Buying a used, 100,000 mile Model 3

[HCassidy]

I have the opportunity to purchase a 100,000 mile Model 3 2020 (70 plate) LR which is pre-refresh.

I wondered what I should be concerned about, other than the fact there is only about 20,000 miles before the battery and motor warranty expires?

Obviously concerns for a usual car with this mileage, such as cam belt, don't apply. So I am trying to think what else I should consider.

 

[DeejUK]

I have nothing useful to say, I'm sorry to say, but...

...Bloody hell, some people drive a lot!

 

[DaveNN]

I'd be checking the battery degradation and the amount of cycles..

 

[HCassidy]

I'd be checking the battery degradation and the amount of cycles..

Other than estimated range at full charge, is there an easy way to see deg/cycles?

 

[Dilly]

That is a lot of miles!
Mine is March 2020 with 8500 miles.
I guess it depends on how it was driven and serviced just like any car.
I’d want a fresh MOT to flag up any visible defects.
Good luck

 

[MrT3]

Putting the battery and motors to one side, Teslas aren't the most reliable cars out there so personally it would need to be very cheap for me to consider. There are others out there still under the initial warranty, and even if near the 50k miles maximum would still qualify for purchasing the Tesla extended warranty. At 100k miles you could only get a 3rd party warranty which would probably be useless given the T&Cs and maximum single claim limits.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Putting the battery and motors to one side, Teslas aren't the most reliable cars out there so personally it would need to be very cheap for me to consider. There are others out there still under the initial warranty, and even if near the 50k miles maximum would still qualify for purchasing the Tesla extended warranty. At 100k miles you could only get a 3rd party warranty which would probably be useless given the T&Cs and maximum single claim limits.

We are also at 100K miles on a Model 3 (2018 LR RWD)

Very few maintenance issues.

3rd party warranty not cost effective, even if you can find one.

We are still on the original brake pads, but on our third cabin air filter and third set of wipers.

Low maintenance.

 

[GRiLLA]

The only thing really to worry about degrading will be the battery, it would be good to see the range estimate for 100% (you can toggle range and % by clicking, then work out what 100% will be. It will have originally been 310 miles, I would expect it to be > 270, anything much less may be an issue. Another thing to consider is the max SuperCharging speed, Tesla ramp this down if its been SuperCharged a lot, harder to measure though.

 

[Artiste]

It would be interesting to know how much it’s selling for.

 

[HCassidy]

It would be interesting to know how much it’s selling for.

It's on for £32,000 and is in very good condition

 

[DaveNN]

Other than estimated range at full charge, is there an easy way to see deg/cycles?

Not a clue, sorry.
That said, you can get all that via teslogic.

 

[DaveNN]

Putting the battery and motors to one side, Teslas aren't the most reliable cars out there so personally it would need to be very cheap for me to consider. There are others out there still under the initial warranty, and even if near the 50k miles maximum would still qualify for purchasing the Tesla extended warranty. At 100k miles you could only get a 3rd party warranty which would probably be useless given the T&Cs and maximum single claim limits.

Eh?
Putting the battery and motors aside, what else could fail in order to class a Tesla as unreliable?

 

[candida]

It's on for £32,000 and is in very good condition

WBAC’s price for mine, yesterday, was £35k. That’s a 2020 pre refresh M3P with 19k miles.
Values have definitely caught up with expected depreciation and then some in the last month or so. IMO the car you’re looking at isn’t nearly cheap enough.
Here’s the WBAC for mine with 100k

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I had a 2020 M3, bought at 20k miles from Tesla and sold at 28k miles and while it didn’t leave me stranded, it certainly started to feel those miles. Paint had plenty of stone chips, panel fit wasnt great especially the rear offside door which was proud and badly chipped (“within tolerance sir”): suspension was creaking a bit, trim was looking like it had had a hard life. I guess some of this comes down to the original build quality and the previous owner, so I can believe there are cars out there with 100k miles that are well cared for, cleaned regularly, etc and little jobs sorted in good time and fine, and equally absolute nails out there with much lower mileage.

I’m now on a MY and at 8k miles it’s already showing it’s age (noisy suspension, drivers seat replaced once under warranty, replacement has a squeaky lumber support), but door and panel fit is good.

Condition is everything, if it’s good then you’re really just carrying the risk of a bug failure out of battery/motor warranty soon.

 

[Jason71]

That is a lot of miles!
Mine is March 2020 with 8500 miles.
I guess it depends on how it was driven and serviced just like any car.
I’d want a fresh MOT to flag up any visible defects.
Good luck

you need to get out more

 

[Jason71]

I have the opportunity to purchase a 100,000 mile Model 3 2020 (70 plate) LR which is pre-refresh.

I wondered what I should be concerned about, other than the fact there is only about 20,000 miles before the battery and motor warranty expires?

Obviously concerns for a usual car with this mileage, such as cam belt, don't apply. So I am trying to think what else I should consider.

The bottom line is there are very few cars in the UK that have hit anything like that so you won't get much hard evidence either way here. You would actually be better posting on the US forum where it has been out longer and the average mileage is higher.
Be wary though of reports on older cars since the build quality did improve between 2018 and 2020.

 

[Jason71]

It's on for £32,000 and is in very good condition

Seems overpriced. Looking at Autotrader appears you could get a 30K car for around that money. I would want a 100K car to be a lot cheaper than that.
Personally if I am looking at spending that sort of money I will travel ANYWHERE on the mainland to get the best deal or just get an inspection and get delivered. I would not let Geography push you into a worse deal just cos its local if that is the case here.

 

[Rooster6655]

I have the opportunity to purchase a 100,000 mile Model 3 2020 (70 plate) LR which is pre-refresh.

I wondered what I should be concerned about, other than the fact there is only about 20,000 miles before the battery and motor warranty expires?

Obviously concerns for a usual car with this mileage, such as cam belt, don't apply. So I am trying to think what else I should consider.

I would be looking at what work has been done so far, I don't see anything catastrophic that may go wrong but all the small items will mount up.

Some smallish items to consider the ball joints will probably have been done but may require looking at again at some point if the fix wasn't done properly, the PTC heater is another item that may fail.

 

[MrT3]

Eh?
Putting the battery and motors aside, what else could fail in order to class a Tesla as unreliable?

Suspension parts, front and rear, failing at 20k miles. 380 cars currently waiting for rear suspension parts. Rear light condensation. Screens that stop working due to cracks that don't appear to be a result of impact. Rangers swapping out modems and other electronics when things aren't working correctly but are much more likely to be software issues. Rear camera failure due to wiring loom. Not relevant to this specific car but power boot struts. Trim rattles and creaks.

Tesla aren't bottom of all the car reliability surveys for no reason. But there are very few issues reported with the M3 battery and motors.

Model 3 Rear Suspension Upper Control Arm Waiting Room

Hi, I am starting this thread to find out how many others are waiting for this suspension part. Tesla have told me there are 380 cars in the UK waiting for a rear upper control arm and can’t give me an estimate on how long the wait is. And whilst I’m waiting they have advised me not to drive...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[yessuz]

I have nothing useful to say, I'm sorry to say, but...

...Bloody hell, some people drive a lot!

I do 20K a year... and I work 3 days from home