Detailed Answer:
Step 1: Look at Line 11 on your 2022 Tax return (Form 1040).
Step 1a: For the vast majority of taxpayers this won't apply: Add to Step 1 any income from Puerto Rico you excluded, any housing exclusion foreign income you claimed (Lines 45 and 50 of Form 2555), and American Samoa residential income excluded (Line 15 of Form 4563).
Step 2: If that number is less than:
$300,000 Married Filing Jointly
$225,000 Head of Household
$150,000 Single and any other filing status
then continue to Step 3. Otherwise, you currently DO NOT qualify for any rebate, and will need to reduce that number on your 2023 Tax return below those limits. You can reduce that number by traditional 401k contributions, or some small-business options.
Step 3: Look at Line 24 on your 2022 Tax return (Form 1040).
- If it is greater than $7,500 and your income in 2023 stays the same or increase, you will get the full $7,500.
- If it is less than that, you get that amount (assuming your income stays the same). If your income increases then you may get a larger refund, up to $7,500.
In other words, in order to get the full tax credit, you must OWE at least $7500 in taxes and be under the income limits.
You absolutely CAN NOT carry over for a few years, or even one more year. It is a one time credit. Any unused credit is LOST!
Q7. Is the new clean vehicle credit refundable or able to be carried forward? (updated March 31, 2023)
A7. The new clean vehicle credit may only be claimed to the extent of reported tax due of the taxpayer and cannot be refunded. The new clean vehicle credit cannot be carried forward to the extent it is claimed for personal use on Form 1040, Schedule 3, Additional Credits and Payments.
from page 3 of this IRS document: https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2023-08.pdf
* If you're concerned about battery degradation, you can take a look at this site [teslalogger.de] (Pull down the menu for Model Y LR)
* If you like to nerd out on graphs, data, and overal health of your vehicle, get a program called teslamate that can be installed on your home server. every time your car parks in your garage it will send driving telemetry data to it with pretty graphs [teslamate.org] and all.
* You can also opt to get teslausb [github.com], which can wirelessly send all your dashcam footage to your home server every time you pull into your garage.
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EV good if you have a dedicated charging station at home.
if you live in an apartment complex or condo its not as consumer friendly, unless you want to pay up the wazoo at supercharger stations and inconvenience yourself by having to go there every time to charge. Go to plugshare.com to see how much you will be paying in your area. Just multiply cents * 45kwh (assuming you're charging from 20% to 80%). For my area I would be paying $20-$25 per charge at a supercharger station. At home, with the national average electrity rate of 0.14 / kwh, it would cost $6
if you live in california, don't forget that you can also get another $2k in CVRP rebate. you get a check in the mail but the wait time is long to get it.
also don't forget about the single occupant HOV lane decal you can sign up at the DMV website.
basic autopilot is more than sufficient. autopilot still has a long ways to go imo. definitely not worth getting the advanced AP and definitely not full self driving at $15k. as MKBHD always says, don't buy a product on a promise of features yet to come.
also, make sure you setup your electricity usage to "time of use" or EV-specific plan as your bill will assuredly go up. Don't be on those tiered plans. Yes, you will end up saving money compared to ICE vehicles paying for gas, unless you get a hybrid, which is a bit more comparable, especially in areas where electricity is expensive.
additionally, people forget that you need to install a wall connector or mobile connector in your home. equipment costs $230 for the mobile connector +$45 for the nema 14-50 adapter, which is good enough especially if you do scheduled charging at night to save on electricity. installation itself will vary depending on your region and how much electricians will charge you, but it can get expensive. just make sure you're not getting ripped off as electricians are aware of the EV craze and asking for higher premiums on them. installation can go anywhere from $1k-$2k+. (according to poster SamirPD, you can ask the electrictian to install a dryer outlet and it should save you money and prevent you from being ripped off). One worthy note, EV charger and installation is tax deductible at 30%, just need to fill out the tax form [irs.gov] when you do your taxes next year. EDIT: SD poster hiro916 indicated that the 30% tax deduction only pertains to low income or rural tract areas, so YMMV [reddit.com].
as for car insurance, I'm paying $95 a month through Geico, but thats with a robust policy.
if you are impatient like me, and want to get one right away without having to wait, go to the waitingfortesla discord server [discord.com] and setup alerts for any time a Model Y drops in your local area. You have to act quick as they get snatched up relatively quickly. You can see whats in inventory on their website too [waitingfortesla.com]. Don't expect to see base model Y LR coming into inventory. If you want to pick something up quick settle for the 20 inch induction wheels (costs $2k extra) as they are more readily available. You can always sell the tires if you want to recoup some of the costs and get an aftermarket hubcap that look better than stock anyhow.
If you're interested in a real world range comparison of current popular EV's check out this YT video [youtube.com].
once you pick up your car you have 100 miles and 7 days to report any defects. panels gaps aren't as much of a problem anymore compared to years past, but be on the lookout for them. paint quality isn't so great out of the factory, mine came with swirl marks all over and had to get it paint corrected.
if you're concerned about battery degradation, you can take a look at this site [teslalogger.de] (select dropdown and look for Y LR AWD US to see the average degradation over time based on mileage. on average after 50k miles you should see about a 10% degradation, and it will degrade more slowly 50k+ miles onwards.
in terms of accessories, the only real requirement imo that you need are mud flaps. reason being is because without them, the rear passenger quarter panels will get hit with rock chips very quickly. tesmanian is a good aftermarket seller, or you can just opt for ones you see on amazon. if you want to go deeper into accessories temu is a great site for low prices compared to amazon.
if you like to nerd out on graphs, data, and overal health of your vehicle, get a program called teslamate that can be installed on your home server. every time your car parks in your garage it will send driving telemetry data to it with pretty graphs [teslamate.org] and all.
you can also opt to get teslausb [github.com], which can wirelessly send all your dashcam footage to your home server every time you pull into your garage.
my personal thoughts on ownership thus far. overall i like it. i am using it as a daily driver / commuter car. i don't think of Model Y and 3 as a 'luxury' vehicle. I see Tesla as a software company trying to be an automaker, and the legacy automakers are trying to be more like Tesla by being more tech focused. Teslas are continuously getting software updates to improve year over year. Interior build quality is spartan, and the ride quality need some improvement, especially if you are in an area with poor road conditions. if you're really into tech like me, this is the car for you. Performance vehicles I still prefer ICE cars over EV's however. first thing you will notice in an EV though, is the instant torque. that is what will grab you immediately.
If you have questions and need instant feedback join the Tesla discord, I'm active on there and other members can assist with questions you may have: https://discord.com/invite/tesla
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Sold my Y and got a Ford Mustang Mach E.
I like the Mach E much more, nicer interior, nicer ride, better handling and better build quality. (all IMHO). What bothered me most with the Y were the rattles.
I do miss the Tesla supercharger network and the Y's roominess but overall happy with the Mach E. The Ford Feels sportier.
Issues? a few minor problems with the Tesla and a few minor problems with Ford. Just the never ending rattles with the Y got to me. Tesla was pretty good at addressing them. One in the roof was never really solved.
Beware of software updates - they do have defects, often. For instance now my car is telling me to go at red lights. Twice in the same drive just after an update. I often have to reboot the car after an update to fix random issues. Once it rebooted while I was on the freeway, scared the crap out of me but driving was not affected and after a few minutes everything came back.
When I build my exact model today, with tow hitch and full self driving, vs buying it today, it costs $8200 more today (without the 7500TC). No idea why but this is 1:1 with my invoice. Probably due to FSD.
It gets loud over time. Creaking, road noise, and a bumpy ride. Definitely not a luxury car.
I like a lot of features, but the fact that Tesla employees have been found to be watching car cameras while in garages and non emergency events concerns me greatly. They have also passed around horrible accident videos across the company as entertainment. I don't really trust the company in this way, no do I really trust their quality testing given how erratic the self driving can behave after an update.
FSD and lane keep assist are not reliable. What I mean is, I only commute a few days a month and I often can't use FSD or even LKA. Too bright and it won't work, same for rain. Not sure how this is supposed to be a "robotaxi" in the future.
These are just my experiences. I'm sure I'll get TD just for saying anything negative about Tesla but whatever.
I love the dog mode, being able to see my dog in car, watching videos on the screen (have 3 kids), remotely opening doors and the trunk and being told when they're open, location tracking and ETA estimates remotely - these are cool and useful features. Saving money on gas and maintenance is huge if you can charge at home.
I've had one maintenance issue where the ceramic tip of one of the charge prongs broke off after using a supercharger, unsure if it's related or nut. Mobile repair came out and fixed it a few days later free of charge but I am under warranty.
If you use dog mode a lot like we do you'll notice the heat pump causes a really bad smell over time, usually about the 1 year mark. This requires filter replacements (which are located under the dash requiring disassembly, Watch on YouTube) and cleaning of the condenser coils to rid, just an fyi. Self maintenance that takes an hour. It's not difficult but not convenient.
Overall the only deal breakers for me is the privacy and quality control of their software. I'm not on the FSD beta, so these bugs I call out are in the normal production model. FSD beta requires agreement to access cameras more, which is a no go due to privacy concerns. They determine what an "emergency situation" is to access the cameras, but an empty garage doesn't seem like it fits that. This was in a recent Reuters article so you can read for yourself.
The Y has a lot of room, and is one of the largest in its class so it's hard to find something comparable and affordable.
Hope this is helpful to someone.
I'm not sure I'd share your concern about privacy though given that all these tech companies (Google, Meta, etc) have similar problems. You have to look at Tesla as a software company more than a car manufacturing company.
I'd also stop considering Tesla to be anything like a Luxury car, IMO the correct category for Tesla is "Tech Car".
I also agree the Autopliot is not mature. I also have a BMW with similar functionality as autopilot, but it's much smoother. The BMW doesn't pretend to be self driving but the assistance features work wonderful. The Tesla autopilot breaks too hard and reacts a bit late in some cases in my experience vs the BMW. Also test driven the Mach E which indeed is a better ride, but the pricing of Mach E is now much higher after Model Y drop, and also Ford dealers were marking up crazy amounts (in the thousands). I was intending to get a Mach E at first but I refuse to pay markup.
Depends on the state. In CT trade ins basically act as a discount to the purchase of a new vehicle, as you said, the net effect is that you don't pay tax on the value of the trade in, which can be a large $$. That's actually one major factor in if you decide to trade in or do private party. Also, in CT at least, the trade in and new vehicle MUST be under the same person's name. e.g. I can't trade in a vehicle that's in my name for a new vehicle that's in my wife's name. Again, YMMV by state laws.
Well to be fair, the whole car market is coming off a literal high like a drug where, due to demand>>>supply, they could charge anything they wanted and some dopes would happily stand in line for a raping. If you checkout vlogs by resellers (e.g. people that buy @ auction), they will say how rapidly falling prices are making them think twice about buying vehicles (and these are mostly legit used car dealers, not random joes that do this on the side). It could very easily be that they buy a car today, and in the time it takes them to take delivery, clean it up, etc, the value has gone down enough that it's impossible for them to make money. This also explains why used dealers are hesitant to bring asking prices in line with the market - they're going to lose money and just holding out for the sucker that doesn't do their homework (or is in such a bad place credit-wise that they will happily overpay).
Unless you really need to, buying a car right now probably isn't a good idea. You're trying to catch a falling knife. Look at the Model 3:
https://www.cargurus.co
YOY prices are down 25-30%. Would you want to buy a car *now* where the manufacturer has shown to drop the price significantly, multiple times just in the past year?
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Would I lose my spot in the queue and be placed on the back of the queue and have to wait many months again?
I read somewhere that you can place an hold but I'm not sure if tesla still does that and how many times I can repeat that.
https://www.hotcars.com/new-2025-...a-model-y/
Polestar 4's cabin also gets a giant 15.2-inch central screen. The system runs on the Android Automotive OS and serves a bunch of Google-based apps. IPhone users will be kept happy through standard CarPlay connectivity. Unlike the single-screen setup of the Model Y, the 4 uses a 10.2-inch screen as the driver's instrument cluster and offers a heads-up display. The 4 is available with an optional 12-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system too.
The 4 coupe gets a bunch of standard driver's assists too. Its Super Vision advanced driver assistance system uses 12 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and one radar. It also gets a driver monitoring system, but Polestar says it only relays data and doesn't record a video.
https://www.hotcars.com/new-2025-...a-model-y/
Polestar 4's cabin also gets a giant 15.2-inch central screen. The system runs on the Android Automotive OS and serves a bunch of Google-based apps. IPhone users will be kept happy through standard CarPlay connectivity. Unlike the single-screen setup of the Model Y, the 4 uses a 10.2-inch screen as the driver's instrument cluster and offers a heads-up display. The 4 is available with an optional 12-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system too.
The 4 coupe gets a bunch of standard driver's assists too. Its Super Vision advanced driver assistance system uses 12 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and one radar. It also gets a driver monitoring system, but Polestar says it only relays data and doesn't record a video.
In contrast the Y does, and thus starts under $40,000.
If Polestars car cost 50% more and was WORSE how embarrassing would THAT be?
Of course it's also a coupe, not an SUV... so the Model 3 is really the better comparison... now you're looking at ~36k base price vs ~60k base price. Even worse for Polestar.
Plus, of course, they're not actually for sale until next year and based on Polestars history with other models they're not going to make very many of them either....
The less complex Polestar 2, which has been in production since 2020, managed barely more than 2000 deliveries in the US for the entire Q1 of 2023
So really the only shame here is your hilarious attempt to compare these specific cars
https://finance.yahoo.c
In contrast the Y does, and thus starts under $40,000.
If Polestars car cost 50% more and was WORSE how embarrassing would THAT be?
Of course it's also a coupe, not an SUV... so the Model 3 is really the better comparison... now you're looking at ~36k base price vs ~60k base price. Even worse for Polestar.
Plus, of course, they're not actually for sale until next year and based on Polestars history with other models they're not going to make very many of them either....
The less complex Polestar 2, which has been in production since 2020, managed barely more than 2000 deliveries in the US for the entire Q1 of 2023
So really the only shame here is your hilarious attempt to compare these specific cars
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it really doesn't given tons of people DO qualify. But even without the rebate the Tesla is roughly $15,000 less base model vs base model (and very likely the price gap gets bigger at the top end of both ranges). Performance on the Y (and even moreso the 3) is better as well for those who care about that sort of thing.
Plus, as I said, the Y is an SUV and the Polestar is not.
The Model 3 is the more accurate comparison and DOES start under 40k WITHOUT the rebate (and is barely over 36k with it).
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