These seemed to be dropping quite a bit in price lately. My wife drives between 50-75 miles per day for her job and we have two young kids as well. Seems like a natural fit but we have never owned an electric vehicle.

Anyone with small kids have this? We have our son in a booster seat and our daughter in a full size car seat.

My wife drives a Model Y. It's perfect for her since she has less than a 10 mile commute each day. We are past needing car seats, but I would think you could easily fit a booster and car seat in the back. My wife loves it. I prefer an ICE, but I'll readily admit that it's a blast to drive.

I'd be more concerned about the mileage your wife drives. We have a 22 Model Y Long Range. When 100% charged, it's range is around 300 miles. However, Tesla recommends not charging to 100% unless going on a long trip. The car learns your driving habits and recommends a daily charge limit. For my wife, it recommends charging to 80%, which should be about 250 miles. The number of miles my wife actually gets after charging to 80% is less than 200. Driving range is based on a number of different things....driving style, weather, stop & go vs highway, etc. so YMMV.

If you get one, her experience will be vastly improved by installing a Tesla charger at home. She'll likely need to charge it every 3 or 4 days and needing to stop at superchargers will become tedious and very inconvenient. Plugging in at home and letting it charge overnight is practically effortless.

We haven't considered a lease but we like to own cars for a long time. What about mileage restrictions?

Thats my real hang up with EVs is that can i expect to get 250,000 out of the battery? Do we have enough data points on the older Teslas to see how they hold up?

For those with teslas, how do the interiors hold up, particularly with kids? It would be ideal for my wife but i would keep our burb for trips.

JSKolache said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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JobSecurity said:

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They depreciate like a rock, nobody wants a used EV, battery degradation after 5 years, they're expensive to fix out of warranty, etc

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Isn't this an argument against them in general?

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Or buy the rock, after some other chump ate the depreciation.

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Battery degradation is a real issue. $20k to make your used car work again isn't a great proposition.

HumbleAg04 said:

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JSKolache said:

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91AggieLawyer said:

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JobSecurity said:

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They depreciate like a rock, nobody wants a used EV, battery degradation after 5 years, they're expensive to fix out of warranty, etc

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Isn't this an argument against them in general?

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Or buy the rock, after some other chump ate the depreciation.

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Battery degradation is a real issue. $20k to make your used car work again isn't a great proposition.

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Where are you seeing major issues with battery degradation. Outside of the replacements under recalls I think the % of modern Teslas that need battery replacement is very low. Don't charge to 100, drive to 0, and don't do all of your charging at a Supercharger and you should be good to go. Plus the battery has a warranty to 120K miles.

ICE cars engine/transmissions have failures too and a lot of maintenance that's not needed on an EV. Those full synthetic oil changes, belts, water pumps, alternators, radiator flush/service, timing belts mechanic bills add up. Not knocking ICE cars as my Tundra didn't have many repair bills nor has my LX so far.

I'm 6 weeks into MYP ownership and it's perfect for my 60-75 miles daily commute w/ some 150 mile days. I charge at home w/ the mobile connector plugged into the 240 in the garage and there are super chargers located all over the place to sooth the range anxiety and for some free power (6 months with referral code).

JobSecurity said:

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Have you looked at leasing a new one? With a few thousand down you can get a long range around 400 a month

People poop on leases but EVs are one area I think they make a ton of sense. They depreciate like a rock, nobody wants a used EV, battery degradation after 5 years, they're expensive to fix out of warranty, etc

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I'm not a huge anti-lease person. We've done them before.

But this generally isn't a good reason to lease a vehicle. Depreciation is a factor taken into consideration in lease costs. These businesses aren't going to be in the business of losing money. So all depreciation will normally be paid in the lease. Especially now that Tesla has been around long enough to see what actual depreciation is.

Edit; I see some now at $400/month. But that's still with $8k down when considering down payment, taxes, and fees. it's also a low mileage (10,000 / year) lease.

And it's not generally advised to put a whole lot down on a leased vehicle.

I will say with EV's it appears the biggest benefit of leasing is getting the $7,500 tax credit (assuming they pass it on to you) and don't have to worry about income limits or the battery restrictions. Which is big.

My wife and i both have higher mileage Toyotas and they have been very reliable. The Tesla is intriguing because of my wife's commute. I just wonder how many of them will make it 250k miles.

JobSecurity said:

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Have you looked at leasing a new one? With a few thousand down you can get a long range around 400 a month

People poop on leases but EVs are one area I think they make a ton of sense. They depreciate like a rock, nobody wants a used EV, battery degradation after 5 years, they're expensive to fix out of warranty, etc

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Just looked into this. Wife's lease on VW tiguan is ending in 30 days... this is a steal.

aggiederelict said:

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My wife and i both have higher mileage Toyotas and they have been very reliable. The Tesla is intriguing because of my wife's commute. I just wonder how many of them will make it 250k miles.

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How many of any marque will make 250k miles without huge investment in the suspension and drivetrain?

Frankly, it is unknowable in the first place, as it is highly driver and environment dependent -- and not particularly useful info for anyone but a tiny sliver of the market.

Trinity Ag said:

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aggiederelict said:

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My wife and i both have higher mileage Toyotas and they have been very reliable. The Tesla is intriguing because of my wife's commute. I just wonder how many of them will make it 250k miles.

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How many of any marque will make 250k miles without huge investment in the suspension and drivetrain?

I would be shocked if the percentage of new car buyers who drive a single vehicle over 200k is more than 1 in 50,000.

Frankly, it is unknowable in the first place, as it is highly driver and environment dependent -- and not particularly useful info for anyone but a tiny sliver of the market.

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Sure, and don't think the OP is saying they shouldn't manufacture them because of that. But sounds like OP is that person that drives their vehicles 250k miles. So, useful for them.

Yes this. Im curious to those who have driven a Tesla what their experience and the mileage they have. A used model Y can be had for a good price these days and i think it is worth considering it with other cars as well.

The potential costs of driving an EV 250k are unknown -- because there aren't enough that have gone that far.

But it is pretty expensive to drive the average ICE vehicle 250k:

- Every suspension part (shocks, bushings, ball joints, control arms) - and most twice.
- Power steering pump & rack
- Entire cooling system on most cars, including waterpump, thermostat, hoses, fans
- Transmission (very few seem to make 150k these days, particularly those that are "no service required"
- Fuel pump, injectors, and lines
- timing chain& guides or timing belt (2-3 times)

And all that assumes the heads, gaskets, rings, valve seats, and everything else doesn't need a rebuild along the way.

How much is all of that? To give you the residual value on any sedan/suv with 250k that is probably $3-5k.

Other than the suspension/steering, an EV doesn't share most of the wear parts of an ICE car -- transmission, cooling, timing, etc.

Maybe the OP is one -- but I would be shocked if the percentage of new car buyers who drive a single vehicle over 200k is more than 1 in 50,000.

f2foxes2001 said:

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For those with teslas, how do the interiors hold up, particularly with kids? It would be ideal for my wife but i would keep our burb for trips.

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We have two young kids, and a Model Y with the white interior.. After two years it looks brand new. A magic eraser can basically take anything off the seats. Due to the minimalist styling it's a very easy car to keep clean.

We have a 70 mile commute each day. It has been bullet proof in two years with the only issue being the wiper fluid hose becoming dislodged.

Teslag said:

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f2foxes2001 said:

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For those with teslas, how do the interiors hold up, particularly with kids? It would be ideal for my wife but i would keep our burb for trips.

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We have two young kids, and a Model Y with the white interior.. After two years it looks brand new. A magic eraser can basically take anything off the seats. Due to the minimalist styling it's a very easy car to keep clean.

We have a 70 mile commute each day. It has been bullet proof in two years with the only issue being the wiper fluid hose becoming dislodged.

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70 mile round trip I hope.

Yes roundtrip.

aggiederelict said:

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These seemed to be dropping quite a bit in price lately. My wife drives between 50-75 miles per day for her job and we have two young kids as well. Seems like a natural fit but we have never owned an electric vehicle.

Anyone with small kids have this? We have our son in a booster seat and our daughter in a full size car seat.

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Give me a call. Contact info in profile.

Schedule a demo drive and see how it fits your family, they're easy to book and fun to rag on that demo cars (don't buy a demo car, you can tell if it's new in inventory and has 1-2K miles)

Here are my referrals; I'm not above giving kickbacks.

https://ts.la/erik936611
Use my referral link to buy a Tesla and get awards like 3 months of Full Self-Driving Capability.

Schedule a Tesla Demo Drive using my referral link.

You can get an inventory Model Y Long Range for $45,560 (there are some demo cars that are even cheaper) and a MY RWD for $39, 140. That's $38K & $31,500 after the $7,500 tax rebate, which I believe is instant now.

If you search old tesla listings on cars and bids, you can see that about half or more of them have a new battery. It is a problem, but I would think the newer stuff they are selling now has been improved upon. The good news is they have a good warranty, so just don't own one out of warranty.

Define old

Hincemm said:

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Define old

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Used. You can search listings on cars and bids to get a better idea

MTTANK said:

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If you search old tesla listings on cars and bids, you can see that about half or more of them have a new battery. It is a problem, but I would think the newer stuff they are selling now has been improved upon. The good news is they have a good warranty, so just don't own one out of warranty.

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I see a total of 17 Tesla Model S auctions on BaT and 2 have indicated that the battery was replaced. At least 2 of those are the same (ex Jay Leno) car, which did not have the battery replaced.

I can check CarsAndBids later.

Trinity Ag said:

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MTTANK said:

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If you search old tesla listings on cars and bids, you can see that about half or more of them have a new battery. It is a problem, but I would think the newer stuff they are selling now has been improved upon. The good news is they have a good warranty, so just don't own one out of warranty.

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This is complete nonsense.

I just looked at the first 30-40 prior sales and a grand total of 1 had a new high voltage battery installed -- and it was a 2013 replaced under warranty.

A lot of the older cars (6-8 years) have had new 12v batteries -- but that is just the accessory battery, like on your ICE car. That might create some confusion.

There ARE bad batteries out there. There are also F150 3.5 with cam phaser issues.

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my 2018 model 3 is on it's 3rd 12v battery and i'd bet i'll replace it again this year (about $100), original high voltage battery,, charged to 310 when new, 295 now after 78k miles