5 Reasons why I bought a Tesla Y
This week I Iocked in by putting down a deposit on a new Tesla Y Performance Edition – oh yes! This article goes into 5 reasons why I bought a Telsa Y and helps explain the madness behind this purchase.
My wife asked what finally pushed me over to buy the Telsa after many months of analysis.
The explanation I gave her was timing. I am backing into the long lead time of 7-10 weeks and timing it to come on my birthday. Now I get why people buy crazy things for their mid-life crisis!
However, it was way more than just timing. These are the 5 reasons why I bought a Telsa Y.
1. Performance is Top Notch and will be super fun to drive!
Ever since my 1st job as a parking Valet in high school, I have enjoyed driving cool cars.
What sold me on my current car (Infiniti G37X Sports Edition) was the awesome responsiveness of hitting the accelerator and feeling the car take off. This will definitely be repeated and topped by the Tesla Y especially as I went big with the Performance Edition.
The hefty $8k upgrade is primarily justified by the super fast acceleration, lowered sports suspension and cool tires.
As I researched other cars, the Tesla Y 3.5 second 0-60 time competes and beats out many of the top-end SUV like the BMW X3 M-series and Audi Q5 S-series. This will definitely be fun to drive and leave others in the dust!
Check out this video if you want to detailed analysis on how Tesla Y competes against the others: Best Luxury Compact SUVs: Tesla Model Y vs BMW X3 M, Mercedes-AMG GLC 63, Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio
2. Cool Technology – Welcome to the future!
Tesla is definitely leaps and bounds ahead in technology over traditional cars.
You immediately notice there is no ignition button or gear shift when you get into a Tesla. After the initial phone setup to pair with your Tesla, it is as easy as getting in, tapping the brake and you are ready to go.
Similarly to turn off the car, all you need to do it get out of the car – it will lock itself and switch off on its own.
I believe there will be some adjustment getting use to no physical buttons for things like changing radio stations, adjusting air conditioner, turning on seat warmers, etc. I’m sure the shift to voice commands will not be too hard as Alexa has already conditioned us in this manner.
The other big shift is that the car gets software updates enabling cool new features. I do plan to try out the full self-driving capability in the future especially now that is offered in a much more digestible monthly subscription fee vs massive $10,000 upfront fee.
Lastly, I am super eager to try out the summon feature fulfilling my childhood dream of having an intelligent car like Kit in Knight Rider. How cool will it be to have my car pick me up with no driver needed?
3. No Routine Maintenance
One of the major selling points from the Tesla dealer was that it requires no routine maintenance such as oil changes. This was an eye opener for me and will definitely be a ‘prove it over time’ for me to believe it.
The Tesla dealer mentioned tire rotation and tire replacement are the only traditional things I will need to manage. The earliest big fix the dealer anticipated would be replacing the brake pads at 100k miles.
I hope what the dealer said comes true as it will be a game-changer and big money saver over time.
The 4 year / 50,000 miles basic warranty and 8 year / 120k battery and drive unity warranty is comforting.
4. I got a 50% discount … well, sort of
As an avid investor (check out How to Invest: Stock Market Strategies), Tesla was one of the most successful stocks for me in recent times.
One of the marks of a big winner is the 10-bagger – making 10 times your initial investment. Tesla did just that for me increasing my $3,000 investment to over $33,000 in about 1 year.
I feel a whole lot better halving the $60k Tesla Y price tag with these gains.
Although the profits are not going straight to the Tesla Y purchase, I did utilize this money to open a Donor Advised Fund (see article Maximize Donations and Minimize Taxes through Donor-Advised Funds)
Ultimately this turned out to be a win-win for me as it will be used to fund donations to my church and other charitable purposes.
5. Hello Electricity, Goodbye Gas!
The most obvious reason for buying Tesla is the electric aspect. Although I have access to a gas station within 5 minutes of my house, there will be no better convenience than the ability to charge my Tesla at home.
I plan to install the $500 Tesla Charger in my garage. This will enable me to fully charge the Tesla (300 miles per charge) in about one night time (8 hrs).
Alternatively, if I’m in a bind and need a faster charge method, my local Target has superchargers which will take about 15 minutes to provide 200 miles of drive time. As this is my wife’s favorite store, I can see her needing to ‘charge’ the Tesla frequently.
There is a tremendous saving opportunity using electricity vs gas. My current Infiniti averages about 20 miles per gallon. With gas costing about $3.50 per gallon, this equates to about 18 cents per mile.
According to Electrik, the Tesla Y costs about $17 to fully charge resulting in 5 cents per mile.
Better convenience charging at home and a nearly 4 to 5x cost saving? I’ll take that!
The things I’ll miss moving to a Tesla
So you may be thinking, what will you miss with your current car? There’s definitely two things that come top of mind.
Good bye Infiniti G37 – You have been wonderful!
This was an excellent car and everything I could ask for. It lasted over a decade throughout my 30’s with literally no issues at all! In addition, this super sporty car did not disappoint with the driving experience.
Due to needing more space for the kids and a safer car in general, this was the primary reason to upgrade to the Tesla Y.
As homage to my current car, I will be keeping the same colors (black on black). Let’s hope I am able to also keep the same luck on reliability!
Putting a pause on Drive Safe and Save Program
As detailed in my State Farm Drive Safe & Save Review, this car insurance program has definitely been a huge cost saver for me over the last few years.
Being realistic, I know that the super performance of Tesla Y will absolutely destroy my stellar driving score for this program.
I will definitely be putting a pause on the Drive Safe Program to enjoy the Tesla Y in the nearterm so I will not have any guilt worrying about over-accelerating, aggressive cornering or sudden braking.
As my friends remind me, this purchase is based on the enjoyment of driving rather than trying to save money!
Summary
You have read my 5 Reasons why I bought a Tesla Y. Now comes the 7 to 10 weeks of waiting for my awesome birthday present to arrive!
About DadMBA: Through his schooling (he does have a MBA) & more importantly being a Dad, he has provided practical advice to family & friends on finances & other life topics. He loves helping others thus the creation of DadMBA.
