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Hoping to buy my first Tesla - a used Model S - what should I look out for?

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well the mileage has gone up 4k and the price hasnt moved

i like this one


£2k more but 20k less miles and has MCU2 so that's £300 more in reality = much better VFM

they dropped the price by £1k on thursday
It doesn't have the CCS adapter installed.
The one for sale in Birmingham does.
I see the adapter is £200. I've had experience where short CCS cables can really pull hard on the CCS charge port. Do the adapters cope ok with the weight?
 
This CCS adapter is optional, as of that you need to pay for the installation. It might be needed for your trips, if the Tesla charging network in UK is not well spread for you. The adapter is quite new in respect of the DC fast charging with Model S so haven't heard any cases. You can probably find some youtube videos about vandalism during charging and it appears the port is quite solid. I haven’t had any issues so far, you only need to remind yourself to remove the adapter after charging each time. Otherwise it will be lost…
 
This CCS adapter is optional, as of that you need to pay for the installation. It might be needed for your trips, if the Tesla charging network in UK is not well spread for you. The adapter is quite new in respect of the DC fast charging with Model S so haven't heard any cases. You can probably find some youtube videos about vandalism during charging and it appears the port is quite solid. I haven’t had any issues so far, you only need to remind yourself to remove the adapter after charging each time. Otherwise it will be lost…
All supercharger and public DC rapid charging posts in the UK (and the rest of the world except the US) are CCS or CADdeMO (for a small number of EVs like the Nissan Leaf) so CCS charging capability is a requirement in the UK.
It’s only America that has the proprietary Tesla charge port.
Is it possible to convert a non-CCS model S to have a CCS port?
 
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As I pointed out, if “Tesla“ charging network is not convenient for your travels then this retrofit is required. I believe all current Model S cars in UK have the EU version Mennekes type of port and this retrofit will allow new CCS type of cable to be used for charging. This retrofit came around 2020 so before that it was only option to use CHAdeMO adapter. Difference in between is that for the CCS you need to programm onboard charger (done by Tesla) to enable this standard. For the later this adapter is converting the load to be accepted. Although I haven’t been in UK I still believe there are Tesla charging stations with original Mennekes type of plugs as they started to add this new type of cables to the charging posts around the same time Model 3 cars started to get on shore.
 
re the CCS. the model S just has the mennekes type 2 socket on the car. It doesnt have the 2 pins DC for CCS that you see on public chargers.

The adapter takes the DC off those pins on the charger and passes it through to the socket on the car.

You'll need the £200 upgrade done if you want to use any of the public rapid chargers plus V3 superchargers.
 
re the CCS. the model S just has the mennekes type 2 socket on the car. It doesnt have the 2 pins DC for CCS that you see on public chargers.

The adapter takes the DC off those pins on the charger and passes it through to the socket on the car.

You'll need the £200 upgrade done if you want to use any of the public rapid chargers plus V3 superchargers.
Now when you say £200 upgrade, do you mean the £200 adapter or do they actually upgrade the car's charge port?
 
Put a refundable £500 deposit on the 2018 Red 75D 31k miles so I could go view it at Auto100.
I couldn't test drive it. There was no damp inside and all 4 door handles worked.
However, the near side running light is faulty.
IMG_5150[1].JPG


Actually the offside one looks like it is dim and yellowing in the front, upper part.

IMG_5148.JPG

The warranty runs out in August. Will Tesla 100% replace both lights? Or only the near side one?
If there is any doubt then I may not continue with the purchase.

Also, where does the flash drive go? There wasn't one installed. I had a look in the glove box, but there wasn't a visible USB socket in there.

IMG_5146.JPG


Thanks
 
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Put a refundable £500 deposit on the 2018 Red 75D 31k miles so I could go view it at Auto100.
I couldn't test drive it. There was no damp inside and all 4 door handles worked.
However, the near side running light is faulty.
View attachment 815476

Actually the offside one looks like it is dim and yellowing in the front, upper part.

View attachment 815478
The warranty runs out in August. Will Tesla 100% replace both lights? Or only the near side one?
If there is any doubt then I may not continue with the purchase.

Also, where does the flash drive go? There wasn't one installed. I had a look in the glove box, but there wasn't a visible USB socket in there.

View attachment 815481

Thanks

looks good , both headlights are due for replacement this should be covered under standard warranty . Usb ports for sentry should be located in storage compartment under armrest . Take it for a test drive
 
looks good , both headlights are due for replacement this should be covered under standard warranty . Usb ports for sentry should be located in storage compartment under armrest . Take it for a test drive
Thanks. What I hope to hear is a confident “they will be covered under standard warranty”. Because if there is any doubt, I’m taking a risk that I will have to shell out a lot of money.

This dealer is online and doesn’t do test drives. I don’t think I will be able to do one.
 
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Thanks. What I hope to hear is a confident “they will be covered under standard warranty”. Because if there is any doubt, I’m taking a risk that I will have to shell out a lot of money.

This dealer is online and doesn’t do test drives. I don’t think I will be able to do one.
From recall of talking to owners on the forums they are covered under standard warranty when burnt out like that . I'd be more concerned about not being able to test drive it, so they deliver the car to you ? really should take it for a quick spin before accepting it if possible .
 
From recall of talking to owners on the forums they are covered under standard warranty when burnt out like that . I'd be more concerned about not being able to test drive it, so they deliver the car to you ? really should take it for a quick spin before accepting it if possible .
I think their policy in this case is that if there is anything wrong with it, Tesla will sort it out under warranty.

Can I take the car along to Tesla and ask for a full service and check? Is that a thing?
 
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Don’t get high hopes on the Enhanced Autopilot option, if it has been in the hands of a dealership, then you need to activate (i.e. purchase) it again. If the car is still registered to the original owner, then you need to know has it been activated, so it will pass over to new owner if the dealer will not be involved.
I don’t believe this to be correct, but I consider this an honest mistake. I have never seen a verified autopilot or FSD removal by Tesla (that was legally purchased) because of a dealer’s involvement. But we do see cars go to auction from Tesla where features are flagged to be removed and don’t come off until after new buyers take them home, so it looks like the problem is dealers holding them when the real problem is the timing of the removal by Tesla.
 
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