carmudgeons.com - View Single Post - Considering a used Model S as our next car

robg · 02-18-2019, 01:33 AM

I still think they are some of the best looking 4 door cars on the road right now (up there with the new Panamera and Audi A6/7). Have driven a few over the past 7 years (just short test drives) and always enjoyed the experience. You can now find some 2016 90Ds for less than 50k (with the additional 4/50 Tesla used warranty). I've had on-again off-again interest in them since 2013 or so.

For that price/performance/practicality/warranty the only other cars I could find were a 2014 Audi S7 from CarMax (45k) or a new Kia Stinger GT (~40k). Criteria is fast hatchbacks/wagons with adaptive cruise control and no 4 cyl engines under 50k (and not ugly a la BMW 3/5 GT).

But the more I research, the more downsides I find. Starting from the fact that they are no longer re-conditioning on used cars and you can't even inspect it before putting down a 1k non-refundable deposit (and test driving is completely out of the question apparently). You can request pictures for a car via email but what you get back are typically low res and blurry. There could be a tennis ball size dent on a panel and you wouldn't be able to tell. Some people have luck getting Tesla to fix damage, but most of the time they'll just tell you it's "as is" from what i've read. You can switch your deposit to another car once. It's also not uncommon for it to take months to get your title after purchasing. So it's basically like dealing with a very shady used car dealer.

Then there's all the stuff that affects any Model S (few interior storage cubbies, no sunshade for the roof, poor media player/bluetooth integration, no way to mirror phone based media/mapping apps on the center screen, uncomfortable rear seat, poor panel fit, high chance of random issues, understaffed service depts, UI getting worse with software updates, who knows if Tesla will last the duration of the warranty, etc).

There's definitely a fascination with this vehicle over other choices, but I can't help thinking I'd be somewhat crazy to pull the trigger. It doesn't help that my current car is nearly flawless and does so many things well. OTOH, Tesla owners have some of the highest overall satisfaction with their cars (including the Tesla owners here)

Not sure whether I want to be talked in or out of this.

02-18-2019, 01:33 AM	#1
robg Carmudgeon Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 3,242	Considering a used Model S as our next car I still think they are some of the best looking 4 door cars on the road right now (up there with the new Panamera and Audi A6/7). Have driven a few over the past 7 years (just short test drives) and always enjoyed the experience. You can now find some 2016 90Ds for less than 50k (with the additional 4/50 Tesla used warranty). I've had on-again off-again interest in them since 2013 or so. For that price/performance/practicality/warranty the only other cars I could find were a 2014 Audi S7 from CarMax (45k) or a new Kia Stinger GT (~40k). Criteria is fast hatchbacks/wagons with adaptive cruise control and no 4 cyl engines under 50k (and not ugly a la BMW 3/5 GT). But the more I research, the more downsides I find. Starting from the fact that they are no longer re-conditioning on used cars and you can't even inspect it before putting down a 1k non-refundable deposit (and test driving is completely out of the question apparently). You can request pictures for a car via email but what you get back are typically low res and blurry. There could be a tennis ball size dent on a panel and you wouldn't be able to tell. Some people have luck getting Tesla to fix damage, but most of the time they'll just tell you it's "as is" from what i've read. You can switch your deposit to another car once. It's also not uncommon for it to take months to get your title after purchasing. So it's basically like dealing with a very shady used car dealer. Then there's all the stuff that affects any Model S (few interior storage cubbies, no sunshade for the roof, poor media player/bluetooth integration, no way to mirror phone based media/mapping apps on the center screen, uncomfortable rear seat, poor panel fit, high chance of random issues, understaffed service depts, UI getting worse with software updates, who knows if Tesla will last the duration of the warranty, etc). There's definitely a fascination with this vehicle over other choices, but I can't help thinking I'd be somewhat crazy to pull the trigger. It doesn't help that my current car is nearly flawless and does so many things well. OTOH, Tesla owners have some of the highest overall satisfaction with their cars (including the Tesla owners here) Not sure whether I want to be talked in or out of this. Last edited by robg; 02-18-2019 at 01:50 AM.