It's been a fun year owning this car. I had absolutely no prior experience working on cars, let alone a Tesla. Despite the knowledge gap, I rebuilt and registered the car after 1.5 months; I suppose this is a testament to Tesla Engineering and how easy it is to work on these cars. Although, I should caveat and preface by saying it's only easy if you pick a car with minimal damages to begin with.
Over the past year, a lot has changed. Tesla has grown exponentially and many salvaged/rebuilt title owners have felt the growing pains first hand. Although, I must admit, the road is starting to look quite promising for salvaged owners.
First, the car, before it all started:
The car now:
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My experience was quite unique. After purchasing the car, I started to notice I was getting over-the-air (OTA) updates which seemed very odd. By that point, I ordered what I could from ebay. It's important to note that ordering body parts from ebay is almost always going to result in < 100% quality (chips/dents/etc). Unfortunately, I had no other choice. I was able to pass state inspection, register the car, and even travel on a 14hr road trip. Which brings me to my second point, I was able to supercharge just fine! So I started to really question whether my car was actually "unsupported" in the eyes of Tesla. So, one day, I call up my local service center to inquire about parts and lo and behold, my VIN was showing up as supported! This meant I could buy parts! This rarely happens, but I was one of the lucky few.
So I purchased a new bumper cover, wiring harness, hood, you name it! And believe it not, the prices were tremendously cheaper than anywhere else, including ebay.
All was well, in fact, great! I had a P85+ (125k sticker price) for 30k+. And, it was supercharging and showing as supported by Tesla! Couldn't ask for more! Although, like all great things, they must eventually come to an end
To make a long story short, while servicing my car at Tesla, corporate notified the SC of the car's status and they turned off supercharging without telling me, which is a separate story in it of itself. They told me the car was unsupported and that I could pay $10k+ to "redeem" the car as to allow Tesla to continue to service it, although even after redemption, the warranty would still be void.
Fast-forward almost a year, Tesla has changed their policy 180 degrees towards Salvaged/Unsupported cars. As of right now, anyone can buy parts for their car despite status (supported/unsupported) so long as the vehicle is linked to your account or you can show proof of ownership. Secondly, Tesla will service your unsupported car so long as the repair or service request is NOT related to the HV system. If it is, you will have to pay for an HV inspection (I'm still gathering info on how much it costs) to ensure the car is safe for technicians to work on. I've also heard once it passes the HV inspection that supercharging can be turned on again, although a difference SC representative told me it's disabled forever, which is consistent with their legal terms:
Privacy & Legal | Tesla
So, would I do it again, absolutely! In fact, I'll make a follow-up post for my next project. However, what is my recommendation for interested folks thinking of pursuing this route? Well, I'll tell you: Don't do it. In the end, you may not be saving all that much. The time, hassle, frustration, and car's unsupported status does not outweigh the peace-of-mind of purchasing an in-warranty CPO at a slightly higher price. In fact, even purchasing the base model 3 at 35k would be much better; the motors are significantly more superior, battery pack tech is better, AP2 Hardware, etc.. So my advice is save yourself the trouble by paying a bit more and getting a CPO now, or holding off for the base Model 3.
Thanks for everyone who followed this thread and provided support and guidance.