[Dbond]

Hi, I am thinking of buying a Tesla model S 2016. It has the new shape front grill. It has a 69,000 miles on the clock . Is this a good idea or a bad idea?

 

[dk6780]

Have you got a bulletproof warranty or a spare £5-£10k available if something major goes wrong? Also I presume that you are happy driving such a wide car and don't need to go down roads that are tight for cars passing in the opposite direction?

 

[cah197]

It is simultaneously a good idea and a bad idea, until the point at which you buy it.

Schrodinger's Tesla if you like.

 

[cah197]

Have you got a bulletproof warranty or a spare £5-£10k available if something major goes wrong?

What are you thinking that might cost that much on a Tesla?

 

[Dbond]

Have you got a bulletproof warranty or a spare £5-£10k available if something major goes wrong? Also I presume that you are happy driving such a wide car and don't need to go down roads that are tight for cars passing in the opposite direction?

So what I hear is that I should only buy a used car from Tesla . Size isnt an issue . Ta for the reply

 

[onlineo]

I think it's an excellent idea. Except I don't think there is a lot of value in it. A 4 year old model S seems to sell between £35,000 and £55,000. Tesla will now warranty cover the memory chip that frequently fails up to 100,000 miles or 8 years. But remember this car has MCU 1 so it is relatively slow responding screen compared to newer Teslas. The rated range of the S was 200-290 I think. New model S LR are 400+ miles. Efficency has definitely improved partly due to new vehicles mainly using the motors from the model 3. As a whole the model S has improved a lot. Many things that were optional extras are now included. I suppose what I'm trying to say is a brand new £75,000 Model S LR is a different car and a lot better in many way to the 2016 model S. Sure they look the same internally and externally, but the features, speed, range, speed of charge, and useability has all increased quite a lot since 2016. A normal car with 69000 miles on the clock 4 years old would have very similar attributes to a new version and would probably cost 40% of the cost of new. With the model S you get a car that is not nearly as compelling as the new version (unless it had a lot of extras and is a 90P for a cheap price) then it is hard to recommend at the price they sell for... That said the real metric is how much car you resell the car for once you have finished with it. Maybe you have it 3 years and loose £9000 in depreciation in which case you have got a great drive for the equivalent of £250pm.

 

[dk6780]

What are you thinking that might cost that much on a Tesla?

You mean that little? 😋

What I mean is that owning any premium car outside of warranty is a big risk, or maybe you just accept it as the cost of ownership. Otherwise they wouldn't have depreciated that much as the suggestion

Maybe you have it 3 years and loose £9000 in depreciation in which case you have got a great drive for the equivalent of £250pm.

would be taken up by more people.

 

[Wastedspacer]

Have you got a bulletproof warranty or a spare £5-£10k available if something major goes wrong? Also I presume that you are happy driving such a wide car and don't need to go down roads that are tight for cars passing in the opposite direction?

We considered a similar mileage and vintage (just out of warranty) used Model S but here in California for about the same up front cost we could buy a brand new Chevy Bolt and garner all of the tax incentives making it substantially cheaper! The biggest surprise that deterred us from the Model S was getting an insurance quote for the used car while the market "values" were pretty much the same as the Bolt, the premium for the Tesla with identical coverage and deductibles was going to cost more than TWICE what we were quoted for the Bolt! After talking with the agent they explained that their biggest cost for Tesla claims stems from what would otherwise be considered "minor" body damage on every other car. Allegedly on a Tesla even what looks like minor body damage can misalign one or more critical auto-pilot critical sensors (even if AP is not installed it still flags as a critical error) that may require replacement of several entire body panels that then all need to be architecturally re-calibrated. Thus all body repairs must be carried out by Tesla at a substantial premium cost often to the point of exceeding the value of the car and thereby causing the insurance company to write the car off!

 

[cah197]

Allegedly on a Tesla even what looks like minor body damage can misalign one or more critical auto-pilot critical sensors (even if AP is not installed it still flags as a critical error) that may require replacement of several entire body panels that then all need to be architecturally re-calibrated.

Simply not true. I had a camera error. Tesla replaced the camera unit and it self calibrates. No body panels replaced.

Thus all body repairs must be carried out by Tesla at a substantial premium cost often to the point of exceeding the value of the car and thereby causing the insurance company to write the car off!

Also not true. I had some minor body damage caused by a valet. The repair was done by a third party body shop, which also handled Audis, Renault, etc. Their cost was extremely reasonable.

Please take your FUD elsewhere.

 

[onlineo]

You would not cross shop a Honda Jazz (Fit in the USA) and a BMW M5. Why are you comparing a Bolt to a Model S. The gap in class in terms of size, features and luxury is similar. The only difference is the Bolt is a bit faster 0-60 than the Jazz. They are different vehicles for different people. There are lots of small EVs in the UK you could consider instead, the Kona EV, id3, e208, ds3 e-tense, e2008, eCorsa, eNiro, Zoe and probably a handful of other small long range EVs.

We considered a similar mileage and vintage (just out of warranty) used Model S but here in California for about the same up front cost we could buy a brand new Chevy Bolt and garner all of the tax incentives making it substantially cheaper! The biggest surprise that deterred us from the Model S was getting an insurance quote for the used car while the market "values" were pretty much the same as the Bolt, the premium for the Tesla with identical coverage and deductibles was going to cost more than TWICE what we were quoted for the Bolt! After talking with the agent they explained that their biggest cost for Tesla claims stems from what would otherwise be considered "minor" body damage on every other car. Allegedly on a Tesla even what looks like minor body damage can misalign one or more critical auto-pilot critical sensors (even if AP is not installed it still flags as a critical error) that may require replacement of several entire body panels that then all need to be architecturally re-calibrated. Thus all body repairs must be carried out by Tesla at a substantial premium cost often to the point of exceeding the value of the car and thereby causing the insurance company to write the car off!