I'm about to get a Roadster 2.5 with about 30.000km's... what should I know?

Chillout said:

What are the things that I should know

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Get the CAC value for an indication of the battery health. I believe this is available when the car is in diagnostic mode if it doesn't have OVMS installed.

Get the full service history from the current owner.

Check the status of the warranty. I've heard some reports that 2nd users can't obtain new warranties so thats something to consider because when things go wrong it can be very expensive.

Chillout said:

Hi All,

I'm about to get a Roadster 2.5 occassion with about 30.000km's. For a few weeks I've been reading this board, and I'm reading stuff about clogged blowers, diy-filters, difficulties with connecting a dashcam to 12V, et cetera... I can't see the wood for the trees, it's a bit too much...

So I registered to ask this question: What are the things that I should know, warnings, et cetera?

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Have you driven a Roadster yet somewhere? I got a used Roadster about a year and a half back, now up close to 25,000 miles, and it's the best car I've owned (we could debate whether the Roadster or the Model S I've driven is the best car I've driven). I'm loving it.

For the stuff you've mentioned (clogged blowers, diy-filters), my limited experience has been that those haven't been issues. The service folks clean out the PEM and other stuff in back with each annual maintenance, and it seems like those are a bigger deal if you're using the car as a daily driver and / or some of your daily driving included dirty / dirt roads. I do drive my Roadster year-round, including through the rainy Oregon winter, but my wife and I live in suburbia and stick to pavement.

The biggest warning I have for you is that if you haven't driven a performance electric car before, just know that once you have one and you get accustomed to it, the gas engine world gets awfully expensive to try and get into the same ballpark. Having driven the Roadster for the year and a half, I still find myself looking for excuses to drive the Roadster to this day, and I'm satisfied that with all the car makers in the world, there are really only 3 that I would consider owning today. The dang things sure are fun

Yes the car is pure joy to drive. And the best economy out there with an MPGe of 119. I agree it is not an easy car to work on but few new cars are. Fortunately the take very little care. As I have told many it is the most fun I have ever had sitting down. If the ideal miles after a standard charge is north of 174 you should be fine. Everyone can find the ideal miles and not all can see the burried CAC.

Just find your favourite country road and drive the car. You will fall for it within minutes and be besotted with its character. I have driven some of the best cars and nothing compares to the roadster for pure joy on a country lane. Nothing. Motorway driving is a bit boring as the top speed is only 130 and just about any car can beat you but nothing will stay close on a country lane. All that regen makes the range better too. Its a win win. Forget the small issues, they are exactly that. Small. All you really need to know is how to recharge it again.

some other comments....

My car is 4 years old on July 1st and I've driven 55,254 miles. CAC was 129.46 on June 24th.

I took out the extended warranty and have been really glad that I did. I had a motor bearing fail at 50,500 miles (December 2013) requiring a motor replacement, and the car is currently in the workshop with "Powertrain Problem Service Required" after it shutdown and refused to move. I love the Roadster but without the extended warranty it would be costing me serious money. I also suspect that without the warranty I'd be at the back of the queue with no leverage given the workshop is overloaded by Model S deliveries in the UK (that said, my car has already sat in the workshop for a week without any attention from Tesla).

If at all possible, have Tesla do a thorough check first. It's worth the $$.

One thing they told us was that it is super important to have regular service because leaves and debris can get blown up into the inner parts and can cause major problems if left unaddressed for too long.

First ask about the battery health - it's a bit involved to get the CAC values so find out what the ideal miles is for standard and range mode. It should be about 288km for standard and 352km for range.

Second look at the rear tires - if they're pretty worn you should ask for a discount

Third definitely get it checked out by a Tesla service center - I had a blown out relay that prevented me from charging fully so that's something that wouldn't show up in a visual or mechanical inspection.

good luck!

#992 has 33,000+ miles on it, I have had it for three years. The ideal miles are north of 174 (as dhrivnak suggests) and the fun has not stopped since day one. I drive it every day and you will too. I take it in once per year for service and try to keep my ideal miles and actual miles within 10 miles of each other. No major problems so far. Minor stuff comes and goes as i motor on. My driving habits do eat up rear tires but that's my psychosis .................... can't let loud BumbleBee Hondas try to pass me on the right or large over tired Chrysler 300's pass me at all .................... pleeaaassseeee!!!

Most fun, as Perrin21 suggested is a long quiet country road. Tell your 'Signif. Other' that you need to drive a slow country mile to "balance you battery and increase it's life". I used that excuse for two years until she got her MS85 bug and started reading TMC. Now she just shakes her head and says,"See ya in an hour!" :wink:

Best ride I have ever had.

augkuo said:

Second look at the rear tires - if they're pretty worn you should ask for a discount

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Regarding the rear tires - I've got a 2.5 sport, and I'm on my 3rd set of rears at around 13k miles (got the car around 12k miles - now up close to 25k). These tires are newish, and the tires when I got the car were probably about 1/2 worn. Point is that you'll be eating a set of rear tires in around 5-10k miles (6-8k?).

The car came with the AD048's and I've chosen to continue using those. I believe others have gotten better mileage with other tires, but I don't think you'll find anybody that routinely gets 30 or 50k miles on a set of rear tires (to be outlandish). This has been something of a shock to me - the other car has a set of 55k mile rate tires that are over 8 years old, and still going fine (I expect to replace them on age rather than wear). Very different experience to be in the tire shop 1-2 times/year for new tires

There are other threads about tires where you can learn about options - in the end, the physics are heavily against you.

Perrin21 said:

Motorway driving is a bit boring as the top speed is only 130 and just about any car can beat you but nothing will stay close on a country lane..

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.. err, where exactly can you sustain 130mph for any length of time to make its top speed a worthwhile metric ?!?!?!

A week ago I spent a Sunday afternoon belting around the Top Gear test track .. in a Roadster 2.5 with 30k miles on it .. giving paying members of the public 3 laps flat out against Lambos, Ferraris, Porsches etc etc. Even on most tracks its hard to sustain over 100mph for any length of time, and 130mph is a bit academic even on a track.


I've posted up some photos in a separate thread here :-

Tesla Roadster belting around the Top Gear Test track for charidee ..