Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Thinking of buying a 3!

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hello everyone ! Just joined. I test drive a 3 yesterday and fell in love šŸ˜ What a fun car ! Haha never would I ever think Iā€™d want one, but now I want one!

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

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

Iā€™m looking at a 2018 long range with 15k miles, $40k. Itā€™s out of warranty due to the year, and Tesla wonā€™t extend it I know that. Itā€™s from a non-Tesla dealer too. So Iā€™m sure they have their own 3rd party warranties. Any one have experience with those ?

Basically Iā€™m asking if itā€™s worth getting a 3 with no warranty or if itā€™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
 
Yeah Iā€™ve been looking on teslas site and with the added 1 year warranty I think thatā€™s my best bet. Now Iā€™m just curious about buying the car in one state (probably California) and registering it here in FL. Iā€™d rather do a $300 flight than a $2500 shipping charge. Gonna search the forum and if not post another question
I bought a 2020 M3SR+ from a Tesla gallery in Las Vegas (online from the Tesla used listings, of course). My wife and flew from our home in Nebraska to Vegas cheap on SW and drove it home (to avoid $2000 shipping). Tesla provided the Nevada windshield pink intransit, and then mailed us the required Nebraska documentation to register ourselves with the DMV before the intransit expired.

Easy peasy.
 

Attachments

  • 70FBEE9B-AFDD-48B9-8C7C-F6170FDB1447.jpeg
    70FBEE9B-AFDD-48B9-8C7C-F6170FDB1447.jpeg
    615.5 KB · Views: 77
Upvote 0
The blue used is $47 I think. But new LR fsd are in the high 50ā€™s. I was planning on the 2018 LR fsd from a used car dealer here. Kinda thinking of going up a little with a used one from Tesla. But I canā€™t swing $57k for new.

I know some will disagree with me, but FSD is worth absolutely zero. It's beta software, and people are paying Tesla $15k to sign up as beta testers. It *IS* dangerous, it *HAS* and will continue to cause fatalities... even if those are attributable to the driver. It'll only ever be a Level 2 system (ADAS), which isn't all that great.

"New LR FSD are in the high 50's" - that car probably doesn't have FSD, since it's an extra $15k.

If your choice is between brand new RWD (at about $43k after credit) vs a few years old LR at the same price, I'd probably lean towards the RWD unless the LR is post-refresh (heat pump) and low mileage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FeddyWap
Upvote 0
Yeah Iā€™ve been looking on teslas site and with the added 1 year warranty I think thatā€™s my best bet. Now Iā€™m just curious about buying the car in one state (probably California) and registering it here in FL. Iā€™d rather do a $300 flight than a $2500 shipping charge. Gonna search the forum and if not post another question
Buying used from Tesla is one option, but often you cannot see the car prior to buy it. There are a lot of threads regarding this particular issue.
Also, if the car is out of state, you might have various expenses between delivery or travel to get the car and pay local taxes and taxes in your own state.

If you have time, try also looking at web sites for direct sale, especially local to your area so could meet the owner, sucha as:

EV CPO




As an example, it would have been nice if you could have been in touch with this TMC member:


- absolute horrible trade in value ($28K, including FSD, 57k miles)
- previous trade in value from Tesla was $34k back in october.
but realistically, all other websites/services were offering less than $28k
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: EV-CPO and FeddyWap
Upvote 0
I bought a 2020 M3SR+ from a Tesla gallery in Las Vegas (online from the Tesla used listings, of course). My wife and flew from our home in Nebraska to Vegas cheap on SW and drove it home (to avoid $2000 shipping). Tesla provided the Nevada windshield pink intransit, and then mailed us the required Nebraska documentation to register ourselves with the DMV before the intransit expired.

Easy peasy.
Ohhh, so you didnā€™t have to pay taxes for the car in Nevada? Only the registration taxes in Nebraska? Thatā€™s what Iā€™m trying to do. Exactly that. Did you have to do anything with Nebraska dmv prior to purchasing/driving the car home ?
 
Upvote 0
I know some will disagree with me, but FSD is worth absolutely zero. It's beta software, and people are paying Tesla $15k to sign up as beta testers. It *IS* dangerous, it *HAS* and will continue to cause fatalities... even if those are attributable to the driver. It'll only ever be a Level 2 system (ADAS), which isn't all that great.

"New LR FSD are in the high 50's" - that car probably doesn't have FSD, since it's an extra $15k.

If your choice is between brand new RWD (at about $43k after credit) vs a few years old LR at the same price, I'd probably lean towards the RWD unless the LR is post-refresh (heat pump) and low mileage.
Yes correct, the LR alone was high $50ā€™s plus $15k for fsd. My mistake.

A few people on here have said they donā€™t use fsd and itā€™s not worth it. I only used it in my test drive and I thought it was perty damn cool. Then again it was my first time in a Tesla and felt like I was in a spaceship lol.

I havenā€™t driven a LR with the dual motor yet, so Iā€™m waiting to test drive one cuz the standard was pretty fast! Would love to feel the LR dual motor !

But definitely keeping that in mind if most people donā€™t care about fsd for resale value
 
Upvote 0
Buying used from Tesla is one option, but often you cannot see the car prior to buy it. There are a lot of threads regarding this particular issue.
Also, if the car is out of state, you might have various expenses between delivery or travel to get the car and pay local taxes and taxes in your own state.

If you have time, try also looking at web sites for direct sale, especially local to your area so could meet the owner, sucha as:

EV CPO




As an example, it would have been nice if you could have been in touch with this TMC member:


- absolute horrible trade in value ($28K, including FSD, 57k miles)
- previous trade in value from Tesla was $34k back in october.
but realistically, all other websites/services were offering less than $28k
Yeah the site unseen part is definitely weird for me, but from this thread it sounds like the way to go with the extra year warranty and knowing it has the options stated.

Thank you for those sites, Iā€™ll stalk them too ! Iā€™m still indecisive on which trim to get. If a 3 LR with fsd went for 28k, Iā€™m sure a 3 without it and standard goes for much less. Plus Iā€™m not paying the $15k for fsd, the previous owner did.

I thought it was neat when I drove it, but probably wonā€™t use it too much. Definitely need to keep doing my research. Thanks again for the sites !
 
  • Like
Reactions: Watts_Up
Upvote 0
Yes correct, the LR alone was high $50ā€™s plus $15k for fsd. My mistake.

A few people on here have said they donā€™t use fsd and itā€™s not worth it. I only used it in my test drive and I thought it was perty damn cool. Then again it was my first time in a Tesla and felt like I was in a spaceship lol.

I havenā€™t driven a LR with the dual motor yet, so Iā€™m waiting to test drive one cuz the standard was pretty fast! Would love to feel the LR dual motor !

But definitely keeping that in mind if most people donā€™t care about fsd for resale value
Something to keep in mind, you can also just subscribe to FSD for $199/month. You will need Hardware 3 for that though, so if your car still has an older computer you will need to get the upgrade as well (I believe that is $1000). Still though even with the upgrade, you would have to subscribe for 70 months to equal the cost of the package! And yes, FSD is usually not worth much when you go to sell the car, at least in it's current form (since many people don't care about it).

If it is an older car (like mine) that does not have autopilot either, you will also have to buy that software upgrade that as well if you want FSD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocHolliday
Upvote 0
Ohhh, so you didnā€™t have to pay taxes for the car in Nevada? Only the registration taxes in Nebraska? Thatā€™s what Iā€™m trying to do. Exactly that. Did you have to do anything with Nebraska dmv prior to purchasing/driving the car home ?

Nevada is not California. If you buy a car in CA and want to drive it home, you will be paying taxes on the purchase in CA if you buy from any dealership, and dont have the car delivered to your state (meaning you can not drive it home from CA without paying taxes).
 
Upvote 0
Ohhh, so you didnā€™t have to pay taxes for the car in Nevada?
Nope! Make final payment, accept the car in the app, drive away.

Only the registration taxes in Nebraska?

Correct, once home.

Thatā€™s what Iā€™m trying to do. Exactly that. Did you have to do anything with Nebraska dmv prior to purchasing/driving the car home ?
Nope!

Edit: but Iā€™ve never bought a car in California, and from jjrandorinā€™s post, it appears the rules are different there. So, ymmv. Sorry.
 
Upvote 0
Nevada is not California. If you buy a car in CA and want to drive it home, you will be paying taxes on the purchase in CA if you buy from any dealership, and dont have the car delivered to your state (meaning you can not drive it home from CA without paying taxes).
Ah! That's what i was worried about. Paying CA state tax when i purchase it, then paying FL tax when I register it in FL. Is there any way around that? Is it possible to purchase the car, get a purchase order/bill of sale, then register it here in FL and fly out there with tag in hand?
Or just ship it to Nevada/Oregon which is closer instead ?
 
Upvote 0
Nope! Make final payment, accept the car in the app, drive away.



Correct, once home.


Nope!

Edit: but Iā€™ve never bought a car in California, and from jjrandorinā€™s post, it appears the rules are different there. So, ymmv. Sorry.
Interesting. So I guess from jjrandorin's post, if done through Tes;a, the app itself would calculate the state tax if any, and since you picked it up in Nevada, it charged whatever Nevada's tax is ? Which I'm guessing isnt as high as CA. Hmm....
 
Upvote 0
Interesting. So I guess from jjrandorin's post, if done through Tes;a, the app itself would calculate the state tax if any, and since you picked it up in Nevada, it charged whatever Nevada's tax is ? Which I'm guessing isnt as high as CA. Hmm....
Nevada charged me no tax. I only paid NE sales tax and dmv fees, as if I had bought locally. I did have to get the car ā€œinspectedā€ by the county sheriff at the dmv, for a car bought out of state. But thatā€™s only a $10 vin check to make sure itā€™s not stolen, etc.

I realize that different states have different rules. This was the experience NV>NE anyway.
 
Upvote 0
Nevada charged me no tax. I only paid NE sales tax and dmv fees, as if I had bought locally. I did have to get the car ā€œinspectedā€ by the county sheriff at the dmv, for a car bought out of state. But thatā€™s only a $10 vin check to make sure itā€™s not stolen, etc.

I realize that different states have different rules. This was the experience NV>NE anyway.
Hmm. When you were buying the car online, did it ask where it would be registered ? versus where you're picking it up? I tried the online chat but the person didnt give me much info.
 
Upvote 0
Hmm. When you were buying the car online, did it ask where it would be registered ? versus where you're picking it up? I tried the online chat but the person didnt give me much info.
Yes. This then calculates expected shipping fees to your home or closest delivery location, depending on state dealer laws. In Nebraskaā€™s case, Tesla doesnā€™t have a ā€œdealerā€™s licenseā€œ (or whatever itā€™s called), so I either had to have it shipped to Kansas City or I could pick it up in person in NV. Youā€™ll be texted by Tesla to work that all out when you purchase online.

I am not aware of CA rules. Looks like jjrandorin and others have better info on that.

(In the case of this screenshot, delivery state is synonymous to ā€œstate where registeredā€)
 

Attachments

  • 3513EF30-50AB-4DA2-986D-41B045FF122C.png
    3513EF30-50AB-4DA2-986D-41B045FF122C.png
    293.7 KB · Views: 47
  • Like
Reactions: FeddyWap
Upvote 0
Teslas all come with a J1772 charging adapter, so you should be able to use anybody's level 2 charger. Pretty sure they are all J1772.
Be sure that the used car comes with the adapter. If not, you'll need to buy one from Tesla (or a third party). I expect most Tesla stores have them in stock. All current non-Tesla EVs sold for the North American market have J1772 plugs. These are used for slow charging, so they're useful on road trips mainly for overnight charging.

There are also CCS adapters, which enable newer Teslas to DC fast charge (similar to Supercharging) at third-party DC fast chargers like those operated by Electrify America, EVgo, and ChargePoint. This could be very helpful if you're looking at a cross-country road trip to pick up a used Tesla. There's one huge caveat, though: A 2018-2019 Tesla will most likely lack the chip needed to "speak" the CCS protocol, thus rendering most of these adapters useless. IIRC, the CCS-enabled chip was added to the Model 3 in late 2020. Tesla says they'll be offering a retrofit early in 2023. It's possible to do this with an unofficial hack today, but IMHO it's better to wait for the official update from Tesla, even if it means using Superchargers and foregoing third-party CCS charging on a road trip. (Superchargers are better, overall; but it's nice to have the option to use CCS as a backup and to expand the range of possible charging stops.)
I know some will disagree with me, but FSD is worth absolutely zero. It's beta software, and people are paying Tesla $15k to sign up as beta testers.
I mostly agree. The current state of the FSD-on-city-streets feature is that it's harder to use than driving normally, IMHO. It's likely to improve in the future, but I'm skeptical that it will ever be worth the $9,000 it costs (on top of the $6,000 that Advanced Autopilot costs, which is a bit on the high side for its functionality, IMHO, but at least AAP is mostly functional today).
A few people on here have said they donā€™t use fsd and itā€™s not worth it. I only used it in my test drive and I thought it was perty damn cool. Then again it was my first time in a Tesla and felt like I was in a spaceship lol.
Cool? Yes. Impressive? Yes. Useful? No. It's erratic enough that it does NOT help with driving. I say that "FSD" doesn't really mean "full self driving"; it means "flaky student driver," because that's the way the car drives. (In fact, that might be an insult to student drivers.) When using FSD, you have to be very alert to the car doing absolutely brain-dead stupid things, like wobbling between two lanes or stopping at a red light only to start moving forward while the light is still red. When I drive myself, it's rare for another motorist to honk at me; but when I use FSD, it happens quite frequently, because FSD does such stupid things. Musk keeps promising huge improvements with the next release, but when the next release comes, it's always provided modest improvements at best. At the rate of improvement we've seen over the past year or so, I might be willing to trust the system to be more than a novelty gimmick in 5-10 years. If it's near the end of that range, then I expect my Tesla will be close to ready for the scrap heap. (Fortunately, I paid just $5,000 for FSD, when Advanced Autopilot wasn't available as a separate option, so I consider that $5,000 spent for Advanced Autopilot, and that makes the purchase as a whole OK -- although even $5,000 for Advanced Autopilot is a little high, IMHO.)

If you're buying a used car that already includes the FSD package, then you can certainly activate it; but I wouldn't recommend paying much extra for this feature.
Nevada charged me no tax. I only paid NE sales tax and dmv fees, as if I had bought locally.
I don't know about Nevada and Nebraska specifically, but some states have reciprocal arrangements in which a resident of one state can buy a car in the other and pay sales tax in the resident's state, not in the seller's state. That's true of Rhode Island (where I live) and Massachusetts, for instance. That said, I've heard of such arrangements mostly in neighboring states, which doesn't describe Nevada and Nebraska, so it could well be that Nevada has such policies for all out-of-state residents. This issue varies so much from one state to another, though, that I'd recommend calling the seller (if it's a car dealership or Tesla store) to get the details. Following up with the DMV or a sales tax office in the selling state might be in order, too, in case the dealer, ahem, miscommunicates something.
 
Upvote 0
Hello everyone ! Just joined. I test drive a 3 yesterday and fell in love šŸ˜ What a fun car ! Haha never would I ever think Iā€™d want one, but now I want one!

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

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

Iā€™m looking at a 2018 long range with 15k miles, $40k. Itā€™s out of warranty due to the year, and Tesla wonā€™t extend it I know that. Itā€™s from a non-Tesla dealer too. So Iā€™m sure they have their own 3rd party warranties. Any one have experience with those ?

Basically Iā€™m asking if itā€™s worth getting a 3 with no warranty or if itā€™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
Hi - just bought 2021 model 3 with 29k miles from a Toyota dealer ship. Most importantly I still have the warranty because itā€™s less than 5 yrs old but I would say I was nervous to make the purchase from a Toyota dealership. The good news is no issues so far, I also upgraded the rims to 20x9 with 255/35/20 tires. The car looks amazing and drives a hell of a lot better with the bigger tires. Hopefully my post was helpful in you decision making. GOOD LUCK
 
  • Like
Reactions: FeddyWap
Upvote 0
Hi - just bought 2021 model 3 with 29k miles from a Toyota dealer ship. Most importantly I still have the warranty because itā€™s less than 5 yrs old but I would say I was nervous to make the purchase from a Toyota dealership. The good news is no issues so far, I also upgraded the rims to 20x9 with 255/35/20 tires. The car looks amazing and drives a hell of a lot better with the bigger tires. Hopefully my post was helpful in you decision making. GOOD LUCK
Nice congrats !! Thatā€™s my next research projectā€¦ wheels. 19 or 20ā€™s hmm. And make sure they fit good too. Hopefully thatā€™s not a complicated issue too.
 
Upvote 0