[UK]Advice on buying a Model S built 2016-2018

[GeorgeSymonds]

So ive expanded my search for 2015+ models that have already had the battery replaced - Im thinking if out of warranty then look for a car thats already had a replacement battery/drive train...

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Personally I'd head over to tesla-info as they pull in autoitrader, pistonheads, tesla themselves etc and you can search more easily.

It's probably worth reading their buyers guide. It's not as simple as thinking the car 2016-2018 cars is more or less the same, there were some significant updates between those years, not all of which are really explained in the youtube video pushed, including:

- switch to Tesla autopilot hardware, and that had 2 if not 3 versions in that time
- the MCU got upgraded, I think at the tail end of the time window

I think they're the main ones assuming the Raven updates were later.

You've also got the battery choices of which there are several

The battery warranty on those cars are 8 years and unlimited miles, so few cars will be without any battery warranty, only the first handful of facelifts.

Free superchargin on the other hand will be increasingly hard to come by

 

[WannabeOwner]

Im thinking if out of warranty then look for a car thats already had a replacement battery/drive train

I think that would most likely get you a refurb'd battery. A number of threads here from people who have had a battery failure (in M3 / MY) - the number is low, so it is (on recent models) a rare thing, but the general comment is that the refurb had much more degradation than the original and having to argue with Tesla that it is not a fit replacement. Maybe back when MS were replaced they were generally "new" batteries, at that time ... in which case at best you just have a car with X miles and a, newer, battery with X-Y miles.

If the worst happens, I'd buy a new battery over refurb

Whilst its a big chunk-of-change there is some benefit. Back to original "no degradation" - although I suppose if the car was bought 2nd hand in the knowledge of its degraded range then having "original range" may not be a benefit, per se.

Improves 2nd value? next buyer will have that benefit (or you will have better longevity ...). Would it be worth 50% (I'm taking that as standard depreciation between Purchase and Sale) to the next owner? Definitely worth more to current owner, if they are going to keep the car.

I also think, increasingly, there will be 3rd party battery-repairers. They exist in Norway, where something like 95% of new cars sold are BEV, so that has stimulated the infrastructure there. So if & when then getting the battery repaired might be an option by then

my observation is complaints about the battery failing are far higher so that's my main concern.

I wonder what the percentage actually is? and which batteries. My observations are that the 85 was around for a long time, plenty of airport taxis etc. The 90 (which I had) seemed to have the worst chemistry, and was replaced very soon after launch with the 100 - which sold in much higher numbers (until the Raven came along - I got mine in 2019) and had better chemistry

it's probably not worth more than £100-£200 a year for most people who do 10k miles a year

This.

When I was doing high mileage between 2016 and 2019 [TeslaFI says . ] I did 83 Supercharges total 2,195kWh (probably more than that as I expect TeslaFi missed aa few ...). That was free back then, if we said 40p??/kWh now that would be £900 saved over about 3.5 years and 80,000 miles. I had a range of only 240 miles, and was out-of-range about twice a month - so the number is about-right.

That free Supercharging saved me about 1p a mile, overall. Or put another way (average 390 Wh/mile) 15% of my miles were free. Note that those were out-of-range, I could not have charged at home, so would have had to pay premium price at public chargers. If that was the same ratio for someone doing 10,000 miles p.a., and public charging was 40p, that would be worth less than £100 p.a. (per 10,000 miles)

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The 90 battery went through several iterations. The first iteration in the prefacelift cars (sold as a range boost or something like that over the 85) wasn't good, but by the time the facelift came around they'd sorted the issues. I have owned one of each (an early 90D and then a facelift P90D) and to be honest I don't recall seeing much of a problem with either, and I did about 30k miles in each. Luck of the draw

The 85 battery had batterygate and chargegate where Tesla just knobbled them through a software update.

But... there are bad apples out there, and buying a 6-7 year old car you're rolling the dice. I understand why trying to buy refurbed or new or whatever batteries seems like a sensible precaution, but I don't think many have proper figures to really calculate the odds.

I think a later 75D would get my vote over an early 85 or 90 because in practice, the later car will be simply better in general and the range will be very similar today. No free supercharging, but if thats the motivation for buying one, then I question if thats sensible, it may seem like a good idea.. but you're a big bill away from losing 10x as much as youmight save.

 

[AndyFov]

I saw one advertised privately on Speak EV yesterday.

This is not an endorsement, I don't know the seller or anything about the car. It's just in your budget, and an opportunity to buy an S without a dealer's margin factored in.

Tesla Model S 70D 2015 Blue: refurbished battery pack...

81,000 miles Features 22kW AC charging, CCS, MCU2, sunroof, recent brake pads/discs, AC regas, new MOT and just serviced by Cleevely EV. Refurb pack and new AC charger last winter. Shows 210 miles on a full charge. No free supercharging- but some warranty remaining Selling as we don't need 2...

www.speakev.com

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'd try to afford the non-low range models if you can. Unless you are definitely not going out of range ...

It makes such a difference on trips, more trips that can be made without extra changing, less top-up time/cost for splash-and-dash final leg, faster charging (huge sweeping statement but "10%-80% in 20 minutes, regardless of battery size" so bigger battery means more miles-per-unit-time), Superchargers have become more congested so more chance of queue, degradation still applies, but is less limiting. Same/similar contingency miles whatever EV, but for smaller battery its a higher percentage of the available range, and so on.

 

[karl4455]

Thanks for the replies guys - Ive checked the one on EV talk but its now sold will keep searching AT.

Just a question on the range factor - I do about 5000 max miles a year, I bike to work 2/3 times a week so dont use the car that much and work is only 4 miles away. So a low range option wouldn't be a problem for me. Having checked over a few cars recently Ive seen people selling up now before the Tesla warranties expires within 6 months, Imp staying away from these unless they've already had a major battery swap or drive train swap done under warranty. I see the best option for me is a 2015-2017 model with a battery replacement already done.