Is buying a 7-8 year old Tesla model S a wise choice?

[fasimew]

I'm looking at model S' with free supercharging, so around 2015-2016. Is this a wise choice?
All have mileage of 50k+ on them, with some well beyond 100k, and the occasional one above 200k. Prices don't really seem to be below £20k. Some of these have less than a year left on warranty.

Edit: I've got a budget of £25k.

Edited by fasimew on Thursday 23 November 14:33

[Scootersp]

There are a lot of 'depends' in the answer and some obvious unknowns re a decent but aging EV.

What is your current/alternative ICE route.


There is a 190K mile one on autotrader "Great car with new battery at 60k and new drive unit at 185k" so unsurprisingly they don't last forever but seem to last well enough (these x2 costs would perhaps be eye watering outside warranty?)

Fuel cost saving is there, but to an extent you are going to be (like this guy) an bork pioneer/guinea pig?

Edited by Scootersp on Thursday 23 November 14:33

[fasimew]

Do you mean what do I drive currently? Nothing. I've been WFH and occasionally commuting into London by train. A new job is pushing me into buying a car to commute within London. And because i'm so tight, the idea of almost free motoring is very appealing.

[Scootersp]

fasimew said:

Do you mean what do I drive currently? Nothing. I've been WFH and occasionally commuting into London by train. A new job is pushing me into buying a car to commute within London. And because i'm so tight, the idea of almost free motoring is very appealing.

Sorry yeah I did mean that, and your use case seems to favour an EV of some type, Ulez, low mile usage, efficient at commuting traffic speeds etc.

[LHRFlightman]

Buy one and extend the warranty?

[fasimew]

LHRFlightman said:

Buy one and extend the warranty?

Oh? This is news to me. Please do go on...

[anonymous-user]

If the battery dies the car is pretty much written off due to the cost of replacement.

[CrippsCorner]

I would suggest paying £25k for a car is not being tight

Being tight would be buying this...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310243...

69mpg (nice) free tax, basically cheapest insurance group there is.

[fasimew]

CrippsCorner said:

I would suggest paying £25k for a car is not being tight

Being tight would be buying this...


69mpg (nice) free tax, basically cheapest insurance group there is.

There's no way I'm willing to use a tiny car like that for commuting in and around the m25.

My theory is that a used Tesla won't depreciate (much), and i'll run it into the ground before I sell it.

[trevalvole]

They are very wide at 1987mm excluding mirrors - my recollection is that something like an Audi A6 is 1870mm. And they are just over 5m long, so if getting through narrow gaps or ease of parking is important to you they may not be the best choice.

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GU...

[fasimew]

Thanks. I don't foresee that being an issue.

[CG2020UK]

fasimew said:

My theory is that a used Tesla won't depreciate (much), and i'll run it into the ground before I sell it.

I’d definitely be expecting your Tesla (any car) to have the potential to be worth very little!

[Austin_Metro]

To achieve your free charging, where will you charge it? Is there a supercharger at work or near your house?

[fasimew]

Yes, there's one 5 mins away.

[Austin_Metro]

fasimew said:

Yes, there's one 5 mins away.

If it was five minutes from work, I’d probably do that, but if it was five minutes from home and I needed to drop the car off, walk home, and then back later when the car was charged, that would so get old for me.

How many times would you need to charge it per week?

[PositronicRay]

fasimew said:

CrippsCorner said:

I would suggest paying £25k for a car is not being tight

Being tight would be buying this...


69mpg (nice) free tax, basically cheapest insurance group there is.

There's no way I'm willing to use a tiny car like that for commuting in and around the m25.

My theory is that a used Tesla won't depreciate (much), and i'll run it into the ground before I sell it.

Are you planning on keeping the car 25yrs?

[fasimew]

Austin_Metro said:

fasimew said:

Yes, there's one 5 mins away.

If it was five minutes from work, I’d probably do that, but if it was five minutes from home and I needed to drop the car off, walk home, and then back later when the car was charged, that would so get old for me.

How many times would you need to charge it per week?

It's 5 mins from home. I prefer contracting, so it depends on the job and where I need to be. I could be WFH, in which case the car would hardly get used. I'd only need to charge it once a week as it stands.

[fasimew]

PositronicRay said:

Are you planning on keeping the car 25yrs?

I don't have a problem with that.

[Austin_Metro]

fasimew said:

It's 5 mins from home. I prefer contracting, so it depends on the job and where I need to be. I could be WFH, in which case the car would hardly get used. I'd only need to charge it once a week as it stands.

Not sure I’d want to tie up 25k in a fairly old ev if Your mileage means you won’t save on ‘fuel’ from having free supercharging. I think the bork risk of these is massive.

Can’t see you keeping the car 25 years either. I had a Citroen Saxo in 1998. Buy a 10 grand golf gti and put the rest of your cash in your house purchase.

[anonymous-user]

25k ? That’s healthy and I’d not be putting it into knackered, out of date tech. Buy a newish diesel and be happy. EVs are the future but not the present.