Model 3 23.7K miles vs 10K?

[laza121]

@chrstna4 Yup, definitely see them now haha. There are quite a few - and infact I see that the pictures are labelled as "Exterior damage-1/2/3/4/5. i..e 5 exterior damage pictures.
I also found the pictures of the white one! This is the link-

TeslaWhite - Google Drive

Very few damages on this one looks like.

 

[alexgr]

Hello,

I am considering buying a used Tesla directly from their website. I have 2 options -

1. 2018 White LR AWD Model 3. 10K miles. Original warranty till October 2022/50K miles (1 yr/10K miles extended warranty after)
2. 2018 Red LR AWD Model 3, 23.7K miles. Original warranty till December 2022/50K miles (1 yr/10K miles extended warranty after)

#1 is 1000$ more expensive than #2. Considering battery reduces a little bit with miles (and there's a 13K difference in mileage), should I just go with #1?

I like both red and white

I would guess, you will have to change the tires on the red car very soon. That's easily cost $1000.

 

[alexgr]

I forgot to add that my car has just under 20k miles and the tires are getting close to needing to be replaced. You’ll probably read that Teslas are notorious for needing tires sooner than other cars. Probably all the instant torque - ha! The tires on the red car look pretty new (seeing depth of tread that appears deep on the tire close up photo).

Sorry, haven't seen what you said about tires before posting.... So, the red car's tires have been either replaced or it was driven very gently.

Does any of the cars have PPF? Other than that they seem to be pretty equal. White: + lower mileage, - currently no extra value color; Red: + more pricey color, - a year-worth extra miles. My 19M3LR has 15K on it and 285 miles maximum range, so the battery range is somewhat a mystery, and if you see over 300 mi on both cars, it looks all fine.

 

[chrstna4]

@chrstna4 Yup, definitely see them now haha. There are quite a few - and infact I see that the pictures are labelled as "Exterior damage-1/2/3/4/5. i..e 5 exterior damage pictures.
I also found the pictures of the white one! This is the link-

TeslaWhite - Google Drive

Very few damages on this one looks like.

The white one looks well cared for! The tires look like they have not been changed yet (less tread than the red car’s photos) but probably have 10-15k+ miles in them still.

Something I did with my car to get a better sense of range: charged it to 90% then drove it on a flat section of the highway in good weather at 60-70mph for over an hour and took it to a supercharger. I took the decrease in SOC% and the miles covered on the trip from the TezLab app (but you can just write the beginning and ending miles and SOC down): miles driven divided by percent of battery used (whole number, not a decimal) times 100 equals the range of the car. I got a better range from that than the TezLab app predicted because the prediction is affected by weather, hills, and the higher energy used to drive in town (starting from a stop uses a lot of energy).

@laza121 Have you decided on a car?

 

[laza121]

Probably going to go with the white one! It's only been driven 10K miles vs 23K miles for the red, so the tires on the white should actually be better? Could also be hard to tell from the pictures. @chrstna4

 

[chrstna4]

I think the tires on the white will be the originals but the car looks so well cared for that you won’t have to do paint correction. It seems like the white one is the best overall, even if you have to get new tires in 15k miles. I’m really excited for you! You are going to love this car! I can’t stop driving mine (obviously with 10k miles in 4 months).

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Probably going to go with the white one! It's only been driven 10K miles vs 23K miles for the red, so the tires on the white should actually be better? Could also be hard to tell from the pictures. @chrstna4

Definitely go for the lower mileage car. Contrary to what has been posted here, electric cars have just about as many things go wrong with them as ICE cars. For instance, the early Model 3's are known to have the upper control arms go bad around 30K miles. Tesla didn't come up with anything special for the suspension, chassis, paint, electronics, A/C or interior to last any longer than any other car. And if their motors and batteries can last for 100's of thousands of miles more than ICE drivetrains, then they would have made the motor and battery warranties match those 100's of thousands of miles, but they didn't. Instead Kia has even longer drivetrain warranties.

 

[laza121]

I think the tires on the white will be the originals but the car looks so well cared for that you won’t have to do paint correction. It seems like the white one is the best overall, even if you have to get new tires in 15k miles. I’m really excited for you! You are going to love this car! I can’t stop driving mine (obviously with 10k miles in 4 months).

Yup, thanks fa lot or all the advise! Really appreciate it

Definitely go for the lower mileage car. Contrary to what has been posted here, electric cars have just about as many things go wrong with them as ICE cars. For instance, the early Model 3's are known to have the upper control arms go bad around 30K miles. Tesla didn't come up with anything special for the suspension, chassis, paint, electronics, A/C or interior to last any longer than any other car. And if their motors and batteries can last for 100's of thousands of miles more than ICE drivetrains, then they would have made the motor and battery warranties match those 100's of thousands of miles, but they didn't. Instead Kia has even longer drivetrain warranties.

Agree. Probably going with the low miles car. Thanks!

 

[puckpurnell]

Got a Sacagawea $1 coin? Flip it.

 

[Fernand]

The white one looks primo. And you got FSD. Very happy for you!

 

[laza121]

@chrstna4 Do you Tesla would fix up the dings on the red car for free if I point it out while picking it up? (The red one's price went further down, so thinking if it now lol)

 

[KenC]

@chrstna4 Do you Tesla would fix up the dings on the red car for free if I point it out while picking it up? (The red one's price went further down, so thinking if it now lol)

Fix dings? No.

The paint seems fairly normal for the amount of miles driven, if you don't cover the car in PPF, or have mudflaps, you're going to get tiny chips. There was the one small scratch in the rear quarter panel, but the rest seemed normal paint wear.

 

[chrstna4]

I think it’s pretty much “as is” for physical damage. But, it’s $55 for a paint repair kit: Paint Repair Kit

Or, if you save enough, you could get a full paint correction and ceramic coat/paint protection at an auto body shop for $1000-1700 (depending on what they need to do and how much protection you get). Then you’d basically have a new car on the outside.

 

[laza121]

@KenC @chrstna4 Thank you! Yeah it looks like the DIY paint repair kit should be good enough? At this point, the red one is 1500$ cheaper lol. The only things I'm moderately worried about are how much the 13K extra miles makes a difference with -
1. The tires. They don't look too bad though as discussed earlier. I'm trying to check with Tesla if they can tell me when they were replaced or the tread measurement now
2. The Brake pad. They say it has to have a min of 6mm to be certified.

 

[chrstna4]

If the previous owner used full regen braking, there should be minimal wear on brake pads.

 

[chrstna4]

Is there something drawing you to the red one beyond the decrease in price?

 

[laza121]

Is there something drawing you to the red one beyond the decrease in price?

I suppose red just looks really good. White looks good too, but combined with the price difference the red looks pretty attractive at this point haha

 

[chrstna4]

I had been debating red vs blue for a couple years before I bought my car. Odds are excellent that my next car will be a Tesla and the debate for next color is in full swing.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either car. I just asked because you’ve mentioned the extra miles a few times and it seems to concern you.

 

[KenC]

@KenC @chrstna4 Thank you! Yeah it looks like the DIY paint repair kit should be good enough? At this point, the red one is 1500$ cheaper lol. The only things I'm moderately worried about are how much the 13K extra miles makes a difference with -
1. The tires. They don't look too bad though as discussed earlier. I'm trying to check with Tesla if they can tell me when they were replaced or the tread measurement now
2. The Brake pad. They say it has to have a min of 6mm to be certified.

Tires looked practically new to me. They probably put new tires on. And, the brake pads should be fine. Just seeing glimpses of the clean rotors indicates to me that mechanical braking was minimal. I don't see why most people can't get 100k out of the pads, so 25k should be minimally used.

As for paint, look into Dr. Colorchip. I would consider trying that for less obvious areas like the doglegs around the wheels.

 

[KenC]

I had been debating red vs blue for a couple years before I bought my car. Odds are excellent that my next car will be a Tesla and the debate for next color is in full swing.

I don’t think you can go wrong with either car. I just asked because you’ve mentioned the extra miles a few times and it seems to concern you.

I pre-ordered a Cybertruck, so I don't have to worry about paint, but almost all of my vehicles have been a shade of silver, so that works for me. Then again, I might wrap it. Will have to think about that, then.