Hi...and help!

[Achitophel]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum and Teslas generally. I'll finally be able to justify changing my car later this year and am determined to get a Tesla (ironically moving from an Alpina B3S, probably one of the worth mpg cars)!

I do usually very few miles a year - say 5,000 even allowing for more use of the new car given it won't be a 14 year old convertible! I'll therefore be buying a second-hand model - ideally for somewhere between £35 - 45k.

One the problems I've encountered is the bewildering list of options and variable specifications, which don't seem to be tied to any specific model number / variant. At the same time, there seem to be significant hardware differences and subtleties around hardware fitted, but not enabled, or only partially enabled!

What I'm therefore looking for is a website / source which is a comprehensive review of the various models and options, recommendations about which options are pointless / useful / necessary, and what to look for in terms of checking whether cars have these options.

Thanks in advance.

PB

 

[Uncle Paul]

Think I understand your question, but don't know of any one place that lists every nuance that has taken place over the years.

Tesla has a policy of continous improvement. The details may only be available from Tesla as to exactly what specifically came with that vehicle by contacting them with the serial number.

In addition, Tesla has an ongoing program Over The Air updates that are sent out to the entire fleet. Cars may have additional features, like automatic headlights, performance enhancements (uncorking) or automatic windshield wipers, depending on the version of software they have installed.

Usually the owner will know the configuration of their car,

 

[IslandHydro]

This might help: https://www.teslaadviceblog.com/blog/buying-guide-model-s-versions-1-2-3-and-4

 

[thegruf]

I would actually look at it a slightly different way and try to find the best car you can with a VIN (last 6 digits of) greater 100,000 (appx Sept 2015). Not that the earlier cars are bad, but I felt that this was the point where most of the early gremlins were ironed out.

If you shop around you should be able to find a nice 85D, which would likely be the best performance for your money, a facelift 70D may just be possible if you are lucky but would be lower performance and (only slightly) lower range.

 

[Rayminster]

Hi PB, I recently got a preowner S85 2014 model.

Price 37k.

I couldn’t be happier. Glide’s along as if it were new. The only sacrifice was autopilot but I’m happy with this for 5 hrs then I’m sure being in the family will be easier to upgrade to an autopilot V2.

Make the jump mate, try S85 what ever you do. I didn’t worry about dual motor and performance model as all Tesla’s are fast. They don’t make slow cars.

 

[Peteski]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum and Teslas generally. I'll finally be able to justify changing my car later this year and am determined to get a Tesla (ironically moving from an Alpina B3S, probably one of the worth mpg cars)!

I do usually very few miles a year - say 5,000 even allowing for more use of the new car given it won't be a 14 year old convertible! I'll therefore be buying a second-hand model - ideally for somewhere between £35 - 45k.

One the problems I've encountered is the bewildering list of options and variable specifications, which don't seem to be tied to any specific model number / variant. At the same time, there seem to be significant hardware differences and subtleties around hardware fitted, but not enabled, or only partially enabled!

What I'm therefore looking for is a website / source which is a comprehensive review of the various models and options, recommendations about which options are pointless / useful / necessary, and what to look for in terms of checking whether cars have these options.

Thanks in advance.

PB

I think with that budget you are going to be quite limited in choice anyway. Maybe get yourself a shortlist of cars together and post their specs on here for comment. In reality there weren't actually very many options compared to say an equivalent Audi or BMW, it's mostly incremental improvements along the way - newer the better.

The primary differentiator between models is the battery spec. P = performance D = AWD etc. In that price bracket you won't get a P model, but possibly a D model. Obviously there was the face lift around 2016 to think about too. They are all pretty quick cars, just different levels of quick!

As far as options go, things to look out for are Autopilot (AP), premium interior, HEPA filter, winter pack, premium hi-fi, upgraded wheels, various roof options. There isn't much else really.

 

[.jg.]

Get the VIN for any car you are interested in and enter it into this website to get a list of the options on that specific car - if it is currently for sale:
https://ev-cpo.com/hunter/?lookup
You can aso look for available cars on the same website but I think they only have cars sold by Tesla - not by third parties.

 

[themetz]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum and Teslas generally. I'll finally be able to justify changing my car later this year and am determined to get a Tesla (ironically moving from an Alpina B3S, probably one of the worth mpg cars)!

I do usually very few miles a year - say 5,000 even allowing for more use of the new car given it won't be a 14 year old convertible! I'll therefore be buying a second-hand model - ideally for somewhere between £35 - 45k.

One the problems I've encountered is the bewildering list of options and variable specifications, which don't seem to be tied to any specific model number / variant. At the same time, there seem to be significant hardware differences and subtleties around hardware fitted, but not enabled, or only partially enabled!

What I'm therefore looking for is a website / source which is a comprehensive review of the various models and options, recommendations about which options are pointless / useful / necessary, and what to look for in terms of checking whether cars have these options.

Thanks in advance.

PB

I've got a 2016 S85D just about to need a new home - may be that timing might work for us both to benefit from a private sale... PM if interested in discussing further!

 

[Terry_B58]

Have a look on this site, drop down boxes to filter what you want.

Tesla UK new and used inventory car prices

 

[Achitophel]

Wow!

Thanks all for the help and tips. I've clearly got a lot of reading to do, so thanks for the version differences. The advice blog looks reallyu useful - can anyone confirm whether the dates listed for the US versions release also apply in the UK, or if there was a roll-out delay over here?

thegruf - is there a way of checking the VIN based on the numberplate; otherwise, can see it might get difficult?

Thanks Rayminster for the encouragement!

Thanks themetz - happy to chat, but as I said, it'll be later this year - probably sell mine in late Apr / early May, given it's a convertible. Might that work for you?

 

[Peteski]

Wow!
The advice blog looks really useful

I just read the blog section "Tesla and crossing the chasm". Quite possibly the most depressing read ever!

While many of the criticisms are valid points, it just reads like a list of doom and gloom with no balance against how amazing these cars are compared to traditional alternatives. In reality the overall ownership experience can be amazing, even though there are definitely some quirks in the way Tesla operate. It's not like their competitors are anything like perfection anyway with their more traditional franchised dealership model. That's not to say Tesla couldn't improve and I believe they are for the most part on an upward path in terms of both build quality and customer service.

For me personally owning a Tesla has been far less hassle and a lot more interesting than owning other premium brand cars. It's also convinced me 100% that I will never buy another ICE car again. Whether or not I eventually buy another Tesla, my next car will definitely be another premium EV and at the moment Tesla are still my number one choice in this market.

I'm only saying this because it's very easy to talk yourself out of buying a Tesla and articles like this one are going to make it easy to do so!

 

[arg]

can anyone confirm whether the dates listed for the US versions release also apply in the UK, or if there was a roll-out delay over here?

Roll-out in the sense of when the specs applied to new orders was the same, but that means maybe ~2months delay if you are looking at the date the cars got registered in the UK.

One other point with the sort of price-range you are looking at: there were a significant number of cars delivered in mid-2014 when RHD first became available, but then after the launch of the 'D'/autopilot models in October most UK buyers were ordering those where there was a long delay (even in the USA, but RHD came a long way back down the queue). Hence you will find very few UK cars that were registered late 2014/early 2015.