Buy from non-Tesla Dealer

[Totezla]

I'm talking to several dealers, all of which are more expensive than buying from Tesla (need more used Tesla inventory)....

Trying to get a sense of what the consensus is on the value of getting the 4 year/80k KM (50k mile) when buying from Tesla when coming up with an offer price to the non-Tesla dealers which obviously do not offer any sort of warranty.

Thoughts?

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Presumably you are looking at inventory in both Toronto and Montreal, eh?

If Tesla is cheaper for a used Tesla, and you just haven't found the right one, just keep checking. Presumably there will be a small uptick in availability once the Model Y starts shipping in volume in Canada.

 

[90DLUSER]

I'm talking to several dealers, all of which are more expensive than buying from Tesla (need more used Tesla inventory)....

Trying to get a sense of what the consensus is on the value of getting the 4 year/80k KM (50k mile) when buying from Tesla when coming up with an offer price to the non-Tesla dealers which obviously do not offer any sort of warranty.

Thoughts?

I think the 4 year 50K warranty is worth it for a used one from Tesla Directly, I have Two Model S's in the family and between the two of them.

3 Door handle replacements - Same car
1 Failed Mobile Connector GEN 1
Air Bag Warning Light - Still pending
Rear backup Camera
Air Suspension Bladder banging around and making noise at slow speeds (still not fixed)
Charging Port Failure
Charging Port Door Failure

All of these were warranty repairs and it would have really sucked if we had to pay for them out of Pocket.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Buy private party.

/thread

 

[boaterva]

Yeah, too many horror stories about what other manufacturers’ dealers do to Teslas as they have no idea how to treat them or they took some POS in trade because the owner trashed it. Run far away. Seriously.

 

[whitex]

Yeah, too many horror stories about what other manufacturers’ dealers do to Teslas as they have no idea how to treat them or they took some POS in trade because the owner trashed it. Run far away. Seriously.

Or search for horror stories about people buying CPO from Tesla. Just because Tesla resells it, doesn't mean it was cared for as it should have.

Any used car is a risk. Sometimes buying from a reputable dealer who deals with particular car (e.g. buying CPO Lexus from a Lexus dealer) does get you good service in case something goes wrong. In Tesla's case though, parts and service has been going downhill as they started to hyper-focus on profitability, so it's more of a lottery. Personally, if I was buying used, I'd go private sale from 3rd party which I can inspect and test drive before I buy it (neither of which you cannot do with Tesla CPO for example). Alternatively dealer where I can also inspect and test drive (and possibly negotiate a great price if I sense they are trying to get rid of it). Tesla CPO would actually be last, unless it came in significantly cheaper. As much as Tesla warranty gives you a leg to stand on in court, I really don't have the inclination to sue Tesla, even though over the last 4 I bought new form them I probably have two or three things I would be guaranteed to win, after tens of thousands of legal expenses and few years of fighting.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Or search for horror stories about people buying CPO from Tesla. Just because Tesla resells it, doesn't mean it was cared for as it should have.

Any used car is a risk. Sometimes buying from a reputable dealer who deals with particular car (e.g. buying CPO Lexus from a Lexus dealer) does get you good service in case something goes wrong. In Tesla's case though, parts and service has been going downhill as they started to hyper-focus on profitability, so it's more of a lottery. Personally, if I was buying used, I'd go private sale from 3rd party which I can inspect and test drive before I buy it (neither of which you cannot do with Tesla CPO for example). Alternatively dealer where I can also inspect and test drive (and possibly negotiate a great price if I sense they are trying to get rid of it). Tesla CPO would actually be last, unless it came in significantly cheaper. As much as Tesla warranty gives you a leg to stand on in court, I really don't have the inclination to sue Tesla, even though over the last 4 I bought new form them I probably have two or three things I would be guaranteed to win, after tens of thousands of legal expenses and few years of fighting.

I agree with about 95% of what you said.

Where we disagree (and I think you know) is with the term "CPO" since Tesla no longer has a "CPO" program. This is one of the exact reasons I'm on record with saying this: if this person searches "CPO experience" or something along those lines trying to get honest insight on buying used from Tesla, they're likely going to get lots of stories that are several years old when Tesla had (and cared about) their CPO program. These experiences were largely positive and then deteriorating to what it is today and what it's been for a year or two now and what someone would experience today. Now, if they search "Tesla Used Experience" or something thereabouts you're more likely to get more recent stories which is going to be more indicative of what they would get should they buy used from Tesla right now. I can't support what you're saying 100% because of a simple choice in terminology which isn't accurate.

Replacing "CPO" with "Used" is a simple correction and then I'm behind what you said 100% and wouldn't feel the need to correct this intentional misuse of terms to help this person from becoming confused and misguided. I still don't understand the intentional misuse of this term when Tesla went to great lengths to exterminate it from their glossary to avoid confusion with the types of cars they now sell compare to what they used to sell. They made the obvious distinction and separation so I'm not sure why three or four people on this forum insist on continuing to use it to describe cars that are NOT sold via a CPO program in name or spirit.

 

[Huachipato]

I bought mine from a non-Tesla used car dealer. The main advantage is you get to see the car and test drive before you buy. But I learned in my car's case - it was a Tesla Lease car that was wholesaled - so I had all the disadvantages of buying used from Tesla (such as losing FUSC) and without the warranty. The used car dealer did sell me a third party warranty and I have used it successfully to do one repair with Tesla so far.

If I had to do it again - I'd probably hunt for a private sale. This gives the advantage of seeing the car in person and kicking the tires so to say - and negotiating a price. Also keeps Tesla from touching the car after you complete the deal. I know financing and third party warranties might a be little harder to come by - but I'm sure they can be used/purchased as well if needed.

 

[cduzz]

I bought a notCPO "pre-facelift" 2016 AP1 90D from tesla last year with 45k miles on it and so I have the 4 year / 50k mile warranty.

I've had it back a couple times (loose door trim / door handle issues / takata airbag recall / steering bolt recall) and never had issues either when the car was under 50k (and thus the "original" warranty) or the used warranty which will be in effect until june of 2023.

I place quite a high value on the extended warranty; it's my opinion / hope that there are several endemic design bugs in these cars (such as door handles and MCU) that will be "correctly" fixed eventually and so they'll apply the permanent fix to my car and the only longer-term items I'll need to attend to will be regular wear/tear (and probably the occasional horrifically expensive high voltage thinger that needs a new fuse for $2500). I've had *very* high mileage audis in the past and typically there are some endemic problems that affect all of them but otherwise the cars are typically pretty reliable; I expect the tesla to be similar.

I'd put the value of the extended warranty at around $5000.

My car has the connectivity and FUSC (in theory transferable but I'm 80% sure that it will not actually transfer should I sell the car private party) and such. I don't think the FUSC is actually tremendously valuable, but it is certainly a nice perk regardless.

So private party may be worth while especially if it has an extended warranty, but I would prefer to buy another "notCPO" used car from tesla with fewer than 50k miles to get the B2B for 4 years past the purchase date, even though they're quite a bit more expensive from tesla.

 

[Chaserr]

I'm talking to several dealers, all of which are more expensive than buying from Tesla (need more used Tesla inventory)....

Trying to get a sense of what the consensus is on the value of getting the 4 year/80k KM (50k mile) when buying from Tesla when coming up with an offer price to the non-Tesla dealers which obviously do not offer any sort of warranty.

Thoughts?

I don't recommend owning an out of warranty Tesla. The older cars are not the most reliable vehicles out there and Tesla shortened their warranties a few times this year which ight tell you something about how telsa feels about reliability going forward.

 

[whitex]

I agree with about 95% of what you said.

Where we disagree (and I think you know) is with the term "CPO" since Tesla no longer has a "CPO" program. This is one of the exact reasons I'm on record with saying this: if this person searches "CPO experience" or something along those lines trying to get honest insight on buying used from Tesla, they're likely going to get lots of stories that are several years old when Tesla had (and cared about) their CPO program. These experiences were largely positive and then deteriorating to what it is today and what it's been for a year or two now and what someone would experience today. Now, if they search "Tesla Used Experience" or something thereabouts you're more likely to get more recent stories which is going to be more indicative of what they would get should they buy used from Tesla right now. I can't support what you're saying 100% because of a simple choice in terminology which isn't accurate.

Replacing "CPO" with "Used" is a simple correction and then I'm behind what you said 100% and wouldn't feel the need to correct this intentional misuse of terms to help this person from becoming confused and misguided. I still don't understand the intentional misuse of this term when Tesla went to great lengths to exterminate it from their glossary to avoid confusion with the types of cars they now sell compare to what they used to sell. They made the obvious distinction and separation so I'm not sure why three or four people on this forum insist on continuing to use it to describe cars that are NOT sold via a CPO program in name or spirit.

I understand your point. The problem is that used usually means "as is" with balance of factory warranty, but Tesla adds CPO-like warranty to their used cars, creating confusion. It leaves people with the impression that they inspected the car, since if they didn't, they'd need to fix the problems anyways under warranty. It's not a correct impression, but that is the confusion that Tesla creates, in addition to actually calling it CPO program in the past and telling customers about the 70 or 150 point inspections which nobody ever was able to get them to share with the public.

Btw, just took a look at the use car warranty, and gotta say, Tesla legal sure has their CYA skills mastered by now. Legal is making sure Elon's "we fix it only if we have to" strategy is profitable by reducing what they "have to" fix. This is in the warranty exclusions section:

We already have seen Tesla state on the record: "you exposed your MCU to light, sunlight, oxygen" so your yellowing 6 month old screen if your own fault, therefore not even covered under the original new vehicle warranty. For all those who buy a used Tesla, it looks like exposing it to light, wind, water, or road salt, is a not covered under the warranty. Good luck proving that your pano is faulty without exposure to wind, water or lighting.

I'm guessing Tesla vehicles warranty only covers driving exclusively on Mars at night.