Is it worth the premium to buy used from Tesla?

[Soroboto]

Hi folks, despite the title I've already made the purchase from Tesla and now already having a little bit of buyer's remorse and helping to seek some additional information. I know it's a terrible time to buy a used Tesla, but it is what it is. I'm a previous owner of a model free performance which I sold in early 2020. I found a 2016 model X 75d at a local reputable dealership, 6 seater, AP1, with 64k miles listed at $66k which I negotiated down to $64k. I test drove it and it had a minor issue with a grinding noise on the front left tire which they were going to take care of by sending the car to Tesla. I didn't buy the car for that reason and a few days later they received the car back - they just said the tire was mounted wrong.

During the interim while they had sent the car to Tesla, I found a 2017 model X 75d on Tesla's used site by refreshing it every day, also a 6 seater, with AP3 and 76k miles for $72k. I had noticed that deals were disappearing very quickly from the site and obviously the same on carvana and other similar websites, so I kind of jumped on it and made the non-refundable deposit and shipping fee. I'm now awaiting delivery.

I'm wondering is the supposed security that I get by buying a CPO from Tesla and the one year warranty that they're offering on used cars, and the 2017 vs 2016 and AP3 worth the nearly $10,000 premium that I'm paying?

 

[Skipdd]

Not exactly answering your question, but I noticed you said the 2017 had AP3, vs the 2016 had AP1. That implies to me that the MCU on the 2017 was upgraded to an MCU2. That is a big deal. Those two things alone are worth a couple of thousand dollars depending on when the work was done. Also, performance on the MCU2 is far superior. There are plenty of threads on this, but MCU1 had a number of issues (eMMC board failures, older chips). So even before you get to anything else I think you are better with the car you bought. If you ever want FSD, you need at least AP3 as well.

 

[EV-CPO]

That implies to me that the MCU on the 2017 was upgraded to an MCU2.

Not 100% true. It is possible for an MCU1 car to have been upgraded to AP3 without the MCU2 upgrade. AP3 cars with MCU1 work just fine, but they have less "visualizations" on the instrument cluster. You would have to go to the "Software" page on the car to see what's listed for "Infotainment" -- if it says "Intel" that's MCU2, if it says "NVIDIA" -- that's MCU1. Here is more information: Infotainment Upgrade

Also note that if someone with AP2 or AP2.5 does get the MCU2 upgrade, Tesla is installing the AP3 computers, even if that car does not have FSD enabled (allowing the owner to upgrade or subscribe later).

I found a 2017 model X 75d on Tesla's used site by refreshing it every day, a

I had noticed that deals were disappearing very quickly from the site

In the future, be sure to check out https://ev-cpo.com which does all that for you! You can subscribe for email or SMS alerts when a model fitting your criteria pops up. No need for constant refreshing. There's also https://EV-TSLA.com for a more mobile-friendly experience, and an iOS and Android mobile app is also available.

Roughly speaking, having AP3 (with MCU1 or MCU2) and the one-year warranty is worth about the price difference. With AP3 and MCU2 (you can upgrade to MCU2 for $1500 if you have MCU1)-- you get things like Sentry mode and other features not available on AP1 cars. One last note, Tesla doesn't sell "CPO" cars -- they are no longer 'certified' or refurbished except for safety features. So upon delivery look closely for dents/scratches, interior issues, panel gaps, etc. There are many threads here with delivery checklists you can find.

Congrats on your purchase.

 

[Soroboto]

Very helpful info, thank you!

 

[Skipdd]

Not 100% true. It is possible for an MCU1 car to have been upgraded to AP3 without the MCU2 upgrade. AP3 cars with MCU1 work just fine, but they have less "visualizations" on the instrument cluster. You would have to go to the "Software" page on the car to see what's listed for "Infotainment" -- if it says "Intel" that's MCU2, if it says "NVIDIA" -- that's MCU1. Here is more information: Infotainment Upgrade

Also note that if someone with AP2 or AP2.5 does get the MCU2 upgrade, Tesla is installing the AP3 computers, even if that car does not have FSD enabled (allowing the owner to upgrade or subscribe later).





In the future, be sure to check out https://ev-cpo.com which does all that for you! You can subscribe for email or SMS alerts when a model fitting your criteria pops up. No need for constant refreshing. There's also https://EV-TSLA.com for a more mobile-friendly experience, and an iOS and Android mobile app is also available.

Roughly speaking, having AP3 (with MCU1 or MCU2) and the one-year warranty is worth about the price difference. With AP3 and MCU2 (you can upgrade to MCU2 for $1500 if you have MCU1)-- you get things like Sentry mode and other features not available on AP1 cars. One last note, Tesla doesn't sell "CPO" cars -- they are no longer 'certified' or refurbished except for safety features. So upon delivery look closely for dents/scratches, interior issues, panel gaps, etc. There are many threads here with delivery checklists you can find.

Congrats on your purchase.

Thanks for correcting me - I know you are much more of a SME, and a much better resource for used Teslas. There was/is definitely more value in getting the model that Tesla was selling, with the caveat that as you note, Tesla no longer really sells it as CPO.

 

[Soroboto]

Somehow in the buying process, Tesla attempted to charge me sales tax on the total cost of the MX, without taking into account my trade-in! I had to reach out to them to recalculate the balance due and still waiting on it.

 

[solidpro]

I bought second hand from Tesla and it was worth it. Anything that I asked them to do (LED in door handle, brown marks around the edge of the tail lamps, side glass alignment - all of it just done without query. And sometimes they lent me a car. After 2 years (and I know this is timing) the car is worth more than I paid for it.