There are people in the world who do this for a living -- "Dismantlers". There is one person in specific that does this on the forum (there could be others). I've seen his shop, its stacked high with Tesla parts. You used to be able to sell stuff like hotcakes here on the forum, now only VERY specific stuff will sell quickly, and sometimes i needs local pickup. If your intention is to get a "worst case scenario" way out by selling the parts... you'll likely find no comfort in that. You're going to spend 35kish on a car that is in a generally unknown condition, not counting all the auction and transportation fees (and shady BS that goes on in the yard). This is not a promising en-devour and I would caution against it highly. Save 10k more and buy a working Tesla...
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Inexperienced 19 Year Old interested in repairing a salvage Model S!
- Thread starter Dvb51
- Start date
There are people in the world who do this for a living -- "Dismantlers". There is one person in specific that does this on the forum (there could be others). I've seen his shop, its stacked high with Tesla parts. You used to be able to sell stuff like hotcakes here on the forum, now only VERY specific stuff will sell quickly, and sometimes i needs local pickup. If your intention is to get a "worst case scenario" way out by selling the parts... you'll likely find no comfort in that. You're going to spend 35kish on a car that is in a generally unknown condition, not counting all the auction and transportation fees (and shady BS that goes on in the yard). This is not a promising en-devour and I would caution against it highly. Save 10k more and buy a working Tesla...
jelloslug
Active Member
Parting out will be your most lucrative method to getting out of the project. It will take more time than selling it as a whole, but you will most likely profit from the sales. Keep in mind that parting out a car can be a great way to raise funds for the finished project. Buying a parts car to take parts from and then selling the remaining parts to cover your costs can really drop the overall cost of the project.
We have a greatly different opinion here; can you back this up? That buying a salvage car = profit from selling parts from said car?
There are several threads of folks admitting defeat/losing money on the entire deal here on the forum, I'd be interested to learn otherwise.
jelloslug
Active Member
That's how salvage yards work. I personally have parted out several cars (no Teslas) and have always made an order of magnitude over what I paid. From what I have seen of most people trying to part out Teslas, they vastly overestimate what the parts are worth and have a very hard time selling anything. Your average 2013 or 2014 Model S salvage car goes for under 20k and a person can make that back with selling just the battery modules and the motor/gearbox.
Don TLR
Active Member
How did you get to be this age without working on cars? Might be over your head if you haven't broken a knuckle or three at this stage in your life. Maybe start on something smaller and cheaper until you're more experienced and have made enough $$ to get into fancier cars.
I'd say thats generally true in practice with other brands, but not in practice for Tesla, as folks are bidding the $hit out of these cars well past the battery packs. I guess I'm more of the school of thought that if you're looking at Copart with all these "acceptably" damaged cars going for more than 20k, you're likely not making it back. Also folks like @wk057 have commoditized the motor/battery game with HSR Motors (https://hsrmotors.com/files/HSR Motors - Drive Unit Catalog (web).pdf)
I'd be EXTREMELY hesitant if I was a.) new to this b.) never bought from auction c.) never taken a Tesla apart -- to think I could reclaim my money through parts alone.
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.jg.
Member
In addition to the parts needed and issues like programming/reprogramming, any car that has been in a significant crash should be checked to ensure that the chassis/shell is not out of alignment or twisted. Additionally, one would need to consider if any of the aluminium body or suspension components have tears or cracks.
Another possibility that might be worth considering would be an EV kit e.g. taking a former ICE car and converting it to be all electric. A suitable donor vehicle might be one that has not suffered crash damage but which has a dead engine, transmission, etc.
Another possibility that might be worth considering would be an EV kit e.g. taking a former ICE car and converting it to be all electric. A suitable donor vehicle might be one that has not suffered crash damage but which has a dead engine, transmission, etc.
I just want to recap, as this is just blowing my mind right now...
You:
- Have never taken apart a car
- Have done light electrical work on your current 15 year old car at most
- Have never driven, or even used in a "normal" capacity, a Tesla
- You've never bought from auction before
- You don't have 100k or even 60k disposable income
- You have no practical experience with metalwork (alum specifically), painting (emphasis on blending), and are not a skilled "hacker"
Color me ... baffled? Why? I just don't get it.
To each their own, good luck I guess
I just want to recap, as this is just blowing my mind right now...
You:
All this to say you want your FIRST foray into repairing a salvage vehicle to be on the most expensive (to repair) and most complex car currently on the mass-production market.
- Have never taken apart a car
- Have done light electrical work on your current 15 year old car at most
- Have never driven, or even used in a "normal" capacity, a Tesla
- You've never bought from auction before
- You don't have 100k or even 60k disposable income
- You have no practical experience with metalwork (alum specifically), painting (emphasis on blending), and are not a skilled "hacker"
Color me ... baffled? Why? I just don't get it.
To each their own, good luck I guess
Spot on! Call me crazy but I'm pretty enthusiastic about it and think it will be a great learning experience and hopefully a success. As far as metalwork goes, I'm looking to avoid that almost entirely as I don't have the experience or tooling. I've bought from auctions before but never an auction for salvage cars.
Why you ask? If all goes well, I would have a working car at a significantly lower price that I would have not been able to have otherwise. Worst case scenario, I hope to be able to sell either the parts or the entire thing and recoup a significant chunk.
TL;DR: I want a Tesla...
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Because he wants a Tesla. And none of us can blame him for that.
TM Parts
Teslamotive
They don't disable them. They'll turn off supercharging eventually if it's not rooted.
Yes there are some examples of it, but its ALOT of work and negotiation and cost (enabling supercharging that is).
There is ONE instance of them disabling a car but their lawyers got wind of that happening and it was over REAL fkin quick. Other than that rare brief instance, no ones car is "disabled"... they will disable the ability to supercharge however.
Demundus, do understand, the ability to receive updates, use autopilot, and supercharge are all important features for myself. Obviously, nothing can be guaranteed, not even the car itself being repaired to working condition.
Do you have any more documentation or sources for what can be expected as far as recertification? I couldn't find anything online with a few quick searches. Thank you!
You'll never receive updates in a salvage car flagged by Tesla, you'll be locked on whatever version your "hacker" network supports, or whatever version you end up rooting yourself, should you figure out how. Using autopilot is unaffected by salvage unless you need to recalibrate the sensors after replacing anything damaged in the wreck, for that you'll need Toolbox... again from a few of the folks floating around here. Supercharging... as stated above.
There is no documentation AFAIK... others who have made more extensive repairs may know otherwise, but judging from the heartache of more popular salvage bros, such as @Btr_ftw ... likely not.
Ahh here we go, this is essentially all I could find regarding recertification. https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1305093/tesla-salvage-release.pdf
Unfortunately, It was pretty difficult for me to really grasp. It seems that they can happily just deny you and force you to pay the fees although the vehicle wasn't qualified for recertification. Assuming you make the necessary changes, you are supposed to go through the whole process again? It's as if it's completely up to their own discretion and they get their money either way.
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I do remember something like that yes, its possible. Basically... its their discretion, nothing says they have to do anything depending on the state you're in and how much you have to pay a lawyer.
If anyone is gracious enough to give me a quick lesson/explanation of the frame, that would be amazing! Is there a diagram or video anywhere that shows/explains the frame? Is the entire frame being welded together or is it just being held together with bolts?
Assuming it's welded together, what accident would leave you with the easiest damage to repair?
Assuming it's welded together, what accident would leave you with the easiest damage to repair?
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To add to my last comment, If the welding is able to be done in the spirit of saving cash with just a propane torch and some aluminum rods for under a hundred bucks, I'd be happy to give it a go when I go ahead with the project! If it requires tons of experience and multiple pieces of equipment, I'm going to either buy a car (hopefully) without a damaged frame or figure something else out.
