My Tesla CPO Buying Experience

[andrewknight]

This forum was incredibly helpful in helping me decide to go with a Tesla CPO. I wanted to detail my experience so others could learn from it. I have previously bought BMW and Audi CPO’s so that is my reference point in this review. I also am coming from driving a 2013 Nissan LEAF for the past 2 years that I called my gateway drug to the Tesla!

Pre-Sales: A
A friend of mine has a P85 that I took on a 50mi trip so I was pretty familiar with the driving experience. I ended up taking 2 short test drives one in a P85 and another in a 70D. Harry & Cale at the Decatur, Atlanta store were great and answered all my questions. After the test drive I decided that I wanted a P85, pano roof, tech package, black leather interior, any color except white or red, and my budget was mid $50’s. I would prefer the 19” wheels but would do 21’s if it had my other options. I stalked ev-cpo.com for the next two weeks waiting for the right car to come up. I also worked with Brent Seavy out of the Chicago store who helped me look on Tesla’s internal system. I realized quickly that the best cars go FAST (as in same day) so you have to be ready. Finally on 12/18 a car in San Francisco popped up on ev-cpo.com and I put my deposit down 30 minutes after it was posted to the site! Here are the specs:

2013 P85 in Metallic Silver with 18,500 miles
Options: Pano | 21" Silver | Black Performance | Carbon Fiber | Twin Charger | Tech | Active Air | Sound Studio

Post Sales: C-
My Nissan LEAF lease was up at the end of December so I needed the car by Jan 4[SUP]th[/SUP]. I made this timeline clear to everybody at Tesla who I was working with and was told an early January delivery could be expected. After my deposit was placed the early January estimate was confirmed again. This is where the buying experience really goes south for Tesla. What I came to find out is that Tesla lists the cars on the CPO site as soon as they take them in and not after they have gone through reconditioning! I understand they are trying to manage cash flow with this approach but they should set the expectations on the CPO site that delivery will take 4-5 weeks and not “Buy Pre-Owned Today”. With my previous CPO cars I drove them off the lot the same day. Communication during this time period was also weak. Not sure if the fault lies with the factory, SanFran, or Atlanta. My car did not enter re-conditioning until 12/31, shipped on 1/11, and I took delivery on 1/19. During this time I ended up having to rent a car for two weeks which I was not exactly happy about.

Delivery: C+
I took delivery at the Marietta showroom. My biggest concern during this process was buying the car sight unseen without any pictures and no idea of the condition. I did receive a clean Carfax and was continually assured that the car would be in outstanding condition and would be the “best looking used car I had ever purchased”

I had a checklist of things in hand to go over and had also read a lot of the great advice on this forum of things to look over. Unfortunately I found a number of issues that frankly should have been caught well before I ever saw the car:

1. 2 scratches that ran from the front driver side wheel 2 feet down the door!
2. Chrome trim damage under the back bumper
3. Chrome trim damage below the nosecone
4. Paint wear on the back edge of the doors near the bottom
5. Front passenger door handle not working
6. Front hood needed an alignment
7. Excessive wear/cracking on the driver’s seat
8. Tear on the left side of the center console

Ugh. I debated not taking delivery but the service team documented all of the above and added it to the due bill and promised that it would all be taken care of. I certainly took a leap of faith and decided to take delivery. If I had to do it over again I probably should have just sucked it up and walked away until they got everything fixed. Although the above list was disappointing, the rest of the car was in VERY good condition. Overall paint condition was excellent, interior looked like nobody had sat in it other than the driver’s seat, new tires were put on, brakes and rotors did not have any corrosion etc.

Service/Post Delivery: A+
Tesla got me booked into service a few days later to start working on things. The valet service was great! They had the car for almost a week to take care of #1-5 with most of the time spent at the body shop taking care of the scratches. When I got the car back I was 100% satisfied with the work. The paint issues were all addressed, the chrome pieces were replaced, handle replaced, the hood alignment was much better. I took some detailed pictures that day so if you want to see the condition of the car you can see them all here: http://tinyurl.com/jtsnln6

For #7 and #8 they needed to order some parts that came in this week and today they replaced the torn center console part and the lower portion of the driver’s seat. Now that the driver seat has been replaced the interior looks brand new!

Overall: A
Tesla certainly has some room for improvement here but overall the final condition of the car was much better than any of my prior CPO’s. It took them exactly 2 months from the time I ordered the car to deliver it in final condition but it has been worth the wait!

 

[DMage]

Good write-up. A lot of praise on the forum for CPOs and of course the product specialists tell you how great the car will be, but you are still buying sight unseen. Seems like a significant amount of inconsistency across the company with the entire process. I am in the midst of it now waiting on my repairs.

My car came from Freemont and I was told it would be refurbed there then shipped. Right after I paid the deposit it was on the truck the next day, so obviosly never touched there. So far I do not believe the local SC did any more than detail and rim repair. Asked for service docs and have nothing. They have been accomodating and promised to repair a few things, I asked for a due bill and was never given one, only told that it has been noted in the computer.

All in all I would fall inline with your ratings for each above. Still happy with the condition of my (higher mileage) car.

 

[Super_Popular]

Dang that's a sexy silver beast.

 

[CHG-ON]

I think they are getting too far in front of themselves and are having to fix these issues after the fact. Must be incredibly and unsustainably expensive for them to do it. But that is part of being a newbie in this field. This is the true hallmark of Tesla. They will make it right, no matter what it takes. I have been 100% happy with their service! They are awesome in every single way.

I simply cannot imagine buying another car.

Congratulations and I wish you many happy miles.

 

[freeewilly]

Congrats on your Tesla, glad Tesla is willing to admit fault and repair the things after delivery. I found some minor issues, but they told me it's a CPO, so it's normal wear and tear.

 

[Cyclone]

They will make it right, no matter what it takes.

For the most part yes, but I wouldn't go this far. I'm still unhappy and without resolution to all my issues after nearly a year.

 

[Nototrader]

Dang that's a sexy silver beast.

Doug. You ever sell your car?

 

[mrjedistud]

Congrats. Looks like we both purchased very similar cars at around the same time.
There were a number of items that Tesla fixed on mine prior to taking delivery. I too had a fairly long due list. I'm still waiting on them, but hopefully these will get fixed soon. Sounds like your SC was faster to responding to at least some of these.

 

[Zaphod]

Andrew, do you have any pictures of the driver seat before it was replaced? Did they just replace the leather cover or did they replace the whole lower part of the seat?

Beautiful car btw. Being a lower VIN, can you speak to build quality and squeaks/rattles?

 

[spectrablue]

Great write-up. Beautiful car. This is what I'm expecting concerning delivery when I finally pull the trigger...
I look forward to seeing your photos. (link doesn't seem to work...)

 

[CLLACAB]

I had the exact same experience. It was clear that they did nothing but wash the car when I went to pick it up. I had a list of almost 20 items that needed to be addressed. I got a due bill and took the car to my local center in Van Nuys. Because it all happened over the holidays, they had the car for a month. But when I get it back, it was perfect.

 

[andrewknight]

Andrew, do you have any pictures of the driver seat before it was replaced? Did they just replace the leather cover or did they replace the whole lower part of the seat?

Beautiful car btw. Being a lower VIN, can you speak to build quality and squeaks/rattles?

Here is a picture of the seat prior to replacement:

The light is not great but you can see the cracking. They replaced the whole bottom portion of the seat. I have not seen any build quality issues. I had a 2014 loaner for a week (~VIN25k) and I could tell no difference from my car. I think they probably got everything worked out in the 3 years prior.

Great write-up. Beautiful car. This is what I'm expecting concerning delivery when I finally pull the trigger...
I look forward to seeing your photos. (link doesn't seem to work...)

Sorry about that. This link should now work: 2013 Tesla Model S - andrewknight

To give you a reference point this is the only item that they would not repair which was a a small 1/4 inch rock chip on the front bumper below the nosecone:

 

[Zaphod]

Thanks for the picture. I'm actually pretty shocked they didn't just say that's normal wear and tear on the seat. Maybe it's the lighting but doesn't look as bad as I expected. Glad they replaced it for you, but just another example of how widespread people's experiences are with their CPOs and what some service centers will or will not fix.

 

[Drucifer]

The hood alignment issue is super common in the 2013s / early VINs. Many (mine included) have hoods where the stamping of the metal wasn't quite right. In fact, I could see the issue of others like mine from videos of the car as it came off the assembly line.

Mine is P04093 BTW - probably made the same week in January 2013 as yours. I got mine in May last year, 18.3k miles, $68.3k. If you did mid $50s only 8 months later, you did very well.

- - - Updated - - -

I just looked at your pictures. Wow, your car is a lot like mine. Right down to your choice of seat protector for the child seats. I should have taken more pics of my car when I first got it.

 

[andrewknight]

Thanks for the picture. I'm actually pretty shocked they didn't just say that's normal wear and tear on the seat. Maybe it's the lighting but doesn't look as bad as I expected. Glad they replaced it for you, but just another example of how widespread people's experiences are with their CPOs and what some service centers will or will not fix.

The picture above is after they "reconditioned" it and it did look better than it was on delivery but it was still cracking. I thought they might just replace that leather section but was pleasantly surprised to see an entirely new bottom seat when I picked the car up.

Mine is P04093 BTW - probably made the same week in January 2013 as yours. I got mine in May last year, 18.3k miles, $68.3k. If you did mid $50s only 8 months later, you did very well.

Since a few people have asked, I paid $56k + $1,500 to ship from SFO. Original sticker was $102k

 

[jmsurpri]

Date of manufacture 12/2015 ?

 

[andrewknight]

Not sure why they listed that. Mine was a Jan13 build but was CPO'd on 12/31/15. Maybe they do this on the CPO's and list the certification date

 

[shfaxx]

Great write up. I'm starting to look at purchasing and have been torn between CPO and a new 70D. The price you got that P85 for is amazing though. Is it common to see P85 cars come up in the mid 50's? After the large CPO clean out a day or so ago, the cheapest cars start at 60k, the cheapest P85 is mid 60's. Going for a test drive this afternoon, looking to see if the autopilot is worth it, else I may go CPO and save myself some $.

 

[andrewknight]

Great write up. I'm starting to look at purchasing and have been torn between CPO and a new 70D. The price you got that P85 for is amazing though. Is it common to see P85 cars come up in the mid 50's? After the large CPO clean out a day or so ago, the cheapest cars start at 60k, the cheapest P85 is mid 60's. Going for a test drive this afternoon, looking to see if the autopilot is worth it, else I may go CPO and save myself some $.

P85's in the mid 50's with less than 20k are very rare i think there might have been 1 or 2 other cars like mine. There were about 15 in that price range but with 30-50k miles. Signup with ev-CPO.com and you can see the full history. With the reduced inventory they have clearly raised the prices and reduced supply. I too looked at a 70D with just pano and nex Gen seats but decided that the +15-20k was not worth it for me. At only +$10k where the prices are now it is a much tougher decision which I suspect is exactly what Tesla is looking for to make sure the new care pipeline stays full.

 

[Cyclone]

The picture above is after they "reconditioned" it and it did look better than it was on delivery but it was still cracking. I thought they might just replace that leather section but was pleasantly surprised to see an entirely new bottom seat when I picked the car up.



Since a few people have asked, I paid $56k + $1,500 to ship from SFO. Original sticker was $102k

View attachment 112004

I asked for the original Monrooney sticker for my car. Again I was turned down. So I've estimated the sticker of my car when it was new. I hate this inconsistency between different Tesla locations.