New model y

If you go used, make sure its a late month production 23 and up so it has the HW4 computer and cameras. Anything older already is too slow to run the newest FSD software

Go new!!

Getting used teslas on a website like carvanna or the actual Tesla inventory

Because i’ve read that people bought used teslas and the batteries were not the best

New and finance it. Free money. Invest your 25k in a 3-4% money market at the minimum or index fund.

Just buy new. Normally you get a better deal with used but you really don’t know what the high voltage battery will be like.

I need you as a friend.

First and foremost. Can you easily charge?

Get a Vin for the year, and color you want and price out insurance now. I’m also 23 and took me a few quotes to get under $150 a month.

Would the down payment not be worth it?

Are you rich? It's none of my business but if you're not wealthy a 23yo should not be buying a new $50k car. Get a used one for half price.

If you can get 0% APR, why would you deploy $25k when you can open a high yield savings account at 3-4% yield? That money would make you $1,000/yr invested there. The only reason you would put this money down is if you cannot control your impulsive spending habits and feel a desire to spend if it's there. Otherwise park the funds in a high yield savings and take the new car at 0%. Enjoy!

Im not rich, but i have saved over 50k since i started working 5yrs ago. Im in the army and dont pay for housing or food. And i will be getting paid if i use my benefits after i leave the army. And i do plan on living with my parents once i get out.

And are used ones reliable? Im not too sure which model to get if i do get a used one

Yeah, if the $25k is a one time thing, please save it and don’t blow it on a new car that you may not be able to afford normally.

I would say new unless you find a really good deal on a refresh used, but it's pretty hard to overcome the 0 percent financing deal unless you find one used that has FSD purchased outright.

You need to research the price differential between new and used to make that determination. From what I've seen the price of used Teslas at places like Car Max and Tesla makes buying used rather expensive. That wasn't always the case. Also, make sure you have a place at your home to charge. If you don't, you might want to add in the cost of purchasing/installing a charger or outlet to your purchase decision whether an EV of any brand is wise. Finally, figure out your total cost of electricity per kWh vs the price of gas. Do not trust the Tesla calculator. Good luck!

Lease a new one. Then you’re only locked in for 3 years at approx $700 a month.

This would be a question better asked in r/finance or other subreddits. Electric vehicles, Tesla in particular, depreciate fast. I saved 20% by buying a year-old used '24 Model Y LR AWD with 12k miles. Seemed like a no brainer for me. I was paying cash so you'd have to do the math on your interest if you finance the rest. From a financial perspective, if you purchase new, others are correct here I would finance the car if it's 0% interest because it's "free money". The cost of my car was $40k after tax, I sold my 9-year old car (previously paid $20k for that) for $7500, so the net cost to me was $32.5. Again, I'm coming from the perspective of never buying a new car simply for the fact that they depreciate as soon as you take them off the lot. I buy my cars and keep them for 5-8 years.

I'll add here, I'm a high earner and in my late 30's. I would never tank 50% of my savings at 23 YO for a $50k car.

Get the 1% APR premium awd instead

One real reason to get used not from Tesla is to get autopilot.  I haven't found a need for FSD but autopilot we use a lot.  That alone will save you a fair amount of money over the long run and/or give you a better driving experience if you don't want to sub FSD. Side note: I didn't understand why no one else in this sub seem to have stopped talking about this.  It's a major quality of life change they've locked behind $100/month...

This. Being able to afford the car/insurance/repairs is one thing, but being able to charge at home is almost equally important (sorta).

Put as low down-payment as possible up to 20% of the total cost of the car but not more for 72 months. Invest the rest of your money in an index fund. It’s not worth it to put a large down payment on near 0% APR just to save a couple hundred dollars a month on the car payment. When also factoring in insurance (for 23 yo it’s going to be sky high), maintenance, installing charger at home, and registration.

This right here makes the most sense in your situation.

Congrats on saving while you were in, most of your peers did not. If you're talking about GI Bill money when you get out, just know that is limited and temporary, so I wouldn't want to deplete your savings before then. You said you plan on living with your parents, but you probably don't want to live with them forever so having a fat stack in the bank will be a huge help. For car advice, I am going to strongly suggest used. Buying new is rarely a good idea financially. For context, I'm a couple year post ETS from the Army myself, making a 6 figure salary, and I still can't justify buying a brand new car. That money is better used in my retirement and investment accounts. I recently bought a 22 Model Y Performance with 49k miles for $24.1k ($27k after taxes and fees), put $13k down, financed the rest at 5.45%, and will have it paid off in less than a year. No it's not the juniper, but it's less than half the price as one and is definitely not half the car. Also it still has 4 years/70k miles on the battery/motor warranty. TLDR: don't go blowing all your money on a new car, there are good deals to be had in the used market. Transitioning out of the military is not a great time to be taking on a ton of debt. Don't forget to get insurance quotes before you buy because it'll likely be higher than you think.

Yeah, autopilot is free on Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Look more into the battery degradation that’s not accurate. A lot of batteries degrade quite rapidly I think in the first year or something like that and then it tapers off.  Battery degradation was a concern on the more original EV’s I looked into all this and I literally just bought a used model y 2021 for around 25K with 45K miles because buying new didn’t make any financial sense to me.

Bro get a used Corolla. Not a 50k car at 23. Don't make the same dumb mistake every young kid in the army makes

I’d look into insurance first and see how much they will cost ya. At 23 yo, I’d assume at least $300~500 range per month. Insurance for EV is almost double compared to ICE cars. Just make sure you do proper research before pulling the trigger. If you do decide to get, I’d get 0% new no doubt

If ever you go new, take advantage of that 0.99% financing. Do not put huge Downpayment, put as little as possible, possibly just pay the tax and fees upfront, and get it for 72 months. Put that $25k in HYSA that yields around 3.5% interest

And almost every other ev.  My 2018 Nissan leaf has it

Get a used one, you will lose $10k just driving it off the lot. You can get a 2024 HW4 for $30-35k and if you can wait a few months, there will be a record # off lease (prob another $5k+ drop). Remember your NEW Tesla will be a USED Tesla the second you own it, do you believe it will have battery problems and fall apart in a year?

I would wait until they fix the front suspension clunking noise before buying, it’s being widely reported.

Leaving the service: 1. Join USAA if you haven’t yet. Best service of any insurance and usually best rates, plus ancillary financial benefits 2. Register with ID.me. Frequently have additional discounts available on shopping.id.me for Tesla. (Like finding free money). 3. Strongly consider used and cheaper Tesla. Your savings can be conserved for other things (like down payment on condo or house), but if you blow it on a car down payment it’s gone.

Buy a used Tesla. The batteries are warrantied for 8 years/120k miles (Long Range versions). Plus they don't fail often anyway - less than an engine or transmission- its a scare tactic to try to get you to buy a gas car is all. Since you have $25k saved up buy the best one you can with $25k! Or stretch a little and find a late '23 or '24 USED that has HW4 (Hardware 4 - latest computer for FSD) and get a small loan of $5k or something MAX and pay it off in less than a year. DO NOT BUY NEW at that age!

Except a $25k Tesla paid-for is better than a $55k Tesla at 0% you'll pay for eventually that you got "oooh" a whole $4k back on via investment money! Dude is 23! No reason to get 'new'.

What if you have the cash to buy it outright- would it still make sense the invest that money instead and take the 0% APR?

Did you get an estimate for the car insurance? It could be surprisingly high for your age.

Buy a used 2024 with hw4 and save yourself 25%. After you drive the new car for a few months it will be used also... You know the saying "all cars on the road are used". If you had a few hundred thousand saved up I'd say go for new but you can get everything you want for 27k if you are willing to get a used car with 20k miles. This way you have virtually no payment. If you a smart about your money you can make it go much further. You will still have some warranty on the car and still a lengthy warranty on baytery and drivetrain. Unless you HAVE to have new...

As someone with a 2022 model s at 22. Don’t put 25k down, put 8k down. Put the money somewhere where it will yield a higher interest rate than the car payment. Cash is king, keep the cash

Also if you live at home make double payments on it. You’ll be paid off in 2 years 8 months

Not at zero percent. Assuming you can make the monthly payment comfortably with zero to little down. In a pinch you can pull your investment money to pay your bill. Anecdotally, I had 30k positive equity. Sold the car. I bought the new performance and financed all of it at 4%. Put all of the 30k into investments. It's made little but lost nothing - if I had it on a 0% loan it's guaranteed no gain.

Yes. 0% Apr is free money if you can actually keep yourself from spending that money and investing it instead If you have 0 savings but just got a 25k inheritance, you prob can't trust yourself to not spend the 25k and putting it as a down payment could be the right move 0% Apr is zero inflation and zero cost to carry debt. Your dollar tomorrow pays more against this loan than today's dollar. Meanwhile, that dollar can grow

At 23 I would say get a used one if you have somewhere at home that you can charge conveniently and consistently. If not, get the used Corolla like u/fallislive said. No apartment, no if you plan to get an apartment. Edit: yes, used ones are reliable

I'm not sure where you live but before you buy this car, check into insurance costs. I'm almost 60, perfect driving record, been with State Farm for close to 30 years, and I'm getting absolutely soaked on insurance on a '26 Model Y AWD. $350/mo. I was paying $200/mo on the '23 Rav4 Prime I traded in for the Tesla. You're under 25 so your insurance rates are going to be pretty rough. But I'm also in a part of SoCal which has one of the highest insurance rates in the US so there's that....

0% is free money. Just put the $25k on SPY or something (you can even yield farm stable coins with no volatility for 4%)

Agreed. Time spent in the market investing is huge. The more you can load into an investment account early in your career, the better. Student loans kept me from investing consistently/heavily until I was about 30 and I have friends who started with this kind of money and those stacks are six figures now. A $50k car at 23 if you don’t come from money is absolutely crazy

Only if he can afford the monthly payment with less money down.

Dang I wish I would have considered that back when I paid for it outright last year. Thanks for this insight! That's a very interesting perspective but it makes a lot of sense

this just isn't true re: insurance.

At 23 yo, get used. After 3-5 years, something new and shiny will be out with a great off that will interest you again and you can buy it then after trading in a fully paid car.

Pay cash for a used one, put the 600 a months in an index fund and never stop. You’ll be retired at 50. Keep the new car mentality and you will work till you’re 70.

You're not gonna lose a life changing amount of money, but 0% should always be seen as free money if you can be responsible with not spending it elsewhere Even at 2-4%, since I don't spend, I'll win money by investing instead of putting more down. My mindset is that tomorrow's dollar is worth less, so if I can get this with tomorrow's dollar for no penalty, I'm gonna do that

My insurance rates are exactly the same as for my 22 MYP as they were for 11 Mazda 5 and it is $10 a month cheaper than the same insurance on my wife's 16 year old Prius. (neither of us have any accidents or tickets in our history) Area really does matter a lot for insurance. (suburban Atlanta)

You could own a used one for that. That is $25K. I bought a 22 MYP last year for that.

Even if you pull from the invested principle to make the payment, it's still the correct advice.

Terrible. I’m paying 570 financed for 72 months at 1%.

It's none of my business how anyone spends their money....but if I could go back to being in your position now, as someone 25 years older than you? Invest at least half that money. $25k invested at your age can grow tremendously and absolutely change your whole life in 20 years' time. Get yourself a nice used model Y if you want one. For $25k you can buy a lot of really nice used cars that won't give you much trouble.

Personally I would never buy new because I don’t like how depreciation puts you upside down on the loan.  But if I was you I would be tempted to so it with. 36 month loan.  Yeah you pay $460 a month. or so, but  the difference is that you are never upside down.  But if you get a used model y the 2023 are where you need to be. Otherwise new is better.