Hi all,
I am currently looking at a 2015 Tesla Model S P90DL. Vehicle has ~37,500 miles. Title is clean. It is being sold by a Mercedes dealership, not a Tesla dealer.
When the dealership received the car as a trade-in, the car ran great. However, the dealership let the car sit for about a month without being charged. The li-ion battery was completely empty for at least 3 weeks. I assume the 12v battery is also either dead or in poor health.
After prolonged neglect, they finally charged the vehicle. However, now it will not charge past 16% capacity. Additionally, the LCD display does not power on (I assume because the 12v battery is dead...?).
They named a price to sell the car as-is, and even despite these red flags, I am still interested because it's about $10k under market value. However, it's only a really good price *IF* it can be fixed under warranty. The battery is still covered under warranty, and being unable to charge past 16% would certainly qualify for replacement. At least that's my thinking. However, I read that "abuse and neglect (including ignoring service notifications) can void this warranty." So I have to question if Tesla might be able to know through a diagnostic scan that the car was left uncharged for a long period of time and then judge this to be neglect, voiding the warranty.
In addition to all of this, I must also consider what would happen if the car was not fixed even after a battery replacement. Or, alternately, if the battery is fine and it's something else that's broken (Charger?). As long as any repairs total at/under $5k, I'd still be getting a good deal.
So I guess best-case scenario: I'm getting a car with a brand new Li-ion battery at a really, really great price. Worst-case scenario: I'm getting a car that needs a Li-Ion battery, and I'm going to lose a lot of money.
If money was no object, I would just buy a different vehicle, but I've got a budget, and if I can buy a $55k car for $45k, then that's really important to me. Plus, this model checks all of the boxes for everything I want—it's basically a dream car for me, and it's actually in my price range. I guess I just want to hear the community's opinion on whether or not this car is worth the gamble.
Questions:
I am currently looking at a 2015 Tesla Model S P90DL. Vehicle has ~37,500 miles. Title is clean. It is being sold by a Mercedes dealership, not a Tesla dealer.
When the dealership received the car as a trade-in, the car ran great. However, the dealership let the car sit for about a month without being charged. The li-ion battery was completely empty for at least 3 weeks. I assume the 12v battery is also either dead or in poor health.
After prolonged neglect, they finally charged the vehicle. However, now it will not charge past 16% capacity. Additionally, the LCD display does not power on (I assume because the 12v battery is dead...?).
They named a price to sell the car as-is, and even despite these red flags, I am still interested because it's about $10k under market value. However, it's only a really good price *IF* it can be fixed under warranty. The battery is still covered under warranty, and being unable to charge past 16% would certainly qualify for replacement. At least that's my thinking. However, I read that "abuse and neglect (including ignoring service notifications) can void this warranty." So I have to question if Tesla might be able to know through a diagnostic scan that the car was left uncharged for a long period of time and then judge this to be neglect, voiding the warranty.
In addition to all of this, I must also consider what would happen if the car was not fixed even after a battery replacement. Or, alternately, if the battery is fine and it's something else that's broken (Charger?). As long as any repairs total at/under $5k, I'd still be getting a good deal.
So I guess best-case scenario: I'm getting a car with a brand new Li-ion battery at a really, really great price. Worst-case scenario: I'm getting a car that needs a Li-Ion battery, and I'm going to lose a lot of money.
If money was no object, I would just buy a different vehicle, but I've got a budget, and if I can buy a $55k car for $45k, then that's really important to me. Plus, this model checks all of the boxes for everything I want—it's basically a dream car for me, and it's actually in my price range. I guess I just want to hear the community's opinion on whether or not this car is worth the gamble.
Questions:
- How safe is it for me to assume that replacing the battery will fix the issue?
- Do you think Tesla would cover the battery under warranty even despite the prolonged neglect? Would they even know that it sat forever? And is 3 weeks even really long enough to count as neglect?
- How much would it cost out-of-pocket to replace the li-ion battery (parts + labor)?
- Can I talk to Tesla and get a ruling on the battery being covered under warranty before buying the vehicle? (I doubt it because I'm not the owner and they're difficult to contact, it seems).
- How possible is it that there's something else wrong and the battery is not the issue?
