Buying a Used Model S - Tips/Advice?

[Barryboy]

Why? I drove my RWD S 85 for 5 winters and 160,000 km here in Ontario. My commute was from the GTA to the Waterloo Region and I regularly drove to Bruce County and Muskoka too. Not once was I ever in a situation where I thought AWD could have helped me out or made a difference.

Oh... I currently have a 2012 Audi A6. I really like the AWD in the winter and I wouldn't want to go back. Plus I travel further north frequently AND winter conditions are worse than what you see on the Toronto Waterloo corridor. Yes I know there are no superchargers up there yet, but if they install one in North Bay I will be okay. They've said that they will be doing that this year.

 

[ai4px]

I will be buying a used Model S in the nearish future. Im on the EVCPO website everyday just to get a feel for pricing.

I know a ton about the Model S because I've been obsessed with them since they came out. It is the coolest car ever made.

One of my obsessions has me watching this guys YouTube channel "RichRebuilds." In general he bashes Teslas a lot, but I enjoy his point of view, and he's entertaining. He gives a perspective that I don't normally see as a Tesla fan. Anyway, he has/is rebuilding salvaged Teslas. The reason I mention him is because I heard him say not to buy a model S built before 2015 because of the build quality compared to vehicles built after 2015. No idea how true that is, but I have no other frame of reference, so I will take his word for it?

I know what features I have to have (Smart Air, Pano Roof, Dual motors, HiFi, ideally P85D.) So does anyone have any advice as to which model/year/features I should stick or or stay away from while I do my search?

We got ours from Vroom.com . My only issue was delivery. Their truck was late and didn't show up on the day it was supposed to. So they rescheduled for noon the next day. The actually showed up at 730am and caught my 16 year old daughter leaving for school. WTH? She signed for it with no ID... she just happened to look like she belonged to my house I guess. wow. Anyway, we got a MS60 with 40,000 miles so we'd have 10,000 of warranty incase there was anything broken. We've had the car about two weeks with no issues. THey have a 7 day money back deal, and after the 7th day they fed'ex me the title.
So my advice for you is to get one made early enough to have free supercharging and <45,000 miles.

 

[ai4px]

I have been sifting various used car sites and it seems MANY dealers that have cars in on trade or bought at auction don't describe them like they know what they actually have. Is there a way to tell from some exterior or interior pictures (aside from the MCU settings for opening the roof) if the roof is all-glass or if it is a pano?

I saw one who listed the MS as having satellite radio. I see many 2014's in the low $40k that have had minor accidents or airbags deployed. Heck, I saw one on craigslist and decided to email the guy. It's a scammer. Once he told me the VIN I ran a carfax on it and saw it had been sold and registered in another state 3 months ago, and told him such. He's still emailing me wanting me to put money in a fake "edmunds" look alike spoofed website escrow account so I can "take delivery with confidence". Yeah right....

 

[mknox]

Oh... I currently have a 2012 Audi A6. I really like the AWD in the winter and I wouldn't want to go back. Plus I travel further north frequently AND winter conditions are worse than what you see on the Toronto Waterloo corridor. Yes I know there are no superchargers up there yet, but if they install one in North Bay I will be okay. They've said that they will be doing that this year.

I went from an AWD Cadillac CTS to my RWD 2013 Model S. The only difference I could see was that with the Caddy, I could accelerate more quickly from a stop, but once I was rolling the experience was the same. AWD doesn't stop you any faster... that's all about traction which comes from the tires, not the drive system. The only limitation I ever had, both in the Caddy and Model S was ground clearance. Once the snow is above the bottom of your car, you ain't going anywhere whether AWD, RWD or FWD.I have had several AWD/4WD SUVs and their big winter advantage is the higher ground clearance.

While the Toronto-Waterloo corridor can be bad, the worst winters I've experienced in Ontario are in Bruce County. I lived there for 3 years and the amount of snow they get there is incredible. Highways would be closed for days at a time, and they had to open them with big snowblowers then notch out sections at the sides just so you could see the speed limit and other signs. Way worse than anything I experienced in the Muskoka to North Bay and (rarely) as far a Cochrane areas I travel.

I have nothing against AWD... my new X has it. All I'm saying is that I sincerely don't believe you "need" it on a sedan like the Model S and the best thing you can do is install a good set of winter tires.

 

[Barryboy]

I went from an AWD Cadillac CTS to my RWD 2013 Model S. The only difference I could see was that with the Caddy, I could accelerate more quickly from a stop, but once I was rolling the experience was the same. AWD doesn't stop you any faster... that's all about traction which comes from the tires, not the drive system. The only limitation I ever had, both in the Caddy and Model S was ground clearance. Once the snow is above the bottom of your car, you ain't going anywhere whether AWD, RWD or FWD.I have had several AWD/4WD SUVs and their big winter advantage is the higher ground clearance.

While the Toronto-Waterloo corridor can be bad, the worst winters I've experienced in Ontario are in Bruce County. I lived there for 3 years and the amount of snow they get there is incredible. Highways would be closed for days at a time, and they had to open them with big snowblowers then notch out sections at the sides just so you could see the speed limit and other signs. Way worse than anything I experienced in the Muskoka to North Bay and (rarely) as far a Cochrane areas I travel.

I have nothing against AWD... my new X has it. All I'm saying is that I sincerely don't believe you "need" it on a sedan like the Model S and the best thing you can do is install a good set of winter tires.

I understand. If I'm spending this amount of money on a car I want AWD. Realistically I don't need more than a Honda Civic. Getting a Tesla at all is about "want" not "need".

 

[mknox]

I understand. If I'm spending this amount of money on a car I want AWD. Realistically I don't need more than a Honda Civic. Getting a Tesla at all is about "want" not "need".

Sure, I get that. I would want a fully loaded car myself. I was just kind of responding to the OP who was asking about used Teslas, and I still contend that if you find a really nice used one with RWD, I wouldn't let that stop you because these cars are so good in the winter anyway.

I see so much advertising that leads people to believe AWD make a car safer, which I strongly dispute. Some folks even believe you don't need winter tires if you have AWD. Scary. AWD can make a car a bit more capable, but those are different things.

 

[exaccord]

I didn't know about the backlist when I bought Used. What's on the Tesla site and ev-cpo is not every Used Tesla that they have. They keep the numbers down to increase demand on the artificially limited supply. However, you have to talk to an actual person to find out what's on the back list. If you show up at a sales center, they're not going to want to talk about that. You have to find a good Used advisor. You might even find something close, put your $1000 down, wait a few days for the email from your designated OA and then give them a call. Don't email, don't leave messages, get ahold of them. Ask them if they have anything else with this option or without that one. You'd need to do this *before* the car gets moved to your delivery center. It's a bit risky but ...

I put $1000 down and then paid cash for a car I never drove or even saw in person. After a few days, I did get 10 photos which showed curb rash on the passenger's side but an otherwise clean car. Delivery was uneventful. I knew the car had an outstanding recall. Over the next week I realized it needed the chargeport replaced and it's in the shop right now getting this a few other things taken care of (LTE upgrade, ...). What I did get for that risk was a 4-year 50,000 mile warranty.

If you are buying Used from Tesla, it helps to keep the basic valuation that Tesla uses for pricing Used in mind (as mentioned in Owning Model S):

$1/mile and $1k for each month​

They'll subtract that from the Maroney sticker price. in reality, it's probably more complex than this but that's a start.
After they list if no one takes, they'll drop the price a bit. But they don't negotiate which is fine by me.

The pano roof is necessary if you want a roof rack (or sat radio). The regular sound system is already outstanding.
I can't imagine being able to appreciate the hifi version but then you might.

If you buy Used or Inventory, you will be trading off options+miles unless you buy something fully suited and then pay accordingly.

I have a pre-facelift RWD and I love the huge frunk space. But otherwise, dual motors is the way to go.
You get better performance, better range and better tire wear. It's just the way to go.

I did get a number for a Used Advisor with a (781) area code? I got it from one of the sales guys at my local dealership (which is 8 min from my house) -- I have no idea if he's "good." Do you have someone you could recommend? You can PM me if you don't want to throw their name out there.

 

[glewis83186]

Hello everyone, this is my very first post on this forum. I've just pulled the trigger on a 2015 MS 85 RWD with 39k miles. I've been monitoring this website for a while now reading all the good and bad this company has to offer. Since I will be moving to California I figured why not go for you it now. I was disappointed that Tesla no longer takes care of the cosmetic of the CPO car's but its okay my car only has a minor chip on the paint on the front passenger side and a small crack on the right rear passenger door trim. Both will get repaired as soon as I take delivery of my CPO. Before I made the decision to get a Tesla I first went and test drove one at the local Tesla sales center (dealership)....Being blown away I couldn't get the launch out of my head and how great the car was. I mean the fit and finish was amazing and the quality of materials as well. The Tesla staff was friendly and allowed myself and my brother to look around the showroom before approaching us about questions or concerns.
My Sales advisor Vincent Won (Tesla Orlando) recommended a used sales specialist for me to reach out to in the southern California area. Unfortunately he didn't get back to me fast enough at the time and Tesla had some great deals on there website this past weekend. Long story short, I requested a few pictures from the original Tesla website and was eventually contacted by a used car advisor in Fremont California who asked me a few questions and narrowed my search down dramatically. The only feature I didn't get that I wanted was the upgraded sound system and the 21" wheels.
The point of this response is: not only did this advisor narrow my search and got me as close to a perfect car as possible but he answered all my questions no matter how stupid they seemed to me, and stayed exactly in my price range. So I recommend NOT just putting down money on a vehicle off the website but to reach out to a sales advisor first and have them help you find a car within your price point. Also keep in mind there will always be a car thats better in terms of features outside your budget. Have a plan and stick it, you'll be fine. My worries are all gone for now until the next step of finding a place and scheduling my delivery once my move is complete in a week. Best of luck.