Buying a CPO vehicle. Ship it or fly and drive?

[AWD>]

Definitely fly out and drive. Time to learn the new P85, enjoy and understand the charging strengths and weaknesses.

PM if you want some range/super charging%/road trip tips. Best of luck regardless.

 

[erik_k]

I will definitely keep everyone posted.

I'm not averse to driving a long distance. But this is a 48 hour via supercharger drive from Vegas to South Carolina. So, I have to weight the pros and cons. One good thing is I can see my daughter in Dallas on the way home. But, it's a good four days out of my work week

Please keep us updated. I may be in the same boat this summer (hopefully). I’ve been wanting an S for years and know there’s more available units on the west coast. I’ve done the drive the past two years with marathon driving with a co-driver from CA to MS. It’s a doable drive, but I’ve never owned or driven a Tesla and have only a little idea what it’ll be like supercharging over that distance.
Do you have a friend or family member who could join you for the drive? Had my brother for one drive and an old college friend for the second drive. Even though I did most of the driving it was still nice having someone who could get us another couple or few hours further when I was done.

 

[AronAZ]

FWIW, I’ve done both. I always believe you should close the deal in person or at minimum get a trusted professional PPI. Obviously don’t do either unless you’re ready to pull the trigger at an agreed upon price. Worst case, if it’s a pig you got a long weekend somewhere out of it. But sight unseen, you have no leverage if anything is out of order. I’ve driven most home. One I had shipped home after flying to Chicago (from Arizona) to inspect & close.

I had a friend that bought a car private party and had it shipped based solely on pics and FaceTime videos. Worked out great. Another friend bought from a “reputable dealer” based on numerous pics and service records and it was a complete disaster. A deep five figure kind. YMMV

 

[Yoitskenn]

I am from NorCal and I flew down to SoCal plenty of times to buy a car and drive it back. 6-8hr drives aren’t too bad.

I just purchased my first Tesla from this forum this week. Too far to fly and definitely too far to drive. Car seems to be in prestige condition. Negotiated a fair price and I had the car picked up for shipping.

I’ve only driven a Tesla for about 10 min total. Don’t know much about them. Hoping to learn a lot from this site. It would’ve been too far and too nerve wrecking to drive that far in an unfamiliar car.

The worst thing now is having to wait for the truck to deliver my new toy. Can’t sleep at night...
I’ve been researching and trying to learn about these cars, which I should’ve done before buying the car.

 

[AWD>]

Definitely fly out and drive. Time to learn the new P85, enjoy and understand the charging strengths and weaknesses.

PM if you want some range/super charging%/road trip tips. Best of luck regardless.

I failed to mention, I’ve flown out twice.

CA to OK and VA to OK tons of fun.

 

[Don TLR]

I appreciate everyone's feedback and advice. I had a long day and still didn't get around to supplying the needed information to Tesla. Things like my drivers license, insurance, etc. I'm tackling that right now.
To answer mrbulk. Yes, this is purchased from Tesla and has the warranty. Otherwise I would not have been so trusting. Although I hear about numerous horror stories about the CPO process I do believe if approached correctly that Tesla will do what's right. Hence, that is way I am asking about the fly and drive.

If the car is ready to pickup Monday I will probably fly out and then drive her home. If, the process becomes unpredictable I may then opt for the shipment.

You hardly ever hear the good stories, just enjoy the trip and know you'll be ecstatic once you drive the car..

 

[BLKMDL3]

We've sold four Teslas online. For three of them, the buyers flew out to Colorado and drove back to Nevada, Michigan and Minnesota, respectively. For the fourth one, we drove it out to Nevada and flew back.

If I were buying a used one online, I think I would prefer to fly out and drive back vs. having it shipped. If buying new inventory from Tesla, it could work either way. We actually tried this last week and had plans on picking it up in another state. Plans changed and then they ended up shipping it. There were some logistical issues so we didn't get it on Saturday but will be picking it up today.

Ooooh. What did you get now?

 

[Markk993]

drive it ... it is a great way to get to know everything about your new car

 

[erik_k]

drive it ... it is a great way to get to know everything about your new car

I’m half joking and half serious as I ask this. Are you saying it’s possible to read the car’s manual while autopilot helps you steer as you traverse 100s of miles of straight boring highway?

 

[S-ALSET]

Why is Tesla's shipping fee so expensive?? You can ship a regular car from Ca to FL for around 800 right?

 

[D2ink]

I purchase a CPO from Tesla. car located in San Diego I was in Salt Lake City Utah. Flew to San Diego one way for $80 arrived at 1p.m. got to the pickup center by 1:30. finished by 2p.m. started to drive home, made serval pit stop to charge. A regular car would take 11-12 hours. took about 15-16 hours to get home benefit was that every time i stop to charge i was able to nap for about 30-40mins. I would do this again any day.

 

[Yoitskenn]

Just shipped my Tesla from Virginia to California...$1200

 

[Denila]

I purchase a CPO from Tesla. car located in San Diego I was in Salt Lake City Utah. Flew to San Diego one way for $80 arrived at 1p.m. got to the pickup center by 1:30. finished by 2p.m. started to drive home, made serval pit stop to charge. A regular car would take 11-12 hours. took about 15-16 hours to get home benefit was that every time i stop to charge i was able to nap for about 30-40mins. I would do this again any day.

How is the condition of the car? Just as you expected?

 

[mjptech]

Just shipped my Tesla from Virginia to California...$1200

Who did you ship with?

 

[Yoitskenn]

Who did you ship with?

I went with Montway.

 

[mjptech]

I went with Montway.

Thanks! Did you use uShip? Or request it directly?

 

[Yoitskenn]

Contacted Montway directly. Good customer service. Good communication.

However the company/driver they dispatched was rude

 

[S-ALSET]

Just shipped my Tesla from Virginia to California...$1200

Did you ship it enclosed?

 

[LostWages]

We've sold four Teslas online. For three of them, the buyers flew out to Colorado and drove back to Nevada, Michigan and Minnesota, respectively. For the fourth one, we drove it out to Nevada and flew back.

If I were buying a used one online, I think I would prefer to fly out and drive back vs. having it shipped. If buying new inventory from Tesla, it could work either way. We actually tried this last week and had plans on picking it up in another state. Plans changed and then they ended up shipping it. There were some logistical issues so we didn't get it on Saturday but will be picking it up today.

Hello MorrisonHiker-
Quick question - I'm also in Colorado, and I'd like to take advantage of the state rebate on a new inventory car. Do you know how out-of-state pick up might affect CO state rebates? Thanks! (Sorry to derail the used-out-of-state thread...)

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Hello MorrisonHiker-
Quick question - I'm also in Colorado, and I'd like to take advantage of the state rebate on a new inventory car. Do you know how out-of-state pick up might affect CO state rebates? Thanks! (Sorry to derail the used-out-of-state thread...)

That's a good question and I'm not 100% certain. We've received the state tax credit back on 7 EVs so far (and will get another next year) but we purchased all of those in Colorado. For the one we were considering out-of-state delivery, we were going to do a "paper" delivery and purchase it in Colorado but pick it up in another state. Tesla must've cracked down on that and said they needed to ship it to us instead. Sorry I can't say for sure but you could email your county DMV and ask for clarification. It ended a couple of years ago, but you used to be able to easily get the tax credit on used cars imported from other states!

The form here doesn't mention you having to buy it in Colorado...just that it has to be initially titled and registered in Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/Income69.pdf