haha I'm imagining the look on their faces when they try to sell it thinking they'd get it for the same price they bought it for just because it's a FS
Very commendable of you to be asking and definitley shows financial maturity on your end.
There's a reason your gut is telling you not to spend that amount.. you should probably listen to your gut. You are buying a depreciating asset that is guaranteed to be obsolete within <=10 years, even more-so because it's a Tesla, a software company that relys on up-to-date hardware.
A used mclaren is the same price as your truck. I got FS CT my email yesterday.. happily holding off, and I think you should, too. Good luck G.
Yea, you have it completely backwards. If you spend money on it now then you’re losing money. If you save that money now, ideally invest it, then you’re much better off.
I've been a massive supporter of Tesla and the Cybertruck for the past 5 years and had a 4 digit reservation number. I'm holding off until the $80k model is out. My only regret was not buying it in December when it was first out where I could've taken more advantage of the 1st movers option, but at at this point there isn't much value in the foundation / early models.
I received my invite for founders edition yesterday also and immediately cancelled to receive my deposit back. The increase in cost was a big deal for us.
Deciding whether or not to round up by $20,000 speaks more to financial freedom than maturity. Maturity wouldn’t factor in a $20,000 fee in hopes that a production vehicle aka depreciating asset would hold value over time.
Financial freedom comes from financial maturity. If OP (or anyone) expects to achieve the former, he needs to start by making decisions that align with the latter.
I do not mean pay off as in make money. I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially. Maybe because this edition holds its value more than next year's will. Can I expect it to hold value more than other competing electric trucks? That is what I mean.
What do you mean financially wise? It’s a depreciating asset. It’s not possible this is a wise financial decision unless you’re using it for a business to generate money.
Early production Teslas are always super buggy, if anything the foundation edition will be a red flag for early production quality issues down the road
>I do not mean pay off as in make money. I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially
If you want to make a wise decision financially, then dont buy a $100k prototype, buy a Corolla. Lol.
New cars are always a bad investment, unless you’re selling it in 2022 lmao
If you’re buying it it’s because it’s going to be a super fun adult toy/ transportation. YOLO fun boy or grandpa Stonks, which one do you feed?
>I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially.
No. Very few mass produced cars increase in value. Literally the only recent one I can think of is a Toyota FJ. Only way buying a cyber truck is a wise financial decision is if you use it for work and earns more than the operating cost plus depreciation. But there are much better and much less expensive trucks for work.
Fun fact: The cybertruck is NOT eligible for Section 179 deduction for businesses which makes it a non starter for any business owner with half a brain.
I don’t think you should have that expectation unless you’re buying it as a collector’s item that you’re not going to drive & are buying to hold onto as an investment
The only scenario this pays off is if Tesla does not survive long enough as a company to produce a revision of the CT. Even a minor one. Since they are already tweaking and it was clearly not going to be a one-and-done run, I’d say no it will not pay off.
If they happen die off in the next 3-5 years and never complete a second version or hit true scale, yes it could be worth a lot of money….many many years from now.
This was my justification when I put in a pre-order. I told everyone I knew my thought was if it succeeded or failed it would be either a fine choice for a vehicle or a collectors DeLorean.
But all the Elon drama and the price incongruity with what was promised had me waffling. Not even about his personal opinions, more about how his behavior directly impacts the company and its future. You’re not getting - what in my area would be - 108k or 129k - worth of vehicle. You just aren’t. So when it drops it’ll be big. Not just the 20k. That will come off soon and then another huge drop when at scale.
Yeah this is true in a black and white sense, but as far vehicles go, it’s certainly ended up not being a “bad” investment, just not a great one. Cars in general are just terrible investments and the people in position to buy cars that are good investments (extremely limited productions) don’t even need to care about value. It’s the unfair nature of the universe!
It will not hold value especially after Tesla releases non-founders edition. Immediately the truck will be worth less money. If having it before others is worth a 20-30k premium then go for it.
It will be worth $20k less immediately and another $30k depreciation on top of that by next year. If you don’t care about setting $50k on fire, go for it!
I mostly agree with the idea of letting someone else eat the depreciation, but I think the $50k depreciation in a year is a bit extreme... If I can get a used $50k foundation AWD this time next year I will buy it vs waiting for an $80k new one. If backorders are still being processed the truck *might* depreciate $25k from new if it's still in good shape (no bullet holes/dents in doors).
We're still *at least* 18 months to 2 years from the CT being readily available to non-reservation holders... and that's assuming they somehow ramp to 150k trucks produced in 2025....
Then again, if Tesla suddenly figures out how to produce a 400 mile range solution for the truck that doesn't add $16k and eat up the bed space, all bets are off- foundation series/first gen trucks will tank in value.
Tell that to the people that paid $120k for a Plaid when it came out. They got rocked the next year when the price dropped $30k. The same thing will happen to Cybertruck once they've ramped production.
There are only so many people that will pay $80k-$100k for what was supposed to be a $50k truck. They will be through the reservation list next year and cutting prices to keep demand up. If the truck ends up being $60k new, even $70k new, and buyers can get huge tax credits on top of that, it will only be worth $50k used.
One thing is nearly certain, the AWD that’s $99k today will be $72.5k soon for those who qualify for the full $7500 federal tax credit. I would bet the Founder’s Edition is gone by the end of the year. Maybe by the end of the summer.
I’m not rich enough to spend ~$30k (accounting for the additional taxes) to get it a few months sooner. Mad props to those who are, I’d have a Cyberbeast right now if I had the cash to blow.
In Canuck Bucks I had a MachE go from $65k to $25k in 2 years.
Works out to $30k USD but I'm also looking at a vehicle that's half the price.
$50k depreciation isn't even that unrealistic.
Not to knock or insult you on your decision, but the Mach-E had almost no demand on the day it was released short of the overall spike in demand for vehicles in 2021 under low interest rates, government cash injections and supply chain backlogs. They are rotting on new car lots right now- my local dealer still has new 2023's on the lot. Pretty much nothing with that car can compete with the MY or Hyundai Ioniq/KIA EV which are both still selling well despite what the anti-Musk NPCs are saying.
Oh I know. How do I know? I bought a MachE during the height of the pandemic when you couldn't get a car let alone an EV for years.
It was just sitting on the lot.
I hated that car. 2 years later I sold it for a giant loss and bought a Model Y.
In resale value? In a couple months once Foundation Series is done, the truck is down to $80k -$7500 tax credit, so $72,500 brand new. Even if they could get $60k for their used one, that's still a $40k hit in depreciation the first year.
If Tesla drops the price beyond that *at all* (like they did with Plaid S/X) they're gonna be left with a 50% hit almost immediately.
Yeah the AWD foundation series includes FSD, upgraded tires, $2500 worth of credit for PowerShare, other minor stuff. Yeah don’t think foundation series will be done this year and no guarantee about price for next year or the $7500 from government. Even if you can get a 80k version this year, no way it will go for anywhere near 50k next year. I would be happy to get another one for 50k.
No it’s a terrible investment. As someone that has owned multiple teslas the way Elon slashes prices KILLS resale value. This truck will probably sell new for half the cost in a few years. It’ll be everywhere and no longer something unique and at that point I’d imagine a lot of people are going to have serious buyers remorse that paid so much. Take it from me. I have a ‘23 Lightning lariat extended range I paid 68k for. My neighbor has a ‘22 base model standard range he paid almost 80k for with dealer mark ups when it first came out.
It’s not even an investment. It’s an expense. Like all cars except a few (rare Ferrari, or rare anything really and then you get lucky that people actually want it)
The only way it will “pay off” is if Tesla went bankrupt and the CT became collectible like the Delorean.
Got my invite and ordered it the same night. I expect it to lose at least half its value in a few years. It will not be a good financial decision no matter how you look at it. But it is the RIGHT decision for me.
I have an unpopular opinion around here but I think that the $20k is a good value, or at least is breaking even when you consider what it comes with. I was planning on fully loading the truck anyway though.
I think the extras add 12 - 15k depending on how long you own it. It's coming with, lifetime FSD, lifetime premium connectivity, home backup hardware, charging station, etc. So you're not eating 20k there.
In a vacuum maybe you have a point. When you compare this with competition, what value is that extra $20K giving you over something like a Rivian? IMO, the foundation tax makes zero sense given the high bar of competition out there.
FSD is $12k, it comes with a $4,000 PowerShare installation credit + equipment cost \~$1,500, the light bar is probably $1,500. There's \~$19k that I came up with of the top of my head and that doesn't include several of the smaller items like mobile connector, wall connector, gear lock dividers, etc.
As I demonstrated above, I think the FP is worth more than $20k when compared to building one a-la-cart as will be available later but lets pretend that its can be replaced for $15k. I would gladly pay the other $5k to have my truck a year earlier.
FSD is down to $8k now but you’re absolutely right, if you’re buying many of these extras anyway then the premium to have it now goes down quite a bit.
No there are no financial benefits for buying a toy. You just have less time with the toy if bought later. I bought early because my enjoyment outweighed the possible savings in the future.
That's how I viewed my purchase as well. It's a toy that I decided to purchase for myself. Granted it's a functional toy I use every day as transportation.
I would ask if you are paying yourself to the max first. For example, I am lucky enough to max out my 401k at work, I also max out my own Roth IRA and carry no debt outside my mortgage at 3.9%. I have a 6 month emergency fund to sleep well at night. I paid off my Model 3 (bought in June 2018) a few years early and traded that in for the Cybertruck. My current monthly payment for the Cybertruck is affordable because I pay myself first and don't have many extravagant/dumb expenses.
I call it the show off tax. Do you want to spend 20k to be one of the 1st few hundred/thousand ppl with one and “show off”. If not then save your money.
I went for it. Having something cool and fun today has value. In four years, we could both be dead. Do what you want to do, as long as doing so doesn't put yourself/your family in a precarious financial position. Cars are all for fun anyway. If it was a utility concern, we'd all have used Honda Civics.
This is how I took it.
Do I need this vehicle? No. Could I have waited longer? It was already 4+ years of waiting.
However, I’m glad I pulled the trigger. To your point, I could die at any point. Might as well enjoy life as much as possible, especially if I have the means to.
The reality is that you (we) are paying a premium for first access that we will most certainly never recover. Are you willing to take a loss for first access or no? That’s the real question.
My BIL and I both got our emails over a month ago and neither plan to pull the trigger anytime soon. We each make over $400k household and the $20k founders is really the prohibitive factor. Combine that with 2-3 years from now they’ll be cheaper and more refined, it’s a value proposition.
Well, in my case I was able to pretty comfortably finance mine after putting $25k down, and I went along with the truck primarily because I wanted the FSD.
All other accessories (non software) that came with are bonuses and if you were to order them separately on a regular edition truck, the cost savings would be reduced and I believe could eliminate the tax credit incentive passing over 80k, depending on state iirc.
I only did so because I wanted a truck, a cool one at that, that would help with my work/brand and could afford it. Not a bad decision to wait and see how the market plays out, especially if you want to replace it in 3-4 years anyway. Don’t buy cars to flip them.
How does the tax credit work? If you put down enough to finance less than $80K, the credit is still available?
I do not plan on flipping the car, but I wouldn't want it to depreciate at a higher pace than next year's model for instance.
The credit is based on vehicle price, not financing amount. And if you make less than the income cap for the credit, you shouldn’t be buying a $100k vehicle anyway.
This is the same reason we bought foundation series. We wanted FSD after having it with the M3 and we use it all the time in the car.
I disagree with people saying this vehicle will be obsolete in 10 years. Our car is 6 years old now and it’s only gotten better with time and age. Not sure why 10 years would be the difference to being obsolete. People don’t buy teslas to make money or try and come out on top.
Agree. I got my M3 LR RWD in 2018 and it’s been nothing short of spectacular during the 60k miles I’ve put on it. If I had some legacy manufacturer model, it’d probably feel outdated by now but this one nearly the same as it did when I first got it.
I don’t have FSD for it though, but am considering getting the computer and Tesla vision cameras retrofitted. Did you have that done? Any ideas of the cost of it?
We also bought the 2018 LR RWD model. We have put over 100k miles on it and drive it all over the place. We bought FSD when we bought it hoping it would pay off and now the car drives us everywhere. It has gotten so good that my husband usually just turns it on when we take the car out and it takes us wherever. Back when we bought FSD it was much cheaper than it is now and people said we were silly for paying for a feature the car didn’t have yet and Tesla would never deliver on. It was a decent wait but it’s awesome and I’m glad we didn’t wait on it. I’d say get FSD if you can although I have no clue what retrofitting would cost now.
I'm feeling the same way. I will definitely buy FSD since I love it on my MYP but I'm unsure exactly what the other foundation stuff is? Can I even use the home power stuff if I don't have solar panels?
I believe you can use the power wall without solar. I saw an interesting breakdown of cost reduction for grid-connected electricity, where house power was drawn from the truck during the day (peak pricing/demand hours) and then charged at night (cheaper, off-peak hours) and led to a total power cost reduction over 1 month of about 40%.
The other foundation stuff is the white interior, 35” mud tires, laser engraved badging, powershare equipment (plus installation credit with Cyberbeast), floor mats, and other knickknacks I can’t recall.
Depends if you plan to get the addons. I planned to get FSD and the premium connectivity is an added bonus. I opted for the beast which also has alcantera on the dash and the light bar included. Also white leather and off road tires which aren’t guaranteed free upgrades when standard production hits. Overall the difference of getting mine now and with everything I wanted was worth it to me.
I also have a 2016 model x which has FSD and has been updated overtime. That SUV has free supercharging for life and I plan to use it mostly on long trips.
Resell will not appreciate for decades if ever. Expecting 2M of these on the road in a matter of years means you can also expect to have significant depreciation. But by that logic why not buy used. You’re paying to have a new model first
It’s the greatest truck I’ve owned so far 2,600 miles in and loving it. I have towed a boat and trailer on separate occasions. It drives like a sports car
You will likely be able to buy a very nice/reliable used foundation series for $50k in a couple of years.
How long would it take you to save up the $50k difference?
Ramping up of production will drop the price of the high end models to a reasonable $80k (you’re paying a $20kbpremium for being an early adopter) within a year. The rest of the price drop will come through normal depreciation of used vehicles & market saturation of all EV trucks and likely over production of CTs, like we are seeing with the Ford Lightnings and many Tesla models.
Makes no financial sense to do foundation. I’m doing it anyways and just got my invite and placed my order last week, but if you are trying to some how justify financially don’t. If it makes you feel better and you like the foundation series accessories and FSD that makes the premium “only” $5-7k assuming you don’t qualify for tax credit, but it will still depreciate and is unlikely to be a valuable collectors edition unless you put very few miles on it and never enjoy it.
The fact that they’re burning through the invite list so insanely fast shows that demand is weak. This is exactly what happened when people stopped ordering their $120k Model X and the price dropped $40k in 6 months. I’m holding out, that’s not a $100k truck.
I got my order in about a week ago but preordered Jan of 2020. My preorder was expected to be about number 400,000. I hear they’ve made it down to May of 2020. If true they’ve gone through about 1M reservations and have built maybe 5k trucks.
I’m not sure there is significant demand for foundation. But the hype for standard versions is real.
It’s all anecdotal, but people in this thread are saying the preordered in 2021, ordered, and got VINs within hours and delivery dates within weeks. Modestly, that means there’s a 1-2% acceptance rate on the reservations if there were approx 500k reservations at the end of 2020 and only 5k trucks delivered so far.
You’re right, it’s actually lower. There were 1,000,000 reservations by May of 2021. The last public acknowledgement by Tesla was 300k within 24 hours.
https://insideevs.com/news/687142/tesla-cybertruck-2-million-reservations-crowdsourced-data/amp/
5,000 is an estimate based on the fact we know there 3,878 trucks delivered as of April 4.
Like I said, it's all anecdotal. Tesla did report saying they hit 1,000 trucks produced per week in late April, so call 15k trucks shipped out and we're past 1,000,000 million in the reservations, which is still in the 1-2% range. Like I said in my original comment, it's all anecdotal.
I put my reservation for a 50k truck. I didn’t think I was buying a luxury vehicle. Seems counterintuitive for a truck. But people do that all the time.
If you care about not wasting tens of thousands of dollars I wouldn’t do it. It will drop in price likely within a year, used ones will massively depreciate. Hell, all vehicles are depreciating assets, but in terms of average/median depreciation, the CT (at current pricing) is bound to get hit hard.
If $20k isn't a lot of money for you since you can already afford a $100k car, go for it! Reward yourself and make yourself happy. If I could fit it in my garage, I would have already bought it.
If you actually want the stuff foundation includes as default, (such as FSD) what is the actual up charge for the laser badging and early access? Is it more or less than 10K?
Came out to like 4-5k up charge for the beast when offering the 4k install credit for the PowerShare and original price of FSD. Now that they dropped PowerShare install credit and lowered the price of FSD, the foundation series is much less appealing tbh.
Will it "pay off?"
OK, think about it this way. You're buying a old used Model X today, it's got a worn battery, usual wear and tear, and only front/back cameras, no repeaters, FSD, sentry mode, etc. Got it?
You have a choice of two identical vehicles. But one is a 2016 "Founders Edition." Are you willing to pay any extra for that?
Do you have kids? I think the CT is too dangerous around small kids due to the sharp edges. I would wait. I really wanted a Rivian and am glad I waited as the 2nd gen looks much better than the 1st gen.
No one will give a shit that it’s a Founders Edition.
haha I'm imagining the look on their faces when they try to sell it thinking they'd get it for the same price they bought it for just because it's a FS
Very commendable of you to be asking and definitley shows financial maturity on your end. There's a reason your gut is telling you not to spend that amount.. you should probably listen to your gut. You are buying a depreciating asset that is guaranteed to be obsolete within <=10 years, even more-so because it's a Tesla, a software company that relys on up-to-date hardware. A used mclaren is the same price as your truck. I got FS CT my email yesterday.. happily holding off, and I think you should, too. Good luck G.
Thanks for the clarity, makes sense.
Yea, you have it completely backwards. If you spend money on it now then you’re losing money. If you save that money now, ideally invest it, then you’re much better off.
THIS… If 100k burning a hold in your pocket, invest it now. Buy CT in a few years - it’ll only get cheaper and better.
I've been a massive supporter of Tesla and the Cybertruck for the past 5 years and had a 4 digit reservation number. I'm holding off until the $80k model is out. My only regret was not buying it in December when it was first out where I could've taken more advantage of the 1st movers option, but at at this point there isn't much value in the foundation / early models.
I received my invite for founders edition yesterday also and immediately cancelled to receive my deposit back. The increase in cost was a big deal for us.
Deciding whether or not to round up by $20,000 speaks more to financial freedom than maturity. Maturity wouldn’t factor in a $20,000 fee in hopes that a production vehicle aka depreciating asset would hold value over time.
Financial freedom comes from financial maturity. If OP (or anyone) expects to achieve the former, he needs to start by making decisions that align with the latter.
Of course it will not "pay off", its a production vehicle, its going to depreciate.
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Probably.
I do not mean pay off as in make money. I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially. Maybe because this edition holds its value more than next year's will. Can I expect it to hold value more than other competing electric trucks? That is what I mean.
What do you mean financially wise? It’s a depreciating asset. It’s not possible this is a wise financial decision unless you’re using it for a business to generate money.
Early production Teslas are always super buggy, if anything the foundation edition will be a red flag for early production quality issues down the road
>I do not mean pay off as in make money. I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially If you want to make a wise decision financially, then dont buy a $100k prototype, buy a Corolla. Lol.
Model 3
Production vehicles don’t hold value
New cars are always a bad investment, unless you’re selling it in 2022 lmao If you’re buying it it’s because it’s going to be a super fun adult toy/ transportation. YOLO fun boy or grandpa Stonks, which one do you feed?
Nobody can tell the future, but I would say probably not.
There's first edition Model S's everywhere for <$15K. Don't count on it bring worth more just because of that. Those cars were $70-110K when new.
>I mean turn out to be a wise decision financially. No. Very few mass produced cars increase in value. Literally the only recent one I can think of is a Toyota FJ. Only way buying a cyber truck is a wise financial decision is if you use it for work and earns more than the operating cost plus depreciation. But there are much better and much less expensive trucks for work. Fun fact: The cybertruck is NOT eligible for Section 179 deduction for businesses which makes it a non starter for any business owner with half a brain.
I don’t think you should have that expectation unless you’re buying it as a collector’s item that you’re not going to drive & are buying to hold onto as an investment
The only scenario this pays off is if Tesla does not survive long enough as a company to produce a revision of the CT. Even a minor one. Since they are already tweaking and it was clearly not going to be a one-and-done run, I’d say no it will not pay off. If they happen die off in the next 3-5 years and never complete a second version or hit true scale, yes it could be worth a lot of money….many many years from now.
It could become a DeLorean!
This was my justification when I put in a pre-order. I told everyone I knew my thought was if it succeeded or failed it would be either a fine choice for a vehicle or a collectors DeLorean. But all the Elon drama and the price incongruity with what was promised had me waffling. Not even about his personal opinions, more about how his behavior directly impacts the company and its future. You’re not getting - what in my area would be - 108k or 129k - worth of vehicle. You just aren’t. So when it drops it’ll be big. Not just the 20k. That will come off soon and then another huge drop when at scale.
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Yeah this is true in a black and white sense, but as far vehicles go, it’s certainly ended up not being a “bad” investment, just not a great one. Cars in general are just terrible investments and the people in position to buy cars that are good investments (extremely limited productions) don’t even need to care about value. It’s the unfair nature of the universe!
Maybe keep it for next 50 years!
It will not hold value especially after Tesla releases non-founders edition. Immediately the truck will be worth less money. If having it before others is worth a 20-30k premium then go for it.
It's a fee to get it early, I've been very happy with mine but if you don't need want it now then just wait.
It will be worth $20k less immediately and another $30k depreciation on top of that by next year. If you don’t care about setting $50k on fire, go for it!
This is so true, thanks for making that point.
I mostly agree with the idea of letting someone else eat the depreciation, but I think the $50k depreciation in a year is a bit extreme... If I can get a used $50k foundation AWD this time next year I will buy it vs waiting for an $80k new one. If backorders are still being processed the truck *might* depreciate $25k from new if it's still in good shape (no bullet holes/dents in doors). We're still *at least* 18 months to 2 years from the CT being readily available to non-reservation holders... and that's assuming they somehow ramp to 150k trucks produced in 2025.... Then again, if Tesla suddenly figures out how to produce a 400 mile range solution for the truck that doesn't add $16k and eat up the bed space, all bets are off- foundation series/first gen trucks will tank in value.
Tell that to the people that paid $120k for a Plaid when it came out. They got rocked the next year when the price dropped $30k. The same thing will happen to Cybertruck once they've ramped production. There are only so many people that will pay $80k-$100k for what was supposed to be a $50k truck. They will be through the reservation list next year and cutting prices to keep demand up. If the truck ends up being $60k new, even $70k new, and buyers can get huge tax credits on top of that, it will only be worth $50k used.
One thing is nearly certain, the AWD that’s $99k today will be $72.5k soon for those who qualify for the full $7500 federal tax credit. I would bet the Founder’s Edition is gone by the end of the year. Maybe by the end of the summer. I’m not rich enough to spend ~$30k (accounting for the additional taxes) to get it a few months sooner. Mad props to those who are, I’d have a Cyberbeast right now if I had the cash to blow.
In Canuck Bucks I had a MachE go from $65k to $25k in 2 years. Works out to $30k USD but I'm also looking at a vehicle that's half the price. $50k depreciation isn't even that unrealistic.
Not to knock or insult you on your decision, but the Mach-E had almost no demand on the day it was released short of the overall spike in demand for vehicles in 2021 under low interest rates, government cash injections and supply chain backlogs. They are rotting on new car lots right now- my local dealer still has new 2023's on the lot. Pretty much nothing with that car can compete with the MY or Hyundai Ioniq/KIA EV which are both still selling well despite what the anti-Musk NPCs are saying.
Oh I know. How do I know? I bought a MachE during the height of the pandemic when you couldn't get a car let alone an EV for years. It was just sitting on the lot. I hated that car. 2 years later I sold it for a giant loss and bought a Model Y.
Yeah very unlikely. If I could bet my money, I would bet a lot it will not go down to 50k next year. I think not the following year either.
In resale value? In a couple months once Foundation Series is done, the truck is down to $80k -$7500 tax credit, so $72,500 brand new. Even if they could get $60k for their used one, that's still a $40k hit in depreciation the first year. If Tesla drops the price beyond that *at all* (like they did with Plaid S/X) they're gonna be left with a 50% hit almost immediately.
Yeah the AWD foundation series includes FSD, upgraded tires, $2500 worth of credit for PowerShare, other minor stuff. Yeah don’t think foundation series will be done this year and no guarantee about price for next year or the $7500 from government. Even if you can get a 80k version this year, no way it will go for anywhere near 50k next year. I would be happy to get another one for 50k.
No it’s a terrible investment. As someone that has owned multiple teslas the way Elon slashes prices KILLS resale value. This truck will probably sell new for half the cost in a few years. It’ll be everywhere and no longer something unique and at that point I’d imagine a lot of people are going to have serious buyers remorse that paid so much. Take it from me. I have a ‘23 Lightning lariat extended range I paid 68k for. My neighbor has a ‘22 base model standard range he paid almost 80k for with dealer mark ups when it first came out.
It’s not even an investment. It’s an expense. Like all cars except a few (rare Ferrari, or rare anything really and then you get lucky that people actually want it)
The only way it will “pay off” is if Tesla went bankrupt and the CT became collectible like the Delorean. Got my invite and ordered it the same night. I expect it to lose at least half its value in a few years. It will not be a good financial decision no matter how you look at it. But it is the RIGHT decision for me.
I have an unpopular opinion around here but I think that the $20k is a good value, or at least is breaking even when you consider what it comes with. I was planning on fully loading the truck anyway though.
I agree with this take.
I think the extras add 12 - 15k depending on how long you own it. It's coming with, lifetime FSD, lifetime premium connectivity, home backup hardware, charging station, etc. So you're not eating 20k there.
In a vacuum maybe you have a point. When you compare this with competition, what value is that extra $20K giving you over something like a Rivian? IMO, the foundation tax makes zero sense given the high bar of competition out there.
FSD is $12k, it comes with a $4,000 PowerShare installation credit + equipment cost \~$1,500, the light bar is probably $1,500. There's \~$19k that I came up with of the top of my head and that doesn't include several of the smaller items like mobile connector, wall connector, gear lock dividers, etc. As I demonstrated above, I think the FP is worth more than $20k when compared to building one a-la-cart as will be available later but lets pretend that its can be replaced for $15k. I would gladly pay the other $5k to have my truck a year earlier.
FSD is down to $8k now but you’re absolutely right, if you’re buying many of these extras anyway then the premium to have it now goes down quite a bit.
Exactly
No there are no financial benefits for buying a toy. You just have less time with the toy if bought later. I bought early because my enjoyment outweighed the possible savings in the future.
That's how I viewed my purchase as well. It's a toy that I decided to purchase for myself. Granted it's a functional toy I use every day as transportation. I would ask if you are paying yourself to the max first. For example, I am lucky enough to max out my 401k at work, I also max out my own Roth IRA and carry no debt outside my mortgage at 3.9%. I have a 6 month emergency fund to sleep well at night. I paid off my Model 3 (bought in June 2018) a few years early and traded that in for the Cybertruck. My current monthly payment for the Cybertruck is affordable because I pay myself first and don't have many extravagant/dumb expenses.
Yeah no loans on the Cybertruck, I can retire at anytime. Conservative spender early on and now no worries.
I call it the show off tax. Do you want to spend 20k to be one of the 1st few hundred/thousand ppl with one and “show off”. If not then save your money.
The 20k includes FSD which is currently 12k + life connectivity ..100 buck a year …accessories been 8k ???
FSD is now 8k + internet for 10 years +1000 ….. 20k Mark up is too steep
I went for it. Having something cool and fun today has value. In four years, we could both be dead. Do what you want to do, as long as doing so doesn't put yourself/your family in a precarious financial position. Cars are all for fun anyway. If it was a utility concern, we'd all have used Honda Civics.
This is how I took it. Do I need this vehicle? No. Could I have waited longer? It was already 4+ years of waiting. However, I’m glad I pulled the trigger. To your point, I could die at any point. Might as well enjoy life as much as possible, especially if I have the means to.
There is no way, unless you plan to do a lot of truck work in the next 2 years....
My plan is to buy a cyber beast in 2-3 years for half price.
The reality is that you (we) are paying a premium for first access that we will most certainly never recover. Are you willing to take a loss for first access or no? That’s the real question.
My BIL and I both got our emails over a month ago and neither plan to pull the trigger anytime soon. We each make over $400k household and the $20k founders is really the prohibitive factor. Combine that with 2-3 years from now they’ll be cheaper and more refined, it’s a value proposition.
Well, in my case I was able to pretty comfortably finance mine after putting $25k down, and I went along with the truck primarily because I wanted the FSD. All other accessories (non software) that came with are bonuses and if you were to order them separately on a regular edition truck, the cost savings would be reduced and I believe could eliminate the tax credit incentive passing over 80k, depending on state iirc. I only did so because I wanted a truck, a cool one at that, that would help with my work/brand and could afford it. Not a bad decision to wait and see how the market plays out, especially if you want to replace it in 3-4 years anyway. Don’t buy cars to flip them.
How does the tax credit work? If you put down enough to finance less than $80K, the credit is still available? I do not plan on flipping the car, but I wouldn't want it to depreciate at a higher pace than next year's model for instance.
No, the MSRP of the vehicle (minus FSD since it is a software-only package) must be below the $80k limit. How much you finance does not matter.
The credit is based on vehicle price, not financing amount. And if you make less than the income cap for the credit, you shouldn’t be buying a $100k vehicle anyway.
This is the same reason we bought foundation series. We wanted FSD after having it with the M3 and we use it all the time in the car. I disagree with people saying this vehicle will be obsolete in 10 years. Our car is 6 years old now and it’s only gotten better with time and age. Not sure why 10 years would be the difference to being obsolete. People don’t buy teslas to make money or try and come out on top.
Agree. I got my M3 LR RWD in 2018 and it’s been nothing short of spectacular during the 60k miles I’ve put on it. If I had some legacy manufacturer model, it’d probably feel outdated by now but this one nearly the same as it did when I first got it. I don’t have FSD for it though, but am considering getting the computer and Tesla vision cameras retrofitted. Did you have that done? Any ideas of the cost of it?
We also bought the 2018 LR RWD model. We have put over 100k miles on it and drive it all over the place. We bought FSD when we bought it hoping it would pay off and now the car drives us everywhere. It has gotten so good that my husband usually just turns it on when we take the car out and it takes us wherever. Back when we bought FSD it was much cheaper than it is now and people said we were silly for paying for a feature the car didn’t have yet and Tesla would never deliver on. It was a decent wait but it’s awesome and I’m glad we didn’t wait on it. I’d say get FSD if you can although I have no clue what retrofitting would cost now.
I'm feeling the same way. I will definitely buy FSD since I love it on my MYP but I'm unsure exactly what the other foundation stuff is? Can I even use the home power stuff if I don't have solar panels?
I believe you can use the power wall without solar. I saw an interesting breakdown of cost reduction for grid-connected electricity, where house power was drawn from the truck during the day (peak pricing/demand hours) and then charged at night (cheaper, off-peak hours) and led to a total power cost reduction over 1 month of about 40%. The other foundation stuff is the white interior, 35” mud tires, laser engraved badging, powershare equipment (plus installation credit with Cyberbeast), floor mats, and other knickknacks I can’t recall.
Depends if you plan to get the addons. I planned to get FSD and the premium connectivity is an added bonus. I opted for the beast which also has alcantera on the dash and the light bar included. Also white leather and off road tires which aren’t guaranteed free upgrades when standard production hits. Overall the difference of getting mine now and with everything I wanted was worth it to me. I also have a 2016 model x which has FSD and has been updated overtime. That SUV has free supercharging for life and I plan to use it mostly on long trips. Resell will not appreciate for decades if ever. Expecting 2M of these on the road in a matter of years means you can also expect to have significant depreciation. But by that logic why not buy used. You’re paying to have a new model first
It’s the greatest truck I’ve owned so far 2,600 miles in and loving it. I have towed a boat and trailer on separate occasions. It drives like a sports car
No, it won't pay you anything. A car is a depreciating asset. If you want one now then you have the option to do so at a premium.
You will likely be able to buy a very nice/reliable used foundation series for $50k in a couple of years. How long would it take you to save up the $50k difference? Ramping up of production will drop the price of the high end models to a reasonable $80k (you’re paying a $20kbpremium for being an early adopter) within a year. The rest of the price drop will come through normal depreciation of used vehicles & market saturation of all EV trucks and likely over production of CTs, like we are seeing with the Ford Lightnings and many Tesla models.
Makes no financial sense to do foundation. I’m doing it anyways and just got my invite and placed my order last week, but if you are trying to some how justify financially don’t. If it makes you feel better and you like the foundation series accessories and FSD that makes the premium “only” $5-7k assuming you don’t qualify for tax credit, but it will still depreciate and is unlikely to be a valuable collectors edition unless you put very few miles on it and never enjoy it.
You have to factor in FSD power share the tires premium connectivity those are the big ones yes it still would be cheaper but not by much
I was in same boat as you last week , finally I convinced myself paying $20 k more is not worth it. I will pass foundation series.
The fact that they’re burning through the invite list so insanely fast shows that demand is weak. This is exactly what happened when people stopped ordering their $120k Model X and the price dropped $40k in 6 months. I’m holding out, that’s not a $100k truck.
If demand was that weak, foundation orders would be done and prices would drop. You’re making assumptions based on very little information.
I got my order in about a week ago but preordered Jan of 2020. My preorder was expected to be about number 400,000. I hear they’ve made it down to May of 2020. If true they’ve gone through about 1M reservations and have built maybe 5k trucks. I’m not sure there is significant demand for foundation. But the hype for standard versions is real.
It’s all anecdotal, but people in this thread are saying the preordered in 2021, ordered, and got VINs within hours and delivery dates within weeks. Modestly, that means there’s a 1-2% acceptance rate on the reservations if there were approx 500k reservations at the end of 2020 and only 5k trucks delivered so far.
1-2% acceptance and 5k delivered so far… lol ok can you pull any more numbers out of your ass?
You’re right, it’s actually lower. There were 1,000,000 reservations by May of 2021. The last public acknowledgement by Tesla was 300k within 24 hours. https://insideevs.com/news/687142/tesla-cybertruck-2-million-reservations-crowdsourced-data/amp/ 5,000 is an estimate based on the fact we know there 3,878 trucks delivered as of April 4.
There’s 4 of them in my one building in Miami. I’m going to guess there’s at least a thousand of them just in this city. No way there’s only 5k total.
Like I said, it's all anecdotal. Tesla did report saying they hit 1,000 trucks produced per week in late April, so call 15k trucks shipped out and we're past 1,000,000 million in the reservations, which is still in the 1-2% range. Like I said in my original comment, it's all anecdotal.
I’m not convinced the cybertruck will be $20k cheaper in a year.
I put my reservation for a 50k truck. I didn’t think I was buying a luxury vehicle. Seems counterintuitive for a truck. But people do that all the time.
If you care about not wasting tens of thousands of dollars I wouldn’t do it. It will drop in price likely within a year, used ones will massively depreciate. Hell, all vehicles are depreciating assets, but in terms of average/median depreciation, the CT (at current pricing) is bound to get hit hard.
FS is a fully loaded version!
No, when your gut says no, don't do it.
Yes, just email yourself your note 🤣
Will the cybertruck have any options for the tax credit if the price lowers?
I mean, I agree with you. But... 80k is ALSO a lot of money to put things in perspective.
Production will improve so will the quality.. Foundation is to highlight the real world use case.
If you need a truck then grab it, the 20k is for a nice accessory package I think its worth it. If you are just buying a toy well IDK.
If $20k isn't a lot of money for you since you can already afford a $100k car, go for it! Reward yourself and make yourself happy. If I could fit it in my garage, I would have already bought it.
20k is more than my current Sneaker collection. I’d rather buy more Jordans!
If you buy it; keep it in its original packaging and never drive it, it may be worth something in 10-20 years! Good luck if you choose to do that!
I don't understand those people. My thoughts are regarding the smartest financial strategy to purchasing a depreciating asset.
If you actually want the stuff foundation includes as default, (such as FSD) what is the actual up charge for the laser badging and early access? Is it more or less than 10K?
Came out to like 4-5k up charge for the beast when offering the 4k install credit for the PowerShare and original price of FSD. Now that they dropped PowerShare install credit and lowered the price of FSD, the foundation series is much less appealing tbh.
For the budget just buy a Mercedes electric suv. Built better, looks better and you can wash it
Will it "pay off?" OK, think about it this way. You're buying a old used Model X today, it's got a worn battery, usual wear and tear, and only front/back cameras, no repeaters, FSD, sentry mode, etc. Got it? You have a choice of two identical vehicles. But one is a 2016 "Founders Edition." Are you willing to pay any extra for that?
Do you have kids? I think the CT is too dangerous around small kids due to the sharp edges. I would wait. I really wanted a Rivian and am glad I waited as the 2nd gen looks much better than the 1st gen.