First Tesla purchase turning sour.

[atikovi]

Bought a nice looking 2013 Model S with 140,000 miles today for under $9k at auction. It was sold with an auction guaranty to be free of major defects. I go to test drive it and its in a reduced power mode and there are messages to get it charged immediately. I'm able to limp it to the charger at the auction going 5 mph. Of course they are occupied and it's after 3 pm now. You have until 5 pm to submit a claim, but it will be a few hours before it's charged up enough so I can even take it for a drive. I was able to convince a manager of the issue, that I can't even drive it, and she said that after it's charged in the morning, they will check it out and go from there.

Ideally, the seller brought the car there without enough charge, and all it needs is recharging and then it will show there is no problem. I can't fathom anyone bringing a car in like that to sell. My pessimistic thoughts say there is something wrong with the battery or electronics on the car. What's the track record of these early Teslas? I have always read on the internet that the batteries are good for at least 20 years or more and the car should be able to go over 500,000 miles on the original battery. Any early Tesla owners here with insight?

 

[Tam]

Bought a nice looking 2013 Model S with 140,000 miles today for under $9k at auction. It was sold with an auction guaranty to be free of major defects. I go to test drive it and its in a reduced power mode and there are messages to get it charged immediately. I'm able to limp it to the charger at the auction going 5 mph. Of course they are occupied and it's after 3 pm now. You have until 5 pm to submit a claim, but it will be a few hours before it's charged up enough so I can even take it for a drive. I was able to convince a manager of the issue, that I can't even drive it, and she said that after it's charged in the morning, they will check it out and go from there.

Ideally, the seller brought the car there without enough charge, and all it needs is recharging and then it will show there is no problem. I can't fathom anyone bringing a car in like that to sell. My pessimistic thoughts say there is something wrong with the battery or electronics on the car. What's the track record of these early Teslas? I have always read on the internet that the batteries are good for at least 20 years or more and the car should be able to go over 500,000 miles on the original battery. Any early Tesla owners here with insight?

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Come on. If it lasts that long Tesla would give you a battery warranty for 20 years/half million miles.

The reason there's no such warranty is because the battery can't last that long. Just that simple.

Auction is not a good place if you want warranty for your car.

 

[P3dStealth]

What did the batter percentage say?

The battery could have just drained from being parked in an auction lot for an extended period of time.

 

[ucmndd]

Come on. If it lasts that long Tesla would give you a battery warranty for 20 years/half million miles.

No they wouldn't. That's a silly conclusion to draw.

What's the track record of these early Teslas?

Heh, this is one of those good questions to ask before you bid.

To put it bluntly, not good. Early Model S packs have a number of design flaws that lead to early failure. Search these forums for "BMS_029" if you want to settle in for some light reading.

 

[karkrazy]

Doubt there’s much value even as a parts car.

 

[brainhouston]

What auction?

 

[nvilletele]

I bought a 2013 model S around 5 or 6 years ago. It had 24,000 miles on it.

It’s now got over 60,000 miles on it.

I still can get around 230 miles at full charge. I think originally it was around 260.

Will it last to 140,000? Not sure, but so far so good.

 

[Ben W]

Come on. If it lasts that long Tesla would give you a battery warranty for 20 years/half million miles.

The reason there's no such warranty is because the battery can't last that long. Just that simple.

Auction is not a good place if you want warranty for your car.

My 2008 Tesla Roadster is still working fine on its original battery pack, after 16 years. If a 2008 pack can last 16 years (and counting), a 2013 pack should certainly be capable of lasting 20 years, albeit with normal capacity degradation over time. A 30% reduction in capacity over 20 years should be about reasonable. Some battery packs won't last that long of course, but some will.

If nothing could outlast the warranty, all car companies would go instantly bankrupt. The warranty typically reflects the strongly expected lifetime of an item or component; ~95% of parts should outlast the warranty, not 0%. But agreed, if you want or need an item that's under warranty, by all means buy one that's under warranty.

 

[drtimhill]

Come on. If it lasts that long Tesla would give you a battery warranty for 20 years/half million miles.

The reason there's no such warranty is because the battery can't last that long. Just that simple.

Auction is not a good place if you want warranty for your car.

Well there are a LOT of owners on these forums that have cars with that mileage and above. There are other reasons that Tesla limit the warranty other than the car will fail at 100,000 miles (it wont).

 

[Tam]

Well there are a LOT of owners on these forums that have cars with that mileage and above. There are other reasons that Tesla limit the warranty other than the car will fail at 100,000 miles (it wont).

Tesla has 25-Year Solar Panel Performance Warranty (80% capacity).

It is the same with Solar Roof (although in the beginning, it was verbally announced as a lifetime of the house called "Infinite Tile Warranty.").

 

[TimT]

When I first began my journey of locating a solid 2014 or newer (autopilot) S it was not unusual to find a car at a dealer with a minimum charge. In once case the miles read zero. I was able to nurse it to a GM dealer next door. It took 90 minutes to get enough charge to get the S to a SC 8 miles away. Once charged the car ran great.

 

[brainhouston]

My 2008 Tesla Roadster is still working fine on its original battery pack, after 16 years. If a 2008 pack can last 16 years (and counting), a 2013 pack should certainly be capable of lasting 20 years, albeit with normal capacity degradation over time. A 30% reduction in capacity over 20 years should be about reasonable. Some battery packs won't last that long of course, but some will.

If nothing could outlast the warranty, all car companies would go instantly bankrupt. The warranty typically reflects the strongly expected lifetime of an item or component; ~95% of parts should outlast the warranty, not 0%. But agreed, if you want or need an item that's under warranty, by all means buy one that's under warranty.

My statistics professor, back in college days, said it well:
If light bulb company would test every single light bulb they'd produce for how many hours it can run, they'd be instantly out of business

 

[brainhouston]

Tesla has 25-Year Solar Panel Performance Warranty (80% capacity).

It is the same with Solar Roof (although in the beginning, it was verbally announced as a lifetime of the house called "Infinite Tile Warranty.").

Anyone know to what % solar packs get charged?

 

[GatorMeat]

500k miles is for new Tesla's.
2013 is old tech, but $9k is cheap.
I wouldn't buy an old Tesla unless you have lived with a new one.

 

[wwu123]

500k miles is for new Tesla's.
2013 is old tech, but $9k is cheap.
I wouldn't buy an old Tesla unless you have lived with a new one.

500k miles is for no Tesla new or old. The post Musk made in 2019 was really referencing 1500 charge cycles per Model 3 battery module before it degrades, unfortunately entire packs (comprised of more than a dozen modules) fail for any number of reasons, including cell failure within a module, module failure within a pack, water intrusion (moreso for the pack vintages of the car the OP purchased), electronics failures, etc, probably all well before 500k miles. The same Musk post also directly referenced replacing a bad module within a Model 3 pack for $5K-$7K - presumably to allow one's battery pack lifetime to be longer - but no module replacement has ever been offered by Tesla, only entire pack replacement at substantial cost.

 

[brainhouston]

The same Musk post also directly referenced replacing a bad module within a Model 3 pack for $5K-$7K - presumably to allow one's battery pack lifetime to be longer - but no module replacement has ever been offered by Tesla, only entire pack replacement at substantial cost.

U can buy used pack for half that price these days so that point is mute...
No need for module replacements anymore with such abundance of used packs..
I don't know why ppl still pay Tesla to get new/reman packs..
Little research n leg work will save u lots of money

 

[pipestem]

hey atikovi -- what is the status now ? that was a hell of flyer taking that car, hope it turns out well either way.

 

[Heckraiser]

$9k with zero history at a car auction. All I can say is that I admire the dice roll Please update the thread after you get it charged up.

 

[brainhouston]

$9k with zero history at a car auction. All I can say is that I admire the dice roll Please update the thread after you get it charged up.

ppl buy cars at auctions at any price point with zero history lol
nothing new.. its not for everyone tho..

 

[dsm363]

Come on. If it lasts that long Tesla would give you a battery warranty for 20 years/half million miles.

The reason there's no such warranty is because the battery can't last that long. Just that simple.

Auction is not a good place if you want warranty for your car.

Tesla certainly would never do such a warranty as they'd lose more than it was worth. But getting 300-400k+ is certainly possible.

https://insideevs.com/news/717654/tesla-model-s-400k-mile-battery/

And buying at auction probably wasn't a great place without some way to get car inspected. Agree.