Purchase 2011 Roadster -5YJRE1A37B1001297

[Cloud_S]

Looking for honest advice from the community on purchasing a 2011 Roadster Sport 2.5 (VIN:5YJRE1A37B1001297) with a depleted battery. Battery was replaced with a 3.0 upgrade in 2017.

The current owner side had a medical condition and swiped a guard rail in October 2018. The damage is all cosmetic- the car needs a right quarter panel, right door skin, right mirror and some light work on the rear hatch. The car drove after the side swipe. See pictures. The car has also been sitting since the accident October 2018. At some point, the battery fully depleted, the car was not set to storage mode as far as I know. The maintenance fuse (not sure if this is fully accurate) was not pulled as I was informed by the current owner.

I've read numerous posts on how to individually test each brick for voltage. If the voltage is 0 (or close), its likely the pack is toast. I'm in LA and can't test the pack. Unfortunately the service centers in Virginia are not roadster knowledgable and refused to help diagnosis the car. The theme of all the TMC posts is that a fully depleted battery likely means the battery pack cannot be charged. Should I assume the pack need to be replaced?

Negotiated price is in the low $30K. Body parts are around $4200 and maybe another $3000 to put it together. Biggest ace is the battery pack. If it can be charged, I win. If not, I was quoted $14,500 for a remanufactured pack or $29,000 for new. What are your thoughts on this deal?

Link to photos when it was purchased in 2015 -> 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport 2.5 for sale in Delray Beach, FL | Stock #: 001297

-Nick

 

[ChicagolandMX]

I think it's a big gamble when you know there's a high probability the battery is bricked.

 

[X.l.r.8]

BIG gamble
30K for a bricked battery and requiring stuff is about right, if you like this kind of thing than go for it, if you go to the dealer to replace brake pads, walk away, its not worth the risk. Its a viable car and the 3.0 to me is worthless, I have not needed more than the stock battery pack. The car in already featured here, I thought oit would be a good car, I cant believe any tesla owner decided not to keep the battery charged or at the least pulled the plug and preserved the battery. Your battery quotes are only valid if they are obtainable, at present a 3.0 whole costing 30,000 is unavailable, do it may as well be 100 or 100,000. I have the BMS boards designed by nick and this would be a good candidate to see if the sheets are salvageable. A stock pack has the ability to replace a sheet, not the case with a 3.0 so even if you need a sheet you need a whole pack. I would remove the pack and have the car repaired and work on the pack separately. You need the pack isolated from the car anyhow. Again if your doing it yourself I would love to help, but if your saying someone else this os not the car for you, 15-20k more has you a car you can enjoy and drive daily.

 

[Sig72]

what's the title status? If it's gonna be still be a salvage/rebuilt title even if you get it running, don't do it. Maybe negotiate further down and try to get this as a parts car. If your M.O. is to revive this car and drive/enjoy it as your personal sports car, I echo others on the forum here saying this is a BIG gamble

 

[Sig72]

what's the title status? If it's gonna be still be a salvage/rebuilt title even if you get it running, don't do it. Maybe negotiate further down and try to get this as a parts car. If your M.O. is to revive this car and drive/enjoy it as your personal sports car, I echo others on the forum here saying this is a BIG gamble

 

[ion_1]

. Body parts are around $4200 and maybe another $3000 to put it together.

I may be wrong, but I believe that the large rear quarter/rocker body panel assembly is bolted and partially epoxied to the car. Someone may want to chime in on cost to replace this piece. May be a minimal issue if you are doing the body work yourself, but if you are hiring a shop you may want to get a quote as $3k labor seems very low ( paint also?). Re battery, I would price in a replacement. So say worse case $30k batt, $10-15k repairs you are $40-45k + $30k purchase= $70-$75k mid \ side of resale for a 3.0 (depending on options the sport has and miles). However, with the resale report on the accident, it may suffer a bit in future resale. If battery is somehow salvageable, then obviously this is a win. Seems like you are cutting it close with little margin/some unknowns vs. looking for a car in decent shape (unless you are doing the body work yourself). Thanks for posting.

 

[wycolo]

There are no Roadster batteries available anywhere unless you happen upon a fresh wreck.
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[snaffah]

Who Quoted you on the battery price, tesla or the seller? Tesla does not have any more batteries last time I checked, and no new 3.0 batteries for sure.

 

[Cloud_S]

what's the title status? If it's gonna be still be a salvage/rebuilt title even if you get it running, don't do it. Maybe negotiate further down and try to get this as a parts car. If your M.O. is to revive this car and drive/enjoy it as your personal sports car, I echo others on the forum here saying this is a BIG gamble

Title is clean, car was never reported to the insurance company. That is a major plus. So the batteries are not available at all from Tesla?

 

[Cloud_S]

I was just told by Anthony Medina, lead Roadster technician @ the Pomona service center that the remanufactured pack is available for order @ $14,500.

 

[Cloud_S]

I may be wrong, but I believe that the large rear quarter/rocker body panel assembly is bolted and partially epoxied to the car. Someone may want to chime in on cost to replace this piece. May be a minimal issue if you are doing the body work yourself, but if you are hiring a shop you may want to get a quote as $3k labor seems very low ( paint also?). Re battery, I would price in a replacement. So say worse case $30k batt, $10-15k repairs you are $40-45k + $30k purchase= $70-$75k mid \ side of resale for a 3.0 (depending on options the sport has and miles). However, with the resale report on the accident, it may suffer a bit in future resale. If battery is somehow salvageable, then obviously this is a win. Seems like you are cutting it close with little margin/some unknowns vs. looking for a car in decent shape (unless you are doing the body work yourself). Thanks for posting.

Labor was quoted @$3K with paint as it’s not that complex. That’s with me not doing it myself. I can save a few K by doing partially myself, minus paint and the hatch bodywork.

 

[Cloud_S]

One incorrect detail, the pack was not upgraded to a 3.0. It’s a 2016 2.5 pack and is serviceable. I’ve talked to Gruber who seem very knowledgeable in restoring packs back to life.

 

[X.l.r.8]

if you were to go the 'for order' battery route I would get a firm lead time, as in I would want to see it before I handed over any money. The availability situation is fluid and changes often, but theres not a shed full of roadster packs. Quite the opposite, I think they salvage them after doing a 3.0 conversion.

 

[ion_1]

Labor was quoted @$3K with paint as it’s not that complex. That’s with me not doing it myself. I can save a few K by doing partially myself, minus paint and the hatch bodywork.

Great price!

 

[dhrivnak]

So worst case you have a piece of history for ‘about $70k or you get a bargain for $35. So if you are OK with the $70k and several months of work I would go for it.

 

[ML Auto]

I think your estimate to repair is extremely low. A new quarter panel and door (you can't get just the skin) are more than $4200. There are also a lot of other parts that are probably damaged behind the quarter panel (battery heater, A/C lines, wiring), and that would add thousands more. $3K in labor is obviously from someone who has never replaced a quarter panel on a Roadster before. You didn't state the current mileage, but with the 20K+ it had in 2015, I would assume around 30K. Fixed with the damage history, the car is probably worth around $50K. So your low $30K will hit $45K easy without even dealing with the battery. Dropping the pack to charge and recover will cost at least another $5K if you have to pay someone to do it. If the battery is toast, you will have way more in it than it is worth, not even considering your time to get it all done. $25K would be too much if it has a bad battery.

 

[Kerios]

The other issue is the painting, the roadster has a high quantity of carbon fibre parts, if you paint these parts and stick them in a normal oven, you'll have horrible outgasing issues and possibly even damage the fibre. So I'd be budgeting for a respray for at least half the car, maybe the entire car to blend it, which will be at least another $6000 - depends on prep, but cheap resprays led ultimately to having spend more to correct the work. I'd get a quote from a bodyshop used to working with carbon and use that as a baseline to judge actual costs.

You also know nothing about the state of the PEM, it could be gold, it could be a real problem, so many issues with connectors, IGBT insulation failing, overheating, internal fans etc, I'd also be tempted to budget for a full PEM overhaul by Gruber for example of I think $4500?

Lastly how do you know the damage is cosmetic? Has it been put on a jig? The rear off side wheel could have been bashed inward, affecting the suspension links and in turn pushing the mounting lugs inward. I'd strongly suggest getting photos of the wheels off (jacked properly) and see what the suspension looks like.

Last point, have you actually viewed the car or are you going on photos? You could end up with an expensive unrecoverable paperweight.

 

[supersnoop]

Of it was actually a 3.0 battery, I’d jump on it. I’d expect the battery to be much easier to recover. I believe the 3.0 is stable at lower voltages.

However, to reiterate what everyone else is saying about repair costs; I have some experience. I was sideswiped while doing 18mph by a vehicle changing lanes from a stop. The driver side door and rear quarter panel had to be replaced, along with three wheels. In the end, the repair bill was about $25,000. Paint and labor were a huge part of that.

 

[snaffah]

What ever happened with this car?

 

[Gremlin]

There are no Roadster batteries available anywhere unless you happen upon a fresh wreck.
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one is on sale in ebay for 19K (battery pack)