I want to buy a used S with free supercharging. Should I go Private or Tesla ?

[ChefShawn]

I am trying to buy a used S with free supercharging. Should I go Private Party or Tesla ?**
Feel free to list your reasons why especially if it concerns Transferring special packages.
If it matters I’m in Northern California.

**not sure if this is the proper location for this thread if it is not please relocate thank you.

 

[Tam]

...free supercharging...

When you buy from Tesla, it is documented on your receipt called "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement".

If there's any question, you can show that as proof of purchase.

When you buy from a private party, if it is not documented on the "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement", then good luck to you. There's no way to prove that the price bought included the free Supercharging.

 

[Cheburashka]

Private party if you get a car that was delivered pre Jan 15, 2017.

That way you get transferable supercharging that sticks with the car when you want to sell it down the road.

 

[ycolasan]

Private party if you get a car that was delivered pre Jan 15, 2017.

That way you get transferable supercharging that sticks with the car when you want to sell it down the road.

I agree that pre 2017 cars have free supercharging attached to them and transferable. I bought 2013 CPO years ago, the CPO advantage is that it comes with 4 years warranty (for cars less than 50000 mi). For newer ones, you would need to check Tesla CPO site, some has Free Supercharging but not transferable any more to new owner after you.

I really did not see much in Free Supercharging as we traveled only a few times a year, it is equivalent to $30-60/year gain.

 

[waiting4used]

With Tesla CPO you can get the questions answered by a sales agent. It also might take months to get your used vehicle, even if it's local. (Still waiting for my P100D.) With non-Tesla dealers, they might not know what they're talking about. With private party, I would call Tesla with specifics to verify with them if Free Supercharging is transferable.

 

[2101Guy]

no such thing as CPO with Tesla..

 

[waiting4used]

Tesla "CPO" i.e. used car sales

 

[SSedan]

Sometimes we ask the wrong question.
Have you actually calculated the value of free supercharging?
That boxes you into older less efficient cars with less range.

Are you aware that heavy supercharging comes with penalties of slowing supercharging for battery health reasons.

I am not saying you are wrong to look for this just saying know the drawbacks. Some folks with cars that used to charge at up to 120kw are down to almost 70 that adds significant supercharging time.
If looking for an around town car and superchargers are at your regular haunts that can work out fine. If you are thinking of road trips an older less efficient car with low range and slow charging might not be right.

 

[AMPd]

Sometimes we ask the wrong question.
Have you actually calculated the value of free supercharging?
That boxes you into older less efficient cars with less range.

Are you aware that heavy supercharging comes with penalties of slowing supercharging for battery health reasons.

I am not saying you are wrong to look for this just saying know the drawbacks. Some folks with cars that used to charge at up to 120kw are down to almost 70 that adds significant supercharging time.
If looking for an around town car and superchargers are at your regular haunts that can work out fine. If you are thinking of road trips an older less efficient car with low range and slow charging might not be right.

I am one of those people and the car is just no longer a fun road trip car. It’s ridiculous how long it takes to charge, we’ve been taking our ice car simply because an hour and a half to charge every 2.5-3 hours of driving is crazy.

 

[ChefShawn]

When you buy from Tesla, it is documented on your receipt called "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement".

If there's any question, you can show that as proof of purchase.

When you buy from a private party, if it is not documented on the "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement", then good luck to you. There's no way to prove that the price bought included the free Supercharging.

Why thank you that’s mighty handy. Do you happen to know the code for unlimited data ? I hear this is another that may be transferred.

 

[ChefShawn]

Sometimes we ask the wrong question.
Have you actually calculated the value of free supercharging?
That boxes you into older less efficient cars with less range.

Are you aware that heavy supercharging comes with penalties of slowing supercharging for battery health reasons.

I am not saying you are wrong to look for this just saying know the drawbacks. Some folks with cars that used to charge at up to 120kw are down to almost 70 that adds significant supercharging time.
If looking for an around town car and superchargers are at your regular haunts that can work out fine. If you are thinking of road trips an older less efficient car with low range and slow charging might not be right.

Thank you for the insight, i have a 350 mile a week commute that’s my biggest reason for wanting a Tesla maybe I’ll just get a new 3 instead of a used S...

 

[Cheburashka]

350 miles a week isn't very much. You can easily do that in a 75.

 

[No CO2]

Do you have charging at work? Or walking distance to work?
Is the supercharger near your work?

I bought a 2013 with free supercharging two months ago, and I love it. Out of all of the bells & whistles, that is the feature I love the most. I live 2 miles from a supercharging station.
I bought the car from a private party. I went to look at it one day, and drove it home the following day.
While it didn't PROVE free supercharging, we drove to a supercharger during the test drive. We plugged in, and confirmed it worked.
I am aware of batterygate / chargegate due to the great info in this forum.
Yes, I do see my charging slow down, but I am OK with it. Don't be in such a rush all the time. On a road trip, I enjoy getting out of the car after three hours, stretching my legs, and exploring an area or restaurant I haven't been to before. I use the app on the phone to see charging status while eating.
For the supercharger near my home, I bring my laptop, and work on computer work I would have worked on anyway at home.

 

[Tam]

Why thank you that’s mighty handy. Do you happen to know the code for unlimited data ? I hear this is another that may be transferred.

No.

If it's included, it would be in the description on:

Tesla.com/used

Currently, there's none. There's no telling whether it will come back again. Sometimes, when Tesla needs to clear its inventory, it would throw in Free Supercharging and that will be listed on your "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement" as well.

In theory, as @Cheburashka pointed out, you can go "Private party if you get a car that was delivered pre Jan 15, 2017."

But as @No CO2 pointed out, it's not documented on your or previous owner's "Motor Vehicle Order Agreement", how do prove that it was paid and included if Tesla starts to demand payments?

 

[ChefShawn]

Thanks I posted a poll did anyone vote?

 

[waiting4used]

Thanks I posted a poll did anyone vote?

I can't vote yet cuz still waiting for that Model S P100D from Tesla and I've never purchased a used Tesla from a private party. All I can say is Tesla used vehicle sales can take a long time and they never quite tell you what's going on...

 

[Ostrichsak]

Thanks I posted a poll did anyone vote?

It's pretty simple: If FUSC is the question the only answer is private party purchase of a car manufactured before 1/2017. Tesla doesn't even have it on used cars and removes it from cars that did have it. They then choose to add it on a case by case basis to cars that aren't selling as an incentive to move them but even in this rare case it's not true FUSC as it will NOT transfer to the next owner or be worth anything in resale. Not really sure why a poll is even necessary as this is a pretty cut and dry topic. Sure there are random and rare outliers to this statement but as a general rule of thumb, that's the most simplistic summary of options. By and large, if FUSC is the question then private party purchase is the solution.

Now, you can get into what it's really worth and if you really need it or other factors but, give this was the topic of the thread, that's the answer. Pretty simple. No poll necessary. The only reason a person would vote Tesla in this poll is if they're operating from information over a year old. Quite a lot has changed since then and it makes that vote entirely inaccurate in almost every case as it applies to true FUSC.

 

[JPoldo]

Have some people skirted transferability of FUSC on purchase from a private party? While not advocating anything illegal, if vehicle is sold to a friend or relative and login credentials are not changed, what terminates FUSC? Maybe answer is first visit to a service center the transfer of ownership is discovered.

 

[ChefShawn]

500 views .....14 votes ......

 

[gaswalla]

tesla still has used cars with free supercharging.. just put that in the search filter.
here's an example 2017 Model S | Tesla