Even though we love a good bargain, we always have to check what we are buying. Some treasures seem like offers that only a madman would pass up, but if life has taught us anything, it is that the second-hand market also hides very bad intentions and that we have to check everything carefully because cheap ends up being very expensive! (Imagine if we are talking about electric vehicles…)
Well, that was what happened to Randy Shear, a car enthusiast who thought he had found the purchase of the century: a 2013 Tesla Model S P85 for just $5,000. And indeed it was, a Tesla that cheap? Maybe other people would have doubted, but Randy could not stay still and bought it. Everything seemed perfect, until reality hit him in the face… and in the wallet.
How did the purchase go?
Randy Shear saw this Tesla Model S P85 and couldn’t contain himself. Others would have thought it was a scam, but this 2013 vehicle looked intact. But, reality didn’t take more than two months to appear and, as he tells in his YouTube video, one day, leaving a shopping centre, the car’s screen gave a worrying warning that read that the vehicle could not start. Randy turned off the car and turned it back on to see if it would start, went home and didn’t touch anything until the next day.
But the next day, things didn’t improve, and when he turned it back on, the screen of his Tesla lit up with several errors in a row:
- Limited acceleration
- Battery charging failure
- Inoperative air suspension
The Tesla had literally decided to retire on its own without telling anyone.
The repair bill
Randy believed he could fix the car with his own hands and tried to figure out what was wrong with his car. It all seemed to be a fault with the air compressor, something that was financially affordable for him (the initial estimate for the repair at Tesla was $1,800). Obviously, it hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world. However, the problem was much more serious than he imagined.
After a more in-depth inspection, the technicians discovered that the coolant had leaked into the rear-wheel drive unit, affecting the engine and transmission. In other words, the fault was not just a minor adjustment, but required replacing the entire rear engine!!! Thus, the bill went from the initial $1,800 to $7,085, much more than he had paid for the car when he bought it.
What did he do with the car?
With the car practically turned into scrap metal, Randy made the most logical decision for all of us: he got rid of the Tesla and sold it, he has now acquired a newer 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid with 1,020 horsepower that hopefully won’t give him as many headaches as his previous Tesla.
If there is one thing that this man will not forget from the lesson learned: second-hand electric cars are not the best option!
So, if you are thinking of buying a second-hand Tesla, you already know that you may win the lottery or you may have to take it to the shop every day, it will be a matter of luck but you will have to make sure that what you are buying, even if it is very cheap, is worth it, there are surprises that nobody likes!