Invest in an original Tesla Roadster?

Discussion in 'General' started by Jack, Oct 17, 2017.

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  1. Jack

    Jack Administrator

    Is buying an original Tesla Roadster a good investment?

    I assume it helps get you into a model 3 faster...
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2017
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  3. God

    God Member

    Yes, too lazy to cite the insideev article but was reported that if you get your hands on a Tesla roadster you're basically next in line after the employees for Model 3 reservations...You can often find them just under $50K and they're projected (YMMV) to depreciate less than an used Model S/X...
     
    Domenick likes this.
  4. I think there's a good chance Roadsters will start appreciating, eventually. Of course, you might have to/want to shell out $29,000 for the recent battery upgrade for it, so ownership is not necessarily cheap.

    Never mind, cars are bad financial investments. Just buy what you enjoy driving.
     
  5. Jack

    Jack Administrator

    I have to disagree. I bought a used car earlier this year and it has already appreciated roughly 50%. New cars are a complete rip-off tho
     
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  6. Nice! Yeah, it can happen if you're super-informed and find a good situation, but generally it's a pretty risky investment.
     
    Jack likes this.
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  8. Pushmi-Pullyu

    Pushmi-Pullyu Well-Known Member

    Right. As the financial gurus say: A car is an expense, not an investment.
     
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  9. God

    God Member

    I'd take a Vegas bet that the Roadster will appreciate yet that could take decades...It's appeal is going to be similar to those who collect the original iPhone...However I have to add, I believe car collecting as a whole, will drastically go down with time...
     
  10. Jack

    Jack Administrator

    How much time? The collector car market has boomed through the last decade. If and when EVs take over the majority of the market, ICE vehicles will be even more valuable
     
  11. God

    God Member

    My thoughts are if you can "hail" an affordable autonomous car and either work, watch netflix, get frisky, get under the influence, why own a car? If you grow up to using ride sharing, you might not have any appeal in collecting vehicles...When the automobile started to become popular, I'd imagine the buggy (not the horse) wasn't a highly desired item for collectors...
     
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  13. Jack

    Jack Administrator

    And I'd imagine the same reasons that made a buggy special back then make it special today, still collectible and valuable.

    An authentic, historically significant stagecoach is easily worth around $30k today. I wonder how much they cost when new?

    Research suggests: Approx $1500 in 1870s
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2017
  14. God

    God Member

    Many 150 year old historically significant items are valuable...Desirability is another matter; would the average person desire a buggy the way they would a muscle car?
     
  15. Jack

    Jack Administrator

    Since we were getting off topic, I moved these posts to a new thread.

    I see your point, and I can agree that car collecting will become less popular through time, but there will always be a market for collectible/rare items and I therefore see collector cars holding value for many many years to come. I think of watch collectors, who probably have a digital clock on their phone, computer, car, appliance etc yet they still value old technology. To be clear, the "average" person does not collect anything.

    The Tesla Roadster will almost certainly be collectible, so I think it is a good investment despite being a car.
     
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  16. Josh Bryant

    Josh Bryant Member

    Well, I just sold a 1911 Model T at auction this year. It was in running condition and just needed a little cleanup. Only got $4900 for it. There just isn’t enough people around that care about them anymore.

    I would say an original iPhone is a better collectible (% value increase over the next 50 years) than almost any car. A Founders edition Roadster or Model S would be the only vehicles I would speculate on, but the long term storage costs pretty much eat most of the appreciation.
     
  17. Only $4,900? That seems nuts!

    A look at the Hemmings website shows a number of these early cars (some of these are frikkin' awesome!) can be had for reasonable prices, though none quite as cheap as $4,900. I guess it's a buyers market.

    Strange which vehicles we put value on.
     
  18. Rob Lay

    Rob Lay Administrator Staff Member

    Hmm, maybe I need to check out the Model T and A market, still thinking about a Tesla Roadster too.
     

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