TOTAL Newbie - Please be gentle

[Adrian_london]

Hi all

I live in the UK and I'm looking at buying a second hand Tesla Model S. I have a Nissan Leaf so I know a little bit about EV's but I can only compare my very limited Tesla knowledge to my very experienced Leaf knowledge.

I've found a 2014 Model S P85+ It's done 68,000 miles. It's an ex demo with all the bells and whistles.

In the Nissan world, the health of the battery is more important than the milage. I assume that the same applies to a Tesla.

How do I find out the battery health of the Model S I'm interested in? Do I need the VIn number to speak to Tesla? What else should I be looking out for when buying a second hand Model S?

Any hints and tips would be really greatful. Hopefully I'll soon be a part of your exclusive group!!!

 

[ucmndd]

85kwh batteries in general have held up quite well. By 2014 you’re clear of the “A” rev batteries, which while generally fine, have a supercharging speed limitation of ~100kw.

I’d ask the seller what the range is when charged to 100% and compare that to rated range when new. At 68k miles ~3-7% degradation from new would be considered normal/good.

Also remember you’ve got a good 3 years of battery warranty left, so if anything is amiss, you’re covered.

Good luck!

 

[Adrian_london]

85kwh batteries in general have held up quite well. By 2014 you’re clear of the “A” rev batteries, which while generally fine, have a supercharging speed limitation of ~100kw.

I’d ask the seller what the range is when charged to 100% and compare that to rated range when new. At 68k miles ~3-7% degradation from new would be considered normal/good.

Also remember you’ve got a good 3 years of battery warranty left, so if anything is amiss, you’re covered.

Good luck!

Thank you ucmndd for your input. The guy selling it did say that any 'duff' cells have always been replaced. I will ask him about the range when it is charged to 100%

What are 'A' rev batteries? I believe that he told me that it has lost 2-3 miles since he first had it. Does that sound right?

 

[Jashev]

Thank you ucmndd for your input. The guy selling it did say that any 'duff' cells have always been replaced. I will ask him about the range when it is charged to 100%

What are 'A' rev batteries? I believe that he told me that it has lost 2-3 miles since he first had it. Does that sound right?

The original 85kw batteries were labeled "A" batteries when the 85's first came out. While still quite reliable, they did have charging limitations on speed at superchargers. Subsequent versions of the 85 (B and on) didn't have the same restrictions. My 2015 85 has 42k miles on it and it has only lost about 2-3 miles at 100% charge. They are pretty amazing for their durability. If he hasn't reset any of the trip meters, I would also look to see what the lifetime wh/mile number is. You can tell how hard a car has been driven and in what climate by that number. You would expect an average of around 310 I believe for a normally driven P85 (someone correct me if my number is off, I know its about 302 for the non-P model). The higher the number, generally, the harder the car has been driven.

 

[Adrian_london]

I think he told me that from a full charge he will get 228 miles. Please don't quote me on that. I also think he said that at 80% he gets 190 miles. Does that sound about right?

 

[seclinton]

I just bought a P85+ 2014 here in California. Turn the wheels full left, and look in the right front wheel well. You will see the battery serial number and a Rev. I haven't checked mine yet, but my previous 2013 P85 was a B series at Serial 10,056. This P85+ I have now is VIN 44,xxx.

You won't see the battery health like on a leaf. No more 11 out of12 bars. What you can use is the Wh/mile and look at charged range of 90% and 100% on the battery. Note, originally a P85+ was rated for ~265miles. So at 100% see where you are at vs. 265 miles.

My stats rated: (note IIRC, Tesla uses average 325Wh/mile average for general calculation)
100% now = 256miles = 96.6% remaining capacity

Don't worry too much about range. Running AC and going over 70mph isn't as bad as the leaf in terms of loss of range. Maybe it is, but you have a much bigger reserve now so won't matter 90% of the time. Enjoy.

 

[Jashev]

By the way, congratulations on making a choice to get a Tesla. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Adrian_london]

Thank you seclinton for the info

 

[neroden]

You should be fine. Only other things to be aware of for a 2014 Model S are:

(1) You will probably have to replace door handles if the original owner didn't; they do break. A couple of hundred dollars each out of warranty. They're on the fifth revision of the part now; the newer the revision the less often they break.

(2) Make sure the powertrain replacement happened. I think it was all pre-late-2016 cars, though I may remember the year wrongly; there were six very minor-seeming issues with the motor which caused most of them to fail slowly around 50K miles (making various funny noises, known as the "clunk", the "milling noise" and some others). If the powertrain was replaced in late 2016 or later, you're golden; if the mileage is high, you're golden, it didn't fail. If not, expect to have to do the powertrain replacement at some point. It's not actually that expensive out of pocket, a couple of thousand dollars IIRC. 68K is kind of close, so check on the powertrain replacement.

(3) If the orignal owner drove really aggressively with a lot of hard acceleration, there's a way the battery pack main contactor self-destructed, again on packs from before late 2016. Unlike the motor problem, this *only* happened to very aggressive drivers. I still have an original pack and no problems because I'm not an aggressive driver. This is only replaced by Tesla when the "balloon whine" is reported, and this *is* actually expensive. If you don't plan to be an aggressive driver don't worry about it.

(4) Obviously, check for collision history.

(5) There are several safety retrofits which were available free which not everyone bothered to actually get, such as the titanium debris-deflecting shield. Some were actual recalls like the Takata airbag replacement. All of these should be free even out of warranty, whether actual recalls or not, though I'm not sure about the titanium shield. Ask if the owner got that retrofit -- or you can actually see the titanium shield in the front of the pack if you crawl underneath the car.

(6) Don't expect much out of the media player or the infotainment system; Tesla's software dev is actually kind of bad, and they have been releasing software versions which overtax the old computers on 2014 cars. That said, it's still perfectly functional as a car if you don't demand much in the way of fancy nav or hi-fi music. If you're coming from a Leaf, you won't find anything missing. Don't freak out if the screen goes black -- look up how to do a reboot.

I guess the TLDR is: get the repair and maintenance records and if the original owner (or Tesla when it was a demo car) didn't do the replacements for some of the above known issues, be aware you'll probably have to. (I was going to list a couple of other issues, but I realized they only apply in a type of cold weather which the UK never gets, so never mind.)

You'll love the car.

 

[Adrian_london]

This is the car...........

2014 Tesla Model S P85+ - Rare - Performance Pack - Free Lifetime Charging | eBay

Any thoughts? £38,000 = $50,000

 

[Jashev]

This is the car...........

2014 Tesla Model S P85+ - Rare - Performance Pack - Free Lifetime Charging | eBay

Any thoughts? £38,000 = $50,000

Whoa! Big problem! Did you know that your steering wheel is on the wrong side? ;-)

 

[Jashev]

But seriously, he says he has all the maintenance records which is great! I would absolutely look those over before you buy. Neroden did a great job in pointing out the stuff to look for.

 

[Adrian_london]

Thank you all for your help so far. Your input has been very helpful.............especially neroden

 

[Adrian_london]

Whoa! Big problem! Did you know that your steering wheel is on the wrong side? ;-)

Luckily I'm lefy handed

 

[ksquaredman]

The British are also much more polite than over here:
"Only minor issues are a slight scuff/knock on the front bumper (quoted £400 to repair) and the wheels could do with a re-furb. I am happy to get these sorted if paying full price or you may wish to haggle."

I'm also following in Adrian's footsteps, coming from a LEAF, hoping for a Tesla (probably 2014 S85), and maybe some of the experts could answer a couple of things I've wondered.

First, I've heard, at least here in the U.S., that insurance for a P85 is much, much higher than for a regular 85.

Second, all things being equal, would you go for a 2015 or 2016 S70 or stay with a 2014 S85?

Third, could someone explain a bit further about the pre-2016 powertrain replacement that neroden mentioned applied to "all pre-2016 cars." I thought that 2013 to maybe into 2014 was suspect but after that it was pretty much fixed.

Fourth, maybe this is just a worry for people who've owned a LEAF, but for battery replacement, is it possible to "downgrade" if you've got a model 85 and put a smaller/cheaper battery in? Or is it pretty much that by that time the Tesla will be so old with so many miles that it wouldn't make sense to replace the battery at all?