Background

I purchased my 2013 Tesla Model S P85+ used with ~63,000 miles in late 2017. This was my first experience buying a car: #1 sight unseen, #2 online, and #3 from Tesla. All three of those things made for quite the experence! I had been following along cloesly online with how the process would go and therefore none of this was surprising to me in any way. I was immediatly alerted when a Tesla for sale listing hit my specific criteria using my trusty Tesla price scraper EV-CPO Hunter. I got the alert about my unicorn vehicle being available on the drive home from a barbeque. I immediatly pulled over into a Wendy’s parking lot, stared at the listing for 2-3 minutes on my phone, and then clicked the buy button!

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Then the wait started… almost exactly at the 12 week mark I picked up my S at my local-ish Tesla Service Center!

The higher milage and vehicle age really healped keep the sale price reasonable for meeting my criteria to purchase. Compared to what the vehicle cost new, I was getting a REALLY good deal. Luckilly Tesla had just rolled out selling higher milage cars (50k+) as Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) that carried a 2 year warranty (as opposed to the lower milage 4 year CPO waranty). In the CPO program, the vehicles were subjected to a detailed inspection process that was later phased out over the years in favor of a less detailed “Tesla Used” certification process. I can attest to this level of detail as I was able to get information (one way or another) that the drive unit was replaced. Further, it was obvious that at least the hood of the vehicle was re-painted as there was quite a bit of overspray on some nuts.

The “CPO” 2 year Warranty WELL worth it for a 2013 Model S! Since 2013 was an early production model year for the Model S many problems surfaced. Items such as the door handles needed to be repaired multiple times to fix long standing issues while parts were being re-designed.

Service History

Covered under CPO warranty

  • Previous owner - that I know about
    • Battery
    • Titanium shield
  • CPO
    • Drive Unit
    • Assuming paint - obviously overspray nuts under hood
  • 2017
    • Replaced Driver Door handle
    • Adjusted all door handles ( bad gaps when received)
    • ReSeated passenger mirror due to squeek
    • Replaced broken door sills ( broken clips when received)
  • 1/17/2018
    • Replaced passenger door handle
    • Replaced driver door handle (x2)
    • Replaced steering control module unit ( codes - Regen/traction disabled)
    • Replaced left scroll wheel
  • 4/25/2018
    • 12v battery replaced due to warning
    • Passenger Airbag replacement - recall
    • 12k 2yr service
  • 7/12/2018
    • Right rear door handle assembly ( random door pop open) •
  • 12/17/2018
    • Full 8yr service
    • Replace: Shaft - Steering Column - Intermediate ( hard turn steering )
    • Replace RH headlight assembly ( randomly turn off)
  • 4/10/2019
    • 4 baolong TPMS sensors
  • 8/2019
    • Front Right upper suspension ( bad bearing clunking noise)
    • Touch screen replacement ( glue melting at top )

After CPO Warranty expired (8/2019)

  • 9/2019
    • Replace: Master charger due to failure ($2508)