
You want cool?  Buy the car.

You want wealth maximization:  Get the deposit back and run the Camry to the ground.

SimpleCycle

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #12 on: January 04, 2018, 08:48:34 AM »
Welcome to the old Toyota club!  They're so economical, and BORING.  So I feel you, but go get your deposit back. :)

reformingSucka

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #13 on: January 04, 2018, 09:37:01 AM »
Thank you everyone, I didn't know that face punches could be so refreshing! :D

RWD

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2018, 09:50:09 AM »
New electric cars have been brutal for depreciation. Even 2012 Tesla Model S's lost about 16% of their value in the last year. Electric cars so far have been one of the few cases where leasing can make sense. The depreciation has been great for people shopping for used cars though.

Maenad

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2018, 10:51:58 AM »
Wait a few years, see how they do for a bit, then pay half price for a nice used one. That's our plan.

Even if you want to buy new, wait a few years. DH looooooves electric cars. We have a 2012 Leaf, bought new (I know, I know...), and he wants to trade that in for a Model 3, but even he admits that we should wait 2 - 3 years until they get the bugs out. It really feels like Tesla is using the drivers as beta testers, and I'm not willing to spend $x0,000 to be a beta tester.

Every day he doesn't come home having traded in the Leaf for a Model S I consider a victory.

(OK, that's hyperbole. He really wouldn't do that. It just seems like a close thing some days!)

reformingSucka

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2018, 02:45:45 PM »
Wait a few years, see how they do for a bit, then pay half price for a nice used one. That's our plan.

Even if you want to buy new, wait a few years. DH looooooves electric cars. We have a 2012 Leaf, bought new (I know, I know...), and he wants to trade that in for a Model 3, but even he admits that we should wait 2 - 3 years until they get the bugs out. It really feels like Tesla is using the drivers as beta testers, and I'm not willing to spend $x0,000 to be a beta tester.

Every day he doesn't come home having traded in the Leaf for a Model S I consider a victory.

(OK, that's hyperbole. He really wouldn't do that. It just seems like a close thing some days!)

The struggle is real. ;)

Laura33

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #17 on: January 05, 2018, 07:17:36 AM »
Yeah, OMG, that is an awesome car.  I sat in a Model S while drunk and spent the next 30 minutes trying to persuade my DH he needed one.  :-)  Good thing he was (mostly) sober at the time.

But, yeah:  it's stupid.  Get your money back.  Never buy a first-year model of anything.  Wait for them to get the kinks ironed out, wait to see how those early-year models perform, and then when your Camry is really dead instead of just mostly dead, get yourself a nicely-depreciated used one. 

Rcc

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Re: I want to buy a car... and I know I need a face punch...
« Reply #18 on: January 05, 2018, 09:25:10 AM »
I will fess up to looking at used Model Ss periodically. Take 3 minutes, drool, then laugh it off and get back to whatever it is I should have been doing before SHINY caught my eye.

Happily driving an Avalon till the wheels fall off.