Is buying a 2013 Tesla S Performance with 225,000 miles worth buying at $11,000 and the possible issues?

[NewmanAppraise]

Is buying a 2013 Tesla S Performance with 225,000 miles worth buying at $11,000 and the possible issues? (Looking for a cheap "beater" car and I found this Tesla).

 

[evrepair]

Better to buy an older model 3 with high miles if you want a beater Tesla, IMO

 

[Hank42]

11k is a bit steep. But if you're willing to do the coolant bypass to the motor, and the battery is in good shape, go for it!

 

[ucmndd]

So long as you’re willing to potentially lose the $11k at any minute and throw the car in the dumpster when the drive unit or battery takes a crap, then sure. Sounds kinda fun.

 

[jmaddr]

Honestly, with any beater car, you have to consider repair pricing into the equation. With EVs, getting a repair that costs as much as the beater car is a very real possibility which is opposite beater car mentality.

 

[NV Ray]

As far as degradation, absent any outliers, all Tesla's have shown probably less than 25% degradation. Degradation should not be a concern. All that matters to nothing if the HV pack fails due to non degradation (like mine did on my 2012 P85). Non degradation failure requiring pack replacement/repair would be like one bad cell/module, lose wire, faulty circuit board, etc.

You're going to have to accept risks when buying an out of warranty Tesla, or any like car for that matter. There is no solid data on failure of the different sized packs, just anecdotal information.

The hard truth is out of warranty replacement packs can be more than the car's worth. Once costing $100k+ USD, these are expensive cars to maintain. Set aside $10k-$20k for maintenance in an interest bearing account. If you can't do that you shouldn't be buying a car like this.

 

[gaswalla]

you need to have an ability to work on the car without going to a Tesla service center. If you can address stuff like drive unit repair or replacement, battery issues, door handles, air suspension, infotainment cluster issues, emmc issues, etc.. on your own or a third party, it may be worth it as long as you always are prepared to drop 20k on a battery at any moment. This is not unlike a used BMW or Mercedes which also are often 90 percent discounted compared to prior MRSP (albeit different issues of transmissions and engines vs battery and drive unit)

 

[Takumi]

Does it have FSD and Lifetime Supercharging? It should also have free Lifetime Premium Connectivity. FSD is $12k. So, if transferring is offered again, it's a bargain to me if both FSD and FUSC can be transferred.

But if you're looking to keep it. It's going to be a money pit. A "beater" should have parts readily available. The Model S does not fit that. Did you look at insurance?

I think the saying "Don't try to save me money, I can't afford it." applies here. Or if you prefer, "pay now, or pay more later."

 

[gaswalla]

2013 barely has parking sensors much less FSD