Tips for Buying a Used Tesla

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// Credits
Editing: Ben Sullins
Graphics: Ben Sullins
Producer: Katie Felton
Writing: Ben Sullins

// Music by Epidemic Sound

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I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services linked above. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you the data and analytics behind the world.

[johnburr]

I like your assessment. I just have one thing to pitch in. It's time to stop thinking about keeping cars for only 5 years. That is an artificial length of time created by the auto industry to sell more vehicles. Tesla vehicles, provided they don't have all those problems from day one like yours had, should last 7-10 years easily. This means you can expect to drive it for quite a while after it is paid for. Also, since it is paid for at that point, any small repair costs are still cheaper than trading it in for another one.

[dublinpatterson]

“So your ready to buy a Tesla” me with no money in my bank account and one Tesla share 🙃

[anthonymillett]

Most people aint buying a new car so this is super helpful! This is the content we need! Thanks a bunch Ben!

[MM-bwlo]

He spot on about buying an EV with the longest range, for the life of me, I've watch some performance Tesla videos and I saw a guy charge 3-4 times on 1 trip and I think the length of driving the vehicle was 5-6 hours. This is the first video I watched of his all the way through, no overboard Elon Musk fan admiration, I can dig this.

[iLMedia]

Great video. I purchased a used model S last year and had to do weeks of research to understand all the features and when/where to buy one. Ended up with a great deal and couldn’t be happier!!

[sdandersonjr]

The Tesla used car site does not add on 2 yr warranty any longer. Only one year and 10K miles at this time. No Carfax nor pictures either. $500 non refundable deposit as well. No bueno.

[popenheimer]

Two things. Tesla seems to be including FSD in all used cars on its site in order to keep the prices up. And if you buy a used Tesla from other dealers watch out for salvage/rebuilt cars. They look like a great deal but Tesla's policy is to disable all fast charging on those cars (including non-Tesla chargers)

[ltsky]

I think the year, vs features matters more now for instance model 3's pre 2021 are lacking the heat pump, which helps increase battery performance. Also newer designed motors and battery technology make a difference in models near the 2019 and 2020 years.

[Mar-gveq]

Sold my 19 model 3 and got a 23 for super cheap..went from 212 miles to 315, sooo much better and got warranty again!

[timogronroos]

I believe the weight is the prime reason for fast tyre wear. In every corner there's more heat to be generated from G forces.

[AndreAlforque]

Yes! Future planning from past experience is important. And atop daily/weekly mileage for battery size, increasing years of ownership will also reduce overall costs. We owned our past car for 14 years (and still budget to own and maintain to this day) when we decided to buy; and we plan to own our EV for at least 10 years, if not the lifetime of the vehicle.

[georgepelton]

I have a S with 1.0 and a 3 with FSD. I totally agree with Ben’s comments that V1.0 autopilot is as good or better in actual use. It is all you need in a used Tesla, and a much better value. It is nice to monitor the state of the art wit FSD software updates, but it just a science experiment at this time.

[melangreathouse]

I’ve been watching your channel for about 3 years now, and while there are now a plethora of Tesla Nerds( pardon the pun) with their own Tesla centric channel, yours is a notch above. Your reviews are thorough in content, concise, informative and entertaining. You draw the audience in with things that pertain solely to Tesla cars, and you don’t banter about with meaningless speculations. Thank You.

[alexspeck]

One other thing I never hear about but learnt from experience is to check which version of the MCU is installed. It’s a $3000 upgrade to get the latest if you buy a Model S from before late 2018 and without it you miss out on video entertainment and upgraded visualizations.

[vitaliy]

Just FYI, all used models 3 from Tesla delivered with FSD included.

[ted]

We bought a used 18 model 3 in 2020. Very happy with it and feel we saved a lot of money.

[bahamaslive]

Totally agree, just got a 2018 M3 mid range with 22K miles- Absolutely love this car!!!

[EmpireOfNerds]

This is super timely!! I just bought a Silver 2018 M3 LR AWD this week. Went with used directly through Tesla because like you said depreciation, plus they are including the FSD and Acceleration boost. My first Tesla/EV I’m excited.

[gloomiehoodie]

Tesla QC and reliability are very questionable.
As much as I love Teslas, I noticed way too many customers paying for repairs that they should not. Watch out Tesla, competition is exponentially growing, and they are getting better. Great video!

[mattjames]

Good tips Ben! Another great tip is never buy a Tesla from eBay motors! eBay will lie and tell you you are fully protected when in reality nothing but the frame is covered in terms of the car. eBay will screw you over!