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I’m so thankful to have been the guest speaker at the 5th annual Midwest Tesla Gathering, and I asked owners why they bought their Tesla. The answers may surprise you!
This awesome event was put on by the St Louis Tesla enthusiasts group who did a great job. It was held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports park in Bowling Green, KY and the main part of the event was to drive your Tesla on the track. Since my Model 3 needs new tires soon I decided not to take my car out on the track but one of the amazing people behind the creation of this event, Liz, was kind enough to let me ride with her while she drove her husband’s performance Model 3 on the track (in Track Mode) which my body & mind were not at all prepared for. It was like a roller coaster. I never felt such powerful G-forces since riding on The Voyage at Holiday World (shout out to the best amusement park)
But for this video I decided that since I always get asked how I became the world’s top Tesla referrer or why so many people buy a Tesla after watching my videos, I decided to take it upon myself to find out the primary reasons why current Tesla owners bought their car. Buying a car is one of the biggest purchases of someone’s life so I was curious to know what the biggest reason was for someone buying a relatively expensive Tesla over all the other car choices. Going in I thought the main reason was probably either because of the technology & self driving aspect (autopilot) or the fact that it’s all-electric (better for the environment and no more gas) or really just because of Elon’s devilishly good looks (don’t fool yourself). After talking to owners, I was surprised at the most popular answer!
The biggest reason why I was the guest speaker at the 5th annual Midwest Tesla Gathering is because I currently have the most Tesla referrals in the world, meaning I’ve helped sell the most Teslas to new customers. If you’re not aware of the Tesla referral program, it’s a program for all Tesla owners that allows them to share their own unique referral code with other potential buyers and if those potential buyers order a Tesla through the referral link then both people get 1,000 free Supercharging miles, and the referrer also gets a chance to win prizes such as a free Model Y or a free Roadster.
Last year when I became the world’s top referrer I won two free future Founders Series Roadsters which is Tesla’s “supercar” supposedly coming out in 2020 and it will be the quickest production car in the world (0-60 in 1.9 seconds). But once Tesla realized they were giving away too many free Roadsters they briefly ended their referral program earlier this year but brought it back in March with the updated prize system which is basically like a raffle. Each Tesla referral you get counts as an entry into a monthly giveaway of a free Model Y and a quarterly giveaway of a free Roadster.
Currently I have over 850 referrals which has resulted in about $40 million in revenue for Tesla, and I’ve also accumulated over 1 million free Supercharging miles so far so I’m only about 32 million miles away from going to Mars. Hopefully the Supercharging miles transfer to rockets. I’ll have to ask Elon 🙂
So why should a person buy a $50,000+ Tesla? For me, I want people to choose a Tesla for their next car because I want everyone to experience that same rush of joy that I still feel to this day when I drive my Model 3. It’s the joy from the instant torque, the software, the Autopilot, the tech, the innovation, and really just the progressiveness of Tesla as a whole. I recently listened to an amazing audiobook called “The Science of Energy” and it’s clear that from that book that Tesla is changing the world for the better by making these awesome electric cars. Once someone buys into the idea of Tesla and becomes an owner, it’s a like a spider web effect. That one person can then spread their enthusiasm to 10 more people and each one of those can spread it to 10 more and so on. After listening to that book I’m becoming more aware of energy and how we use it. More Teslas on the road is a sign for a better future. I’m proud to support Tesla, one of the most innovative companies in the world.
My Tesla Model 3 is the best purchase I’ve ever made but it’s also the 2nd most expensive purchase I’ve ever made, and it can be scary to spend that kind of money especially on a car. Well in this video I’m going to show you how I was able to save $60,000 cash while in my twenties when my average income was about $65,000/year after taxes. So I didn’t have some crazy six-figure average income. I know how it feels to need a loan for a car. I bought my first car in 2010, it was a used Pontiac that cost $12,000. After getting a small loan for that I promised myself that my next car would be paid in full. So here are some of the tools and strategies I used to help me buy my dream car. To reach any money savings goal as quickly as possible you really just need to do two things: increase your income and decrease your expenses. Very simple but not that easy. And the most important thing is to try to increase your income while not increasing your expenses. First you need to figure out exactly how much money you need to save.
Budget
To do this you need to create and follow a budget. This is one of the most important steps because without a budget you don’t know where your money is going and you need to make sure you’re tracking every dollar that comes in and goes out. For my budget I’ve always used Mint. It works great. It has a free app for iOS and Android. It lets you securely connect all your financial accounts and see all your financial activity in one place. You can create your budget and quickly categorize every transaction so your budget stays accurate and up to date. What’s really cool is Mint has a feature called “Goals” and with that you can select the “Buy a Car” goal and here you can input your total amount of money that you want to save for your car. It does have a built-in car selector but since Tesla is constantly re-structuring their prices I’ll leave a link in the description below that’ll take you directly to the Model 3 order page so you can make sure you’re getting the most-up-to-date pricing. That link also has my referral code built into it so in case you do order you’ll get your free Supercharging bonus. So visit that page and select all the options you want to find out exactly how much your car will cost. Once you know that total cost you can input it into your Mint Goal and set a target completion date and it will show you the exact amount of money you need to save each month to reach your goal. This is what I did when I was saving for my Model 3 and it was extremely helpful.
Be Frugal
Once you know how much you need to save each month, the next step is to be frugal. This all comes down to not spending money on unnecessary things and when you do have to spend money make sure you’re getting the best deal possible. Look at your budget and find the biggest expenses like insurance or internet or restaurants which is always a big one for me. Then do some research and find out where you can save money in those areas. TrueBill is a free app that helps you keep track of all your paid subscriptions so you can identify and cancel the ones you don’t need. Some things that helped me were: I switched to the cheapest prepaid cell phone plan I could find. If you pay for TV, stop it, cut the cord. I’ve never paid for TV ever in my life. Most people can get by with just basic high speed internet and a streaming service like Netflix. Avoid buying things unless you absolutely need it. For things you do need, use web extensions like Honey to automatically show you the best deals and most savings for anything you’re shopping for online. Try to buy used items instead of new if you can. Ebay & Amazon Warehouse deals are good places for used items. If you do need to buy new, Greentoe is a cool website that lets you enter your own price & bid on brand new items. If you’re an Amazon Prime member like me one of my favorite things is to choose No-Rush shipping instead of the 2-day shipping so I can get the free digital credits toward movie rentals so stuff like that seems small but it all adds up over time so anywhere you can save money, try to be frugal about it.
Learn Valuable Skills
So that tip was about decreasing expenses and these next two tips are about increasing income. First is to learn valuable skills. Being a person of value will make the most difference in your life. Once you learn how to provide some type of value to people and master a skill you will find that your potential to increase your income will become higher and higher. Some of my favorite ways to learn a valuable skill are through 3 sources: books, podcasts, and online courses. I’m a big auditory learner so I love audiobooks. Some self help books that have made a big impact on my life and my income potential are Man’s Search for Meaning, 7 habits of highly effective people, Atomic Habits, Think & Grow Rich, How to win friends and influence people, and Essentialism. Some of my favorite podcasts about self help, business & productivity are The Sweaty Startup, Smart Passive Income, College Info Geek, Ground Up Show, Art of Manliness, and Fizzle. So all those books and podcasts have helped me become a better person and entrepreneur in some way but I think the best way to learn a specific valuable skill is through online courses and Skillshare is one of the best resources for that. Skillshare is an online learning community with more than 25,000 classes in all kinds of things like graphic design, photography, productivity, and business. The best thing about Skillshare is that its premium membership is super affordable (remember we love being frugal right?) with an annual subscription that’s less than $10/month and it’s absolutely worth it because with a Premium Membership you get unlimited access to every course. In fact, I just took a course on Skillshare that’s made by a fellow YouTuber, Matti Haapoja, who does some stuff with Peter McKinnon. Matti has a course on Skillshare where he teaches wedding filmmaking, and if you don’t know, I actually film weddings in my spare time so I love taking a videography courses like that each year to brush up on the industry and Skillshare has so many courses like this that will help you learn a valuable skill. If you want to be one fo the first 500 people to try Skillshare Premium free for 2 months, just click the link in the description below.
Build Side Income
And that leads us into my next tip which is to earn some type of extra income in your spare time. Like me you probably have some sort of day job or maybe you’re a full time student. Whatever you do, the best possible way to speed up your savings progress is to earn more income. You can try to be as frugal as possible but decreasing your expenses only goes so far. Increasing your income is almost limitless. Sp find out what your most valuable skill is and utilize it to offer some type of service that you can charge money for or that brings in some type of income. This was the biggest factor for me. I’ve had a day job ever since I graduated college but around 5 years ago I started to actually dedicate a lot of my spare time to my side businesses which were mainly YouTube and wedding videography. So during my lunch hour, during nights and evenings, I would work on my YouTube stuff. And one Saturday every month I would go out and film a wedding. So I learned and practiced a valuable skill (video production) and put it to work in my spare time and it helped me increase my income. So use the resources that I mentioned in the previous step to obtain a valuable skill and then work hard in your spare time to create some sort of side business. And remember to keep your expenses as low as possible as your income increases. This is the ultimate key to saving money.
Model 3 Config & Savings
The last tip is all about the Model 3 because after all this video is about saving for a Tesla. Here are some things to keep in mind when ordering your Model 3 to save as much as money as possible. My first tip is to not pay for the upgraded sport wheels. If you stick with the default Aero wheels you save money and get better range so that’s a no brainer to me. If you don’t like the look of the Aero wheels don’t worry they pop right off to a decent rim underneath. Also if there’s still a federal tax credit available by the time you order make sure you quality for it. I’ll leave a link to FuelEconomy.gov where it explains the tax credit for Tesla and how to be eligible for it. I’lll also link to Energy.gov where you can check if your state has any rebates or credits for purchasing an electric vehicle. You can also check with your local power company. Sometimes they offer rebates and credits for EV purchases. And while you’re doing that, check to see if they offer “off-peak” rates which are times in the day (usually at night) when electricity is charged at a cheaper rate. Sometimes you have to specifically request to get on an Off-Peak plan. I did this and it helps minimize electricity costs when charging a Tesla at home. And if you do have to install a charging outlet, check if there are any rebates or credits for that as well. When I got my outlet installed there was a tax credit of 30% of the total installation cost which was nice. And last but not least, get multiple quotes for insurance. Even though the Model 3 is the safest car ever tested by the US government, the insurance is still expensive for most people so shop around and get the best quote. I ended up switching my car insurance provider when I got my Tesla because of the better rate. And if you want to learn more about how you can make money once you get your car, be sure to subscribe because my next video will be all about driving for Lyft & Uber with a Tesla. Thanks for watching. I hope this helps you get closer to owning a Model 3. You won’t regret it. Best car ever. Everything I mentioned will be linked below so check the description. My name is Andy and I’ll talk to you in the next one. Bye.
Almost a year ago I took delivery of my Tesla Model 3 and since then I’ve driven it over 26,000 miles. Is it still the best car I’ve ever driven or was it a $50,000 mistake? Let’s find out.
In my original Model 3 review that I did last year I mainly went over the features of the car because I had only owned it for 2 months. In this updated Model 3 review for 2019 I’m going to go over my experience of owning a Tesla Model 3 and focus on the 3 most important categories that I think people look for in a car:
Reliability
Cost
Enjoyment
Reliability
When I first got my Model 3 I was skeptical on how reliable it would be since it was a first generation of its kind, and there were a few horror stories online from early adopters who were experiencing software & hardware issues. And my Model 3 is one of the first 15,000 or so that were produced so I was a little nervous. Not to mention the big lifestyle change from going to a fully electric vehicle where I have to actually do a little more planning when traveling because no longer can I stop almost anywhere at a gas station to refuel in 5 minutes. I was scared I would eventually get stranded somewhere with a dead battery.
Well, I can honestly say my Model 3 has been 100% reliable for me so far, and yes even though that should be expected for a brand new car, it’s still a nice surprise how reliable it has been since Tesla is still relatively so young compared to other manufacturers and the fact that the Model 3 is just a very unique car. I have never been stranded. The lowest battery I’ve ever had was 12 miles of range left when I arrived home from a road trip so yes range anxiety does exist, but the Model 3’s energy graph is extremely accurate in predicting the estimated range left when driving so as long as you pay attention to that and plan ahead you’ll be fine and shouldn’t ever have to worry about running out of battery.
I’ve never had any major software or hardware failure. The worst things I’ve experienced probably come down to a few minor things that were all related to software. One time my sound system just was completely frozen so no sounds were coming through the speakers: couldn’t hear any music or even things like the turn signal sound. However like most minor software bugs like that it was easily fixed by doing a soft reboot of the screen which takes about a minute to do. Another minor bug I experienced is the backup camera being blacked out when putting it in reverse (which was fixed by switching back to Drive then back to Reverse again). Other than that, it’s been pretty much perfect. I’ve never had any significant reliability issues.
For how heavily it’s integrated with software I’m actually surprised my Model 3 has worked this well, and I’ve been extremely satisfied with it over my first 26,000 miles. I’ve had two minor repairs done to the car. One was my driver door handle wasn’t closing fast enough and the other was my windshield wiper was making a clicking noise. Both of those repairs were done by a Tesla Mobile Ranger who actually came to my location and repaired the issue within an hour or so without me having to take the car to a service center which is awesome. And both repairs were covered for free under the warranty.
Cost
That brings me to the cost of ownership which is one of my favorite things about the Model 3. So my biggest and really only complaint about the cost of a Model 3 is the upfront price of the car. Yes it’s the cheapest Tesla model right now and there’s finally a $35,000 base model but a Model 3 with all the desired add-ons is still too expensive for most people. However if you can afford it and it fits your budget, I definitely believe the high upfront cost is worth it in the long run. And I’ll explain.
My Model 3 is a Long Range RWD with Aero wheels and it was around $50,000. However if you compare it to a similarly priced gasoline vehicle, the Model 3 is one of the cheapest cars to own. Since getting my Model 3, here’s how much I’ve spent on: Gasoline ($0), Oil changes ($0), repairs/maintenance ($0), tire rotations ($0). Out of all those things during the first 25,000 miles in a Model 3 you only need to do tire rotations and I know this isn’t the norm but luckily for me there’s a local tire shop that gives free tire rotations to Tesla owners, just one of the many perks of going all-electric I guess. But that’s why I personally haven’t spent any money on tire rotations.
So no more paying for gas or oil or many of the things that pertain to internal combustion engine vehicles. My car insurance went up by about $500/year but it most likely would have went up that much with any brand new car. Really the only things that have cost money to drive my Model 3 is electricity to charge the car and that mainly comes from either my own electricity at home or a Tesla Supercharger. Where I live my charging cost is cheap at 6.8 cents per kWh. My Model 3’s average Wh/mile is 248 which is really impressive because I live in Louisville where we experience all four seasons. It can get below zero degrees in the Winter and it can get over 100 degrees in the summer. So it’s one of the best locations to put the Model 3 range efficiency to the test and with an average of 248 Wh/mile through all the seasons means the LR Model 3 is one of, if not the most efficient electric car out right now.
It took 6,457 kWh to drive just over 26,000 miles, and based on my calculations from a previous video the Model 3 gets about 80% energy efficiency, so it actually took about 8,071 kWh and at my current electricity rate of 6.8 cents per kWh that comes to $549 that I’ve spent on electricity to drive my Model 3 over 26,000 miles. However some of that electricity was obtained a Superchargers where I spent a total of $54. Also keep in mind I’ve charged for free at certain hotels and parking garages that had free public charging and sometimes at family members houses when I visit them so my total cost to drive over 26,000 miles in my Model 3 is less than $600, and my monthly electricity costs have only increased by an average of $36. That is absolutely incredible. To put it in perspective, a car that gets 30 mpg at an average gas cost of $2.75 per gallon would cost $2,383 to drive 26,000 miles and if you add a $50 oil change every 4,000 miles that would be an additional $325. So that’s $2,000 of savings in less than a year. Of course these numbers are personal to my situation so it’s not the same for everyone but this is a real life example of how much a person can save in fuel and oil by going all-electric, especially a Model 3.
Enjoyment
Now we’re at the last category, enjoyment, which is also my favorite along with cost, I can have two favorites right? It’s no surprise that the Model 3 is an absolute joy to drive but I’ll quickly go over a few things that I don’t like because after all nothing is perfect. The windshield and windows fog up more than any other car I’ve ever driven, and I don’t know if it’s just me or my car or what. If you have a Model 3 and have noticed this let me know. Fortunately I got some fog reducer that I applied to the inside of the windshield which helped a little but it’s still quite annoying how easily it fogs up. I wish the frunk had a better closing mechanism or was able to close automatically because I tend to use the frunk pretty frequently and I hate leaving hand prints on the hood from closing it. I also wish the driver profiles would support the lumbar setting. It saves all the other seat and wheel settings but not lumbar, which is strange. Luckily that can be fixed with a software update which leads me into the plethora of things that I absolutely love about owning a Model 3. One of them being the sound system. Listening to music and audiobooks in my Model 3 is one of my favorite things to do.
How a car can be this simple & minimalist yet pack so much power and torque is something I’ll always be impressed with. The instant torque and quickness makes driving, especially things like merging & passing, effortless & fun. It handles as well if not better than any similarly priced sports car because of the better traction control from being an EV and the low center of gravity and balanced weight distribution due to the battery being underneath the entire length of the car.
But the thing that turns a lot of people off is one of my favorite things: the clean minimalist design of the entire car. Driving a Model 3 makes you realize how useless and unnecessary most other cars’ buttons and dials are. Autopilot is a life saver, like literally. Yes there are times when it phantom brakes but if you’re using it as it’s designed you will always have a hand on the wheel ready to take over and I love knowing each time I use it it’s getting better through the neural network. It removes the burden of having to endlessly stare at out of the windshield at the same spot and allows me to be more aware of my other surroundings which has honestly made me feel safer.
The Model 3 is smarter than any other car I’ve driven and automates basic things that allow me to worry less. My phone is my key so ever since I got a smart lock at home I stopped carrying keys. All I carry is my phone and wallet. My Model 3 automatically unlocks as I approach, and it locks as I walk away. It’s always on and ready to drive, and it’s utterly quiet when driving. If it’s raining, the wipers turn on automatically. If it recognizes a car ahead it automatically turns off my brights then turns them back on after. It charges overnight while I sleep, it stops charging when it reaches whatever limit I have set, and I wake up to an 80% charge every day or 100% charge if I’m about to take a road trip – no more stopping at gas stations. I can press a button and tell it to play a song and it plays it. I can tell it to drive somewhere and it gives me real-time step-by-step directions on the beautiful responsive 15” touch screen which is the best screen in any vehicle out right now in my opinion.
My Model 3 gets better over time through free software updates that it downloads and installs automatically. When I got my Model 3 a year ago it had a maximum of 310 rated miles of range on a full charge. Now after a free software update and even after any battery degradation from driving 26,000 miles, my Model 3 now gets over 320 rated miles on a full charge. It actually got better over time, and Tesla is constantly releasing new features, some of which recently included things like Dog Mode, Sentry Mode, and a 5% power boost. No other car is doing this right now. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s so comfortable even for a tall guy like me. The front seats are some of the most comfortable I’ve ever sat in. The backseats are a little firmer and not as comfy as the front seats, but Tesla did start putting updated seating in the back so that has been fixed. I’m 6’4” and can sit in the back fairly comfortably without my head hitting the roof. Oh and the roof, it’s pure glass and it’s seriously one of the things that impresses riders the most. I’m glad they included it on all models, even the base. The manual door handles are a little funky for new riders but as an owner they’re fine. I love having two trunks, and the ability to control my car from my smartphone like summon it or preheat it in the winter, it really satisfies my inner geek.
Conclusion
So after all that, was the Model 3 a $50,000 mistake? C’mooon. My biggest mistake was not buying another one for my wife before the Model Y was announced. The Model 3 is a beautiful car full of the latest technology and it’s much better for the environment than any gasoline car would ever be.
The Model 3 is still the best car I’ve ever driven, and it’s ruined all other cars for me. Except maybe the future Roadster. So what do you think? Do you own a Model 3 or are you looking into buying a Model 3? What’s your favorite thing about it and do you think it’s worth it? Leave a comment below and let me know. Thank you for watching, and be sure to subscribe for more Tesla and tech videos in the future. I’ll talk to you in the next one.
