Should you buy a used Tesla Roadster sports car? The definitive answer blog post

In today's blog post I will definitively answer the question "Should you buy a used Tesla Roadster sports car?"  Rather than burying the lead, let me get the answer out of the way right up front.  The answer to that question is, "Maybe"

Any car purchasing decision is a highly complex one.  There are so many factors to take into account that there is no certain answer until all of those variables have been fully considered and, even then, you are likely to second, third, or fourth guess yourself.

I did just buy a used Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5, and I have now owned it for a couple of months.  I can definitely say that the correct answer for me was "Yes", but how I came to that decision was very complex and I have even second guessed myself quite a few times.

I hope that by reading this article you can help make that decision for yourself, by comparing your priorities versus my own.

A few months ago, when I was trying to decide what my next sports car was going to be, I wrote a long and rambling article reviewing cars I had owned in the past and what I might consider for the future.  Now that I have made that purchasing decision, I want to discuss what I am happy with, as well as what I have been disappointed in or am missing a lot.

I will begin by making a list of the things which should influence your decision in order of importance.

1. How important is it to you to own an electric vehicle?  Are you a Tesla 'fan boy'?  If the idea of owning an electric vehicle, especially a Tesla, especially this Tesla, with all of it's history, is exciting to you then your decision is going to be a fairly easy one.  For me, the idea of owning an electric vehicle was intriguing, certainly a new experience, but I have most certainly not lost my love for conventional sports cars in any way.
2. How important is it to you to own a vehicle which is extremely rare?  For me, this was probably the deciding factor.  I drive my car in parades and I like to go to car shows.  Perhaps it is a bit vain and silly, but I like owning a car that almost no one else has.  The Tesla Roadster is extremely rare.  There were only ever 2400 of them made, and there are only about 1400 in the US.  Compare that to just one model Ferrari, say the Ferrari 360.  There are 10 times more Ferrari 360's in the world than there are Tesla Roadsters.  That should give you an idea just how rare this vehicle is.  Before I bought mine, I had never actually seen a Tesla Roadster in real life, even though I go to car shows all of the time.  I live in the St. Louis area, and there is only one other Roadster besides my own in town, and I have certainly never seen it.  If the idea of driving an extremely rare car, one that has everyone asking you about it everywhere you go, one that you can put into a car show and know that you will have the only one there is a big deal to you, then the Tesla Roadster may be the car for you.
3. How important is it for you to be able to beat nearly every other sports car off the line 0-60?  How often do you like to accelerate so fast that your passengers freak the fuck out every time you do it?  The incredible rush of acceleration in a Tesla Roadster is definitely it's strongest selling point.  It is highly addictive and, unlike other sports cars, when you go this fast no one will call the cops, because they won't even hear you doing it.  You can go 0-60 in 3.7 seconds in a Tesla Roadster Sport without chirping a tire, with almost no sound at all.  You can do it every single time, without abusing the vehicle or otherwise putting it at risk.  If you did that in a Ferrari you would piss off all of your neighbors, alert every cop in a five mile radius, and run the risk of having something burst or otherwise explode that could cost you many thousands of dollars to fix; which is why most people who own Ferrari's don't actually try to launch 0-60 in 3.7 seconds at every single stop light or on-ramp.  I assure you, that every Tesla Roadster owner revels is doing that, every single time.  I belabor this point because as we move forward with this list, this is probably the single biggest attraction of the Tesla Roadster as a 'sports car' (and I put 'sports car' in quotes for reasons I will address in a moment).
4. How important is it that your sports car be track ready?  Do you want to be able to not only get to 60mph very quickly, but continue right on to 100, 140, and higher?  If that is important to you, and it certainly is to many sports car owners, then the Tesla Roadster will be a major disappointment.  Frankly, I wouldn't argue with someone if they claimed the Tesla Roadster isn't a 'real' sports car because it cannot do this.  The Tesla Roadster has mind blowing acceleration from 0 up to about 70 or 80mph.  Unfortunately, after that, there's really nothing left.  Since the Tesla Roadster has only a single gear, no transmission at all, the power range is only available at the low end and the top speed is limited to no more than 125mph.  On the one hand, how often to you actually drive more than a 125mph?  Obviously, the answer is rarely.  Unless you are on the race track or doing something really reckless, you aren't going to be traveling at these kinds of speeds in your car.  On the other hand..if you just paid $70,000+ for a used sports car, and you can't go above 120mph comfortably, it's kind of hard to convince yourself it actually is a sports car.  The top speed of other $70k used sports cars?  A Ferrari 360, around 190mph.  A corvette z06?  205mph.  The point here is that it is completely reasonable for you to expect that a $70k used sports car can go over 125mph, that it is track ready, and has acceleration above 80mph.  When I'm in my Tesla Roadster and roll up to a stop light next to another sports car, and let me be clear, virtually *any* other sports car, they don't even stand a chance.  On the other hand, if I'm going 70mph on the freeway and almost any other sports car pulls up alongside me, gunning their engine trying to goad me into a rolling start, all I can do is shake my head in shame.  It's just not going to happen.  I think this is one of the biggest concerns you have to consider about buying a used Tesla Roadster.  How important is the top end to you?  How important is track day to you?  It's not that you can't take a Tesla Roadster to the track and have a good time but if, like me, the closest racetrack is a 60 mile drive, you are going to use up all of your charge just getting there and back and have nothing much left for the track and no way to charge it while there.  You would have to take it fully charged to the track on a trailer, and that's just a little embarrassing too.  For auto-cross, however, the Roadster should be great and a lot of fun.  I think this lack of top-end is why many people do not consider the Tesla Roadster a 'real' sports car and really more of a glorified electric go-kart.  Frankly, this is not an unfair assessment.  On the other hand, 99.99% of the time you are not driving over 80mph and, below that speed, there is nothing else like it.  This means that for 99.99% of the time you are driving this car, it's one of the fastest most exciting cars on the road.
5. How important are creature comforts to you?  If you are going to be spending $70k on a used sports car, then you are considering cars that originally cost much, much  more.  A Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 originally cost about $150,00 and a Ferrari 360 quite a bit more.  Cars in that price range usually come with some very impressive creature comforts; like a power convertible roof, power seats, and many other nice features.  The Tesla Roadster is extremely raw.  Driving it feels more like driving a kit-car.  The targa cloth top is kind of a joke.  The only real creature comfort is cruise control; which you will rarely if ever use.  There is no power steering, which I like, but many people do not.  The only positive is that having fewer bells and whistles and electronic doo-dads also means that there are fewer things that can break down.  Can you imagine the repair bill if the power convertible top on your Ferrari 360 breaks down?  You better have just won the lottery if you can stomach those kind of repair bills.  Sometimes simple is better.  What's going to 'break down' with the shitty little rag-targa top on your roadster?  Nothing.  It may seem surprising to hear that something as advanced as an all electric vehicle from Tesla is actually so simple, but it really is.  Finally, the Tesla Roadster is almost, quite literally, like sitting your ass on the ground.  Getting into and out of it is very difficult; especially getting out.  Imagine sitting your fat ass flat on the floor, and needing to get yourself up from the ground.  It is not easy.  There is no graceful way for a woman in a skirt to get out of the car.  The driver and passenger are so close together you are literally rubbing elbows.  This car is tiny, even in the world of tiny cars.  To prove my point, here is a photograph of my Tesla Roadster parked between a Tesla Model-X and a Tesla Model-S at a recent car show.  
   
6. How important is it to you to hear the roar of an engine?  This is pretty basic and really goes back to point #1.  If you want an electric vehicle, this isn't really a serious question. If, on the other hand, you have been driving naturally aspirated eight cylinder sports cars for 30 years, you are going to have a difficult time letting that go.  Sure, driving the Tesla Roadster in near silence has it's own appeal, but as you pull up to car shows and hear the beautiful sound of everyone's roaring engines, you are definitely going to feel a little bit left out.
7. How important is to you to have a manual transmission?  This is a big one for me.  In fact, this is probably my number one disappointment with the Roadster still today.  I love driving a manual transmission sports car.  Going through the gears as I navigate a back country road represents the greatest memories of my life.  It takes skill and it provides a visceral connection between the driver and the car, one that makes you feel bound to it at a deep level.  Of course, with the Tesla Roadster, this is completely unnecessary.  It has one gear, it has 100% torque at all times, it eats through turns on a back country road with such fluidity and grace that it is almost effortless.  Rather than shifting through the gears and occasionally touching the brake as you go in and out of one hairpin turn after the other, instead you just lightly touch the accelerator or take pressure off to let the regenerative braking slow you down.  The acceleration of the Tesla Roadster is mind blowing but it is also almost 'too easy'.  You don't feel like it requires any driving skill on your part.  If you put a 12 year old child in the car, they could go 0-60 just as fast as you could; without any requirement for them to hit the shifts perfectly.  Obviously the Tesla provides superior performance versus having to mechanically manage your own shift points and, with modern sports cars offering 'launch control', the theme of the day is to take the slow and inefficient human out of the equation but, at the end of the day, I miss it.  I miss it a lot. Before I bought the Tesla I would have considered it complete and utter sacrilege to buy a 'sports car' that had an automatic transmission.  With the Tesla, obviously, there was no other option.  You will have decide for yourself how important this is to you.  
8. How important is it to you to have the experience of driving a Lotus sports car? I said earlier that I have 'second guessed' my decision a bunch of times.  Let me explain why.  Even though Tesla made the incredible electronics in the Roadster, as far as the actual driving and handling experience the car is still a Lotus.  When Tesla made the Roadster they were not yet in a position to build their own car from scratch, so they contracted Lotus to build the actual physical vehicle.  Tesla stuffed in the motor and electronics of course, but in terms of styling and handling, the car is really a Lotus.  The thing is, if your goal is to own a relatively rare exotic looking car with tremendous handling, but the whole 'electric vehicle thing' isn't that important to you, well you can buy a used Lotus Elise, Exige, or Evora for far, far, far, less money and have a very similar driving experience.  I suspect, at the end of the day, I probably would have still bought the Tesla, but I really wish I had at least taken some test drives in other Lotus models first.  Every time I see a Lotus Elise (which as far as a driving/handling experience would largely be the same as my Roaster) for $25k (almost 1/3 what I paid for my car), I have a lot of second thoughts, even some third or fourth ones.
9. How important is resale value to you? This is the other major issue I have struggled with personally.  I realize that people buy brand new $70k cars every day of the week, and don't give it a second thought.  They drive it off the lot and take a $20k depreciation for the privilege of doing so.  God bless them, and good for them.  I just don't think that way.  The reason I buy used sports cars is because I want someone else to take the initial depreciation hit, thank you very much.  For example, for roughly the same price as the Tesla Roadster I could have bought a brand new Alfa Romeo 4c, complete with a 3 year factory warranty.  That was certainly a tempting option to consider.  However, the thing is, that Alfa Romeo 4c is 100% guaranteed to depreciate by at least $20k simply so I could say I was the first owner.  On the other hand, if my Roadster is well cared for, there is every reason to believe it will likely hold it's value, or not depreciate that much; certainly not by $20k unless I run it into the ground.  My car originally cost $150k and, today, a Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 sells for around $70k; so the car has depreciated by $80,000 just so the original owner could drive it for the first 15,000 miles.  That's pretty mind blowing when you think about it.  The question is, how much more is it going to depreciate?  That is unknown but my guess is that due to the extreme rarity of the car, I believe at least the Sport 2.5 model is likely to hold it's value at this level for the foreseeable future unless you put an excessive number of miles on it.  Of course, like any investment, I don't have a crystal ball that tells me the absolute future.  What I do know is that, historically, extremely rare sports cars, especially ones with historical value, tend to hold their value quite well over time.  We will see.  One thing to consider is that the older model Roadsters, the 1.5 2008 models, generally sell for almost $20,000 less than the 2.5, somewhere in the low to mid $50,000 range.  These cars will still give you a great Tesla Roadster driving experience for a lot less money.  On the other hand, they are more likely to have maintenance costs and their batteries will have much less life in them.
10. How important are maintenance costs to you? This one is a bit tricky.  A Tesla Roadster has almost no maintenance costs..that is..until it does.  The known regular maintenance costs are an annual service/checkup which costs about $600 at the Tesla shop, tires, which are only rated for 7,000 miles, and...well..and..that's about it.  The brakes last forever, because you hardly ever use them.  The regenerative braking is amazing and very cool.  The motor is rated as 'millions of miles' and the chances of you having issues with it are extremely low.  There are really only two things which can cost a lot of money on a Tesla Roadster and they are the PEM and the batteries.  The PEM is the main electronics control unit for the car, the brain, which can cost upwards of $8,500 to replace if you can't get it refurbished.  What are the chances of the PEM going bad? From what I understand, relatively low, but non-zero.  If you have a newer car, a 2010-2011 model, one that has a decent number of miles on it so that it has had any possible glitches already shaken out, I believe it's unlikely you will have a problem.  The elephant in the room, of course, is the batteries.  The batteries are 100% guaranteed going to be need to be replaced over the lifetime of the car.  Not necessarily during the time you own the car, but definitely by someone, some day.  They don't last forever and, over time, the range and capacity decreases which diminishes both the value and utility of the vehicle.  When new, the batteries were rated for a 245 mile 'ideal' range.  For the sake of comparison, my car is a 2010 model with 19,000 miles on it and my rating on a range charge is 210 miles.  Not that bad really, I've only lost 15% capacity during that time.  However, as time goes on, this will steadily go down and may impact the range to such an extent that you find the car no longer practical or useful.  Eventually the car will need a new battery pack and the price of that is, cha-ching, $29,000.  The cool and exciting news is that Tesla now offers a 3.0 battery upgrade which extends the range of the car dramatically.  So, while it is quite expensive, it also makes your car much more useful and will definitely increase the resale value.  Tesla claims the 3.0 battery upgrade offers a '400 mile range' but, in reality, people who have received the upgrade report something closer to the mid 300's; which is still phenomenal for an electric vehicle.  Obviously, these kinds of dollar amounts might make you feel faint but, remember, we are talking about an exotic sports car here.  By comparison a Ferrari 360 has regularly scheduled maintenance costs that are upwards of $5,000.  Realize this is just 'maintenance' when there isn't even anything wrong with the car! Ferrari's have hundreds of things in them that can go wrong, each of which can cost thousands of dollars to repair.  Another thing to consider about maintenance is something so scary that I'm almost afraid to talk about it; I don't want to jinx anything.  The good news? Your Tesla Roadster is a super rare car.  The bad news?  Your Tesla Roadster is a super rare car!!!  If you own a used Corvette, you can get parts and repair from hundreds of locations.  Even if you own a Ferrari 360; remember that there are 10 times more 360's on the road than there are Roadsters.  When you consider the 360 and the 430 combined, there are even more than that.  Ferrari is very happy to sell you parts for their old cars; they will never abandon you.  Of course not, that's how they make a fortune!  On the other hand, Tesla had Lotus build a certain number of Roadsters, and that's all that exist on the planet earth.  The vehicle is practically a one-off custom car; all carbon fiber panels, and there is no after-market source for anything.  If anything gets damaged on your Roadster, you could be completely up shit creek trying to get a part or a repair.  This is my biggest fear owning the vehicle.  There are definitely downsides to owning such a rare specialty car.

Well, that's my list.  I hope I have given you a lot to think about in your decision making process.  You will note that I didn't talk much about 'range'.  The car has plenty of range for most day to day driving.  People owning exotic sports cars are generally pretty stingy about how many stupid highway miles they put on them anyway.  Obviously, you cannot just drive cross country in a Roadster and it is very important to note that the Roadster cannot use the new Tesla superchargers; and never will.  You can (with an adapter) use public charging station and 'destination' charging stations at hotels.  If you get the 3.0 battery upgrade, you will likely never have any real range anxiety.  

To close out, here are some pictures of my Roadster I've taken since I got it.