Another New or Used question

[Michelle_eriw]

I'm tempted; what is your opinion? Buy this?

$500 Transport Fee to 45324
28,275 mile odometer

• 2018 Long Range All-Wheel Drive
• Red Multi-Coat Paint
• 19’’ Sport Wheels
• All Black Premium Interior
• Full Self-Driving Capability

• Purchase Price$48,800

This? (No transport fee)
8,574 mile odometer

• 2018 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive
• Red Multi-Coat Paint
• 18’’ Aero Wheels
• All Black Premium Interior
• Full Self-Driving Capability
  • Purchase Price$46,400

This?
$500 Transport Fee to 45324

4,789 mile odometer

• 2018 Long Range All-Wheel Drive
• Solid Black Paint
• 19’’ Sport Wheels
• All Black Premium Interior
• Full Self-Driving Capability

Or keep waiting for the blue 2020 M3 LR with FSD for $56,000

 

[acarney]

I would keep waiting for the new. Unless you desperately need that FSD cost financed, I would ask for that to be removed. You can add it back at any time later and Musk is good about giving advanced knowledge about price increases on it. Right now you might actually be paying interest on that feature for another year or so before really getting anything that looks close to FSD. It’ll get much better of course, but right now past the freeways it’s still really really novelty status.

Instead I would plan on getting the car and spending a little over half the FSD price on full paint protection film on the car (stealth if you want a matte finish, which looks amazing with the blue!) and tint (windshield, all side windows. The roof and rear already have heat rejection built into the glass and it works pretty dang good.

If you don’t want the darkness of a tint, just get 70% ceramic film on the windows, it’s almost clear looking to the eyes yet still HUGELY reduces heat coming into the car and almost 100% UV rejection.

Then put aside $150 a month or something plus the three or four grand you saved (even after accounting for PPF & tint) for a year or two before jumping into FSD. I honestly think you’ll get much more out of your car looking pristine all the time and super easy to wash, protecting the inside from UV and making it more comfortable, and having the thought of buying FSD when you actually can use it compared to getting it at delivery...

 

[theothertom]

It's up to you of course, but it looks like a new model 3 LR AWD with FSD , etc would be in the high 50's. So you'd be saving around $10K. Some would say a lightly used Tesla is better because all the quality issues have been worked out. You should verify that before purchase.
Personally I don't think FSD is worth it, so I ordered a new one for about the same price as the used ones you listed above, of course w/o FSD

 

[Michelle_eriw]

I would keep waiting for the new. Unless you desperately need that FSD cost financed, I would ask for that to be removed. You can add it back at any time later and Musk is good about giving advanced knowledge about price increases on it. Right now you might actually be paying interest on that feature for another year or so before really getting anything that looks close to FSD. It’ll get much better of course, but right now past the freeways it’s still really really novelty status.

Instead I would plan on getting the car and spending a little over half the FSD price on full paint protection film on the car (stealth if you want a matte finish, which looks amazing with the blue!) and tint (windshield, all side windows. The roof and rear already have heat rejection built into the glass and it works pretty dang good.

If you don’t want the darkness of a tint, just get 70% ceramic film on the windows, it’s almost clear looking to the eyes yet still HUGELY reduces heat coming into the car and almost 100% UV rejection.

Then put aside $150 a month or something plus the three or four grand you saved (even after accounting for PPF & tint) for a year or two before jumping into FSD. I honestly think you’ll get much more out of your car looking pristine all the time and super easy to wash, protecting the inside from UV and making it more comfortable, and having the thought of buying FSD when you actually can use it compared to getting it at delivery...

There's a reason that all of those options have FSD. Your suggestions do not answer my question.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

It's up to you of course, but it looks like a new model 3 LR AWD with FSD , etc would be in the high 50's. So you'd be saving around $10K. Some would say a lightly used Tesla is better because all the quality issues have been worked out. You should verify that before purchase.
Personally I don't think FSD is worth it, so I ordered a new one for about the same price as the used ones you listed above, of course w/o FSD

So which of those used ones would you suggest?

 

[house9]

Or keep waiting for the blue 2020 M3 LR with FSD for $56,000

Wait for the 2020 M3 LR that you want - but skip the FSD.

 

[qingshan]

Thinking you want fsd - go with the rear wheel drive LR (or the AWD if you get a lot of snow). You will love it and save on price, registration and insurance

 

[acarney]

There's a reason that all of those options have FSD. Your suggestions do not answer my question.

They actually do. I said to wait for new. I also followed that up with saying not to waste the money on FSD right now, but you can opt to take that advice or not. You can also see there seems to be a decent amount of people also suggesting FSD still isn’t worth the cost right now. Further, you’ve found a handful of cars that are a little over two years old WITH FSD that ended up being traded in before any real FSD features. Navigate on autopilot still remains about the only useful feature. The traffic light and stop sign is nice, but it still has a ways to go.

Ultimately I’m suggesting waiting for the new car with full warranty, no abuse on the battery, a couple years of extra build experience, etc. I don’t see you losing anything by NOT having FSD at delivery, unless you can only afford it by financing it. That’s all up to you, but I would take new over used, unless you can find like a 2019/2020 with 5,000 or less miles. You hope you don’t need the warranty, but it sure is nice to have it for four years...

 

[pjensen]

Ultimately I’m suggesting waiting for the new car with full warranty, no abuse on the battery, a couple years of extra build experience, etc.

I have to agree.

With a 2 year old car (2018), you would not know the battery's condition, how it has been charged (repeatedly to 100%, for example) or how it has been discharged (down below 5%, for example). What is the current range on the battery?

Build quality can vary quite a bit apparently, but I think improvements have been made since 2018. Also a two year old car will have some dings, some degradation of the paint, some scuffing of the interior.

There is just not enough of a discount on the used cars, in my opinion - to cover these potential unknowns.

Further, you’ve found a handful of cars that are a little over two years old WITH FSD that ended up being traded in before any real FSD features. Navigate on autopilot still remains about the only useful feature. The traffic light and stop sign is nice, but it still has a ways to go.

Interesting point.

I didn't get FSD. It just has no value to me. My plan is to just use the car locally, short distances with stop and go traffic. I don't mind driving. But if the OP does a lot of freeway driving for several hours a week, it might have some benefit. But is it worth $8k? Perhaps for some, it is.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

They actually do. I said to wait for new. I also followed that up with saying not to waste the money on FSD right now, but you can opt to take that advice or not. You can also see there seems to be a decent amount of people also suggesting FSD still isn’t worth the cost right now. Further, you’ve found a handful of cars that are a little over two years old WITH FSD that ended up being traded in before any real FSD features. Navigate on autopilot still remains about the only useful feature. The traffic light and stop sign is nice, but it still has a ways to go.

Ultimately I’m suggesting waiting for the new car with full warranty, no abuse on the battery, a couple years of extra build experience, etc. I don’t see you losing anything by NOT having FSD at delivery, unless you can only afford it by financing it. That’s all up to you, but I would take new over used, unless you can find like a 2019/2020 with 5,000 or less miles. You hope you don’t need the warranty, but it sure is nice to have it for four years...

Thanks. I debated with myself about FSD. I still have the option of deleting it. If I do delete it, I can lower my payments By keeping my down payment the same. or I can keep the Seven grand in reserve, and have the same payments. The former means that I would have to save up to buy FSD later, but in either case FSD would cost me a grand more than I'd be paying if I don't delete it. (Or more if its price increases again.)

All told, most of my driving is freeway (pre COVID19 that is) so NOA is attractive to me.

 

[GSBJackson]

I suggest not purchasing any used M3 with more than 10,000 miles. That’s 20% of the warranty as it is. Being in the Cincinnati area, are you sure you don’t want AWD?

Patience young skywalker...!

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks. I debated with myself about FSD. I still have the option of deleting it. If I do delete it, I can lower my payments By keeping my down payment the same. or I can keep the Seven grand in reserve, and have the same payments. The former means that I would have to save up to buy FSD later, but in either case FSD would cost me a grand more than I'd be paying if I don't delete it. (Or more if its price increases again.)

All told, most of my driving is freeway (pre COVID19 that is) so NOA is attractive to me.

You will find (likely have already found) that the people on this website who decided not to buy FSD are not shy about telling everyone "its not worth the money" because THEY didnt feel it was worth the money.

Conversely, many (not all, but many) who have it with either say " i think its worth it" or grew tired long ago from having that "discussion" on these boards, so just ignore any "FSD isnt worth it" discussions.

Back to your thread topic, I have a 2018 model 3P, and have been very happy with the car. If you are planning to keep the car for a long time, I would buy new. I dont feel tesla model 3s currently fall into the (generally accepted) principle of "buy the car 1-2 years old and save a bundle!" associated with most used cars in this price range / space. So, I would buy new over used, hard stop, and then delete / decontent to fit the budget if I had to. So I would buy new without FSD over used with, if that was the only way to hit the budget I either needed to, or wanted to hit. I say this as a person who has FSD and happens to think its worth it, by the way.

I just feel "new" is worth MORE than FSD, and luckily on THIS car, its not a "forever" choice like making a choice to decontent some feature or other is on every other vehicle.

If I had to have used for some reason, I personally would be more likely to buy the used car with 28k miles on it, because its likely someone just drove that car a lot. It has a bunch of miles on it, so was likely not much (or any) of a problem. Conversely, I always look "side eyed" at low mileage cars being offered for sale, because my brain always says "why did someeone want out of this car with so little miles on it?".

So, I dont see the value in very low mileage used cars, unless there is a CLEAR explanation for why that is. Clear explanation meaning, for example, Many Corvettes become "garage queen" type cars because they are halo cars for men as they buy a sports car when they can finally afford one later in life, only to find out that "man it hurts getting in and out of that thing when I want to drive it, and man its uncomfortable, and I will just take the SUV to my golf outing this weekend".

So, New over used, or of those cars, if it were me, I would buy the 28k one because it has the most clear reason why its there. The others say to "ME" --- "I was a problem that the owner wanted to get rid of with low miles".

May not be true, but definitely "could" be, and there is no clear reason why its there, unlike the 28k car which was likely some business owner logging highway miles.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

I suggest not purchasing any used M3 with more than 10,000 miles. That’s 20% of the warranty as it is. Being in the Cincinnati area, are you sure you don’t want AWD?

Patience young skywalker...!

I do want AWD, and I'm in the Dayton area.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

You will find (likely have already found) that the people on this website who decided not to buy FSD are not shy about telling everyone "its not worth the money" because THEY didnt feel it was worth the money.

Conversely, many (not all, but many) who have it with either say " i think its worth it" or grew tired long ago from having that "discussion" on these boards, so just ignore any "FSD isnt worth it" discussions.

Back to your thread topic, I have a 2018 model 3P, and have been very happy with the car. If you are planning to keep the car for a long time, I would buy new. I dont feel tesla model 3s currently fall into the (generally accepted) principle of "buy the car 1-2 years old and save a bundle!" associated with most used cars in this price range / space. So, I would buy new over used, hard stop, and then delete / decontent to fit the budget if I had to. So I would buy new without FSD over used with, if that was the only way to hit the budget I either needed to, or wanted to hit. I say this as a person who has FSD and happens to think its worth it, by the way.

I just feel "new" is worth MORE than FSD, and luckily on THIS car, its not a "forever" choice like making a choice to decontent some feature or other is on every other vehicle.

If I had to have used for some reason, I personally would be more likely to buy the used car with 28k miles on it, because its likely someone just drove that car a lot. It has a bunch of miles on it, so was likely not much (or any) of a problem. Conversely, I always look "side eyed" at low mileage cars being offered for sale, because my brain always says "why did someeone want out of this car with so little miles on it?".

So, I dont see the value in very low mileage used cars, unless there is a CLEAR explanation for why that is. Clear explanation meaning, for example, Many Corvettes become "garage queen" type cars because they are halo cars for men as they buy a sports car when they can finally afford one later in life, only to find out that "man it hurts getting in and out of that thing when I want to drive it, and man its uncomfortable, and I will just take the SUV to my golf outing this weekend".

So, New over used, or of those cars, if it were me, I would buy the 28k one because it has the most clear reason why its there. The others say to "ME" --- "I was a problem that the owner wanted to get rid of with low miles".

May not be true, but definitely "could" be, and there is no clear reason why its there, unlike the 28k car which was likely some business owner logging highway miles.

Thanks. After reading the replies here, and in some Facebook forums, I've decided to keep my order, and just have the patience until I get it. (A mild consideration is that the longer it takes, the longer I keep my CDs, so gather more interest.)

The one I have on order has just about everything I want. I wish it had Apple Car Play, but I can live without that. If the LR RWD were still available, I'd get that instead of the AWD. (I don't need AWD, and RWD was less expensive, and a smidgeon longer range.) Some of the other things I would like are minor conveniences, and I can live without them.

What I neither want nor need is any of the performance/acceleration enhancements.

 

[Gasaraki]

Third option if you must.