Model S - Used Buying Advice

[_James]

Hi everyone, first time posting in almost a decade, looking for some advice as everything I read is quite polarised.

Currently drive a 72 plate E-tron 55, and I'm fully converted to the EV mindset, with the exception that I currently get 150 miles of motorway range in the winter.

I need to replace the car soon, and am strongly considering buying one of the later Model S's. Budget is around £45k, so looks like I should have a decent selection. My questions are:

1) As these cars are all a minimum of ~4 years old, I'll either have a very short or no full Tesla warranty. Am I just asking for trouble here? My hope would be that low mileage plus it being a late model there will be a lower chance of major problems.

2) It seems I can afford either a LR raven with very low mileage plus options or a performance model with a few more miles. I've only driven the LR so far, and it seemed quick enough. Obviously there's an appeal to stupid 0-60 times, but I worry that a) a Performance is more likely to have been abused and b) I'll never actually use it anyway. Those of you with a performance, do you "use" the extra power?

3) Is it worth finding a model with Enhanced AP or FSD? From what I've seen (YouTube) it doesn't appear to add much value on UK roads, but interested in real experiences. It wasn't working on my test drive. I've got a V90 with Pilot Assist on it, and if basic AP matches that performance I'd probably be happy enough.

Any thoughts on the above, or anything I haven't considered, would be much appreciated!

[DJP31]

I have a 09/20 S Long Range having had an 03/17 S75D before that. Most of the early issues e.g. the door handles have been sorted but there are still a couple of long running problems, the DRL's being one. They will fail at some point irrespective of the part revision. If you make sure the car you are looking at has fully functioning one's you'll be alright for a while and it's generally only a problem at MOT time (if it's spotted).

The performance of the LR is more than enough and I wouldn't spend the extra for the performance, I'd rather have a lower mileage model and bank the money saved for the odd repair cost.

EAP/FSD is a pretty subjective issue and seems to work better for some than others. I've had FSD on both and apart from Summon used on a daily basis due to a tight parking space at work I don't use any of it any more. The adaptive cruise isn't smooth enough for me, phantom braking still exists more than it should and "auto lane change" & "navigate on autopilot " features aren't up to much. Musk/Tesla produced a cracking car in the Model S but the FSD aspect is nowhere near good enough for th money IMO.

Richard Symons down in Bournemouth is a very well respected EV and Tesla expert, I'd certainly speak with him when you're ready.

[gangzoom]

Our Standard Range 2017 Model X with 73k miles on the clock is still going as well today as when we first picked it up. Been out of warranty for a few years now and the battery/motor warranty will be gone soon too. Our local independent garage seem to be able to do everything Tesla can do but for half the labour costs and much more convince.

Get a LR Raven, EAP is more than enough, and pocket any change. These cars will be more than 'adequate' for a long time to come yet. No plans to replace ours till 2030 at the earliest. Solid state batteries may actually be a thing by than .

[Gone fishing]

You can get late 2020 cars so the best part of a years general warranty (assuming below 50k miles) or buy from Tesla and get a years extra general warranty.

These cars were reasonably well sorted but still prone to issues. Personally I find them feeling their age but not everybody agrees. While Tesla did update things over the years it’s still essentially their first mass production design and now 10 years old

Long range is probably cause choice. The rear motor on the P is derived from a tractor and not very efficient even when driving normally. The P will make passengers ill if used to its full.

Forget paying much extra for EAP or FSD, they’re maybe worth a couple of hundred tops. The one benefit of FSD is Tesla may have upgraded some hardware

[_James]

Thanks everyone, that's been really useful. Never having owned a Tesla before, I think I'd just fully bought into the marketing around the Autopilot / FSD stuff and assumed it was some kind of magic. Having watched a few Youtube videos since it's definitely not as good as I had thought!

All I really want is to take a bit of the load off on a long motorway drive, and perhaps in stop start traffic. A lot of the videos seem to focus on roundabouts etc, but I really can't imagine wanting the car to be in control for that sort of thing anyway.

I've test driven a LR with Richard down at RSEV already - he definitely knows his stuff! The car certainly felt quick enough, but I can't quite shake the desire to get the Performance, as it's not THAT much more £££ relatively speaking....