10 Things I wish I knew before buying a Tesla

Hello everyone! As you know I recently purchased a Tesla electric car. It has been such an interesting and exciting experience that I wanted to share a little bit of it with you. The things I talk about below I didn’t know before deciding to buy this car and I think it would have been very helpful if I had.

How easy it is to finance through a different Lender

When purchasing a Tesla, everything is online. Therefore if your financing your Tesla, your first option is to use their lender. However, I found a better deal through my local credit union so I went through the process to use them instead. Surprisingly it was very easy. Tesla gives you someone to work with throughout the paperwork process and all I had to do was forward these documents to my lender. My lender did not have experience with Tesla purchase but it still went very smoothly. So if you can find a better interest rate through a different lender dont be scared to go that route.

The amount of time it takes to deliver your car

When I first ordered my car and finished all the paperwork, Tesla told me it was going to be 2 weeks until delivery. I had a bunch of people telling me things like “oh, it wont be delivered that fast!” or “No, they are months out in delivery, good luck!” Well guess what guys? I got my car in exactly two weeks. The delivery truck driver called me to let me know he would be there that day, pulled up to my house and unloaded the car into my driveway. So easy and fun!

What happens if you dont have a service center near you

I live in New Mexico and the closest service center is in either Texas or Colorado. Sheesh, what a drive. This was scary at first, as I wondered what would happen in the event of an issue. Well the first week I got a flat tire and then a few months later I blew out a different tire when I hit something in the road. Was I stranded on the road? No! I asked my car to call the Tesla service and each time they asked my location and sent a tow truck to me. The truck took my car to a discount tire and they ordered by tire. The tire arrived a couple days later. Tesla tires are special and that is the only issue is they dont keep them in stock. It still wasn’t that bad of an ordeal. I also had a door ding in my passenger side door and the Car Crafters here are licensed with Tesla. They did a great job fixing it. . . “its like it never happened!” 😉

Use Someones. . . Anyones. . . Referral Code!!

I didn’t use a referral code when purchasing my Tesla and I wish I had! Why? Because it not only gives you some credits for the Tesla Superchargers, it also gives the person’s whose code you are using credits. Win Win! If you are interested in using my code send me a message 🙂

Make sure you buy the self driving package. . your car will appreciate!

Purchasing the full self driving on a Tesla is additional at a whopping $7000! What is this? It allows your car to drive itself meaning it will get you to your destination when using it on navigate. It auto changes lanes, takes exits, and now stops at stop signs and traffic lights! I love this feature, especially in heavy traffic! How will this eventually make your car appreciate? Well Elon Musk raises the price of this add on service every year by at least $1000. So if you buy the full self driving initially your car will be worth more than not having it when you sell it later.

Not spending more on a different color

I paid an extra $1000 on the grey color of my car. Tesla provides 4 colors to choose from. One is always free and the others vary in price. When I purchased my model 3, black was the free color and I chose to get the grey. I do love the grey but in hindsight I should have just got the black. They change the free color every few years and for me, it really wasn’t worth the cost.

How the car handles in the snow/ice

I did research this a little prior to my purchase. I did not buy the all wheel drive because I saw many videos about how great the 2 wheel drive handles in the snow. Im so glad I did my research! I drove my model 3 to Denver during the first snow storm of the season. From charging in the freezing cold to driving on icy bridges, it held up great. I initially felt myself slide on an icy bridge and the software of the Tesla kicked in immediately and regained control. Im so excited by this because every car Ive ever had has been awful and scary during inclement weather. Win!

The Security System

Sentry mode is the security system that comes with the car. You can choose to turn it on or off. The car has 7 surrounding cameras and when Sentry mode is active it records anything that gets close to your car as an event you can view on the screen when you return to the car. If someone tries to break a window or open a door the car alerts and the screen tells you, you are being recorded. Its amazing! This is a great feature to have if someone hits or dings your car and doesn’t leave a note. The cameras are always recording while driving and you can instantly download any event. Great to give to your insurance company in the event of a collision to prove that it wasnt your fault.

Replacing the windshield

I recently got a small chip in my windshield from driving on the freeway. Jiffy lube filled the crack for me and it stopped spreading. Then a month or so later it spread in a different direction and now requires replacement. There isnt very many places that will replace this windshield. Not only do you need to order it from Tesla, which takes several weeks, but the cameras attached to the windshield need to be recalibrated after its replaced. Goodness! Car Crafters to the rescue again. This also comes at a whopping $900!

Tesla buying experience vs. other auto buying experience

I have purchased several different brands of cars over my life and every experience has been an all day one. They send you from one sales person to another and try and upsell everything under the sun to you. I remember sitting in dealerships for greater than 4 hours, starving, trying to purchase a vehicle. When I bough my Tesla it took 5 mins to fill out the form and make my choices. The back and forth between their salesperson and my lender took maybe altogether 10 mins. So easy and the car was delivered to my front door!

Basically I love my Tesla! It saves me loads of money and trips to the gas station by charging at home and its just a very modern, cool vehicle to have. Ive never experienced anything like it!