Should I buy through Used tesla inventory or Dealership?

[Claire]

Please send me your advice regarding buying a used Tesla 3 (2020 30k miles). I am considering going through Tesla directly as they are offering a 2 year warranty and 5 year battery(or 100k mi) warranty.
They are not letting me see the vehicle however and I must trust that their quality control is honest and scrupulous. I’m in Santa Monica, California if that matters…
Any and all stories good and bad are welcome. Thank you!

 

[Mrbrock]

Please send me your advice regarding buying a used Tesla 3 (2020 30k miles). I am considering going through Tesla directly as they are offering a 2 year warranty and 5 year battery(or 100k mi) warranty.
They are not letting me see the vehicle however and I must trust that their quality control is honest and scrupulous. I’m in Santa Monica, California if that matters…
Any and all stories good and bad are welcome. Thank you!

You will get the same battery warranty from a non Tesla dealer. It is the remainder of the factory warranty. Tesla is currently offering an extra year on the standard warranty for used vehicles.

You usually are able to see the vehicle at pickup before you accept the final terms in the app and confirm final payment. At least this is how things were with my new Tesla purchase.

As far as quality control, what are you wanting to know? It could have cosmetic imperfections like dings and chips but no damage. These are all spelled out quite clearly in the listing.

It looks like Long Beach is the place where your used Tesla would be so why don’t you swing by there? When you click on the link for the car you want, the vin will be in the url. You can take this (and any other vins that are available) with you and look for the car in their lot and inspect it.

 

[ewoodrick]

Please send me your advice regarding buying a used Tesla 3 (2020 30k miles). I am considering going through Tesla directly as they are offering a 2 year warranty and 5 year battery(or 100k mi) warranty.
They are not letting me see the vehicle however and I must trust that their quality control is honest and scrupulous. I’m in Santa Monica, California if that matters…
Any and all stories good and bad are welcome. Thank you!

Or going to a non-EV dealership that doesn't know how to spell EV?
At least Tesla should be able to do things, like switch the account to you quickly.

 

[ATPMSD]

If you buy from Tesla the car will almost certainly not have FSD as Tesla removes it making the new buyer purchase it again, if they want FSD. When the car comes from a non-Tesla dealer it will have FSD if it was purchased with the car, and if the car never went through Tesla’s hands, such as in an auction. Unfortunately there is no ”easy way” to know if the car came with FSD.

Here is way to find out if the car has FSD, but you’ll need the dealer to send you a screen-shots.

How to tell if a Tesla has Full Self-Driving (FSD)

To know for sure if a Tesla has Full Self-Driving (FSD) either go to the Tesla App and tap on 'Upgrades' or check the 'Additional Vehicle Information' under Controls > Software in the car's touchscreen.

tesletter.com

 

[Deaf Paul]

If you buy from Tesla the car will almost certainly not have FSD as Tesla removes it making the new buyer purchase it again, if they want FSD. When the car comes from a non-Tesla dealer it will have FSD if it was purchased with the car, and if the car never went through Tesla’s hands, such as in an auction. Unfortunately there is no ”easy way” to know if the car came with FSD.

That’s incorrect. Tesla doesn’t strip FSD from their used inventory - you can check to see which used cars have it, which cars have EAP and which cars have basic autopilot and purchase accordingly.

-Paul

 

[ATPMSD]

I would double check that. There are tons of postings that say Tesla removes FSD anytime they take possession of a car. Now if they advertise a car includes FSD or EAP, then that is something different.

 

[Deaf Paul]

I would double check that. There are tons of postings that say Tesla removes FSD anytime they take possession of a car. Now if they advertise a car includes FSD or EAP, then that is something different.

It’s well known that they always strip SC01 unlimited free supercharging.

But FSD? or even EAP? Nah. You can go look for yourself if you don’t believe me. Here, let me show you how. Go to tesla inventory. Click on used. Scroll down on the options. You’ll see you can select to only view used cars that come with base Auto Pilot, Enhanced Auto Pilot, or Full Self Driving. On the car thumbnails, it will show which autopilot comes with it. The cheaper ones have base autopilot. See screenshot.

Now here’s a screenshot of what it shows when you select used cars with FSD only: Currently there are 93 used Model 3 cars on Tesla’s used inventory that come with FSD.

I hope you believe me now. I don’t know how else to prove to you that you can buy used Teslas from Tesla’s used car inventory that includes EAP and FSD. It’s right there plain as day to me.

-Paul

 

[Mrbrock]

I would double check that. There are tons of postings that say Tesla removes FSD anytime they take possession of a car. Now if they advertise a car includes FSD or EAP, then that is something different.

For a while you couldn't buy a used Tesla from Tesla WITHOUT FSD so this is factually false.

The majority of postings are actually the inverse of what you are saying. People purchased cars private party or through a dealer with FSD and it was removed after the car was transferred to them by Tesla. If you want to use the app, you have to have it transferred to you by Tesla and they were removing FSD stating the FSD belonged to the original owner, not that car. But that got them in trouble when people wanted to move it from one car to another.

As @Deaf Paul stated, the listings clearly show whether FSD is included or not.

Unless you get better pricing from a non-Tesla dealer, the cars Tesla sells will be the same quality as anyone else and have a longer warranty. If anything, a non-Tesla dealer would be more likely to miss something when representing the car.

 

[Deaf Paul]

@Mrbrock - Thank you for sharing that tidbit of interesting information.

 

[ATPMSD]

Willing to admit I may have confused Free SuperCharging with FSD!

 

[ewoodrick]

I would double check that. There are tons of postings that say Tesla removes FSD anytime they take possession of a car. Now if they advertise a car includes FSD or EAP, then that is something different.

Just because the Internet reposts it doesn't mean that it's true.

They did remove it for a little period of time back in the past. But that was then and this isn't then.

If they car says it has it, then it has it.

 

[emeipang]

Just ordered M3 RWD SR 2023 at $37,870 in Ohio, want to trade in either 2017 Honda CRV EX with 39 CF carge space and 76 CF w/2nd Row down (85K mileage), or 2023 Hyundai Kona Limited with 19.2 CF cargo space(6K mileage). 2017 CRV EX is out of warranty with trade-in price of ($17,700), and 2023 Kona has 10yrs/100K miles warranty with trade-in price of $26,440 ( I bought it at full price $35,950 last October).

Excellent condition on my CRV with the bigger space for 2nd row and cargo space I do like. But if I trade in it for Model 3, we will have two small cars for our 4 member family.

Question? which car should I trade-in, 2017 CRV EX or 2023 Kona Limited.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[ewoodrick]

Just ordered M3 RWD SR 2023 at $37,870 in Ohio, want to trade in either 2017 Honda CRV EX with 39 CF carge space and 76 CF w/2nd Row down (85K mileage), or 2023 Hyundai Kona Limited with 19.2 CF cargo space(6K mileage). 2017 CRV EX is out of warranty with trade-in price of ($17,700), and 2023 Kona has 10yrs/100K miles warranty with trade-in price of $26,440 ( I bought it at full price $35,950 last October).

Excellent condition on my CRV with the bigger space for 2nd row and cargo space I do like. But if I trade in it for Model 3, we will have two small cars for our 4 member family.

Question? which car should I trade-in, 2017 CRV EX or 2023 Kona Limited.

Thank you for your comments.

A Model 3 will easily carry 4 adults.
Tradining in a 2023 model will probably mean a huge loss.

 

[emeipang]

A Model 3 will easily carry 4 adults.
Tradining in a 2023 model will probably mean a huge loss.

Yes. my wife thinks so.

We bought CRV EX at $30k final price in 2017. I do like the huge cargo space on CRV.

It was in a hurry to buy 2023 Kona last October after I had to total my 2007 accord due to rear-end car accident.

Thank you for your comments.