Would you buy this car again?

It’s more nuanced than that. And nothing has limitless value no matter how great it is.
My wife wanted the Mini as she wanted a small, 2 door car with great styling. If there had been no rebates I likely would have bought her a base gas Mini as she doesn’t do enough miles for fuel costs to be an issue and she doesn’t care about performance. That would have been $24k but we could get the SE for $20k so it was a no brainer. At $30k with no rebates I probably would have gone with the SE anyway just because I would prefer we went electric but that was because there were no other EV options at that price anyway apart from a Leaf which i refuse to buy due to its battery not liking hot temperatures when we live in Texas…
But now you can get a Chevy Bolt for $27k which has more doors than she wants and in her opinion is ugly, but I would have easily talked her around vs $34k for an SE. $7k more for half the range and less utility plus likely worse residuals for those very reasons. And that’s before we consider any rebates, which would possibly be $2.5k from the State and who knows at the federal level. Even if only half the federal rebate that means the Bolt becomes basically $20.5k. Vs $34k for the Mini. Again, not happening.
I like the Mini, it’s a great car but there is a limit to what I’m prepared to pay for what I’m getting. Fun factor does not equate to a blank check.
I also highly rate our Tesla especially as a road tripping EV, but I paid $53k for it, no rebates. But if I had to pay the same effective price increase as the Mini, it would equate to $90k and despite its efficiency, performance and charging network benefits over its rivals at $55k, I wouldn’t pay it. The price exceeds the value in the market.

 

Then again, a good portion of our SEs come with the AGS loose and that's been going on for a while now. Mine was loose, built May 17.

 

Tesla’s are arguably the best EVs at the moment if you go outside the range of your home charger with any frequency. That’s not because the cars are better, it’s because the non Tesla charger networks are so unreliable. It’s currently an epidemic of failed chargers.
I would also argue that in this early stage of the shift to EVs the integration of their navigation system with their charging network (in terms of accurate calculations for routing, charging stops and time, preconditioning the battery for fast charging so you actually get the advertised speeds, re-routing based on charger availability etc) makes them the best choice by a very long way for all but the most patient EV geek. Add in their efficiency and real world range vs competitors plus better use of interior space due to intelligent design and they are leaders.

However….

They are not the best cars period. Because nothing in the world is the best period.
There are better built cars. Even EVs specifically.
There are more comfortable cars.
There are quieter cars.
There are faster charging cars (in perfect conditions).
There are better looking cars (subjective I know).
There are cheaper cars.

And if you almost never leave the range of your home charger you can pick any EV you like with no regret. But once you start road tripping and having range anxiety and not knowing where the chargers are, and you find 2 or even 3 out of 4 at the sites don’t work, and your charging speed is way lower than advertised, and so on, you will belatedly realize that until the chargers are two orders of magnitude more reliable and your manufacturer has finally written an accurate in-car navigation and range prediction system you should have bought a Tesla…

I look forward to the day when the chargers are sorted as I would like to have a choice in which EV I buy (really like the idea of an iD Buzz) but until then I’m stuck with the Tesla as it’s our road trip car. But at least there is nothing wrong with mine and I have no regrets about buying it.

 

A friend of mine had a Porsche with terrible panel gaps, I had a Land Rover with a leaking windshield, another friend had a new Toyota with fuel pump failure, my wife’s prior Kia was recalled for potential engine fire due to incorrectly hardened piston rings. Friends with BMWs have numerous problems. Anything American is held together with spit and hope.

 

I would buy it again even without the $7500 rebate. But my car is a signature model so the MSRP was only $30K and now they don't sell this trim level.

I do wish Mini made some more changes to the car to have made it better. They could have removed the back seats and easily fitted more batteries to increase the range. They could have offset this extra weight by using an aluminum hood and aluminum or even plastic door panels. I would have loved a carbon fiber roof option. And all of the suspension parts are stamped steel. They could have saved a lot of weight by using aluminum. The engine cradle is also steel. Just so much weight that could be removed which would improve range and the performance of the car.

 

How about this criticism. Elon Musk sucks. I won't buy a Tesla because of him. I much rather continue to use a ICE for road trips and an electric car around town where 99% of my drives are under 50 miles.

 

Very good post, totally agree.

 

In the 24 months I've owned my SE I've saved over $8000 in fuel costs (yes, after factoring in my electricity costs for charging). I've also spent $2000 in the last couple of months on maintenance for my ICE vehicles, and $0 on my SE. So even without the rebate the SE is a clear winner.

In addition to that, the SE cost is essentially equivalent to the ICE version of the MINI Hardtop, and I was driving MINIs before I got the SE. That means the value proposition of MINI was already something I was comfortable with before the SE even existed.

Finally, there are very few BEVs in the same price range of the SE (in North America), and certainly doubtful many have the handling or even the fit & finish of the SE in the same general price range. MINI is not a budget car model, but it's a lot of value for the price (IMHO).

It's a given at this point that BEVs are not inexpensive vehicles, so one has to commit to the BEV experience knowing the initial cost is going to be higher. If one is sensitive to price something like a Prius may be a better fit.

 

I have the same thoughts here. Interesting to hear of people's different cuttoff points for the "value" of their great experience.

 

I think 'utility' is an important component of 'value.' With the advent of remote working since the start of the pandemic, I'm only driving about 6000 miles per year. I wouldn't want to pay $40K+ for any car, regardless of how much I enjoyed it.

The SE is the first new car I've bought in over 15 years. It is attractive to me because of size, performance, and styling, and it has certainly met my expectations. But if it were pushing $40K ($35K + taxes and fees, no tax credit), I wouldn't be able to justify it regardless of its appeal.

 

I think @AndysComputer in post #23 sums it up well: not every car is everything for everybody.

I certainly wasn’t looking for 250+ miles of range, nor more doors nor cargo space. I was looking for a fun, small car. I stretched my budget a little to get a L3 trim plus options and accessories, a budget that already took into account our generous federal and provincial subsidies. And I regret nothing.

 

This won't make sense to many, but I see 'utility' as a concession that works against the fun a car can provide. I would have chosen a smaller, more agile SE without a back seat (R58-style) had it been available. Of course, value is in the eye of the evaluator--in my spreadsheet, the utility factor ranks way below the fun factor, but I realize I'm in the minority.

Today, as I was cranking hard down a winding local country road I wondered how long it will be before the authorities require my car to tattle on me for hooning (I think I scared @Rexsio when I predicted that day). I've never had a car that was more fun--or more expensive--than my SE. I was expecting to pay more and am glad I didn't have to. However, had I paid $40K sight-unseen, I would not have felt disappointed after my first drive in this great car.

I've been driving small sports cars since 1966. I've never driven a Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McClaren, or Bugatti, but I'm confident none of them would put a bigger smile on my face than my SE. I'm so happy it came into my life (hopefully long) before I can't drive anymore.

These are the good old days for drivers. I'm happy I don't need a Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McClaren, or Bugatti to have so much fun. I don't know how people have fun in those cars without taking them to the track. My SE is tremendous fun even at the speed limit if the corners are tight enough.

 

Thank you for saying my quiet part out loud. The market will be exploding with EV options in the very foreseeable near- to mid-term, I will never have a reason to directly line Musk’s pockets.

 

We paid the equivalent of US$45000 for the base model with no incentives here in Australia.
But we will save US$15000 if we keep it for 10 years so still a good deal IMO.

 

Yes

nuff said.

 

I really wanted to like the model 3 but I just couldn't. It just felt sooo cheaply made compared to the SE and it was more expensive.
I drove a base model S a few years ago and it felt worth the high asking price (double an SE price). Can't put my finger on why the 2 cars felt so completely different. I don't think it was just about the purchase price. Maybe the S was about making a brand but the 3 is purely about making $$$
In the end the SE quality and design beat the range, occupant space, load space and doors count. No buyers remorse and it's fun when you spot an SE. How many white Tesla's ya seen today?

 

I just got rid of my 2014 Tesla Model S P85D and it was a superb car. I will say that the SE is so much more lithe and fun to drive, but I do miss the gut punch of crazy acceleration from a stop; that never got old.
There are definitely quality alternatives to Tesla nowadays and no one should feel compelled to buy from Elon Musk if they want a great EV. But as an owner of 4 EVs over the last decade, I cannot overstate how much of a game changer the Supercharger network is - it’s still the only reliable and easy way to travel long distances in an EV, and I’d imagine it will be several years before anyone else achieves anything close to parity. If one wants to make an EV their primary car, including for long road trips, Tesla is still the superior option by far. Unfortunately.