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9 Posts
Hello e-tron forum world,
Just picked up our new 2019 Prestige black/black with the wife. Drove it home 60 miles so got a good taste of how it can handle on the highway. Coming from an ICE compact crossover SUV with standard trim, it was verrry nice. My first luxury car and first EV as well. Thought I'd share what factors led us to audi e-tron ownership:
Inception
When we found out that NJ doesn't charge sales tax on EV's and even began giving rebates of $5k for cars with sticker prices below $55k, that sparked my sudden interest into Tesla as it was the most well known name in the industry. Thus began my quest to find out all I could on them and initially figured a Tesla Model 3 or Y was in the cards for us.
Unpleasant surprise
I began watching youtube video after youtube video, researching online, reading up all I could on Tesla's. I was soon convinced our next car would be the Model Y for its great space, newest tech, and reasonable price. Then when the day of our test drive came, it was an unexpected unpleasant surprise. I went into that test drive fully expecting to get blown away. In the end, it was a nice experience but was missing the "wow" factor. For us humble folk coming from a compact crossover SUV, the Tesla interior cabin was underwhelming for the price tag. While the technology was advanced, incredible acceleration, and easily the best driver assistance feature in "auto-pilot", the cabin wasn't what I imagined a "luxury" vehicle to be. While Audi can't match Tesla on these other factors, the "luxury" feel was on another level - the eTron felt like a true upgrade for us. A few of the luxury features that jumped out: massaging seats, cooled ventilated seats, interior DJ lighting, heads up display.
Exterior
The eTron looks like a cross between an Audi Q5 and Q7, very nice, elegant, and all the lights in the front, back, and inside are very sexy. We felt the Model Y looked like a chubby Model 3, and not in a good way, but in an alien-type way. We actually preferred the Model 3 look but wanted an SUV for the space it offered and being able to better handle the northeast snowy/slushy winters. Also the fit and finish issues that seem to persist was definitely negative points for Tesla.
Price
While the sticker price on the eTron vs the Model Y seem worlds apart (83k vs 49k), there is the additional 2.5k you get from federal tax credit (total 7.5k) vs the NJ rebate of 5k. Then if you factor in the discounts that can be had on a new Audi 2019 eTron in the US in lieu of slumping sales and slow moving inventory of this vehicle, you can narrow that gap significantly. When we realized the eTron isn't actually 30k more expensive but closer to 12k, that really got us thinking. You have to be able to negotiate somewhat however and there is a stress that comes with that but you will be rewarded for your efforts.
So here we are, sending some love from NJ!
Just picked up our new 2019 Prestige black/black with the wife. Drove it home 60 miles so got a good taste of how it can handle on the highway. Coming from an ICE compact crossover SUV with standard trim, it was verrry nice. My first luxury car and first EV as well. Thought I'd share what factors led us to audi e-tron ownership:
Inception
When we found out that NJ doesn't charge sales tax on EV's and even began giving rebates of $5k for cars with sticker prices below $55k, that sparked my sudden interest into Tesla as it was the most well known name in the industry. Thus began my quest to find out all I could on them and initially figured a Tesla Model 3 or Y was in the cards for us.
Unpleasant surprise
I began watching youtube video after youtube video, researching online, reading up all I could on Tesla's. I was soon convinced our next car would be the Model Y for its great space, newest tech, and reasonable price. Then when the day of our test drive came, it was an unexpected unpleasant surprise. I went into that test drive fully expecting to get blown away. In the end, it was a nice experience but was missing the "wow" factor. For us humble folk coming from a compact crossover SUV, the Tesla interior cabin was underwhelming for the price tag. While the technology was advanced, incredible acceleration, and easily the best driver assistance feature in "auto-pilot", the cabin wasn't what I imagined a "luxury" vehicle to be. While Audi can't match Tesla on these other factors, the "luxury" feel was on another level - the eTron felt like a true upgrade for us. A few of the luxury features that jumped out: massaging seats, cooled ventilated seats, interior DJ lighting, heads up display.
Exterior
The eTron looks like a cross between an Audi Q5 and Q7, very nice, elegant, and all the lights in the front, back, and inside are very sexy. We felt the Model Y looked like a chubby Model 3, and not in a good way, but in an alien-type way. We actually preferred the Model 3 look but wanted an SUV for the space it offered and being able to better handle the northeast snowy/slushy winters. Also the fit and finish issues that seem to persist was definitely negative points for Tesla.
Price
While the sticker price on the eTron vs the Model Y seem worlds apart (83k vs 49k), there is the additional 2.5k you get from federal tax credit (total 7.5k) vs the NJ rebate of 5k. Then if you factor in the discounts that can be had on a new Audi 2019 eTron in the US in lieu of slumping sales and slow moving inventory of this vehicle, you can narrow that gap significantly. When we realized the eTron isn't actually 30k more expensive but closer to 12k, that really got us thinking. You have to be able to negotiate somewhat however and there is a stress that comes with that but you will be rewarded for your efforts.
So here we are, sending some love from NJ!
