Buying a used Model S
Discussion
Hi all.
I have a few questions about owning one of these. I have had a long history of cheap fast-ish sheds in my time but the EV revolution has me very interested. I love the idea of rapid performance with minimal fuel cost, the silence, and dawdling in traffic (when forced) without wasting fuel.
I have a driveway and solar panels and the car would be unused at least 50% of the daylight hours.
I would need a long range EV to suit my needs and so have noticed that one can buy a 4 year old Model S for about £30k now.
Something like an 85d would be fine.
I am however struggling to cope with the concept of spending this much on any car given my past, but my want is such and I've never had a reckless purchase, I have a milestone birthday coming, so maybe the time has come.
Anyway this is a discussion board......
Would I be mad to buy a used Model S, would expensive bork start creeping in? I am aware the batteries and motors are quite long lasting but there's many other bits - especially suspension and electrics that could give trouble. Will it spend 50% of the time in the shop?
Will it get nicked? - I'm not after a performance model but will every toe rag in the area find my house and start poking around? Current fast shed (Saab) seems to be invisible to thieves which is quite nice. Will I be able to leave it anywhere?
Do the interiors hold up well with age or would an 80k mile one be a bit tatty inside?
Everyone I've seen in a Tesla over the last few weeks seems to have a smile on their face, would I?
So many are advertised with free supercharging but I believe it does not transfer when ownership changes, is this the case?
Can I tow a trailer tent with one (400kg)
Do the frameless windows seal well eg. no whistling on motorway?
Should I buy from tesla or privately? - is change of ownership in any way complicated? do you have to register with Tesla? Anything to be aware of other than usual caution when buying privately? Do warranties transfer? is there a monthly charge for the car to be "connected"?
Any other opinions from somebody who has actual experience of one would be nice.
I have a few questions about owning one of these. I have had a long history of cheap fast-ish sheds in my time but the EV revolution has me very interested. I love the idea of rapid performance with minimal fuel cost, the silence, and dawdling in traffic (when forced) without wasting fuel.
I have a driveway and solar panels and the car would be unused at least 50% of the daylight hours.
I would need a long range EV to suit my needs and so have noticed that one can buy a 4 year old Model S for about £30k now.
Something like an 85d would be fine.
I am however struggling to cope with the concept of spending this much on any car given my past, but my want is such and I've never had a reckless purchase, I have a milestone birthday coming, so maybe the time has come.
Anyway this is a discussion board......
Would I be mad to buy a used Model S, would expensive bork start creeping in? I am aware the batteries and motors are quite long lasting but there's many other bits - especially suspension and electrics that could give trouble. Will it spend 50% of the time in the shop?
Will it get nicked? - I'm not after a performance model but will every toe rag in the area find my house and start poking around? Current fast shed (Saab) seems to be invisible to thieves which is quite nice. Will I be able to leave it anywhere?
Do the interiors hold up well with age or would an 80k mile one be a bit tatty inside?
Everyone I've seen in a Tesla over the last few weeks seems to have a smile on their face, would I?
So many are advertised with free supercharging but I believe it does not transfer when ownership changes, is this the case?
Can I tow a trailer tent with one (400kg)
Do the frameless windows seal well eg. no whistling on motorway?
Should I buy from tesla or privately? - is change of ownership in any way complicated? do you have to register with Tesla? Anything to be aware of other than usual caution when buying privately? Do warranties transfer? is there a monthly charge for the car to be "connected"?
Any other opinions from somebody who has actual experience of one would be nice.
I cannot answer all your questions but you cannot tow with an S. I wouldn’t be happy buying a used one other than with a Tesla warranty - but I am not a Tesla fan so maybe not the person to answer anyway. Owners’ experiences seem to be largely full of delight or full of woe - latter if something goes wrong and Tesla don’t fix - I know someone who has had in the family an iPace, model X, Zoe and i3 and he will never have another Tesla as it was worst buying experience of his life. Customer service either wonderful or awful - not consistent.
oop north said:
Customer service either wonderful or awful - not consistent.
There is certainly variability on that front, for me its always been good. Even with our X having a hissy fit on Sunday evening, car carried away with loan car offered straight away, the flat bed picked up my car off from my drive about 90 minutes later, and I got the impression the pick up could have been done much quicker if I had pushed them, but I was at home so I told them no rush.Car was fixed by Tuesday lunch time with newly updated suspension parts, and Tesla are dropping it off at my house tomorrow because I haven't got time to go and collect it.
But buying a used 2014 Model S out of main warranty takes about as much balls as buying a 2014 BMW M5 out of AUC warranty but without the independent garages to back you up. If it breaks down there is no free pick up from Tesla, no emergency loan car, and likely a hefty bill for the repair - £145/hr + vat labour rate.....or you can try your luck at the local garage who most likely woudlnt even know how to start the thing let alone have diagnostic level software.
So the question is how lucky do you feel??
Personally I would save up longer and get a new Model 3. The S/Xs really do seem to be hand built to a large degree, you can get one that's fine, to one thats falling apart.
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 25th September 16:19
Will I get it nicked. No if you use the pin to drive function (4 digit code)
If you buy from Tesla secondhand you get a 50000 mile or 4 year warranty.
Will you be happy.yes if. You pick a car with free supercharging and live near one or do high milage then effectively Free motoring .
I live in Scotland where public charging is free .done 12000 miles at no cost whatsoever.
Some cars come with free supercharging for life others like mine are free as long as I own the car.if I sell the next owner dosent get the free supercharging.
You have to test drive one before you can make a decision.in my case I spent £67k previous record was £12k on a car. My car will be free to charge as long as I own it.i I intend to keep for a while and no regrets especially in winter when I can pre heat car interior from phone from my bed and get into a toasty warm car in less than 10 minutes.cant beat it.
If you buy from Tesla secondhand you get a 50000 mile or 4 year warranty.
Will you be happy.yes if. You pick a car with free supercharging and live near one or do high milage then effectively Free motoring .
I live in Scotland where public charging is free .done 12000 miles at no cost whatsoever.
Some cars come with free supercharging for life others like mine are free as long as I own the car.if I sell the next owner dosent get the free supercharging.
You have to test drive one before you can make a decision.in my case I spent £67k previous record was £12k on a car. My car will be free to charge as long as I own it.i I intend to keep for a while and no regrets especially in winter when I can pre heat car interior from phone from my bed and get into a toasty warm car in less than 10 minutes.cant beat it.
Edited by subevo on Saturday 28th September 22:28
Edited by subevo on Saturday 28th September 22:37
subevo said:
Will I get it nicked. No if you use the pin to drive function (4 digit code)
If you buy from Tesla secondhand you get a 50000 mile or 4 year warranty.
Will you be happy.yes if. You pick a car with free supercharging and live near one or do high milage then effectively Free motoring .
I live in Scotland where public charging is free .done 12000 miles at no cost whatsoever.
Some cars come with free supercharging for life others like mine are free as long as I own the car.if I sell the next owner dosent get the free supercharging.
You have to test drive one before you can make a decision.in my case I spent £67k previous record was £12k on a car. My car will be free to charge as long as I own it.i I intend to keep for a while and no regrets especially in winter when I can pre heat car interior from phone from my bed and get into a toasty warm car in less than 10 minutes.cant beat it.
I will never buy a fossil fuel car again.its so easy to drive. Using 1 pedal as regen braking slows car to 4 mph.no handbrake or button to press on a hill .just press brake pedal until an H appears on screen the car will hold until accelerator is pressed again.so easy.
Wife can’t be arsed and still to be converted.i laugh every time she sticks £45 into the tank and freezes her arse off on a cold winters morning getting to work as the car starts to heat up.
If you buy from Tesla secondhand you get a 50000 mile or 4 year warranty.
Will you be happy.yes if. You pick a car with free supercharging and live near one or do high milage then effectively Free motoring .
I live in Scotland where public charging is free .done 12000 miles at no cost whatsoever.
Some cars come with free supercharging for life others like mine are free as long as I own the car.if I sell the next owner dosent get the free supercharging.
You have to test drive one before you can make a decision.in my case I spent £67k previous record was £12k on a car. My car will be free to charge as long as I own it.i I intend to keep for a while and no regrets especially in winter when I can pre heat car interior from phone from my bed and get into a toasty warm car in less than 10 minutes.cant beat it.
I will never buy a fossil fuel car again.its so easy to drive. Using 1 pedal as regen braking slows car to 4 mph.no handbrake or button to press on a hill .just press brake pedal until an H appears on screen the car will hold until accelerator is pressed again.so easy.
Wife can’t be arsed and still to be converted.i laugh every time she sticks £45 into the tank and freezes her arse off on a cold winters morning getting to work as the car starts to heat up.
Edited by subevo on Saturday 28th September 22:28
Edited by subevo on Saturday 28th September 22:37
I think reliability is by far the biggest worry for any potential used Tesla buyer.
In Norway there appears to be some kind of used car quality test you can pay to get done to reassure buyer. It looks fully independent and this Model X which has had far more abuse in its life than most other cars flew through apart from cosmetic issues.
https://youtu.be/-JRWiLPEi6I
Even though ours did need new/revised suspension fitting last week, yesterday when we were going on the M1 at 'reasonable' speed with 4 adults + toddler + luggage I got the chance to actually sit in the back, and it really was surprising the lack of wear on the interior in the back even though the car is used daily to carry people and every weekend we seem to stuff all kinds of rubbish in the back.
One thing I did learn last week is the built in GPS system is no substitute for a proper tracker. My car was delivered to me from Birmingham service centre, and I thought I could use the App to check where it was, but according to the App the car was still in Birmingham when it was actually on my drive.
Turns out the car's satnav is only 'live' when you turn it on and put it into drive. So some one can literally pick it up, loaded it onto a flatbed and the App would be utterly useless at locating the car.
I still think if your buying used, buying direct from Tesla is the best option to go. Even the shorter 2 year warranty they now do on some cars is worth. Most of the problems these cars develop seem to be generic ones related to poor designed parts which Tesla do keep on updating the design on. The S is now 7 years old and you would hope Tesla have got most unreliable parts sorted.
Can you imagine the ballache if you bought private for a car with 51k miles on the clock, get home and is met with a 'error contact service centre message'?
In Norway there appears to be some kind of used car quality test you can pay to get done to reassure buyer. It looks fully independent and this Model X which has had far more abuse in its life than most other cars flew through apart from cosmetic issues.
https://youtu.be/-JRWiLPEi6I
Even though ours did need new/revised suspension fitting last week, yesterday when we were going on the M1 at 'reasonable' speed with 4 adults + toddler + luggage I got the chance to actually sit in the back, and it really was surprising the lack of wear on the interior in the back even though the car is used daily to carry people and every weekend we seem to stuff all kinds of rubbish in the back.
One thing I did learn last week is the built in GPS system is no substitute for a proper tracker. My car was delivered to me from Birmingham service centre, and I thought I could use the App to check where it was, but according to the App the car was still in Birmingham when it was actually on my drive.
Turns out the car's satnav is only 'live' when you turn it on and put it into drive. So some one can literally pick it up, loaded it onto a flatbed and the App would be utterly useless at locating the car.
I still think if your buying used, buying direct from Tesla is the best option to go. Even the shorter 2 year warranty they now do on some cars is worth. Most of the problems these cars develop seem to be generic ones related to poor designed parts which Tesla do keep on updating the design on. The S is now 7 years old and you would hope Tesla have got most unreliable parts sorted.
Can you imagine the ballache if you bought private for a car with 51k miles on the clock, get home and is met with a 'error contact service centre message'?
Would I be mad to buy a used Model S, would expensive bork start creeping in? I am aware the batteries and motors are quite long lasting but there's many other bits - especially suspension and electrics that could give trouble. Will it spend 50% of the time in the shop?
No, a lot of issues get ironed out and early facelift cars seem to fewer issues. Pre facelift cars with the 85 battery are getting a bit of range loss due to Tesla, and the early 90 battery were limited on charge rate and also had some early range loss, things addressed by the time the facelift happened.
Will it get nicked? - I'm not after a performance model but will every toe rag in the area find my house and start poking around? Current fast shed (Saab) seems to be invisible to thieves which is quite nice. Will I be able to leave it anywhere?
No problems with theft. There have been thefts from houses where they manage to boost the key fob range but there are easy measures to prevent (key in signal blocking bag, turn off easy entry, turn on pin to drive etc)
Do the interiors hold up well with age or would an 80k mile one be a bit tatty inside?
Pretty well, the main thing is the interiors have been tweaked a few times. The era you’re looking at you’d probably get the next gen seats which have quite a lot of stitched seams and can sag a touch but no worse than any other car, it’s also quite functional plastics which clean up ok.
Everyone I've seen in a Tesla over the last few weeks seems to have a smile on their face, would I?
Who can tell. The main disappointment is from those not really understanding charging. If can charge at home and/or work and rarely drive into deepest Wales then you should be fine. You need to look in plugshare or Zap-Map and see what rapid chargers there are where you travel when away from home. I’ve driven to Italy and it was easy, I’d struggle to drive 100 miles west to the Welsh coast and back in my P90D (but things are improving all the time)
So many are advertised with free supercharging but I believe it does not transfer when ownership changes, is this the case?
Pre March 2017 in theory it should transfer unless buying from Tesla. There’s a rumour that Tesla are now allowing only one transfer from now on (ie any change of ownership gives it to the new owner, but they can’t pass it on, it’s still to be confirmed, but if in doubt, Tesla will be able to confirm, or you can get the owner to check the option codes .. see website below)
Can I tow a trailer tent with one (400kg)
No towing allowed on an MS. Early MX had towing as an option and later cars had it as standard.
Do the frameless windows seal well eg. no whistling on motorway?
You can get a little, my first car was noticeable in good road surfaces as it’s more because the car is generally so quiet you’ll hear things like tyre noise, but overall I’d not worry.
Should I buy from tesla or privately? - is change of ownership in any way complicated? do you have to register with Tesla? Anything to be aware of other than usual caution when buying privately? Do warranties transfer? is there a monthly charge for the car to be "connected"?
Tesla will refresh the warranty (4 years and 50k miles if the car is currently under 4 and 50k miles, or 2 years and upto 100k if over) but they’re not big on car prep only giving a mechanical inspection and will probably remove free supercharging (although some cars seem to be listed with it still). The warranty on the battery and motors is 8 years and unlimited mileage which you’d get regardless. Private is a justifiable route, might be worth finding the car and asking for comments in here.
There’s a load more info on here, including listings of probably ever car for sale in the uk, price history of every advert, a free email subscription to new car listings and price changes, the options available on used,, the history of changes by year, how to determine supercharging etc etc
https://tesla-info.com/
Dave Hedgehog said:
Very sensible conclusion, if you don't need to carry people/stuff Model 3 is ideal, but if you carry people/stuff than a saloon design simply isn't that practical.We had 4 adults + toddler + luggage in our X this weekend, about 5 hrs spent the car over 2 days, wouldn't want to be doing that kind of trip squashed into a 3.
.I borrowed Chargemaster’s 2014 P85 earlier in the year
It’s loaned to a different person every week so must get some serious abuse, but the interior was solid, I didn’t notice any rattling or broken bits and it drove beautifully.
If I did more miles per year I would have been VERY tempted - it was, hands down, the best car I’ve ever driven.
I would be cautious about owning without warranty though - there is a fledgling network of EV specialists (HEVRA) but I guess anything particularly complex will be Tesla only. The car I had needed a roof repair and it was £600 for the Tesla tech to just move the roof back into the closed position so it could be disabled while they got the parts. As said above, probably not dissimilar to owning a E60/F10 M5 and crossing your fingers ..
It’s loaned to a different person every week so must get some serious abuse, but the interior was solid, I didn’t notice any rattling or broken bits and it drove beautifully.
If I did more miles per year I would have been VERY tempted - it was, hands down, the best car I’ve ever driven.
I would be cautious about owning without warranty though - there is a fledgling network of EV specialists (HEVRA) but I guess anything particularly complex will be Tesla only. The car I had needed a roof repair and it was £600 for the Tesla tech to just move the roof back into the closed position so it could be disabled while they got the parts. As said above, probably not dissimilar to owning a E60/F10 M5 and crossing your fingers ..
Edited by essayer on Wednesday 16th October 09:55
As said though, at least with an M5, RS6 etc there are independent garages in existence that you can use.
That Ritchie fella of YouTube that's started "the electrified garage" is on to something. As long as he can get it profitable there must be some huge potential to scale that out over large parts of the USA and make a killing.
Nobody in the UK seems to be doing anything similar just yet. It can't be too far off until we get some ev specialist garages cropping up.
That Ritchie fella of YouTube that's started "the electrified garage" is on to something. As long as he can get it profitable there must be some huge potential to scale that out over large parts of the USA and make a killing.
Nobody in the UK seems to be doing anything similar just yet. It can't be too far off until we get some ev specialist garages cropping up.
dave_s13 said:
As said though, at least with an M5, RS6 etc there are independent garages in existence that you can use.
That Ritchie fella of YouTube that's started "the electrified garage" is on to something. As long as he can get it profitable there must be some huge potential to scale that out over large parts of the USA and make a killing.
Nobody in the UK seems to be doing anything similar just yet. It can't be too far off until we get some ev specialist garages cropping up.
There are garages in the UK nowThat Ritchie fella of YouTube that's started "the electrified garage" is on to something. As long as he can get it profitable there must be some huge potential to scale that out over large parts of the USA and make a killing.
Nobody in the UK seems to be doing anything similar just yet. It can't be too far off until we get some ev specialist garages cropping up.
I used Cleverly in Cheltenham only a couple of weeks ago. Not many, but the jeanie is out the bottle now with more doing it.
gangzoom said:
One thing I did learn last week is the built in GPS system is no substitute for a proper tracker. My car was delivered to me from Birmingham service centre, and I thought I could use the App to check where it was, but according to the App the car was still in Birmingham when it was actually on my drive.
Turns out the car's satnav is only 'live' when you turn it on and put it into drive. So some one can literally pick it up, loaded it onto a flatbed and the App would be utterly useless at locating the car.
Check that you have 'Allow Mobile Access' enabled under the security settings. For some 'privacy' reason the dealers used to turn it off and sometimes forget to turn it back on. These days the cars have a 'service mode' which is flagged in the apps and turns off the GPS and cameras.Turns out the car's satnav is only 'live' when you turn it on and put it into drive. So some one can literally pick it up, loaded it onto a flatbed and the App would be utterly useless at locating the car.
To the OP - I don't think anything would prevent me from buying one used. Bear in mind the balance of the 8 year battery and drivetrain warranty and double check that the supercharging will transfer. Otherwise I think the only likely issues are with the screen so maybe budget for that.
I'd certainly buy a used S over a 7 series of the same mileage/vintage.
I've had a used Model S (2016 P85D) for 2 months... I purchased direct from Tesla and would highly-recommend going that route for the 4-year / 50k-mile warranty. The used warranty is identical to the new car warranty and I've already had to use it twice. First issue was the left-hand steering wheel thumb wheel partially dropped into the steering wheel and was no longer usable Also, the panoramic sunroof juddered when opening and closing, so had both issues attended to at the same time. The second issue was somewhat more serious and resulted in the car being undriveable as it was stuck on 'Please wait while vehicle systems power up'. This one resulted in the car having to be transported on a low-loader to the Tesla Service Centre and Tesla provided a courtesy car from Enterprise Rent-a-Car (2019 Merc CLS). Had I not been under warranty, I would've been several hundred quid out of pocket. Turns-out it was a firmware issue, which was solved with an update.
So far, I have to say that Tesla customer service is pretty awful. It's impossible to contact service centres, directly... phone numbers aren't published and everything must be done via the Tesla app. This is fine when things are straighforward, but not when something goes wrong and you need to speak to someone. For example, for the last warranty visit, I never received the warranty invoice afterwards (not a big deal, but I like to keep a record of all paperwork). Now I'm having to deal with Tesla corporate just to get a simple invoice copy and it's proved extremely painful. Additionally, there's a definite arrogance to the brand and how they treat customers. When I first went to collect my car after purchasing it (totally sight unseen... another bizarre Tesla practice), there were multiple obvious cosmetic issues that were not flagged pre-sale. This resulted in me refusing delivery and Tesla having to re-prep the car to make it right. A month later, I finally took delivery and was happy that the car was now as described. However, no good will / compensation was forthcoming for the major disappointment and inconvenience I was subjected to (not to mention expense given I was paying for an insurance policy I couldn't use, etc). When I asked what they could do, I was told nothing... their attitude was that I should be grateful!
Great cars, lousy customer service.
So far, I have to say that Tesla customer service is pretty awful. It's impossible to contact service centres, directly... phone numbers aren't published and everything must be done via the Tesla app. This is fine when things are straighforward, but not when something goes wrong and you need to speak to someone. For example, for the last warranty visit, I never received the warranty invoice afterwards (not a big deal, but I like to keep a record of all paperwork). Now I'm having to deal with Tesla corporate just to get a simple invoice copy and it's proved extremely painful. Additionally, there's a definite arrogance to the brand and how they treat customers. When I first went to collect my car after purchasing it (totally sight unseen... another bizarre Tesla practice), there were multiple obvious cosmetic issues that were not flagged pre-sale. This resulted in me refusing delivery and Tesla having to re-prep the car to make it right. A month later, I finally took delivery and was happy that the car was now as described. However, no good will / compensation was forthcoming for the major disappointment and inconvenience I was subjected to (not to mention expense given I was paying for an insurance policy I couldn't use, etc). When I asked what they could do, I was told nothing... their attitude was that I should be grateful!
Great cars, lousy customer service.
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