Just wanted to post this in case it helps anyone who is considering going the used route.
TL;DR: My experience was mostly great, but not completely without issues. If you're in the market for a used Model S, I say go for it!
02 Feb: First contact with Used Vehicle Advisor. I had started looking around on Tesla's website a few days before, and requested pictures for a few different cars. We chatted back and forth over the next couple of days. He was pretty responsive; always answered questions and sent photos within a few hours of being asked. No issues at all.
17 Feb: Woke up to find God's perfect angel waiting on me. I had my eye on this particular car for a few days (using ev-cpo.com). and was surprised to see the price had fallen so low. I figured I should go for it because it probably wouldn't last much longer. Talked it over with the wife and pulled the trigger. Notified my VA that I placed the order per his instructions, but he didn't respond until a few days later (told me he was on vacation). Not a huge deal, but I feel like they should probably set up an out of office message or something so people don't feel like they've been ghosted.
21 Feb: Contacted by the delivery team (via e-mail) to confirm trade-in details, and pick up location. Was told they would follow up once my my car is en route to the service center. Easy enough. The rep was polite and at no point did I feel like I didn't know what was going on.
Sidebar: I didn't learn of the issues out there with the CPO program until after I placed my order. I admit that I was taken aback reading some of the horror stories, and that caused me to temper my expectations a bit. I've been wanting a Tesla for YEARS, so I figured the best way to avoid a bad experience is to be prepared. With that in mind, I came up with a checklist that I would run before taking delivery. I cobbled it together from things I just thought would be good to do and forum posts.
27 Feb: Contacted the delivery team to check the status. My concern was that the trade-in offer I received would expire if too much time elapsed (I read that somewhere...don't recall where). Anyway, I was happy to find out that not only would my trade-in offer not expire, but my car was ready for delivery. Sweet.
02 Mar: arrived at service center. They took us to the waiting area and told us to hang out while they process the trade-in. I peeked out into the lot in the back and there she was! It took about an hour before they brought us out to see the car, which I didn't mind. I spent that time looking at the Model X and wishing I could afford one. Maybe one day.
Once they brought us out to see the car, I was surprised to see that it was in such great condition! The paint looked great, and the inside looked good as well. Driver seat looked a little worn and the seat belt had a lot of lint on it (no idea why), but that's it. They washed the car, but they definitely didn't detail it. Doesn't seem like the interior was attended to as well as the exterior, but I planned to get it detailed anyway so it wasn't a huge a deal.
Anyway, I went over the paperwork with the rep, and he gave me a brief overview of the car. I was surprisingly more familiar with the vehicle than I thought due to countless hours of Youtube videos and reading forums posts. After about 45 minutes, I was off to the races.
Issues:
-First issue I had was a low tire warning while driving home from the service center. Minor inconvenience, though I feel like this should've been caught during the 70 point (or whatever it is) inspection. I put some air in the tire, and the warning hasn't come back.
-Second issue (and I hesitate to call it that) is while going over my car the next morning I realized that there are a few dead bugs in the taillights (they look like mosquitoes). No idea how they got in there, but this is another one of those things that I would think the people looking over the car should've noticed. I plan on bringing this to the attention of the service center.
-Third and final issue that I noticed is a light scrape on the front bumper. You almost have to get on your hands and knees to see it, but now that I know it's there I can't unsee it. I went back and looked at the photos the VA sent me and sure enough it was there. Plan on taking this up with the service center as well.
I'll update this post once my service issues are sorted out. In the meantime, if you have any questions feel free to ask away!
TL;DR: My experience was mostly great, but not completely without issues. If you're in the market for a used Model S, I say go for it!
02 Feb: First contact with Used Vehicle Advisor. I had started looking around on Tesla's website a few days before, and requested pictures for a few different cars. We chatted back and forth over the next couple of days. He was pretty responsive; always answered questions and sent photos within a few hours of being asked. No issues at all.
17 Feb: Woke up to find God's perfect angel waiting on me. I had my eye on this particular car for a few days (using ev-cpo.com). and was surprised to see the price had fallen so low. I figured I should go for it because it probably wouldn't last much longer. Talked it over with the wife and pulled the trigger. Notified my VA that I placed the order per his instructions, but he didn't respond until a few days later (told me he was on vacation). Not a huge deal, but I feel like they should probably set up an out of office message or something so people don't feel like they've been ghosted.
21 Feb: Contacted by the delivery team (via e-mail) to confirm trade-in details, and pick up location. Was told they would follow up once my my car is en route to the service center. Easy enough. The rep was polite and at no point did I feel like I didn't know what was going on.
Sidebar: I didn't learn of the issues out there with the CPO program until after I placed my order. I admit that I was taken aback reading some of the horror stories, and that caused me to temper my expectations a bit. I've been wanting a Tesla for YEARS, so I figured the best way to avoid a bad experience is to be prepared. With that in mind, I came up with a checklist that I would run before taking delivery. I cobbled it together from things I just thought would be good to do and forum posts.
27 Feb: Contacted the delivery team to check the status. My concern was that the trade-in offer I received would expire if too much time elapsed (I read that somewhere...don't recall where). Anyway, I was happy to find out that not only would my trade-in offer not expire, but my car was ready for delivery. Sweet.
02 Mar: arrived at service center. They took us to the waiting area and told us to hang out while they process the trade-in. I peeked out into the lot in the back and there she was! It took about an hour before they brought us out to see the car, which I didn't mind. I spent that time looking at the Model X and wishing I could afford one. Maybe one day.
Once they brought us out to see the car, I was surprised to see that it was in such great condition! The paint looked great, and the inside looked good as well. Driver seat looked a little worn and the seat belt had a lot of lint on it (no idea why), but that's it. They washed the car, but they definitely didn't detail it. Doesn't seem like the interior was attended to as well as the exterior, but I planned to get it detailed anyway so it wasn't a huge a deal.
Anyway, I went over the paperwork with the rep, and he gave me a brief overview of the car. I was surprisingly more familiar with the vehicle than I thought due to countless hours of Youtube videos and reading forums posts. After about 45 minutes, I was off to the races.
Issues:
-First issue I had was a low tire warning while driving home from the service center. Minor inconvenience, though I feel like this should've been caught during the 70 point (or whatever it is) inspection. I put some air in the tire, and the warning hasn't come back.
-Second issue (and I hesitate to call it that) is while going over my car the next morning I realized that there are a few dead bugs in the taillights (they look like mosquitoes). No idea how they got in there, but this is another one of those things that I would think the people looking over the car should've noticed. I plan on bringing this to the attention of the service center.
-Third and final issue that I noticed is a light scrape on the front bumper. You almost have to get on your hands and knees to see it, but now that I know it's there I can't unsee it. I went back and looked at the photos the VA sent me and sure enough it was there. Plan on taking this up with the service center as well.
I'll update this post once my service issues are sorted out. In the meantime, if you have any questions feel free to ask away!
