Looking for a Tesla Model S

[jeffrey.miller]

I am aggressively pursuing a Tesla Model S to buy.  I am looking for an older one that won't be SO expensive, if anyone has one for sale or is considering selling one let me know. 

[ted.lowe]

Awesome Jeff!  Test vehicle for your new home charging system? Just kiddin'

i think at the Christmas gathering in 2016 we were looking at some website that lists used Tesla's.  i can't remember the website.

Best wishes in your search!

[jeffrey.miller]

The site you are probably referring to
https://onlyusedtesla.com
There isn't much on there, but there are a few.


All the sites I used beyond that:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/tesla-for-sale.70/
https://www.cargurus.com
https://www.autotrader.com
https://www.cars.com/
https://www.ebay.com
14 Craigslist markets (each of which covers a wider geographic area than just that city)

I really like cargurus because you can select the specific version of the Tesla, so you can filter out the 40 and 60 kwh cars, or just for the 60kwh if that is what you want.  It is a very nice interface for car shopping Tesla's.  

I have agreed to buy a 2014 P85+ .  We have to wait for some seller paperwork to go through so I won't be picking it up until the 21st.  

I was actively negotiating on the following cars 2013 85 in New Jersey, 2013 85 in Phoenix, 2013 85 in San Francisco, 2013 85 in Orland Park, when the 2014 P85+ auction on ebay came to a close at a much lower than expected number.  I was the high bidder but under the reserve price.  The seller then came back with an offer that was much better than anyone expected.  I talked him down a 1000 from there and agreed to buy the car.  It is a private party sale so I will get to save about 50% on my sales tax bill!  

The + in P85+ is for the advanced handling package.  It is set up to be a firmer riding, better handling drivers car.  

I search and compete cars nation wide.  I prefer NOT to buy local due to amount of abuse old man winter and road salt dish out to our cars here.  I prefer to avoid the hot climate cars like Phoenix as that is hard on the interior and potentially battery.  Atlanta is a good place to shop for EV's, as they had substantial rebates for many years, and a climate that isn't hard on cars but surprisingly few Tesla's there, plenty of Leafs though!  

I also used this guide on the older Tesla's
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/decoding-tesla-model-s-vins.7638/
to confirm they were the battery and charger that was advertised.  


To answer the other question, yes, I bought it JUST to test my car charging build    And also so when every person I explain my charging set up to asks "do you have a Tesla" I can say "yes".  That is the most frequent question I receive when I explain what I am building.  

[michael.willuweit]

Awesome Jeff! Where is the car now?
The is also a Facebook group for Tesla sales too.

[jeffrey.miller]

I will be picking it up on April 21st.  It is still with the current owner in Columbus Ohio.  

I don't have a facebook account, otherwise I would have used it too.

[ted.lowe]

Awesome Jeff! And thanks as usual for sharing your detailed learning and processes with us!

HAHA about answering Yes! to "Do you have a Tesla?".  i had someone ask me that yesterday for the first time when i mentioned i drive an electric vehicle... my standard answer now is... "No, but i drive an electric conversion pickup truck (since 2001)." 

i look forward to seeing your new "charging toy"!  What color is it?

[jeffrey.miller]

Blue with Tan interior.  As usual this wasn't my first choice in colors, but when hunting for a deal it is wise to determine what your priorities are.  For me I am not overly concerned about the color of the vehicle, because it is hard enough to find one for a good price with at least the one or two features that I REALLY want. 

Another tip on Tesla S and X, unlike most cars, key fobs aren't very expensive.  You do need to have ONE, but with that one you can get more programmed from Telsa for about 150 dollars each per key fob.  Compared to the usual Dealership where 300 to 700 is the modern situation.  If you lose both, that is very bad/expensive, don't do that!

[jeffrey.miller]

https://hsrmotors.com/hsr/services

While reading this rather epic thread
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/repairing-a-flooded-tesla-model-s-how-to.60987/page-27

I stumbled across the above company.  I have seen his work before on his personal side https://skie.net/skynet/projects and I suspect that in the future many out of warranty cars will find their way to his shop for work.  It might be interesting to work with partnering with him to start developing third party repair processes and partnerships for repair documents/processes?  There are a few others that have deep knowledge on these cars but I wouldn't want to work with them all. 

[jeffrey.miller]

I hit four superchargers driving from Columbus to my house, way up here by Wisconsin.  None of them were even half full with cars.  I mapped out with Google my path, and it said it should take 8 hours, and it took me about 10 total, but I met up with friends in Indianapolis while I was passing through and took a couple of detours for my entertainment, plus road construction that stopped I70 for 20 minutes.  I would guess that charging required me to be stopped for just over an hour extra.  I am guessing I will do a presentation on the cars method for route planning etc.  It is actually quite cool.

The situation with the car I bought was the previous owner is a young engineer who was living at home with his parents and charging at home.  He is now officially moving in with his girlfriend and the apartment doesn't have EV charging.  Also offloading the large car payment isn't going to kill him now that he has responsibilities.  I didn't ask if he had the Tesla before he met her or after?   

He had owned it about 8 months and put 15,000 miles on it. 

It is safely home in my garage waiting for the title to get from his bank to mine.  I charged it last night and put in 17.42kwh in 1 hour 56 minutes, using the normal 40 amp OpenEVSE.  The price of power during those two hours was below zero so I payed slightly less than the cost of delivery for that energy. 

More to come but probably as a presentation.   

The answer to the other common question is what about plates to drive it home?  I drove it home from Columbus Ohio without getting pulled over for having not license plates.  If I had been pulled over I had an insurance card, bill of sale, and loan paperwork in the car with me to prove that I owned it.  I also had a boarding pass in my pocket in case they didn't believe that I flew in that morning.  I felt reasonably certain I could get through that situation, but it didn't come up, which I am happy about.   

[jeffrey.miller]

Used Tesla's are expensive, and it seems that it is getting easier to see why

https://www.teslarati.com/model-s-limousine-services-gaining-steam-chicago/
https://gas2.org/2014/12/09/tesla-limo-service-in-chicago-proves-popular/
http://emotionchicago.com/
https://www.celebluxlimos.com/tesla
https://www.greenluxchicago.com/

Then if you drive a rideshare or similar you can rent one to drive to get the higher rates.
http://wattsonwheels.com/

and that was just locally on the first page of google...

What is interesting about this is that Tesla has a bit of a love hate relationship with cars operated as Taxi/Limo.  Some owner operators are complaining that they have issues getting warranty work done as their vehicle is a commercial vehicle, while others are openly operating them that way and have no issues at all.  From what I can gather if you are a commercial operator buying them new, then you don't have issues because Tesla likes to sell new cars, but if you buy them used then they might give you grief. 

Either way these commercial cars are going through bumper to bumper warranty in not time at all, and as such when the electronics break they will need service providers to take care of those issues for them.  There seems to be quite a few areas where money can be made fixing parts, like door handles. 

When I google for Tesla repair shops in Chicago I find none.  This leads me to believe that there is an opportunity to start doing some of these more routine tasks for people who are out of bumper to bumper warranty.