My Tesla is Awesome, but.......
 

... I'm bored and fancy a change.

This has been coming a while. I've recently reached out to a number folks I sold my nicer Audis to over the years, to see what was available for buy back. that produced some unexpected replies. I've also been scouring the classifieds for something interesting, but that's been slim pickings really.

I ran the Tesla through WBAC, and the numbers were good - Which should see me get more than my deposit back if I chopped it in to them, even more if I tried a bit harder.

But then I've paid no road tax, put its costs through the business, and in its 11597 miles its used 4360 kwh of leccy, which at worst case 14p/unit is a mere £610 (£0.0526/mile), but its cost my company £620 a month.

But then, since lockdown, its only real journey has been for the wife to drive < 1 mile to work and back, and when I was allowed, to go further afield to go biking. I can't see I'll ever be commuting into the office 5 days a week ever again, and any longer journeys are all at 45p/mile so I don't really care about the fuel cost.

I am still a huge advocate of EV, and the massive cost savings of driving one, but, if you're not actually driving it, it does become a relatively expensive ornament (as do all new/nearly new cars that are just sat depreciating)

My eldest is about to turn 17, and buying a reasonably cheap to insure runabout like a Skoda citigo / VW UP type thing makes a ridiculous amount of sense right now, for him to learn, and the wife to get to work.

My ramblings here are up for discussion, and I was wondering if the lockdown had altered anyone elses domestic/commuting/travelling needs, and ultimately was affecting their choice of transport going forward....?

Having seen your cars come and go, I think it is safe to say, "it is you, not them" when it comes to your breakups :ROFL:

Variety is the spice of life... if you eat the best fillet steak every night, at some point you will get bored and yearn for a burger!

I am doing 3 miles per week on average, but today had the pleasure of an hour in the car to pick up an essential part for my boiler - I'd forgotten how it felt to spend time in the car, took the Q7 rather than the RS4 and didn't feel any the worse for that choice!

Fo you, I'm most interested in what comes next?

I've gone from regular trips up to Leeds (with the occasional diversion a little further North) to 4 miles a day to the workshop and back which is doing my engines no good at all. At best they manage to get fully hot once a week if I head in to town for supplies. My A6 1.9 TDI gets filled up once every 2 months if that.

Now would be the perfect time for a D2 EV conversion, if only the parts weren't so crazy expensive. I wouldn't even need to cram every inch with batteries since it'd only need 10 miles of range! :rolleyes:

But I can't afford that, so instead I'm going to daily an S8 :p

It's definitely you Ian...… :D

A few (well many) years back I was in a similar position, kids learning to drive and the only travel I did (due to a change of jobs and losing/not needing a company car) was to drive 3 miles to the tube station and back most week days.
So the second car became the oldest, cheapest, most basic Ford Fiesta we could find. Did the job perfectly. +++

At least you know that will get fully up to temperature in the 4-mile run to the workshop. :D

You could have a point.... +++

Another valid point....

No idea. I'm a sucker for a convertible. RS4 would be lovely, but still expensive to buy really. Looked at TT's again, but been there, done that. D2, D3, been there.

I'd like something exciting, but whose running and depreciation costs are proportional to my driving mileage, ie not a lot - And they don't really exist.

If I get a cheap run around to replace the Tesla, we still have the Q7. Stuck with that really as we (used to) need 6 seats for going out. I could use the Q7 Tdi for longer hauls. Its rubbish for short journeys as MJ has alluded to. the 4.2 block takes a fair old time to warm up, so unless I'm heading at least 20+ mins away it just sits on the drive.

I'm doing some work on the house, and just put an offer in on a buy-to-let so quite happy to save a few quid and drive nothing at all special for a while.

In fact, quite happy to cycle to work to be honest, if the chance to go into the office existed... !

Fancy swapping for an M4 plus cash? :)

Serious question how do you get on with it not having a rear wiper?

And the lack of a gutter meaning all the rain runs off the screen into the boot when you open it?

i'm sure the M4 is lovely, but fiscally the opposite direction to what im looking at.

Never understood the need for rear wipers. I have door mirrors, and a rapid 0-60. What's been left behind me I find largely irrelevant. Parking sensors/cameras are more than enough for manoeuvres if door mirrors aren't your thing.

I am aware of the gutter (lack of), but only from folks mentioning it on Tesla facebook groups. I personally can't recall ever having an issue, so I've maybe never been in the boot, in rain, or its not as big a deal as folks make out. The boot has had a liner in since day 1 and I tend to treat it as a dirty zone, so a few drops of water wouldnt have fussed me anyway.

Back seats and froot available for clean storage if needed.

MY old man has a A5 3.0tdi Convertible, he love it, me and my brother took it down to D2 Doctor when I first took my s8 down, it was quite quick and now even quicker now it remapped to around 300bhp, so could be the best of both worlds he says

As you're an EV fan you could follow my elder son's example and get an e-bike for commuting...…..
(Though he does have a 575bhp BMW X5M F85 as "backup" :rolleyes: )

Ooo. Don't get me started on E-bikes.... :tuttut:

I do see their valid use for commuting longer distances on public roads, or maybe helping to synchronise fitness levels in a group so you can share a scenic family bike tour etc, but all I'm seeing is them appearing in droves in the forest, lots of young lads, chewing up and destroying the mountain bike trails, and sitting on the hard on your butt because you're 'only' going at peddling speed and they want to go past.

We call them disability bikes, for people that don't have the bodily strength to actually pedal ;-)