About To Buy Pre-owned Ms And Battery Dies!

[OH.dr.miller]

Hi All,

I’ve been researching Teslas for the past few months, on here and other sites, and decided to pull the trigger on a pre-owned Tesla from a dealership. 2014 P85 with 30k miles. The car I selected is 3 hrs away. The dealership took it to be detailed yesterday and on the drive back to the dealership they said the battery died and they had to tow it back to the dealership. The salesperson said they plugged it in and should be charged by tomorrow when we plan to come. The salesperson called me tonight and said she cannot turn the car on, and the screen is blank. The outside lights are working and I think she could get in the car, but that’s it. They have a level 2 charging station at the dealership. She said the charging light is Amber and it doesn’t seem to be charging at all.

They are going to look at it in the morning and determine what to do. Maybe plug in one of their other EVs to make sure it’s not the charging station. Even still, I’m concerned why the battery died and they were stranded with all of the notifications etc.

Does someone have an idea of what this may be and if this is a sign I shouldn’t move forward with this particular car?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Daniel

 

[linkster]

Unless that particular car is a unicorn optioned “must have” car that speaks to you, I would leave that potential problem child for someone else to sort out.

 

[Raechris]

Could be as simple as 12 volt battery but if they fully discharged the main HV battery it could have been damaged. I would want a full diagnostic report printout and explanation of what caused and what fixed the problem. In addition try to get additional concessions such as extended warranty or money off. Tesla should not have run the battery that low so hope it is just the 12V, if not, then I would pass

 

[OH.dr.miller]

This is a non-Tesla dealership. I’ve known more about the car than they have just from all my research. Definitely makes me skittish.

 

[davewill]

I would guess the 12v battery as well. Electric cars do funny things when the 12v battery is bad. I wouldn't touch the car unless given a clean bill of health by Tesla service. See if they'll pay for a checkup.

P.S. on the plus side, it should still be under warranty, so if something is wrong it should get fixed.

 

[Tam]

...charging light is Amber...

Maybe they don't know how to charge the car. The charging light needs to be green.

 

[OH.dr.miller]

Maybe they don't know how to charge the car. The charging light needs to be green.

That’s what I told her. Also, the exterior lights work so seems like the 12v is working. Could they have really been that stupid to ignore all the warnings and let the thing die at a place where a tow was needed? It all sounds odd to me.

 

[animorph]

There have been quite a few reports here of auction cars never being charged. Even at a Tesla Service Center owners have watched their batteries drain. At a third party dealer I would think it was almost a sure thing.

The yellow light on the charge port probably means the dealer didn't get the plug in all the way.

 

[spacklewoof]

If you haven't signed anything yet, I say find another.

 

[Ande]

The 12volt is most likely the one that needs jumpstarting.
The BMS is programmed to disconnect main battery with 4kWh to spare, so it is no risk of the main battery to be damaged by discharge yet.
(Maybe after half a year or more...)

 

[Lasttoy]

It's the 12v battery, most likely. Also the way they plugged it in. Easy fix dont worry about that.
Call 877 798 3752, u will need to be in the car to give vin. number, they can log into car and tell u .