klr10

Hi all, coming up for retirement. Have a 964 C4 cab in lovely condition and love it to bits, however need to realise my financial condition as about to retire. Thinking of selling up and adding a few grand from my redundancy (40 years as an electronics design engineer) to buy a Tes..... anyone else thought about this? Thoughts welcomed good and bad

964russ

Fantastic cars.

Paul284pt

Hi,

Yep, guilty as charged.

I had an extended drive of performance model P90D including a launched control start, if you can call it that, although it's more sureal. One second you're sat in absolute silence, the next after stamping on the accelerator all you hear are the tyres eating tarmac as your head hits your headrest, a fraction over 2 more and you're over 60 and hurtling down the track watching you're life in fast forward.

So ferocious is it that my pal's wallet came out of his pocket and wedged itself beside the seat. We spent a very unhappy couple of hours looking for it before we finally sussed out what happened :banged: I've driven a new Porsche Turbo S at Silverstone all I can say that is that the Tesla would give it a good run for it's money.

The amazing thing is that for a large saloon the car handles really well thanks to the it's low slung batteries and 4 motor/wheel drive. It is also very relaxing though I'm not sure if I'd get sick of that and want to reach for a Chrono Sport button. My only reservation about the car at all is that the interior standard of finish and the quality of materials are pretty average compared to any Porsche in the range (all brilliant) never mind something costing £100k.

However if you're an eco warrior this may not put you off and you certainly won't be disappointed with your purchase. In my case I couldn't bear to part with the readies but I have had a Model 3 on order (to get me to work and back) since they opened up the book and I expect there will be quick versions of that too.

Cheers,
Paul

02m2

I would wait for the Porsche Mission E or what ever they call it.

sctanton52

No, but I would like to. But I need a new car like I need a new hole in my head. So I think I will wait for the Porsche Mission E, and then give the eCar a try. But from those who have driven the Tesla, that I have talked to, say it is a sweet ride. Right now I still need a bit more noise.

Spyerx

Wait, going to retire so sell ~40k car to buy 100k car? :-) 60k is a lot of maintenance spend.

Teslas aren't for me. But many love them. In California they are nearly as common as the prius.

Streetdaddy

I took a test drive in one of the sport models. Everyone needs to do a test launch just for fun. Unreal acceleration. Love how quiet the electrics are too. Very common here in Nashville,too. It's what the rich and famous move onto after their Prius. Sat in the SUV too. Gullwing doors are nice.

tjb616

I have a handful of miles on my old mans. It was a preorder model S and he has well over 80k on it last time I checked. Hasn't spent a dollar on maintenance other than tires, and it's been out of warranty for a while. It's an awesome car.

My only complaint: it handles like a Cadillac, and not the new CTSV. You know how they used to call big old American cars "boats?" I call the Model S a jet ski, because it feels like you're driving a boat, but if you punch it the thing is OUT. Even with a low center of gravity and near perfect balance, it inspires no confidence in turns compared to a 7 series or A8.

roastbeef

op, you're mentioning money like you're looking to reduce costs because of retirement. think of a tesla as like buying a bmw 7 series. thats about what it will cost.

i daily drive an electric smart car. a few months after daily driving my car, i realized what nonsense tesla is trying to push. great cars, no nonsense there. its the guise of it being an inexpensive car to drive. sure, you don't pay for the same maintenance as a gas car, but you'll use the power- a lot. and since you have a lot of range, you won't have what is called "range anxiety" when driving about 50-100 miles. you'll use the throttle liberally, use the air conditioning, and not worry about maximizing the regenerative braking. at the end of the day, you went 50 miles, but really used 100+ miles worth of range.
tesla also advertises electricity costs at the lowest tier, which you'll never be at anymore.

great cars, for sure. i'm just trying to say they aren't economy cars for most people. nor are they cheap to own and drive. find a tesla owner that is willing to chat with you about realistic costs.

my smart car added about $30-40 a month to my electric bill. not bad, but my goal was to have the absolute cheapest transportation. it has been a good investment (lease). total costs for the lease payment, insurance, and electricity is about $250 a month tops, but i'm saving $300+ in gas and even more in maintenance in not daily driving my m3. i couldn't say the same if i had a tesla.

goofballdeluxe

Sorry, electric cars are, by far, the cheapest cars to operate. By far.

Now, if you initially purchase a $100K+ Tesla, then perhaps the price is higher up front, but one can buy an inexpensive 100% electric car these days.

But from an operating cost standpoint, any internal combustion car, with it's complex systems and myriad of moving parts, no to mention gasoline costs, will always be far more expensive to operate, fuel and maintain than any electric car.

911Jetta

I was out in the driveway washing the 964 a couple weeks back when all of a sudden something floated past. Something with cool taillights, but I was focused on washing my car. A minute later a big car stops at the end of the driveway and crazy doors open, it was a friend stopping by with his loaner. His Model S was in for service so he had a Model X. Right away he asked me if I wanted to drive it. For sure, so my son hopped in also and now the car was loaded with 6 people. Everyone in the car chanted "launch mode".... I did two full bore starts with that thing loaded with people, right in front of my house! What was I thinking, maybe it doesn't count if it's electric? The launch was very, very impressive, also impressive was the off throttle "engine braking" effect. Pretty stunning vehicle... back to washing my 27 year old car!

Black_Hat

I've been in the Tesla factory , VW and Porsche

The Tesla is a heath Kit compared to the other two.

The electric motors look like a one off hand built proto types compared to the other two

The Tesla X was not ready for public consumption ...it's not even in Beta state and worse
the Tesla Tech's are incapable of debug or repair without a step by step TSB
The CV joints go out at less than 10K miles
I close friend was unfortunate enough to buy one ...he is highly technical ..Tesla does not take his Bug reports seriously

and don't get me started on the cars Computer security

ramans

We just picked up a Model S 90D in December to replace our 2012 Audi A6. It's a pretty impressive car, but I will say there are some things about it that make me feel like I've bought some beta software more than a car. The build on the Car is pretty good although there's some questionable decisions on the interior (no door pockets, or any storage at all in the back seat, and the rear seat heat is controlled from the front screen which means the rear passengers have to ask for their seats to be turned on, weird).

On the plus side it's had several software updates that have enabled some new features, and made things better, on the downside there are some glaring errors which haven't been fixed in those several updates (the USB audio stack is lamentably bad, the XM radio doesn't show the station list, Automatic wipers and lights still don't work)

Driving it was a bit of a revelation, a lot of fun for as heavy a car as it is, and it makes me giggle whenever I floor it, the instant torque and quiet just makes it seem even faster.

Overall we're happy with the purchase.

tjb616

At the risk of sounding confrontational, comparing the cost of ownership of a 7 Series to a Model is absolutely ludicrous (no pun intended), and anyone that has owned both (a significant percent of Model S owners) will tell you so.

I agree with ramans that the interior leaves a lot to be desired.

roastbeef

no offense taken here. i haven't owned a 7 series nor a tesla. i am leasing a small electric car and was trying to illustrate a major flaw in how tesla advertises their operating costs (aka "tesla math").
with the knowledge and experience of using my electric car, i went to a tesla display in the mall because i was curious. as the salesman "calculated" the operating costs, i immediately knew it was inaccurate. like i mentioned before, you'll never be in the lowest tier of electricity billing with electric vehicle charging.

one caveat, though, is some power suppliers will offer a reduced tier for your electric vehicle. great! what does this require? an electrician to come out to install a dedicated outlet/charging station with its own breaker box (often requires a permit). then, the electric company comes out to install a separate meter (advertised as being installed for free). i charge on a 110v circuit at 18amps. even when charging at a higher voltage (more efficient to charge at higher volts/amps), when factoring in the quotes i got for the required electrical work, my costs of charging in billing tier two and three (three in the summer time) would never be more than the costs after getting a dedicated circuit panel for the lower tier. it was cheaper to pay more for the electricity than to get the 11 cents per kw/hr rate after paying for all the charger and wiring.

if i'm wrong, i have no problem with being corrected and i don't take offense to it. if you have a different experience, please do share.