Question on CPO MS with rear facing seats

[LeoSF]

Hi Tesla friends,

My first post here. Just let me know if I am asking obvious question.

I have a reservation for M3 but been pondering the MS with larger interior and the 3rd row rear facing seats for the two kiddos. The price jump is quite a lot if I am comparing a moderately customized M3 for about $45-47k to a new base MS with 3rd row seat and some options for around $83k.

So I have been poking at the MS CPO list but there is no mention about any of the MS has 3rd row seat.

Is it because none of the CPO MS has the 3rd row rear facing seats?

 

[boaterva]

Look at one of the other CPO sites. I found over 60 S's with the rear facing seats:

EV-CPO / Tesla CPO, Preowned, Used and Inventory Listings / ev-cpo.com

Tesla Inventory Search

I know these sites have every option on the cars listed. Now, if you want a Refresh Model S, I think there was one showing with the rear facing seats... much rarer more recently then on the previous version.

You might give Tesla a call, they have CPOs that aren't on the public lists for whatever reason, and, who knows, could have one with that option.

 

[LeoSF]

Thank you so much!

 

[henderrj]

and the kids love the rear facing seats. Everytime our grandkids get in it they fight over who gets the race seats. With our little five year old grandson in the back he yells "punch it Grandpa" before I can even get it out of park!

 

[personthing]

Rear facing seats were the primary reason we decided to buy a CPO model S while waiting for our 3. I had found a few options on ev-cpo / teslainventory, and called Tesla to discuss next steps - before I could tell them the specific cars I was looking at, they found one their internal list that was not listed on any of the sites that was an even better deal. So heads up that while those sites are useful, and better than tesla.com's used car section, they have more cars in inventory that even those sites aren't aware of. Your best bet is just getting in touch with one of their CPO advisors.

 

[Randaddy]

Contact your local cpo advisor and go for a test drive on a car equipped with rfs first. Not sure how you intend to use them, but there's no air circulation/ventilation back there and kids can get hot real quick. My friend has the rfs, and tells me they have to blast the ac and close the front vents for their kids to get any cooling effect back there.

 

[abasile]

Contact your local cpo advisor and go for a test drive on a car equipped with rfs first. Not sure how you intend to use them, but there's no air circulation/ventilation back there and kids can get hot real quick. My friend has the rfs, and tells me they have to blast the ac and close the front vents for their kids to get any cooling effect back there.

I concur with the advice to contact a local CPO advisor - that's how we found our car.

We have rear facing seats, and we solved the cooling/ventilation issue by purchasing a 12V fan and a 12V extension cord. It's not the most elegant solution, but it keeps everyone happy. Our only persistent complaint with the rear facing seats is that facing backwards tends to lead to more motion sickness on curvy mountain roads.

 

[LeoSF]

Thanks for the suggestions! Having the RFS is a fall back option whenever the in-laws are in town and the entire family of 5 adults + kids are going out. I would say we need the RFS about 3-4 times a month and each time to will be < hour ride. At least that's my thought. Still need to have a good talk with my wife first.

 

[Chargersflyer]

This is why I am looking at RFS too. We are replacing a sedan that I have driven for a long time that seats 5 but when grandparents come into town, we need the 7 seats and as they get older, climbing into the SUV just isn't as easy. This makes a Model S a "practical" car. My fear (read as what will actually happen) is that my wife will drive the Model S all the time and I will be driving the SUV. Happy wife, Happy life. I would be interested to hear about the experience taking with a CPO specialist as I haven't reached out yet, not quite ready to buy.

 

[LeoSF]

Small update to share my progress. After a series of discussion with my wife and two visits to Tesla stores to demo to my wife how the RFS works, my wife was sold. She is super excited to part way with our trusty van. So I'm the next day went to two tesla store front (San Mateo and Santana Row) and talked to the customer representative about CPO. Both times I was told to just make the deposit online. Now I am confused. Is it my luck that the rep's that I had have no knowledge in how CPO works?

@abasile - is there a special number yiu called to get help? There are a few in the EV CPO site that fits my budget but not the color I want, so I want to get help on that.

 

[LeoSF]

Oh one more thing. What do you guys think of 2yrs vs 4yrs CPO war

 

[bro1999]

Something to think about before plunking the cash down for a RFS S. I was seriously in the market for a CPO S with RFS last year, but safety concerns in the event of a rear end collision steered me away from a purchase.

Rare fatal accident in a Tesla Model S rear-ended by a large SUV in California

 

[AvengerBB]

Something to think about before plunking the cash down for a RFS S. I was seriously in the market for a CPO S with RFS last year, but safety concerns in the event of a rear end collision steered me away from a purchase.

Rare fatal accident in a Tesla Model S rear-ended by a large SUV in California

The rear of the car is reinforced with the RFS option. Is the third ride seat of a minivan or SUV safer?

 

[abasile]

@abasile - is there a special number yiu called to get help? There are a few in the EV CPO site that fits my budget but not the color I want, so I want to get help on that.

I called the Buena Park, CA store, because it's the largest sales and service center in Southern California, and asked for a used vehicle specialist. In the Bay Area, I'm guessing it would be good to start with the Fremont sales location, by the factory. The number given on Tesla's website is (510) 249-3500.

 

[abasile]

The rear of the car is reinforced with the RFS option. Is the third ride seat of a minivan or SUV safer?

Indeed. And I'll admit that many owners like ourselves don't use the RFS all the time. They simply give us the flexibility of carrying an extra person or two on occasion, which is great. The Model X would be a better choice (given available funds) for a family needing to seat seven people all the time.

 

[Ness]

Small update to share my progress. After a series of discussion with my wife and two visits to Tesla stores to demo to my wife how the RFS works, my wife was sold. She is super excited to part way with our trusty van. So I'm the next day went to two tesla store front (San Mateo and Santana Row) and talked to the customer representative about CPO. Both times I was told to just make the deposit online. Now I am confused. Is it my luck that the rep's that I had have no knowledge in how CPO works?

Nope, they know how it works, CPO's don't count for them, so they aren't motivated to help. That is why they will try to sell you on a base/base/base MS70 with the tax rebate. The SA I was working with out of Santana Row was great until it became clear I was going CPO and then I never heard from him again. If you are looking for a specific car, just track ev-cpo and teslainventory and decide what you are willing to pay, what options you have to have and what is "nice to have". I really wanted Autopilot, so that was my primary criteria.

Being in the Bay Area you can probably avoid a transport fee. I can give you the contact information for my Pre-Owned SA out of Fremont, who I got matched up with after putting down a deposit.

 

[b team]

Something to think about before plunking the cash down for a RFS S. I was seriously in the market for a CPO S with RFS last year, but safety concerns in the event of a rear end collision steered me away from a purchase.

Rare fatal accident in a Tesla Model S rear-ended by a large SUV in California

Those children were not in RFS.

 

[Skotty]

I got rear facing seats on my CPO. I find them to be a mixed bag. Sometimes my kids love them, sometimes they don't. Climate control does not reach them well. They only work for kids in a certain size/weight range. But they are immensely handy at times, and I love how nicely they fold away into the footwell. They are a particular point of interest to people looking at the car (like at car shows).

Note that there is a switch inside the trunk on cars with rear facing seats that allows the child on the driver side to open/close the hatch when the car is stopped. Not everyone even knows it's there (in fact, there was at least one service center person I've met who didn't know about it). Kids love this button, but they also fight over it.

All in all, I'm happy to have them, but I don't consider it a must have option.