Telsa Model 3

[loveskiing]

Since you've clearly lost your mental faculties with this decision to move from M3 to alternative mice powered transport, I'm calling dibs on giving you a low ball offer for your gas guzzling car.
It will be a win-win deal because I get to steal your car, and you get to keep the midgets and the hookers!

[1MOREMOD]

Is there trunk apace for them?

[Flying Ace]

have not considered these sides of the agrument at all, thanks guys...

[roastbeef]

i leased an electric smart car in 07/2015. i really like it for a daily beater car (work/gym), but it simply can not be my only car (~65 mile range, 12 hour charge time on 110v). so i have an m3 for the weekend and a smart car to beat on during the week.
you're going to love solo carpool privileges. i go to the gas station about once a month now. some weekends i don't even touch the M. you'll find the car so usable that you won't need to. however, i'm glad it is there because i really enjoy driving it.

[Rajmun340]

Tesla's honeymoon will be over soon as big car names like BMW or AUDI and everybody else start to unveil more serious electric sports cars meant to be sold in volume for profit and driven not just concept car like the i8 for brand green pretense. Give it a couple of years and the Californian battery powered car maker will be filing for chapter 11. The reason they've made it sofar is they were in a niche but soon they'll be faced with the true car professionals and it will be game over.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i leased an electric smart car in 07/2015. i really like it for a daily beater car (work/gym), but it simply can not be my only car (~65 mile range, 12 hour charge time on 110v). so i have an m3 for the weekend and a smart car to beat on during the week.
you're going to love solo carpool privileges. i go to the gas station about once a month now. some weekends i don't even touch the M. you'll find the car so usable that you won't need to. however, i'm glad it is there because i really enjoy driving it.

I agree with you on this. I already started expericing it when I got my X5d. It's now primarily used as the family car. I don't touch the M on weekends either. The M is now my DD as the wife uses the X5d daily. I still drive it to work once a week, and it's a much better DD than the m3. What EV did you get? Sounds like a 500e?

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

I agree with you on this. I already started expericing it when I got my X5d. It's now primarily used as the family car. I don't touch the M on weekends either. The M is now my DD as the wife uses the X5d daily. I still drive it to work once a week, and it's a much better DD than the m3. What EV did you get? Sounds like a 500e?

its an electric smart car. small but very usable and practical. has enough room for groceries/etc. m3 feels like a rocket ship when i do drive it.

paid $1k down, california refunded $2,500, and i pay $86 a month. electricity bill jumped $40 during the summer and about $30 during the winter (due to running my house a/c and being in a higher tier). cheap as hell.

[redpriest]

I have seriously thought about, and along with my friends here in NorCal, pooling our funds together to rent an industrial warehouse where we can stash our cars in, install a lift, and throw our tools in it. Precisely for this reason - love my cars, but am running out of garage/driveway space. Only problem would be finding a location where the cars won't be looted inside of a week.

[roastbeef]

Smart cars fit anywhere...

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

its an electric smart car. small but very usable and practical. has enough room for groceries/etc. m3 feels like a rocket ship when i do drive it.

paid $1k down, california refunded $2,500, and i pay $86 a month. electricity bill jumped $40 during the summer and about $30 during the winter (due to running my house a/c and being in a higher tier). cheap as hell.

Yeah, that's petty cheap for $40 extra electricity. I am still kicking myself for missing the 2015 500e lease. $0 down, $89/mo after all rebates. I am jumping on the next 500e deal or this Model 3.

BTW, good to see you're rocking a diesel. And that lift and wheels are bad ass on the truck. I am a redneck at heart too

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by redpriest

I have seriously thought about, and along with my friends here in NorCal, pooling our funds together to rent an industrial warehouse where we can stash our cars in, install a lift, and throw our tools in it. Precisely for this reason - love my cars, but am running out of garage/driveway space. Only problem would be finding a location where the cars won't be looted inside of a week.

Good luck finding warehouse space in the city. Going to be SSF or shipyards?

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Good luck finding warehouse space in the city. Going to be SSF or shipyards?

Was thinking more along the lines of out in the middle of BFE - like near Morgan Hill or towards Manteca, haha. You would only need to commute there to get your play toys.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Yeah, that's petty cheap for $40 extra electricity. I am still kicking myself for missing the 2015 500e lease. $0 down, $89/mo after all rebates. I am jumping on the next 500e deal or this Model 3.

BTW, good to see you're rocking a diesel. And that lift and wheels are bad ass on the truck. I am a redneck at heart too

i took a look at the fiat 500e's as well. they come with more standard features, too (bluetooth), but they use your state rebate $2,500 to give you that $89/month lease i believe. i was able to negotiate my down payment to $1k for the smart, but fiat wouldn't budge. the dealer gets the $8,500 federal tax credit, and you get california's $2,500 rebate. you're going to have to pay the dealer up front and go to cleanvehiclerebate.org to apply for your rebate. it takes a few months and there are eligibility requirements, so know what you're getting into because most salesmen don't know shit about it and perpetuate lies/half-truths to get you to take the car. i knew a lot about the program and i feel it helped me get a better deal. also, they knew i didn't want or need the car, so they were more obligated to cave to my negotiation techniques. i actually was at the dealer twice (walked out) before i picked up the car the third time i was there. took about a month, but i'm a patient person when its putting money back into my pocket. the lower the down was literally the more profit i made from the state rebate check. bought my AP racking bbk for the m3 with my electric car rebate. LOL

i didn't care about any frills for the smart car. i knew it wasn't for pleasure, i don't want to mod it, and its not a luxury car. it feels cheap and it is cheap. that is what i dig about it.

thanks for the compliments.
the 335d is my girlfriends. only cosmetic mods so far. rocking four oem front 220 m3 wheels.


the truck is linked on kings, f/r locking differentials, and is a true beater.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i took a look at the fiat 500e's as well. they come with more standard features, too (bluetooth), but they use your state rebate $2,500 to give you that $89/month lease i believe. i was able to negotiate my down payment to $1k for the smart, but fiat wouldn't budge. the dealer gets the $8,500 federal tax credit, and you get california's $2,500 rebate. you're going to have to pay the dealer up front and go to cleanvehiclerebate.org to apply for your rebate. it takes a few months and there are eligibility requirements, so know what you're getting into because most salesmen don't know shit about it and perpetuate lies/half-truths to get you to take the car. i knew a lot about the program and i feel it helped me get a better deal. also, they knew i didn't want or need the car, so they were more obligated to cave to my negotiation techniques. i actually was at the dealer twice (walked out) before i picked up the car the third time i was there. took about a month, but i'm a patient person when its putting money back into my pocket. the lower the down was literally the more profit i made from the state rebate check. bought my AP racking bbk for the m3 with my electric car rebate. LOL

i didn't care about any frills for the smart car. i knew it wasn't for pleasure, i don't want to mod it, and its not a luxury car. it feels cheap and it is cheap. that is what i dig about it.

thanks for the compliments.
the 335d is my girlfriends. only cosmetic mods so far. rocking four oem front 220 m3 wheels.


the truck is linked on kings, f/r locking differentials, and is a true beater.

brah, there's a scratch on your truck.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i took a look at the fiat 500e's as well. they come with more standard features, too (bluetooth), but they use your state rebate $2,500 to give you that $89/month lease i believe. i was able to negotiate my down payment to $1k for the smart, but fiat wouldn't budge. the dealer gets the $8,500 federal tax credit, and you get california's $2,500 rebate. you're going to have to pay the dealer up front and go to cleanvehiclerebate.org to apply for your rebate. it takes a few months and there are eligibility requirements, so know what you're getting into because most salesmen don't know shit about it and perpetuate lies/half-truths to get you to take the car. i knew a lot about the program and i feel it helped me get a better deal. also, they knew i didn't want or need the car, so they were more obligated to cave to my negotiation techniques. i actually was at the dealer twice (walked out) before i picked up the car the third time i was there. took about a month, but i'm a patient person when its putting money back into my pocket. the lower the down was literally the more profit i made from the state rebate check. bought my AP racking bbk for the m3 with my electric car rebate. LOL

i didn't care about any frills for the smart car. i knew it wasn't for pleasure, i don't want to mod it, and its not a luxury car. it feels cheap and it is cheap. that is what i dig about it.

thanks for the compliments.
the 335d is my girlfriends. only cosmetic mods so far. rocking four oem front 220 m3 wheels.

whoa, I have much to learn about the rebate system. I know about the quotas on the fed rebate, but I didn't know the dealer takes your rebate. How is it legally possible to sign over the rebate to a dealer?

It sounds like in short, I need to negoiatate a low down payment, while keeping the rebates to myself? That's no different than just negoiatating any lease, sans rebate.

[roastbeef]

it depends on whether you buy or lease.
buying- you get all rebates because you own the car.
leasing- dealer technically owns the car, so they get the federal rebate. you get the state rebate.

for my smart car, they wrote it up as a "one payment lease." they insisted and were firm on the $86 a month. they described it as a battery rental with the term "battery assurance plus." the smart car uses a tesla designed system and they claimed even if i bought the car, i don't own the battery. they went on to say it is designed to keep the customer with a car that is in good operating condition in case the battery was to crap out or lose efficiency for any reason- in which case, they would replace it at no cost. i don't know if that is bullshit or not, but my goal was $1k down and $86 a month, so i didn't care. i'm not sure if tesla does it this way.

the $8,500 federal rebate helped them get the car this cheap though... they want about $30k for these stupid things before rebates.

another thing to consider is getting a 220v plug wired for your car is about $650 (i got two consistent bids out of three bids). i get away with using the charger that came with the car and using 110v.

[Bucki14]

Tesla does nothing for me

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Bucki14

Tesla does nothing for me

lots of people that dislike electric cars are looking at them and evaluating them from a performance standpoint. when looking at them as a practical daily driver, they make a lot of sense.
i couldn't care less about how fast a tesla goes. i have a fun performance car, and thats not what i'm looking for in an electric car. however, for a lot of people, it is going to be the fastest thing they have driven, and adds a fun factor. it checks all the boxes to be a great commuter car.

plugging my car in takes 30 seconds. putting the cord away takes another 30 seconds. other than that, i don't have to go to the gas station in the middle of my work week. as nominal as it seems, you get used to not going to the gas station. now, when driving a gas car, stopping for gas feels inconvenient.

[Bucki14]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

lots of people that dislike electric cars are looking at them and evaluating them from a performance standpoint. when looking at them as a practical daily driver, they make a lot of sense.
i couldn't care less about how fast a tesla goes. i have a fun performance car, and thats not what i'm looking for in an electric car. however, for a lot of people, it is going to be the fastest thing they have driven, and adds a fun factor. it checks all the boxes to be a great commuter car.

plugging my car in takes 30 seconds. putting the cord away takes another 30 seconds. other than that, i don't have to go to the gas station in the middle of my work week. as nominal as it seems, you get used to not going to the gas station. now, when driving a gas car, stopping for gas feels inconvenient.

No it isn't that while most of your statement is valid. You're in Cali where the plug in stations are by the 100s. There isn't a lot of charge stations where I'm at in Ohio which makes it sort of inconvenient. Don't you guys have the super charging stations?

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Bucki14

No it isn't that while most of your statement is valid. You're in Cali where the plug in stations are by the 100s. There isn't a lot of charge stations where I'm at in Ohio which makes it sort of inconvenient. Don't you guys have the super charging stations?

You could charge it at home as you sleep. Tessa's have about a 250-300 mile range. It will work for 95% of people as a daily commuter.

[Flying Ace]

Originally Posted by Bucki14

No it isn't that while most of your statement is valid. You're in Cali where the plug in stations are by the 100s. There isn't a lot of charge stations where I'm at in Ohio which makes it sort of inconvenient. Don't you guys have the super charging stations?

it all depends on the use of the the car. I use to live in Ohio (for a good 20 years of my life), and I can tell, an electric car at today's current range and price will be virtually useless in most of Ohio.

But however here in CA urban areas (I am in SF and Roastbeef is OC), where commutes are only 15 miles but can take 40 minutes, an electric car makes a lot of sense. My M3 when I live in the midwest and mid-atlantic averaged out to a weekly MPG of 19 or so. Here in CA, my commute takes it down to 14. Just gives you a sense of the amount of stop and go and idling that happens here in CA urban areas.

Also helping the electric car demand here are employer subsidized charging stations and stations at all retail centers, granted my employer doesn't offer charging nor are retail center charging spots generally available at any given time (why do they still subsidize charging at retail centers in CA?).

The bonus for pure EVs here in CA is now you qualify for HOV as a sole driver. And that alone cuts down a good 10 minutes or so from your daily commute each way, depending on your commute.

In terms of lifestyle, here in urban CA, you also tend to make a lot of short trips to stores and also parking is a PITA. The electric cars Roastbeef and I are talking about are, these compact and mini-compact EVs, like the SMART and 500e. Once you've had your bumper scraped 10 times in 2 years in CA (collectively for my 2 BMWs), you'll understand the value of a cheap small car that'll fit in tight spaces.

[elusive303]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Yeah, that's petty cheap for $40 extra electricity. I am still kicking myself for missing the 2015 500e lease. $0 down, $89/mo after all rebates. I am jumping on the next 500e deal or this Model 3.

BTW, good to see you're rocking a diesel. And that lift and wheels are bad ass on the truck. I am a redneck at heart too

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

whoa, I have much to learn about the rebate system. I know about the quotas on the fed rebate, but I didn't know the dealer takes your rebate. How is it legally possible to sign over the rebate to a dealer?

It sounds like in short, I need to negoiatate a low down payment, while keeping the rebates to myself? That's no different than just negoiatating any lease, sans rebate.

I wouldn't say the dealer is trying to ripping you off. The $7500 federal + $2500 state rebate is used for rolling into paying down the total lease cost. It's the only reason why you're paying less than $100 per month for a 30k+ car. It breaks down to paying a non rebate cost of $14000/36 compared to paying $4000/36 (actually $3000/36 since 1k applied towards down payment, in my case). I got in the DC Fiat 500e deal last year and my payment is around $84 including tax.

I never driven a electric car prior to leasing the Fiat but now I'm definitely sold. It's been a surprisingly fun drive and despite it small size been very versatile.
It's great for running errands since you can just start and go without having to wait for the engine to warm up. You can park it anywhere without worry about door dings or scrapes. The performance numbers alone are very disappointing but isn't a great indicator of real world performance. Driving in and around town the instance torque is great for passing, especially in heavy traffic. The ability to get a HOV sticker alone is worth double the lease cost.

After living with one for a year now, I really enjoy the benefits of an electric vehicle for commuting. I'd recommend installing a level 2 charger for quicker charging. The 110v wall charger that comes with the car charges at 1kw per hour, so fully empty can take 24 hours to fully recharge. The 220v charge takes around 3.5-4 hours to fully charge which gives you a lot more flexibility.

I'm also planning on putting a deposit down on the Model 3 when they start taking deposits next month. If Tesla can deliver on the promise of 200 mile range and 35k msrp, it'll be worth it even without any rebates.