Need advice: High milage P85 from 2014

[Marvin]

Hi,
I hope I can get some good advice here: I saw a 2014 P85 advertised with 270k km on it - so about 170k miles.

From the pictures it looks good and the price is attractive. It is sold by a car dealer. According to the advertisement it has recently undergone a big service costing $5k (!) and both the battery and the motor have been replaced: the battery at 140k miles and the motor at 130k miles.

I am looking into getting my first Tesla Model S and although I do not specifically look for a performance version (and from what I found online this is not faster than the 'normal'85D), that would be of course a nice extra. Unfortunately I cannot go and see it at the moment due the the COVID19 rules in place. From what I have been reading on the forum a high milage S is not necessarily a bad thing, and here since the battery has fairly new having done only 30k miles (and it still has two years warranty) I feel not so much can go wrong.

What do you think? What to look out for when I finally get a chance to see it? (not the usual used car stuff but I mean specifically for this model)?

 

[glide]

Early P85’s had a lot of problems. I’m also not sure what a “$5K service would be”

I would stay clear of used, high-mileage, older builds. LOTS can go wrong. For context: a battery is $20K+, a drivetrain is $12K+, etc...repairs can wind up costing more than you pay for the vehicle.

I guess it would be helpful to know the price though too...

 

[Marvin]

Price is €34k, or about $38k which here in Europe is cheap, not many S below 40k on the market.

Drivetrain and battery are pretty new which is what I like about it, and they should still be under warranty until 2022 (I believe in the past there was no mileage limit, just 8 year warranty)

My guess for the 5k service is some suspension and brake work, but will try to find out more.

 

[Akikiki]

I agree with guide about numbers thrown out there. You say its got a replaced battery and motor. How do you know? Seen the invoice that came from Tesla? How do you know it has a remaining 2 year warranty. You don't need to tell me, you need someone to show you the proof - again - to you, not us.

 

[Marvin]

I agree with guide about numbers thrown out there. You say its got a replaced battery and motor. How do you know? Seen the invoice that came from Tesla? How do you know it has a remaining 2 year warranty. You don't need to tell me, you need someone to show you the proof - again - to you, not us.

No, not seen any proof, just quoting from the online add.

 

[Akikiki]

Beware of dealerships that are not well versed in Tesla features, options and warranties. They often "don't have a clue". Just be careful so somebody doesn't zonk you.

 

[Marvin]

I get what you mean but in practice what is the alternative as to where to buy a used Tesla?

1. Buying from Tesla:
From what I could read on this forum and also elsewhere, buying a used car from Tesla is a rather chaotic and lengthy experience. Advantage is of course the warranty directly from Tesla

2. Buying privately:
No warranty, plenty of risks. Maybe better price (but haven’t seen much interesting in terms of price)

3. Buying from a non-Tesla dealer:
True, they might not be very knowledgeable about the car, but they have to give me by law a warranty, so that gives at least some peace of mind. But there are of course also a lot of shoddy ones out there...

 

[Akikiki]

1. Buying difficulties or easy varies by region/country even representative. That's life.

2. Buying private, you get a history of the car, lower price will help offset any unexpected repairs. Like to retain Supercharging and free connectivity.

3. Buying from non-Tesla. Could have been bought at auction because Tesla didn't want it. You want one that Tesla didn't want to sell?

 

[pts260]

Also, consider that the replacement battery may not be new, under the warranty terms, the replacement battery can be similar age /condition to previous battery. World recommend getting a bt obd and canbus cable. Install scanmytesla. Find out the real story on the battery.

 

[hpartsch]

Hi,
I hope I can get some good advice here: I saw a 2014 P85 advertised with 270k km on it - so about 170k miles.

From the pictures it looks good and the price is attractive. It is sold by a car dealer. According to the advertisement it has recently undergone a big service costing $5k (!) and both the battery and the motor have been replaced: the battery at 140k miles and the motor at 130k miles.

I am looking into getting my first Tesla Model S and although I do not specifically look for a performance version (and from what I found online this is not faster than the 'normal'85D), that would be of course a nice extra. Unfortunately I cannot go and see it at the moment due the the COVID19 rules in place. From what I have been reading on the forum a high milage S is not necessarily a bad thing, and here since the battery has fairly new having done only 30k miles (and it still has two years warranty) I feel not so much can go wrong.

What do you think? What to look out for when I finally get a chance to see it? (not the usual used car stuff but I mean specifically for this model)?

I say skip it and get one with warranty. I've had so many repairs on my 2013. Had I not had the extended warranty - I estimate the total of all repairs would be near 15k at least...

 

[Marvin]

Thanks for all the interesting feedback, I didn't know that Tesla would replace with a 2nd hand battery, that indeed changes things quite a bit.

@hpartsch: May I be curious: what kind of repairs did you have that added up to so much?

Overall I guess you guys are right and I probably keep searching. I still would prefer a dualdrive..

 

[Akikiki]

Not 2nd hand Tesla refurbishes the battery before it goes back in. I had one in my 2013. Internal components that were more likely marginal in 2012-14 that lead to battery problems are replaced or corrected when they refurbish the battery. Overall you would rather have a refurbished battery in 2020 than a brand new 2014 battery in 2020.

Many manufacturer's don't put a brand new component in older cars. Re-manufactured or refurbished.

 

[Marvin]

Ok, let me try again with a different Model S, this time offered by Tesla:

It's a 90D from 2016 (facelift) with only 26k miles on it. I guess for that reason Tesla offers full 4 year warranty (limited to 50k miles driven from delivery however, but that should be almost the same as 4 years anyway in my case)
If I compare it with a brand new Long Range, I save about 38% which is not nothing. However I wonder what I miss out in terms of options. The one offered has the following options according to Tesla's website:
- next generation black seats
- Autopilot with "comfort functions" (so I guess that's just the cruise control with autosteer on the motorway?)
- Sunroof
- Hepa filter
- Keyless Entry
- electric trunk
- Homelink
- black roof liner

I guess all of these things are standard included in the 2020 model. I guess what I am missing out on is the air suspension, anything else?

 

[Akikiki]

Sounds like a nice car. I certainly would be more inclined to select this one over the other, even sight unseen.

 

[hpartsch]

Thanks for all the interesting feedback, I didn't know that Tesla would replace with a 2nd hand battery, that indeed changes things quite a bit.

@hpartsch: May I be curious: what kind of repairs did you have that added up to so much?

Overall I guess you guys are right and I probably keep searching. I still would prefer a dualdrive..

The good thing is -- I think most of the big-ticket items have been taken care of. Still have a year of warranty -- so that is good .

 

[Marvin]

Thanks for sharing, 13k was paid by yourself or that’s what it would have cost?

 

[hpartsch]

Thanks for sharing, 13k was paid by yourself or that’s what it would have cost?

15k - low estimate I think. Paid by warranty and extended warranty.

 

[Marvin]

Got it, would be interesting to know how much excluding drive train and battery (which are still covered in above mentioned car). But certainly quite a bit.

 

[hpartsch]

Got it, would be interesting to know how much excluding drive train and battery (which are still covered in above mentioned car). But certainly quite a bit.

Battery and motor. That's it. I wasn't really counting that in the 15k. A replacement battery is 20k. I think an engine is somewhere around 5k? or more.

 

[Marvin]

Battery and motor. That's it. I wasn't really counting that in the 15k. A replacement battery is 20k. I think an engine is somewhere around 5k? or more.

Wow, the only other really expensive item I could see in the list was the MCU which I think is about 3k.