Bought a "Unicorn" P100D - Roast me or encourage me? Also have some questions...

[Fragger]

Hello TMC Friends,

Looks like I'll be returning to the Tesla ownership after a break of 3 odd years. Made an impulse buy today on a "Unicorn" 2016.5 P100D - Please go ahead and roast me and tell me how stupid it was to buy an 8 year old car with no battery or motor warranty. OR, encourage me and tell me that I'll be OK?

At the very least, please help me get some answers:

Car specs:

- 2016.5 Multi Coat Red Model S P100D
- 1 owner - trade in to a dealership from a doctor
- 17,333 miles
- Price: ~$41K
- Full Self Driving: Included Package
- Free Unlimited Premium Connectivity
- Free Unlimited Supercharging
- I bought it out of town, so could not take to Tesla, but, the charging screen shows $0.00 and even the old EV-CPO code look up shows SC01. The car has 1 owner. So never traded into Tesla.
- MCU2 upgrade (Intel Atom processor)
- Cold Weather Package
- Ventilated Tan Seats

How bad or good did I do?



Now for some additional questions:

1. Other than some Tesla service center confirming SC01, and not being able to go to the Supercharging station, do you guys have any ideas on how I can confirm this? Does anyone have any Tesla Rangers contacts that can look up the codes for me? Would you please DM me?

2. Similar question about FSD not being stripped of the car after the ownership transfers?

3. Speaking of FSD it's possible that the car has HW2.5. Is HW3 still a complimentary upgrade from Tesla if I have FSD? And will they upgrade without any warranty?

4. This is a dealer. I don't think they have registered the car in their Tesla app, can someone share the careful/safest method to get the car transferred to me without losing any features the car has?


Thank you for all your time and help. The plan was to buy a Plaid in about 1.5 years or so for around $50K, but this seemed like a good deal. How badly did I mess up? I figured since the car is still pumping around 298 miles at 100% charge, I could keep the car for a while and see what Tesla promos would be in the future having FSD and FUSC and even Premium Connectivity on the car...

Note: The car is not in the same town as me.

 

[brainhouston]

Good or bad depends on the price n options it really has but it's looking good based on your description
Best way is to transfer to your account, u can use Bill of sale from dealer
There's nothing special about transfer, those options will come to your account if car has it

 

[Fragger]

Good or bad depends on the price n options it really has but it's looking good based on your description
Best way is to transfer to your account, u can use Bill of sale from dealer
There's nothing special about transfer, those options will come to your account if car has it

Thank you so much for your response. I mentioned the price in my post. Assuming the features hold... What do you think of the decision?

About the transfer, are you saying, once I have the bill of sale in my email, even though the car is being shipped, I can have the car transfer over and see the options?

Appreciate your help!

 

[livesmith]

Thank you so much for your response. I mentioned the price in my post. Assuming the features hold... What do you think of the decision?

About the transfer, are you saying, once I have the bill of sale in my email, even though the car is being shipped, I can have the car transfer over and see the options?

Appreciate your help!

Personally, I think that price is way too high and the miles too low but it's all subjective. The question is how much you enjoy it.

As far as transfer if it works like mine did you will need to have the car to rename it as part of the proof that you have the car.

From what you've said, I believe everything *should* transfer. That's basically the same scenario as mine (right down to the doctor) though my 2015 doesn't have FSD.

 

[Fragger]

Personally, I think that price is way too high and the miles too low but it's all subjective. The question is how much you enjoy it.

As far as transfer if it works like mine did you will need to have the car to rename it as part of the proof that you have the car.

From what you've said, I believe everything *should* transfer. That's basically the same scenario as mine (right down to the doctor) though my 2015 doesn't have FSD.

Small world (the doctor part)... I thank you for your post! What process did you use to do the transfer and verify the feature set, if you don't mind me asking?

About the price, I'm curious... You mentioned you think it's way too high. What would have been a fair or decent price to you for this feature set and mileage, trim, color, etc? I believe I'm about $2K higher than the KBB values, but KBB doesn't seem to account for all the Tesla features, especially the rare or fading ones like FUSC, Free Premium Connectivity. Not to mention, the dealership is also covering the shipping cost in the price for about 1200 miles.

Thank you for your post agaih!

 

[eelton]

About the price, I'm curious... You mentioned you think it's way too high. What would have been a fair or decent price to you for this feature set and mileage, trim, color, etc?

Here's a data point:

I just bought a 2018 P100D, also red (it arrived last night!) with 19.5K miles on it. I paid $36.5K from a private seller (Cars & Bids auction), but on top of that paid the 4.5% auction fee and $1400 to have it shipped to me. However, mine doesn't have free supercharging, FSD, or free connectivity.

I would say you did quite well, particularly if you will make good use of the FUSC and FSD.

Personally, I think that price is way too high and the miles too low

What do you mean by the miles are too low? All I can think of is the impression that rear drive unit failures are more common on cars that aren't driven much. Is that what you're getting at?

 

[PCMc]

RE confirming if the car has FUSC ... That's actually really difficult to do until the car is in your name. As far as using an option code look-up, Tesla basically broke the API accurately reporting the option codes a copy years ago. My old 2016.5 MS90D would report itself as being a Model 3 as the API just reports a 'default' set of option code.

Also, the screen showing $0.00 for the last session just says it wasn't charged as of that time. The difficult issue is the old own could have transferred the supercharging to a new car during the Q1 transfer promotion and you'd still see their last supercharging session show as $0.00 cost. It's not until you'd do the transfer and charge it yourself that you'll really know.

While I hope it is still there given that was part of your purchase decision, it's really tough to confirm that until it's in your account.

 

[airborne spoon]

The millage is low for a 2016 I'd definitely get out and put some miles on it try to get a good 20k or so on as soon as possible to prevent things from failing so fast.

Low miles means things like motors and other random components will likely take a *sugar* if you don't pump those numbers up.

For SC01 once the car is on your Tesla account you can do the inspect page source and scroll through till you get the SC line.

Also there is a website you can visit from the car on the touchscreen that'll tell you all the specs for the car but I honestly can't remember what it is. Perhaps Google or someone here can find it for you.

The 298 miles sounds about right my 2014 P100D has 300 but it's also a "new" pack (they take packs from salvage cars because Tesla won't sell packs to 3rd parties, or any for that matter if the work won't be done in their shop) thanks to 057 tech but I've put about 35k miles on the car since I got the pack about 10 months ago so I'd say it's good.

I can't help with FSD because I have AP1 which after having driven a few loaners with FSD I'm happy to say AP1 is superior anyway lol.

 

[Powderkeg]

I agree with the others regarding low miles. That is a huge problem.

I would immediately set aside a rainy day fund for the RDU. And when it fails insist on the -U revision. The coolant delete seems to be the answer. I have an early 2017 P100D “unicorn” and I love it. Been through three RDU’s the last one being the -U version which so far is holding up.

Also replace your rear suspension arms to fix the dreaded camber problem. It is worth the money and will dramatically increase the life of your tires.

Even at the price you paid you got a deal.

Good luck

 

[Sweed269]

You might not get the FSD and Free charging. Tesla strips that when the car goes to a dealership and not a pure private sale.

 

[livesmith]

Small world (the doctor part)... I thank you for your post! What process did you use to do the transfer and verify the feature set, if you don't mind me asking?

About the price, I'm curious... You mentioned you think it's way too high. What would have been a fair or decent price to you for this feature set and mileage, trim, color, etc? I believe I'm about $2K higher than the KBB values, but KBB doesn't seem to account for all the Tesla features, especially the rare or fading ones like FUSC, Free Premium Connectivity. Not to mention, the dealership is also covering the shipping cost in the price for about 1200 miles.

Thank you for your post agaih!

As far as the transfer I drove it back from Nashville to NY and during one of the charging sessions I just went into the app and followed the instructions which were basically to change the name of the car in the settings and submit a couple proofs like Bill of sale and... Something else normal from the dealer(can't recall what it was).

As far as price, to be fair I haven't priced them in depth in a while and I didn't look at something that would be new enough to get FSD. But I thought I recalled recent mentions of the prices dropping and I would think for the money you paid you could have gotten into the next Gen Raven cars.... But that's up to you as to which you'd prefer.

Just for reference, I went to the opposite end of the scale and last June bought a 2015 85D with 306K miles on it for $19k. I believe in recent months I've seen similar cars with half the miles go for $15k...

As for the low miles, while others are talking about the motors, it's a performance model so I must figure it's going to need a new rear motor no matter what the mileage is, until(hopefully) this new revision proves more reliable. I'm more concerned about the battery. I haven't done in depth research but based on what I've gathered in the last year it does seem like the batteries benefit from some exercise and do not like sitting around(probably mostly at one set level) for long periods of time... So I'd be concerned of increased chances that it will need replacement soon...

 

[brainhouston]

You do need access to the car to change the name for app transfer but what i meant transfer is transfer, no differences or special ways
Only time it matters is for SC05, some ppl don't transfer n just change email in the account to keep it, but its not needed for u

You might not get the FSD and Free charging. Tesla strips that when the car goes to a dealership and not a pure private sale.

Common misconception, Only if Tesla got their hands on it (trade-in n such), if private party took it to random dealer, it all stays
Also, FSD never was stripped as far as i know, only FUSC

Batteries age roughly the same, driven or not as long as car wasn't sitting at high SOC all the time, that usually what kills it fastest

For reference, there's currently similar listing on marketplace here but with higher miles for $36k, so i say u got decent price for miles/age

Regarding LDU, no need to replace it if the coolant didn't do much damage, just do coolant delete (qc charge or diy) n keep driving.

 

[Fragger]

Here's a data point:

I just bought a 2018 P100D, also red (it arrived last night!) with 19.5K miles on it. I paid $36.5K from a private seller (Cars & Bids auction), but on top of that paid the 4.5% auction fee and $1400 to have it shipped to me. However, mine doesn't have free supercharging, FSD, or free connectivity.

I would say you did quite well, particularly if you will make good use of the FUSC and FSD.



What do you mean by the miles are too low? All I can think of is the impression that rear drive unit failures are more common on cars that aren't driven much. Is that what you're getting at?

Thank you so much for sharing your experience as a data point. It makes me feel OK about my (impulsive) buy!

I appreciate that you took the time to write a detailed post! Hope you're enjoying your S?

 

[Fragger]

RE confirming if the car has FUSC ... That's actually really difficult to do until the car is in your name. As far as using an option code look-up, Tesla basically broke the API accurately reporting the option codes a copy years ago. My old 2016.5 MS90D would report itself as being a Model 3 as the API just reports a 'default' set of option code.

Also, the screen showing $0.00 for the last session just says it wasn't charged as of that time. The difficult issue is the old own could have transferred the supercharging to a new car during the Q1 transfer promotion and you'd still see their last supercharging session show as $0.00 cost. It's not until you'd do the transfer and charge it yourself that you'll really know.

While I hope it is still there given that was part of your purchase decision, it's really tough to confirm that until it's in your account.

Excellent post and point about the API as well! I really wish there was an easy way. Fair point about the $0.00 charge. I did the best I could to verify. Gonna see if the dealership can take it to a supercharger and see if it charges.

I also found a Tesla contact that says that they see the SC01 still on the car... So... This might be another good indication. Same for FSD.

Once again, really appreciate your post. Thanks.

 

[Fragger]

The millage is low for a 2016 I'd definitely get out and put some miles on it try to get a good 20k or so on as soon as possible to prevent things from failing so fast.

Low miles means things like motors and other random components will likely take a *sugar* if you don't pump those numbers up.

For SC01 once the car is on your Tesla account you can do the inspect page source and scroll through till you get the SC line.

Also there is a website you can visit from the car on the touchscreen that'll tell you all the specs for the car but I honestly can't remember what it is. Perhaps Google or someone here can find it for you.

The 298 miles sounds about right my 2014 P100D has 300 but it's also a "new" pack (they take packs from salvage cars because Tesla won't sell packs to 3rd parties, or any for that matter if the work won't be done in their shop) thanks to 057 tech but I've put about 35k miles on the car since I got the pack about 10 months ago so I'd say it's good.

I can't help with FSD because I have AP1 which after having driven a few loaners with FSD I'm happy to say AP1 is superior anyway lol.

Thank you for your helpful post about the driving it around. I noticed that I should have the DU and battery warranty alive till 11/24 so I do intend to put some mileage on the car, appreciate the advice.

How cool! You have a 2014 P100D! That is so unique! I once owned P90D+ which was fun.

Really appreciate your post! Thanks!

 

[Fragger]

I agree with the others regarding low miles. That is a huge problem.

I would immediately set aside a rainy day fund for the RDU. And when it fails insist on the -U revision. The coolant delete seems to be the answer. I have an early 2017 P100D “unicorn” and I love it. Been through three RDU’s the last one being the -U version which so far is holding up.

Also replace your rear suspension arms to fix the dreaded camber problem. It is worth the money and will dramatically increase the life of your tires.

Even at the price you paid you got a deal.

Good luck

Wow, what a helpful post! Thank you! Can you elaborate more on the -U unit and coolant delete?

Ah darn! The camber arms, I thought this was a Model X issue! Can you point me to the parts or a DIY about it? I assume this is a $2K job from a shop?

Looks like I took a big risk? I do intend to save the extra money I would've put on a Plaid for this car... But sounds like I'm in deep trouble with the DU and battery?

Appreciate your helpful post!

 

[Fragger]

As far as the transfer I drove it back from Nashville to NY and during one of the charging sessions I just went into the app and followed the instructions which were basically to change the name of the car in the settings and submit a couple proofs like Bill of sale and... Something else normal from the dealer(can't recall what it was).

As far as price, to be fair I haven't priced them in depth in a while and I didn't look at something that would be new enough to get FSD. But I thought I recalled recent mentions of the prices dropping and I would think for the money you paid you could have gotten into the next Gen Raven cars.... But that's up to you as to which you'd prefer.

Just for reference, I went to the opposite end of the scale and last June bought a 2015 85D with 306K miles on it for $19k. I believe in recent months I've seen similar cars with half the miles go for $15k...

As for the low miles, while others are talking about the motors, it's a performance model so I must figure it's going to need a new rear motor no matter what the mileage is, until(hopefully) this new revision proves more reliable. I'm more concerned about the battery. I haven't done in depth research but based on what I've gathered in the last year it does seem like the batteries benefit from some exercise and do not like sitting around(probably mostly at one set level) for long periods of time... So I'd be concerned of increased chances that it will need replacement soon...

Thank you for sharing, very helpful post. Cool high mileage S for you! Do you recall how long Tesla took to finalize your ownership with the app?

Sounds like I'm in a world or trouble with this low miles and expiring warranty, huh? Man... Some FUD in this thread, but I suppose I asked for it, didn't I?

Thanks for your post!

 

[Fragger]

You do need access to the car to change the name for app transfer but what i meant transfer is transfer, no differences or special ways
Only time it matters is for SC05, some ppl don't transfer n just change email in the account to keep it, but its not needed for u


Common misconception, Only if Tesla got their hands on it (trade-in n such), if private party took it to random dealer, it all stays
Also, FSD never was stripped as far as i know, only FUSC

Batteries age roughly the same, driven or not as long as car wasn't sitting at high SOC all the time, that usually what kills it fastest

For reference, there's currently similar listing on marketplace here but with higher miles for $36k, so i say u got decent price for miles/age

Regarding LDU, no need to replace it if the coolant didn't do much damage, just do coolant delete (qc charge or diy) n keep driving.

Brian, your posts are usually so knowledgeable and helpful. Thanks for this one as well. Makes me feel better about my purchase?

Are you saying I might be OK on the DU failing with a coolant flush of some sort? Can you assist me further?

I appreciate you as always man!

 

[airborne spoon]

Wow, what a helpful post! Thank you! Can you elaborate more on the -U unit and coolant delete?

Ah darn! The camber arms, I thought this was a Model X issue! Can you point me to the parts or a DIY about it? I assume this is a $2K job from a shop?

Looks like I took a big risk? I do intend to save the extra money I would've put on a Plaid for this car... But sounds like I'm in deep trouble with the DU and battery?

Appreciate your helpful post!

N2itive is where you need to go. I installed their camber and toe arms on my car and it was an amazing upgrade well worth the money. Other companies make them as well but when looking at the build quality it's hard to not recommend N2itive. You can pay a shop to do the work but it's a pretty straightforward job and the guys at evfixme made a great video of step by step install directions.

Regardless of what brand you buy these are the specs I give my alignment shop. Tires last for ages and it still handles like a rocket sled on rails.

F camber -0.7
F caster 4.0
F toe -0.05
Total F toe -0.10
R camber -0.8
R toe 0.13
Total R toe 0.26

 

[brainhouston]

Brian, your posts are usually so knowledgeable and helpful. Thanks for this one as well. Makes me feel better about my purchase?

Are you saying I might be OK on the DU failing with a coolant flush of some sort? Can you assist me further?

I appreciate you as always man!

Thanks

have a look at this thread:

DIY Tesla Drive Unit Repair

Check the youtube channel I started about DIY repair of the Tesla Large Drive Unit (DU). This may benefit those who like to fix their car themselves, epecially if it's out of warranty. Here is the link: https://youtube.com/channel/UCIHg1trfQQTYIA88w-ZcCdw Background: The DU in my 2012 Toyota...

teslamotorsclub.com

LDUs do fail early sometime but with such low miles n probably original LDU , i'm sure it didn't start leaking yet. Remans are known to fail quick...
If it didn't leak coolant inside the drive unit then it didn't do any damage n u can just install coolant delete manifold from QC charge or DIY a bypass
When coolant leaks past the seal then u need to rebuild to dry n clean everything (assuming it didn't corrode stator or inverter)
And of course if the damage is irreversible then u need new LDU...