Looking at the used market for a Tesla Model S

[WannabeOwner]

it's not simply of a case of being able to say ...

yeah, but if they said "Car will be available on XXX", whether that was soon or not, you could then plan accordingly and get on with your life.

If the car is waiting for parts AND if Tesla do not know EXACTLY when they will arrive JIT that is worrying.

I've never had a good prediction of parts arrival time when my car has been in service and waiting for something ... and I think that is a bad thing. Easy enough to do, these days, with software, warehouse tracking, and indeed EDI with suppliers so NOT doing it is a concern ... or they are robbing parts from one job, to use on another, and that is causing date prediction to be non-existent. That would also worry me

And then there is the bad PR about everyone saying "No idea when X will be done" ... not to mention the poor blighter who is trying to allocate Loaners to jobs and if the Parts Guy has no idea when stuff is coming in, the Loaner guy won't know when he has cars coming back in either ...

 

[cezdoc]

Still no news on when we can see the car but I've made some progress confirming its options spec. The last six digits of the VIN number can be used to query the spec. With Tesla over the phone.

Doing this I learned that the car we've reserved DOES have next-gen seats. I also learned that the optional carbon fibre spoiler it has is a £2K extra . The interior is carbon fibre, which I believe basically means black. That's fine by me.

But there are a couple of uncertainties; the dealer told me it has the sub zero pack but it's not listed by Tesla UK for this car. Tesla also couldn't tell me if it has DAB though the dealer thinks it does. The ultra high fidelity pack is not listed, though Tesla say, apparently, DAB hardware may have been in the build anywayanyw later software-enabled. Can anyone concur? (March 2016 reg).

Could the heated steering be an option software enabled after purchase?

There is no air suspension but it was confirmed that AP1 has been enabled, so no surprise additional expense.

The colour is Red Multi-coat. Pano roof and 21" grey turbine alloys are fitted. I know it has the turning lights and some kind of interior upgrade (e.g. lighting).

Anyway, the waiting is still doing my head in!

There will be others with a much more detailed knowledge of options over time but as my MS70 was delivered in March 2016 (manufactured in Dec 15/Jan 16) my recollection may be of use:
DAB was standard - you didn't need the HiFi option
Winter pack included heated steering wheel, heated wipers (extra elements in the windscreen) and washer nozzles, and heated rear seats. AFAIK these are hardware options, so not possible to enable over-the-air after purchase.
I think turning lights were part of the "premium interior pack" which included front fogs, extra ambient internal lighting and a powered boot.

 

[vitesse]

@cezdoc Thanks for that. I'm still waiting to see the one I've reserved 11 days ago it's the same general age as yours. Out of interest does yours have LTE (4G) and is your Internet identifed as being Spanish?

 

[cezdoc]

@cezdoc Thanks for that. I'm still waiting to see the one I've reserved 11 days ago it's the same general age as yours. Out of interest does yours have LTE (4G) and is your Internet identifed as being Spanish?

I've got 3G with a Spanish SIM judging by the Google homepage the car brings up! LTE/4G appeared a few months after I took delivery if memory serves. I believe you can get the SIM card upgraded (for a price!) although I manage okay on 3G. 4G might result in less drop-outs if you like streaming I guess - and also it depends what the signal is like in areas you're commonly driving in.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

UK group being spammed by Texan services company :

Took care of it. Cheers from the other side of the North Sea

 

[vitesse]

17 days on from paying a reservation fee and the 85D is STILL not ready for us to see and the sales people seem completely unable to communicate with the Preparation Centre

Frustration is no longer an adequate word.

 

[reliable993]

Is the car a CPO from Tesla? and if so which branch. Hope they get this sorted for you soon. I can fully understand what you are going through.

 

[vitesse]

No it's not a Tesla CPO. It is, on paper, a good deal and the colour and spec we want, otherwise I'd have given up by now.

 

[vitesse]

Right! Patience has run out and we're ditching the car supermarket 85D. Apart from the fact that it's almost 3 weeks since we reserved the car and we still can't inspect it, I have been brooding over the potential of costly repairs on a car with no long term warranty. So my wife and I have now pressed the button on a March 2016 CPO 70D (30,000 miles, red with pano roof) . What did it was that I misunderstood the recent change to the Tesla CPO deal. I was under the impression that the CPO used car warranty no longer reset the new car warranty, but it does, so we get 50,000 miles or 4 years, whichever comes first, from delivery. We're paying almost £2K more up front than the 70,000 mile 85D but we have peace of mind - as well as a car that we can expect to materialise! The 70D will still feel like a supercar and, yes, range will be 10% less but we can live with that. Having some left over warranty for when we sell the car on willl also be a bonus.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Patience has run out

I'm not surprised. I wish Tesla would buck up and fix the aspects that they are currently lousy at

 

[vitesse]

I'm not surprised. I wish Tesla would buck up and fix the aspects that they are currently lousy at

Ah, you blame Tesla for the delay (parts supply to third party garages?).

Personally the company I was dealing with (the car supermarket) fell down in not providing any information on what the delay was about. For all I knew the car was completely invented.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Yes, could be Vendor fabrication ... or Tesla lack of fabrication

 

[vitesse]

I'm sure everyone is quite bored with this thread by now but to make sure, here's some detail on the spec. we're getting:

• 70D,1 previous owner, reg. March 2016 with just under 30,000 miles and Tesla used warranty meaning new 4 year/50,000 miles (additional) cover
  
• Multi-coat red (by far our favourite colour)
  
• 19 inch wheels (which I prefer as I was really fearing the 21s would be destroyed in no time and there is a little more range efficiency)
  
• Tan seats - not my preference and possibly the biggest compromise, but no big deal tbh
• Next-gen front seats (absolutely essential in my book)
• Piano black dash
• Centre console
  
• Pano sunroof (again, essential)
  
• Premium Interior (so the headliner is black)
• AP1 enabled

So no air suspension - which would have been nice as the car has the warranty, no premium sound (not bothered about that), no sub-zero pack (my wife desperately wanted a heated steering wheel, so a big compromise for her, but I'm sure she will forget that once she discovers the pre-warming by app function) - have I left anything out?

Of course I still haven't seen the car in the metal (buying a Tesla seems to be all about being very patient!) so I'm still not sure about a few things; does the premium interior pack include the lighting upgrade and does that mean I can expect the illuminated door handles and the corneriing lights?). Just asking

 

[WannabeOwner]

no air suspension

I have springs ... I'm happy (but automatic GPS raise of Air over sleeping policeman might be nice, but I don't have any on my commonly driven routes)

no premium sound

I don't have that. I think the sound is very good (didn't think that when new, but I was told the sound needed bedding in, either I've stopped being fussy ... or that did happen) I have an extra [and useful] cubby-hole in boot where the Premium Woofer would have gone

wife desperately wanted a heated steering wheel

I don't have that; I read of people loving it; can't imagine why (even though never had one) as the cabin is always warm when I get into it 99% of the time. No Ice to scrape from windscreen either [if you pre-condition]

illuminated door handles

You might want to get some uprated LED bulbs for interior lamps - particularly boot. I bought a kit for a few quid. You can get some fancy puddle-lights (saying "Tesla" or similar) if you like. Mine came from the same company (From memory: Abstract Ocean, or something like that)

corneriing lights

One fog light comes on on the side you are turning towards, at low speed. That? or something else?

 

[vitesse]

@WannabeOwner Yes, our street has speed bumps but not the ones you have to straddle, which can be vicious. I'm sure we'll be driving like my proverbial grandparents...

Heated steering; my wife will be using the Tesla for the daily commute and she has arthritis in her hands so the heated steering is an understandable wish. But I think the pre-condition warm-up will do nicely for her.

Yup, we have bright cool white LEDs in our current car which the previous owner fitted. The illuminated door handles thing fascinates me as I have no idea what it really means. Indeed, I'm not sure what premium lighting means. Our current Mazda has the corner illuminating fog-light system you describe. I'm a little concerned that owners say the headlights aren't that great here in Europe.

 

[vitesse]

OK - I can actually see in the photos (not computer-rendered) provided by Tesla of the actual car we're getting that the door handles are illuminated...

 

[vitesse]

This might be of interest to anyone looking at CPOs offered by Tesla - my 70D was secured at £43,800 today. On Monday it was almost £2K more expensive at £45,700. It was originally priced £49,100 when first listed on 13th April. Most days this week the price reduced by £200 a day.

I had no idea and only requested a chat with the Tesla used salespeople to clarify their warranty (I had convinced myself they only extended the years, not the mileage limit). I then realised the price, with the 4 years/50K miles warranty reset, was suddenly very attractive. My wife and I decided very quickly to secure the car.

I was able to see the price history on tesla-info.com (UK used inventory). This is a very handy site if you are looking for a used Tesla! I have no connection at all with them by the way.

Even better news - our 70D is, in my view (though I'm biased!) clearly the best value used 70D out there, and the CPO warranty is practically a bonus. After a few pangs about giving up the cheaper but much higher mileage no-warranty 85D we waited for so long, I'm now really happy!

 

[ArunG]

This might be of interest to anyone looking at CPOs offered by Tesla - my 70D was secured at £43,800 today. On Monday it was almost £2K more expensive at £45,700. It was originally priced £49,100 when first listed on 13th April. Most days this week the price reduced by £200 a day.

I had no idea and only requested a chat with the Tesla used salespeople to clarify their warranty (I had convinced myself they only extended the years, not the mileage limit). I then realised the price, with the 4 years/50K miles warranty reset, was suddenly very attractive. My wife and I decided very quickly to secure the car.

I was able to see the price history on tesla-info.com (UK used inventory). This is a very handy site if you are looking for a used Tesla! I have no connection at all with them by the way.

Even better news - our 70D is, in my view (though I'm biased!) clearly the best value used 70D out there, and the CPO warranty is practically a bonus. After a few pangs about giving up the cheaper but much higher mileage no-warranty 85D we waited for so long, I'm now really happy!

Congrats Vitesse!

I have been following your hunt for a Tesla.

I can also vouch for tesla-info.com being a great resource. I used it heavily while looking at the new/used inventories on Tesla's website.

I was fortunate to benefit from the massive price drop at the start of March 19 on a new inventory car. I also was fortunate to buy towards the end of a quarter. The Tesla S that I eventually bought dropped heavily again between a Friday night and Saturday morning and I just had to pull the trigger at that point. I appreciate some others didn't have such good fortune due to Tesla's volatile pricing.

I also have to agree with so many other posts that so far, this has been the best, most enjoyable car that I have been lucky enough to own.

I am genuinely, after living with it day to day for a month now able to say that it drives and handles (with 21s, changed after being supplied with 19s) so much better than I even could have hoped for, and far superior to the 4 year old Audi A7 that I previously had which was a great car.

 

[gangzoom]

I also have to agree with so many other posts that so far, this has been the best, most enjoyable car that I have been lucky enough to own.

Our X is the only car I have owned that I want to keep for 'life'.

In a little over 2 years we've covered over 34k in ours, the majority of those miles done as part of family trips.

We've been all over the UK, local pottering, summer holiday to France and got a road trip to Norway planned.

Its very easy to get distracted by all the constant Tesla news, and sometimes its good to remind your self just how good the actual product is.

I've realised it really doesn't matter if your chilling by the a beautiful European beach, or having a snack attack in a McDonalds car park with the sprogling, or stuck in a never ending traffic jam that is our Mway network......at the end of it day when I step out and look behind, I cannot just help smile, as I still cannot believe I get to drive this amazing car every single day.

I love our Tesla not because of 0-60 stats, or KW charging etc, but because it makes me smile and 34k miles later am smiling more than ever, a feate which so few cars onsale today can do .

.

 

[vitesse]

@gangzoom We bought a brand new Honda Prelude 2.2i VTEC 2+2 coupe at your stage in life for us back in 96. It was a crazy car to have as my wife was expecting our first sprogling (love that word!), but I knew the baby seat would fit fine Every day that car made me smile just like your X does for you now. And we kept it for nearly 20 years. We now have two sproglings, both at uni and neither yet know we're getting the Tesla. Can't wait to see their faces!