Before you buy a Tesla - what you need to know

Last updated 10-Jul-2024

Before you buy a Tesla of any description, we thought it important to share a few basics on owning an EV and the way Tesla do things. The ownership experience of a Tesla is likely to be very different to what you are used to, something that you must understand before taking the plunge as failing to do so may result in either the experience being euphoric or potentially a new car buying mistake. This is not just the shift from a petrol car to an ekectric car, but also the way Tesla operate compared to traditional car dealers. What's typical is owners find a mixture of good and some not so good surprises, and whether the overall change is a good one or not depends on personal preferences.

Many Tesla owners can be overly enthusiastic about the cars and often don't take the time to listen to the genuine concerns and questions potential owners may ask. They simply assert that the cars can do it all.

Lets firstly consider the switch to an electric car, irrespective of Tesla or other makes. We know of owner scenarios where the cars just won't work at the moment for them. The typical issues are usually linked to unusual patterns of use, frequent travel to areas with poor public charging infrastucture, or they are unable to charge at their home location. Some people can get around these problems, but for the buyer it is important to recognise what limitations there are. We would argue without home charging we would strongly suggest you work out how and when you will charge the car, and contemplate dark winter conditions when range is reduced by the weather and whether an electric car can become a burden. It may not, just reflect on your own scneario. On a related point, not charging at home is typically much more expensive than home charging unless you benefit from work place charging or others subsidies.

The next factor is cost. While there are savings and in some countries tax rebates, depreciation has become a reality with Tesla and other EVs. Tesla have done much to reduce their prices which can make historic depreciation look quite steep, but prices continue to fall. This can be mitigated, or at least any depreciation locked in by various finance approaches including leasing, company cars and other financial methods.

The competition has significantly increased over recent years with most manufacturers offering EVs, and they will offer a more familar ownership model. Tesla do not really employ sales people, you can book test drives on line, you purchase on line, and the collection process has little refinement without even a thank you as they hand over the keys/keycarfd at a delivery centre. Some find the functional nature of the transaction a little underwhelming with no real hand over or explanantion, others like the simplicity.

After you have bought your car, the service side is also different, and sadly you will almost invariably need to use service at some point (our current car required 3 service visits in the first year, and previous car also needed 3, the car before that 2 visits). You book service through the app, the whole process is managed that way, and when you drop the car off, you may not even get to speak to a person. For routine faults this can work well, for more complex issues then it can be a frustration. On the plus side, rangers may visit you to fix some faults which is benefit.

Our final point is Tesla have made some bold design choices and the software is still playing catch up. The removal of parking sensors still causes some frustrations, the removal of indicator stalks takes some getting used to and we personally feel dangerous in some situations, but others love the change.

We try to take an impartial and balanced view of the good and the bad, and let the reader make an informed choice.

New v used sales

Tesla are primarily a new car operation, and while they do have a limited number of used cars for sale, these are not generally available to see or drive before purchase. Buyers may get some pictures of the car, the cars will have minimal preparation done to them and the time-scales from order to delivery can be several weeks depending on the workload delivering new cars.

We've a number of more detailed guides covering a range of specific topics depending on your interests:

Depreciation

We have already touched upon this but its worth expanding upon. Many owners who have had their cars a number of years experienced low depreciation initially although this has changed recently. Fundementally Tesla want to sell new cars and use price to balance supply and demand. For a while, Tesla increased prices whilst demand was high and waiting times were up to 6 months for a car. This made the cars more desireable, depreciation was non existent for a while and on our previous car, we actually sold it back to Tesla for more than we bought it for. However the market has changed, inventory is plentiful, waiting times are near zero with most permutations available from stock, and Tesla have reduced prices to stimulate demand. This of course has had a direct impact on used prices and therefore depreciation.

Check out our Tesla inventory pages as we offer more search features than Tesla and combined both Tesla and 3rd party listings.
We provide comprehensive details for each car including an assessment of the market, the price history of that car and the depreciation curve for that model/year.

Driving

Driving a Tesla is a different experience to petrol but fairly typical of all electric vehicles. Whilst other EV cars have similar traits, the performance of Teslas is class leading unless you compare the cars to high end makes such as the Audi eTron GT, the BMW i4 or the Porsche Taycan. Some of the technology is similar to that of other cars, like doors unlocking automatically, but in places it's been taken to another level. You walk up, the door handles present themselves, on some cars the doors even open automatically for you, you get in, you put it in drive, you move away. No ignition, no "on" switch, no handbrake, no noise. And then the driving is just so smooth and responsive. Floor it, and the horizon approaches very quickly.

That said, the cars, like most EVs, are relatively heavy and while quick off the mark they can suffer at higher speeds and around corners for an otherwise "fast" car. The Model 3 is relatively nimble and the performance version is often compared to mid-size sports cars like the BMW M3/4 although we find the driving accuracy and cornering not in the same class as a more dedicated performance model. The Model Y suspension is widely reported as being too firm and we feel the Model S and Model X, even in the 2021 model revision, are showing their age with some notable technology still missing such as surround view, head up displays and augmented satellite navigation. Many owners are surprised by the lask of these features, and others including no support for 2 mobile phones, the accuracy of reading and adjusting to speed limits, not having active matrix headlights, and variability in the performance of the automatice windscreen wipers.

Quality of engineering

So how good are the cars? This is probably one of the most controversial topics out there.

We're going to try and be objective. Software wise, the updates are bringing new features, but a glance a our release notes will show how many updates are simply bug fix releases due to the number of issues that require resolution. Areas like the sat nav have improved over time, now include speed camera alerts, but then for reasons we don't understand, only alert you if the sat nav is engaged, and not if there is a speed camera ahead. There is also constant tweaking and changes of the UI.

On the physical design aspects, the interior is fairly minimalist which some people love, but it is sometimes reviewed as relatively low quality compared to premium cars of this price bracket like Audi, BMW and Porsche. This is subjective and Tesla have improved things over the years, but if you're looking at used cars it is worth keeping in mind. The highland Model 3 has introduced ventilated seats but some find them now uncomfortable. But its beyond these areas we would look. The suspension is still a consumable with suspension arms frequently replaced within the first few years. open the doors or trunk and look at the hinge mechanisms, rubber sealing, dampers and you'll see they're all fairly crude technology compared to more premium marks. The front seats in a Model Y are the same as the Model 3, just on stilts rising out of the floor. There are underseat vents with no protection so anything falling on the floor can fall into these and forever be heard sliding around as you corner.

But the good is areas like efficiency, range, rapid charging speed (at lower states of charge) and straight line performance.

These things are also relative and Tesla isn't bad, but if we want to compare, Tesla is more comparable to Ford than a premium marque such as BMW or Audi.

Autopilot is also an area of very mixed experiences. In North America, the FSD (supervised0 is an impressive demonstration of whats possible, but it is still very much a sueprvised system. Outside NA, it offers virtually nothingm, and even the basic Autopilot and extended autopilot features are barely comparable to the equivalent driver assist systems in other cars.

But let's put this into perspective. There are plenty of things to delight a new owner, however there will also be some basic features that will surprise the buyer with their absence. The questions buyers need to ask is whether the positives outway the negatives. Tesla is not the best car in the automotive world, but its still probably one of the best EVs in the world, and the right car, especially if you buy used after a chunk of depreciation, can be exceptional value for money.

Customer service

Tesla use a mobile app to schedule service and while this can be convenient, the ability to talk to somebody in service is not something that is easy to do. Tesla also handle routine maintenance and warranty matters well when they are straight forward, however if your problem is not straight forward or there is a looming significant design defect issue, Tesla can also go into a denial mode. There have been issues with older cars regarding charging speed, battery capacity and large screen failures which Tesla are pushing back even though its patently these are design defects. Owners have resorted taking Tesla to court and Tesla have been known to not even turn up to defend the case, and its only after many owners have suffered do they change their position. We feel forcing owners to go legal is at best a very poor organisational structure failing to respond better, and at worst a deliberate and cynical tactic to try and reduce warranty.

Tax and incentives

Most countries offer EV buyers some incentives, either a contribution to the purchase price, trax credits, use of high occupancy lanes, exempt from congestion charges, access to low polution zones, free parking etc. Check your country for the local benefits.

Fuel costs are cheap except when charging on some public chargers especially rapid chargers. Work on 1/4 of the kwh electricity cost per mile for the smaller more efficient cars and 1/3 for the bigger models. If you own a Model 3 and pay 12p per kwh, a mile costs roughly 12/4 or 3p per mile.