Interested in Buying Local 2010 Roadster - What Do I Need to Know?

[lencap]

Greetings! Late last year I bought a LR M3 RWD and enjoy it very much, but I remember the test ride I took in a Roadster when Tesla was just getting started and was doing "road shows". I thought it might be fun to have the Roadster to keep the M3 company. On the other hand, I don't want to get into a Roadster without knowing the potential pitfalls and issues.

A local dealer has a 2010 Roadster for sale, and I'm interested in buying it, but I don't know much about them. The car has low miles (10K or so), is all black, and the dealer is reputable. I don't have any info about service records/etc. (just starting my research).

What do I need to know to make an educated decision about buying this car? I understand that there are different versions of the Roadster, but I don't know what they are or what the differences may be. I don't know the state of the battery, or how to test it out, but I assume that if I can arrange for Tesla to check it out I'll have my answers.

My current home charging setup is a J1722 40AMP circuit, installed for my earlier EV cars (Leaf, i3), and I assume I can use the M3 adapter on the Roadster, but I'm not sure if this is correct.

I'm not too worried about resale value, but I'd welcome thoughts about pricing as well. A

Any significant service/repair/danger areas to consider? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[gregd]

Greetings back to you!

Find out (witness!) what the standard charge "ideal" range is, as a rough gauge of battery health. Average for an original battery will be north of 160 miles. If you can, grab the logs from the car (4 gig or smaller USB stick in the lower console port) and look for past error logs (see VMS Log Parser for Tesla Roadster), as there can be "events" that go unreported to the VDS screen. It will also give you an idea of how the car has been driven. Mine, it seems, was taken for a 100+ mph ride before I bought it...

The Roadster's charging port is very different than any other EV out there. If the car doesn't come with one, highly recommended are @hcsharp's CAN-JR and CAN-SR adapters, for J1772 and Tesla Destination (not super) charging, respectively.

Beyond the health of the battery (and the usual wear items like brakes and tires), most of the rest is your preference. Every Roadster is different, and have their own "personality".

 

[im4uttx]

There are MANY threads on here you can go through including a couple recent similar questions on getting ready to buy a roadster...

This roadster forum is the absolute best information for roadster care and general information, with "user" experts for most everything.

You're not likely to get much info from Tesla on the proposed purchase roadster, partially because they just don't have as much expertise in roadsters anymore. Find a local owner of a roadster if possible and see if they can help getting logs parsed, etc.

The big ticket items are the PEM and the battery, but recently, @petergrub has begun servicing both to upgrade and repair at well below replacement costs (replacement when available, that is). With the trunk open, you can find information on the battery on the left side closest to the driver seat...mine says "re-manufactured" which means it has been replaced...would just mean the original battery likely had an issue, not that the car has an issue.

Low mileage is good, but it doesn't mean the battery hasn't been mis-treated. Mileage is only half the battle with keeping a roadster operational. The rest is battery and PEM maintenance and care. As Greg mentioned, ideal range is a good ballpark for CAC of the battery. I have a CAC of ~155 with an ideal range of ~188 under standard charge...make sure the reading is for standard charge and NOT MAX range.

The roadster is very fun to drive, but experiences vary based on, usually, battery health. I'm glad I finally pulled the trigger end of May.