Validate my justification to convince wife

[Donald Stanfield]

I don't know your personal situation OP but it sounds like this purchase might use other funds that you should be using elsewhere. Your wife is probably making the right call here financially and using words like discount and value when it comes to a purchase like this one isn't really fair or realistic. This car is a waste of money and there is no real other way to slice it.

To be fair to Rivian tons of things are wastes of money, pretty much anything that's not going to make you money or save you time should be considered a waste of money. The only stuff Rivian does significantly better than a much cheaper vehicle is go fast while being able to haul stuff. You don't need one vehicle to do both of those things and these vehicles are way over the top on purpose. It's a Halo car.

Now if you can waste that money and not compromise your financial security or more important things then go for it. It's a pretty great truck and I really enjoy mine. There isn't a vehicle on this planet that I'd compromise my financial future to get though.

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[MidnightRivian]

Do you really want to be the richest person in the cemetery??

Trade one car in towards the Rivian and enjoy your life.

Overtime cost of ownership spread out along with low fuel costs will help you justify the vehicle from a financial standpoint.

Most folks who like to count beans forget to put a valuation on what I call smiles per miles.

The smiles per miles count for Rivian is off the chart and take a look at what vehicle I come from.

I know your feeling and I drove a sedan with a power to weight ratio of 11.64. The R1S has a power to weight ratio of 8.45

I am overall very pleased with the performance of my car and did not want to make any compromise when I switched to a SUV.

The R1S is a no compromise type of SUV.

I plan to take road trips to create memories with my family around USA to check out our national parks states I have lived in and drive up to Canada as well.

Aim to be the happiest person in the cemetary.

Remember what Warren said. Price is what you pay, value is what you get.

Here is some eye candy to make your decision just that much harder.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Show her the frunk. I hear women go WILD for men with a big frunk!

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Your logic is good but why isn't the wife onboard? If you have two paid off cars it sounds like she might be against financing it or buying another car when (in her mind) the cars you have are perfectly fine.

Financially she is going to win there is no way around that. Now practically the R1S is a much nicer vehicle, has a great warranty, has great resale value, and checks almost every box.

If you can afford to you should but if it will put you in an uncomfortable situation financially it may not be a good idea.

These decisions are tough. Maybe sit down together and go over the pros and cons?

 

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

It's win-win to unload the Infiniti and pick up the Rivian. If you can fold it into the transaction you may pay less sales tax (check your state). Then you've got a vehicle at a $30,000 discount.

Drive it for a few months and see what you think. See what she thinks.

If you love it, you find a way to keep it. (Turo would be a way to make a little money on the side.)

If you hate it, or hate the financial suck feeling, you sell it for asking or a little more. Then you're in the market for a new vehicle, which you wanted anyhow because you hate the Infiniti.

It's conceivable that you could drive the Rivian for 3-4 years (which was the length of time you thought you'd keep the Infiniti?) and still break even on the sale, depending on what happens in the EV market. Certainly some Tesla folks have sold their multi-year old vehicles for scratch.

If you bought the Infiniti and hate it... here's a thought: maybe your wife doesn't trust your chooser any more. Like, maybe she's concerned you'll buy this one and hate it too in a few months or years. Is that possible?

 

[Kärsti]

I hemmed and hawed about the price (pre march reservation holder) for a long time, until my partner said 'you are in your 40's and have never owned a new car, unclench'. That helped some......

 

[dradam]

If I ever had any doubts they were wiped away during my test drive. At pre march pricing with tax credit, no gas, topping off at home would hate to se you lose this opportunity.

 

[Rainman]

You're in a tough spot (IMO). This isn't about money, it's about emotion ... you want the R1S and as you should, it's really cool and fun to drive. My wife is into cars so my life was easy ... she bought what she wanted and accepted when I wanted to buy my R1T when there was nothing wrong with my old truck. So ... is there anything else she really wants that you're not totally on board with? Get on board and horse trade - good luck

 

[SASSquatch]

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.

Very wise decision. Have you looked at the electric mini cooper? They are an absolute blast to drive (no stick however) and is a perfect fun car with practically zero maintenance (except tires) and will set you back less than half the Rivian.

 

[swaggner]

If I had all of the money back that I’ve spent on cars over the years…

…I would probably buy more cars.

 

[iansriv]

Do you really want to be the richest person in the cemetery??

Trade one car in towards the Rivian and enjoy your life.

Overtime cost of ownership spread out along with low fuel costs will help you justify the vehicle from a financial standpoint.

Most folks who like to count beans forget to put a valuation on what I call smiles per miles.

The smiles per miles count for Rivian is off the chart and take a look at what vehicle I come from.

I know your feeling and I drove a sedan with a power to weight ratio of 11.64. The R1S has a power to weight ratio of 8.45

I am overall very pleased with the performance of my car and did not want to make any compromise when I switched to a SUV.

The R1S is a no compromise type of SUV.

I plan to take road trips to create memories with my family around USA to check out our national parks states I have lived in and drive up to Canada as well.

Aim to be the happiest person in the cemetary.

Remember what Warren said. Price is what you pay, value is what you get.

Here is some eye candy to make your decision just that much harder.

You're a bad influence.

 

[iansriv]

I never ask for permission. I do whatever I want. I buy whatever I like. And I like sleeping on the sofa. Just joking. Before we got married we had a little chat and agreed that I would not get involved with anything to do with the house (buying, selling, furniture, upgrades) and she would not get involved with the cars or the garage (otherwise known as Ian's kingdom). It's worked out quite well. The sofa's a bit hard to sleep on but I'm a man of my word so I don't say anything.

Work it out together. If you have to work too hard to convince her then you know it's not the right decision. All the best mate.

 

[JamboF4]

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.

Ridiculous. Handle your own personal s**t!

 

[Count Orlok]

if cost is driving the decision trade the infinitiii for a horse and buggy.

 

[Trandall]

@teej anyone is crazy to forego R1S pre price hike reservation. If your wife doesn't like the whole deal after you buy it just sell it for your all in price. If you feel that's a real possibility keep the Infinity and only sell that after the R1S has full buy in from wifey. Hell I'll make you even on the R1S if you don't like it.

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