The first car that I bought at age twenty was dirt cheap, and didn’t last for more than two years. Then followed some Rover cars that were better, but also didn’t last very long. I was always the last one to own a car before it was no longer economic to fix it. After a while I wanted something better, and bought a Jaguar. Later I wanted a camper and bought a Volkswagen. I have had these two cars for 15 and 12 years. In the meantime they are 33 and 28 years old. The Jag was never an everyday car, and I didn’t use it when there was snow or salt on the roads anyway. Neither is the camper a typical everyday car. But as we didn’t want a third vehicle it would have to serve for weekend needs. I went to work by public transport. Over the last years our beloved Buessli started to fail us, and we used it to sleep inside less and less. Part of the reason for having two cars was redundancy. But lately when the camper had engine problems during winter, we ended up without a working vehicle. We had to go skiing with public transport. After a while we became annoyed.
Thus we started talking about selling it and getting a regular car. My wive also wanted me to sell the Jag. But I was opposing strongly. Meanwhile my brother bought an electric car and rejoiced about it. In my head an idea started forming that I would be ready to sell the Jaguar, but only to get a Tesla. If only they were cheaper. We didn’t want to wait for the Model 3. I would like the Model X very much, but the price was just too much. I would also like the Jaguar I-Pace, but it comes too late and again the price. So we started to look around for cheaper electric cars in general. One important condition is that the range lasts to the Wallis to visit the family of my wive. That’s where most electric cars on the market failed. Peugeot announced one for this year, but nothing was around for a test drive. And it would be a very small car, not really suited for a family to go on holidays.
Replacing our two special cars wouldn’t be easy anyway. The Jag is a sports car with a V12 engine that runs almost as smooth as an electric. The VW Camper has lots of room and beds and a kitchen. And then the new one should be electric.
A used Tesla S seemed to be the only option. It has enough range, enough space, enough power and is very nice to drive. But again the price … Fortunately the price of Bitcoin kept rising over the past years, and my investments appreciated enough to make this a possibility. And I wanted to buy my next car with Bitcoin anyway. I had a “Bought with Bitcoin” sticker ready for quite some time. Still few people have enough experience with the magic internet money to sell a car for it. Tesla would not sell cars directly for Bitcoin yet. There are a couple of stories of people who bought Tesla cars, but it was only through retailers. The closest being Auto Outlet in Finland. They would happily sell one to me, but the prices seemed to be even higher than in Switzerland. Reading up about car imports wasn’t encouraging to say the least.
So I asked a couple of people who wanted to sell their cars in Switzerland if they would do it for Bitcoin. Most replied “no” straight away. I didn’t want to talk anybody into something he doesn’t understand. So I kept asking. One gentleman agreed if we would make the transfer at a broker. But then he sold the car before I could even test drive it. Yes demand is high, and they usually sell quickly. So when another gentleman replied with a price in Bitcoin, I knew I would have to act fast. The test ride was very nice, and the same evening I convinced my wive, just in time.
Yesterday we went to collect it. The boys keep asking me why it is not as fast as the Jag. I had to tell them a couple of times already that in the 15 years I have had it, I never drove it faster than the Tesla top speed. And the Tesla accelerates faster, which is more fun anyway. It is about 1 second faster to go from 0 to 100. Still far from the model with ludicrous mode, but more than enough for all practical purposes.
The car is truly totally different from any car I drove in the past. It’s a blast, and hard to describe with words alone. People generally love their Tesla cars, but this guy has a very good way of expressing it.
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