Not long ago, this EV owner was tearing up a Tesla and bought a Rivian. A month later, the tables have turned, and for good reason.
March 12, 2023 in 12:06 p.m. ET
Electric vehicle owner and YouTube influencer Ryan Pineda recently took delivery of a Rivian R1S electric utility vehicle. He also admits that he recently spouted “a whole bunch of nonsense about Tesla” in his latest video on Rivian. However, now the tables have turned, he sold Rivian and bought a brand new Tesla Model Y.
If you are not familiar with Ryan, he is a former professional basketball player and now a successful entrepreneur. Most of his success comes from real estate investing. He flips houses, rents them out, and has even written a best-selling book about it. Ryan’s YouTube channel shares his successes with the world so that others can benefit from his insights, hints, and tricks, in hopes of managing and investing their money more successfully.
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With that said, you can probably come to the conclusion that the reason Mr. Pineda sold his Rivian R1S and bought a Tesla Model Y was because it made financial sense. To be clear, Ryan basically flipped the R1S, which was overrated, then bought the Model Y at a discount and pocketed the difference.
Ryan paid $78,000 for the R1S and received a full $7,500 federal tax credit. Meanwhile, the SUV was selling on the used market for more than $100,000. Knowing he could make quick money on it, he admitted that it didn’t really make sense to keep her unless he was blown away by it. Ryan didn’t have major issues with electric SUVs, but he didn’t get along with other SUVs because of their sheer size, and he couldn’t justify keeping them.
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Around the same time, Tesla significantly reduced the Model Y. Ryan opted for a fully loaded version for $58,000. Moreover, he was able to get full self-driving piloting ability for free by purchasing a Model Y under the account of his cousin, a Tesla employee. Despite Ryan’s troubles with Tesla, he’s happier driving the smaller, sportier Model Y than the massive, off-road-ready R1S, so it’s a win for everyone.
The video focuses heavily on the unique wrap that Ryan applied to the Model Y. He also wrapped the R1S, although it was done with a more conservative matte wrap. If you want to wrap cars, you’ll want to watch the whole video. As Ryan reviews the business, he reveals other details about why he sold Rivian and bought Tesla.
As always, we encourage you to let us know what you think of the video and topic. Do you think Ryan made the right decision? Knowing what you know about why he sold the R1T and bought the Model Y, would you have done the same? We look forward to reading your opinions.
