1 Year In Review | Actual Costs + Our Experience: Used CPO Tesla Model S 85D As A Primary Family Car

[antdun]

It's hard to believe we've lived through a full year already since we purchased our Tesla! The time has flown by super fast partially because we've been so busy going on awesome road trips and other regional adventures in it! I've created a video reviewing our first year of ownership covering the operating and maintenance costs plus how well it has performed as our primary family hauler. If you have any other questions I didn't cover in the video feel free to post your questions in the comments on the video. I get a lot of questions from friends and family surprised that we don't own any gasoline cars and they think you can't get by with only driving electric, and I'm trying to help inform people how much better it is driving electric let alone just "getting by" as some think it is. Feel free to share with others you know who may be on the fence still about switching from gas to electric. I'm including some fun numbers below related to owning our Tesla for the first year but first here's the URL to my YouTube video review.

In 1 year we’ve driven 22,656 miles / 36,461 kilometers (Starting odometer: 63,796 Ending odometer: 86,452)

Average of: 332 Wh/mi / 206 Wh/km (this average is June 21 2019 through May 12th 2020 over 19,785.2 miles total consumption being 6,573.4 kWh)

332 Wh/mi * 22,656 = 7,521.79 kWh consumed in our first year which at 10.9 cents per kWh (average in Utah where we live) amounts to a cost of $819.87 however we haven’t paid a cent for any of that electricity since we've charged for free from superchargers (on road trips), campgrounds, hotels, work, and friends/families homes (while on road trips).

We have solar at home and we haven’t exceeded our production, however the energy going to the car is still going towards our solar payoff so if we multiplied the 4,135.9 kWh of electricity we’ve put into our Tesla at home (via a JuiceboxPro 40) by the average electricity rate for Utah at 10.9 cents per kWh we would have paid $450.81 but in about 2 years our solar will be paid off and we’ll be powering all our household and vehicular electrical needs literally for free for the next couple of decades.

We’ve charged at 62 unique superchargers 85 times and 4 destination chargers in 15 different states

We’ve given rides to 88 people that we remember and probably a couple more

I’ve camped out in the car 4 times with all 3 of my children

A couple times we’ve had 5 children all 5 years old and under (all requiring a car seat) plus two adults in the car utilizing the rear facing seats which has been pretty cool to be able to do since many vehicles struggle with this many car seats.

Destinations we’ve driven it to
After we picked it up in Fremont California we drove it home to Salt Lake City, Utah then the larger trips we went on over the next year include going to:
Vernal, UT camping
Nauvoo, IL and many places there and back
Saint George, UT
Pinedale, WY camping
Orlando, Florida and many places there and back

Repairs we’ve had made all covered under warranty and all by mobile service rangers at our house:

1. Takata airbag recall (same as virtually all vehicles on the planet)
2. Within the first week of purchasing it the rear passenger handle stopped popping out which is a known weakness of this year of Model S so the pop out gear and position switches were replaced
3. The left backup light stopped working so the left rear light assembly was replaced
4. The trunk lid kept not popping up fully and would get into a state where it wouldn’t latch so the cinching mechanism was replaced and when that didn’t fix it they came back and replaced the trunk latch and that fixed the problem
5. Replaced the 12 volt battery
6. The navigation stopped working and they couldn’t fix it remotely so a service technician had to come and reset some systems in person to get it working.

Things I’ve had to pay for:

1. Replaced the windshield wipers for $12
2. Replaced all four tires with Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 for $890.67
3. Replaced air filter for $18

Total maintenance I’ve had to pay: $920.67

We still have 1 year of the warranty, but only 13,548 miles remaining so we’ll see what happens first.

 

[AMPd]

Nice!
My wife’s and I dream is to take a trip to Florida in our model s (from California) and my goal is to convince her to camp out in the vehicle instead of hotels. However she’s hesitant because we have 2 kids, and she’s not sure we can fit in there without the younger one taking a few stomps to the face from the older one while sleeping in the car.

 

[antdun]

Nice!
My wife’s and I dream is to take a trip to Florida in our model s (from California) and my goal is to convince her to camp out in the vehicle instead of hotels. However she’s hesitant because we have 2 kids, and she’s not sure we can fit in there without the younger one taking a few stomps to the face from the older one while sleeping in the car.

I think two adults is totally doable, but adding two children into the mix might make for a lackluster nights sleep. I've only ever slept in my Tesla with one child at a time though, so maybe it could work? Depending on a child's willingness and size one could potentially sleep on the floor since it's totally flat. That would free up space on the mattress. I've never tried a foam mattress, but I'm confident it's a better experience sleeping wise, the problem being it doesn't deflate to take up as little space as an air mattress does. As we mentioned in our video the biggest issue we've found when considering sleeping in our car while on a road trip is where do we put all our stuff while we're sleeping in the back since that's normally where it would all be. It's not insurmountable, but it would probably be inconvenient to relocate all the stuff to the front seats, front floor or frunk, if it would even all fit there. If you can get past the logistics though it's awesome knowing you can keep the temperature in the cabin comfortable regardless of what the weather is doing and save a lot of money from staying in a hotel. Granted I wouldn't necessarily want to do it for many days in a row unless I had access to a shower somewhere along the way. I recommend trying it out locally (maybe even in your driveway) to just try it out!

 

[AMPd]

I think two adults is totally doable, but adding two children into the mix might make for a lackluster nights sleep. I've only ever slept in my Tesla with one child at a time though, so maybe it could work? Depending on a child's willingness and size one could potentially sleep on the floor since it's totally flat. That would free up space on the mattress. I've never tried a foam mattress, but I'm confident it's a better experience sleeping wise, the problem being it doesn't deflate to take up as little space as an air mattress does. As we mentioned in our video the biggest issue we've found when considering sleeping in our car while on a road trip is where do we put all our stuff while we're sleeping in the back since that's normally where it would all be. It's not insurmountable, but it would probably be inconvenient to relocate all the stuff to the front seats, front floor or frunk, if it would even all fit there. If you can get past the logistics though it's awesome knowing you can keep the temperature in the cabin comfortable regardless of what the weather is doing and save a lot of money from staying in a hotel. Granted I wouldn't necessarily want to do it for many days in a row unless I had access to a shower somewhere along the way. I recommend trying it out locally (maybe even in your driveway) to just try it out!

My plan was to sleep in the driver seat. and my wife would sleep between the kids to keep them from kicking each other in their sleep.

 

[Dukeybootie]

Thanks for the post!

How many miles have you racked up on your DWS06's so far? How do you like them? Any guesses how many miles you will get out of them?

 

[Alysashley79]

My plan was to sleep in the driver seat. and my wife would sleep between the kids to keep them from kicking each other in their sleep.

When our kids were small 6 and 8 (younger) we did this two ways. 1) our youngest slept in the footwell under the seats when they were folded down. (Rear not child seats) She had a cozy little bed and my son slept between us. When they got a little older my hubby and I slept in the car and the two kids slept in a tentla while the rear hatch was open. We plan to do this again as soon as campgrounds open.

 

[EVortex]

Great write-up! Sounds like you are getting the most out of your Model S and enjoying it fully. Such a nice testimonial for an all-around performance, family, and utility car.

 

[antdun]

How many miles have you racked up on your DWS06's so far? How do you like them? Any guesses how many miles you will get out of them?

As of this moment we have put 10,324 miles on the tires. I put them on right before we did our road trip to Orlando Florida from Utah (I have a series of videos on YouTube about that trip too) and when we got back from that trip I took the car in for a tire rotation and I was mostly after the tread depth and the tires all around had lost 1/32nd. I've received some other comments from others with these tires and based on those comments and the current rate of wear I think I'll get around 40,000 miles.

 

[antdun]

Great write-up! Sounds like you are getting the most out of your Model S and enjoying it fully. Such a nice testimonial for an all-around performance, family, and utility car.

Thanks! My goal in owning our Tesla has been to not pamper it and to just use it as I would any vehicle I've owned in the past. It's easy to want to pamper it knowing it originally was purchased for around $108,000 which is mind blowingly expensive from where I come from mostly buying vehicles for around $10,000. So far we've certainly been successful at not pampering it and we've gotten some funny looks from people as we drive by on dirt or gravel roads, or super remote areas.

 

[ucladukes]

It's hard to believe we've lived through a full year already since we purchased our Tesla! The time has flown by super fast partially because we've been so busy going on awesome road trips and other regional adventures in it! I've created a video reviewing our first year of ownership covering the operating and maintenance costs plus how well it has performed as our primary family hauler. If you have any other questions I didn't cover in the video feel free to post your questions in the comments on the video. I get a lot of questions from friends and family surprised that we don't own any gasoline cars and they think you can't get by with only driving electric, and I'm trying to help inform people how much better it is driving electric let alone just "getting by" as some think it is. Feel free to share with others you know who may be on the fence still about switching from gas to electric. I'm including some fun numbers below related to owning our Tesla for the first year but first here's the URL to my YouTube video review.

In 1 year we’ve driven 22,656 miles / 36,461 kilometers (Starting odometer: 63,796 Ending odometer: 86,452)

Average of: 332 Wh/mi / 206 Wh/km (this average is June 21 2019 through May 12th 2020 over 19,785.2 miles total consumption being 6,573.4 kWh)

332 Wh/mi * 22,656 = 7,521.79 kWh consumed in our first year which at 10.9 cents per kWh (average in Utah where we live) amounts to a cost of $819.87 however we haven’t paid a cent for any of that electricity since we've charged for free from superchargers (on road trips), campgrounds, hotels, work, and friends/families homes (while on road trips).

We have solar at home and we haven’t exceeded our production, however the energy going to the car is still going towards our solar payoff so if we multiplied the 4,135.9 kWh of electricity we’ve put into our Tesla at home (via a JuiceboxPro 40) by the average electricity rate for Utah at 10.9 cents per kWh we would have paid $450.81 but in about 2 years our solar will be paid off and we’ll be powering all our household and vehicular electrical needs literally for free for the next couple of decades.

We’ve charged at 62 unique superchargers 85 times and 4 destination chargers in 15 different states

We’ve given rides to 88 people that we remember and probably a couple more

I’ve camped out in the car 4 times with all 3 of my children

A couple times we’ve had 5 children all 5 years old and under (all requiring a car seat) plus two adults in the car utilizing the rear facing seats which has been pretty cool to be able to do since many vehicles struggle with this many car seats.

Destinations we’ve driven it to
After we picked it up in Fremont California we drove it home to Salt Lake City, Utah then the larger trips we went on over the next year include going to:
Vernal, UT camping
Nauvoo, IL and many places there and back
Saint George, UT
Pinedale, WY camping
Orlando, Florida and many places there and back

Repairs we’ve had made all covered under warranty and all by mobile service rangers at our house:

1. Takata airbag recall (same as virtually all vehicles on the planet)
2. Within the first week of purchasing it the rear passenger handle stopped popping out which is a known weakness of this year of Model S so the pop out gear and position switches were replaced
3. The left backup light stopped working so the left rear light assembly was replaced
4. The trunk lid kept not popping up fully and would get into a state where it wouldn’t latch so the cinching mechanism was replaced and when that didn’t fix it they came back and replaced the trunk latch and that fixed the problem
5. Replaced the 12 volt battery
6. The navigation stopped working and they couldn’t fix it remotely so a service technician had to come and reset some systems in person to get it working.

Things I’ve had to pay for:

1. Replaced the windshield wipers for $12
2. Replaced all four tires with Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 for $890.67
3. Replaced air filter for $18

Total maintenance I’ve had to pay: $920.67

We still have 1 year of the warranty, but only 13,548 miles remaining so we’ll see what happens first.

thank you for a wonderful post. I am currently in the market for a used model S. Initially I bought one from Tesla but because they did not disclose body damage, I did not take delivery. Tesla did notify me that apparently on their used car auto sales they do not allow you to see or test drive the car even if it’s in your same city. As a result and of my experience, I have decided to buy the Tesla used from a non-Tesla dealership, knowing that I am giving up some warranty, but for the benefit of being able to see and drive the car before I spend $60k. Any recommendations regarding buying a used tesla or anything you wish you had known? Am I looking at this all wrong?

 

[rafacq]

As of this moment we have put 10,324 miles on the tires. I put them on right before we did our road trip to Orlando Florida from Utah (I have a series of videos on YouTube about that trip too) and when we got back from that trip I took the car in for a tire rotation and I was mostly after the tread depth and the tires all around had lost 1/32nd. I've received some other comments from others with these tires and based on those comments and the current rate of wear I think I'll get around 40,000 miles.

Discount Tire here in the DFW área suggested I do not rotate my tires as they were wearing evenly at 24K miles (6/32”). They stated this is common with AWD Tesla’s. My car only had 12,004 miles when I took delivery in April 2019. It looks like I may get 36K miles before I have to change the factory Michelin’s Primacy MXM4 tires.

Would be interested in hearing your comments on the Continental tires.

 

[Messagepads]

Thanks for this great feedback. I'll take a look at your video

Responding to ucladukes, I am not totally sure about USA as I'm located in Europe but I purchased my second hand Model S in a (specialised) non-official Tesla dealer and the reflexion + purchase process was really smooth and informative. So based on my humble experience, I would approve your approach.

All the best.

 

[Wnix05]

Great review. Consider adding a hitch for the boat. You'll have plenty of HP for towing

 

[KalJoMoS]

Any recommendations regarding buying a used tesla or anything you wish you had known? Am I looking at this all wrong?

Although you can find plenty of similar threads here, this is one of them. Perhaps it will give some guide:

Buying a used model S - need advice

 

[antdun]

thank you for a wonderful post. I am currently in the market for a used model S. Initially I bought one from Tesla but because they did not disclose body damage, I did not take delivery. Tesla did notify me that apparently on their used car auto sales they do not allow you to see or test drive the car even if it’s in your same city. As a result and of my experience, I have decided to buy the Tesla used from a non-Tesla dealership, knowing that I am giving up some warranty, but for the benefit of being able to see and drive the car before I spend $60k. Any recommendations regarding buying a used tesla or anything you wish you had known? Am I looking at this all wrong?

I think you did the right thing not taking delivery if there was undisclosed damage. When I purchased my CPO Model S they included up close pictures of every little scratch on the car so I was pretty sure I knew what I was getting, and I had to take a leap of faith that their 2 year warranty would be sufficient for other unknowns. It's certainly the first vehicle I've ever purchased without crawling underneath it and giving it a thorough inspection. For what it's worth I guess technically I didn't "buy" it until I had ridden in it from the Oakland airport to the Fremont delivery center and that's where we signed all the paperwork and I gave my final payment. If I'd refused delivery I would have lost money for airfare plus potentially the $2,500 deposit, although I think that would have been refunded if there was something egregious on their part, I'm not sure.

I had originally fully expected to purchase my Tesla from local classifieds simply because I figured I'd find a cheaper one that way and I was pleasantly surprised that I found a CPO from Tesla for a good price so I was also able to get the warranty with it. Since I purchased mine they've discontinued free unlimited supercharging though so that's an argument for seeking a private party purchase, giving up the warranty. We've taken advantage of the warranty for sure, but some of the things I've had them do I wouldn't have bothered to repair if I had to pay for them such as the back up light and the trunk latch. I anticipate doing DIY maintenance in the future such as when the 12 volt battery needs to be replaced in the future. In short I like the warranty, but it'll expire eventually, but the free unlimited supercharging doesn't if you're able to get a car with it and it transfers successfully private party.

I don't think you're unreasonable in your decision, but I'd recommend not absolutely writing off Tesla's CPO models, but maybe make sure the pictures they send you are clear enough, and potentially refuse delivery again. Although that can be pretty psychologically difficult to do. I can't really think of any significant things I wish I'd known before that I know now. It's a great car and I'm totally happy with the end result, but I certainly can point out areas for Tesla to improve the experience. I have another YouTube video linked below I uploaded late 2019 that went over all my delivery experience if you're curious how it went for me.

 

[antdun]

Would be interested in hearing your comments on the Continental tires.

I honestly haven't really noticed a difference between the Michelin Primacy MXM4 that came on my car vs the Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 I installed in mid-December. We haven't perceived a noise level difference or handling. The MXM4 has sound foam inside I think, but the DWS06 doesn't and I haven't found that to be an issue. The DWS06 is NOT a run flat tire so it's cheaper and from I read online it's a better ride (run flat tires are stiffer rides) so I put a tire patch kit and pump in my frunk. I hope to never have to use it, but I'm prepared if I do!

For what it's worth I was actually trying to purchase the Bridgestone Turanza Quiet Track to install on my Model S, but I checked with several online and in person brick and mortar stores and they were ALL sold out in mid-December when I was getting ready for my trip to Orlando so I went with the DWS06 as my second option. I'll probably still go for the Quiet Track for my next tire to try it out.

 

[antdun]

Great review. Consider adding a hitch for the boat. You'll have plenty of HP for towing

You know that's a great idea! I've been considering installing a trailer hitch since before I purchased my Model S, but I was nervous to break anything and I was unsure if it would be worthwhile from a range perspective (I know it has plenty of power). However I have enough experience now and I've seen enough reports from others that I've decided it's worthwhile so on Saturday 2 days ago I ordered the EcoHitch and a wiring harness! I intend to do the install myself [crossing my fingers I don't run into any problems beyond my skill level] and I'll be making a YouTube video about it. Initially I found the hitch ($450) and wiring ($229) on etrailer.com but found I can get the hitch from Torklift for $378 and the wiring from Amazon (two different purchases since I had to somewhat create my own "kit" that etrailer assembled) for $156. So I saved $195.42 from what etrailer.com charges. Right now I plan to do the install May 30th, so here's hoping it all goes well, I've never installed a trailer hitch on any vehicle before. I'm excited to have the ability to put our bike rack on the trailer hitch receiver and tow our small 14 foot fishing boat though and I'll be reporting on my YouTube channel how that goes. We're certainly going to get looks from people on boat ramps...

 

[Grant]

Nice video and write-up. Wow, you got a good deal on that 85D (<$40k). I paid a LOT more for my 2015 90D in 2018 (but with less mileage on it).

What kind of range are you getting on the 85D? You mentioned a trip that takes 130 miles uses 61% of your battery so are you only getting 130/.61 = 213 miles of range on a full battery?

 

[antdun]

Nice video and write-up. Wow, you got a good deal on that 85D (<$40k). I paid a LOT more for my 2015 90D in 2018 (but with less mileage on it).

What kind of range are you getting on the 85D? You mentioned a trip that takes 130 miles uses 61% of your battery so are you only getting 130/.61 = 213 miles of range on a full battery?

Yes I agree I got a great deal. I was surprised that someone didn't buy it before me since it had been listed below $40k for 2 days before I bought it. When I made the decision to go for it and I went to the website to put down my deposit I was expecting it to be snatched up already and I was steeling myself for great disappointment, but lo and behold it was still there and now it's mine!

If you're interested in seeing a series of YouTube videos I created about our nearly 6,000 mile road trip from Utah to Florida where I show the driving we go through and the TeslaFi data showing the energy consumption go to this playlist. Our 5,883 Mile Tesla Family Road Trip from Utah to Florida - YouTube

In short I've found freeway speeds at around 85 mph to be around 80% efficient. My Model S when fully charged claims 256 rated miles which is about 205 miles at 80% at freeway speeds. As always things like wind, speed and terrain effect this a lot so there were times we had to drive slower to get to the next charger (see Day 10 of the Orlando trip) then we charged for longer at the next supercharger to give extra buffer and to be able to drive faster.

Regarding the sisters house I mentioned in the 1 year in review video and it taking the energy it did was all from TeslaFi. Here's the TeslaFi data for that entire day. The two lines with the red arrows are the drive to the sisters house and back. It's not clear to me why that trip took the energy it did when the efficiency does seem quite right. I'm open to others giving any insights they observe in the data. When it comes down to it though she left at 85% and got home at 22% so the Tesla's range was sufficient. If needed she could have stopped at the Salt Lake City supercharger, or she could have waited for the Tesla to charge up closer to 100%. In this case she decided to go rather last minute and it was only charging for 24 minutes before she just unplugged it and headed out. We typically charge it up to around 80% but if we have specific plans which require more range we'll go higher as needed.

 

[Mikedrives]

[QUOTE="I've never tried a foam mattress, but I'm confident it's a better experience sleeping wise, the problem being it doesn't deflate to take up as little space as an air mattress does. [/QUOTE]
Don't rule out getting a full or queen size air mattress. You can get one that is cheap but durable at Target/Wal-Mart, with a hand pump or battery operated or powered by the cigarette lighter. Pump it up tight and sleep two people on them, then deflate and roll up.