High mileage Model S in the UK(purchasing and running)

[doctor13702]

I currently cover between 35,000 and 45,000 per year for business. I currently have a Lexus Hybrid which ive been more than happy with and has covered 205,000 miles pretty much trouble free.

I've always wanted a Model S, i've been looking at the second hand ones that are in the market place and I could get an 85 with about 60K miles on it that would be within my budget.
I would be keeping it for two years so that would take the mileage to about 150,000. My questions are:

How reliable are the Model S? I need this car to be on point, however it will be serviced regularly and any prats that need replacing get replaced asap.
What common issues should I be looking for? I know about the screens delaminating and the handles failing to present themselves, are they really that common?
How comfortable is the MS for long days in the car? I spend 8-10 hours a day in the car and need for it to be a comfortable place for me.
I routinely do 200-250 miles a day, I understand that summer range won't be an issue but how much does the range drop in the winter/cold weather?
Finally charging, everything I read about charging the MS tells me don't charge to 100% as it degrades the battery faster, im Devon/cornwall based so there aren't that many superchargers, if im on the 'normal' charging network it seems the average round here is 50KwH. How much will that give me in mileage if im charging for say 30 mins ( sorry if that's a real newbie question)

Thanks in advance, I appreciate there are a lot of questions but I really want to go into this with my eyes as wide open as possible

 

[GRiLLA]

1. You might like to read this very recent article about someone who has done 250K miles in a Model S, including what servicing he has done. "Impossible:" Tesla Model S does 400,000km on one set of brake pads
2. I can't really see how someone else will be able to tell you how comfortable you will find a particular car. Some people are weird shaped. There's a service centre opening in Exeter soon, do a test drive.
3. If you can charge at home, you won't need to consider chargers near where you live, you'll never use them. I assume your 200-250 miles is going to take you further away from Devon/Cornwall. I tend to recommend people model their likely journeys using A Better Routeplanner to get an idea of what charging they will actually need. Half an hour on a '50KW' charger is likely to give you say 20KWH, so maybe 60miles range.

 

[gangzoom]

Thanks in advance, I appreciate there are a lot of questions but I really want to go into this with my eyes as wide open as possible

Our Lexus IS300H is the very definition of reliability and perfect for the type of work you have described, our Model X is very opposite, its built like a high school project in comparison.

Running costs on the Tesla is cheaper, but a hybrid Lexus isn't exactly expensive.

200-250 miles a day will 100% see you needing to find public rapid chargers during winter months, even in a brand new LR Model S.

I love our Tesla for family holidays and weekend trips, where time and pressure to be at destination X isn't there. But for any work trip where time is paramount the Lexus takes up the slack.

In short a Tesla is a luxury toy, a Lexus/Toyota is what you need for serious actual work if you are spending 8-10hrs per day in the car.

 

[gangzoom]

Probably tells you all you need to know about living with a Model S and depending on it for your job.

A Dutch taxi company is taking Tesla to court over “defective” cars

A group of disgruntled Tesla owners have also created a foundation that is considering a class action suit against the company.

sifted.eu

 

[doctor13702]

Our Lexus IS300H is the very definition of reliability and perfect for the type of work you have described, our Model X is very opposite, its built like a high school project in comparison.

Running costs on the Tesla is cheaper, but a hybrid Lexus isn't exactly expensive.

200-250 miles a day will 100% see you needing to find public rapid chargers during winter months, even in a brand new LR Model S.

I love our Tesla for family holidays and weekend trips, where time and pressure to be at destination X isn't there. But for any work trip where time is paramount the Lexus takes up the slack.

In short a Tesla is a luxury toy, a Lexus/Toyota is what you need for serious actual work if you are spending 8-10hrs per day in the car.

My Lexus is an is300h and it has been total reliability, the only issue I have had was the traction battery expiring prematurely at about 180,000 miles.

The Model S does offer more space than the Lexus and i've calculated that what the Lexus costs me in fuel per month would cover the finance on the MS

I have been running hybrids for a number of years now and was hoping that maybe the time was right to make to move the a BEV, Maybe I have to push it back a few years.

 

[Rooster6655]

I think you'd be lucky to get 220 in a S 85 in the summer and much less in the winter, as gang zoom mentioned above even the new S in the winter would probably be getting close to the 250 mark, if you have a supercharger en route then assuming its got capacity then it maybe a suitable option.

Charging at home is essential the amount of time you would waste at chargers unnecessarily will more than cover any costs.

 

[pgkevet]

So much depends on the type of roads driven, whether they are one stop or multistop days and whether lunch hours mean breaks and those breaks can be taken near charging facilities. My '18 S100D displays hugely variable wh/mile. Best summer examples are as low as less than (1) 280wh/mile on A roads @ 50&60mph to as poor as (2) 380wh/m on similar roads but with hills and bends. On summer motorways I’ve often managed (3) 330wh/m @70mph for a theoretical 300 mile range. In Winter the same sort of trips (1) 380wh/m (2) 480wh/m (3) 360wh/m so long as the trips are long enough to stabilise battery temps or preconditioned. If winter trips involve lots of stops and do something (business calls?) and the car cools down then I’d start getting to the 500+wh/m average. If I drive heavy footed and burn off at the lights, start zipping past slower cars (just 'cos i can) with fast overtakes then that takes an even bigger toll.
Particularly in Winter I'd never plan a trip without having at least 20% remaining at the end just in case of traffic hold-ups, accidents etc.

 

[gangzoom]

My Lexus is an is300h and it has been total reliability, the only issue I have had was the traction battery expiring prematurely at about 180,000 miles.

The Model S does offer more space than the Lexus and i've calculated that what the Lexus costs me in fuel per month would cover the finance on the MS

I have been running hybrids for a number of years now and was hoping that maybe the time was right to make to move the a BEV, Maybe I have to push it back a few years.

We only do 5K miles a year in the IS300H, so no matter how hard I try the numbers simply don't work out replacing it with a Model 3, even the SR+ will loss far more in depreciation alone versus any kind of fuel saving costs.

With bigger miles the fuel costs are easier to justify, we are covering 12K a year in the Model X at roughly 2.5p per mile, so £300 miles in annual fuel cost versus £2500ish for a similar size SUV.

However over the last 4 years of ownership I've had periods of 2-3 weeks when the X has been at Tesla for warranty work, most recently the passenger side door became unusable and it took 3 attempts from Tesla to fix it. I don't mind that because, overall the experience is much NICER than the Lexus, and most of the time we have access to multiple other cars if needed. But if our X was the main 'work' car and my actual income dependent on it than been 'Nice' to drive will become very secondary to reliability which the IS300H embodies more than any other car I have owned, more than any Nissan/Hondas etc.

Don't get me wrong a Model S is a lovely car to drive and own, its leagues better than the IS300H is most areas.......However you cannot get away from the fact its was the first car Tesla every mass produced versus the decades of experience Lexus/Toyota has in building the most reliable cars on this planet. They really aren't competitors, if you want a reliable work horse EV to replace the IS300H I would suggest looking at what Koreans offers (Kia/Hyundai), or even the MG5 EV.

Though the S is a lovely car, and I would love one to sit alone side our X regardless of reliability worries, but I suspect you don't want to be gambling with your income stability.....or do you

 

[GRiLLA]

We only do 5K miles a year in the IS300H, so no matter how hard I try the numbers simply don't work out replacing it with a Model 3, even the SR+ will loss far more in depreciation alone versus any kind of fuel saving costs.

With bigger miles the fuel costs are easier to justify, we are covering 12K a year in the Model X at roughly 2.5p per mile, so £300 miles in annual fuel cost versus £2500ish for a similar size SUV.

However over the last 4 years of ownership I've had periods of 2-3 weeks when the X has been at Tesla for warranty work, most recently the passenger side door became unusable and it took 3 attempts from Tesla to fix it. I don't mind that because, overall the experience is much NICER than the Lexus, and most of the time we have access to multiple other cars if needed. But if our X was the main 'work' car and my actual income dependent on it than been 'Nice' to drive will become very secondary to reliability which the IS300H embodies more than any other car I have owned, more than any Nissan/Hondas etc.

Don't get me wrong a Model S is a lovely car to drive and own, its leagues better than the IS300H is most areas.......However you cannot get away from the fact its was the first car Tesla every mass produced versus the decades of experience Lexus/Toyota has in building the most reliable cars on this planet. They really aren't competitors, if you want a reliable work horse EV to replace the IS300H I would suggest looking at what Koreans offers (Kia/Hyundai), or even the MG5 EV.

Though the S is a lovely car, and I would love one to sit alone side our X regardless of reliability worries, but I suspect you don't want to be gambling with your income stability.....or do you

How would issues with a falcon wing door on a Model X be relevant to purchasing a Model S ?

 

[gangzoom]

How would issues with a falcon wing door on a Model X be relevant to purchasing a Model S ?

Drive shafts, seat, steering wheel, rear hatch, MCU failure, suspension collapse, key fob failure, drivers A pillar rebuild ×2.....Do you want me to go on .

The FWD have actually haven't given me any issues!! The passenger side door opens like normal .

I've never owned a car that needed to be towed from my drive way, and that included a £500 Micra that I eventually drove the scrap yard under its own power.

Yet a £70k+ car with less than 30k on the clock and less than 3 years had to be literally dragged off my drive way.

Our Tesla simply the most unreliable car I have ever owned or even sat in by a country mile. Its also the car I most love, and I wouldn't trade it in for anything else but another one......But lets call a duck a duck, Tesla don't know how to build cars properly, and given the reports of Plaid Ss catching on fire and suffering brake failures at high speed, things aren't getting any better .

 

[Rooster6655]

Drive shafts, seat, steering wheel, rear hatch, MCU failure, suspension collapse, key fob failure, drivers A pillar rebuild ×2.....Do you want me to go on .

The FWD have actually haven't given me any issues!! The passenger side door opens like normal .

I've never owned a car that needed to be towed from my drive way, and that included a £500 Micra that I eventually drove the scrap yard under its own power.

Yet a £70k+ car with less than 30k on the clock and less than 3 years had to be literally dragged off my drive way.

Our Tesla simply the most unreliable car I have ever owned or even sat in by a country mile. Its also the car I most love, and I wouldn't trade it in for anything else but another one......But lets call a duck a duck, Tesla don't know how to build cars properly, and given the reports of Plaid Ss catching on fire and suffering brake failures at high speed, things aren't getting any better .

I concur with gang zoom, its only the 3 that has started to become more reliable and if you have any real problems then service has often been useless replacing the wrong parts, making you travel for hours to then say come back next week etc, it is only recently I have started to see the service improve