New Here - New Car!

[BradL13]

Hey everyone,

Finally joining everyone else as a Tesla owner. Buying a pre owned 2018 LR with FSD on Saturday! Heading to Dallas to pick it up as long as everything checks out. Just wanted to say hello and will be active on here. Excited to get the car but nervous at the same time, big change from gas but I think I have everything ready to go. Going to be running a 20 amp outlet until I get the 50 amp installed in the coming weeks at home.


Any tips and tricks for new owners that you wish you would've known?? 7 hour drive home so I am sure I will get very accustom to the car lol

 

[Marius A]

1) Before pickup: Read the entire user manual, there's a lot of useful information there
2) Before you part ways with the seller: Make sure to transfer ownership in the Tesla account. Tesla Account Support
3) Find somewhere to park
4) Reset to factory settings
5) Create a driver profile, and make sure to activate it
6) Do seat, mirror, steering wheel adjustments, save to profile
7) Go through ALL settings. Every menu, every setting. Set it the way you would like it. A lot of these are saved to your profile (aren't you glad you did #5 now?)
8) Set up home address from the map
9) Click the right steering wheel button, say "navigate home"
10) Enjoy

Edit: Congratulations on your new car! (premature but I'm hopeful)

 

[Sam1]

Important social tip: Tesla owners that think Tesla can never do anything wrong, and complaints are all your fault, are referred to as “Tesla Stan”. Similar to “Karen” and the manager.

 

[CyberGus]

...Any tips and tricks for new owners that you wish you would've known?? 7 hour drive home so I am sure I will get very accustom to the car lol

My first tip would be to find the Superchargers along your route ;-)

Charging from 80% up to 100% is heavilty throttled and very slow. If the SC stations are close enough, you'll actually make better time if you charge from about 20% to 80% than if you try to go empty-to-full.

 

[Marius A]

My first tip would be to find the Superchargers along your route ;-)

Charging from 80% up to 100% is heavilty throttled and very slow. If the SC stations are close enough, you'll actually make better time if you charge from about 20% to 80% than if you try to go empty-to-full.

That's why I recommend step #8 and #9

 

[BradL13]

1) Before pickup: Read the entire user manual, there's a lot of useful information there
2) Before you part ways with the seller: Make sure to transfer ownership in the Tesla account. Tesla Account Support
3) Find somewhere to park
4) Reset to factory settings
5) Create a driver profile, and make sure to activate it
6) Do seat, mirror, steering wheel adjustments, save to profile
7) Go through ALL settings. Every menu, every setting. Set it the way you would like it. A lot of these are saved to your profile (aren't you glad you did #5 now?)
8) Set up home address from the map
9) Click the right steering wheel button, say "navigate home"
10) Enjoy

Edit: Congratulations on your new car! (premature but I'm hopeful)

Thank you for all the quick tips!! I am getting it from a dealership so I am hoping the settings are all factory reset already but I will double check when I get there. I am a bit nervous about the drive home with it being so far but I am sure that always comes with new EV drivers. Gonna trust the navigation! Going to definitely self drive for a little bit but also plan to try the NOA features once on the interstate!

 

[BradL13]

My first tip would be to find the Superchargers along your route ;-)

Charging from 80% up to 100% is heavilty throttled and very slow. If the SC stations are close enough, you'll actually make better time if you charge from about 20% to 80% than if you try to go empty-to-full.

Thank you! Definitely noted. I had planned in my head to charge to 100 but me being the nervous person I am I have already looked at SC on the route home and they have them spaced around 150-175 miles apart so will follow that advice, 15 minutes every couple hours probably good for my eyes anyway!

 

[Candleflame]

Thank you! Definitely noted. I had planned in my head to charge to 100 but me being the nervous person I am I have already looked at SC on the route home and they have them spaced around 150-175 miles apart so will follow that advice, 15 minutes every couple hours probably good for my eyes anyway!

the cars computer is very accurate and will protect you even when things arent going your way. and you still have a 4.5% reserve below 0%.

i got very unlucky on my roadtrip home today. chargers occupied or broken/not working, heavy headwind and rain.

100% - > 4% // 4 -> 71% (slow DC)
71% - > 19 // 19 -> 30% (three phase)
30 - > 2% // 2% - >26% (slow DC)
26% - > 6% // 6% - > 88% (fast DC)
88 - >16% // 16% - > 24% (AC)
24% - > 2%

1100km and today everything went wrong which could go wrong. but i made it. 3h later than planned.

 

[Sam1]

the cars computer is very accurate and will protect you even when things arent going your way. and you still have a 4.5% reserve below 0%.

i got very unlucky on my roadtrip home today. chargers occupied or broken/not working, heavy headwind and rain.

100% - > 4% // 4 -> 71% (slow DC)
71% - > 19 // 19 -> 30% (three phase)
30 - > 2% // 2% - >26% (slow DC)
26% - > 6% // 6% - > 88% (fast DC)
88 - >16% // 16% - > 24% (AC)
24% - > 2%

1100km and today everything went wrong which could go wrong. but i made it. 3h later than planned.

ended up on an AC charger just to finish the trip? That is rough

 

[Candleflame]

ended up on an AC charger just to finish the trip? That is rough

I was gonna stop at a slow dc charger for a quick 5-10min topup so i dont end up coming home with 5% battery.
Lots of headwind and tailwind despite driving quite slow actually. Stopped 90km before home but the DC charger was broken so had to use the backup AC charger next to it...

Normally if I leave the ultrafast charger with 90% I arrive with 5-8%. but lately i want a bit of a topup to prevent from deepcycling the battery all the time. Didnt use to be an issue but I have like 7% degradation now...

 

[chrstna4]

I use A Better Route Planner to plot out the sketch of a trip then use Find Us | Tesla to plan out the superchargers. I plan out the comfort breaks at the places with the food I want (nearby restrooms and restaurants are listed). You can also see the speed of the chargers and how far off the highway they are.

I charge with a 15-20% buffer from what in-car nav says I need to get to the next charger to account for wind, rain, speed, etc. (Or missing an exit.)

You can watch someone go through the owners manual here:

 

[bobby g]

I too bought a used 18 M3 lr and actually spoke a bit with the original owner (I didn't buy it from him).

remove any key cards and phones that aren't yours

 

[EVNation]

Not to sound too paranoid, but since you’re buying it from a dealer who may or may not be Tesla savvy, verify a couple things before you commit. If possible, see if they’ll let you take it to a nearby Supercharger to make sure it supercharges. Also check the VIN on the screen matches the VIN on the dash & door stickers. Double check the info screen that it actually has FSD and any other upgrades you were told it has. Be aware of any serious error messages. With the exception of visiting a Supercharger, the other checks take seconds, and might save you from buying a car the dealer acquired at auction that might have an accident history (even with a clean CarFax and clean title). Tesla will disable Supercharging on cars that have been in a serious accident. Sorry for the paranoia, but better safe than sorry.

Having said all this, I hope it’s a great car and you get much enjoyment out of it!

 

[TX_M3P+]

Not to sound too paranoid, but since you’re buying it from a dealer who may or may not be Tesla savvy, verify a couple things before you commit. If possible, see if they’ll let you take it to a nearby Supercharger to make sure it supercharges.

Yes, make sure you have the ability to supercharge if your trip is 7 hrs. There is no "pay at the pump" option, it only works if the car is associated to a Tesla with a payment option setup. If you cannot supercharge then you will not make it home if it is 7hrs away. Check to make sure it has all the charging accessories in the trunk. There is an adapter in there for lvl2 charging stations. You might be able to locate some free lvl2 stations on your route home, but this will drastically increase your travel time as they do not even come close to supercharging speeds.

 

[Kevy Baby]

If possible, see if they’ll let you take it to a nearby Supercharger to make sure it supercharges.

Don't most (all?) Tesla pickup locations have superchargers? Asking more out of ignorance. Where I picked up (Costa Mesa, CA) has them at the service center a few doors down and Buena Park, CA (an alternate pick up spot near me) has them as well.

 

[EVNation]

Don't most (all?) Tesla pickup locations have superchargers? Asking more out of ignorance. Where I picked up (Costa Mesa, CA) has them at the service center a few doors down and Buena Park, CA (an alternate pick up spot near me) has them as well.

Now that you mention it, I interpreted OP’s use of “pre-owned” and “dealership” to mean 3rd party dealership, so my paranoia doesn’t apply if OP is buying pre-owned directly from Tesla. OP should still verify Supercharging is working before leaving on a 7 hr trip home.

 

[Kevy Baby]

I am getting it from a dealership...

Pedantic question, but @EVNation's comment above made me think: are you buying from Tesla? Or is it a third-party company (another dealership like Toyota or Ford or a reseller like Auto Nation)?

We're asking because Tesla direct sells and does not have "dealerships" like conventional auto sellers. Just one of those little details you learn along the way.

 

[BradL13]

Pedantic question, but @EVNation's comment above made me think: are you buying from Tesla? Or is it a third-party company (another dealership like Toyota or Ford or a reseller like Auto Nation)?

We're asking because Tesla direct sells and does not have "dealerships" like conventional auto sellers. Just one of those little details you learn along the way.

It is a normal car dealership not associated with Tesla. I will make sure I can use a SC before leaving the dealership with it! If you cannot pay at the SC with a credit card and the app takes a while to transfer to you, how would I be able to SC until it can load me as owner of the car? Can I set up payment directly in the car or something?

 

[EVNation]

Yes, make sure you have the ability to supercharge if your trip is 7 hrs. There is no "pay at the pump" option, it only works if the car is associated to a Tesla with a payment option setup. If you cannot supercharge then you will not make it home if it is 7hrs away.

Assuming 3rd party used car lot, how long does it take for Tesla to transfer ownership after a sale so the car shows up on OP’s account for Supercharging?

Which reminds me, OP should sign the car out of whatever account it’s logged into and sign in with his own account. Maybe @Marius A ’s tip to reset to factory settings logs out the previous account?

 

[BradL13]

It's my understanding you can do pay at the pump from inside the car? Could be wrong here. That would throw a major wrench into things if I cannot.