Best Year/Model to Buy Used Model S

[GTBrandon]

A BMW M3 guy will be much happier with a 75D than an 85.

Why is it that an 85 is so much cheaper than a 75? I'm seeing so many sub $30k 2015 85's and then can't find a 75 for anywhere under 35k. Is the post face lift really that much better?

Also just curious why you say a 75D would be better. I appreciate all the feedback and info, this is really helpful

 

[wts13]

Very useful thread. Hoping we see a bit more downward price pressure as some folks trade in their 3-4 year old cars for the 2021 refresh, will have to see...

Does anyone have a good sense what premium Tesla is charging for FSD on used cars? I have it as part of my EV-CPO search because it feels like a "deal" but I don't really care that much about having it and wonder how I should be valuing it from a $ standpoint.

What I'm learning is that it may be safe to assume almost any 2017 75D can be uncorked. If so, why are so many in Tesla's used inventory still showing the slower 0-60 times?

 

[Sunshine State]

My bad, I realize now that M3 is model 3 on here. I'm coming from a BMW M3. I'm not concerned with reliability in terms of I know Tesla's will be expensive for any repairs just like a BMW, and I know Tesla's are known to have lots of random issues. My goal is just to see if there is a sweet spot for a certain minimum year and or battery size in order to avoid any largely known issues.

How do you know if a 75 can be uncorked, it seems to if it was made in 2016?

The 75’s started in 2016 with the refresh and the 75D (awd) can be uncorked, the 75 can only be uncorked if it was a late 2017 and the newer ones came from the factory uncorked but are likely too new for your proposed budget. I don’t believe that Tesla is still uncorking cars but most would have already been done anyway.

 

[Flyguy]

What I'm learning is that it may be safe to assume almost any 2017 75D can be uncorked. If so, why are so many in Tesla's used inventory still showing the slower 0-60 times?

Some/many of those 75d’s are uncorked, Tesla just doesn’t want to delineate them

 

[Sunshine State]

Figuring out if an S can be uncorked or not is more art than science because of the running changes that Tesla makes continually. For sure if you buy from Tesla and it lists 4.2 0-60, it is uncorked. You can also go with the VIN number and people are saying 130xxx and up can be uncorked but the later the better. Some say that you can uncork a RWD but not be as quick as a D uncorked. Also if you buy a car with MCU1 make sure it has a power liftgate or you wont be able to upgrade to MCU2.

The RWD 75 had the large rear drive unit like a Performance car and the non Performance D cars have a small rear drive unit. The 0-60 time of a RWD uncorked is advertised as 1/10 of a second slower than the Uncorked 75D.

 

[wts13]

Some/many of those 75d’s are uncorked, Tesla just doesn’t want to delineate them

That's interesting. EV-CPO has an "uncorked acceleration" feature that I was using, which I assume just parses the 0-60 times Tesla puts on the listing, but you're saying that it may not matter?

 

[Sunshine State]

Why is it that an 85 is so much cheaper than a 75? I'm seeing so many sub $30k 2015 85's and then can't find a 75 for anywhere under 35k. Is the post face lift really that much better?

Also just curious why you say a 75D would be better. I appreciate all the feedback and info, this is really helpful

The facelift had more internal changes than the appearance and Tesla grouped many electrical and mechanical updates together at the refresh. The facelift cars also look like new cars so that helps with resale. The old nosecone cars look very dated and that hurts resale. If you can find a refresh 60 or 70 they may be cheaper and both of those are software limited 75’s that can be fully charged daily without hurting the battery and can often be purchased cheaper than the identical car without the software lock.

 

[Axtrader]

In my opinion, late 2017 or 2018 Model S 100D owners have better value cars for these reasons:
1) Free unlimited Supercharging
2) Upgradeability to MCU 2 / HW 3.0
3) Free premium connectivity
4) 72 Amp wall connector charging. (reduced to 48 Amp max in 2019)
5) FSD upgrade was only $2000 in 2019

 

[David_Cary]

I think there are a variety of opinions and that is expected. I suppose it is probably easy to throw up your hands and say - the market is perfect and the best car is the most expensive.
The problem is that people value different things.
I have a nose cone - I don't care about looks (see - I don't live in SoCal).
I do strongly value the dynamics that improved with the D. The pre-D models were somewhat primitive. Lots of squatting under load which I didn't like. I also strongly prefer the next get seats. The interior was dressed up at that time and it was a big difference. My friend had a 2013 at the time and mine was sooooo much better.
Range (and charging speed) is a huge variable need. I have home charging and a M3LR in the family. With my current work situation, I could drive an old Leaf. I have no need for 72 AMPs.
Acceleration is a big variable. Many people are perfectly happy at 5.0 sec 0-60 while others treat every .1 sec as worth $1000.
FUSC is a tiny dollar amount. I have it and certainly at throttled charging, it is worth less than 50% of its prior value. I have used $10 in the last 2 years - and that was to check speeds.
Premium connectivity is $120 a year savings. So worth perhaps $500 on a used car - time value of money + expected resale and life expectancy.
Nearly all cars are MCU2 upgradeable except some 2013/14.

So the best value represents different things to different people.

We all prefer reliability. I think that is tough as 2013/14 have probably had the problem areas fixed already. Luck is a huge factor here. My 2015 has been fine.

People on here are car enthusiasts so acceleration gets a bit of an overvalue compared to the market at large (a guess on my part).

 

[SO16]

I could be wrong, but I think by the time 100D came out (late 2017?), free supercharging was already not transferable to new owner. But I think older 100D is still good though even without free supercharging if the price is low enough. But there is no way those will be sub $30K that OP targeted.

I think for MS to be under $30k, it will be 2013 to 2015 with nose cone /MCU 1/ AP1.

I believe free transferable supercharging ended around Feb 2017. And then it only transfers once to the next private buyer.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I believe free transferable supercharging ended around Feb 2017. And then it only transfers once to the next private buyer.

FUSC ended 1/2017 and transfers from owner to owner in perpetuity. There is no limit to how many times it can transfer.

 

[SO16]

FUSC ended 1/2017 and transfers from owner to owner in perpetuity. There is no limit to how many times it can transfer.

Hm. That’s not what my account says. Only states to the next owner. I received mine in Feb 2017 with FUSC but purchased in Nov 2016.

Seems to be hit and miss with free supercharging staying with the vehicle. Maybe going through even a 3rd party dealership will sometimes cause the FUSC to be removed.

Free Unlimited Supercharging Removed Without Notice?

 

[Flyguy]

That's interesting. EV-CPO has an "uncorked acceleration" feature that I was using, which I assume just parses the 0-60 times Tesla puts on the listing, but you're saying that it may not matter?

Looks like I’m wrong. Used on the Tesla site does list different times for different 75d’s. They didn’t used to do that. Interestingly, I don’t see any 75rwd with faster times listed

 

[EV-CPO]

Some/many of those 75d’s are uncorked, Tesla just doesn’t want to delineate them

That's interesting. EV-CPO has an "uncorked acceleration" feature that I was using, which I assume just parses the 0-60 times Tesla puts on the listing, but you're saying that it may not matter?

Cars with "Uncorked Acceleration" have the BP02 "Non-Performance Uncorked Acceleration" option code. This is directly from Tesla and not anything that EV-CPO is adding or parsing.

If a 75D does not have this option code, it likely is still corked. It's possible that Tesla is not reporting all uncorked cars, but that would not be in their interest to undersell these cars if they are truly uncorked.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Hm. That’s not what my account says. Only states to the next owner. I received mine in Feb 2017 with FUSC but purchased in Nov 2016.

Seems to be hit and miss with free supercharging staying with the vehicle. Maybe going through even a 3rd party dealership will sometimes cause the FUSC to be removed.

Free Unlimited Supercharging Removed Without Notice?

You're reading too much into the verbiage used on the website. It just says that it transfers to the next owner. It will say that on the next person's account too. It's not like it says specifically that it will only transfer to the next owner and then no more after that. If you ordered in November of 2016 and took delivery in February of 2017 you should be good to go with FUSC.

 

[Sunshine State]

FUSC ended 1/2017 and transfers from owner to owner in perpetuity. There is no limit to how many times it can transfer.

Free Supercharging prior to 2/17 is transferable until Tesla takes the car in trade and at that point Tesla will disable it and then it’s gone forever unless they decide they need to move more cars and bring it back for inventory cars.

 

[EV-CPO]

If the OP can stretch your budget a little bit into the 40s, I'm surprised nobody has suggested a P85D. Has the 3.2s 0-60 performance without worrying about being corked/uncorked. You can find early P85Ds with the Performance+ suspension from the P85+. If the OP gets snow in Virginia you definitely want AWD over a P85 or 75RWD. Sure, you get AP1, original nosecone, and MCU1 (upgradable), but it's my opinion that you get a lot more 'bang' for the buck over a 75 or 75D you might be considering for slightly fewer dollars. But if your $ limit is a hard "sub 30s" then please ignore this post.

Good luck in your search!

 

[2101Guy]

One comment about the larger rear drive units on some years (I cant recall which): I read a few posts where there is a very common issue of coolant leaking into the rear motor, essentially causing serious damage. It can be checked fairly easily on a lift and addressed if caught early from what I recall

 

[Ostrichsak]

Free Supercharging prior to 2/17 is transferable until Tesla takes the car in trade and at that point Tesla will disable it and then it’s gone forever unless they decide they need to move more cars and bring it back for inventory cars.

That's true but it also has no bearing on this conversation as he stated he ordered in 11/2016 and took delivery 2/2017 and one can assume he didn't trade it into Tesla and then buy it back again at a premium. This is confusing enough w/o injecting unrelated info and is partially why some many are confused by what FUSC actually is and how it works.

 

[GTBrandon]

If the OP can stretch your budget a little bit into the 40s, I'm surprised nobody has suggested a P85D. Has the 3.2s 0-60 performance without worrying about being corked/uncorked. You can find early P85Ds with the Performance+ suspension from the P85+. If the OP gets snow in Virginia you definitely want AWD over a P85 or 75RWD. Sure, you get AP1, original nosecone, and MCU1 (upgradable), but it's my opinion that you get a lot more 'bang' for the buck over a 75 or 75D you might be considering for slightly fewer dollars. But if your $ limit is a hard "sub 30s" then please ignore this post.

Good luck in your search!

Curious why you say stretch the budget on a nose-cone p85d. I feel like I’ve seen plenty of these 2013-14 for at or under $30k, am I missing something though?