I have a demo on hold and am looking for feedback/advice before jumping

[mattboyd]

Hello all,

I've just joined this forum as I am about to become an owner, although I have posted a few things previously on the Telsa official forums. I just posted the following over there and bet I will get at least as much good advice from you all. See below:

I have a silver performance 2012 production on hold presently at a good discount, but before jumping I have a few questions. First, this is VIN 5YJSA1DP2CFP01244. Secondly, this has been on display in the NYC West Chester store (in a mall), and as such has essentially no miles. Apparently in the last couple weeks it became a demo car and now has 300 miles in test drives on it. Feel free to comment on my questions and anything else you think relevant, because I'll probably just jump on full purchase tomorrow unless I have incentive not to do so.

i) Does anyone know this car specifically? Silver performance sitting at the West Chester mall store for probably quite some time since it is a 2012 production. If so, what are your thoughts? Being in a mall store, it probably has a lot more "sit down and check it out" traffic than in another store. Perhaps more watch/bracelet scratches? I've asked for pictures and a verbal description and am hoping to get that back soon.

ii) What is the difference between a VIN ending in 1244 and what comes off the line today? My dealer (in DC) said really nothing different. She said that this is not a Signature edition, because those ended at VIN 1000. Is that correct? Basically, besides age, miles, and condition, what is the difference between this and one that I'd order brand new?

Anything else that you can feed back on would be much appreciated. I hadn't planned on jumping on a performance, but this will be about the same price as ordering a new non-performance, and since it hasn't been titled it is sold as a new car and qualifies for the Federal tax credit. To me it is a no-brainer....

Thanks,
-Matt

 

[GlennAlanBerry]

A low VIN number car like that will have generally lower build quality than one that came off the line today (at least according to the general consensus of comments on TMC). There will also be many more TSB issues that need to be corrected. It is also very likely to have some cosmetic wear and tear from people messing with it in the mall. The battery pack has probably been fully charged (with a Standard Charge) most of its life. Depending on the discount you are getting, it may be worth it to ignore these issues.

 

[PeterK]

A low VIN number car like that will have generally lower build quality than one that came off the line today (at least according to the general consensus of comments on TMC). There will also be many more TSB issues that need to be corrected. It is also very likely to have some cosmetic wear and tear from people messing with it in the mall. The battery pack has probably been fully charged (with a Standard Charge) most of its life. Depending on the discount you are getting, it may be worth it to ignore these issues.

You might run into issues like the cracking windshield which affected many of the earlier cars. Also you'll want to look at seat leather wear and discoloration (if it's not black leather), especially entry/exit wear and tear around the door posts. Look also at external panel alignment, make sure you have the new defroster vents installed and other service bulletins have been applied. The forums here will give you the best info about what could/should have been fixed.

 

[brianman]

ii) What is the difference between a VIN ending in 1244 and what comes off the line today?

For the U.S. market, mostly correct. U.S. Sigs end in the early early 010xx range, IIRC.

I recall when we first started seeing 012xx cars they were marketing cars.

silver performance 2012 .... VIN 5YJSA1DP2CFP01244

Observe the 3rd chunk of VINs here:
Decoding Tesla Model S VINs

Also 1221 seen here:
Decoding Tesla Model S VINs - Page 16

Also some quick decode information for the 1244 VIN:
- Twin chargers and supercharger support (D @ slot 7)
- Performance (P @ slot 8) [not 40, 60, or non-perf 85]
- General production (P @ slot 12) [not Beta, RC, Founder's, or Sig]

 

[justaddsun]

Agree w/ GAB. Make sure you check out the leather on the seats, especially fronts, as there may be a lot of cracking and wear from people getting in and out of them. Basically make sure you can accept that. It would be great if you could test drive it before purchasing, just to make sure everything feels "tight".

 

[deonb]

On the plus side, you'd still get fog lights. Later VINs don't have that (I think that's still true).

 

[fiksegts]

I had VIN 2,xxx and now 9,xxx, no difference in quality.... being it was displayed at the store, I would just fly in to check it out personally...

 

[JohnQ]

I had VIN 2,xxx and now 9,xxx, no difference in quality.... being it was displayed at the store, I would just fly in to check it out personally...

I agree ... fly into HPN or LGA and take delivery if you like it, fly home if you don't. There will be some differences from current production ... how the door handles operate, for example, but these are minor things. Interior cosmetics would be my primary criterion.

 

[derekt75]

especially entry/exit wear and tear around the door posts.

+1.

 

[JerryNycom]

What is the price compared to new?

 

[montgom626]

Look at it and buy it.

 

[GeekGirls]

I just drove VIN 1644 for a week while Tesla investigated and took care of an issue on ours (which is 2844, what is it with the xx44s in this thread?) I'd say the biggest differences I noticed were firmer seats, more wind noise, headlights aimed much higher, and door handles that wouldn't stay retracted with auto-presenting enabled. I presume everything but the seats could be adjusted. We certainly had some seals tweaked for wind noise on ours, and I know a number of early owners had to have their headlights realigned. I have no idea what was up with the door handles. They'd immediately "bounce" back out after retracting - but only when auto-presenting was enabled.

 

[mattboyd]

We plan to drive up and see this car tomorrow evening. Thanks for all the tips. For a purchase this large, a 5 hour drive to check it out is a no-brainer.

 

[mattboyd]

Guys, I don't know what the story is on 1244. They would not let us see it -- the roof is being replaced and they said it is completely off right now and they wouldn't let us see it in that state. We were supposed to go see it and a couple others at the service center, and to avoid our visiting the service center they moved two over to the mall where their showroom is. I got to drive a performance last night for the first time, and we ended up putting a deposit on the red one on their showroom floor in the mall. We are saving a few thousand dollars -- not quite what we were looking at discount-wise with 1244. But the red one is a newer VIN P07964, is red (which is what she wanted initially), is performance (which I think will have greater resale value down the road, and I love the red piping, and I adore the new torque), has carbon fiber interior which I really like in that red. They are adjusting the car (and the price) by removing the 21" wheels in favor of 19", removing the rear-facing seats (the kids loved them on the test drive yesterday, but they're of limited value for me and just take up space in the long run), and adding twin chargers (which I didn't know they could do on the fly).

Thanks for all the advice, and for those looking for a good deal on an older (but still untitled) silver performance, have your contacts keep an eye on it (01244).

 

[SCW-Greg]

I looked at buying our test drive unit at our store out here too. One of our other TMC members did buy later instead. As others have pointed out, there's good and bad in buying an earlier production car. I eventually decided to go all new, and haven't regretted it.

But, the store staff did say, while I was looking at it, that the would take the car in to service and fix all wear and tear, making the car as close to new/perfect again. Included paint fixes, leather trim fixes, just about anything that seemed off by your inspection and theirs, and software updates too.

Our test drive unit had 9,000+ miles on it, and so the discount was very substantial. Note, it was a 2012 car, but they priced it at 2013 prices- to start the discounting from.

 

[JohnQ]

Guys, I don't know what the story is on 1244. They would not let us see it -- the roof is being replaced and they said it is completely off right now and they wouldn't let us see it in that state. We were supposed to go see it and a couple others at the service center, and to avoid our visiting the service center they moved two over to the mall where their showroom is. I got to drive a performance last night for the first time, and we ended up putting a deposit on the red one on their showroom floor in the mall. We are saving a few thousand dollars -- not quite what we were looking at discount-wise with 1244. But the red one is a newer VIN P07964, is red (which is what she wanted initially), is performance (which I think will have greater resale value down the road, and I love the red piping, and I adore the new torque), has carbon fiber interior which I really like in that red. They are adjusting the car (and the price) by removing the 21" wheels in favor of 19", removing the rear-facing seats (the kids loved them on the test drive yesterday, but they're of limited value for me and just take up space in the long run), and adding twin chargers (which I didn't know they could do on the fly).

Thanks for all the advice, and for those looking for a good deal on an older (but still untitled) silver performance, have your contacts keep an eye on it (01244).

Congrats on the deposit, you'll love the red (at least I do :smile Are you driving it home today?

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

Judging by the comments over the last few months there will be probably be noticeable differences in build quality between VIN 7964 and 1244, so I think this divine intervention will turn out to be a good thing. Congratulations!

 

[mattboyd]

Thanks for the comments and feedback. We didn't drive it home, as they are changing wheels to 19, removing rear facing seats, and adding twin chargers. They're also waiting on $$ from me which they'll get when I get home from vacation. They're also detailing and registering it before delivering it. They estimated 2 weeks but it was nice to actually see the car we're going to own. I couldn't drive it because we picked the one on their showroom floor in the White Plains Mall. I would have had to drive it through the mall to get to the road. ;-)

 

[Colasec]

Congrats Matt! Sounds like you made a great choice.

 

[Jason S]

Thanks for the comments and feedback. We didn't drive it home, as they are changing wheels to 19, removing rear facing seats, and adding twin chargers. They're also waiting on $$ from me which they'll get when I get home from vacation. They're also detailing and registering it before delivering it. They estimated 2 weeks but it was nice to actually see the car we're going to own. I couldn't drive it because we picked the one on their showroom floor in the White Plains Mall. I would have had to drive it through the mall to get to the road. ;-)

Odd to me that you are buying from the showroom floor. In 2 weeks you might've got one straight from the factory!