Yes another newbie asking about older Model S and carfax info

[hertfordnc]

I convinced my wife to get a Bolt for her long commute. That was the gateway drug.

Budget for another car is around $20K before the $4000 used EV credit. Based on threads i've read here from just a few months ago, prices are falling fast. I think in the dead of winter I might be able to steal one.

I have questions.

While my budget is low i can afford to be wrong. I won't be homeless or carless if do have a battery failure, I'm just trying to gauge the risk. Everyone posts their problems. People don't come to forums to say they have 100,000 trouble free miles.

Does CARFAX show service by tesla? CARFAX on my sprinter van pretty much showed the entire service history from multiple shops all over the country. I found stuff the seller had forgotten about.

It seems dealers don't want to know as they don't want to be held responsible? Our 2019 Bolt has a brand new battery warrantied for 100K to 2031 and the dealer (who only sells EVs) never mentioned it.



If i could know what major components had been replaced that would be very helpful.

besides the battery and drive unit, what else is likely to fail that would leave me on the side of the road? Door handles and touch screens don't bother me much as long as i can drive home and figure out a repair (which i'd probably do myself)

 

[ucmndd]

I don't believe Tesla service reports to Carfax. The only real way you've got of determining service history is by getting it from the original owner(s) before the sale.

Other common problems on earlier Model S include things like the DC-DC converter, AC compressor, onboard charger, air suspension, sunroof... stuff like that.

If I were considering what you were:

I would not buy a 2012-2014 Model S, at pretty much any price. The odds of battery and/or drive unit failure are simply too high on these early models to make it worth it. I'd favor a newer car with high miles vs. an older one with low miles. I just sold my 2016 Model S with 175,000 miles at near your budget, so it's possible.

 

[livesmith]

I convinced my wife to get a Bolt for her long commute. That was the gateway drug.

Budget for another car is around $20K before the $4000 used EV credit. Based on threads i've read here from just a few months ago, prices are falling fast. I think in the dead of winter I might be able to steal one.

I have questions.

While my budget is low i can afford to be wrong. I won't be homeless or carless if do have a battery failure, I'm just trying to gauge the risk. Everyone posts their problems. People don't come to forums to say they have 100,000 trouble free miles.

Does CARFAX show service by tesla? CARFAX on my sprinter van pretty much showed the entire service history from multiple shops all over the country. I found stuff the seller had forgotten about.

It seems dealers don't want to know as they don't want to be held responsible? Our 2019 Bolt has a brand new battery warrantied for 100K to 2031 and the dealer (who only sells EVs) never mentioned it.



If i could know what major components had been replaced that would be very helpful.

besides the battery and drive unit, what else is likely to fail that would leave me on the side of the road? Door handles and touch screens don't bother me much as long as i can drive home and figure out a repair (which i'd probably do myself)

I managed to get 15' 85D for $19K but it did come with 306K miles. Looks to be original battery.

I agree from what I've seen this seems to be about the lowest entry point for not having as many problems as the earlier cars.
Also you will want a D model and Not a P model if you want reliability. Anything else will have a larger motor with coolant running through it which all seem to leak at some point.

I'm finding the car an interesting concept for repairs... pretty much anything could be an item that will need replacement or messing with... it's hard to know.
I've had mine 3 months and 15K miles so far and off the top of my head I've done:
-Tires
-Front lower control arms
-Rear camber arms
-Rear toe arms
-Rear left door: Speaker, window regulator, handle pawl.
-HID bulb

 

[Yelobird]

I managed to get 15' 85D for $19K but it did come with 306K miles. Looks to be original battery.

I agree from what I've seen this seems to be about the lowest entry point for not having as many problems as the earlier cars.
Also you will want a D model and Not a P model if you want reliability. Anything else will have a larger motor with coolant running through it which all seem to leak at some point.

I'm finding the car an interesting concept for repairs... pretty much anything could be an item that will need replacement or messing with... it's hard to know.
I've had mine 3 months and 15K miles so far and off the top of my head I've done:
-Tires
-Front lower control arms
-Rear camber arms
-Rear toe arms
-Rear left door: Speaker, window regulator, handle pawl.
-HID bulb

20k for a car with 307k miles just seems like bad math and a bad buy in my opinion.

 

[karkrazy]

It seems dealers don't want to know as they don't want to be held responsible?

Dealerships and service centers do not have an obligation to report anything to carfax (or autocheck) and it depends on their external data sharing agreements with third parties. So IMO service history on places like carfax is hit-or-miss at best, as they can also be incomplete, inaccurate, etc.

I'd favor a newer car with high miles vs. an older one with low miles.

I don’t know MS’ that well, so how about the MCU? What years to avoid? And do you need to have Toolbox available?

 

[livesmith]

20k for a car with 307k miles just seems like bad math and a bad buy in my opinion.

Hard to say. My last few cars have been of the thought of going with higher miles and saving money to start with in case it does need repairs since I'm not noticing a huge difference in number of repairs related to mileage. That said the last couple I bought were around 200k miles and my Prius is over 300K now. So a Tesla at 300k miles is new territory for sure.

But when I was Tesla shopping it would have cost me roughly $5-7k just to save 100k miles and probably at least$10k or more to move up a year. And I'm not seeing much reason to think those are more reliable than what I've got. So if the battery is the most expensive item likely to need replacement at around $8k or so from recell then even if I replace it I'm still around what I would have paid for the next cheapest I could find.

 

[hertfordnc]

So, is there a point (year and option package) at which the MS is as reliable as the M3? I'll just drive a Bolt while i wait for the depreciation.

 

[ucmndd]

So, is there a point (year and option package) at which the MS is as reliable as the M3? I'll just drive a Bolt while i wait for the depreciation.

I mean, everything is hit or miss, but I’d say the mid-2016 and later “post nosecone” cars have been pretty reliable. Most of the major early production issues were fixed by then. I put 175,000 miles on one with very very few issues.

 

[BigTex68]

Data Point: Just paid $17k for a 2015 S85D 142k miles, 2nd owner. Minor scrapes and chips on the paint, clean interior, still on MCU1 but has the LTE upgrade. Some "drippiness" on the IC and mild yellow banding on the MCU screen, but all working well with no lockups or restarts. Not sure if the MCU2 upgrade is worth it, considering the car already has the 4G LTE upgrade. I would get both new screens, but lose my FM/AM radio. Also I understand MCU2 limits home charging to 48A, which would suck since I have 72A working now. Upgrade costs $1890 with tax...

 

[livesmith]

Data Point: Just paid $17k for a 2015 S85D 142k miles, 2nd owner. Minor scrapes and chips on the paint, clean interior, still on MCU1 but has the LTE upgrade. Some "drippiness" on the IC and mild yellow banding on the MCU screen, but all working well with no lockups or restarts. Not sure if the MCU2 upgrade is worth it, considering the car already has the 4G LTE upgrade. I would get both new screens, but lose my FM/AM radio. Also I understand MCU2 limits home charging to 48A, which would suck since I have 72A working now. Upgrade costs $1890 with tax...

Wow, nice job on that price, especially with dual chargers. I got the lowest priced 85D I could find for $19K 4 months ago and mine came with 306K miles.

My MCU1 is similar. I'm eager to update, but trying to hold off till I get a bit more cash positive with this purchase.

Hadn't heard that MCU2 disables the dual chargers. So you have a 100amp circuit and everything in your house?

 

[BigTex68]

I read that MCU2 lowers your max home rate to 48A, but in another thread I'm told it does NOT limit your charging speed. The guy that said it didn't seemed pretty adamant about it, so I tend to believe him, but YMMV.

My Gen2 wall charger only requires an 80 amp breaker for 72A charging. But yes, I do have an 80 amp circuit for it. And honestly, it only charges that fast for a few minutes when the battery is very low. If I plug it in at 50% to top off, it may only give me 30 or 24 amps.