If subsidies were that important to Tesla they would have concentrated on the lower end of the market where subsidies make up a higher percentage of the price.
And for all you know, car fires occur at a much higher rate in internal combustion cars than Teslas.
Anyone that has ever owned an old VW Bug knows that fer sure!..............
Let’s see - 3 fires in a few weeks in 2013 out of fewer than 15,000 then on the road. (Kent, WA, Mexico, Tennessee).
Burned a garage in Irvine, California (2013)
Burned the garage as well as the car in 2014 (Toronto)
Caught fire while charging in Norway. (2016)
Caught fire while accelerating in France. (2016)
No telling how many others have been covered up by Tesla’s notorious non-disclosure agreements. (The Toronto guy appears to have refused Tesla’s money, and that may be why we know about that one.)
They sold roughly 107,000 through December, 2015, and they sold another 12,420 Model S cars in the first quarter of 2016. If they are able to keep up a rate of 4000 a month, they should be at about 140,000 at this point.
In any event, a used 2015 looks like the best bet.