Hi all. Made this account as a prospective Tesla buyer. Perhaps I'll keep using it if I become an owner someday.
The situation: I am looking at a used Model S P90D, which is being sold by a non-Tesla dealership as a trade-in. The vehicle has Ludicrous mode, but I don't know what other options it has. Clean title, no accidents. Around 40k miles on the odometer. I could buy it for $47k.
Intrigued, I told them 4 days in advance that I would be coming to see the vehicle. I drive two hours one-way just to look at it... only to find that the car's battery is completely dead. I can't even sit inside the car (because electric doors), never mind turn it on and give it a test drive. The least they could have done is make sure it was charged before I arrived. There was a charger not even 40 feet away in their own parking lot! But I digress...
As a former service tech (Honda, Nissan/Subaru), I'm used to the sales department being pretty oblivious when it comes to mechanical knowledge and general maintenance. Plus this dealership doesn't tend to sell EVs, so I can't say I'm all that surprised by their incompetence in letting the car die completely. The rotors were pretty rusted, so odds are they just let the battery drain to nothing out of honest neglect. They said it sat in the lot for 2 weeks. I'm not sure if that would be long enough to drain the battery. Perhaps if it was parked with little charge to begin with.
Nevertheless, at this point I have to wonder if permanent damage was done to the vehicle. I visited on Monday. It's now Friday. The car has been completely dead for at least that long. I have to wonder: how badly does it damage the battery to leave it completely dead for 1 week+? I also know there's a 12v battery, so this also might be damaged and in need of replacement (I know they need replacement every 3 years or so). I also have to speculate if there is some kind of drain causing the battery to die prematurely. I know there's settings you can tweak to prepare for long sits, and having the wrong setting can drain the battery quickly, but I'm more referencing a traditional battery drain—the type that stems from a vehicle malfunction. Plus the car seemed really under-priced to begin with, and then I talked them down further to $47k + free inspection. This seems almost suspiciously low, especially for a dealer. I can't help but wonder if there's even more wrong with it.
I've been in contact with the since my Monday visit. They initially said that they were going to have a Tesla mechanic come over and diagnose the problem and fix it. However, the dealer contacted me today to inform me that Tesla was too busy to look at it, so the dealer is going to have one of their own non-Tesla mechanics look at it, which is a shame because having an independent Tesla mechanic look it over would have given me greater confidence in the accuracy of its diagnosis and quality of the repair. Now I'm more skeptical of the quick-fix so they can dump a lemon.
I mean, I really want to like this car, but the dealer's incompetence is really making that pretty hard. It seems like a sweet deal on a car that checks all of the boxes for everything I want. I mean, it is a good deal if it turns out it's just a dead Li-Ion battery and there's no real damage, but it's risky. I guess I'd just like to have a better idea of the extent of the possible damage so that I can make a more informed choice. Maybe I'm just blinded by how badly I'd like to own/drive one of my dream cars, which is causing me to ignore the obvious red flags. Any advice on what I should look for during a second visit and test-drive after they eventually fix the car would be appreciated.
The situation: I am looking at a used Model S P90D, which is being sold by a non-Tesla dealership as a trade-in. The vehicle has Ludicrous mode, but I don't know what other options it has. Clean title, no accidents. Around 40k miles on the odometer. I could buy it for $47k.
Intrigued, I told them 4 days in advance that I would be coming to see the vehicle. I drive two hours one-way just to look at it... only to find that the car's battery is completely dead. I can't even sit inside the car (because electric doors), never mind turn it on and give it a test drive. The least they could have done is make sure it was charged before I arrived. There was a charger not even 40 feet away in their own parking lot! But I digress...
As a former service tech (Honda, Nissan/Subaru), I'm used to the sales department being pretty oblivious when it comes to mechanical knowledge and general maintenance. Plus this dealership doesn't tend to sell EVs, so I can't say I'm all that surprised by their incompetence in letting the car die completely. The rotors were pretty rusted, so odds are they just let the battery drain to nothing out of honest neglect. They said it sat in the lot for 2 weeks. I'm not sure if that would be long enough to drain the battery. Perhaps if it was parked with little charge to begin with.
Nevertheless, at this point I have to wonder if permanent damage was done to the vehicle. I visited on Monday. It's now Friday. The car has been completely dead for at least that long. I have to wonder: how badly does it damage the battery to leave it completely dead for 1 week+? I also know there's a 12v battery, so this also might be damaged and in need of replacement (I know they need replacement every 3 years or so). I also have to speculate if there is some kind of drain causing the battery to die prematurely. I know there's settings you can tweak to prepare for long sits, and having the wrong setting can drain the battery quickly, but I'm more referencing a traditional battery drain—the type that stems from a vehicle malfunction. Plus the car seemed really under-priced to begin with, and then I talked them down further to $47k + free inspection. This seems almost suspiciously low, especially for a dealer. I can't help but wonder if there's even more wrong with it.
I've been in contact with the since my Monday visit. They initially said that they were going to have a Tesla mechanic come over and diagnose the problem and fix it. However, the dealer contacted me today to inform me that Tesla was too busy to look at it, so the dealer is going to have one of their own non-Tesla mechanics look at it, which is a shame because having an independent Tesla mechanic look it over would have given me greater confidence in the accuracy of its diagnosis and quality of the repair. Now I'm more skeptical of the quick-fix so they can dump a lemon.
I mean, I really want to like this car, but the dealer's incompetence is really making that pretty hard. It seems like a sweet deal on a car that checks all of the boxes for everything I want. I mean, it is a good deal if it turns out it's just a dead Li-Ion battery and there's no real damage, but it's risky. I guess I'd just like to have a better idea of the extent of the possible damage so that I can make a more informed choice. Maybe I'm just blinded by how badly I'd like to own/drive one of my dream cars, which is causing me to ignore the obvious red flags. Any advice on what I should look for during a second visit and test-drive after they eventually fix the car would be appreciated.
