How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features

Knowing how to buy a tesla need a Test drive first, then you buying tesla with confidence from tesla's website.Tesla car are not like other cars. 

They are much more technologically focused. And that changes things when you think about whether or not right now is the time to buy Tesla. 

But I have a little bit of experience here, I've had a few Teslas in my life, and I wanted to share what I've learned through that process 

As well as what some of the data shows us here to help you decide whether or not you should wait to know, how to buy Tesla from Tesla's website.

There are two things to think about that may prevent you from just buying Tesla, the moment you're ready to do it and may give you pause. 

The first one is what I'll call feature anxiety where you're worried about a new feature coming out that is gonna just make you feel dumb, like you really missed out on something by not waiting. 

And the other one is price anxiety, and Tesla kinda brought this on themselves. So let's talk about how to buy tesla and those two things also maybe navigate these waters and figure out whether or not you should wait before buying Tesla. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Features and Price

So tesla feature anxiety, as I mentioned, is when you're really worried about a new features and price coming out and you really are gonna want that thing. 

And before buying Tesla now, this may be something that you've kind of absorbed from watching people online and maybe hearing stories or something like that. 

But being a Tesla owner comes with this sense of awesome and you don't want to spend a ton of money on a vehicle and then be left without the latest and greatest. It definitely will make you feel bad, like you missed out, kind of a FOMO effect. 

But really, there's only been one case in Tesla's history where this is very kind of cut and dry, very black and white where this happened. 

Everything since then, in my opinion, has been mostly incremental changes and a lot of things that can be retrofit onto used vehicles. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Autopilot

Really what I'm talking about is Autopilot version one when the vehicles went from not having Autopilot to having Autopilot and Tesla would not actually retrofit those original cars. 

That is where you saw a big drop in price and a very big difference in the capabilities of the vehicle. Mostly everything since then has just been incremental changes. 

Okay, I know, I know. Technically, the current version of Autopilot is much more advanced than the first version of Autopilot. 

However, a lot of the features that really separate the two in my own experience and in my opinion here don't really make that big of a difference to somebody to search how to buy tesla from Tesla's website, if they've never had Autopilot. 

If you think about it, if somebody goes from not having Autopilot to having Autopilot, that gap, that jump that they make is massive. 

Then going from having Autopilot versus having Autopilot 2.5 or 3 that detects people cutting in front of you and maybe does lane changes and things automatically, isn't nearly as big of a jump. 

So yes, the current version is much more advanced than the first version, but that gap is much smaller than the not Autopilot to Autopilot jump that people go through when they first get a Tesla. 

And there are actually other updates that have been done which you can get retrofit back on your older vehicle. 

So my original model S had a 3G connection built in and I could have added the 4G LTE one for about 400 bucks. 

There's kind of a secret menu here of updates to Teslas that can be retrofit onto the older vehicles. You may not have known about that. 

So a lot of the little incremental things aren't these kind of points where there is no way to go back such as when there's Autopilot versus not. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Autopilot in My Opinion

So really since then we haven't seen a major thing like the autopilot. So I would say, from that standpoint, the feature anxiety really shouldn't be as big of a deal as it may seem when you see a video. 

But every little tiny detail and every change Tesla makes, most of those, if this is your first Tesla, you won't even notice and you won't even really miss because you never knew they were there. 

So that begs the question, are we at a point where a completely game-changing, non-retrofitable piece of tech or change is coming to a Tesla? Maybe. Maybe. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Model S and Model X Price

But before we talk about what that feature or those features might be, let's think just a second here about your budget. 

Because if you're not looking at a top-end Model S or X, if you're not looking at $100,000 or more to spend here, then none of this is really gonna make a difference to you. 

Because chances are a lot of these features are not gonna be available in the cheaper lower-end models, befinitely not in the Model 3 or Model Y that are coming out. 

But okay, let's assume you are looking at $100,000 or more to spend. First off, awesome that you're able to do that, you must have done very well for yourself, and so congratulations on that. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla V3 Charging

The thing that I think may be coming that would change everything for the Model S and Model X specifically is V3 charging. 

Now, Elon Musk has been tweeting a lot lately about the Plaid powertrain for the Model S, X, and Roadster. 

This will include three motors for better performance, presumably better range, and a seven-seat option for the Model S, which I don't know why. 

This is also what Tesla reportedly used on their record-setting Nurburgring test, which is the famous racetrack in Germany that a lot of car companies bring their prototype high-performance vehicles to get kind of a benchmark test drive of what it's capable of. 

Now, of course, that's a prototype car and not something that will be in production any time soon. 

But nonetheless, it's existing to see the Tesla Model S returning to her rightful place on the EV throne. 

So Elon Musk has stated on Twitter that this new Plaid powertrain is coming into production in about a year or so. And honestly, I can't wait to take my first test drive on it.

But it's Elon Musk, so, what do we do about that? There are other rumors in other leaks that have been out there stating that this should be early 2020, and here's Elon saying it's gonna be late 2020. 

Well, he's either being overtly optimistic, like he usually is, and it'll be two years or more, or he's sandbagging because he doesn't want people to stop buying Tesla Model S and Model X today, which, honestly, if you look at the numbers, have been down pretty dramatically for a while. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Model S, X, and The V3 Charging

But I think that's mostly because the Model 3 has V3 charging and all these other things and is just a lot cheaper. So really I think the Model 3 has been cannibalizing the S and X sales. 

But if they have some new big thing that they unveil for the Model S and X which you have to imagine is coming sometime soon, And from my test drive experience, I think the Model S and X are gonna be fine in terms of selling. 

And this is really the game you have to play. Now, again, if you have a budget of well over $100,000 and you're waiting on this, you can do it. I would say it's a fair thing to do. go now and take your first test drive before buying than take your decisions.

If you don't need a car right now and you have the budget, and you do want the latest, and greatest and you know there's something coming, yeah, it makes a whole lot of sense to wait. 

But the question is how long is that gonna be. Is it gonna be a couple of months and maybe Elon Musk was sandbagging? Or is it gonna be over two years? '

Cause at that point, that's a long time there and you probably are gonna lose interest before your first-tesla test drive and all of that. So really, it's still kind of a guessing game. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Model S and Model X Range

Now, with that V3 charging, I just wanna point out one reason why I harp on this so much. 

And if you saw my article last week you'll know that in about 20 minutes time you'll be able to get about 50% more range than you would versus the current V2 charger capability on the Model S and Model X. 

That is where I do believe, once you have a Model S and Model X with V3 charging capability, all the ones with V2 are gonna seem like they are just obsolete. 

So, on one hand, if you are waiting to start searching how to buy tesla and you have a healthy budget and you want the Model S or X, this could be a big win for you because you might get it a lot cheaper.

But if you buy a brand new top-spec one and then a couple of months later one comes out with V3 charging, you're gonna feel bad. 

So this is the game you have to play and I don't have a great answer for you on this other than you have a lot of flexibility when you're in that budget and you're in that category. 

So pay attention to things and if you get to the point where you just have to have one, just do it, especially if this is your first Tesla, you're not gonna be disappointed. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Tesla Price Anxiety

So the second thing that I mentioned is price anxiety. Tesla has been adjusting pricing for a while now and this definitely has burned some people that bought their Tesla and then the next day the exact same car dropped in price by several thousand dollars. 

But it is common that the price of things goes down but not usually do they come back up, and this has happened for Tesla. 

So it's been kind of a really strange ride in terms of how the pricing works for the different models here. 

So this could be a thing that is definitely something to consider if you are in the budget side of it and you don't have a lot of money to spend, you don't really wanna miss out on a $5,000 discount. 

But overall, the prices, as I mentioned, are trending downward, meaning that no matter when you buy tesla car, it's gonna be a better deal than someone got six months ago. 

I know when I bought my Model 3, and I got it in January of 2018, I paid almost $70,000 for it. So that's a lot more than that exact same car is running for today. 

So if you're not in that top-tier budget waiting on the latest and greatest Model S and Model X, I would say find one that is within your budget that suits your needs and go for it. 

If this is your first Tesla, you're gonna be blown away. And as Joe Rogan likes to say, and I love this, it's gonna make every other car you've ever had seem just stupid in comparison.

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

How To Buy Your First Tesla

So a good place to start, I think, if this is your first Tesla and you're really not sure about where to go or what your needs are gonna be in five years or so, is to lease. 

So maybe start with a Model 3, which you can lease for 399 a month, which is even cheaper than some BMWs on the market now.

And when you take into consideration fuel savings and maintenance costs that you're gonna save on that, you're actually gonna come out far ahead of a typical car you would maybe compare to this, like a BMW 3 Series or a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, one of those. 

Really, the overall price you're gonna pay is much closer to, say, a Toyota Camry. 

From there, once you've had an electric car for a while, you've kind of embraced the electric lifestyle, you've figured out your charging and everything else and maybe what your needs are. 

then I would think more deeply about going down the road and maybe buying Tesla and keeping it for a much longer period of time. 

If you remember, these cars are built to last, they really are. I mean, the parts and the powertrain and everything else, the components are rated at one million miles, the battery pack data we're seeing so far is well above 500,000 miles before the degradation becomes a real issue. 

So you can keep this for a long time, and that's really the beauty of this whole thing is that these are sustainable vehicles that are really gonna serve you well for years and years to come. But you don't necessarily have to know all that before your first Tesla. 

How to Buy a Tesla: Price and Features 

Used Tesla or Lease One

So I would either lease one there or buy a used tesla that you can find at Tesla's website or many other websites that is well within your budget and gets you going, and then really figure out. 

Because that I think is really just how it's gonna go. My first Model S, I was really focused on the color and the interior trim.

And a lot of these things that now, looking back, I would've totally sacrificed that for a longer range which turned out to be very important, even though I don't go on a lot of road trips. 

So think about that, think about your situation, if you have a family, if you don't, if you like to go mountain biking a lot, if you go on road trips, whatever your situation may be. 

Make sure that the range and the storage and all those things kinda line up first within your budget, get a sense of what's what, and then go from there. 

And if you know someone else that's on the fence about this, please share this article with them and let them know that it's okay, that they don't have to be obsessive over all the details before they make this decision. You can do it now and they kind of obsess even more later. 

Really kinda get into it and then figure your way out, just like if you were learning music or something else. 

You don't go into it wanting to be at the top of the game, you wanna start out small and then kinda grow in the direction that suits you. 

So there you have for now. I hope this guide's helped you yet again. And don't forget, I'll see you guys back in the next one.