Buying a used Tesla and I have concerns.

[Iron]

This wouldn't be a hard decision for me. You're buying a used car with visible defects (and who knows how they treated the battery), for a price that is not very distant from new when you apply tax credits and they keep lowering prices.

 

[jjvan]

I knew buying used would be a toss up. But convincing me to put the order in saying

“Cosmetic and Mechanical Standards
Every used Tesla has passed an internal inspection and may undergo, or is currently undergoing, light repairs to be prepared for sale. Cosmetic imperfections and normal wear and tear indicative of the age and mileage of the car should still be expected.

Exterior
Paint scratches that measure up to 4" in one direction
Scuffs and scrapes that measure up to 4" in multiple directions
Dents or dings that are less than 2" in diameter
Rock chips

Interior
Wear on upholstery or interior panels including markings, discoloration, small tears or stains up to 1"
Wear on entry and exit points

Keep in mind these are standardize guideline for normal wear and tear on used vehicles. It does not mean that the vehicle has all these things.”

And they vehicle not meeting this is kind of a slap in the face

When they have issues out of spec, I’ve had success in pointing them out and asking Tesla to fix them. You sometimes need to be assertive and show your advisor the standards from their own website. Also, I have seen Tesla fix these after delivery by booking a service appointment. Take photos and document everything.

If the car is a really good deal, I would still take it and push Tesla to fix the issues that don’t meet their own standards. Those standards are essentially part of the contract when you ordered the car.

 

[jjvan]

For reference, here is the link to Tesla used condition standards:
https://www.tesla.com/support/ordering-used-tesla#vehicle-condition

its a dumb business model but they do it this way as a way to force you into buying a car with issues that's why they try to hold your deposit as ransom... Its a scummy tactic that works for them unfortunately.

I don't think they are intentionally trying to screw you. Tesla has this process to make things easier and streamlined for them. It's more that they sometimes miss things in their inspection and wait for people to complain to fix them. It is common practice in some industries (for example the housing/construction industry) to wait for buyers to point out flaws before fixing them.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

For reference, here is the link to Tesla used condition standards:
https://www.tesla.com/support/ordering-used-tesla#vehicle-condition



I don't think they are intentionally trying to screw you. Tesla has this process to make things easier and streamlined for them. It's more that they sometimes miss things in their inspection and wait for people to complain to fix them. It is common practice in some industries (for example the housing/construction industry) to wait for buyers to point out flaws before fixing them.

To your point re: housing construction, I just dealt with the crappiest home restoration contractor in my life, I had to go around with blue painters tape to show them simple things like - electric socket upside down. electric socket not working, tile that didnt match, missing trim pieces, doors installed with the hardware upside down, paint that looked like someone finger painted, overspray, no spray, no trim paint, improperly wired hottub, then fixed wiring on hot tub and knocked my AC offline due to a loose L1, each time it was a call back, I have been dealing with them for 12 months... our tile is still not fixed. PM would show up occasionally, he remote controlled a bunch of dudes from Guatemala that couldn't read and installed my control for the heated floors upside down, the LED display had all the temps upside down, on and on an on.... Six months in we still had 116 unresolved issues with these idiots. It was a home fire mitigation job, thank God I had premium insurance that paid whatever bill got put in front of them by the most untrained, incapable workforce I have ever seen in my life, and I used to do work home construction when I worked my way through college. I wouldn't let these guys pressure wash a driveway, they would probably F that up too..beauty was we thought we were done until we turned on a light switch in a spare room and electric in every room upstairs went out.

No plan, no management, minimal communication, dudes showing up asking me what they needed to do, but couldn't speak English, I became the project manager because the project manager was incapable of developing a project and had no management capability to deliver one if he had developed one, further he was lying to his leadership on completion status, so they could get paid by the insurance company, zero ethics.

There are two big fire mitigation companies in Northern Virginia one is good and the other I wouldn't let paint a dog house. I should have checked BBB, they had a 2.05 out of 5 rating...... If I could do it all over again and you are a large loss customer (over $700K) I would have gone with their competition (in the link). I tried to reach to the CEO of the company I used and he would never return calls.

The Solar company we used was the exact opposite, professional, managed, prepared, amazing, they could speak English, could even read and got done in 2 days, with NOVEC approval 2 weeks later for activation.

 

[Mulkogi]

I think for that price you could try to find a used one locally at better conditions not through Tesla.
If not try to convince them to get you another vehicle in better conditions. Just did a quick search in autotempest 300 mile radius from orlando and there are tons in better condition 2022 model with similar mileage and even slightly lower price. I wouldn’t buy one without the Ryzen chip since the Intel are already being not being included in new software updates. Good luck pizzadady!

 

[jjvan]

To your point re: housing construction, I just dealt with the crappiest home restoration contractor in my life, I had to go around with blue painters tape to show them simple things like - electric socket upside down. electric socket not working, tile that didnt match, missing trim pieces, doors installed with the hardware upside down, paint that looked like someone finger painted, overspray, no spray, no trim paint, improperly wired hottub, then fixed wiring on hot tub and knocked my AC offline due to a loose L1, each time it was a call back, I have been dealing with them for 12 months... our tile is still not fixed. PM would show up occasionally, he remote controlled a bunch of dudes from Guatemala that couldn't read and installed my control for the heated floors upside down, the LED display had all the temps upside down, on and on an on.... Six months in we still had 116 unresolved issues with these idiots. It was a home fire mitigation job, thank God I had premium insurance that paid whatever bill got put in front of them by the most untrained, incapable workforce I have ever seen in my life, and I used to do work home construction when I worked my way through college. I wouldn't let these guys pressure wash a driveway, they would probably F that up too..beauty was we thought we were done until we turned on a light switch in a spare room and electric in every room upstairs went out.

No plan, no management, minimal communication, dudes showing up asking me what they needed to do, but couldn't speak English, I became the project manager because the project manager was incapable of developing a project and had no management capability to deliver one if he had developed one, further he was lying to his leadership on completion status, so they could get paid by the insurance company, zero ethics.

There are two big fire mitigation companies in Northern Virginia one is good and the other I wouldn't let paint a dog house. I should have checked BBB, they had a 2.05 out of 5 rating...... If I could do it all over again and you are a large loss customer (over $700K) I would have gone with their competition (in the link). I tried to reach to the CEO of the company I used and he would never return calls.

The Solar company we used was the exact opposite, professional, managed, prepared, amazing, they could speak English, could even read and got done in 2 days, with NOVEC approval 2 weeks later for activation.

Wow that's unbelievably bad. What a nightmare. I hope you were able to get things resolved.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Wow that's unbelievably bad. What a nightmare. I hope you were able to get things resolved.

The truth is we were fortunate, no one was hurt, and all these issues are really first world problems, but I paid for Dom Pérignon and they delivered Guatemalan MAD DOG 2020.

 

[mborkow]

A friend of mine just leased a new Model 3. Since he has no option to buy the car at lease end, he has no incentive to treat the battery well. What percent of the used Tesla inventory are off lease cars? I’d guess it’s pretty high so I’d be less worried about what I can see and more worried about the battery pack which the previous owner had no reason to look after (and prob just charged to 100% every day because that was convenient and long term battery health wasn’t going to be their problem).