We took a month off but it is time to get this going again. All this talk about the abyss has been enlightening but also depressing. December is the month where they all get what they have coming to them. The crushers are going to crush. I personally have had enough of the run bads and with gifts to buy and trips to make it is time to get to work. Teslas are not cheap guys so start grinding because IMO nobody should have to deprive themselves of such a glorious experience.

Delivered yet?
Guy at my club is a higher up with west coast BMW and had an i8 the last couple weeks.
Curious to see if they give tesla a run for the money. Although, the 4 door is a nice feature of the Tesla.

Not yet. It is supposed to be "late December."

It is really surprising to me how hard the wait is. I really could not have predicted this. I feel like I am dying a slow death inside and I am literally obsessed with it. I feel helpless and have to fill the void by watching videos, and reading blogs as well as the forums on the tesla website and teslamotorsclub. I feel like a drug addict. I guess the psychology is that this is the biggest non-house purchase of my life and once the decision was made I just need to get it done. I know I am not alone though since there are countless threads tracking VIN numbers and such as well as "how did you deal with the anxiety of the wait" threads.

Yeah, yeah I know ****ing first world problems.

More like "1%" problems (maybe "5%). But I hear you. A friend who's into cars was in town for Thanksgiving and we talked about Tesla a lot. I'm sure I'd love it but I have a couple of problems. My wife is one - even though we could pay for it she cannot envision spending that much on a car. I don't think I could get away with claiming I paid 30k for it . The other is that due to the "independent dealer" monopoly in Arizona they won't let Tesla open up their own dealerships here which creates service constraints (and the associated issue is that we are likely to be slow to have enough charging stations scattered around enough the state to make long trips viable). though I assume the charging stations will come because there are more and more electrics coming.

As Brownkeeper mentions, a great looking new alternative is the BMW I-8 hybrid (which brings back the old "gull wing" concept) promoting easy in easy out seating (and which is attractive to old folks like me). And presumably it will be available from BMW franchises in Arizona. But same problem as Tesla - unless I can convince the dealer to give me a fake invoice I'd never sell it domestically.

The key is, it has to be a gift "to her"
Was my angle last Christmas anyways.

that's a good thought. problem is she thinks a normal x-mas gift is in the $500-$1krange not the $150K range

But worth considering.

Ok
Maybe pitch the tax credit

I'll find you a workable angle
And in this case better to ask forgiveness.
And if you have kids/grandkids the trunk seats are good for them

Inlaws neighbor just sold his two year old Tesla for $40k. He paid MSRP of $100k originally. Why? So he can get the new one of course. Point is, there might be a way to buy one and stay married.

Sounds like a more plausible option. I guess I'd still have to go to California to buy one, but not a bad thought.

Maybe what I need to do is wait for the Google driverless technology to come on stream to really upgrade. For example I'd love to have that driverless option on I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson, or Tucson and Deming, just kick back and let the car do the steering, like being on a train, then I could take over when driving gets more interesting. Going to Vegas in my example when we get past Phoenix and Wickenburg the drive to Vegas gets much more interesting until you get to I-40, and then again when you get close to the dam over the Colorado.

Not sure that how close that is to reality but we've seen a lot of things happen in technology that seemed very unlikely ten years ago.

Anticipating that eventually my wife will dump hers on me to get a new one.

bit of a random question - anyone here ever take Chantix? Did it have any adverse effects towards poker?

I want to quit smoking (**** almost 15 years now maybe) but im nervous about its depression side effects and other things. I dont view poker as gambling per se (i'd define gambling through example of getting some kind of thrill of beating -ev situations) im not a pit game player at all, but I've read it curbs peoples "gambling" habits however the colloquial understanding of "gambling" is not exactly similar to say the calculated risk decision making process of poker, and I havent been able to find much more info on the gambling definition as used in context of chantix.

The key for me was putting it into terms that they can understand. 90k seems like an awful lot of money to someone who doesn't care about cars. i just explained that it was really 9k/yr for 10 years or 25 dollars/day. Sure there are some other costs along the way but the message is clear. My family had a Starbucks habit for a while. The girls get fancy drinks and it was an every day thing. It turned out to be 15 dollars/day for coffee. I explained that to my wife and it seemed less unreasonable. Throw in 60 dollar private gym lessons 1-2 days a week and we got to 25 real quick.

This is super common on the Tesla forums. There are lots of rich people who get a new one like they do new iphones. The best part about this car/company is that they keep innovating and download software updates so you car functionality keeps up. The hardware ie dual motors and AWD unfortunately can only really be achieved with a new car. I have buyers remorse a little that I didn't get the top performance they had to offer since 90 vs 125k is not that much different but I had to draw the line somewhere.

The autopilot features that they are soon to roll out will have some pretty cool stuff and the adaptive cruise control for highway driving should be pretty easy to have hands free for very long stretches.

Interesting dynamic. One day you will need to tell me how you crushed life. I only have your forum image which sounds like "today I flew here, then I flew there, then I did whatever the **** I wanted to because I can."

Amortizing such a quickly-obsolete toy over 10 years is wishful thinking. Fish's acquaintance saw his lose 60% of value in two years. How long, seriously, until this model isn't cool any more? And how long until you're no longer excited to drive it? I'll bet a lot less than 10 years.

Comparing yourself to rich people on forums who like to throw money away for fun does make you personally awesome, but it isn't good financial planning.

I am having a very difficult time understanding what you are saying.

1. What happened to Fish's friend is not necessarily typical of the market.
2. I am hoping I am excited for many years. One of the best parts about this car is that they use the wifi built in to download updates to the vehicle. Advancing and enhancing your experience by software upgrades is one of the single most attractive features to Model S drivers.
3. I expect that I will drive this car for close to 10 years and if there was a way to take that bet I would snap. Here is my auto history:

age 16: Toyota truck
age 25: Lexus SC300 used
age 35: BMW 545i
age 45: Tesla Model S

see a pattern here?

4. I don't think I ever compared myself to rich people who throw their money away. In fact, I have spent a great deal of time on this decision since I am just a hard working shift worker making a pretty big purchase that will not be something I can just trash and redo even if I want the bigger/newer model/ (I already do. I mean 0-60 in 3.2 )

5. Where is the flaw in financial planning other than the fact that cars are depreciating assets? They are not investments. They are purchased for enjoyment and as a reward, in my case anyway, for a ****ton of hard work.

So you're saying becoming/being a doctor is hard work?

Damn, I was thinking about doing it as a lil part time gig, just 'til the luck turns around at this poker job.

LOL I think I just have different tastes--I can't get excited about software upgrades in a car. The vehicle I have my eye on is my Dad's '66 GMC truck which is ready for a retoration. It doesn't even have an automatic choke.

There is an interesting twist - what is the worst car you ever bought?

Mine would have to be a 1947 Chevy pickup, when we moved to New Mexico in the late 70's. Never really could deal effectively with the double clutch mechanism, it had holes in the floor board, probably not a real good choice, as my wife constantly reminded me But it did have one feature which turned out to be useful - one of those "cow catcher" front bumpers (solid steel that came out in a parabola rather than straight across). One night I was driving home a little loaded and all of a sudden there was a big cow in the road (northern NM was open range at least in those days). Hit that cow and the truck just kept on chugging. Did upgrade soon after to a 67 Chevy pickup.

I have to admit neither one of those pickups were our only car (or I would have been divorced long ago). But in northern NM you were no one without a pickup.

I've never had a car I regretted--even the ones that were mechanically bad brought me a lot of enjoyment. My '01 Subaru Legacy wagon broke two clutches and the engine blew at only 160,000 miles, but I liked driving it and hey, 4-wheel drive. I had a '67 Beetle when I was 16 for which I overpaid, and I was too young to appreciate how worn out it was. But you can't help liking any car at all at that age, and when that one blew I learned how to rebuild an engine.

As for Dad's truck, I know it's a pile of ^%$# so I can't be disappointed. Besides, it's family.

My first car was an 89 for Taurus. My older brother drove the **** out of it and it wasn't meant to last to begin with. I remember one time my brother was driving it and the power steering was so shot he couldn't turn into a parking spot. Also the brakes were really bad and the transmission was nearly shot. Obviously not the safest car to learn to drive in but at least they weren't pissed when I drove it into a snowbank.

Surf doc-

Vikings are sharp.

Big win but I have mentally prepared for disappointment and won't be getting excited about anything unless they sneak into the playoffs and win a few games.

Looking forward to wild card weekend with bolts v steelers