Top 5 Mistakes to AVOID When Buying a Tesla or EV

These are the top 5 mistakes to avoid when buying a Tesla or electric vehicle

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0:00 Intro
0:22 Mistake #1
2:56 Mistake #2
7:20 Mistake #3
10:15 Mistake #4
11:57 Sponsor (Blinkist)
13:06 Mistake #5

When you're buying a Tesla or any electric vehicle, there are some key things you need to know. After being a satisfied Tesla Model 3 owner for the past 3+ years, here is my best advice on how to avoid some of the top mistakes when purchasing a new or used EV.

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[aslye]

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[TonyShepps]

I thought about having a gas car for road trips, or renting one. Then I took my first road trip in the Model 3, and... now, I wouldn't dream of taking anything else. Autopilot is so great for long highway drives, and the car is so comfortable. Superchargers are common on major routes. It takes longer to charge than to gas up, but on long trips you should really take longer breaks anyway.

[jimtoner]

Iowa charged me $734 for the registration of my model y a few weeks ago

[kingbran]

Did you say your model 3 is 3 years old with 84, 000 miles on it?!?! My god man, where are you driving everyday! Lol My truck was 3 years old too and I only had 33, 000 miles on it and that’s with driving from Alaska to Maryland with many different detours in between.

[mullman]

I have driven my 2021 M3 LR AWD 11, 000 miles in four months including several long road trips. It’s absolutely brilliant.

[Naultarous]

Talk to your landlord. Work with them to put in a "dryer" outlet where they can market it as a feature when you move out or other tenants. I pay $25 a month to charge and it's my parking spot. I have a cord with a meter in it and it's only about $18 a month in electricity. Fair trade off.

[lifetimemtb]

Hi Andy, I have always been a fan of your channel and videos, but I am confused why you promoted this video by “Avoid these” pointing to a level 2 charger (which is the best way to charge EV)? A click bite?

[jerome]

Awesome video, very informative and accurate. Had my Tesla model 3 for 10 months already yet stick to watch the whole video.
Agree on all his points.
I would say only inconvenience is last minute trips, otherwise everything else is so much better.
Smoother rides, less driver fatigue using autopilot, easy of mind with a dash-cam built in for every minute you drive being captured in case of an accident.
Peace of mind when you park in public with sentry mode recording everything around your car.
No worries about maintenance, so far I only rotate my tires ones in 10 months, no worrying about oil changes, tune ups, smoke checks.
Lastly your car gets better with time as it gets updates that improve your car, you can’t say that about any other vehicle no matter the price.

[TeslaRebuilders]

Very good points Andy.
I still am really satisfied with installation of a wall connector day one!
With 44 miles/hr charge rate it makes charging at home never a issue.
Say you do drive a extreme amount during a day say 200-250 miles and get home with 10-20 left.
You will easily be able to leave again in a hour wile making it to town and back for say going out to dinner date or something.
A full charge from 0-100% is in less than 9 hour and typically daily driving 3-5 hours.

So far having two model 3's for my family has saved us so much.
The cars have literally been free compared to the cost of gas alone!

Take it easy man,
Casey

[justSTUMBLEDupon]

How many people buy a house to buy a Tesla?

Me too 😂

[mhall]

I'm really glad that you mentioned additional registration fees in your video since that is so often overlooked. My state (Alabama) actively discourages EV ownership by banning direct sales, tacking on an additional $200 to annual tag fees, and not offering any off-peak charging incentives. As a duel EV household, it is still worth it but savings over an ICE vehicle add up more slowly.

I enjoy your videos, keep up the good work!

[tommycampbell]

I started watching your videos when I was waiting for my Model 3 to be delivered. Been a couple years now. Still watch your videos. Still use the accessories you recommend. Still love my Tesla.

[rayshepherd]

I like my Tesla model S but it has not been maintenance free. My car has had a failure of the main screen and the drivetrain. It has also required the 12 volt battery to be replaced about every 3 years and replacing the battery is not as cheap or easy as my ice vehicles. I've also had one door handle fail. The cost to get it fixed by Tesla is about $1, 000. However I fixed myself for about $30 but it took me several hours. Tesla also originally recommend getting a maintenance checkup every couple of years and it was much more than my maintenance costs on any ice car I've owned. I've had the car since December 2014 and the range has dropped from 254 miles to about 230 miles. I have free supercharging for life so long distance travel is less expensive for fuel but needs to be balanced by higher cost for tires and additional hotel costs because it takes longer to travel a given distance because of charging time. One other thing is I live in California and I'm on an ev time of use electric rate with PG&E. The cost for electricity has increased greatly in the 6.5 years I have owned the car. I charge at home and have solar panels. PG&E has increased their rates and changed their time of use which has increased my overall electric costs greatly. In 2015 my total electric cost was $839, in 2016 it was $1, 014. In 2020 it was $3, 255. Some of the higher cost in 2020 was problems with my solar system but about $1, 200 was a result of a change in the time of use schedule by PG&E. They increased the duration of the lowest cost rate from 7 am until 3 pm. This cut the amount I received for my solar generation. I believe as we increase solar generation eventually the highest cost electric rate will be at night. So charging an ev will be more expensive than today.

[monicarenee]

I bought my model 3 when it was eligible for a 7500 tax credit and that was 3 years ago. The car is still worth almost what I paid for it, and with the credit applied I technically spent about the same as what it’s worth now 🙌🏾

[Gzickgraf]

Andy, great video as always! Thank you for bringing up the increased cost for EV annual registration. TN is sadly one of the states that charge way more for having an EV.

[ezpoppy]

Terrific video, Andy. Yes, you want to go into this with your eyes wide open.

I love my M3 SR+. My wife just replaced her aging Camry. She went through a process, from wanting another ICE vehicle to ending up getting a VW ID.4 EV. Having the Tesla here, seeing me use it daily, was a huge factor for her. So we are now an EV family!

On range, I’d just put in that I have found a shift in attitude and mindset helps. On our 1, 100 mile family road trip in my Model 3, we simply combined our charging stops with needed breaks (meal, restroom, etc…). Also letting go of the “fill ‘er up” thinking kept our charging stops on the road to ~20 minutes - we never charged to 100%. In fact, in the 4 months I’ve had the car, I’ve only charged to 100% once. That’s been a huge time saver! (I’m planning a road trip from Sacramento to Louisville in the Spring, btw.)

Really enjoy your channel (your cat did a nice video bomb!). Keep up the great work.

[v.garcia]

Most excellent, info, Andy !
Felt like I received the"blinkist"
speed version 😎👍

[tingjd]

Thank you for your video. It prepared me mentally for owning a EV. I am in the market for one too. Quite frankly, I'm tired of the gasoline prices. I live in Canada and the price for gasoline is much higher than it is in the US. I paid up to $400 Cdn a month. So its time to say "bye bye" to gasoline.

[fivelights]

I have a 120-130 mile round trip commute. I’ve heard you lose over 50% range in winter and it’s bad to always charge to max. For me in AK I’d need close to 400 miles because if I can only charge to 80% in winter most teslas will not be acceptable for a 120 mile trip. If there is traffic and it’s -10F out with the heat running an 80% charge on a long range model 3 will be under 100 miles…. Unless I don’t use the heater….

[sandersson]

That isn't true that EV's lose their value quicker than ICE cars.
EV's are holding their value much better than ICE cars.
For example, EV Audi, Porsche, Jaguar, Polestar, Mercedes etc are losing far less value than their petrol equivalent which drop like a stone.