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Need Owner Advice - today 02/18

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Hello all,

I am seeking advice on buying a used Model S or continuing the painful wait for the Model 3

I was in line on 03/31 at 5am in Arizona to put in my deposit on a Model 3 - i was # 42 in line that morning & put down deposits for 2

1st delivery estimate was Nov-Jan 18
then after production hell - Dec-Feb 18
after the 02/07 loss report - Mar-May 18

its getting old and exhausting, so i decided to start looking for a used MS as i was a big fan back when the MS was just a sketch & now the used ones are in a price range i can manage

i am currently looking at a 2012 signature (43k) that the current owner says nothing has been replaced on his car except the on board charger & that everything has & still works perfectly

isn't it odd that nothing has had a problem yet?

i am a little concerned about things i have read about door handles, touch screen etc needing to be replaced - which i am sure is not cheap if its not covered by a warranty & i drive 28-30k a year

Should I just pull the trigger & go with it?

Thx in advance for all your input!
 
How many miles on it? Is it an S or a P? 43k might be a little high for a Sig S unless it is the Sig red with the sig white interior or super low miles.

Honestly, it is a crapshoot on repairs. Some folks have cars like your prior owner that have very few problems. Others have lots. I would be prepared to spend some $$ on door handles at least. If he never replaced them, they are the Gen 1 versions.
 
Forums create a false impression of failure rates. Things like the VW TDI injection pumps that had a 1.1% actual failure rate seem like an epidemic because you see hundreds of owners posting they had a failure over the course of the year - but don't see the tens of thousands that didn't have a failure, because they didn't come to the forum to post that their car didn't fail.

So no, I don't think it's odd that nothing has had a problem yet, and given the bathtub reliability curve I don't think it means you should expect a bunch of failures soon.

(If you plot failures versus service time/mileage, you see a bunch very early in service from production or assembly faults, and then the failures of properly designed and used components drop to basically zero for a long time, until you get to the end of the service life of the part, where they start curving up again - so the whole chart looks like a bathtub.)

The 3 will obviously have some things the S doesn't, like Autopilot and the associated active safety features. The S is a faster and more luxurious car, and will likely depreciate slower after you buy it - it's already lost a lot of the original value. Neither one is a bad idea, you just need to decide what's better for you.
 
It’s a 1 owner Sig 85 not P

Black/Tan
New 21” tires

43,000 miles for $43,000

Also
On the 21” tires
Do they actually last 30k?

Because if my calculations are correct- I would be buying a new set of tires every year @ $1,500? = $125/mo for the next set

I think you should wait a little longer. They should be sending invites to early reservation non owners shortly. The fact that owners who make new reservations are getting invites indicates you are on deck.

The 3 will be better than this S in many ways: faster, more range, autopilot, warranty etc.
 
On the 21” tires
Do they actually last 30k?

They don't last 30k. The 19" ones might, but not the 21". So I would expect to buy more than one set of tires a year if you stick with the 21". You can always take them off and buy a set of 19"s though and sell the 21".

It seems like CPOs have been in that price range in the past and come with a warranty - I might register with one of the CPO services - ev-cpo, teslainventory etc and see if you can pull the historical data. Just to make sure you are in the right price range.
 
Hello all,

I am seeking advice on buying a used Model S or continuing the painful wait for the Model 3

I was in line on 03/31 at 5am in Arizona to put in my deposit on a Model 3 - i was # 42 in line that morning & put down deposits for 2

1st delivery estimate was Nov-Jan 18
then after production hell - Dec-Feb 18
after the 02/07 loss report - Mar-May 18

its getting old and exhausting, so i decided to start looking for a used MS as i was a big fan back when the MS was just a sketch & now the used ones are in a price range i can manage

i am currently looking at a 2012 signature (43k) that the current owner says nothing has been replaced on his car except the on board charger & that everything has & still works perfectly

isn't it odd that nothing has had a problem yet?

i am a little concerned about things i have read about door handles, touch screen etc needing to be replaced - which i am sure is not cheap if its not covered by a warranty & i drive 28-30k a year

Should I just pull the trigger & go with it?

Thx in advance for all your input!



You're almost at the finish line on your Model 3. I'd hang in there.

We have a 2015 S85D and a 2017 3LR. It's a tight call between the two, but I'm leaning towards using our second (already-configurable) M3 reservation when AWD becomes available.

Notable M3 advantages include: Longer range (by a wider margin than specs would indicate), more joyful handling, faster Supercharging (on a miles added per minute basis), and improved basic cabin amenities (door pockets, etc.)

If the choice were between a 2012 S and the M3, it would be the 3 all the way. Between 2012 and 2015, MS added better seats, AP, LTE connectivity, dual charger (option), etc. Significant improvements.
 
I really want the 3 in silver with aero wheels

But my concern is the $7,500 credit disappearing which will possibly put it out of reach again for the LR $49,000

I looked at a 2013 S 60 that a lady has for sale that she just bought as a CPO last October (paid $50k w/26k)- after her other car was totaled
& her husband didn’t put in a reservation until about February of 2017
A full year after mine

She took it back to Tesla to trade it on her Model 3 & Tesla offered her $27,250 for a car she just bought for $50k 6months ago with only 6k miles added

Now her reservation is already ordered and delivering in a couple weeks

But that’s my primary irritation
I don’t mind a Tesla owner (prior to 3/31/16) getting their orders 1st
But come on
Tesla putting new owners & recent reservations PRIORITY over day 1 reservations is a bit of Fu to those non- owners like myself who wanted to be a Tesla customer but didn’t have $100k to dump on a car


Good info on the tires, thx
As I may go to a 19” or 20” turbines on the 3 from

EVT Wheel for Tesla Model 3 (FULL SET: 19

As they look awesome & $1,300 for rims - I think is very reasonable compared to $1,500 for the Tesla 19” wheel option
 

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But my concern is the $7,500 credit disappearing which will possibly put it out of reach again for the LR $49,000

The full tax credit will be in effect until at least June 30th, but more likely September 30th, and possibly December 31st depending on when Tesla sells it's 200,000 car in the U.S. After those dates, the tax credit drops by 50% for two more quarters.

If your delivery estimate is Mar-May 18, at this point you're guaranteed to get the full tax credit.
 
Tesla putting new owners & recent reservations PRIORITY over day 1 reservations is a bit of Fu to those non- owners like myself who wanted to be a Tesla customer but didn’t have $100k to dump on a car

"loyalty begets loyalty" - Elon Musk

This is a concept that non-owner M3 reservation holders need to understand. It's not that Tesla de-prioritize new customers, but they offer M3s to existing owners because these owners have been long term net promoters for the company, and have directly/indirectly paid for the R&D of the M3.

Both the S and 3 are nice cars. Both will exceed your expectations if its your first EV/Tesla. Pick the one in your budget.

BTW, a used MS can be purchased for ~45K since 18 months ago. We bought our inventory MS for $65K (after tax credit) in 2014. There are good deals if you shop around.
 
I don’t think 6mo ownership - qualifies as you say...

"loyalty begets loyalty" - Elon Musk

This is a concept that non-owner M3 reservation holders need to understand. It's not that Tesla de-prioritize new customers, but they offer M3s to existing owners because these owners have been long term net promoters for the company, and have directly/indirectly paid for the R&D of the M3.​

Unless you mean...
"loyalty begets loyalty" = sure go ahead a take it up the backside for $23,000 after 6mo
So it can be sold to a new “loyal Tesla promoter” tired of waiting for their model 3

& as far as a CPO goes on any of the sites
If it’s under $50k - it’s in Hawaii with an additional $5,000 transport charge

Like this one (P51046) I took a screenshot of a couple weeks ago at $46,600

They have now increased its sell price by $10,300 = $56,900
& still another $5k to get it + TTL

It’s the same situation as the lady above

You are paying $50k+ to Tesla
for a 4-6year old car - that Tesla themselves consider to only be worth $27,250

I just don’t get it
 

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