Hidden NEW Inventory SR+ with 85 Miles on Odometer? [SA internal search shows vehicle]

[SlowDuck]

Hey all, I ordered a Model 3 SR+ a week ago with initial EDD in next Jan. Then I was actively monitoring the new inventory hoping to get something earlier than that.

Since I haven't been able to find any new SR+ inventory for a couple of days, I talked with the online chat service hoping to get a sense of when the next bulk of the LFP inventory will be released. Then the guy helped me do an "internal look up" and told me that there's a NEW 2021 SR+ inventory in near my area, with 85 miles on odometer.

It looks very appealing but somewhat suspicious to me. It is something that I was not able to find on Tesla website but can be internally searched. Also, the existing 85 miles is a bit higher than most of the new inventory cars. But the agent assured me that this is a new car with no previous owner.

Of course I put that order immediately. But I do still want to ask around and see if this is a normal thing or just I got lucky? Might there be any potential risk with this car? In the worst case I will lose my deposit ...

 

[jjrandorin]

85 miles is more than the regular amount of miles on a brand new never driven car. You can have a "new car that has no previous owner" that was a demo, for example (those can be sold as "New" because they have not been titled to an end user.

"New" vs "Used" is an ownership definition, not a use definition. If the car was sold to someone and they returned it, it could be sold as "new" only if it was never titled. If it was a demo car or a car used by the manager of the tesla location to run errands in, it could also be sold as "new".

Shrug.. I personally would not buy a brand new car with those miles without understanding where they say they came from, but My personal risk tolerance for this type stuff is very low, on a personal level. I am not a person would BUY a demo vehicle, as there is not enough discount for me to do so (would have to be several thousand dollars to even make me consider it).

As for "got lucky?" no idea, these type vehicles show up fairly often, so its not as rare as you might think. I dont work for tesla or anything, I just am a bit familiar with it from my time here.

 

[EVEnergy]

While a bit on the high side, it's not abnormal. Car and Driver says 100 and below is OK; something higher than that, ask questions/refuse.

 

[SlowDuck]

85 miles is more than the regular amount of miles on a brand new never driven car. You can have a "new car that has no previous owner" that was a demo, for example (those can be sold as "New" because they have not been titled to an end user.

"New" vs "Used" is an ownership definition, not a use definition. If the car was sold to someone and they returned it, it could be sold as "new". If it was a demo car or a car used by the manager of the tesla location to run errands in, it could also be sold as "new".

Shrug.. I personally would not buy a brand new car with those miles without understanding where they say they came from, but My personal risk tolerance for this type stuff is very low, on a personal level. I am not a person would BUY a demo vehicle, as there is not enough discount for me to do so (would have to be several thousand dollars to even make me consider it).

As for "got lucky?" no idea, these type vehicles show up fairly often, so its not as rare as you might think. I dont work for tesla or anything, I just am a bit familiar with it from my time here.

Thank you for the comments! According to them, it might be used as demo car before or was delivered to another customer who didn't actually take it. Up till now, I haven't been officially contacted by a SA, so all the information came from the chat service. I would try to get more information when speaking with the SA.

I said lucky just because I might be able to get it months earlier than expected (I don't own a car now). Based on your knowledge, would these "Partially" new cars (as compared to those below 50miles) tend to have any kind of higher risk? Or is it mostly a matter of exclusiveness?

 

[SlowDuck]

After reading over some discussions around demo cars, new questions came:
- Are they obliged to let you know if it is a demo car?
- If so, should there be any discount on it?

 

[jjrandorin]

After reading over some discussions around demo cars, new questions came:
- Are they obliged to let you know if it is a demo car?
- If so, should there be any discount on it?

For a demo car with so low miles, probably not. There is some formula for "x per mile discount" but likely not for that low miles. They are obligated if the car can be sold as NEW vs Used (title) but I dont know if there is any obligation for documentation of where any miles came from. They can verbally tell you whatever, but verbally telling you something about a car doesnt mean anything.

The "little old lady only drove this car to church on sundays" Used car salesperson approach applies here. Like I said, I am not sure if they have to put anything in writing on where the miles come from.

If the car is being sold as NEW, you can know that no one has taken delivery of it and had it titled. You DONT know, however, if someone rejected it, or if it needed some repairs etc.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Mine was 10 miles when I picked it up (just a data point).

 

[SlowDuck]

For a demo car with so low miles, probably not. There is some formula for "x per mile discount" but likely not for that low miles. They are obligated if the car can be sold as NEW vs Used (title) but I dont know if there is any obligation for documentation of where any miles came from. They can verbally tell you whatever, but verbally telling you something about a car doesnt mean anything.

The "little old lady only drove this car to church on sundays" Used car salesperson approach applies here. Like I said, I am not sure if they have to put anything in writing on where the miles come from.

If the car is being sold as NEW, you can know that no one has taken delivery of it and had it titled. You DONT know, however, if someone rejected it, or if it needed some repairs etc.

I saw people saying that if a car has been used as a demo/service car, it should be stated on the MVPA as "New - Service" or something to be differentiated from a complete "New" one. But this is not 100% confirmed. I will definitely try to get more info on how the mileage came from.

Somehow Tesla is very slow on reaching out to me. It's already five days and no one has ever contacted me, expect for auto-reply emails asking me to complete the profile and the insurance.

 

[SlowDuck]

Mine was 10 miles when I picked it up (just a data point).

That is about the avg miles I saw for a new new car.

 

[dmurphy]

So — one point that I need to mention. @SlowDuck - you’re here in NJ. The Paramus delivery and service center building took very serious damage in last week’s storm - the roof collapsed.

This has no impact on the cars to be delivered (they’re not stored in the building) BUT it would explain some additional mileage. They’ve been shuffling cars off to Springfield, Princeton, Cherry Hill and other centers so they can be delivered.

I’ve been in touch with Team Paramus and they’re doing *absolutely incredible* work in a horrible situation. So I’d ask just a little patience and understanding.

Truly, a couple extra miles is nothing to be concerned about. Doesn’t impact the warranty any, and rather than let the cars sit, the Paramus folks are getting cars to people as quickly as they can. Just takes some extra effort on their part, which I appreciate!

here’s a photo of the showroom; the back half of the building (service) had a full roof cave-in.

 

[jjrandorin]

So — one point that I need to mention. @SlowDuck - you’re here in NJ. The Paramus delivery and service center building took very serious damage in last week’s storm - the roof collapsed.

This has no impact on the cars to be delivered (they’re not stored in the building) BUT it would explain some additional mileage. They’ve been shuffling cars off to Springfield, Princeton, Cherry Hill and other centers so they can be delivered.

I’ve been in touch with Team Paramus and they’re doing *absolutely incredible* work in a horrible situation. So I’d ask just a little patience and understanding.

Truly, a couple extra miles is nothing to be concerned about. Doesn’t impact the warranty any, and rather than let the cars sit, the Paramus folks are getting cars to people as quickly as they can. Just takes some extra effort on their part, which I appreciate!

here’s a photo of the showroom; the back half of the building (service) had a full roof cave-in.
View attachment 707930

I saw a thread on that somewhere else here on TMC, its incredible what those folks are doing with that situation. Thats certainly a great explanation for "where the miles might have come from", so thanks for sharing with the OP.

I also seem to remember you and others posting about how awesome that particular SC is, and it sounds like it may be out of commission for a while as a physical location. Its really impressive what they are trying to do, to keep going.

 

[SlowDuck]

So — one point that I need to mention. @SlowDuck - you’re here in NJ. The Paramus delivery and service center building took very serious damage in last week’s storm - the roof collapsed.

This has no impact on the cars to be delivered (they’re not stored in the building) BUT it would explain some additional mileage. They’ve been shuffling cars off to Springfield, Princeton, Cherry Hill and other centers so they can be delivered.

I’ve been in touch with Team Paramus and they’re doing *absolutely incredible* work in a horrible situation. So I’d ask just a little patience and understanding.

Truly, a couple extra miles is nothing to be concerned about. Doesn’t impact the warranty any, and rather than let the cars sit, the Paramus folks are getting cars to people as quickly as they can. Just takes some extra effort on their part, which I appreciate!

here’s a photo of the showroom; the back half of the building (service) had a full roof cave-in.
View attachment 707930

Thanks for the info!

 

[dmurphy]

Thanks for the info!

Hey @SlowDuck, how did this turn out? Did you get the 85-mile car?

 

[SlowDuck]

Hey @SlowDuck, how did this turn out? Did you get the 85-mile car?

I gave it up.. It increased to 200 miles only two days later. The only answer tesla gave me was transportation, which should be 30 miles at most. I prefer waiting for another month or two to get a "New" car instead. BTW, I was not able to have them transfer the deposit to my NCA order.

 

[ilike2brkthngs]

I know this isn’t a SR+, but we have seen demo vehicles with such low mileage. Did you happen to get a small discount when you ordered it originally?

 

[SlowDuck]

I know this isn’t a SR+, but we have seen demo vehicles with such low mileage. Did you happen to get a small discount when you ordered it originally?

Unfortunately no. Since they claimed this is not a demo car, I suspect this amount of mileage will not result in any discount...