Should I buy a salvage Tesla?

[bretto]

Hi guys, new here and first post.

I've been considering buying a salvage repairable write off Tesla, I am fairly confident with my mechanical and electrical skills but I would love some input.

Firstly parts, I've found loads of spares on eBay, however most are in US and it looks like shipping costs will be the killer.

Does Tesla still disable supercharging and will I need to go through Tesla inspection process?

Has anyone else in Victoria been through this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[rohan_aus]

Hi guys, new here and first post.

I've been considering buying a salvage repairable write off Tesla, I am fairly confident with my mechanical and electrical skills but I would love some input.

Firstly parts, I've found loads of spares on eBay, however most are in US and it looks like shipping costs will be the killer.

Does Tesla still disable supercharging and will I need to go through Tesla inspection process?

Has anyone else in Victoria been through this?

Thanks in advance.

After watching this, I wouldn't rely on Tesla to re-certify a car. Seems Tesla Australia/New Zealand did this for a customer then "changed their mind", despite having signed documents re-certifying the car. They're now being taken to court, I expect they'll loose.

 

[bretto]

Yes I saw that. However I believe that car was sold as a statuary write off.

I did also read somewhere (maybe on this forum? I forgot to bookmark it) that Tesla have recently stopped disabling features on salveged vehicles.

Does anyone know how much recertification costs in Australia?

 

[Tam]

...Yes I saw that...

I don't see how you would think your case is any different than what you just saw.

He bought a salvaged title.

In the U.S., Tesla requires a salvage title to go through the inspection/recertification process which the Australian/New Zealand owner did over there but still, it goes nowhere!

I think Tesla inspection/recertification process is not cheap and I would expect thousands of dollars in the U.S.

It makes sense to fix a salvage car if you know:

1) hardware
2) software

If a car has activated an airbag, it would automatically disable at least:

1) Main battery pack (due to pyrofuse)
2) Supercharger
3) Autopilot...


It no airbags have deployed but the VIN is listed as a salvage title, Tesla would also manually disable the above.

...recently stopped disabling...

That's news to me!

In that case, it should be easily found in the news because that is very revolutionary as if someone has internally revolted and changed Tesla's policy.

 

[bretto]

I should have clarified.
There are two types of salvage vehicles in Australia.
Statuary write off and Repairable write off.

Stat write off the vin is flagged with state registration authorities and can never be driven on Australian roads again. I think this is what he got before taking it to NZ where laws are different again.

Interested in hearing from people here in Australia that have been through this process with repairable write offs and what issues they had dealing with tesla.

 

[lonewolf313]

Save yourself the worry. Buy a second hand Tesla. I think it will be the cheapest option in the long run and you have peace of mind knowing you can still Supercharge (most of the time for free with Model S & X) given what I have watched on mostly overseas Youtube channels.

Salvaged Teslas are still expensive to buy here

 

[Tension]

One of the reasons they're so expensive is people want the battery packs for home energy storage solutions.

 

[Racecomp]

I’ve repaired many high end cars and bikes over the years but not sure I’d buy a damage repairable Tesla???

This one is up tomorrow it will be interesting to see what it sells for vs a statutory written off vehicle.

Salvage Vehicles - Pickles Auctions Australia