Suddenly there was the Tesla Model S nine years ago. That car turned the industry upside down and made electric driving sexy. Eight years is the period during which the factory warranty is valid with Tesla. The warranty has just expired for the oldest copies. We dive into the reputation of the electro pioneer and see what you get when you buy a used one.
From 2008 there are signs that Tesla, which we only know from the Roadster, is working on a second model under the working title ‘Whitestar’. It develops the powertrain and body entirely in-house and designer Franz von Holzhausen is taken from Mazda for the design of the car. After that, the fence of the dam. In 2010, 3,000 people made a $5,000 down payment on a car they’ve never seen. On June 22, 2012, the first Model S will be delivered to a customer in the US. And what is the idea of the ‘S’ in the type designation? That only became clear years later after the arrival of the 3, X and recently the Y. Together they form the combination S3XY.
The Tesla Model S is a milestone in automotive history. Over the decades, there have been regular experiments with electric cars. But due to increasingly strict regulations, car manufacturers first felt serious pressure to do something with EVs ten years ago. At that time, this resulted in cars such as the Mitsubishi i-MiEV and the Nissan Leaf, which are mainly characterized by their questionable appearance and a limited range. Tesla set a standard in 2012 that traditional car manufacturers are only now coming close to. It is a car with an attractive shape, a very decent range and also sports car performance. In recent years, it has become clear that Tesla is primarily a technology company that builds cars, while traditional brands have only recently begun to transform into technology companies. The Model S will make its appearance in the Netherlands in 2013. The great Tesla is brought in as if it were the Redeemer. Business drivers can drive the EV without addition, and there are also purchase subsidies that allow entrepreneurs to drive the Model S almost budget neutral for years. Despite purchase prices of €70,000 to more than €100,000, this makes the car accessible to a large group of people.
Who would have ever imagined that the Dutch would give in massive for a more than two-ton heavy, full-size American who barely fits in a parking space? Cuddling with government money has clearly helped. Up to and including 2018, almost 14,000 copies will be registered. After that, the tax rules will be overhauled, so that the Model S loses its advantage and the Dutchman’s love for this car immediately cools. Today, prices of used Teslas are high, which is partly due to the demand for this car from abroad. In the first nine months of 2021, almost 600 were exported to countries where a new subsidy often awaits.
Tesla Model S
tricks
How do you read the type designation of a Model S again? The number in the type designation stands for the energy content of the battery pack. With the simplest Model S 60 that is therefore 60 kWh; the heaviest variant has 100 kWh. If a Model S has a D (from Dual) in the type designation, then it has two electric motors. One operates the front axle and the other the rear axle and that provides four-wheel drive. Every Model S offers a cartload of power and torque. Even the simplest version kicks it up to 306 hp and 440 Nm. With the latest Tesla Model S Plaid, that is 1,020 hp; Tesla does not want to give up an amount of torque for that version. The P in a type designation stands for Performance. They have an even stronger engine and a number of accessories, such as carbon fiber rear spoilers, larger wheels and red brake calipers. But that extra equipment can differ per version and per year. The Model S can accelerate incredibly hard with all that power. To add to the festive spirit, the P85D and P90D from 2016 will feature the Ludicrous Mode, in which the car extracts maximum energy from the battery for the best acceleration: in 3.0 seconds from standstill to 100 km/h. It’s just one of the many tricks Tesla has applied over time; the Model S has turned out to be a true magic box. Accessories and updates are added ‘over the air’. The most special accessory is without a doubt the Auto Pilot, a system that makes the Tesla remarkably easy to drive autonomously. In disaster areas, Tesla can temporarily increase the range of the cars, so that customers have a better chance of getting away. The battery capacity is therefore not fully utilized by default. That not only leaves room for this kind of action, it also limits the degradation of the battery. So you can say that it has 100 percent capacity for a long time to come.
imitation stuff
To get to know details of the Tesla Model S used, we turn our noses around the corner at garage company Metropool in Rotterdam, where we speak with Abdullah Nibizadah. At his company, they have been working for six years to come up with cheap solutions for the often expensive ailments of the Model S. As the factory warranty on Teslas expires more and more in the coming time, their business will only become more lucrative; there are many parts manufacturers ready to supply imitation gear. And thus repair costs can be further reduced.
Abdullah does not have to think long about the biggest recommendation for a used Tesla. “The variants with free supercharges for life are worth their weight in gold. Then you drive like you have an oil well in your backyard; it is forever economically worthwhile to replace everything on those cars. Those are the construction years from 2012 to 2016; in the last year the conditions have changed so that they don’t have it all anymore.” In addition, if Tesla takes a car with free supercharges for life, that option will be removed. It is therefore worth checking whether a Model S that is offered with ‘free supercharging for life’, actually has that option on board.
above
Under the front cover of the Model S we find nothing. Well, there is an extra, useful luggage space. However, to look for defects, we have to go straight to the roof. There it can happen that the aluminum of the body corrodes over the years. That is not regular rust as with a steel body (which simply does not occur with aluminum), but it does produce ugly bumps under the paint. It’s disfiguring, but no more than that; the car can get old with it. A bigger pain point are the Teslas with a panoramic roof. There are cables on the side that open the roof. These can warp, causing the roof to malfunction and sometimes requiring many thousands of euros to be repaired. That certainly deserves attention when purchasing. Tesla has now learned its lessons: the panoramic roofs are no longer available.
around it
Corrosion bumps, such as on the roof, can also be found on the rest of the car. This mainly starts in the corners. Furthermore, Tesla is not known for good build quality, especially in the early years. With almost all old cars you will come across skewed panels, making it look like damage has been badly repaired. The chrome-plated strips can also come off over time. The biggest pain point, however, are the door handles. They pop out when the car is unlocked, but that doesn’t always go well. “At the beginning, a new door handle at Tesla cost €1,100,” Abdullah says. “But now the price has dropped to €450. The point with the door handles is that a steel part is not strong enough, so that it breaks. We have had them imitated in a stronger version. Repairs therefore only cost us €150.”
Within
The interior is also not distinguished by a careful finish. If there are 200,000 kilometers on the Tesla counter, the fraying will already be nice and on the way rattles, beeps and creaks are the rule rather than the exception. The panoramic roof is again a major culprit. The most striking feature of the interior is the large screen, which is called MCU (Media Control Unit): it can ‘freeze’. There was a time when Abdullah had the motherboards overhauled for that. “But today Tesla has its own barter system. There is another one for €1,500. A brand new one costs no less than €3,000.”
below
Under the car we mainly see a large plastic plate that covers the battery pack. We now know that the capacity of that package decreases by about one percent per year. At Tesla it is possible to have the battery pack measured. In addition, the result only tells you whether it meets the manufacturer’s standard, whereby it may not decrease by more than 30 percent. If the car falls within the warranty period and the degradation of the battery is too high, Tesla will provide a completely new package. But the factory warranty has now ended for the oldest copies, as we wrote earlier. Abdullah: “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If a car only has 300 kilometers of range, cells are broken. One new cell costs €2,000.”
Furthermore, the wishbones and stabilizer bars are considered weak spots: suspension components have a hard time under the two-ton Tesla with its enormous pulling power. It is therefore not surprising that something has to be replaced regularly – although you have that a bit in hand with your driving style. During the test drive you should in any case check everything carefully for rattles and noises from the underside. Another important part that sometimes breaks is the inverter. “It is located under the rear seat and sometimes moisture is added. Then a short circuit occurs. The inverter must then be replaced. Even if the car is only charging very slowly, this indicates that the inverter is defective. Replacement of that part costs €2,500.”
‘Automotive cockroach’
In the car world there is the term ‘automotive cockroach’, which literally translates as ‘automotive cockroach’. It’s a nickname for cars that just won’t break down. The 30-year-old Toyotas that are still driving around the world are the best-known example. It may well be that the Tesla Model S will one day also get that honorary title. Because apart from replacing some chassis components and keeping the interior tidy, you don’t have to do much maintenance. In the early years there was a taxi fleet in the Netherlands with Models S. They drove no less than 300,000 kilometers in three years. Unfortunately, we’ll never know how far those cars can get in the end; almost all of them were sold and shipped to Eastern Europe and thus disappeared from our radar.
Looking for a used Tesla Model S? You will find them here.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl