[SteVTEC]

I was enlisted as the broader family "car guy" to help an extended family member pick out a new car for themselves. They know absolutely nothing about cars, and have been driving the same Toyota for the past 17 years, so were long overdue for something new. This was also going to be their 40th birthday gift to themselves.

The matrix went like this.

• Body style: sedan or SUV? Okay, SUV.
  
• Basic A-B or something fun? They didn't want another "basic b*tch" car (their words) after driving their Toyota for 17 years, so okay definitely something fun!
  
• Then for powertrain it was gas/ICE, hybrid, EV, or don't care? And the response here was don't care.
  
• Budget: $50k range.
• New or Used: New

They mostly work from home and really don't drive a lot, only 6k miles per year. Could definitely stand to not deal with much automotive maintenance. Nice climate where they live, so no cold weather issues or road salt messing up brakes that don't get used much, and excellent area charging infrastructure. So a Tesla Model Y seemed like a great fit.

I test drove a Model Y LR/AWD with them when they were out our way for a visit, and found it quite zippy and entertaining. Even matting it at 70 mph would push you back in your seat and result in very strong acceleration, although it will get old and traffic is generally terrible where they are also. Liked the 1-pedal driving, and it'll be pretty efficient for them in the mostly urban/suburban environment they drive in. Overall ride quality, handling, and even steering feel seemed nice enough. Some of these things might not be super competitive today, but it's all a huge upgrade from their old car. Not a fan of the bland interior and ipad only screen. Not even a HUD, but simplicity isn't necessarily bad. Just a different flavor of vehicle.

Would not even consider one of these at $60-70k+ the past few years. Are you kidding? No way they're worth that much, but the price cuts last year brought them back down closer to where they should be priced at. They were planning to wait until summer to buy, but I saw that Tesla was slapping $5k in cash on the hoods of in stock mostly Model Y's trying to clear a glut of excess inventory, so they jumped on that and picked it up this past weekend.

They're super excited to finally have a new car! It was $48k plus TTL with the blue exterior and white interior, which are both $1k upcharges. Gotta say, if we hadn't just picked up our CPO MY22 X5, I'd have given this serious consideration as well. It's not even close to the overall driving experience and content of a BMW, but a no brainer to buy if you're considering, and a double no-brainer if you qualify for the Federal $7500 rebate.

Would love to hear of some ownership experiences from current/former Tesla and Model Y owners in here, and what to watch out for. Aware of build quality issues and told them to go over it with a fine-toothed comb. Aware of battery loss of capacity with time also, but not really a big deal for them either.

[whofelt]

I’d rather have a Prius, nice price though.

[gatorfast]

These are definitely getting hard to beat for the price. As a daily commuter its a great car.

[BlkGS]

The Y is very much a "basic bitch" car. Cheap too. TURRIBLE resale as well. Driving 6k a year they'll never make the price difference back vs a comparable (better built) Kia or Chevy or whatever.

Your car guy card is hereby revoked. You have failed your extended family, and also failed all of us car guys. We aren't mad, just disappointed.

[Efthreeoh]

I'll go in defense of the car guy assistance. While I'm not a fan of Tesla's Model 3/Y design nor the HMI inside because it's too much reliant on the screen, if the family member is keen on the charging requirements and understand what they are getting into, then I can't argue the choice. If it fits their use case of course.

The only friction I see is your family member is not car-oriented, which is fine, the World needs diversification, but with an EV it forces you to pay more attention to the apparatus. Tesla makes it much easier than the CCS EV environment, but it's still not gas-and-go like they are use to.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

The Y is very much a "basic bitch" car. Cheap too. TURRIBLE resale as well. Driving 6k a year they'll never make the price difference back vs a comparable (better built) Kia or Chevy or whatever.

Your car guy card is hereby revoked. You have failed your extended family, and also failed all of us car guys. We aren't mad, just disappointed.

What would you have suggested then? All things are relative. They weren't gonna go for a Kia/Chevy/whatever, EV or not. I did suggest a RAV4 Prime, but that was "basic b*tch" to them and didn't want another Toyota. Also mentioned X3 or a Mustang Mach-E, but no interest there either. And is something with a 0-60 in the 4 second range really a basic b*tch car? Lol.

Not too concerned about resale. If you bought in the past two years and paid 60-70k+, yes, you're hosed. Buying now, after price cuts last year, and on an in stock model with $5k on the hood, I think you're pretty safe. They will drive it for the next 10-15 years, so with that mentality you just have to be happy with what you pay right now, and not what it might be worth later. This is the first time I've ever heard of Tesla having a massive oversupply of in stock vehicles, and putting $5k on their hoods for people to drive away in them. They said the lot was overflowing with unsold vehicles.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by whofelt

I’d rather have a Prius, nice price though.

Same here. The Prime especially is really nice for mostly local driving, and you can even charge it off of a 110V circuit. Way lower environmental impact overall, much lighter, better overall energy efficiency than a BEV (we're not supposed to know that), but just not something that will put a grin on your face.

Originally Posted by gatorfast

These are definitely getting hard to beat for the price. As a daily commuter its a great car.

For sure, even for medium distance day or weekend trips, one of these could work out for us, minus being a family of 4 plus two dogs. It was only in the running for them because of the price drops last year, and just barely fitting into their price range. Slapping $5k on the hood sealed the deal. No way they're worth $60-70k+. Those prices were just crazy.

[dgoldenz]

Too late now but they should have leased if going the EV route. You can get a $135k Lucid Air Grand Touring for $560/month with $1k out of pocket apparently....or ~$400/month with minimal out of pocket for base models. There are some insane lease deals on EV's right now. I saw on Leasehackr someone got an EQE that stickered for $90k for like $390/month with minimal out of pocket.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

I'll go in defense of the car guy assistance. While I'm not a fan of Tesla's Model 3/Y design nor the HMI inside because it's too much reliant on the screen, if the family member is keen on the charging requirements and understand what they are getting into, then I can't argue the choice. If it fits their use case of course.

The only friction I see is your family member is not car-oriented, which is fine, the World needs diversification, but with an EV it forces you to pay more attention to the apparatus. Tesla makes it much easier than the CCS EV environment, but it's still not gas-and-go like they are use to.

Yeah, the secondary/lifestyle factors all lined up for there not to be any deal breakers for getting a Tesla.

No freezing cold weather that might cause charging or driving issues in the winter. Very low mileage driver, so might only need to charge once or twice per month anyways. No trips anywhere close to being out of range. Typically if they go anywhere, they're hopping on a plane. Won't be able to home charge, but tons of tons of Superchargers and freebie mall or grocery store type complimentary L2/L3 chargers to use in the area (San Jose). Flex work from home schedule and their company isn't even U.S. based, so very easy to go and freeload off of the above chargers or off-peak supercharger hours when everybody else is working, no problem. Tons of this person's friends drive Teslas also (every other car in San Jose is a Tesla, lol) so very easy to find local network support/advice for whatever random strange issue that might arise.

So it was a very safe choice all things considered that I think they'll enjoy.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by dgoldenz

Too late now but they should have leased if going the EV route. You can get a $135k Lucid Air Grand Touring for $560/month with $1k out of pocket apparently....or ~$400/month with minimal out of pocket for base models. There are some insane lease deals on EV's right now. I saw on Leasehackr someone got an EQE that stickered for $90k for like $390/month with minimal out of pocket.

That's insane, but just wanted to purchase to own considering the low mileage they drive (6k/year, if even that).

I did see a bit the other day about $60k off of a Lucid or something with stacked incentives/rebates if you qualify for all of them, which is NUTS.

[gblansten]

Congrats. Love the color.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

What would you have suggested then? All things are relative. They weren't gonna go for a Kia/Chevy/whatever, EV or not. I did suggest a RAV4 Prime, but that was "basic b*tch" to them and didn't want another Toyota. Also mentioned X3 or a Mustang Mach-E, but no interest there either. And is something with a 0-60 in the 4 second range really a basic b*tch car? Lol.

Not too concerned about resale. If you bought in the past two years and paid 60-70k+, yes, you're hosed. Buying now, after price cuts last year, and on an in stock model with $5k on the hood, I think you're pretty safe. They will drive it for the next 10-15 years, so with that mentality you just have to be happy with what you pay right now, and not what it might be worth later. This is the first time I've ever heard of Tesla having a massive oversupply of in stock vehicles, and putting $5k on their hoods for people to drive away in them. They said the lot was overflowing with unsold vehicles.

Everything does 0-60 that fast now because of EVs. And Tesla is now the official car of basic bitch. They're the fake Gucci bag of cars, people buy them to pretend they're nice cars, but everyone knows they're cheap crap that's way worse than any other mainstream brand.

X1 M35i would have been more fun. Or a Mini Countryman. Or an Edge ST. Or a Mazda. Or any number of other things. The only reason to buy the tesla is if all you care about is cheap 0-60, or you have a consistent but long commute.

In 10 years, that model Y will have essentially no value. EVs are changing too quickly, tooamy concerns with battery lifespan, and too small of a customer base to have .much resale.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Everything does 0-60 that fast now because of EVs. And Tesla is now the official car of basic bitch. They're the fake Gucci bag of cars, people buy them to pretend they're nice cars, but everyone knows they're cheap crap that's way worse than any other mainstream brand.

X1 M35i would have been more fun. Or a Mini Countryman. Or an Edge ST. Or a Mazda. Or any number of other things. The only reason to buy the tesla is if all you care about is cheap 0-60, or you have a consistent but long commute.

In 10 years, that model Y will have essentially no value. EVs are changing too quickly, tooamy concerns with battery lifespan, and too small of a customer base to have .much resale.

I have been calling my car the green insanity shitbox pinto EV aka BigControlSystem. But fake Gucci bag kicks total ass. Love that!

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Everything does 0-60 that fast now because of EVs. And Tesla is now the official car of basic bitch. They're the fake Gucci bag of cars, people buy them to pretend they're nice cars, but everyone knows they're cheap crap that's way worse than any other mainstream brand.

X1 M35i would have been more fun. Or a Mini Countryman. Or an Edge ST. Or a Mazda. Or any number of other things. The only reason to buy the tesla is if all you care about is cheap 0-60, or you have a consistent but long commute.

In 10 years, that model Y will have essentially no value. EVs are changing too quickly, tooamy concerns with battery lifespan, and too small of a customer base to have .much resale.

You can say that, but an 8-10 year old Tesla Model S is worth way more than a similarly aged 7-series. There's reasons for that. At least with Tesla many of these things are knowable, and the industry is slowly standardizing around Tesla's architecture.

Good suggestion on the X1, but no real interest in BMW's or other more flashy enthusiast cars. An enthusiast wasn't buying the car, and they're perfectly okay with having the same car as everybody else. Still a massive upgrade compared to a 17 year-old Toyota.

[Donatello.]

I really don't get the appeal. It's an empty interior with a computer screen. On top of that, the materials are garbage. Worse than a 1995 Hyundai IMO.

Full disclosure, I've only sat in a model 3

[x622]

I'm going to surprise everyone and say good job OP.

I too don't care for Teslas and probably would of steered them towards a used Tesla that's already taken the depreciation hit, but otherwise have already arrived at the same conclusion.

I personally wouldn't of spent ~51-52k on a Tesla myself but for NPCs or people who don't know about cars they're great. As others have highlighted, normal people think they're "premium" but anyone who's actually driven/owned one knows this is not the case. The acceleration is really something compared to all the putt-putt cars everyone else mentioned, and I'm not sure if I or even they could be swayed by going with a double-poverty tier hyundia/kia EV, especially with their edict of no "basic bitch" cars.

Only other thing on that price bracket worth a damn is a used SQ5 that has had the rocker arms fixed or has an extended warranty. B9 SQ5/S4 EA839s have issues if you look into it, and frankly I think the overall TCO would be worse than the Tesla even factoring all the depreciation that tesla is gonna see.

I invite other members to give a better recommendation in the sub 55k bracket all in that fits well. I like the Prius prime too, it's a sick little mileage dumpster. If I had to drive a billion miles every day or commute that would be my #1 choice.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Everything does 0-60 that fast now because of EVs. And Tesla is now the official car of basic bitch. They're the fake Gucci bag of cars, people buy them to pretend they're nice cars, but everyone knows they're cheap crap that's way worse than any other mainstream brand.

X1 M35i would have been more fun. Or a Mini Countryman. Or an Edge ST. Or a Mazda. Or any number of other things. The only reason to buy the tesla is if all you care about is cheap 0-60, or you have a consistent but long commute.

In 10 years, that model Y will have essentially no value. EVs are changing too quickly, tooamy concerns with battery lifespan, and too small of a customer base to have .much resale.

They spent 17 years with a Toyota, how a car drives dynamically is not on their list of concerns. Trust me on this.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by gblansten

I have been calling my car the green insanity shitbox pinto EV aka BigControlSystem. But fake Gucci bag kicks total ass. Love that!

You should stop using the word "Pinto" in reference to your shitbox Model S Plaidmimum. The Pinto doesn't disserve such a discredit.

Just sayin'

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Donatello.

I really don;t get the appeal. It's an empty interior with a computer screen. On top of that, the materials are garbage. Worse than a 1995 Hyundai IMO.

Full disclosure, I've only sat in a model 3

Then don't ever ride in one; it will just further amplify your already astute observation of the vehicle.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

You should stop using the word "Pinto" in reference to your shitbox Model S Plaidmimum. The Pinto doesn't disserve such a discredit.

Just sayin'

It was a direct quote from an EV hater. I’m leaving it.

The pinto fetishists are an odd lot and can pound sand.

[kyriian]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

They spent 17 years with a Toyota, how a car drives dynamically is not on their list of concerns. Trust me on this.

I am more surprised they didn't go back to another one... Toyota owners I know, especially non car people ones, always go back to Toyota or Lexus just because its familiar and everyone in their inner circle all have one.

To be fair, SOME Toyotas are a different breed and drives equally well as any BMW, judging by the way the OP's description of the buyer of the car though, I'd assume that 17 year old Toyota is not one of those.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by kyriian

I am more surprised they didn't go back to another one... Toyota owners I know, especially non car people ones, always go back to Toyota or Lexus just because its familiar and everyone in their inner circle all have one.

To be fair, SOME Toyotas are a different breed and drives equally well as any BMW, judging by the way the OP's description of the buyer of the car though, I'd assume that 17 year old Toyota is not one of those.

Well, that's only because BMW now make Buicks rather than BMWs

Kidding aside, 100% agree, once a Toyota always a Toyota. Same with Subarus, same customer type. I did break one out of Subaru on to Mazda. She's quite happy with a car that has some level of athleticism in it.