Any advise on purchasing a used Tesla from the experts;-)

[Ostrichsak]

It means that the car was driven at 90mph or higher with Autopilot engaged, and it doesn't like that. So it puts you into "Autopilot Jail" until you stop the car and put it in park an drive again, then it resets back to normal.

If you didn't drive the car that fast with Autopilot, and the message is always there, you'll need to take it into service, as it sounds like a sensor is faulty.

That's but one reason. It could also be that the driver was repeatedly taking their hands off of the wheel and not putting them back when warned. If this happens enough it will also cause it to disable until you pull over and stop the car and restart your trip again. Moral: make sure you are heeding the warnings the car gives you as it means it's not sensing your hands on the wheel. The more it does this the more often it will warn you and the shorter time between. The more it senses your hands on the wheel the fewer times it will warn you.

It could also be something defective but most likely it's one of those two reasons. It also just happens from time to time. One time I was driving my wife's with AP engaged when it suddenly freaked out with the red warning tell me to take over immediately and disabled itself. My hands were on the wheel, I was paying attention and there was nothing sketchy around me so that was completely software related. Pulled over when it was safe, parked and then took off again and it's never been back since.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Again congratulations and welcome to the family.

Better route planner estimates that if you leave Audi in Nashville with 95% charge you would stop in Chattanooga and charge for 29 minutes. Leave with 80% charge and arrive in Atlanta with 30% left. YMMV.

This was the info I was missing was where she was driving from. Sounds like you pay better attention than I did and whipped up the hard numbers I was guessing towards.

Moral: when it comes to Supercharging, more stops is faster than fewer stops. This goes against the way we're programmed to think with ICE cars since fewer stops is faster. You want to take advantage of the faster charging that occurs before the batteries start topping off. That's why you'll see speeds of 300mph for a bit and the it tapes to half of that for the latter portion of the charge which can take forever to top off. You also don't need as much of a buffer as you might think you do to arrive at the next one. This is all things that you will learn with ownership and you learn how your car differs from your previous car.

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

It means that the car was driven at 90mph or higher with Autopilot engaged, and it doesn't like that. So it puts you into "Autopilot Jail" until you stop the car and put it in park an drive again, then it resets back to normal.

If you didn't drive the car that fast with Autopilot, and the message is always there, you'll need to take it into service, as it sounds like a sensor is faulty.

Ok, I will check it out! I wasn’t driving back, b/c I wanted to nap a little prior to work but I will keep an eye in it!! Thanks!

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

@RedLoubs&wine, here is what I think:

• The Autotrader page doesn't mention Autopilot. This car might not have Autopilot enabled. If that's the case, adding Enhanced Autopilot now will cost $7,000. If you want the Full Self-Driving option, that will cost an additional $4,000 assuming Tesla will let you add FSD to a used AP2.0 car. There are some signs, they don't want to add FSD to AP2.0 unless the original buyer adds it. On the touchscreen, if they click on Controls and then select the Autopilot tab and take a photo of that, that would clear things up.
• Based on the 1749XX VIN, my guess is, this car was produced on 8 Dec 2016 and delivered at the end of Dec 2016. That means the 4 years overall warranty on the car will run out in Dec 2020, 1 year 9 months from now.

I forgot many of the details you mentioned in the past. Can you comment on these topics:

1. Are you planning to use this car regularly for long distance trips and if so how important is the time it takes to Supercharge and what would be the distance for that trip? Do you need one Supercharger stop or two stops or more? Check out the Supercharger map here.

2. Can you talk about how important Autopilot is to you and what do you think about different Autopilot versions? If you look at the A, B, C, D options here, which of these would be a must and which would be good to have? If you couldn't upgrade to Full Self-Driving, would that be an issue? The reason I'm asking is that there are some question marks about these:
(A) whether it will be possible to add FSD to AP2.0 cars if the car was purchased used or whether Tesla is planning to let only the original owner add FSD to AP2.0.
(B) there is speculation (maybe 30% chance) that AP2.0 might not support FSD.

3. Can you watch these videos and comment on whether these features are important to you:

• Navigate on Autopilot
• Dog Mode
• Sentry Mode
• Supercharger V3
• Traffic light recognition: check out this image and watch the video here where the icon appears

4. These days all vehicle production is switching from Autopilot hardware version 2.5 to version 3.0. If you find this topic interesting, you can listen to Elon in the podcast here and maybe comment on what you think about it. Here is a video by Tesla that shows what FSD might look like when it's released.

Much appreciation Troy! Honestly I will primarily be using the car for commuting, in town! However we do like a good road trip from time to time. I honestly did not have to have FSD...it was a plus that this car came with it!! I was leaning more toward AP 2.0 but it still wasn’t an absolute must. I just figured I would trade it in sooner rather than later!
But now that I have many options enabled, I may keep it longer than anticipated!!;-)

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Generally, when road tripping, you will be stopping at Superchargers for 20-30min. That's ideal. You want your battery to be lower when you arrive and you don't want to fully charge before leaving. Reason being is that batteries slow drastically as they fill. So you want to take advantage of that beefy portion in the middle and use it to your advantage. There may have been another Supercharger between where you were and home that you could have broke your charges up. I find that sometimes the navigation can leave much to be desired in terms of planning trips so I don't rely on it. I check the actual map of Supercharger locations and sometimes you'll find another one the navigation isn't factoring and you can change how you travel. Again, don't know the specifics of your situation so maybe it was the only option but even if that's the case it sure beats having no Supercharger network at all like other EVs. You just have to plan your trips a little bit more sometimes. If I can do it in a 60kWh Model S surely you can do it in a Model S with over 30% more range. ;-)

Oh wow!! This is totally opposite of what I was thinking but great to know!! Essentially plan on stopping more often for less time. Versus stopping once and charging for an hour!! Much appreciation!! I will get a hang of it!! I didn’t have enough juice to drive to work this AM!! I just took my ICE commuter car until I get a hang of it!!
As always much appreciation!!

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Again congratulations and welcome to the family.

Better route planner estimates that if you leave Audi in Nashville with 95% charge you would stop in Chattanooga and charge for 29 minutes. Leave with 80% charge and arrive in Atlanta with 30% left. YMMV.

Much appreciation! I’m excited to finally be apart of the family!!I will download that app!! B/c that’s not where we charged up at!! All so great to know!!!

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

How much is too much super charging?? I have a super charger close to me, and I haven’t fully set up my garage charger...I n is I’ve that supercharging too often is not good for the battery?
Hence my question is how much is too much?? Once a week, twice a week? Or just don’t fully charge/to 100%?? Of course I’m ready to put it on the road!!??
Also, any must have apps you guys recommend?? Much appreciation!!

 

[Alset4S]

How much is too much super charging?? I have a super charger close to me, and I haven’t fully set up my garage charger...I n is I’ve that supercharging too often is not good for the battery?
Hence my question is how much is too much?? Once a week, twice a week? Or just don’t fully charge/to 100%?? Of course I’m ready to put it on the road!!??
Also, any must have apps you guys recommend?? Much appreciation!!

I only use super chargers when on the road. I think it's the higher rate of charge that has the potential to cause battery issues.

I charge at home using a nema 14-50 but can be pricey to have installed. The adapter should have come with the car along with mobile charger. Something I should have told you to verify prior to purchase. Also pricey.

Apps I use are Tesla moble app and Dashboard which requires a Tesla account. Also use Better route planner, charge hub and charge point. Others are sure to chime in with their list. All are available in your app store.

About the Tesla app. Need to create account online and complete paperwork to have your car added to your account. You need to send a copy of either the title in your name or state registration. Took about 10 days once I emailed the documents. Getting the documents took 8 weeks.

Every time I drive the car it reminds me to not sweat the small stuff and just enjoy.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Battery life short answer: Don't overthink it.

Battery life long answer: Early on the official Tesla stance was to not charge over 70ish % for regular use and don't Supercharge regularly. This was largely due to lack of long-term knowledge. Several years later the data is in and it's really not a big deal. There have been outfits that use the Model S in their fleet for taxi and car services and they not only charge to 100% every time but use Superchargers exclusively. These outfits are getting over 400k miles on their cars and show no appreciable difference in degradation even with all those miles in a worst case scenario. It sounds like the most depreciation you will see will be withing the first 75k miles (give or take) as it ramps up to near 10% battery degradation and the rest is stressing out over a couple of a tenths of a percent here and there. Even Elon recently said that the capacity you charge too isn't as big of a factor as they initially predicted it might be.

The bottom line is cars are there to make our lives better. Stressing or limiting yourself to extend it's life fractions of a percent aren't worth the stress. If I can get half a million miles of worry free use out of my battery before the battery degradation is noticeable enough that I'm thinking about replacing it I'm a happy camper. If I can extend that another 50k miles or so but it's stressing me into an early grave every day the entire decade I own it then what's the point?

 

[Don TLR]

This guy just doesn't give up. The poster already bought a car and you're still in here selling them a Model 3 with v3 AP even though they told you numerous times they weren't interested in a Model 3. If they had only one reason that would be enough but they actually had several legitimate reasons so you should respect their decision and stop trying to force something onto them because it was the right choice for you. Get out of here already!

Is he still doing that crap,, just put annoying posters on ignore, it makes reading the forum so much more pleasant..

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate it! Taking it all in! I definitely will be be utilizing the super chargers! I mean that is what sold me on the late model 2016!!
Im a female who isn’t concerned too much if Superchargering decreases my battery by a tenth or such a small fraction, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things! Especially since I have several more years on the battery warranty?! Right( if I have any issuesv)
I appreciate your fleet example! That truly helps to put things into perspective!! It also will be me! Lol Superchargering often & when it’s a convenient!!;-) I have a couple of options near my place of employment as well!!
You guys have been great! I’m sure I’ll have more questions to come!!
Oh I did want to know how accurate is the remaining battery gauge? For ex: If it says I’ll have 2% when I arrive, I would imagine that will or could fluctuate depending the car/battery, conditions surround actual driving?? Or is it pretty accurate??
As always much appreciation guys for all if your help!!

 

[Alset4S]

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate it! Taking it all in! I definitely will be be utilizing the super chargers! I mean that is what sold me on the late model 2016!!
Im a female who isn’t concerned too much if Superchargering decreases my battery by a tenth or such a small fraction, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things! Especially since I have several more years on the battery warranty?! Right( if I have any issuesv)
I appreciate your fleet example! That truly helps to put things into perspective!! It also will be me! Lol Superchargering often & when it’s a convenient!!;-) I have a couple of options near my place of employment as well!!
You guys have been great! I’m sure I’ll have more questions to come!!
Oh I did want to know how accurate is the remaining battery gauge? For ex: If it says I’ll have 2% when I arrive, I would imagine that will or could fluctuate depending the car/battery, conditions surround actual driving?? Or is it pretty accurate??
As always much appreciation guys for all if your help!!

Not sure how accurate it is but I try to make sure it's not going to be below 10% when I arrive.
As far as the battery warranty, it doesn't concern me, but be aware it doesn't cover degrecation.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Thanks guys!! I really appreciate it! Taking it all in! I definitely will be be utilizing the super chargers! I mean that is what sold me on the late model 2016!!
Im a female who isn’t concerned too much if Superchargering decreases my battery by a tenth or such a small fraction, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things! Especially since I have several more years on the battery warranty?! Right( if I have any issuesv)
I appreciate your fleet example! That truly helps to put things into perspective!! It also will be me! Lol Superchargering often & when it’s a convenient!!;-) I have a couple of options near my place of employment as well!!
You guys have been great! I’m sure I’ll have more questions to come!!
Oh I did want to know how accurate is the remaining battery gauge? For ex: If it says I’ll have 2% when I arrive, I would imagine that will or could fluctuate depending the car/battery, conditions surround actual driving?? Or is it pretty accurate??
As always much appreciation guys for all if your help!!

You can switch that gauge to read approximate miles left which I find more useful than % which I think may be default.

The largest factors on your range accuracy will be temperature and elevation. Given you're in Atlanta neither should be much of an affect.

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Ok guys!!!Another big thanks to facilitating me in finding my UNICORN!!! Ok, so I’m planning my first road trip in my new MS!! Perfect timing...right!! Just in time for my off week for spring break !
I have been planning using “a Better route planner” which seems great! However, my issue is I thought I’ve seen the option (on the Tesla Navigation) to plan on a round trip drive back.
For instance, if I want to drive to Nashville from Atlanta. It initially had me stopping in Manchester(I was confused why I didn’t have me stopping in Chattanooga?) However once I started driving it routed me to go to Chattanooga for a 40 min charge first! However once I reached my final destination in Nashville I’ll only have 12%!!! Is there an option to add a round trip “plan” so that I’ll have enough change to be able to make it to a supercharger once I leave my final destination!? I hope that makes sense! I’m just nervous when I start my road trip I won’t be in a city with a nearby supercharger& would hate to be running on very little juice to get to one, once I’ve reached my final destination!!
Much appreciation in advanced!!

 

[Alset4S]

Ok guys!!!Another big thanks to facilitating me in finding my UNICORN!!! Ok, so I’m planning my first road trip in my new MS!! Perfect timing...right!! Just in time for my off week for spring break !
I have been planning using “a Better route planner” which seems great! However, my issue is I thought I’ve seen the option (on the Tesla Navigation) to plan on a round trip drive back.
For instance, if I want to drive to Nashville from Atlanta. It initially had me stopping in Manchester(I was confused why I didn’t have me stopping in Chattanooga?) However once I started driving it routed me to go to Chattanooga for a 40 min charge first! However once I reached my final destination in Nashville I’ll only have 12%!!! Is there an option to add a round trip “plan” so that I’ll have enough change to be able to make it to a supercharger once I leave my final destination!? I hope that makes sense! I’m just nervous when I start my road trip I won’t be in a city with a nearby supercharger& would hate to be running on very little juice to get to one, once I’ve reached my final destination!!
Much appreciation in advanced!!

Short answer is no with car navigation. With route planner you can. Just add waypoint. Atlanta - Nashville - Atlanta. You can charge at little longer if you want more cushion on arrival.
Also check settings in route planner to adjust as appreciate and verify it's set for 90D.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Ok guys!!!Another big thanks to facilitating me in finding my UNICORN!!! Ok, so I’m planning my first road trip in my new MS!! Perfect timing...right!! Just in time for my off week for spring break !
I have been planning using “a Better route planner” which seems great! However, my issue is I thought I’ve seen the option (on the Tesla Navigation) to plan on a round trip drive back.
For instance, if I want to drive to Nashville from Atlanta. It initially had me stopping in Manchester(I was confused why I didn’t have me stopping in Chattanooga?) However once I started driving it routed me to go to Chattanooga for a 40 min charge first! However once I reached my final destination in Nashville I’ll only have 12%!!! Is there an option to add a round trip “plan” so that I’ll have enough change to be able to make it to a supercharger once I leave my final destination!? I hope that makes sense! I’m just nervous when I start my road trip I won’t be in a city with a nearby supercharger& would hate to be running on very little juice to get to one, once I’ve reached my final destination!!
Much appreciation in advanced!!

You seem concerned that you will arrive at your destination with "only" 12% range remaining. Let's start with why this concerns you.

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Short answer is no with car navigation. With route planner you can. Just add waypoint. Atlanta - Nashville - Atlanta. You can charge at little longer if you want more cushion on arrival.
Also check settings in route planner to adjust as appreciate and verify it's set for 90D.

Ok, will try that!

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

You seem concerned that you will arrive at your destination with "only" 12% range remaining. Let's start with why this concerns you.

I know, I probably should’nt be right? Well, I’m going to a friends house& could obviously charge there but it would be trickle charge!! They live outside of Nashville & according to route planner I believe the next closest would be for me to drive back into Nashville! Although, of course they wanted to drive around/maybe do lunch& I would hate to have them sitting at a super charger prior to us being able to do so!!
I did however plan on just staying at the super charge for longer than it recommend so that we would be able to drive around without worrying about having enough juice!!??
I’m sure it just takes some getting used to!! Not being able to zip into a gas station essentially anywhere, but just a little more planning on my end for a charger;-) Lol
Thanks again guys!

 

[Xenoilphobe]

if they have an electric dryer you can get an adapter and charge up overnight... I did this back in the dark days before East Coast superchargers.

NEMA 10-30 adapter + NEMA 14-50 extension cord

 

[RedLoubs&wine]

Oh perfect! That’s just what I’ll get! Much appreciation for this!!