Thinking of buying a 3!

[FeddyWap]

Hello everyone ! Just joined. I test drive a 3 yesterday and fell in love What a fun car ! Haha never would I ever think I’d want one, but now I want one!

As much as I’d like to get a new one or a newly used one, prices are kinda high for me so I’m looking at a few older ones.

My question is about repairs after warranty expires. Have y’all had a lot of issues with the car that needs repair ?

I’m looking at a 2018 long range with 15k miles, $40k. It’s out of warranty due to the year, and Tesla won’t extend it I know that. It’s from a non-Tesla dealer too. So I’m sure they have their own 3rd party warranties. Any one have experience with those ?

Basically I’m asking if it’s worth getting a 3 with no warranty or if it’s going to cost me a knee cap and a liver to fix it when something goes wrong?

Super excited to be a part of this EV community soon though !! Deciding if I do it before Xmas or wait till the new year.

Cheers !

Feddy

 

[smogne41]

Make sure you know if its AWD or not, You could still get a LR RWD in 2018, I believe. Would suck to find out you were missing an entire axle worth of drivetrain.

The LR RWD is still quite fun (and a bit more efficient). Still a great choice, if it suits your needs.

 

[crazy150]

I went through this myself and ended up just getting a new one for what amounted to $100/mo. But one trick is to google the VIN of the cars you are looking at. I found some in my search that were sold under telsa preowned on/before 2020 and therefore had extended warranties which would give a year or two depending on miles and service date. But my total was 48k for a brand new RWD. They had a brand new LR in inventory as well for 58k iirc.


So maybe think about the long term costs here. Where are you gonna be in 5 years when that car is paid for (assuming a loan). It’s gonna be worth maybe 15-20k if you’re lucky (prolly less bc the battery/drive warrants will be gone) and you certainly will have spent a few grand more on it in repairs. So you’ve paid maybe 28k to own it 5 years. If you buy a new one for 60k (LR), in 5 years it’s gonna be worth 35-40k and you will likely have most repairs done under warranty. So you’ll have spent maybe 23k in total cost, had the benefits of the newer model and the longer range.

 

[blackT3$!@]

Basically I’m asking if it’s worth getting a 3 with no warranty or if it’s going to cost me a knee cap and a liver to fix it when something goes wrong?

If you are concerned about vehicle purchase price and possible future repair costs now, you should not spend 40k on a 2018 Model 3. You have car buyer fever and 3 weeks after you drive off the lot and the MCU, screen or other non-warrantied part fails, you now have an expensive repair and have an expensive car. Save yourself the heartache and buy a used 15k ICE Honda or Toyota or keep what you currently have.

 

[Watts_Up]

Basically I’m asking if it’s worth getting a 3 with no warranty or if it’s going to cost me a knee cap and a liver to fix it when something goes wrong?

I have a 2018 Model 3 LR AWD with FSD and never had any issue or needed to use the Service Center.
This is a big change with my previous ICE car where I needed to change oil, timing belt, brakes...

Also there is a free Volta charger near my home, so I almost never paid for electricity.
I installed a NEMA 14-50 plug in my garage, but used it very seldomly, using off peak rate.

The Tesla Supercharging network is the big advantage of Tesla.
I was also able to enable the CCS charging capability, to get an extra option.

I still have the original 12 V battery. In fact, would recommend using a 12 V battery monitor, to check if the 12 V battery keep the charge.
Also a good way to check the High Voltage battery is to use an ODBC2 monitor and the Scan My Tesla phone App.

If you are so concern about waranty, get a new Model 3,
otherwise if you are not in hurry, try finding a used one with low mileage in your area.

I noticed that the Facebook Marketplace has a lot of Tesla.
I like this site because you can access the Facebook web page of the seller.
Since you are in Florida, there will be certainly some retired people
selling their car with very low mileage and in excellent condition.

Note: If you worry about replacing major electronic components in the future,
there is a growing number of shops who take parts from totaled Tesla
or even repair CPUs or Batteries. The following shop is a good example:

057 Technology

057 Technology, LLC

057tech.com

 

[FeddyWap]

If you are concerned about vehicle purchase price and possible future repair costs now, you should not spend 40k on a 2018 Model 3. You have car buyer fever and 3 weeks after you drive off the lot and the MCU, screen or other non-warrantied part fails, you now have an expensive repair and have an expensive car. Save yourself the heartache and buy a used 15k ICE Honda or Toyota or keep what you currently have.

Or I could just get a 2019 or 2020 that has warranty on it.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Tesla used car price bubble pops, weighs on new car demand might be interesting to you, both the used car pricing and the extra price cut of new models.

 

[FeddyWap]

Tesla used car price bubble pops, weighs on new car demand might be interesting to you, both the used car pricing and the extra price cut of new models.

Interesting. I've been seeing all sorts of prices for these things. Its really interesting. I still want to get a used one in January, just hope it doesnt depreciate too much in the next year. And, if it does, I'll just enjoy the hell out of it!

 

[blackT3$!@]

I still want to get a used one in January, just hope it doesnt depreciate too much in the next year.

Cars have traditionally been depreciating assets. The last couple years of used car appreciation is an anomaly that you shouldn't count on again. Cars are consumable items that have an initial high cost that decreases in value each day and after each mile. I spent $3000 for a used 2002 Toyota Seqouia 4x4 in 2016 with 213k miles on it and now it has 260k miles. I spent about $1000 on maintenance items and it still runs and drives great. My son drives it now, and I can sell it today for about $5000. Don't buy a new vehicle and expect to sell it for more than it is worth.

 

[FeddyWap]

Cars have traditionally been depreciating assets. The last couple years of used car appreciation is an anomaly that you shouldn't count on again. Cars are consumable items that have an initial high cost that decreases in value each day and after each mile. I spent $3000 for a used 2002 Toyota Seqouia 4x4 in 2016 with 213k miles on it and now it has 260k miles. I spent about $1000 on maintenance items and it still runs and drives great. My son drives it now, and I can sell it today for about $5000. Don't buy a new vehicle and expect to sell it for more than it is worth.

Yes I understand and agree. I didn’t say I’m looking to invest in a car and make money, I said I’m hoping that it doesn’t depreciate TOO much. Definitely am not buying new. Looking to find a used one with good options and low miles that hopefully, if I decide to sell in a year, I can sell for close to what I paid.

And who knows, from everything I’ve been reading on this site and others, maybe I’ll keep it because everyone seems to be completely in love with their Tesla. So that’s definitely an option too !

 

[FeddyWap]

I’ve been searching for a used 3 LR. I want one with warranty, and everything 2020-2022 were in the $40-50k range.

Now this price cut from Tesla.

2023 M3P $54k
Minus $7500 tax credit
Basically it’s $46.5k for a brand new 3P

Any idea how low used car dealers and private sellers wil go now ? I assume even the auction price to buy the car from the dealer must go down. Would it be possible to find a 21-22 3LR with low miles for high 30’s to $40k?

Or not since Tesla isn’t selling new 3LRs yet ?

Curious what y’all think since I know nothing in this area.

 

[thesmokingman]

I’ve been searching for a used 3 LR. I want one with warranty, and everything 2020-2022 were in the $40-50k range.

Now this price cut from Tesla.

2023 M3P $54k
Minus $7500 tax credit
Basically it’s $46.5k for a brand new 3P

Any idea how low used car dealers and private sellers wil go now ? I assume even the auction price to buy the car from the dealer must go down. Would it be possible to find a 21-22 3LR with low miles for high 30’s to $40k?

Or not since Tesla isn’t selling new 3LRs yet ?

Curious what y’all think since I know nothing in this area.

Go look on the sites, prices are dropping fast to reflect MSRP w/ IRA crefits. I've seen plenty of M3P from 22/23 with low miles at 42K ish.

 

[FeddyWap]

Go look on the sites, prices are dropping fast to reflect MSRP w/ IRA crefits. I've seen plenty of M3P from 22/23 with low miles at 42K ish.

I was just in car gurus. Still see most of them at $46-49k. I wanna go in next week and offer 38-40, but don’t want to look like a jackass if that’s completely unrealistic.

 

[buster84]

I was just in car gurus. Still see most of them at $46-49k. I wanna go in next week and offer 38-40, but don’t want to look like a jackass if that’s completely unrealistic.

I doubt dealers will drop anytime soon. They got hosed like the rest of us with the sale market. My 2022 LR with less than 5k miles is work 33k. I’ll never sell it for that and dealers won’t either especially since they paid way more for it as a trade in. Maybe by December of 2023 after a year of no sales they will for a tax write off, but for now they have zero reasons to try.

 

[Willy’sEV]

Look at Inventory, lot of cars available.

 

[FeddyWap]

I doubt dealers will drop anytime soon. They got hosed like the rest of us with the sale market. My 2022 LR with less than 5k miles is work 33k. I’ll never sell it for that and dealers won’t either especially since they paid way more for it as a trade in. Maybe by December of 2023 after a year of no sales they will for a tax write off, but for now they have zero reasons to try.

You, yes I understand you have no reason because you can still use the car and enjoy it.
But I think, and I may be wrong, is the way a dealer works, is they have the card (product) which they buy and sell for profits. A car on their lot is money invested into a product. While it’s in that product, it can’t be in another product.
So if they paid $42k for a trade in. That $42k is not usable on another vehicle. So it would make sense to take a loss in the short run, and sell it dor $39k, and then use the $39k to buy another product that will give them the margin to be profitable and recoup what they lost.
I’m not sure how the write off works at the end of the year, but I wouldn’t think it would make sense for them to hold onto it taking up space and losing more money on the depreciation.

Just my thinkig, I could probably have this completely backwards.

 

[FeddyWap]

On cargurus, every day i get notifications that a 3 LR or P's price was lowered. I wonder how far they will go. Private sellers have more to lose, so I can understand you putting your car for sale at $49k, and not getting rid of it for $40k because its a huge hit, but with the dealer, I think its different.

On find my electric's site, private sales are still up in the high 40's and even 50's. I wonder if anyone is getting even near their asking price.