Help! Need Model S 100D Advice

[Nameless]

Hello Tesla Owners,

I need some advice. I've been in the market for a tesla 100D for some time, and I've dreamed of getting one and upgrading it to have FSD so that I can take advantage of the enhanced autopilot features and all subsequent autopilot rollouts.

A 2018 Model S 100D has come up in my area at the $60K mark with FSD already installed, the only sticking point is that it has 75K miles. I test drove it today and it seems to be in very good shape.

So my questions are:
Is it safe to get this car with that mileage?
Has anyone had issues with 2018 Model S's once they are out of normal warranty?
Is this a decent deal or am I getting fleeced?

 

[KArnold]

I'm no expert but the price depends on the details.

Do you have maint history?

It is a private sale and also includes MCU2/AP3 hardware? I don't recall offhand when that became standard.

Do you have the FSD "license" or "software", not just the above-mentioned HW? Officially that's not supposed to transfer but for a private sale Tesla may never know. Again do some research - if it does come with the FSD software, would Tesla remove it if you came in for service one day and they realize you are not the "owner" of the FSD software? I've not heard of that happening. But if Tesla ever owned the car (a.k.a., trade-in) the FSD software will definitely be disabled.

Something like a TeslaFi history would be great but short of that check the battery degradation. I have a '17 MS100D and I'm in the bottom 10% for my model in TeslaFi - I don't know why.

Many today have regrets about paying a lot of money for FSD. If possible try to drive it. And try to guess if it's worth the price for what you get after the novelty wears off. Some doubt they will ever succeed with true L5.

Don't believe anything Elon says. Nothing.

Hope it works out - it's an absolutely beautiful car.

If course, YMMV. Feel free to PM if you want to chat.

 

[DavidB]

Don't believe anything Elon says. Nothing.

Sometimes he tells the truth. But I wouldn't believe anything he says without independent verification.

 

[Nameless]

I'm no expert but the price depends on the details.

Do you have maint history?

It is a private sale and also includes MCU2/AP3 hardware? I don't recall offhand when that became standard.

Do you have the FSD "license" or "software", not just the above-mentioned HW? Officially that's not supposed to transfer but for a private sale Tesla may never know. Again do some research - if it does come with the FSD software, would Tesla remove it if you came in for service one day and they realize you are not the "owner" of the FSD software? I've not heard of that happening. But if Tesla ever owned the car (a.k.a., trade-in) the FSD software will definitely be disabled.

Something like a TeslaFi history would be great but short of that check the battery degradation. I have a '17 MS100D and I'm in the bottom 10% for my model in TeslaFi - I don't know why.

Many today have regrets about paying a lot of money for FSD. If possible try to drive it. And try to guess if it's worth the price for what you get after the novelty wears off. Some doubt they will ever succeed with true L5.

Don't believe anything Elon says. Nothing.

Hope it works out - it's an absolutely beautiful car.

If course, YMMV. Feel free to PM if you want to chat.

I can call tesla and ask if they'll provide the maintenance history, not much comes up on the car fax. Battery is at 310 of 335 miles at 100% charge. I drove it with the FSD on and I liked it, although I wouldn't have paid $10K for it if the car was being sold at $50K without it. Finally, I don't think that Tesla ever owned the car, it went from a BMW dealership in California to an auction in Illinois.

Its a dealership sale, I'll go check the hardware and MCU when I go to the dealership today.

Is there anything I can do to make sure that Tesla wont uninstall the FSD feature aside from just calling them?

Thank you in advance.

 

[2101Guy]

Any/All Teslas that have FSD that are sold private owner to private owner? The FSD remains with the car. That can be confirmed by speaking with anyone at a Tesla Service Center.

Once any FSD enabled Tesla goes through an auction process via a Trade in, for example? The FSD WILL eventually get removed via over the air updates from Tesla. So while many of the smaller independent lots show pics of FSD being enabled on the car? Not uncommon for weeks later, the owner loses the valuable FSD. (Which is why many of the smaller lots now have fine print on their invoices saying "not responsible for features lost via over the air updates".)

Also, while advanced, Tesla still have common suspension and steering systems like gas cars. So with miles, ball joints, control arms, bushings, tie rods, motor mounts, shocks (A leaking air shock can be fairly pricey to have Tesla replace), and other suspension items still can go bad and do wear with miles mainly. And those typically are not warrantied at 75k miles. Also, not uncommon for headlights to need replacing due to yellow LED ring, coolant pumps, etc. So while far less complex than a ICE car and far fewer things to go wrong? There are still plenty of things that can go wrong and can be somewhat pricey if not under warranty to repair.

 

[Nameless]

I'm no expert but the price depends on the details.

Do you have maint history?

It is a private sale and also includes MCU2/AP3 hardware? I don't recall offhand when that became standard.

Do you have the FSD "license" or "software", not just the above-mentioned HW? Officially that's not supposed to transfer but for a private sale Tesla may never know. Again do some research - if it does come with the FSD software, would Tesla remove it if you came in for service one day and they realize you are not the "owner" of the FSD software? I've not heard of that happening. But if Tesla ever owned the car (a.k.a., trade-in) the FSD software will definitely be disabled.

Something like a TeslaFi history would be great but short of that check the battery degradation. I have a '17 MS100D and I'm in the bottom 10% for my model in TeslaFi - I don't know why.

Many today have regrets about paying a lot of money for FSD. If possible try to drive it. And try to guess if it's worth the price for what you get after the novelty wears off. Some doubt they will ever succeed with true L5.

Don't believe anything Elon says. Nothing.

Hope it works out - it's an absolutely beautiful car.

If course, YMMV. Feel free to PM if you want to chat.

KArnold, I am new here so it won't let me start a PM conversation with anyone, if you PM me, I can reply.

 

[Nameless]

Any/All Teslas that have FSD that are sold private owner to private owner? The FSD remains with the car. That can be confirmed by speaking with anyone at a Tesla Service Center.

Once any FSD enabled Tesla goes through an auction process via a Trade in, for example? The FSD WILL eventually get removed via over the air updates from Tesla. So while many of the smaller independent lots show pics of FSD being enabled on the car? Not uncommon for weeks later, the owner loses the valuable FSD. (Which is why many of the smaller lots now have fine print on their invoices saying "not responsible for features lost via over the air updates".)

Also, while advanced, Tesla still have common suspension and steering systems like gas cars. So with miles, ball joints, control arms, bushings, tie rods, motor mounts, shocks (A leaking air shock can be fairly pricey to have Tesla replace), and other suspension items still can go bad and do wear with miles mainly. And those typically are not warrantied at 75k miles. Also, not uncommon for headlights to need replacing due to yellow LED ring, coolant pumps, etc. So while far less complex than a ICE car and far fewer things to go wrong? There are still plenty of things that can go wrong and can be somewhat pricey if not under warranty to repair.

Thank you! this is what I was looking for. I'll call tesla and see if they'll give me this policy in writing.

How expensive are the common Model S repairs when joints, headlights, etc? Are we talking $500 or $5000?

 

[KArnold]

Is there anything I can do to make sure that Tesla wont uninstall the FSD feature aside from just calling them?

In searching here you should be OK using private sale for FSD. See Selling Question...FSD Follows the Car? and Purchasing FSD on used car before transferring account

Repairs can be pricey if the HV battery or a drive unit goes south but those should be relatively rare.

 

[2101Guy]

Thank you! this is what I was looking for. I'll call tesla and see if they'll give me this policy in writing.

How expensive are the common Model S repairs when joints, headlights, etc? Are we talking $500 or $5000?

#1. Good luck in attempting to reach anyone at Tesla by phone. It's hit or miss, but more often than not, hard to get anyone on the phone. If you live near a service center, you may have better luck just dropping b.
#2. It depends. Sometimes their repair prices out of warranty arent excessive. But they are unlike traditional cardealers who have parts departments that sell any part on the car. Tesla will not sell many things to you directly. So for many repairs you are forced to go with them. Air suspension type repairs can be several hundred dollars to well over a thousand, depending on what it is. Other steering/suspension work is pretty much inline with other car makers repair costs. As others pointed out, when you get into issues with the battery pack (they dont repair those, only replace at costs in the $17k to $25k range), its pricey. Same for the drive units (aka motors). But as pointed out, both of those items can last for many miles. But if you search the forum, its also not rare for drive units to need replacing.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Regarding MCU2 and HW3: MCU2 went into production in March 2018, so if the car was built after March, it has MCU2. HW3 didn’t go into production until April 2019, but since the car already has FSD, chances are the computer was upgraded from HW2.5 to HW3.

Correction: For Model S, HW3 went into production in March 2019, though it doesn’t make a difference in this case.

 

[Nameless]

I ended up deciding to go with a new model S. I’ll order it a few months from now, since the jump from $62k to $80k is small enough to justify a 0 mile car.

Thank you to everyone that replied.

 

[2101Guy]

Congrats for sure, but to be factual, the car you were considering at 62k has FSD. A new white S LR with no other upgrades and with FSD is going to be $90k.

So the more accurate comparison would be to compare $62k to (at least) $90k.