Play by Play - buying a used MX thru Tesla

[eXalentEV]

I was inspired by another thread but hadn’t seen anything recent (2019) and exclusive to the LA region. Trolls - keep the lashing light please...

This is my first Tesla, but fourth electric car. This has been four years in the making. I had inquired about a used vehicle so I already had a human that I could text if (when) I found a car.

Found a white ‘16 90D with 6k on 9/18 in the evening when I wasn’t thinking I would find a car. I placed the deposit and immediately texted my contact. He responded and emailed me quickly, setting my destination. Unlike other people, this car came with high resolution photos. The car has already been located in LA. Super clean. I slept with a smile. For the next 60 hours or so I when through all the stages of excitement. I settled financing 9/19 and had the details needed to finish a few more tasks.

The on 9/21 I found THE perfect car. Yes - like any normal human I scoured the site looking for alternates to justify my purchase from the moment I paid. But this really was the right one. So I put another deposit. This time, a ‘16 P90DL with 22k. I texted my contact again...likely making him think twice about picking up my inquiry the week before. This second car didn’t have any actual photos. He sent along the email with link to photos and confirmed destination.

Sadly the photos of this San Diego car were pixelated and blurry, but generally seemed ok. We cancelled the first order after I confirmed I wanted to move forward. So yes - I’m someone who’s sold on the dream and willing to buy sight unseen because I’ve got time on my side and not up against the wall for timing.

On 9/23 I paid the difference between my financing and deposit. Shortly after this is when the status went into “preparing contract”.

Now I wait. 3 days and counting.

 

[AlexP]

Are you getting the first deposit back?

 

[eXalentEV]

@AlexP - Yup, already shows cancelled in my account pending credit card reversal. They said it may take up to 30 days. I used my Amex so I can always argue with them if necessary. The contract says deposit refundable until I take delivery. Delivery means signing on the dotted line. I'm hoping this car works out and it's beat up when I see it like the other threads I've read.

 

[eXalentEV]

UPDATE: Likely paying the remaining amount due (the difference between my deposit and credit union finance amount) helped speed things up.

Someone from the "Delivery Team" reached out to me today and provided my contract. Also just learned the term is called MVPA (Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement). Once my Credit Union has this they can whip up the check. I let the delivery person know i have 9/30 off (yay for kids and school holidays) so fingers crossed they squeeze me in. Otherwise earliest window would be Saturday or Sunday October 5/6.

Four days and counting...

 

[eXalentEV]

UPDATE: lots of activity in the last 24 hours!

My first reservation vehicle dropped out of My Account View. That a good sign! But waiting on refund email from Amex.

Yesterday [Day 5] I was able to connect with my credit union and share the MVPA. They whipped things today and pushed out the DocuSign. I LOVE credit unions because they make life easy. My hubby is going on title so unfortunately they entered his email incorrectly AND he was busy at work so it took an extra 2 hours to get the ALL CLEAR and have the check printed. So - end of DAY 5 I had the check in hand and emailed my Tesla Delivery Advisor.

DAY 6 (today!) not much update until I left work and refreshed my emails to find my APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION for Saturday at 11. Only issue is hubby works so we can’t. Replied to the advisor and now I wait.

So far not sure if this is a fluke but I believe “money talks” and I both paid the difference and go my check ready.

Stay tuned for manana!

Oh, and yes. My cheeks have been flexing for the last couple days and I can’t get the smile to calm down.

 

[Simon21]

If you don't mind me asking, which credit union and what was sale price?

 

[eXalentEV]

@Simon21 - sure! I'm part of Credit Union of Southern California. I'm able to allocate part of my paycheck into the account automatically. They offer financing up to 84 months and gap insurance for $399.

Sticker on the car was $69,400. Which I feel is a great price for a 2016 P90DL with 22K miles. I was pretty sure I did NOT want anything more than 36K miles so felt this was the best bang for the buck. Worth knowing though, because it's through Tesla it does include a 4 year/50k mile warranty from WHEN i take delivery. This likely will last me 3.5 years given how much I drive annually. It also includes the remaining battery/drivetrain warranty through August 2024 (so just under 5 years).

Note - the pictures were pixelated so of course, I'm not sure what the exact condition of the car is until I can see it up close. If the car is in REALLY bad shape, then I may refuse delivery and start all over. My credit union said just bring the check back and they will reverse the interest, etc.

 

[eXalentEV]

UPDATE: I'm scheduled for delivery on SUNDAY at 11am.

 

[AlexP]

Hi eXalentEV,

In April 2019 I also bought a 2016 Model X 90D with about 23K miles. The truck was in Orlando and I live in Miami. The wife and I flew to Orlando bight and early on a Saturday morning. We picked up the car around 10:00AM, by 4:00 we were at home already. I have been satisfied with the preowned buying experience. The biggest issue for me was not being able to see the car before buying, but having the 4 year 50K mile warranty really helps with alleviate that issue.

Hope you enjoy your new Model X!

 

[eXalentEV]

Ok!!!! We are now the proud owners of a 2016 P90DL.

Delivery day - our Lyft driver was great. Chewing gum, breath mints, phone chargers. Started out great. Arrived at Tesla 30 min early and was able to snag the earlier “demonstration”. This was a how-to for anyone who’s never seen a YouTube video on how to operate your Tesla.

Upon finishing, we asked to see the car in which they casually acted surprised like we didn’t know the all was already configured for us to honk the horn. SURPRISE!! oh - well....we went outside to first make sure the car wasn’t in shambles.

so:
1. The driver seat was pretty worn. Looks like a commuter car without the miles. I’m going to work on it with some leather conditioner and try to show some love.

2. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS PERFECT. a few nicks here and there but I doubt anyone ever sat in the back seats (high gloss seat backs were still high gloss without a single scratch). A few spots on the headliner but oh well I need to find a good cleaner.

3. It is true. Customer service wasn’t great. Everyone was REALLY NICE. But just didn’t know how to give good directions or guidance. Reading these forums helped prepare us what to expect. If I hadn’t - I likely would be complaining.

4. Tires actually had more wear than I feel was acceptable. No due bill because of blah blah but we are going to try our luck to see if we can get a discount on replacements. Personally, I’m not that upset because these weren’t Pirellis but Goodyear’s so they need to be replaced regardless before I can set foot in snow/ice.

I drove it home while hubby played with the infotainment system. I cried. Yes, I’m dramatic. But I’ve been wanting this exact car for FOUR YEARS so it’s insane to think it was actually possible.

hope this was helpful. Hit me up if you have questions. Cheers!

 

[aljnx06]

Ok!!!! We are now the proud owners of a 2016 P90DL.

Delivery day - our Lyft driver was great. Chewing gum, breath mints, phone chargers. Started out great. Arrived at Tesla 30 min early and was able to snag the earlier “demonstration”. This was a how-to for anyone who’s never seen a YouTube video on how to operate your Tesla.

Upon finishing, we asked to see the car in which they casually acted surprised like we didn’t know the all was already configured for us to honk the horn. SURPRISE!! oh - well....we went outside to first make sure the car wasn’t in shambles.

so:
1. The driver seat was pretty worn. Looks like a commuter car without the miles. I’m going to work on it with some leather conditioner and try to show some love.

2. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS PERFECT. a few nicks here and there but I doubt anyone ever sat in the back seats (high gloss seat backs were still high gloss without a single scratch). A few spots on the headliner but oh well I need to find a good cleaner.

3. It is true. Customer service wasn’t great. Everyone was REALLY NICE. But just didn’t know how to give good directions or guidance. Reading these forums helped prepare us what to expect. If I hadn’t - I likely would be complaining.

4. Tires actually had more wear than I feel was acceptable. No due bill because of blah blah but we are going to try our luck to see if we can get a discount on replacements. Personally, I’m not that upset because these weren’t Pirellis but Goodyear’s so they need to be replaced regardless before I can set foot in snow/ice.

I drove it home while hubby played with the infotainment system. I cried. Yes, I’m dramatic. But I’ve been wanting this exact car for FOUR YEARS so it’s insane to think it was actually possible.

hope this was helpful. Hit me up if you have questions. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing your experience! I placed my CPO order on 9/24 and although my DA sent me the MVPA I still don’t have a delivery date set . Don’t have a super communicative advisor. She take 24hrs to reply to my email. Any advise on how I can speed up things?

 

[eXalentEV]

@aljnx06 - congrats!!!!!

A few questions:
1. Are you financing through Tesla the remaining amount?
2. If not, have you documented how much you will be financing through another creditor? (Once I knew exactly how much I wanted my loan to be and had the approval information I populated the information on the payment screen. Sorry I wish I could have snagged some screenshots to walk you through it).
3. Once you have captured how much you are financing elsewhere/tesla you should have the remaining due. Pay that! Then they know you're serious.

I also happened to tell them I was available on X date and not sure if that helped move things along.

Congrats again and let us know how it goes!

 

[eXalentEV]

UPDATE for the group:

A few findings after driving the car for almost a week:
1. We completely overlooked a scratch on the front bumper. Luckily, I was able to gently clean and polish so there is little evidence. I'm considering wrapping the front in clear so it would prevent future cracking at some point.

2. The falcon's are rubbing a bit on one side. There is now a small indent on the roof piece. Going to submit a service request for this

3. Twice now the passenger door has remain 'unhinged' and wouldn't close. The first time my husband was able to 'reset' it by pulling the indoor handle. The second time, i was at work leaving for the day, in the basement three floors down and nothing would help. I held down the steering wheel and once the screen reset the door latched and was good since. I'm still going to submit a service request.

4. The previous owners NEVER (yes. NEVER) updated the car. So, I went from version 2 to 11 Wednesday night. Not major updates because its an AP1 but Spotify is a nice addition.

5. I removed the expired White Stickers. I think I will make another post in case people want to follow my steps. Looks amazing without them and no scratches or gunk.

6. The car is AMAZING to drive. How 5000lbs moves like a feather is a modern marvel. I have a smile everyday.

 

[aljnx06]

@aljnx06 - congrats!!!!!

A few questions:
1. Are you financing through Tesla the remaining amount?
2. If not, have you documented how much you will be financing through another creditor? (Once I knew exactly how much I wanted my loan to be and had the approval information I populated the information on the payment screen. Sorry I wish I could have snagged some screenshots to walk you through it).
3. Once you have captured how much you are financing elsewhere/tesla you should have the remaining due. Pay that! Then they know you're serious.

I also happened to tell them I was available on X date and not sure if that helped move things along.

Congrats again and let us know how it goes!

@eXalentEV thank you!
1. No. But through my local credit union
2. yes. i am putting 10% down (including my initial deposit) and financing the rest. The MVPA which my DA sent has actually recorded this as well
3. OK. I havent done that part. Basically my DA had told me initially that i can make both these payments at pickup. was she wrong? i get the feeling that many of these so called "advisors" are winging it in their advise!
4. She also told me i can bring a certified cashiers check from my CU for the 90%. Do you think i should now be ready for other ugly surprises? lol! Thanks again

 

[eXalentEV]

@aljnx06

sorry for the delayed reply. A few more suggestions to consider.

1. Condition of the car. At first the car I chose didn’t have photos but they sent me the link. Very blurry in comparison to the first car I chose which DID have actual posted. I ended up opening on my laptop and they were SO much better. This helped me soon and look at the things that seemed a little off.

2. They likely took close ups of dings or dents so you knew about them. Look around the edges and trims. Basically if it’s clean title make sure you don’t see discolored paint around the car.

3. If it does have flaws you want to see if they are still OK to you in person. I saw one posted a couple days ago that had a HOLE in the front bumper. In my opinion that’s at least $1000 to fix. So weigh that in as you walk around the car

4. My driver seat was pretty worn. Everything else was perfect. My husband said if he able to replace it if it got worse but just to condition it and try to be gentle. It’s worth me trying to save it given all the other seats were impeccable.

It looks like people has some horror stories so I tried to be emotionally prepared for a disaster. Again, we were pretty sure everything was amazing and still missed a big scratch on the front bumper :-/

if you’re generally pretty confident about the car I would go ahead and pay the difference. When we got there basically everything was ready. They gave us a folder and told me to use the app to locate the phone. Felt odd to have had the car keys without officially signing but hey...they are not “traditional”.

also, be ready for the staff to be helpful but not the most knowledgeable. Example, they almost gave me the wrong floor mats. Research as much as you can about the good and the bad before you go in.

Which car did you select? SX3?

 

[aljnx06]

@aljnx06

sorry for the delayed reply. A few more suggestions to consider.

1. Condition of the car. At first the car I chose didn’t have photos but they sent me the link. Very blurry in comparison to the first car I chose which DID have actual posted. I ended up opening on my laptop and they were SO much better. This helped me soon and look at the things that seemed a little off.

2. They likely took close ups of dings or dents so you knew about them. Look around the edges and trims. Basically if it’s clean title make sure you don’t see discolored paint around the car.

3. If it does have flaws you want to see if they are still OK to you in person. I saw one posted a couple days ago that had a HOLE in the front bumper. In my opinion that’s at least $1000 to fix. So weigh that in as you walk around the car

4. My driver seat was pretty worn. Everything else was perfect. My husband said if he able to replace it if it got worse but just to condition it and try to be gentle. It’s worth me trying to save it given all the other seats were impeccable.

It looks like people has some horror stories so I tried to be emotionally prepared for a disaster. Again, we were pretty sure everything was amazing and still missed a big scratch on the front bumper :-/

if you’re generally pretty confident about the car I would go ahead and pay the difference. When we got there basically everything was ready. They gave us a folder and told me to use the app to locate the phone. Felt odd to have had the car keys without officially signing but hey...they are not “traditional”.

also, be ready for the staff to be helpful but not the most knowledgeable. Example, they almost gave me the wrong floor mats. Research as much as you can about the good and the bad before you go in.

Which car did you select? SX3?

Hi @eXalentEV thanks!

So i suddenly see a delivery date appear in my Tesla Account page last night! It is supposedly for next saturday 10/12 at 1030! Still waiting for my DA to confirm this because it is a 600 mile journey for me to go do the pick up.

I bought a Blue X 90D with 20k miles, sight unseen and only the pictures to go by

Will update my story as it moves along ...

 

[VT_EE]

Ok!!!! We are now the proud owners of a 2016 P90DL.

Delivery day - our Lyft driver was great. Chewing gum, breath mints, phone chargers. Started out great. Arrived at Tesla 30 min early and was able to snag the earlier “demonstration”. This was a how-to for anyone who’s never seen a YouTube video on how to operate your Tesla.

Upon finishing, we asked to see the car in which they casually acted surprised like we didn’t know the all was already configured for us to honk the horn. SURPRISE!! oh - well....we went outside to first make sure the car wasn’t in shambles.

so:
1. The driver seat was pretty worn. Looks like a commuter car without the miles. I’m going to work on it with some leather conditioner and try to show some love.

2. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS PERFECT. a few nicks here and there but I doubt anyone ever sat in the back seats (high gloss seat backs were still high gloss without a single scratch). A few spots on the headliner but oh well I need to find a good cleaner.

3. It is true. Customer service wasn’t great. Everyone was REALLY NICE. But just didn’t know how to give good directions or guidance. Reading these forums helped prepare us what to expect. If I hadn’t - I likely would be complaining.

4. Tires actually had more wear than I feel was acceptable. No due bill because of blah blah but we are going to try our luck to see if we can get a discount on replacements. Personally, I’m not that upset because these weren’t Pirellis but Goodyear’s so they need to be replaced regardless before I can set foot in snow/ice.

I drove it home while hubby played with the infotainment system. I cried. Yes, I’m dramatic. But I’ve been wanting this exact car for FOUR YEARS so it’s insane to think it was actually possible.

hope this was helpful. Hit me up if you have questions. Cheers!

Glad you guys had a relatively good experience. A good detailer should be able to clean the seats and headliner for a few hundred bucks. Congrats!

 

[Acutenole]

I have a very similar experience except:

1. I put my deposit down on a 2016 Model X 75D on 10/2 in Dallas but live in Atlanta.
2. Did my paperwork in Atlanta on 10/10.
3. Flew into Dallas on 10/12 and Tesla paid for my Uber from DFW.
4. 30 min later I was on the hwy back to ATL.
5. Presently sitting at my 4th supercharger of the day still floating on Cloud 9!
6. The Hubby has commented how he has never sat in the passenger seat this long on a road trip.

 

[Simon21]

Interesting how it seems like more women like the X than the S.

Just curious, how did you all decide on a used VS new one? It seems like the price is not so much different and considering the rebates and tax credit and residual value of the car, it might be financially better to get a new one with the Raven upgrades. Any thoughts?

 

[eXalentEV]

@Simon21 As female, it’s hard not to see the Model X as a perfect vehicle to hide all my shopping spree evidence in the various pouches of the car. But really, for me it was the desire to seat 6 people and have the capacity of an SUV. I’ve known for four years that I would own this car as soon as my previous leases were up.
Regarding new vs. used. I have a P90DL. Brand new today it is $115k plus tax (For LA that’s 9.75%). I bought mine with 22k miles for $69k.