Used Tesla Model Y Ultimate Buyers Guide - Versions / problems / running costs

A guide to help you buy a used Tesla Model Y.
A brief history of time, the different versions, refreshes and updated versions to help you choose and decide what’s rights for you.
What goes wrong and what to look out for.
All the pros and cons.
What are the charging / running costs?
Real world range expectations?

Standard range rwd
Long range dual motor
Performance

Parking sensors or not? Is Tesla vision ok?
19”,20 or 21 inch alloy wheels?

Hopefully useful to you if you’re looking to buy a used Tesla Model Y!

Thanks for watching.

Richard Symons
R Symons LTD "RSEV"
EV Specialist based in New Milton, Hampshire on the South Coast near Southampton and Bournemouth
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[vmemtsas]

had my Tesla MY since Aug 2023 in UK. every bit of this video is accurate and reflective of reality.

I only have one comment to make about cost of home charging. now, this is something 99% of youtube/tech reviewers get wrong, but this guy and this particular video is so accurate that i feel it should be noted for completeness.

cost of home charging on a cheap overnight EV tariff (like intelligent octopus in the UK): add 15% to the numbers quoted by Simon in this video, when charging at home on an overnight ev tariff. why? several reasons below

1. kWh going into the battery is not the same as kWh consumed by the charger. charging is ~93-95% efficient due to AC to DC conversion. so put in 60kWh in the cars battery, your house will have consumed ~64kWh (that is what you are getting charged for). so thats is extra electricity


2. if you use a Tesla car the way it is supposed to, esp during cold winter days and warm summer days, you are preconditioning the car (and the battery) for 20-30 mins before leaving home to get max range and comfort out of it. this is esp true for those with kids, from a comfort point of view. during preconditioning time the car easily draws ~2000-3000Watts/hour, and since this *typically* occurs outside the cheap overnight rate time period, you have extra electricity draw of maybe 1500W x2 once a day. over a month this adds up. admittedly there are ways to mitigate this, with smart charging and scheduled departure etc, but realistically when you drive to pick the kids up from school, this is going to cost you. this extra electricity is often unaccounted for as it does show up as battery percentage. same applies when preconditioning the car using its battery energy when you are out and return home. you consume maybe 1% battery, but you havent moved an inch, you just warmed up the car.

3. when on an cheap overnight tariff, you are paying relatively higher rate (vs the electricity cap or other average tariff) for daytime electricity. your electricity provider has done the math, they are not stupid. so although you might be able to say that "i charge my car at 7.5p/kWh", the flip side is that "your oven doesnt cook at 25p/kWh (or whatever the average is for consumers), but instead your oven cooks at 31.5p/kWh". thats a hidden cost of electricity, which again is not accounted for. to put it in another way, if you get 30pounds in petrol coupons to use at a supermarket fuel station, by buying groceries at the same supermarket, and you fill up your tank and pay 50 instead of 80pounds, you havent *really* paid 50 for fuel. its just that part of the cost of that fuel is hidden in your groceries bill. admittedly, with a level 2 charger, and heavy car use, you can reach the break even point for your electricity provider, but i suspect, most people dont, as one prob needs to do 100-150 miles on average daily of home charging to really take advantage of overnight ev tariffs. this can vary a lot with individual circumstances

4. even a very optimised tesla (sentry mode off etc etc), there will still be some "phantom drain". probably in the order of 100-200w/hour. overtime this again can add up.

5. there are other marginal electricity costs. ie when navigating to a supercharger and preconditioning the battery. the extra energy goes to warm up the battery and enable fast (high triple digit) DC supercharging, but does not add anything to your range. if you did not precondition, you would arrive at the supercharger with higher battery % but colder battery, thus unable to charge as fast. in this case, you pay some extra cost of electricity, to save you (and others) time when supercharging. is it worth it? 100%. is it a hidden electricity cost? also 100%

now all the above is being said, purely from an educational point of view for prospective buyers. the overall conclusion stands, that EVs (esp Teslas which are very efficient EVs) are significantly cheaper to run vs ICE. and in the end of the day, lets be practical, if you are buying a 50.000 pound new car, the extra cost the above adds up to, is going to be negligible.

overall, for RSEVSimon, although one can assume bias in his reviews (he sells EV cars after all), i have found that he is very knowledgeable about Teslas and actually his videos are not biased. which is rare these days on youtube.
thats why i specifically chose to use his referral code when i bought my Tesla, to reward him for this fact

keep up the good work and always be on the look out for rain ruining your hairstyle!

[philipdobson]

Had my Y a year with zero problems and had a M3 for 2 years before with zero problems. Perfect car if you ask me and so cheap to run.

[PerformanceY]

I use dog mode when my wife is waiting for me in the car. She hates it😂

[antoinepageau]

Been driving FSD V12.3 for a day now (Canada), you will loose your mind when you get this in Europe. Total game changer.

[howieb]

Bought a Model Y LR about a year ago after two new Ioniq 5s which had recurring problems with random warning lights. This review is spot on. The ride is very harsh at low speeds but on fast roads and motorways it is superb. The windscreen wipers were designed on April 1st but other than that I can't fault the car. I've owned cars for 50 years and this is by far the best I've ever had. With quite a bit of motorway driving I have averaged 4 miles per kwh over the whole year.

[nicminit]

1.5 months into owning a 2nd hand Blue Model Y Perf with the white interior and absolutely love it. The most fun is taking people for a spin and seeing their reactions to the acceleration!

[maxflight]

*not many you tube channels deliver integrity and honesty… This one does… in spades*

[sdjp]

Model Y is 15 months old, 27k miles, runs like a dream, super cheap to run. Best car I have ever had (that is 20 cars BTW) by a long way. The only other car I would consider is another model Y after the refresh. Thanks for all the great content Richard, always learn something from you.

[Jawlf]

I tried the Model Y as well as the older Model 3. Suspension on old Model 3 with a bad neck is not good and the Model Y is far better. However, after testing the Model 3 Highland, the new suspension is incredible and it is so quiet. So I have ordered one!
This is great information. Thank you Richard

[Tizzle_]

I got my model Y LR in December and I’ve found it fantastic. It’s my first EV too. Spacious and very comfortable and very very quick!!!

[DrearyCash]

My parents have just bought a Model Y LR last month, and coming from 10 years with many different high end Audi’s, the Model Y just felt so much nicer in quality and much nicer to drive too for a car that costs less than most of the Audi’s they have owned. As well as that, the very low maintenance costs and fuel savings are really nice factors and I can definitely see them going for Tesla again after this Model Y!

[richjones]

Loving my Model Y so far. Heard you mention insurance costs, that was my comment from another video, I went from a Ford Focus to the Model Y so my insurance went up threefold! I have actually removed my partial shelf as I found this to be the cause of the booming sound coming from the back of the car when driving on uneven surfaces, seems much quieter inside the cabin now. I have the standard car, don’t do many miles really, just school runs and shopping etc with occasional trips to our caravan in North Wales. I have a supercharger on my doorstep at Trentham so for me at least charging and range anxiety is just not a thing. I upgraded my wheels to the 20” turbines, omg you only have to go near a kerb with them and they’ll be scuffed so be extra careful when parking. Brilliant family car, loads of space, great to drive (1 pedal driving is a game changer), firm sporty ride which I like but recommend you take a test drive first to make sure you can live with it, comfortable quiet cabin, minimalist design with single screen and the best sound system I’ve ever had in a car. I think if you’re coming from premium like Range Rover or Mercedes etc it might not feel like an upgrade but for me coming from the Focus (and that was a great car) to my first electric car this was definitely the right choice for me 😊

[GoGreenAutos]

The parcel shelf has also changed on the later models. It has an extra fold in it, making easier to retract, fold and remove.

[spikebmth]

Very useful for buyers of the Model Y, and other EVs too for the general information.
Your knowledge is excellent on EVs, especially Telsas!

[octaneparker]

Well balanced review, I have yet to see a tesla without a curbed alloy.

[nigelgarvey]

A good video and I agree with most of the points. I've had my 72-reg MYLR (blue) for just over 18 months and love it. The only gripes I have are:
1. The software's panicked squawking and steering-wheel grabbing when Autopilot's not engaged.
2. The software's unnecessary braking, unerring aim at potholes, and tendency to give back control when Autopilot _is_ engaged.
3. The headlight and windscreen wiper problems described in the video. I always control the headlight beams manually anyway now as I can usually see that another vehicle's _about_ to come round the corner ahead whereas the MY waits until the other headlights are shining straight at it. (I've not received the matrix software update yet.)
4. The USB ports in the centre console aren't connected to the infotainment system, so I can't play my USB stick of favourite music unless I ditch the dashcam stick in the glovebox. As the car has two phone charging pads, the 4 USB ports not in the glovebox are essentially pointless.
5. Some swine in a car park dinked the driver's door when the car was just ten days old.

I don't find the firm ride a problem. The easy way to remove the parcel shelf is to lift the inner end to release the lugs and then slide the shelf out. Slide it in lug end first to replace it.

[lostinbluespace]

Had my rwd 12 months and it’s just clocked 10k miles today! The only issues I’ve had have been a boot seal which caused a squeaky rattle. Known issue apparently as mine got a modified seal. During winter when the temp was low single flights I was seeing a range of more like 200 miles on the motorway. Love the car but the firm ride does enhance the rattles and the ride is definitely worse in the rear. The performance of the RWD is amazing though, more than enough to have a bit of fun or squirt into gaps in traffic. My overall efficiency is about 3.8 m/kwh but that should now improve now the sun is out more.

[DurfDiggler]

(Posting before watching) I bought a used 2017 Tesla Model S bc it was the same price as slightly newer with similar mileage M3, and it’s just a better car IMO. And in the USA, we get a used EV tax credit, if less than $25k. 🏆
I concede that everyone’s needs & preferences are different, and I considered the pros of the M3 & MY, the MS just made sense for me. Happy buying, everyone!

[Rajjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj]

Wow this video should be regarded as official demonstration video of the model Y class of the Tesla . Very well explained 👍

[Daniel-jmhd]

Had my Y Standard Range just over a year. Excellent car, very efficient - 215 wh/mile. Had a problem with the cruise control dropping out on motorway journeys but it seems to have either been fixed by a software update or got used to my driving style. Looking forward to the lights and rain sensor being fixed. All very minor gripes. Everything else is great.