Looking at this Used Tesla Model 3.
It’s only $32K. It is worth it? It seems to be heavily used: 90,170 kilometre odometer.
First Time Car Buyer - Is This Used Tesla Worth $32,000?
Edyolo on 20/06/2024 - 10:01
Last edited 20/06/2024 - 12:05 by 1 other user
Last edited 20/06/2024 - 12:05 by 1 other user
Comments
KMs are pretty irrelevant with an EV, battery health is what matters.
Saw an article a few days ago about farmers buying EVs BECAUSE they are rural. As long as your regular driving is within a charge range the saving add up very quickly if you do big kms. Plus, if youre a farmer its likely youve got an ICE as an option if you suddenly need to do an 800km round trip.
Imagine you need to go into town 50-100km away a couple of times a week. Perfect for EV range. Granny charge at home the other days off your solar.
Would prefer a used EV over an ICE. EVs are very simple, KMs are irrelevant, key is a battery health check.
Second hand ICE vehicles, so much can go wrong and is difficult to identify all issues even with an inspection.
Battery costs are coming down dramatically (labour isn't though), people forget that the old batteries are still worth a bit with raw materials, so the out of pocket expense to replace the battery is often less than replacing an VW\Audi transmission.
Problem is people want too much for their used EVs. Check out prices on Nissan Leafs. Many of them are 10+ years old, want $10,000 for a car with a range of 60km. It easily jumps up to $15k to $20k for a car with 100 to 150km range. These are 10 year old cars, no battery warranty, shit range and people want $10k and more.
100% agree, but ICE car sellers are just the same. Had a post this morning for a CX5, and I'm thinking WTF that's a 4 year old car, and for $4k more I can buy a new one with 3 years of included serving and full warranty. Some good deals going on Mazda's right now, just unlike Tesla you don't know what people are negotiating as everyone gets a different deal.
It may depend on the ICE car. The reason I mention the leaf is because I can buy 2016 to 2018 ICE car anywhere from $6k to $8k (similar hatch cars to the Leaf) and you won't get the terrible range. I am sure there are some ICE cars that are overpriced but I think in general EVs are trying to be sold at a higher priced second hand. I'd happily buy a used EV even if it was outside of the warranty but the price needs to reflect that, because the battery is out of warranty. Will it fail? Most likely not but if it does it would cost a lot more replace than an repairs that may be needed on an ICE vehicle. Also, I am assuming people are due diligence and getting cars checked out before buying them. I fully understand you could buy an ICE car and end up with a total lemon that costs an enormous amount to fix. However, I have never had any problems buying used ICE vehicles.
@tessel: Spot on. I purchased an old 2002 Corolla for $5k and it was perfect for 2 years. Great cheap happy motoring. Whereas a used leaf with drastically reduced utility is $10k before I replace the battery.
The problem at the moment is used EV sellers bought them at much higher values and can’t come to terms with the current market value
Wouldn't economics sort itself out though? If it's overpriced no one will buy it = prices will be lowered naturally.
Battery costs are coming down dramatically (labour isn't though), people forget that the old batteries are still worth a bit with raw materials, so the out of pocket expense to replace the battery is often less than replacing an VW\Audi transmission.
Custumer at my work's battery died in his 8 yr old "ev euro", has been quoted $30,000 just for the cost of the battery, not including labour, have no idea how hard they are to replace.
Sorry, no idea what an eu euro is. Like with anything in life you will see a range of prices, did you ask how much can they get for the old battery?
Depending on EV model, a typical price would be $12k-20k, but the point is the battery costs are reducing next year. In NA, they already have 3rd party repairers who can fix\repair the batteries a much lower prices. Sometimes they just disable the individual cell that failed. Slight reduction in capacity but then is good as new.
Some Tesla's already have spare capacity built-in, but like an SSD in your computer. You buy with n capacity, but it's provisioned with more. So when modules fail, the software cuts out and old cell and brings a new one in.
I have seen a few videos of swapping out batteries, it's actually not that labour intensive, in some ICE cars you need to lift the entire engine out to change\fix minor things. With EVs it a strange sight, but a few bolts and basically the battery module drops out. With some Tesla's that includes the Seats.Heard about Hydrogen? Replace those cells can cost more than 2x the cost of the original car. Possibly come down, but people that think Hydrogen is the answer are going to be in for a rude shock when they see the repair bills.
You obviously know more than I do, I know nothing about ev, just stating a fact that a replacement battery OEM for a semi prestigious euro car was 30k as of last week, thats all.
I would probably get a brand new MG4 for $40k drive away.
Please do so and report back in a month on how crap it is.
Bought a byd 12 months ago. It's brilliant
I can almost confidently say it would be better quality than any MG from the BL era…
100%. New car with warranty vs god knows what problems.
I think the battery degradation angle has been overdone a bit but you are taking a chance buying a used EV, probably more so than with an ICE vehicle. This is going to be a huge problem going forward - current experience in EV markets more mature than ours is that used electric cars are not holding their value. When all these cheap CCP-made EV sh1tboxes start hitting the used market in the not to distant future it will be interesting to see what their sale prices will be. Not good IMO. Good, maybe, for buyers but sellers are going to lose big time. It could be that many, especially low cost, EVs are essentially disposable products like phones and laptops. Time will tell. Personally, I won't be touching an EV before 2030.
An ice car at the equivalent kms are a repair magnet. I avoid high kms ice car despite the cheap prices. Too much mechanical parts involve
Sure, I get that and agree to a degree, but replacing a battery in an EV is going to be an expensive undertaking - maybe up to the total value of a 2nd hand car. Older ICE vehicles can have a lot of issues but rarely do you need to replace the whole engine, which is the ICE equivalent of replacing the battery in an EV.
Our 2nd hand EV market is not mature as in many other countries and it is yet to be seen how prices go, but based on what's happening overseas where it's generally a buyer's market, it's not looking good. Saying that, Australian used car prices tend to be higher than other countries, so that needs to be taken into account.
I believe that it is. You go to service menu and details are provided there.
Maybe check out this article from a 'pro'.
https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/your-questions…
You're spending $32K on your first car?
Is it a good idea?Depends on how old they are TBH or if this actually their "first" car IE had a hand me down from the family before this oen.
got a few questions,
assuming you don't have a charger at home, how much does it cost to install the specific Tesla charger ?and if you are in a situation where you are like single and have never paid a Electric bill due to having 21+ solar panels, is a Tesla or EV car a no brainer?
first car don't buy a tesla.
agree. My son went to a, fairly, elite private school and there were boys there who were driving Teslas to school. Madness.
just wait a few years and you won’t even have to drive and buy one to travel in one.
so apparently they will be driving around by themselves (owned by people or business) and you can ride in them like taxi’s for less cost than the divided costs to own one. isn’t that what musk said? I didn’t watch it all because I didn’t fully understand what he was saying but that’s what I think he meant.
Weird that no one has pointed out that it's ludicrous to spend that much money on a first car in the first place.
I did, have a look, its just above.
My first car was $250 and never even came close to crashing it or getting into trouble.
Had no power and the car after it had more power but didn't have any incidents with that one either.
Best way to learn.
First Time Car Buyer……what Tesla …….GO Toyota Echo
Or Hyundai Getz. So many good ones at good prices for sale ATM
Change your clock
Change your smoke detector battery
Change your EV batteryOP how old are you?
If your a young kid buying a first car the comprehensive insurance on the Tesla will be another $10k/yearlooks like its gone after you posted it, i cant see a 32k tesla on there
only $32K
for a piece of crap, $32k is a lot of money.
So many choices, why do you have to choose the worst EV possible?It’s a skill.
No, not even for $25k
Shirley if a thread is about EV's the downvote limit should be suspended.
I haven't been looking at cars recently but if i lived closer to the city or at least as a second car run the prices are better than i expected.
Just in my personal situation a ev wouldnt be practical due to my regional location and lifestyle needs.
At 90,000 its definitely not heavily used so if you dont plan to do big kilometres should last you many years. Just do your research in best recharging method to get longevity out of the battery. Personally i hang onto my cars but with a ev best to off load before you do big kilometers so its someone elses battery replacement problem.