Validate my justification to convince wife

[teej]

I have a Dec 2021 R1S reservation for $78,800 and I signed the BPA to also qualify for the $7500 rebate, bringing my net price to ~ $71k. It will cost me around $99k now for a similar configuration because of the post Mar 2021 price increase and because I would have to add the all-terrain upgrade to try and mirror my current configuration as much as possible. And no rebate. So about a $28k difference.

Now here's the conundrum. We don't really need a new car. I would love to replace our 2017 Infiniti QX60, but its paid off and running fine. Hate driving that thing, but I also have my paid-off 2020 Model 3 "sleeper" performance and my wife and I drive both 50:50. I had put a deposit down on the R1S thinking that we would replace the QX by the time we get delivery, but my wife was never completely on board and definitely isn't now either. She's not into cars, and yes, we probably can spend our hard-earned $s on other things or maybe just save more. But I really want the R1S! And now I have a guide assigned and need to confirm my configuration.

I'm thinking about approaching this from a financial perspective and explaining to her that in the long run getting the Rivian at the pre-March 2021 pricing, with the $7500 rebate, is an opportunity that we will never get again. I'm also thinking that if we keep the R1S for 7-8 years, our total cost of ownership will probably not be too bad, given the lower initial price + rebate. And we'll probably still end up replacing the QX60 in the next 3-4 years anyways, and who knows what we do at that point.

Tell me if my justification has holes in it or if anyone has other convincing tidbits that I can add.

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[SASSquatch]

Financially, I can't really get on board with your decision to purchase the R1S - even with the pre-March 2021 pricing. You've got a paid off vehicle that runs perfectly fine and you are contemplating replacing it with a $78K vehicle.

With taxes, destination fee, and registration fees - etc. You are looking at closer to $87 or 88K. The rebate would come after the sale so it won't help with reducing the cost of the vehicle for tax purposes.

If you trade in the Infiniti - which I assume that you would, that would obviously help reduce the overall purchase price and the taxes.

You should also contact your insurance company and see what adding an R1S to your policy will mean for your insurance rates. Some people are paying significant premiums for driving an R1T or R1S and given the significant repair costs for R1T/R1S's that have been reported thus far (including vehicles being totaled for not a lot of damage) you could get sticker shock for how much more you will be paying.

The other thing to factor is - how far are you from a Rivian SC? SInce the R1S is a first generation vehicle from a new company, expect to have more than average service issues that will require traveling to a SC which could be a hassle. How would your wife respond to that?

Financially, this doesn't make sense - you are going to be spending a significant amount of money on a purchase that will depreciate over time.

The best financial decision would be to continue driving your Infinity and invest the money you'd otherwise be spending on an R1S and let that money work for you.

On the other side of the coin - buying and driving an R1S would be more environmentally conscious than continuing to drive an ICE vehicle. I don't know if your wife would be swayed by an argument for reducing your carbon footprint.

Finally - if it were me, I would rent one on Turo first for a few days if that is an option for you and get a sense of how the R1S drives, and how it fits your daily needs. If you can convince your wife to go along with that, she might appreciate the advantages of the R1S over your Infinity.

Good luck.

 

[W1SE]

You know, sometimes you have to have a mid-life crisis.

If you don’t splurge a lot and are very fiscally conservative then That’s great. But honestly just have a mid-life crisis. Haha.

I did it and my wife was not in board. But 6 months later she realized how great it was. She is very happy we got it and realized what a great deal we got.

And the nice thing is if you realize you don’t want it after a few weeks then sell it. You are in a good spot to still sell right away. very least you can not be in the hole.

DO IT

 

[crashmtb]

Buying a car is always a dumb financial decision.

however, replacing a car you hate driving with one you can say “look dear, it was ON SALE!” is prudent and wise. Plus it has tiny running costs, is way faster, and way cooler.

 

[s00n]

Don’t overthink it. My wife was on the fence until she realized there was a “huge spot under the dash” to put her purse. She was hooked at that point, and it’s the first thing she tells friends when we have them in for the first time. Also, and this was a slow roll, she loves how fast as F it is. She says her new Cayenne S is too slow now.

 

[AxelR]

Do it for the planet ?

 

[McMoo]

If you like cars and can afford it and it’s not a stretch financially, go for it. There’s not a financial justification to spend $60k (assuming qx60 is worth $20k - $25k) the only justification is that you want it, which is fine. We had the exact same cars as you earlier this year. We hated our qx60 so much (many issues, but we bought cpo and warranty was about to expire) so got my wife a telluride, which she loves, then I traded up from the model 3 performance to an R1S a few months later. It wasn’t cheap, but didn’t stretch us and we both have cars that we enjoy and will easily keep for 10+ years.

 

[Dr Medjools]

Buying a car is always a dumb financial decision.

however, replacing a car you hate driving with one you can say “look dear, it was ON SALE!” is prudent and wise. Plus it has tiny running costs, is way faster, and way cooler.

I have a Dec 2021 R1S reservation for $78,800 and I signed the BPA to also qualify for the $7500 rebate, bringing my net price to ~ $71k. It will cost me around $99k now for a similar configuration because of the post Mar 2021 price increase and because I would have to add the all-terrain upgrade to try and mirror my current configuration as much as possible. And no rebate. So about a $28k difference.

Now here's the conundrum. We don't really need a new car. I would love to replace our 2017 Infiniti QX60, but its paid off and running fine. Hate driving that thing, but I also have my paid-off 2020 Model 3 "sleeper" performance and my wife and I drive both 50:50. I had put a deposit down on the R1S thinking that we would replace the QX by the time we get delivery, but my wife was never completely on board and definitely isn't now either. She's not into cars, and yes, we probably can spend our hard-earned $s on other things or maybe just save more. But I really want the R1S! And now I have a guide assigned and need to confirm my configuration.

I'm thinking about approaching this from a financial perspective and explaining to her that in the long run getting the Rivian at the pre-March 2021 pricing, with the $7500 rebate, is an opportunity that we will never get again. I'm also thinking that if we keep the R1S for 7-8 years, our total cost of ownership will probably not be too bad, given the lower initial price + rebate. And we'll probably still end up replacing the QX60 in the next 3-4 years anyways, and who knows what we do at that point.

Tell me if my justification has holes in it or if anyone has other convincing tidbits that I can add.

What do you look plan to do with the R1S? That’s the key factor here. I’m confused by your financial case but I’ll assume you are getting a ‘deal’ by having locked in the price.

So back to the argument: what can the R1S do that your current cars can’t? Is it important to you? To her?

How long do you keep cars? In principle - and my R1T has been flawless in 16 K miles - the upkeep and reliability of an EV car is so much more than an ICE car. So many fewer moving parts, lubrication, fluids, etc. Even batteries losing range in 100K miles can be compensated by a newer set of batteries which will be commonplace in 10 years. I factored that in that I expect have the R1T until I’m dead. Not exciting but a bargaining point!

Lastly as others have said, where do you live? What’s the charging environment over a few years? I’m in Cali and it will only get better. Not so likely in coal country.

But if you have the good pricing like I had last December, it is a good financial deal as compared to buying any new car. If you don’t need one for any reason, then spend money elsewhere.

Dr Medjools

 

[COdogman]

The pre 3/22 discount is great but it’s still a huge purchase, so it’s hard to make real financial case for buying it.

If you can charge at home it’s likely you will spend next to nothing on that except for road trips. I don’t even have an L2 charger in my garage and I’ve only spent $17 at an EA station and that was mostly to just try it out. I just plug in the L1 slow charger every time I get home and that has worked for me so far.

Other than that you can make a case that it’s better for the planet or EVs require less maintenance than ICE vehicles, although that’s a crapshoot with a new company.

Bottom line is you will never get an EV like the quad R1S at a price like that ever again.

 

[TexasBob]

Has your wife driven the R1S? If she has not, get her behind the wheel, call the guide. My 2 cents, if you guys are not on same page with buying a car then you need to let it go. It is a very expensive luxury purchase.

 

[EVentually]

Discounts mean nothing unless you intend on realizing those gains. As others have said, it's never a financially prudent decision to buy a car. It's really more a question of the incremental quality of life gain you get by purchasing it vs whatever else you'd do with the money.

 

[teej]

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone! My heart wants to get it, but overall I’m now leaning towards letting it go, seems to be the more prudent financial decision, even though we definitely are environmentally conscious. Just have to postpone switching out our 2nd ICE with an EV. There definitely are a number of other things as well where it will be wiser for us to put our money. And we certainly don’t have an endless supply. You know what, this way I can still keep dreaming of getting a fun used stick shift some day (as clean as possible), something I’ve been planning on doing ever since I sold my Cooper S years ago and got my first automatic. I definitely won’t be allowed to get an R1S AND a fun stick for the weekend.

 

[SANZC02]

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone! My heart wants to get it, but overall I’m now leaning towards letting it go, seems to be the more prudent financial decision, even though we definitely are environmentally conscious. Just have to postpone switching out our 2nd ICE with an EV. There definitely are a number of other things as well where it will be wiser for us to put our money. And we certainly don’t have an endless supply. You know what, this way I can still keep dreaming of getting a fun used stick shift some day (as clean as possible), something I’ve been planning on doing ever since I sold my Cooper S years ago and got my first automatic. I definitely won’t be allowed to get an R1S AND a fun stick for the weekend.

Definitely a good choice, these are not vehicles you can make a financial case to purchase. They really need to come from a toy fund.

 

[jjswan33]

If you believe a decked out R1S is worth $99k it seems kinda silly to not buy it for a final price of $71k.

If you love it you can have a great car you can drive and have little maintenance for 5 years (probably tires and that’s it). If you don’t like it you can sell it after a year and probably recuperate most/all of your investment.

Also I don’t know what the mileage on your paid off car is but what are the maintenance and repair costs going to be on that over the next 5-6 years. Also fuel cost comparison? Insurance? Etc.

 

[Cycliste]

I worked like a dog for 30 years with 75% of the time on call (people now are trying to avoid this work life balance.) It was fairly easy to save for retirement because I was paid well and never had time to spend any of it.

My consumption hasn’t been remotely smooth over my life. My heirs aren’t going to drive an Impreza. It’s taken eight years to switch to spend mode and plunk down this kind of cash for a vehicle. Realistically, I probably only have another 20 years of safe driving left in me. At a certain age, you also don’t want to manage many possessions and that limits your consumption.

So you both have to ask where you are in life and how smooth do you want your consumption to be over your life.

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