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.