Model S Warranty Question

[MdlSP100D'16]

So I might be terrible at math, and I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I want to open source some knowledge about the warranty.

As my attached picture shows, my warranty [8yr/unlimited miles for both Drivetrain and Battery]--per Tesla--is Oct. 2025. My manufacture date is 8.2016. I thought I would only have until August of next year. Certainly not until October of '25. Was there an extended warranty maybe the original owner purchased? Am I mathing that poorly? The fact that I have a year plus to save up for a third party warranty is huge--but only if it is not some error in their system I find out about Oct 1 of next year haha when, with my luck my battery dies and I go in thinking I have 2 more years and they tell me "oopsy, our bad, just an error" haha.

 

[SoCal Buzz]

Warranty is based on sale not mfg. date. But that would imply this car was sold a year later. Perhaps it was a Tesla demo or showroom car. I presume the basic warranty may have ended based on miles and not time.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

Warranty is based on sale not mfg. date. But that would imply this car was sold a year later. Perhaps it was a Tesla demo or showroom car. I presume the basic warranty may have ended based on miles and not time.

Ahhhhh I did not even think of that! It must have been a showroom car! No way it just sat for a year! I did not even think of that haha. Too bad there isn't a way to know. One thing I have been trying hard to find--maybe someone on here knows--is how many of my model 2016.5 P100Ds were actually produced. I feel like there couldn't have been more than a few hundred because they didn't start until end of August and by October they had started upgrading to AP2 [I have AP1]. I also am curious about the S P100D generally in total numbers. How many in total were actually made. There are so many S variations I'd love a breakdown per variation per year. It'd be neat if there were less than a few thousand S P100Ds made.

 

[xanderwalker]

I think it’s probably right around 1000 of the AP1 P100D that were ever made. It also explains how your car was probably in inventory for a year before it sold because it had to discount a lot to be competitively priced vs the AP2 cars that came out shortly after.

 

[PCMc]

I forget the story of where you purchased your car. If you purchased it from the original owner, you can contact them directly to see if they would tell you when it was put into service. You could also try one of the sites that allow you to do a title/registration search on your car to find out when it was first titled.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

So the Carmax has the first registration in Raleigh, North Carolina Oct. 2017! Then in May of 2020, registered in Orlando, FL. Then listed for sale at auction at the end of June of this year and was listed as a *fleet vehicle* and was purchased by the dealership where I bought it from.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

I think it’s probably right around 1000 of the AP1 P100D that were ever made. It also explains how your car was probably in inventory for a year before it sold because it had to discount a lot to be competitively priced vs the AP2 cars that came out shortly after.

Ahhh that sounds right! I am always surprised at how they have held their value for so many years (obviously not relative to the 6 figures originally paid but for someone like my wife and I a vehicle being valued between ~35-55k at 7 years of age is crazy haha). I suppose for people like me who don't really want the self driving stuff and prefer to drive my beast the AP1 isn't a huge draw back. And at about ~13% degradation with a 100kWh battery I am still getting close to new 2023 range for many Tesla models. The new Tesla Plaid with the track mode kicks my cars ass but aside from that it still seems to hold up pretty well specs wise--although I WISH I could get that software/battery change that allows the Plaid to continue its acceleration at insane speeds whereas my rate of acceleration falls off after the 0-60ish. Heres to hoping my battery either survives for another 15 years or dies before my warranty dies haha. I feel like I'd keep this car forever. It is the nicest thing I've ever owned and hands down the most fun thing I have ever driven in my life--even if the new tires bought just cost me ~$1900

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

I am curious how you all would value the FUSC. I think back when Tesla ran that $5k promo that was an absurd undervaluation. Especially as it gets more expensive. I feel like that should add easily $10-15k to the vehicle worth.

 

[PCMc]

I am curious how you all would value the FUSC. I think back when Tesla ran that $5k promo that was an absurd undervaluation. Especially as it gets more expensive. I feel like that should add easily $10-15k to the vehicle worth.

The value of FUSC is very dependent upon the individual and their own use case.

For someone that drives 25k miles a year or more, most of which would be highway driving where they use supercharging, they value will be much higher. For someone that drives more in-line with the national average of maybe 12,500 miles a year, much of that being local driving where their charging cost with a home charger would be much lower, then likely not so much.

So it's impossible to put a single figure on it that will apply to all buyers.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

The value of FUSC is very dependent upon the individual and their own use case.

For someone that drives 25k miles a year or more, most of which would be highway driving where they use supercharging, they value will be much higher. For someone that drives more in-line with the national average of maybe 12,500 miles a year, much of that being local driving where their charging cost with a home charger would be much lower, then likely not so much.

So it's impossible to put a single figure on it that will apply to all buyers.

While I generally agree, one thing I think that is vastly undercounted is apartment living. My wife and I live in an apartment complex and there is at least one other Tesla here. No charging stations. Especially here in the south and in older/historic complexes, they don't have that. For us the FUSC is a godsend. When we get groceries a few times a week we plug Eleanor in and get her to the 85% [hits 80% right as we pull in our parking spot!] by around the time we are finished shopping. Far more people--especially Millenial/Gen Z live in apartments than homes--and the superchargers/public chargers are the go to!

 

[joshhidley]

So the Carmax has the first registration in Raleigh, North Carolina Oct. 2017! Then in May of 2020, registered in Orlando, FL. Then listed for sale at auction at the end of June of this year and was listed as a *fleet vehicle* and was purchased by the dealership where I bought it from.

So was this a Tesla demo car for the first 10 months (or whatever) or did it just just sit around not selling?

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

So was this a Tesla demo car for the first 10 months (or whatever) or did it just just sit around not selling?

Nah, when it was sold it had I think like 10k miles on it while under Tesla's ownership for 13 months before being sold to its first buyer. I talked with the service center and they said that it's likely since the car has all the bells and whistles--even the rare[ish] seven seater upgrade and all other available upgrades and was driven before it was sold that Tesla most likely had it as one of their demo/show models for prospective buyers.

 

[joshhidley]

Nah, when it was sold it had I think like 10k miles on it while under Tesla's ownership for 13 months before being sold to its first buyer. I talked with the service center and they said that it's likely since the car has all the bells and whistles--even the rare[ish] seven seater upgrade and all other available upgrades and was driven before it was sold that Tesla most likely had it as one of their demo/show models for prospective buyers.

Yeah, I’m trying to figure out if this one I’m looking at has a 10/22/2019 warranty start or a 05/22/2020 start date. The first title record says “Dealer took title of this vehicle while it was in inventory”

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

Yeah, I’m trying to figure out if this one I’m looking at has a 10/22/2019 warranty start or a 05/22/2020 start date. The first title record says “Dealer took title of this vehicle while it was in inventory”

So I can't say obviously on yours but on mine the label on the vehicle has the "8/16" manufactured date and similarly, the first carfax date is October of 17.

 

[MdlSP100D'16]

So I attached on mine what it looks like. My manufacture date is 8/16 and my first "Odometer Reading" is Oct. 5, 2017. The Oct. 5th 2017 date is the date my warranty started! The easiest way to tell is just to have a picture of the "Specs & Warranty" page and see what it says (Also attached)! Good luck!

 

[dmurphy]

The value of FUSC is very dependent upon the individual and their own use case.

For someone that drives 25k miles a year or more, most of which would be highway driving where they use supercharging, they value will be much higher. For someone that drives more in-line with the national average of maybe 12,500 miles a year, much of that being local driving where their charging cost with a home charger would be much lower, then likely not so much.

So it's impossible to put a single figure on it that will apply to all buyers.

That’s pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

We charge at home routinely, but supercharge on road trips. To date, we’ve used about 9000kWh of Supercharging on our 2020 Model X. I just looked up supercharging cost (I really have never needed to look …) and on peak it’s $0.42/kWh. So that’s a value of $3,780 across a little over 3 years, for some fairly large road trips.

Not planning another X-country road trip or to tow our camper again anytime soon, so my $5,000 breakeven point will probably be somewhere around year 6 or 7.

We’ll likely beat the $5,000 valuation but really only because we plan to drive this X till the wheels come off…. And FUSC is one of the major reasons why we’ll keep it for a decade. Very counterproductive from Tesla’s standpoint!