Used Model S from Vroom.com?

[professortech]

Hey TMC forum members,

I'm curious if anyone in this forum has purchased a used Model S from Vroom.com? They are an online car dealer that (according to one of their employees) is one of the leading used Tesla dealerships. They recently purchased $2 million worth of Teslas (probably around 25 vehicles) directly from Tesla. They also have thousands of other cars. They ship the vehicle to the buyer and you have 7 days or 250 miles to return for a full refund.

I'm looking at a 2016 Model S with less than 15,000 miles, so it's obviously still under the factory warranty. Thoughts?

 

[SD_Engnr]

Also curious, as I've seen their listings. I think the one drawback is the inability to purchase an extended warranty.

The cars they list seem to sell pretty fast, so if you see something you like, you might want to act fast.

 

[hatman4731]

I sold my bmw to Vroom a while back and was pretty shocked by how little inspection they did before they offered me a check for the car. No mechanical inspection, no putting it on a lift, just a walkaround and a 5-minute test drive. In comparison when I requested a quote from Beepi they were very thorough and checked every single part of the car, giving me a complete report as well.

Judging by my experience selling the car I wouldn't trust buying a car from them without a full inspection done by a mechanic of your choosing. Too bad beepi was acquired and shut down in CA but they seemed like a much better-run company.

 

[iqless]

Their prices for the newer Teslas seem to be very good. They had a 90D with 1,000 miles on it (and with OK options from what I could tell) for $80,000. Which is a pretty amazing price.

 

[Lightmatrix]

Free delivery too right?

 

[Mike K]

I sold my bmw to Vroom a while back and was pretty shocked by how little inspection they did before they offered me a check for the car. No mechanical inspection, no putting it on a lift, just a walkaround and a 5-minute test drive. In comparison when I requested a quote from Beepi they were very thorough and checked every single part of the car, giving me a complete report as well.

Judging by my experience selling the car I wouldn't trust buying a car from them without a full inspection done by a mechanic of your choosing. Too bad beepi was acquired and shut down in CA but they seemed like a much better-run company.

Similar experience here. They bought my 2013 S85. The site gave me an offer of $46,000 then a guy from the company called and asked if I'd take that. I talked him up another $1000 to 47k and he agreed site unseen. They sent a contracted third party car hauler to pick the car up and it was just a normal pickup for him. Zero inspection. The car went off to Texas and I never saw it again. It sat on their lot for a good 6 months before disappearing from my Tesla account. I know they lost money on it.

From a seller's perspective it was a great experience. I'd never want to invest in the company though.

 

[sorka]

Also curious, as I've seen their listings. I think the one drawback is the inability to purchase an extended warranty.

The cars they list seem to sell pretty fast, so if you see something you like, you might want to act fast.

If the factory warranty hasn't expired, you can now purchase the extended warranty without having to be the original owner.

 

[SD_Engnr]

If the factory warranty hasn't expired, you can now purchase the extended warranty without having to be the original owner.

From what the warranty language states, that is not valid if you buy from a third party dealer.

From Tesla's website:

Can anyone purchase an Extended Service Agreement?
Owners (excluding 3rd party dealers and vehicles purchased from a 3rd party dealer) with Model S or X vehicles subject to the New Vehicle Limited Warranty which are still within the eligible purchase period can purchase the Extended Service Agreement.

 

[Zaphod]

I don't remember the relationship, but they are also are/were dealing as Welcome to Texas Direct Auto | We're Ready to WOW You! as well. Not sure if one bought the other, or merged or what.

 

[professortech]

@SD With the vehicle being under

Free delivery too right?

Correct, delivery is free. They also give a buy back guarantee. You can apparently try out the car for seven days or 250 miles. If you don't like it, they will pick up the car for free and refund 100% of your money.

 

[professortech]

I don't remember the relationship, but they are also are/were dealing as Welcome to Texas Direct Auto | We're Ready to WOW You! as well. Not sure if one bought the other, or merged or what.

You are correct. Vroom Raises $95M And Acquires Texas Direct Auto In Its Quest To Bring Car-Buying Online

 

[bharned3]

When you buy CPO from Tesla you get the 4 year 50k mile warranty. I think Vroom only offers whatever warranty is left on the car

 

[zer0cool]

Their prices are very competitive and I ve looked into some cars recently. Many premium cars are gone very quickly due to their highly competitive (pretty much better than any dealer) pricing. I saw a 2015 Cayenne S ehybrid with low miles and LOTs of options like premium plus and ACC and it was priced at 60k. Similar cars at dealers are priced at least 5-6k more and they don't have ACC. I pulled the vin and the car was 99k new and just 2 years old. The car was gone like in 3 days. Not really surprising.

Sure, they can't offer CPO like a dealer, but you are getting the car for 5-6k less... you have to think, is the CPO worth it? Are you going to keep the car for long enough to enjoy the CPO benefits? etc.

Their trade-in offer is much better than Tesla as well. And all you need to do is to take some pictures, very quick and simple.

To some who question their inspections, really what's there to inspect for a 2 year old car still under factory warranty for 2 more years? low mileage, etc. As long as there's no physical damage, little to no inspections are needed.

 

[professortech]

I'm not sure whether this is true, but according to a sales guy with Vroom, they are becoming or have plans to become an official reseller of used Teslas. I do find it interesting that currently Tesla has very few CPO vehicles options manufactured in 2016. Vroom currently has 12 Teslas for sale with supposedly 25 more incoming.

 

[professortech]

Free delivery too right?

I see you are located in Houston. Ironically, several of the Teslas they have for sale are physically located at their Houston location. Want to check out my held Tesla for a price? Kidding...kind of

 

[zer0cool]

They sure got a really interesting business model and makes car buying a pretty hassle free experience. Just need to do your research and find the right car. The 7-day back guaranty is good but probably pretty hard to use much since you need to get financing (unless you pay cash on a 60k car or something); so it's probably not a good idea to get large loans multiple times in a month... would be bad for credit score.

However if you are paying cash, then you can try a few cars out to find the best one you want.

 

[professortech]

When you buy CPO from Tesla you get the 4 year 50k mile warranty. I think Vroom only offers whatever warranty is left on the car

That makes sense. Tesla, Mercedes Benz, BMW, etc, all likely have the same warranty policies. If you buy from them (and pay a premium) you get a CPO vehicle with extended warranty. Otherwise regarding the warranty, this is almost exactly like a private party sale. Except there are provisions for protecting the buyer through the guarantee.

 

[SD_Engnr]

I see you are located in Houston. Ironically, several of the Teslas they have for sale are physically located at their Houston location. Want to check out my held Tesla for a price? Kidding...kind of

Which one did you snag? I was looking at one, and by the time I had submitted questions for it, it was gone.

Also, since you seem to be in the process of buying one, do you know any further information regarding the option of an extended warranty?

 

[zer0cool]

People put too much value on extended warranty... if the car is 5-6k cheaper, I would just buy the car without extended warranty, sell it in 2 years when the original warranty runs out, and then buy another pre-owned with still 2 years of remaining warranty. Or if you plan to keep the car longer term, just drive it without warranty... I doubt 2 years of warranty is worth 5-6k dollars...

There's no way the selling price of the car would be 5-6k different due to warranty. I doubt you get even 20% of the value of a warranty at trade-in.

 

[professortech]

I sold my bmw to Vroom a while back and was pretty shocked by how little inspection they did before they offered me a check for the car. No mechanical inspection, no putting it on a lift, just a walkaround and a 5-minute test drive. In comparison when I requested a quote from Beepi they were very thorough and checked every single part of the car, giving me a complete report as well.

Judging by my experience selling the car I wouldn't trust buying a car from them without a full inspection done by a mechanic of your choosing. Too bad beepi was acquired and shut down in CA but they seemed like a much better-run company.

Thanks for taking the time to provide this information. Regarding a relatively new (2016) Tesla they currently have for sale (with low miles and a clean autocheck with a rating of 97), don't you think any issues would have been taken care of prior to the sale (just like they probably did with your BMW)?