Quandary

[Terry_B58]

Well, what a position?

After a long time lurking on here and also looking at Tesla's used vehicles, I decided to go and have a test drive.

The car, 100D, was, as expected, a dream to drive and I was very impressed with the quality of build and the operation of 'Auto Pilot' was better than expected. The lane change was unimaginable .

The quandary however, is that the PCP payments for a new 75D or the finance for a 14 plate 85 are roughly the same.

A new car would be exceptional, however I do begrudge the VED to the government of £310 a year (call me a tight a**e), but for an EV it should be exempt VED (IMHO).

Do I go used or new?

All comments, positive or negative are welcome - I do have a friends referral code to use already.

 

[JonG]

What does your friend say?

 

[Terry_B58]

What does your friend say?

Go on, which friend?

I have had a drink or two so if I don't get the meaning, please accept my apologies

 

[JonG]

Referral codes are there to reward people who help prospective owners, you've a code from a friend, I presume they've therefore given you advice.

 

[Penfold]

It depends on what you want, a new 75D will have the latest spec and hardware (AP2.5) ready for future updates, the older will have AP1 I guess if at all which although many say AP1 is still ahead of 2/2.5 i guess at some point it will get behind as thing progress.

Personally I would go new, have a few years of worry free’ish motoring. With a 2014 I presume you’ll still have a few years of battery/motor warranty. Perhaps drive both variations and see what you like best.

It’s all down to personal preference and what you want at the end of the finance term.

 

[WannabeOwner]

which friend

Perhaps the one with the referral code can give you the freebie Tesla Charger they would get (unless they already have several referrals and are wanting something higher up the Gifts list).

I don't need anything else, so you are welcome to use mine and have the Charger. Other folk will be in a position to make the same offer - someone closer might be better

EDIT: Actually did that "free charger" round come to an end already? I lose track ...

Either way I think Free Supercharging referral is supposed to end on 31-Jan, but that happened last year too and got extended ...

 

[Subevo]

I had the same dilemma. At the time cheapest tesla was £40000 for a 3 year old model.or go new £60000 plus £5000 for DUEL MOTORS.

Eventually went with new.latest performance increases and 4 wheel drive with latest hardware and low interest deal swung it.glad I got 4 wheel drive as the weather is pretty poor where I live in Scotland at the moment.lots of ice and snow.car has handled the bad weather no problem.

Was going to hold off til the model 3 appeared but couldn't wait another 2-3 years.
New Nissan Leaf looks good as a cheaper option in my opinion.
On the ved issue I'm the same I grudge the £310 but 1st year is free.
I plan to switch to model 3 which should be free for the base model anyway.

 

[JonG]

The answer is a lot easier, at the end of one you own the car, at the end of the other you won't based in what you've explained.

 

[DJP31]

The newer car will be better than the old one in every respect, apart maybe for AP1 v AP2.5 and that’s temporary. However, with the new one you don’t get to own it unless you are going to stump up the balloon at the end.

I would go new but only if I have also covered off what my intentions are at the end of the PCP term, otherwise you are potentially living in a fools paradise.

 

[Terry_B58]

JonG,

My friend, a relative of a relative only bought his Tesla before Christmas, not had much discussions about it but family is family. Sorry I didn't understand the original reply.

 

[Terry_B58]

All,

Many thanks for the responses.

I understand that the PCP is not a 'purchase plan' as such and the balloon payment needs to be addressed.

I also get the points regarding New v Old and AP 2.5 v AP1 (or even no AP).

I will sleep on it (for a day or so) and make a decision.

Many thanks again

 

[WannabeOwner]

family is family

In that case ask them to give you the free charger - rather than them taking the Radioflier Toy car, which would otherwise in effect be a gift from you to them of £519 . (See Referral Program) (note that its running out "Owners can give five friends free, unlimited Supercharging with the purchase of a new Model S or Model X until January 31, 2018")

the balloon payment needs to be addressed

I know zero about it ... but I've seen some chatter about how much any over-mileage costs on some finance deals. Would that be a factor here? (Sorry if you've already got that in-hand)

 

[Terry_B58]

#Upgraded

All comments welcome.

Great idea regarding the charger - he has no kiddies LOL.

The mileage actually works in my favour. The PCP on 20k miles was, I think £5k (over the term (4 years)) than the 10k miles PCP, BUT the excess mileage charge is 7p per mile. So 10k miles per year more is £700 (£2800 over the term). Well less than the lesser mileage quote.

Does that make sense? I have been on the bottle

 

[unbelievable]

The mileage actually works in my favour. The PCP on 20k miles was, I think £5k (over the term (4 years)) than the 10k miles PCP, BUT the excess mileage charge is 7p per mile. So 10k miles per year more is £700 (£2800 over the term). Well less than the lesser mileage quote.

I fell into that misunderstanding too.

In reality, If you take the 20k miles per year PCP, the guaranteed buy back value they give you on the car is lower than if you were to only do 10k miles per year. I'd ask them for the figures to compare.

I will sleep on it (for a day or so) and make a decision.

Yep, sleep it off... I mean sleep on it.

 

[JonG]

There are other threads on this, Tesla are shocking at giving accurate figures.

PCP is likely to require servicing which is expensive and often

The lower mileage pcp and paying the excess often has small print where the excess increases above a certain mileage, it’s not always an indefinite 7p a mile regardless of the number of miles

The 7p might attract vat making it nearer 9p

Tesla have given illustrations based on certain interest rates but only certain cars get them and they’re poor at explaining that too you.

Don’t make any assumptions, get a quote in writing before deciding, this may be harder to obtain than you think.

 

[WannabeOwner]

PCP is likely to require servicing which is expensive and often

FWIW I service once a year, which for me is about 27000 miles ...

 

[JonG]

FWIW I service once a year, which for me is about 27000 miles ...

Sure, many are serviced less frequently than the guidelines, but if the PCP says servicing required to the manufacturers recommendation it would be every 12500 miles in your case, almost 3x as often as you are and £1k+ more expensive, probably equivalent to an extra £100 a month costs. I don’t think anyone has reached the end of a 3 year pcp with the seemingly very strong GFV so we don’t know how hard they’ll look at these things to claw back their loss which it looks like they’ll be at the end. If they’re staring at a £5k loss it’s worth there while going after these things where the contract allows.

 

[WannabeOwner]

the PCP says servicing required to the manufacturers recommendation

Indeed. Sorry, I should have clarified that mine is not PCP, and thus I don't need frequent servicing. Service interval for EV doesn't appear to need to be anything like as often as ICE. You make a good point that for a high mileage driver the added cost of PCP required servicing needs to be taken into account.

 

[zap fizzle]

All,

Many thanks for the responses.

I understand that the PCP is not a 'purchase plan' as such and the balloon payment needs to be addressed.

I also get the points regarding New v Old and AP 2.5 v AP1 (or even no AP).

I will sleep on it (for a day or so) and make a decision.

Many thanks again

Have just been in your shoes regarding the new vs used decision.

I would not buy used unless it was <50k miles and from Tesla themselves, and so came with the equivalent-to-a-new-car 4 year/50k mile warranty. There is a lot of expensive stuff to go wrong, and no independent repairers yet so everything is at Tesla service/spares prices once the original warranty is gone.

A month ago there was a choice of AP1 cars at or under £45k on Tesla's site - today you have to stretch to £55k, at which point it *might* start to feel slightly silly not to just buy new?

The older cars, while in no way "slow", are noticeably "less fast" than the new - the "Specifications" table at Tesla Model S - Wikipedia sets this out quite well; a new MS 75D puts down 386 kW and has a 4.2s 0-60 whereas an 85 puts down "only" 278 kW and has a 5.4s 0-60. I second the comments above about the desirability of a "D" AWD model.

Don't buy used - IMV - without AP. AP1 is fine but no AP is very poverty and might be hard to sell/unwanted at trade-in.

Make a spreadsheet showing the total cost over 2/3/4/5 years of new or used. You have to guess wildly, if you buy used, at what it will be worth down the line - whereas the PCP GFV is known.

The VED, although it rankles, is not a significant cost; insurance might be as it can vary wildly between different specs of Model S.

The interest rate on HP for a used one is more than on PCP for a new one and compares poorly with mortgages and with the best personal loans. However, it might be useful to have the lender jointly liable (with Tesla) for vehicle faults, and to have the option to put the vehicle back to the lender ("voluntary termination") if you are in negative equity half-way through the payments.

This might sound slightly mad just now but the Tesla company is a risky undertaking and may not survive and cheerfully honour its warranties, as it broadly has done so far, indefinitely.

I bought used and think it will save me about £15k over 4 years versus new - however right now you have to pay £10k more than I did to get an equivalent used car from Tesla. I sleep better for knowing that I "own" it [and can sell it], rather than rent it, and for having £40k (rather than £75k) on the driveway/in the multistorey/etc.

Please let us know what you decide.

 

[Terry_B58]

#zap fizzle

Great response, thank you.

The decision has been made today and is confirmed.

A new 75D is on its way to me, should be an owner in about 6 weeks.