Buying Tesla S for saving money

[mspohr]

It's not routine maintenance. It's the various breakdowns.

Here's a list of what I've had done in 3 years / 100,000 km. Some of these items would be expensive without warranty.

2 Charge Port Doors
2 MCU Replacements
2 Windshield Washer Pump
2 Corroded Rear Diffuser replacements
2 Corroded Liftgate Strut Mounts
1 Door Handle Backing
7 Door Handle Extension Mechanism replacements
1 Steering Column U Joint replacements
1 Half Shaft Axle Seal replacement
2 A/C Condenser replacements
1 Rear Air Spring replacement
3 Leaking Tail Light - and it still leaks. i give up.
1 Power Steering Rack
1 Rear Drive Unit
1 Upper Control Arm
1 Battery Chiller
1 Instrument Cluster Screen

Wow. I've only had one leaking rear light in 3.5 years. What year is your Tesla?

 

[NOBULL00]

Given the high annual km driven (150km+, ~96k miles), combined with the fact that most of those miles will be compressed into 3 days per week, battery strain is going to be an issue. Strain is a based on average depth of discharge. As average depth of discharge increases, the lifetime cycles a li-ion battery can perform decreases.

Based on the OP's projected usage, even if they get a used Model S with an 85kwh batter, the DoD on the long drive days will be over 200%. This extremely high projected usage falls somewhere between Sean Mitchell's (a youtuber) Model S (with a 60kwh battery and estimated annual usage of 64k miles per year. ~115% Avg DoD) and Tesloop's Model S (with an 85kwh batter and estimated annual usage of 100k miles. Between 90% to 180% Avg DoD), both of which required new batteries at 140k miles and 200k miles respectively. Of course your mileage may vary.



Battery University Analysis on ways to increase battery cycle life, including reducing DoD
How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

Stack Exchange Forum post about li-ion battery life and cycling
Ideal charging / discharging percentage for maximum battery life?

Sean Mitchell - Tesla Youtuber on needing a new battery

Tesloop
$10,492 Tesla Model S Maintenance Costs After 300,000 Miles, $0 Charging | CleanTechnica

 

[sandpiper]

Wow. I've only had one leaking rear light in 3.5 years. What year is your Tesla?

Tail end of 2014.

 

[sandpiper]

Sincerely sorry to hear about such bad luck with your car. I expect that the new car you seem to be getting is better. My 2017 has had zero issues in 11 months.

I assume most of the frequently problematic parts are replaced with improved part numbers in later cars and also in warranty repairs.

Hit and miss. The door handles have a limited life. I asked them if they replace them with an upgraded unit. They said no... they replace them with the identical problematic unit. I think some other parts are upgraded to newer designs.

And I don't want to be too negative. There's never been a problem that left me stranded. And Tesla has always been great about getting things fixed up quick. But... I can do the math, as to what the repair bills would have been without warranty. It would have been steep.

 

[sandpiper]

Hi sandpiper, can you please +- put price for that parts ? if you remember some.

It was all warranty, so I don't know. But, I believe the MCU is something like 3.5K. And the drive unit 5K. So we're definitely into the 10s of thousands of dollars.

 

[mspohr]

Tail end of 2014.

Tail end... tail light problems?
I think there were a lot of early production problems such as those you note in the 2012 to 2014 years. Thankfully most of those have been fixed. It's rare to hear about drivetrain "milling", door handles, "frunk crease", A/C noise, etc. from current production cars although these were common problems in the past.
If it's a 2014 and you've only had it for 3 years then you probably bought it used and it may have also been abused. It's unusual to hear of problems with many of the things you've mentioned in cars above SN 70,000.
I recommend that people only look at 2015 or later used Teslas because the quality seems to be much better.

 

[sandpiper]

Tail end... tail light problems?
I think there were a lot of early production problems such as those you note in the 2012 to 2014 years. Thankfully most of those have been fixed. It's rare to hear about drivetrain "milling", door handles, "frunk crease", A/C noise, etc. from current production cars although these were common problems in the past.
If it's a 2014 and you've only had it for 3 years then you probably bought it used and it may have also been abused. It's unusual to hear of problems with many of the things you've mentioned in cars above SN 70,000.
I recommend that people only look at 2015 or later used Teslas because the quality seems to be much better.

No... I got it brand new.... it was a 2014, received it in the first few days of 2015. My VIN is in the lowish 60s; one of the first dozen P85Ds off the line. And I'm very careful with it. I routinely have people assume it's brand new - the PPF has been incredible in that sense.

 

[mspohr]

No... I got it brand new.... it was a 2014, received it in the first few days of 2015. My VIN is in the lowish 60s; one of the first dozen P85Ds off the line. And I'm very careful with it. I routinely have people assume it's brand new - the PPF has been incredible in that sense.

Sorry to hear of the problems you've had. Hopefully everything is now upgraded and fixed properly.

 

[sandpiper]

Sorry to hear of the problems you've had. Hopefully everything is now upgraded and fixed properly.

Oh... I've not been unhappy with the car at all. And, as I said, there's not been anything that has stranded me. I would just hate to see someone stretch financially to buy an older one, and then end up with some big service costs.

It's no different than buying 5-6 year old high end Mercedes or Porsche. They price to buy is pretty reasonable, but the maintenance can eat you up.

 

[Dinnamo13]

After all yours experience, maybe another way to think is to wait for Model 3 ? But pricing in EU is little bit out of range of average population...

 

[Nick B]

Sandpiper you seem to have been very unlucky apparently... I have a P85 2014 and I've had a few issues but all covered under warranty (and out of warranty would of cost me around 2500$ possibly). My warranty has ended last February and I had one repair, tesla changed the front and rear control arms (suspension components) which I find normal considering I have 125 000 km's on the car and that has cost me 2000$... so overall my experience is rather positive.

 

[sandpiper]

Sandpiper you seem to have been very unlucky apparently... I have a P85 2014 and I've had a few issues but all covered under warranty (and out of warranty would of cost me around 2500$ possibly). My warranty has ended last February and I had one repair, tesla changed the front and rear control arms (suspension components) which I find normal considering I have 125 000 km's on the car and that has cost me 2000$... so overall my experience is rather positive.

Hmmm... not too sure what to make of that. Maybe that's why the service people look nervous when I walk in? I fully expect that the new car will be vastly better.

Anyway... maybe the point should be modified... It can be an expensive car to own if you're unlucky... so be cautious.

 

[Canuck]

Out of warranty repairs would rapidly destroy any savings.

"would' should be changed to "could" since it's not for certain but is a fair warning.

I don't need to check a spreadsheet. I have my own car.

I could say the opposite but it means very little.

That's why he needs to check the spreadsheet for an informed answer and not an anecdotal one since that is generally regarded as limited in value due to a number of potential weaknesses, either from you or me. That's like taking a poll of one then telling us who will win the next election. Some of us find that reasoning hard to accept, aside from the fact that my experience, with over 4 years and over 100,000 km, is completely opposite to yours. But I wouldn't tell everyone to expect the same as mine, nor should you. We need to look beyond the horizon, so to speak... and at the spreadsheet!

 

[Olle]

I think tesloop's experience says it all. Model S will be way cheaper than any car for this job, as long as you are within 8 years for battery and drivetrain warranty. After that, I'd be a bit worried. Also thinking that if they have to replace the battery toward the end of 8 years you might get a late/future version battery with even better reliability, but wouldn't bank on it.

For what its worth, my Model S at 40k miles (70k km) only needed one quick repair when new, nothing since. You hear a lot about the problems, not about the majority of cars that run like clockwork

 

[Saimaannorppa]

After all yours experience, maybe another way to think is to wait for Model 3 ? But pricing in EU is little bit out of range of average population...

You’ll get to drive the Model S a long time before Model 3 is available in Europe, especially if you don’t have a reservation. There are probably over 100k of the reservations made originally from Europe, and demand just for US is still very high. They’ll prioritize home market for profitability.

In your case you’d need the long range variant, and it is going to be about/over 50k€ without incentives. More if the trade wars escalate.

At that price you can find a 2015 85kwh S with a year of full warranty left and relatively low mileage. Exchange it then to M3 when available, if you still like it.