Friends, my Tesla is on charge right there.
And today I will share
how I bought Tesla model 3, my dream car
as a middle class software engineer.
How much did it cost and how I did the financial planning?
Let's get started.
So let's start with the reasons why I went for Tesla Model 3
than any other electric car or any other car.
First of all, let me tell you, whenever I parked my car,
I used to see these free charging stations.
I once asked the leasing office of my apartment complex
if the charging stations were actually free.
Is there an appointment involved? How convenient is the charging process.
He told us that there are fourteen chargers in our building.
And you do not need an appointment. You can come here any time
charge, and then go back to your charging spots.
So it's very convenient.
And not just this. The day when I rented a Tesla to office,
I noticed we have EV parking specially for Tesla as well.
I usually go by cycling.
But when I realised there's free charging in office as well,
I was like, "Wow! It's so convenient!"
Once a week I can go by car.
And then charge by the time I am done with my office work
this car will be fully charged.
So convenient, isn't it?
So when I got to know that something free is happening
due to this car
then why not go for it?
And number 2 reason - I actually care about the environment.
Even if you do your research, you might think
the amount of pollution or gases released
by making batteries for these electric cars
that might be worse than a petrol or diesel car
but that's actually not true.
Initially the energy required
to make these batteries to make these Tesla or any other Electric car
might be more
but overall in the life cycle of an electric car,
in 3-4 years, the gases or green house gases
emitted by electric cars are far less
than a petrol or a diesel car.
So actually for this reason, electric cars are better for the environment.
That is why I thought of buying an electric car
for the future.
Because it's not the future. It's the present for me now.
Now. Last but not the least.
Whenever you take any financial decision,
you always think about the long term.
And by buying Tesla, I actually thought about it
because I believe in Tesla brand
and the resale value of this car doesn't reduce.
It is always increasing.
If I have bought it today, it's gonna sell for
probably almost the same amount in the next two years
or even more than what I bought for in 2022.
And also I am a big fan of Tesla more than a fan of Elon Musk.
Because a lot of people hate him because he actually makes people
work a lot.
So currently if you have read the news that he recently said
that you have to be in office as a Tesla employee for 40 hours minimum
in person.
And the other companies gives you the freedom to work from home as well.
But he was brutal in that sense.
So I am a big fan of Tesla for the ecosystem.
Other companies are maybe making an electric company.
But Tesla is making an ecosystem
with more than 30,000 superchargers
in the world.
Even if some third party electric car company enters this market,
they will have little bit to at least 10-20% dependency on Tesla
to survive in this market.
So Tesla is to live for a pretty long time.
So the resale value is gonna increase a lot.
So these- oh gosh!
So these were some reasons why I went for this car.
Before telling you how I bought it,
let's go back to the date when I ordered this car.
So today is 21st February and I have finally decided
to order my dream car - Tesla model 3.
So I am gonna go for the long range model
because I need maximum range
So Model 3 is 40,000 dollars.
And Model 3 Long Range is around 46,000 dollars.
But that is after potential savings.
You can change the purchase price above. Then you will realise that
that it is actually 50,990 dollars for long range.
I want the maximum miles because
I am planning to go for longer road trips.
Now moving on with the paint.
I am such a guy who doesn't care about looks.
I care more about the soul of a person or ever a car (why not).
More than looks- Unless it's a colour I don't like at all..
So white is a decent colour. I love it.
Now wheels. Once again, I am not gonna spend on sport wheels.
I am gonna go with the default wheels
because I will get more range with that.
Now, interior. Honestly, white looks more like a spaceship
but it's gonna be black because it's free.
Now, full self driving capability.
I personally feel like adding it.
I will love it.
But, there's a trick.
You should take the subscription model.
Because with subscription model,
anytime you wish to cancel, you can cancel it.
So let's say that one day I am going on a long trip - Atlanta to Austin
I can add it for that month and cancel it for the rest of the year.
So I'll be saving more money and spending only 200 dollars
for that year.
So that's why I am not gonna add it right now.
I'm gonna remove it
and then place my order.
If I had added, then it would have been 64,000 dollars.
But no! We are gonna do it without the full self driving ability.
Now, the total cost is going to be around 52,000 dollars.
And today I just have to pay 250 dollars
and I'll see you all in May because the schedule
or the possible delivery is between
May-June.
When the VIN number will be announced-
when they will assign a VIN number to my car,
then they will ask me for the rest of the payment.
See you then.
So finally let's talk about how I was able to afford this car
as a middle class software engineer.
I never had any greed in my life.
I believe that- I don't want to be the richest person.
I don't want a Tesla at 23, or a house at 28
or cars or bungalows.
These were never my dream.
My dream is to live a balanced life.
Everyday I must feel like I am the happiest person.
Physically, emotionally and mentally well being
is success for me.
So now let's talk about how I could afford it.
In India if you go to buy a car, everyone advises you
That's what is going on YouTube nowadays.
If you want to buy a 70 lac car,
you have to earn a crore first.
Because 30% is tax.
So if you earn a crore,
only then you will have the status to buy a 70 lakh car.
I never thought like this.
I always thought that I am gonna finance it
and I was getting an interest rate of 1.75 percent.
And all the money I have - if I invest it
then I will get 7-10 percent return
per percent.
Per year.
So
actually by financing the car
I'm making money.
The interest in India might be 8-10 percent.
So it's not that worth it.
But for me, in the US, it's the best decision to buy a car on a loan.
Now let's talk about the cost.
Let's start with an Excel sheet.
As you saw, this car cost 52,440.
And right now, if you go to buy this car in June
Tesla model 3,
Long Range,
it will cost you 57,440 because
the value of this car has actually increased
because of chip shortage, supply demand and also EV
is in the boom!
EV, I think is no more the future. It's the present because
petrol and diesel charges
has increased too much
In LA it's like 8 dollars again. So the demand has increased as well.
And since I saved 5000 dollars,
so I added a full self driving ability in this costing 12,000 dollars
because - I saved 5000 dollars.
And I thought, if I am planning to own this car for more than 4 years,
full self driving - if I buy it per month, it will be 200 dollars.
But if I buy it all at once
because Elon Musk tweeted that he is planning to increase the cost.
Every year it is increasing. So I thought
let's buy it all together.
And the total car cost became 68,000 dollars.
I was a bit afraid
but then I realised that my net worth is at least this much
that if there's a recession later on, I can pay.
I had done my financial planning in the last two years as an engineer.
Now, let's talk about tax refund.
If you buy a BMW electric car,
be it any other electric car,
you can get 7500 dollar tax
refund in your tax return.
But in Tesla, this doesn't happen anymore. After 2019, you cannot get it.
But I still got 250 dollars
back. That's not countable for that investment.
You can ignore but I got 250 dollars
back in my bank account immediately.
Now, I took a loan from DCU, that is, Digital Federal Credit Union.
That gives amazing interest rate.
They gave me interest rate of lowest 1.75%
Tesla was giving me around 3%
but I went with the lowest one from DCU bank.
Now, that bank told me that "If you open a bank account with us
then only you can get the loan."
And this is an electric car.
They gave me additional 0.5% off.
So usually they are interested in 2.5 percent because
it's an electric car and because I created a bank account with them
it became 1.75 percent.
Now, I financed it for 65 months.
My per month payment will be around 1050 dollars.
And for the first three months,
I don't need to pay for anything
and I also sold my Toyota Corolla
three months ago for 13,000 dollars.
I had bought it for 10,000 dollar.
I made 3000 dollars by selling the car
in the hot market right now.
So basically.. you can think
for the next two years, I don't have to worry about my car payment because
I am paying through the money that I got from my older car.
Now, let's talk about what's the actual cost of this car for me.
And my girlfriend has a business.
So I have bought this car 50% on my name and 50% on her name
and she is gonna drive this car for her business
so it is 50% used for business expenses.
This is why I will get 50% tax write off
through this car.
So let me explain what is tax write off.
Let's say your income is 100 Rupees.
If you are a service person, you will pay 30% tax.
You will have Rupees 70 left.
But if you are a businessman,
then you can buy a car for 50
and an apartment or house for 30 Rupees
you have 20 Rupees left. That is your profit.
As a businessman, you pay taxes on your profit
not on your income.
But as a service person, as an employee, you pay
on your income.
That's why you get tax write off. You have a lot of benefits if you
buy a car for business.
This is not in the name of a business but this will be used for business.
So I will be getting a lot of tax write off.
I have checked with my tax account.
Now, let's talk about my yearly savings.
I checked on my Tesla mobile app
that I have been driving around 1000 miles a month.
I'll be saving upto 2000 dollars per year
depending on Georgia gas prices.
Right now, the petrol prices are so much that I'll be saving 2000 dollars.
If I was in LA, it would have been ever more.
And my monthly gas or petrol savings would be 166 dollars.
It will be around 358 dollars.
That is amazing. Since I always charge in my apartment building,
I don't even have to pay the electricity bill
for this charging. So it's amazing.
I can charge in my office, I can charge at home.
So it's amazing!
Now, let's talk about my corolla. When I had a corolla,
my monthly car payment was 200 dollars
insurance was 250 dollars
total used to be 570 dollars per month.
But through this car, it is currently 358 dollars
If you add the insurance as well because right now
my insurance has decreased first of all.
And I bought insurance through my family.
Not my family in the US but my girlfriend's family.
And you get multi-car discounts.
Because of that, it is less than 100 dollars per month for me.
So my total car cost or total cost of this Tesla Model 3
per month for me right now is 458 dollars or even less than that.
So that's including insurance, including...
charging, everything. It's less than 500 dollars per month.
So I personally feel
proud that I did the financial planning well
and I made sure to involve the business as well.
So that's why- that's a huge trick!
If you create a business,
as an international student it is difficult. But I didn't create any.
But if you do so in India,
it can save you a lot of taxes.
So do your financial planning properly.
So best of luck!
I hope this video was informative.
Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.
And remember, EV or electric car is no more the future.
It can be our present!
Thank you so much for watching!