If you'd have never owned a Tesla, would you buy a CPO MS today?

[andrewschuyler]

I'm a model 3 reservation holder (in person,in line on 3/31). I'm looking at a CPO S85 I like that is currently in southern Cali. I drive around 20k per year for work. I get reimbursed for those miles to an average reimbursement of just over $800 per month. With this in mind, I can have a zero or near net zero cost of ownership. I live 2 to 2 1/2 hours from the nearest 2 service centers. I would need this car as a daily driver. I've got a couple of concerns:
1: Are there service center issues in Chicago or Indy (ie...exceptional waits, poor service, multiple repairs required to fix issues)?
2: Is the Motor drive unit issues really an issue as it seems or are there a dis-proportional amount of comments on here?
3: Any chance anyone here has owned or know who has owned this specific vehicle and would be willing to answer any questions about its service/ warranty history?
85 kWh Model S 5YJSA1CN5DFP23160 | Tesla

I know this is sort of a random thread, but I am completely new to Tesla. I know this is a not a new car, but 52K is a significant amount of money to spend if you are not sure if it will be reliable enough to drive every day. Thank you for you input!

 

[Boourns]

I was in your situation (except for the awesome work reimbursement) and bought a CPO S85 in May. Couldn't be happier. The CPO warranty is very extensive and Tesla service has been exemplary for me.

The benefit of an older CPO car is that many of the things that may have been issues on earlier builds have been addressed already. My VIN is in the low 2400s and my car has been perfectly reliable thus far. I would also venture to say that most other CPO owners daily drive their Teslas with no problem. I say go for it.

 

[TES-E]

I would not be too concerned about the reliability of the car. Drive unit issues appear to have been resolved, so if you have one that develops problems in the older car, the new replacement will take care of it. I agree with the earlier post that any bugs that were in the car initially are likely to have been resolved long ago.
Make sure that you have your home charging plan in place, and go for it!

 

[suraj1194]

As someone who drives his new S a lot on work related commutes, I would get an MS with Autopilot. While TACC is a great feature, I still prefer to have Autopilot for long commutes. It makes a huge difference to my commuting effort.

 

[Tony8489]

I would certainly want to know if a 2013 car had any drive units replaced.

My view is the opposite of Boourns. Why get the CPO vs. a new S60D, which has had the benefit of 3 years of experience and improvements for surely improved reliability? After tax credits the cost difference will not be that much. I think someone in Chicago will appreciate the AWD too.

 

[AMPd]

I would have no second thoughts about purchasing a CPO model, any early issues with the car could already be resolved.

 

[Az_Rael]

I am also a 3 Reservation holder who is going to buy a CPO 85 soon. I am hoping for a reliable car, but keeping my mind open, since they are still very complicated cars (not the EV portion but the other fancy stuff like self presenting door handles, the 17" screen, air shocks, etc). But I live only 1.5 hours from a service center, so not so bad. Although I do live in CA, so any service center I do need to use will most likely be booked to the gills.

With that said, Tesla does seem to be good about giving people loaners (even if they aren't Model S's), so they should take care of you if your car needs warranty work done.

 

[Boourns]

I would certainly want to know if a 2013 car had any drive units replaced.

My view is the opposite of Boourns. Why get the CPO vs. a new S60D, which has had the benefit of 3 years of experience and improvements for surely improved reliability? After tax credits the cost difference will not be that much. I think someone in Chicago will appreciate the AWD too.

That's a great point. If you can get into a new 60D for close to your payment on CPO, I'd for sure get the new one, especially since your car is essentially paid for. That's wasn't an option for me, as the 60s hadn't been announced, and even still they are beyond my budget.

 

[Az_Rael]

My view is the opposite of Boourns. Why get the CPO vs. a new S60D, which has had the benefit of 3 years of experience and improvements for surely improved reliability? After tax credits the cost difference will not be that much.

It all depends on how many options you want and if you can live within a 60's range year round. When I option out a new 60, I get into the mid 70s VERY fast. I want pano, upgraded sound, leather, etc.

And I want an 85 to comfortably make the 160 mile round trip drive down to my Dad's house over the mountains year round without having to detour 20 minutes to the Rancho supercharger during the winter. So. CPO it is.

 

[andrewschuyler]

As for me, the winter range of a 60 wouldn't work. Shoot, some nice days it wouldn't work.

 

[Bgarret]

I am in the same situation as you and Boourns and purchased a 2014 S85 out of Chicago in June. My M3 reservation is in place and I wanted a Tesla for a reasonable price in the interim. Buy the car. Take the road less travelled, it will make all the difference. As my signature says, I'm in Michigan, 2.5 hours north of Chicago. My experience with service centers in Brooklyn and Highland Park has been excellent. After I picked up the car in June, I drove it back to NYC and used it to move may family back to Michigan. We put 5,000 + , miles on our "new" Tesla in 45 days. I had a harness issue with the drivers door handle that was correctly diagnosed while I was charging in Illinois and fixed at my convenience.

To be clear - the prism I'm writing this from is of a true believer. I won't purchase and drive an ICE car again, unkess it's a vintage convertible for leisure. Drive the future now. Driving is a pleasure. My daughter has been prone to car sickness her whole life and usually can't read or do anything in the car without being sick. She has a 45 minute clock whose expiration often ends badly for anyone riding with her, although (I hate to say this as a father) she's a good puker. My wife marveled today because my daughter read all day today in the Tesla. When my wife asked, my daughter said, "Daddy's car rides better, more smoothly, it doesn't make me sick."

Buy the car. Dive in, the water is fine. My CPO Tesla is 2x more expensive than any car I've purchased....it's worth every penny. It is a joy to drive, and the fleeting moments of anxiety over the new and sometimes clunky are FAR outweighed by every other moment you are driving YOUR Tesla.

You've got this.

 

[ChadS]

As somebody who has driven two Teslas (from 2009 and 2012, no less) 135k miles over 7 years, I can't help but smile when people wonder if they are reliable enough to drive every day.

Yes, they are. I have never been happier with any purchases than I am with my Teslas. In fact I pick up my third one Tuesday.

Don't let forum comments get you down. Of course some Teslas have issues, just like any other car. Maybe the chance of a "lemon" Tesla is higher than some other brands, but most cars of any brand are pretty problem-free and the owners of Teslas are especially delighted with their cars. Take a look at Tesla's industry-leading customer satisfaction numbers, which have problem rates, Supercharger crowding, tire expenses and all the other problems you read about on the forums baked in.

Forums are for complaining. I am a member of groups for other EVs and see a lot of the same stuff there. That is a good thing for owners, but not always so for prospectives.

 

[Blu Zap]

AP is a game changer. It is fantastic for commuting and long trips. If you do either, see what is out there with AP. Had CPOs been available when I purchased my MS, I would have checked them out for sure. Great deals on great cars with plenty of life left!

 

[Tony8489]

I guess I was reminded of my thought process a year ago. I had thought when the early Model S came off their 3 year leases maybe prices would get more attractive. Then I found this forum and discovered numerous issues faced by some of the early adopters, notably the drive units. A year ago it was far from certain that the drive unit problems were over, but I I definitely thought the odds were more in my favor with a new dual motor Model S than a 2012-13 CPO.

I'm no stranger to being a car "beta tester" as I had the first SAAB Turbo in 1978 and it became a reliability nightmare by 1981 with engine and transmission failures plus incompetent dealer repairs and zero support from the importer. I see a huge argument in Tesla's favor that they have stood behind their product and gone the extra mile to fix the cars with serious flaws.

Nonetheless I think the early year reliability questions and the continuous improvement that have been made to Model S still argue strongly in favor of new vs. used purchase. At some point the used car prices might become compelling vs. new, but that wasn't even close to being the case a year ago. Used prices may be more attractive now, but they still sound fairly high to me.

If you find the 60D's range inadequate, you can upgrade to 75D, which has the same range that CPO S85 had when it was new.

 

[Footer]

I have to second the other opinions about AP. I drove a P85D loaner through the Eden's and Dan Ryan after I dropped off my car for service and it handled slowing down, speeding up, and steering like a champ. As much driving as you do I think you would really appreciate AP. Highland Park has been great the 3 times I have been there. Tesla offered me $52k for my car which is probably better and more reliable than the car you are considering, although yours does have UHF. Of course they need to make a profit. The only regret I have is I bought my car 3 months too early, before AP.

 

[Zeromus-X]

My daughter has been prone to car sickness her whole life and usually can't read or do anything in the car without being sick. She has a 45 minute clock whose expiration often ends badly for anyone riding with her, although (I hate to say this as a father) she's a good puker. My wife marveled today because my daughter read all day today in the Tesla. When my wife asked, my daughter said, "Daddy's car rides better, more smoothly, it doesn't make me sick."

You know, it's interesting that you mentioned this. I often carpool with our engineers (I drive, and pick them up) when I'm traveling for work. My previous car was a Nissan Juke and one of my guys couldn't work from the passenger seat -- made him carsick. He mentioned the other day that the Tesla absolutely doesn't have that effect on him and he's able to work during our entire commute with no problems.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

There were plenty of early Model S's that had no major problems. I know, I had one. My VIN 9555 is still going strong with her new owner. I had a window motor seize once, that was about the worst thing that happened, and they gave me an 85 to drive while they fixed it. That car is still on its original drive unit, 12v battery, door handles, etc. I think once they proactively replaced one of the coolant pumps.

I can't speak to your concerns about your local service center, but I say buy the CPO while you wait for your 3. You won't regret it. AP is awesome, of course, but with a 3 in your near future, the CPO 85 is an excellent way to get to drive a still phenomenal car now at a bargain.

As Barret said, you've got this.

 

[JPUConn]

Yes, and I'd do it again.

My situation is very similar to yours with 20k + work reimbursed related miles.

Of course I'd love to have AP for the TACC feature but the price delta was close to 40% for a 60D with options and I am optimistic that my CPO has already taken its major depreciation hit vs that of a new car the minute it's driven "off the lot".

 

[David_Cary]

On the carsick issue. I drove around all day with a coworker who said she usually has that issue but didn't in the Tesla. Didn't know why. And I wasn't being polite to this issue since she told me about it at the end of the day...

That is one stripped car. You had a post that said a 60 wouldn't handle your driving on some good days. I worry about you with an 85 in the winter. The new 60 has a range of 210 right? The 85 was 265, now 255 or there abouts. So you should be somewhere describing your drives.

I know $52k is a lot. $58,500 for a new S60 is a lot. $61,500 for a new S60 with autopilot is a lot. But wow is that a whole lot nicer drive with autopilot. And then, while you are at it $66,500 gets you AWD. Another 9 mile range and quicker and no traction concerns. (Tax credit figured in).

Remember you will burn through the CPO warranty in 2.5 years. Your car is then worth X. With new, I don't know exactly what Y will be but I know it will be more than X. Y will have AWD, Autopilot, and be 36k miles less on odo and 2 years newer.

So you pay $14k more and have a car after warranty over worth $10k more (oops I guessed at Y-X). So you paid $4k for a whole heck of a lot more car. Roughly $100 a month.

 

[Model S M.D.]

Have you considered a lease? Check out this thread: Snagged a P90D Inventory car for $700/mnth on the new 24 month lease

With your ~$800/month mileage reimbursement and model 3 reservation, this sounds like a great option for you in terms of price and timing!

Tesla is heavily discounting pre facelifted P90DL inventory cars (most of which are fully loaded including Autopilot), so they have approached the price of brand new 60s. The only downside is you might not want to return the P90DL once the lease is up

Good luck with your decision. The Model S is truly revolutionary.