Advice on buying used M3 SR+

[Greg63]

It’s a 2020 standard plus with 57k on it equipped with FSD. Everything checks out ok except I’m concerned about the battery health. Looks like the full charge is only 210 miles. If that’s correct then it could have as much as 16% battery degradation.

I will be charging with at home with a Tesla wall charger at 40 amps. Is it possible that the battery health will improve if I take care in the way I charge it? It will rarely be supercharged.

Even though I’m getting it at a great price I’m thinking given the battery degradation I should walk away from it.

 

[afadeev]

It’s a 2020 standard plus with 57k on it equipped with FSD. Everything checks out ok except I’m concerned about the battery health. Looks like the full charge is only 210 miles. If that’s correct then it could have as much as 16% battery degradation.

Are you sure it's Standard Plus and not just Standard?
Also, the "estimated" range shown by the car and the ACTUAL range while driving, are two entirely different numbers.

I will be charging with at home with a Tesla wall charger at 40 amps. Is it possible that the battery health will improve if I take care in the way I charge it? It will rarely be supercharged.

No.
Battery capacity goes only in one direction. And that is down.
L2 charging at home is a smart move, since most recent wave of price hikes, Superchargers are as expensive as filling an ICE car with gas (on per mile basis). Avoid those.

Even though I’m getting it at a great price I’m thinking given the battery degradation I should walk away from it.

Any reason not to wait for the new car rebates in Jan'23, and get a brand new one?
That's what I would do.

HTH,
a

 

[Greg63]

It is a standard plus. I’m not able to take full advantage of the tax credits so that’s not on the table. Plus I’m getting this one for slightly lass than half of a new one with the same options.

If this battery goes out after the warranty it looks like a refurbished battery from tesla is about $16,000 so if this battery doesn’t hold up I think the $16k added to what I’m paying for it would still be a fair deal. I’m just looking at the worst case scenario.

What about the recalibration process that I’ve read about?

 

[jjrandorin]

It is a standard plus. I’m not able to take full advantage of the tax credits so that’s not on the table. Plus I’m getting this one for slightly lass than half of a new one with the same options.

If this battery goes out after the warranty it looks like a refurbished battery from tesla is about $16,000 so if this battery doesn’t hold up I think the $16k added to what I’m paying for it would still be a fair deal. I’m just looking at the worst case scenario.

What about the recalibration process that I’ve read about?

That doesnt change the actual battery degradation ( if its real battery degradation it only goes one way, and thats down, as @afadeev said). It may change "the number on the screen" because the number on the screen is just an estimate.

you can calculate the battery capacity the car thinks it has using the information in the sticky thread on the topic:

Calculating Your Battery's Estimated Capacity Using the Car's Energy Screen

Re posting here and making this a sticky post so it doesnt get lost. @AlanSubie4Life originally posted: =========================================== (originally posted by @AlanSubie4Life. Original thread this appeared in can be found here: ( 2021 model Y scan my Tesla battery size)...

teslamotorsclub.com

If someone is selling the car for half the cost of a new one, I would be wary of the deal as even with the market decline that seems "very aggressive" as a price. In other words, my guard would be up on why is the car being sold for that much of a discount. If its Salvage or something, that might make sense. A non Salvage Model 3 SR+ being sold for a price so low that a 16k battery replacement would still be able to be absorbed?

Because of my own risk tolerance (which on these types of things is very low), I wouldnt be looking at it, myself, unless there was a clear reason it was that price.

 

[Heckraiser]

The only difference between a SR and a SR+ is software. Mine is a SR+ on the screen, the app, the title and when you look up the vin, but it only has the SR range because I didn't want to pay for the extra 20 miles of range when I purchased it. They gave me the choice (it was previously a dealer-owned SR+) and then gave me a software "downgrade" to dial it back to SR range and features.

 

[RandyS]

fyi, I think you'll only be able to charge that model car at 32 amps (SR or SR+)...

 

[El joe]

For what it's worth, I bought a 2019 SR+ with FSD and 45,000 miles from Tesla and my range is right around 210 miles at 100% charge. The one thing I didn't see you mention was the wheels. Mine came with the 19" sport wheels and I believe those account for a decent hit as well. So it might not be all battery degradation.

 

[Greg63]

You're right about the charging. Oh well that's the same rate of charge per hour that my S had. Not a big deal.

This 3 has the standard 18" wheels. I like the 18" tire size because it will probably give a little better ride but those wheels are getting replaced at some point. I drive mostly city so shouldn't impact range.

I've done some research on charging the model 3 and it's certainly different from the S that I had but it'll be easy to adapt to it. Still waiting on the title to come in so I can purchase it. Hopefully it won't take much longer.

 

[Greg63]

Update:
I purchased the car and I love it. It's much better than I thought it would be after coming from the S. I do like the S more but this 3 is a really great car. The one concern I had about the car was the battery. The first time I ran it to 100% it came out to 208 miles. I adjusted how I charge the car and it's made a difference in how many miles of range it reports. It now reports 221 miles. At 11.6% degradation it's still high given the age and miles but it's much better than what I originally thought it was. Even with the recent drop in prices of used M3s I still got a great deal on it.

 

[Mr X]

Update:
I purchased the car and I love it. It's much better than I thought it would be after coming from the S. I do like the S more but this 3 is a really great car. The one concern I had about the car was the battery. The first time I ran it to 100% it came out to 208 miles. I adjusted how I charge the car and it's made a difference in how many miles of range it reports. It now reports 221 miles. At 11.6% degradation it's still high given the age and miles but it's much better than what I originally thought it was. Even with the recent drop in prices of used M3s I still got a great deal on it.

My 2019 SR+ with 67,000 miles shows 204 miles at 100%