Buying a 2010 Roadster, hoping for guidance

[hsull8915]

Hello Tesla Motors Club!

I am a decade-long Tesla admirer and am finally in a financial position that would allow me to pursue my dream of Roadster ownership. I found what I thought was the perfect Roadster for me, ironically only a week before my birthday (which is tomorrow!). It is a 2010 Radiant Red Roadster 2.0 non-sport with 5,000 miles advertised as a "One-owner, perfect CarFax and AutoCheck with all manufacturer literature." Their website actually calls it a 1.5 but I'm certain that was just a typo. When I called, the salesperson informed me that the car was on consignment from the original owner, and that he wants to pay to have the $600 annual service done before I buy it. Awesome!

When I arrived it was a slightly different picture. The car is very nice and I enjoyed the test drive even more than I thought I would, so no problems there but... The CarFax and AutoCheck show that this car has no history prior to late 2013, when it was offered for sale first by an import store and then a Nissan dealer. A 2010 year model that was sold by a Nissan dealer in 2013 doesn't sound like a one-owner to me... They also do not have the original sticker (which silly me thought that was precisely what they meant by "all manufacturer literature"). It supposedly did not come with a hard top, only a black soft top that clearly says do not use in rain or water will enter cabin lol.

Honestly, I could have overlooked all of that. What really freaked me out was that the salesperson said there is a slight delay in getting it in the shop for the annual service because the owner is not listed as the owner in the Tesla database so he has to get that changed. I thought he was the original owner?! Does that mean that Tesla has not seen this car since early 2014?! In hindsight, I'm also a little concerned about the low miles. Is that potentially detrimental to the battery health to be so rarely cycled over 7 years? If he does the annual service does that include a battery check-up? Would that be definitive if it did?

I am not sure if I am being paranoid or if there is true reason for concern somewhere in here, and hoping that some of you super folks could offer some advice. I have owned a Nissan LEAF for 2 years now so I know a little about EV ownership and I am ecstatic about being a Tesla owner, but would hate to make a foolish purchase. I'll include a link to the listing below, thank you in advance!

2010 Tesla Roadster SOLAR GUARD WINDSHEILD For Sale In Dallas | Cars.com

 

[bolosky]

Some thoughts:

First, it's a 2.0. It's VIN #543, and 500 and over are 2.0/2.5.

Don't worry about the soft top. I live in Seattle, where it rains for much of the year and rarely bother with the hard top (and, honestly, I only bother at all because I paid a bunch of money for it and feel silly not using it). They don't leak if they're put on properly, and it's easy to put them on.

The best thing that you can do to check out the battery is to find the CAC (Calculated Amp-Hour Capacity), which is the car's internal idea of how good the battery is. You can get it by pulling the logs from the car and using one of the log parser tools that you can find here on the forum; you'll also find instructions about how to get the logs here (basically, a USB drive with a VehicleLogs directory in the root). For reference, a brand new 2.0 battery has a CAC around 156. When I upgraded to a 3.0 battery at 110,000 miles mine was down to 133, or about a 15% loss. For whatever reason, my battery aged particularly well, and others were a little worse off at similar distances.

One warning about the CAC is that it can go down because of battery capacity loss, but it also can go down because the battery is out of balance (different cells in the battery being at different charge levels). Rebalancing the battery is pretty easy; it does it automatically when it's plugged in and fully charged, although it works MUCH better with a range charge than standard. So, if it looks like #543 has a low value, you might ask the dealer to plug it in and range charge it and let it sit for a few days to see if it gets better.

The annual service includes a battery bleed test, where Tesla will give you some idea of the condition of the battery that's somewhat complementary to the CAC. You should certainly do this before buying the car.

The one owner thing does sound fishy. On the other hand, it may not matter whether it was owned by one collector who never drove it, or three collectors who never drove it. 5K miles is nothing.

There are others here (TEG, for instance) who have a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of many, many Roadsters. They may well know more about the history of this car than the dealer does.

So...be careful. Be sure you really want a Roadster, because they're very much for only certain people. But, if you do want it and you don't find any other red flags, you might be fine. I didn't see anything in what you wrote that would convince me not to buy the car if it otherwise checks out.

Oh, and if you get it, welcome to the family.

 

[hsull8915]

Thank you for the reply Bolosky! I am off tomorrow so I will have to figure out how to run the CAC logs then. I am certain I will love the Roadster as long as I don't feel like I was had in some way. I'm keeping my LEAF as a commuter and I had a Mini Cooper before that so I'm no stranger to impractical cars.

I really appreciate you giving your thoughts, and it sounds like you feel that if the CAC is not terribly low and the battery test at Tesla goes well there is probably not any other big reason for concern. I know price is hard to determine with such a low number of cars changing hands, but does this seem in line? I'm paying a couple thousand off list.

 

[DeedWest]

Hi @hsull8915 and welcome to TMC!

I live in Dallas, and have checked out this car in person. I wouldn't fret too much about the owner transferral in order to get the service records and window sticker. This type of thing happens all the time. It took Tesla two MONTHS to transfer my ownership of my most recent Roadster, and it's taken even longer in the past for friends of mine. Once that happens, you should be able to request any information you'd like from the current owner. If he's working with the Dallas service center, you're in good hands, as they've been fantastic about getting me service history for my cars.

If you'd like to meet up and check out my Roadsters, as well as 543 together, let me know! As a long time enthusiast as well, I'd be happy to help you out.

Oh, and 543's battery CAC value was 154 when I checked it out 6 months ago. That is a terrific number - even if it decreases a little once it becomes daily driven. Hope this helps!

 

[hsull8915]

DeedWest, thank you so much for jumping in! I'm glad to hear that you looked at the CAC values and found good results. I am going to try to run them tomorrow if I can figure it out, just to double check! Just out of curiosity, were you looking at buying it? If so, what kept you from pulling the trigger? Thanks again!

 

[DeedWest]

DeedWest, thank you so much for jumping in! I'm glad to hear that you looked at the CAC values and found good results. I am going to try to run them tomorrow if I can figure it out, just to double check! Just out of curiosity, were you looking at buying it? If so, what kept you from pulling the trigger? Thanks again!

Absolutely! I'm always thrilled to help others get into these cars. We must keep them daily driven and on the road!

When I visited, they had four Roadsters for sale. I actually performed a pre-purchase inspection for a good friend of mine on a 2.0 Sport that they had in stock. While I was there, I decided to check out the CAC value and condition of every Roadster they had - because, you know, I'm obsessed.

I actually recall seeing 543 in the service center getting its annual done a few years ago when I had my first Roadster in there. Seems like the owner took great care of it regularly.

 

[hsull8915]

Thanks again DeedWest! Did you take the one your friend bought to the Dallas service center for the pre-inspection? I'm wondering if I could take it in myself. Also, was it that black/black one? I know Starwood used to have a black/black that was insanely cool looking.

 

[ecarfan]

Welcome to Roadster ownership! I think you will love it.

I'm keeping my LEAF as a commuter and I had a Mini Cooper before that so I'm no stranger to impractical cars.

As an ex-Mini owner (2006 and 2011 S models) that really made me LOL.

 

[DeedWest]

Thanks again DeedWest! Did you take the one your friend bought to the Dallas service center for the pre-inspection? I'm wondering if I could take it in myself. Also, was it that black/black one? I know Starwood used to have a black/black that was insanely cool looking.

It WAS VIN 774, that Obsidian Black 2.0 Sport. I did not take it to Tesla, but I just performed an inspection myself. It wasn't an "official" check-up, but I at least checked over the overall condition, battery health, service history, and did a test drive. I've driven over a dozen Roadsters in all configurations at this point, so I'd like to think I'd know if it felt weird while driving.

Instead, my friend ended up talking me into selling him my 2.5 Sport at the time. How dare he.

I heard something like $150 for an inspection, but since you mentioned he's paying $600 for the annual service, that is the same thing. They'll issue it a clean bill of health if it passes.

 

[shrink]

If you'd like to meet up and check out my Roadsters, as well as 543 together, let me know! As a long time enthusiast as well, I'd be happy to help you out.

@DeedWest, sorry to get off topic, but just curious - how many Roadsters do you have now?

I know you started off with a Very Orange, had an affair with a Model S, but came back to the Roadster via a 2.5 and then added a beautiful 2.0 Electric Blue with a fantastic interior.

Is that right?

Are you aspiring to @spiderguy?

 

[hsull8915]

If you'd like to meet up and check out my Roadsters, as well as 543 together, let me know! As a long time enthusiast as well, I'd be happy to help you out.

Oh, and 543's battery CAC value was 154 when I checked it out 6 months ago. That is a terrific number - even if it decreases a little once it becomes daily driven. Hope this helps!

Deed, you are truly the best. I am off today and have already conceded that the entire day will be spent obsessing so if you are free I would love to meet up. I am planning on being at Starwood at 9am when they open to see if I can figure out how to pull the logs and check CAC. I called Tesla Service in Dallas and asked if I could bring the car in myself for a pre-purchase inspection and they said they won't even look at it for anyone other than the owner on record.

 

[DeedWest]

@hsull8915 - I have sent you a private message. Please let me know if you've received it. I'd be happy to meet up today...though I fear I am a little late on checking this. Ooops. EDIT - just got your text. Yay.

As for my dear friend @shrink - YES. You have me somewhat figured out. I have a curse of meeting the kindest humans who I try to help find Roadsters...only they end up asking to purchase my current car. Go figure. I can never seem to say no. The cars in parenthesis in my signature have loving new homes. The current car is my 2.0 that I've been religiously upgrading. I have another Roadster that I bought with a close friend, but we're enjoying that one thoroughly on our own and that's all I'm going to say.

 

[redan]

Deed, you are truly the best.

I can unequivocally agree that @DeedWest is the best!

 

[hsull8915]

I have to give a huge shoutout to @DeedWest for coming to Starwood Motors today to help me go over my new Roadster with a fine tooth comb. I could not be more stoked about this car and I feel really good about it now that I got some awesome tips and advice from a current Roadster owner (and super cool guy). One last hurdle before I'm part of the club, the owner is putting in for the annual service next week. ::fingers crossed::

Thank you to everyone else that responded to this thread as well. I am so excited to be part of the family soon!

 

[gregd]

YEA! And, Welcome!

Show us some pictures, when you get a chance (i.e. when not driving your new toy).

 

[snd92]

I want a @DeedWest-kindofguy in Norway too

 

[DeedWest]

You guys are far too kind...I'm just thrilled to get more Roadsters into our little community! No more garage queens / storage unit tragedies!!!

As for @snd92 - hey...I've always wanted to visit Norway...just saying...

 

[Roadster]

One last hurdle before I'm part of the club, the owner is putting in for the annual service next week. ::fingers crossed::

@hsull8915, just catching up on this thread after being out of town for a few days and was about to inquire how the annual service went when I saw your newest post...

0543 has a new home

Congrats to you and nice job (as always) @DeedWest!