Advice on Buying a CPO Model S

[BinaryField]

You appear to be pretty cost conscious. If that's the case, I wouldn't recommend buying any Model S given your driving patterns. At 90 miles a day, say over 250 days per year, would be 22500 miles a year even without counting weekend driving. Basically let's just be conservative and say you drive 25k miles per year. Model S depreciates very quickly with miles. Honestly assuming you spend 60k on a CPO today, after 4 to 5 years, the car will be almost worthless... like maybe a bit more than the sales tax you pay to buy it today.

So on ownership cost, you are down 60k without even counting maintenance and electricity cost. It's REALLY expensive.

Given how many miles you drive, I would recommend a very gas efficient Toyota or Chevy volt (both say 2 years old or so). Those cars, after another 100-150k miles (particularly the Toyota) will probably sell a similar amount as the Model S after these same miles.

Thinking about this comment a bit more today, I'd probably describe myself as value conscious (though I obviously care about cost as well). For whatever money I decide to spend, I just want to make sure that it's worth it in terms of equipment, utility, etc...

Not many cars out there besides Tesla that can give you AP so the 2014 (late model) or 2015 would fit the bill.

Sounds like it. I'll keep poking around for now and just keep my options open.

 

[Quick2Judge]

So if you go the CPO route consider these differences many of which are now standard options. I put my guess as to the previous price I might be a little off on the number.

Autolift gate ($1,000 in tech package)
Premium lighting ($1,000)
Panoramic roof ($2,000)
Air suspension ($3,000)
Center console ($1,200)
Rear bucket seating
4.2 0-60 (only on 90+ in the past)
No tax rebate
AP2 hardware
Updated Facia
Rear seat cupholders and usb chargers
Less frunk space in newer models

 

[jjh1234]

I, too, was torn between a new, CPO, private party and 3rd party used purchase. The 3rd party was out after I realized I couldn't extend the warranty. I didn't see any decent private party cars for sale either, and like you said, most people price them like the $7,500 rebate didn't exist. After talking to a California sales rep, he was able to find me a relatively bare bones 2016 MS75D demo car with a $3,500 savings in my local area, so I was able to test drive the car I was buying, which is important to me. I'm glad I made the choice to buy "new". If you wait until the end of a quarter, there are always deals to be had on demo and other inventory units. Any uncorked 75D (0-60mph in ~4 sec) is going to be an awesome choice in my book. I also placed a premium on the facelifted model since I like the look much better and feel it might hold its' value slightly better. Good luck.

 

[THXULTRA]

Do you have a link to these videos? I'd love to see what they do.

This guy talks about what they did to his CPO and shows the delivery. Car looks really clean

 

[THXULTRA]

So if you go the CPO route consider these differences many of which are now standard options. I put my guess as to the previous price I might be a little off on the number.

Autolift gate ($1,000 in tech package)
Premium lighting ($1,000)
Panoramic roof ($2,000)
Air suspension ($3,000)
Center console ($1,200)
Rear bucket seating
4.2 0-60 (only on 90+ in the past)
No tax rebate
AP2 hardware
Updated Facia
Rear seat cupholders and usb chargers
Less frunk space in newer models

This is what I have been seeing and once you get AP1 hardware they are all over $60. Figure a new one is ~$75k (before the tax credit) so not really saving much getting a cpo and on a new one you get a new battery, Newer hardware AP2 vs Ap1.

 

[Sethsla]

As an extremely satisfied CPO buyer, I'll add that we saved over $30K by buying a 2 year old Model S 2 years ago. We now have ~60K miles and are still under factory warranty. While I enjoy the autopilot in the loaner cars (I'm currently driving a new X100D loaner), I really enjoy the ride in our non-AP Model S. Hope you do to. Cheers.

Here's my original post on this topic:
If you'd have never owned a Tesla, would you buy a CPO MS today?

 

[THXULTRA]

As an extremely satisfied CPO buyer, I'll add that we saved over $30K by buying a 2 year old Model S 2 years ago. We now have ~60K miles and are still under factory warranty. While I enjoy the autopilot in the loaner cars (I'm currently driving a new X100D loaner), I really enjoy the ride in our non-AP Model S. Hope you do to. Cheers.

Here's my original post on this topic:
If you'd have never owned a Tesla, would you buy a CPO MS today?

What year did you end up getting? Do you still get software updates? Any issues with the car?

 

[Sethsla]

What year did you end up getting? Do you still get software updates? Any issues with the car?

Ours is a late 2013. We have had a few issues, all resolved by Tesla under warranty with no hassle. For instance, I was on a road trip across middle of nowhere New Mexico heading east. That day, the drivers side doors stopped opening from the outside and the drivers side windows were inoperable. Telsa remotely diagnosed the problem and they were waiting for me when I arrived in Austin. Turns out that it was a computer buss that sends signals to all of these switches. The fix was done in less than 2 hours under warranty.

We do get OTA software updates as well. This has been the best car and service I have ever had, hands down. Hope you receive the best as well.

 

[THXULTRA]

Ours is a late 2013. We have had a few issues, all resolved by Tesla under warranty with no hassle. For instance, I was on a road trip across middle of nowhere New Mexico heading east. That day, the drivers side doors stopped opening from the outside and the drivers side windows were inoperable. Telsa remotely diagnosed the problem and they were waiting for me when I arrived in Austin. Turns out that it was a computer buss that sends signals to all of these switches. The fix was done in less than 2 hours under warranty.

We do get OTA software updates as well. This has been the best car and service I have ever had, hands down. Hope you receive the best as well.

WOW that is awesome service. Nice to hear they were able to work something out when you were on the road. Also remote diagnosis sounds great.

 

[phb-M3]

FWIW: I have been watching the CPO inventory and about ten days ago it dropped dramatically. There are now only 22 currently available and not a single 75D nor a single model X.

 

[THXULTRA]

FWIW: I have been watching the CPO inventory and about ten days ago it dropped dramatically. There are now only 22 currently available and not a single 75D nor a single model X.

I have been watching also and am surprised about this. Only one refresh model also and it is big bucks. Problem I am having is the ones with auto pilot are all over 60k. To me at that point may as well go new and get the tax credit. Think only one car under $50k right now. Cars really seem to hold value.

 

[JonG]

Its almost certainly down to tesla not advertising them but they're probably out there. Did you check the Tesla web site or use one of the CPO hunting sites? Mines no good as it only finds UK cars but we've 200 new inventory here.

 

[abasile]

If you're in SoCal and you want to buy a CPO, I'd recommend calling Tesla's Buena Park store and asking to speak with a CPO specialist. They might be able to offer additional cars that aren't listed online.

We drove about 25K miles on our pre-owned Model S during the first year of ownership. Sure, it has depreciated faster as a result, but we've enjoyed all of those miles. If we hold onto the car for a number of years, it won't matter that much anyway. The only concern would be repairs out of warranty. Thankfully, Tesla's repair charges appear to be dropping as their cost structure improves.

 

[THXULTRA]

Its almost certainly down to tesla not advertising them but they're probably out there. Did you check the Tesla web site or use one of the CPO hunting sites? Mines no good as it only finds UK cars but we've 200 new inventory here.

I use Tesla's Website and www.teslainventory.com (really like this one, these guys do great youtube video's also). I'm still a bit out from when I can pull the trigger also. Also want to see how the model 3 goes as I have a reservation for one although I'm way way down the line...

If you're in SoCal and you want to buy a CPO, I'd recommend calling Tesla's Buena Park store and asking to speak with a CPO specialist. They might be able to offer additional cars that aren't listed online.

We drove about 25K miles on our pre-owned Model S during the first year of ownership. Sure, it has depreciated faster as a result, but we've enjoyed all of those miles. If we hold onto the car for a number of years, it won't matter that much anyway. The only concern would be repairs out of warranty. Thankfully, Tesla's repair charges appear to be dropping as their cost structure improves.

I'm sure I would put more miles on a Tesla also especially not paying for gas. Out of warrenty repairs are a big part of my decision and part of why I'm leaning new is to get the full 8 year warrenty. 2015 or 2016 would be ok too. Anything older and concerned about major repairs while still paying the car off or just after paying it off...

 

[Sethsla]

I use Tesla's Website

I got our good deal by working wtih the Santa Barbara store manager. He put one of his reps to work finding my preferred car. He located our CPO on the internal Tesla web that had not been put up for sale on the public website yet.

As for inventory, there are major fluctuations throughout a quarter. Judging by visits to ev-cpo.com and posts that I've seen here on TMC, inventory builds through the quarter. We are in month 1 of the current quarter and I would expect current inventory to be low. YMMV. HTH.

 

[THXULTRA]

I got our good deal by working wtih the Santa Barbara store manager. He put one of his reps to work finding my preferred car. He located our CPO on the internal Tesla web that had not been put up for sale on the public website yet.

As for inventory, there are major fluctuations throughout a quarter. Judging by visits to ev-cpo.com and posts that I've seen here on TMC, inventory builds through the quarter. We are in month 1 of the current quarter and I would expect current inventory to be low. YMMV. HTH.

This is awesome info and much appreciated!!!

 

[bhzmark]

ask a Tesla salesperson to email you options for the cheapest AP1 CPOs, and the cheapest inventory with AP2. Subtract 7500 from the latter and pick the best option from those.

 

[THXULTRA]

ask a Tesla salesperson to email you options for the cheapest AP1 CPOs, and the cheapest inventory with AP2. Subtract 7500 from the latter and pick the best option from those.

Great Advice. This is what I have been doing kind of on my own to get a pricing idea. Right now it seems like a inventory car +Tax credit is the way to go. The tax credit eats a big difference in the price difference between the two cars.

 

[BinaryField]

It feels like the conclusion of all of the helpful opinions on this thread is that if you are looking for autopilot, you should consider a new vehicle because of the value added by tax credits. If you don't care about it, then you can find great value in the CPO offerings.

I'm in no rush myself, so I think I'm going to keep an eye on the market over the next few months. It should be exciting to see what kinds of developments will turn up.

 

[THXULTRA]

It feels like the conclusion of all of the helpful opinions on this thread is that if you are looking for autopilot, you should consider a new vehicle because of the value added by tax credits. If you don't care about it, then you can find great value in the CPO offerings.

I'm in no rush myself, so I think I'm going to keep an eye on the market over the next few months. It should be exciting to see what kinds of developments will turn up.

Me too I will be watching to see if any deals come up. I have some time though before I purchase. I agree 100% with your conclusion.