Quality of buying used from Tesla

I’m curious about this also.

Be prepared them centers be delivery first fixing later. I took delivery and I went to open the door and INSTANTLY saw my driver side door sagging so hard the window was rubbing against the B pillar. Then found a windshield crack, trunk motor “pulsing” coming downwards, center drawer scraping the phone charger area, coat hangar completely busted… You got the warranty if you bought the used though Tesla though. Got my service request for this shit now.

That’s terrible. Wtf

Little bit yeah. It’s all covered at least. Better than my old Tesla where it’s battery shit out completely and I just couldn’t drive it.

I felt the same about the $500 deposit. Felt shady to hand over $500 to be potentially let down if the car had major issues. That being said, my experience was really good buying from my local Tesla dealer. The pictures on the website are a good representation of what you will get. Mine had some bumper dings which I saw in the photos, but they detailed the interior and it looked better than the pictures did. Process was super smooth and I was in and out within 30 minutes and 5 minutes of that was paperwork. The rest was me checking over the car and the delivery agent going over the car features with me. You can obviously check over the car before you sign anything. Just try to be thorough when you inspect it so you can address any issues before you sign anything.

So if you didn’t like the car on arrival is the deposit a waste ?

[I just bought my Model 3 last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/1rei01g/2023_model_3_loving_it/). I was a little concerned (to be honest, i was upgrading from a beat up Elantra anyways) but working with Tesla was a great experience. Before going to the location with the used vehicle, I went to a location that only had new. They let me test drive a new model 3, which helped ease some of my concerns. This might not be an option for you, I'm lucky that I live in a metro that has 3-4 tesla locations They will not let you drive or open the vehicle, but they will let you walk around the car completely and check it out before you sign. They put the papers in front of me and I said "id like to see the car before I sign away" and they were completely fine with it. Not saying lemons don't happen but you're buying used from Tesla. Im more comfortable doing that than a random dealer who happens to have a Tesla on their lot. I was in and out in 30 mins.

You could request to make it right if something was damaged but if you really didn't want it at all, you lose the $500. So definitely make sure you look through whatever pictures they have and make sure you're ok with the the condition shown in the pictures before committing to it.

I got my deposit back when I turned up to see one and wasn’t at the level expected

Horrible. I’m dealing with a CARFAX reported damage (found after placing order) that wasn’t on Autocheck. No vin transfer allowed. Been trying to pester advisors but they won’t budge. No refund for deposit or transportation. Almost tempted to let them get it all ready so I can go in person and give the middle finger and waste their time for making me lose $1.5k.

That’s interesting, did you have to fight for it or were they chill about it?

I’m in the UK but I called in advanced and asked about it and they were absolutely fine when I turned up and it had far to many stone chips etc

Be prepared to refuse to take delivery. Tesla is famous for selling an absolute monstrosity with the promise if you take delivery now you can bring it back for repair and then never repairing it.

They let me inside the vehicle so it may vary on your site or salesman.

How did you get ac CARFAX for it, pay for it out of your own pocket?

Yup

Now imagine when u go to sell it later u see that in the report. U will get low balled by both Tesla and Dealers. It’s so shady how they’re doing used sales imo.

In US, was told they don't sell used with unacceptable amount of swirl marks or smelling like previous smoker. Other than that you can refuse the vehicle. If I end up buying a used one from Tesla, I'd do a morning pick up and plan to spend the day driving around that town to make a list of things wrong with it so I could go back and show them the issues and make an appt to fix it along with a loaner at some point.

My 50k s model showed up with a cracked bumper . Porter/delivery kid had the audacity to tell me you are buying a used car . Take it or leave it. I paid $1000 shipping to get the car with no pictures at that time. Which i gonna loose. Called the manager he put in a ticket with used car team took delivery and week later they changed the bumper. Tesla has used car acceptable condition spec page. Read and understand that. If its out of spec from that page they will fix it

If you are in the US, you'll never get your deposit back - you are expected to get defected fixed after the fact at the service center. And expect zero customer service along the purchase process.

That’s a good idea!

I know the pics are not great quality online, but most of the US used cars on Tesla have photos of the actual car after you scroll through. Vary in number of pics and level of detail.

Yeah that’s part of our dilemma as well, no pictures of the one we’re interested in yet and the other has pictures but not enough detail

Teslas used department used to be so good. Coming from someone who bought 3 used teslas. First time was in 2022 and it couldn’t have been better, wheels with curb rash were replaced, tires were replaced, all maintenance was performed, the car felt brand new. Fast forward to late 2025 where I take deliver of another model 3. This was absolutely horrendous, it’s like they just took the vehicle and sold it to me and did nothing. There was a huge dent in the rear door, both rear tires were shot and one of them was on the verge of popping due to severe tread damage, rims were curbed, suspension arm bushings were failing, alignment was off, etc. I will say however that Tesla will make it right after the fact and that I can trust them with for all my teslas. They made me take delivery and immediately put it into the collision shop where the door got replaced and repainted. 2 weeks later they performed an alignment, replaced all 4 tires, and replaced both front lower control arms. They also offered me the option of switching to a different used vehicle but I would have to pay the difference in cost. I talked to a couple people at the delivery team at Tesla and used car policies were updated somewhere in 2025. They are a lot less strict than they used to be. Before Tesla would go above and beyond to make sure your vehicle was basically brand new when you received it. Any minor cosmetic issue (rock chips, curb rash, etc) would be repaired on the spot. Vehicles were inspected thoroughly for mechanical components failing. My friends used Tesla had the entire front bumper replaced due to minor rock chips prior to his delivery. Obviously I assume this costed them a lot of money which is why they switched up in 2025. Expect issues when buying used from Tesla but if you point them out early, they’ll fix them without any complaints. They have a great rectification process.

We bought a 2024 MY last week from Tesla, after our kids bought 2023 M3’s there. Ours came from CA. There are a few chips on the frunk, which they disclosed. My daughter’s car had a bad frunk seal which they corrected before delivery.

I’ve bought 2 used Tesla’s from Tesla….no problems whatsoever. The extended warranty covered me for an issue that I had a year down the road on my X. Would do it again. You can always walk away.

I've got a terrible experience too, they didn't even ever provide photos of the car - Windshield crack - Roof leak inside the cabin - 12V battery at end of life - Water in the rear light - Click/clack during acceleration - Dashboard wood cracked and peeling - Broken TPMS sensors - Some road chips and a very small dent in the passenger door - Rattling from the front speakers - Only one single key provided - Car was dirty and dusty inside (with clear water spots in the roof area) So far everything is covered under warranty but I'm still waiting for the repairs, some of them will be carried out tomorrow

Bought my used Tesla from a Chevrolet dealer. They knew nothing about the Teslas. I was able to test drive for about an hour. Car was in immaculate condition and only had 747 miles on it and it was underpriced. Great deal. I think you’re okay as long as you go used at a reputable big name dealer.

Delivery employee needs a PIP, or get chopped. Poor representation of the brand, sorry that happened but glad it worked out.

Please let me know how it goes later. I'm considering doing the same

geez, that is crazy. I guess it varies a lot. I bought a used 2023 model y (25,000 miles) a few months back and the car was basically like new.

I bought my 2020 Model 3 Long Range used from Tesla. Other than the delivery fee being stupid, everything else was smooth. I was an hour and a half away as well. When I got there, I inspected the car and it looked brand new. Even had new tires. It was sitting on the charger and everything went well.

It would seem there has been a massive employee shake up at the centers here in Florida. Both centers had none of the staff I had met before. Got my car back today after they fixed a bunch of stuff and they made a big mess of dust and debris and most annoying is the finger smear on the glass inside the front camera housing. Not even going to try with that until the car itself demands that I open it and clean it because taking off that plastic housing is a bitch and a half I have no desire to deal with.