I want someone to explain HN's obsession with anything Tesla related. Is it the technology, the disruption or just Elon Musk's involvement?<p>I understand articles appear that get upvoted I'm just wondering why this type of news would get upvoted.
><i>who want to forgo gas and buy a Tesla but cannot afford the high price of a new Model S</i><p>I love the idea of someone concerned about costs and prices buying a $50,000 used luxury vehicle with an unproven long-term reliability track record.<p>Edit: Wow, downvoted twice before I could even fix my typos. What a community.
"Elon Musk previously guaranteed the resale value of the Model S. Announced in April 2013, those who financed a Model S are allowed to return the vehicle after three years for 43 to 50 percent of its sticker price — just in time to buy a new Tesla vehicle."<p>I wonder why those numbers are so <i>low.</i> For reference, I recently leased a 2015 Mercedes C400, and the residual (programmed into the lease) is 61% after 3 years. When you're looking at a $70,000+ car, the difference between 43% and 61% is pretty dramatic.<p>I'm wondering if Musk/Tesla believes that the technology will change so much that in 3 years no one will want the older Teslas, or just that people who want to buy a Tesla will not care about residual value. Perhaps both?
I wonder what the effects are of buying a luxury car cheaply. Surely at least some portion of buyers are buying it because it's cool to have a Tesla. I guess it matters how big a portion.
What I wonder is why people are turning in their leases/selling their cars so soon?<p>What are the ratios of, gets a new car every couple years, more car than they could realistically afford, wasn't meeting their needs (range, passenger, luggage, person capacity), etc. etc.