Tesla CPO - what to look for ?

[masam]

I’ve seen several threads here about issues with Tesla’s new approach to their CPO vehicles. Are there any tips on what one should be aware of ? Are there Model S specific issues that one should look for or ask about ? Especially mechanical issues that are not at all visible or obvious from pictures.
Thanks !

 

[glide]

I’ve seen several threads here about issues with Tesla’s new approach to their CPO vehicles. Are there any tips on what one should be aware of ? Are there Model S specific issues that one should look for or ask about ? Especially mechanical issues that are not at all visible or obvious from pictures.
Thanks !

It’s not so much the mechanical issues as the cosmetic issues.

Basically they take a bunch of low-res photos at terrible angles and expect you to plunk down $60-70K. Asking for clearer or more detailed shots is out of the question.

I have refused every vehicle I have seen on delivery to this point. Currently looking into private sales where I can, you know, inspect, drive, and negotiate on price. Kind of like how a vehicle sale should happen.

 

[PhilDavid]

I’ve seen several threads here about issues with Tesla’s new approach to their CPO vehicles. Are there any tips on what one should be aware of ? Are there Model S specific issues that one should look for or ask about ? Especially mechanical issues that are not at all visible or obvious from pictures.
Thanks !

It is very easy to buy a CPO, they just want your money and will gladly take it

Inspect and verify everything and don't pay a cent until you see the car and you are satisfied with the condition of the car. Basically assume you are buying a used car from a shady Craig's List seller who has no time for you and treat the transaction accordingly:

• They won't disclose the condition of the car on the listing.
• They won't disclose the actual photos of the car and instead show stock photos of what the car used to look like.
• When you ask for photos, you receive low resolution photos taken from weird angles where you can mostly tell just the color of the car. The low resolution photos hide paint and interior damage.
  
• Will not accommodate a test drive and personal inspection.
• Will not disclose the service history of the car.
• Basically they just want you to pay them and pray to god that they deliver a car to you that is not trashed. If you value your money and don't want a damaged car, hold off on paying and only pay once you've confirmed in person, that the car does not have interior or exterior damage. If the car is has damaged, ask them to fix it or reduce the list price by how much it would cost to fix the damage. Otherwise reject delivery, unless you are find paying these prices to drive around in a damaged car.

I agree completely with @glide, your best bet is to find a private party sale. Also CarMax sells refurbished Teslas that look like new with extended warranties.

Having said all this, I don't think you need to be as concerned with mechanical issues because Tesla service is exceptional and they will fix any mechanical issues with the car. You just need to make sure they don't try to sell you a trashed car.

I just can't understand how the best car company on earth can sell cars in such an awful way

 

[Darren Donovan]

It’s not so much the mechanical issues as the cosmetic issues.

Basically they take a bunch of low-res photos at terrible angles and expect you to plunk down $60-70K. Asking for clearer or more detailed shots is out of the question.

I have refused every vehicle I have seen on delivery to this point. Currently looking into private sales where I can, you know, inspect, drive, and negotiate on price. Kind of like how a vehicle sale should happen.

That's not the Tesla way.

 

[Darren Donovan]

It is very easy to buy a CPO, they just want your money and will gladly take it

Inspect and verify everything and don't pay a cent until you see the car and you are satisfied with the condition of the car. Basically assume you are buying a used car from a shady Craig's List seller who has no time for you and treat the transaction accordingly:

• They won't disclose the condition of the car on the listing.
• They won't disclose the actual photos of the car and instead show stock photos of what the car used to look like.
• When you ask for photos, you receive low resolution photos taken from weird angles where you can mostly tell just the color of the car. The low resolution photos hide paint and interior damage.
  
• Will not accommodate a test drive and personal inspection.
• Will not disclose the service history of the car.
• Basically they just want you to pay them and pray to god that they deliver a car to you that is not trashed. If you value your money and don't want a damaged car, hold off on paying and only pay once you've confirmed in person, that the car does not have interior or exterior damage. If the car is has damaged, ask them to fix it or reduce the list price by how much it would cost to fix the damage. Otherwise reject delivery, unless you are find paying these prices to drive around in a damaged car.

I agree completely with @glide, your best bet is to find a private party sale. Also CarMax sells refurbished Teslas that look like new with extended warranties.

Having said all this, I don't think you need to be as concerned with mechanical issues because Tesla service is exceptional and they will fix any mechanical issues with the car. You just need to make sure they don't try to sell you a trashed car.

I just can't understand how the best car company on earth can sell cars in such an awful way

Because they're not "the best car company on earth". They're way too inexperienced as a car company. Their mission is great, their products CAN be great when they work, but no way is Tesla anywhere deserving of the title "best car company on earth".

 

[MyJoule]

So I got my CPO car and indeed the pictures were not very good, but they indicated no major damage, These are indeed used cars, and as such they will have dirty carpet, soiled seats, and a some paint chips. I agree it's too bad we couldn't get higher resolution pictures like Carmax does with their cars. But it is what it is. Having some pictures is better than none - I was able to determine that the car while not perfect was in pretty good shape. I spent about 5 hours detailing it after I received it and I'm quite pleased now. There are indeed a few paint chips, and a couple of weird spots where something dripped on it that won't come completely off, but no dents and the interior cleaned up and looks new now. I wish Tesla would at least thoroughly clean and perform the service on these cars, but it is what it is now, They could not have sustained the former CPO program w/o charging nearly new prices for the CPO cars. I think there is some middle ground between doing nothing and making the cars like new. They aren't a charity, they are a business and need to make $ to stay in business but I think they've gone too far the other way now, They did wash the car and swept the interior but that was about it. The worst part of our experience was the transportation - they pay ( or rather we) a premium price for the transpiration ( 2500 in our case) and yet they had trouble getting the car on a transport and moved to the delivery center. Had to schedule the delivery 3 times before the car actually arrived and we were able to get it. They only had to move it one state--- Now- I'm not really complaining from the time we found and ordered the car until the delivery was 15 days.

I watched the particular car I bought on Teslacpo.io for a few days and decided the price was low enough to buy it. We kept our eyes open for an "early " lease return, i.e. a higher vin number than would be indicative of a car that was a full 3 years old, yet was likely not a lemon buy back or some other very early lease return ( i.e. a car less than 2 years old) We got a car with a vin number over 100,000, so it was made in late 2015 after LTE and a host of other changes were made to the cars that made them better than the early 2015 cars. Maybe we got lucky, but I'm pretty happy with the car, I will have to buy new tires for it pretty soon and we are going to have a service performed, since it wasn't done before we took delivery, even though they can't / won't tell you about the cars' service history I looked it over closely and I don't think this car has ever been serviced.

We decided to not get a Model 3 at this time and instead chose to buy a used S. We like the size of the S for traveling, we may eventually buy a Model 3 or a Model Y, The Model S we bought has: Air suspension, Sunroof, Dual motors, Autopilot (1.0), full cold weather package, UHFS with XM radio, and free supercharging for about what a LR 3 w PUP and Autopilot would have cost us. Plus for mechanical problems we have a warranty like it was a new car.


Is CPO for you? YMMV. I'd just make sure to ask about the condition after seeing the pictures.

 

[glide]

That's not the Tesla way.

Right. They just have algorithms and people lowering the prices on their beat-up used cars until someone bites.

I understand the no haggle on new vehicles but with their CPO program as-is, would it be in their best interest to negotiate over a dent or scratch and have me accept the deal? Or should they continue to eat shipping costs, losing sales, wasting time, and making me rethink my purchase?

The cult of Tesla is getting a little tired.

 

[PhilDavid]

So I got my CPO car and indeed the pictures were not very good, but they indicated no major damage, These are indeed used cars, and as such they will have dirty carpet, soiled seats, and a some paint chips.

You obviously must never have bought a $60,000 used car before. Go to an Audi, Mercedes, or Porsche CPO car lot and you will see row upon row of used cars in pristine condition without dirty carpets, soiled seats, and paint chips. This notion that used cars costing $60,000 should be accepted in dilapidated condition is unique to Tesla.

Heck go to a Toyota CPO lot and you will still see rows and rows of like new cars for sale.

They could not have sustained the former CPO program w/o charging nearly new prices for the CPO cars.

I fail to see how this makes any sense. So basically every car dealer from Hyundai and Kia to Mercedes and Audi can refurbish and sell CPO cars in decent condition that look like new but this is somehow exorbitantly expensive and impossible for Tesla?

I fail to see how Toyota can absorb the cost of refurbishing a $20,000 used car and still make a decent profit but Tesla can't be bothered to sell a $60,000 used car in respectable condition.

 

[Tozz]

I don't really understand this either. I bought an Audi CPO some years ago and they already did the exterior. Pristine condition! The sales person had me drive it and asked 'What would you like us to fix in the interior?'

I pointed out about 20 interior trim pieces that had all kinds of defects. Like dents in the door trim from the previous owner's ring, wear on plastic pieces around buttons and such.

I pointed them all out, he wrote them down, 2 weeks later the car was fixed. Everything I mentioned was replaced. It truly looked like new. Car came with new tires as well and I assume new rims as they were flawless. New floor mats are standard and the other carpet pieces looked like it was brand new. I couldn't tell if it was replaced or just cleaned very well.

This was a 28k, 4 years old car

I also got a pen with my name engraved on it and a bottle of wine.

Then there is Tesla that doesn't even bother to vacuum the car.

Its not all bad though. When I came to Audi for annual maintanance or very expensive repairs (I had a broken crank shaft, $4k) I had to rent one of their cars to use as a loaner. This always felt cheap to me. Renting an Audi A6 (the model I was driving) was around $300 a day. That adds up when they have your car for a week for repairs. Tesla does this much better. I got a P90D. Wasn't in very good condition (brakes squealed, drive train noises, car was dirty, no charge cable) but atleast they give you a loaner for free.

Oh, and they charge your car once their maintenance is finished. Audi never topped up my gas

So there are pro's and con's with every brand I suppose.

 

[Lasttoy]

We have discussed this before. Today, there is no way in heaven i would reccomend a CPO.
Cost to much.
You pay before you can see or touch.
Banks wont pay till you have tested it.
I bought mine off internet, 10k cheaper than CPO.
Extra warranty is not woth the extra 10 to 20k.
I have 120k miles now, zero issues.
You cant deal price for CPO, i handed them cash, got super deal.
I saw a couple last year, junk trashed condition.
Good luck.

 

[hmmm]

It’s not so much the mechanical issues as the cosmetic issues.

Basically they take a bunch of low-res photos at terrible angles and expect you to plunk down $60-70K. Asking for clearer or more detailed shots is out of the question.

I have refused every vehicle I have seen on delivery to this point. Currently looking into private sales where I can, you know, inspect, drive, and negotiate on price. Kind of like how a vehicle sale should happen.

Would you (or someone else here) mind sharing a couple of the pics? I would like to see how good/bad they were even before reaching out to Tesla in the first place and waste my time...

TIA

 

[MyJoule]

These are some exterior photos after I detailed the exterior, I'm generally happy with the result

 

[barcagp]

I’m picking mine up on Saturday. I swear, for 60k I will look at every inch of that car.
And if my rep so much as sounds irritated, I’m walking out. I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of shopping for a car and driving it and comparing prices, the hunt, the research.
My first Tesla and I am basically going because they already dinged my credit with a hard credit check. I really liked the car but they’ve given me so many reasons to change my mind. I can’t wrap my brain around it-the opposite of how a car is bought- a used car especially

 

[Super_Popular]

I’m picking mine up on Saturday. I swear, for 60k I will look at every inch of that car.
And if my rep so much as sounds irritated, I’m walking out. I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of shopping for a car and driving it and comparing prices, the hunt, the research.
My first Tesla and I am basically going because they already dinged my credit with a hard credit check. I really liked the car but they’ve given me so many reasons to change my mind. I can’t wrap my brain around it-the opposite of how a car is bought- a used car especially

Totally get you, but the issue is that you have the mind set that you are paying $60K for a car and that is a lot but to Tesla $60K is chump change.

They wont give two cents if you walk because there will be someone else who will take your $60K Tesla in a heartbeat.

So you might want to expect there to be damage and by all means, you stomp out of there if the car is not up to par but I would fully expect it not to be.

And if it's crappy hit me up and I will sell you a perfect condition P85D

 

[barcagp]

Totally get you, but the issue is that you have the mind set that you are paying $60K for a car and that is a lot but to Tesla $60K is chump change.

They wont give two cents if you walk because there will be someone else who will take your $60K Tesla in a heartbeat.

So you might want to adjust your attitude a little before you show up and expect there to be knicks and dings and by all means, you stump out of there if the car is not up to par but I would fully expect it not to be.

And if it's crappy hit me up and I will sell you a perfect condition P85D

I get it but the overall process just makes ones view of things when picking up that much tainted.
And honesty if I keep 60k in my pocket so be it.
I’ll save more money and buy a new one in 3-5 years if I want to. I can wait.

 

[P85_DA]

Totally get you, but the issue is that you have the mind set that you are paying $60K for a car and that is a lot but to Tesla $60K is...

And if it's crappy hit me up and I will sell you a perfect condition P85D

...spot on ...cracks me up reading these cpo threads where folks are expecting white glove service for something that has taken a nearly 50% depreciation hit ...if u want perfect buy brand new as was suggested several threads up​

 

[barcagp]

...spot on ...cracks me up reading these cpo threads where folks are expecting white glove service for something that has taken a nearly 50% depreciation hit ...if u want perfect buy brand new as was suggested several threads up​

Yup..us commoners

 

[glide]

...spot on ...cracks me up reading these cpo threads where folks are expecting white glove service for something that has taken a nearly 50% depreciation hit ...if u want perfect buy brand new as was suggested several threads up​

Yeah...like the way other Luxury automakers such as BMW, Audi, etc treat their used vehicles sales

I have never had a better car buying experience than with a BMW CPO and never a worse experience than with Tesla. Tesla cannot continue to operate this way indefinitely. They either need to fix the program or get out of the used vehicle business.

 

[P85_DA]

Tesla cannot continue to operate this way indefinitely. They either need to fix the program or get out of the use

Of course they can ...they are the only game in town ...I would say conversely they can’t operate the CPO business as they did previously as they will bleed money ...there is a market and there are more buyers still willing to buy the car in the condition they are in ..if that wasn’t the case you would see these lease returns at auction

 

[HeinrichJ729]

I find it very rich for people who are not looking to buy a CPO used car telling people who are looking to buy a CPO car what they should be satisfied with. I suppose it is always easy to tell someone else what to do with someone else's money and what someone else should be content with.

I bet anyone telling anyone else that they should accept a $70,000 used car that had the *sugar* beaten out of it and delivered to them all trashed would feel the same way if it was their own money. We bought our Tesla new but have opted to buy our second one used. The problem with the current miserable system is that some of the cars they sell are in great shape and others are in atrocious shape and it's quite a miserable song and dance to figure out what it is that they are selling.

As for "bleeding" money, funny how all those awful car dealers can somehow sell quality used cars and still make a great profit. Isn't it?

Apologists for horrible treatment of customers really crack me up