Somehow I went from buying a Cheap Truck to a used Tesla 3 Performance.

"Have you ever noticed how 'what the hell' is always the right decision to make?"- Terry Johnson, Insignificance.

I just really wanna gush for a moment. I lost my EVO X to a driver that HAD to get to McDonalds before I could stop, but the cash payout on the total was ~$15,500; I agonized over ~20 separate vehicles and opportunities until this came up on craigslist and I suddenly, wasn't overthinking anything.

My 2019 Tesla Model 3 Performance

$38,500. 104,000 miles. Bought from a Lawyer in a nearby city, it's got some degredation but I'm back to having the fastest vehicle in my college parking lot lmao

Moar pics!

Is it a Performance or a Stealth? I don't see the badges or the spoiler, can't tell if it's got the calipers.

And that's a pretty solid deal from what I've seen for resale values. Congrats!

Very nice!!

Nice!  You will now enjoy face melting acceleration!

Keith Tanner said:

Moar pics!

Is it a Performance or a Stealth? I don't see the badges or the spoiler, can't tell if it's got the calipers.

And that's a pretty solid deal from what I've seen for resale values. Congrats!

He sold it as a performance and that's what Tesla's VIN configurator sold, but these calipers say more "stealth" to me.

Same thing happened to me once.  I was shopping for an old Austin Mini and ended up buying a new Porsche 911.  To top it off, my wife told me to do it.  Really weird.

104 thousand miles! You are a brave brave man. 

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

See if you can enable "Track Mode". That will tell you if its a Performance model. 

Enabling Track Mode on Model 3 Tesla

If Tesla says it's a Performance and it doesn't have the suspension etc, it's gotta be a Stealth - which isn't really an official model. In early 3 production, they stuck the big motor in all the Dual Motors. They just didn't enable it in all of them, so cars like mine have the big motor but not the software to take full advantage. Some owners got the offer to "unlock" the big motor for $2k, and thus the Stealth. It's the Tesla equivalent of the plain jane grocery getter with the 440 big block underhood.

That's awesome, a friend who does chassis validation at Tesla views that as a high point of the 3 :)

I wouldn't be scared of the mileage, there are lots of higher mileage 3s out there. The biggest weak point I know of is upper control arm ball joints because water can drain onto them, and one of the OEMs just came up with an improved option. OE-spec ones are not expensive and it's a simple install.

Slippery said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

See if you can enable "Track Mode". That will tell you if its a Performance model. 

Enabling Track Mode on Model 3 Tesla

Or, more fun, do a 0-60 test. Make sure you have a full battery, and of course you'll have to repeat it a few times for a good data set.

4.2s: Dual Motor. 
3.7s: Dual Motor with the "acceleration boost" upgrade
3.1s: Performance/Stealth

Keith Tanner said:

Some owners got the offer to "unlock" the big motor for $2k, and thus the Stealth. It's the Tesla equivalent of the plain jane grocery getter with the 440 big block underhood.

That's awesome, a friend who does chassis validation at Tesla views that as a high point of the 3 :)

I wouldn't be scared of the mileage, there are lots of higher mileage 3s out there. The biggest weak point I know of is upper control arm ball joints because water can drain onto them, and one of the OEMs just came up with an improved option. OE-spec ones are not expensive and it's a simple install.

Then damn, I have a stealth! I have offer upgrade in the app and everything.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Damn Model3 resale is great.

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

The app upgrade is for the Dual Motor LR only. It turns the LR partway up but not all the way up. I think the Stealth is already fully unlocked. 

Apparently it was possible to unlock it a while back if you knew the right tricks when plugged into the car via Ethernet, but that hole was closed in one of the updates. Maybe it was done which is why your car is identified as a Performance by Tesla. Email me a VIN and I'll see what someone inside can tell me.

Seriously, do a 0-60 test :) And the Dual Motor is a pretty sweet ride as it is, that's what I have. You've got the optional 19" wheels though.  

yupididit said:

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

Damn Model3 resale is great.

Yeah - insanely good.  I use mine as a sales car and rack up 25k+ a year.  The plan is tk simply grab a new one every two years and it will be a ~$5k out of pocket (paid for by the boss) to have a fresh ride.

I'm interested in the fact that you said it had some degradation.  Can you quantify?  Is there any possible way to mitigate that?  Can the batteries be upgraded?  I've heard it's cost prohibitive to do so but I'm not sure of the veracity of that.

In reply to 84FSP :

You should start a thread from the sales guy view - I'm in sales and sometimes drive 1000-1200 miles a week.  How can I make this work?

example; finished sales calls two Friday's ago at 3pm and I now have a banzai 325 mile run home.  Am I stopping?  Sitting time?  Charging time?

In my Silverado I stopped for gas/bathroom and hustled tail to get home.

Another way to tell is if it has the red line under the Dual motor on the spec screen.   I believe even the Stealths had those.  

A 401 CJ said:

I'm interested in the fact that you said it had some degradation.  Can you quantify?  Is there any possible way to mitigate that?  Can the batteries be upgraded?  I've heard it's cost prohibitive to do so but I'm not sure of the veracity of that.

I *thought* there was at first, but the internal diagnostics said it was just fine- thing is, I'm only charging to a max of 85% of allowed usable (I do it for longevity, even charging a Tesla to 100% isn't "real" 100% for the cells for safety and longevity) and it bases range on driving style as well- my windows have been open and foot has been to the floor a bit lmao, so at 85% I have an estimated 223 miles of range that increases 10-15 in real time when I'm in cruise on the interstate with the windows up.

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to 84FSP :

You should start a thread from the sales guy view - I'm in sales and sometimes drive 1000-1200 miles a week.  How can I make this work?

example; finished sales calls two Friday's ago at 3pm and I now have a banzai 325 mile run home.  Am I stopping?  Sitting time?  Charging time?

In my Silverado I stopped for gas/bathroom and hustled tail to get home.

I can try. I was planning on soon tracking energy use for it to see how much it was costing me verus my daily EVO.

On my 14-50 plug (220v) I add 29 miles an hour in a charge, and I always have the option for 110v for the paltry 3-4 if needed (which is what I and the prior owner did). At your max of 1,200 miles in a week that's a hair under 42 hours total charging if you can do it on 220; that seems doable at night without seeing maps of where you go!

As for 325 miles home- you'd have to charge once, assuming you got to the office and were able to recharge completely while you are there and weren't getting the newer S'es with 400+ miles range. Do you have a charger at work? Routine supercharging can degrade the battery, but the Tesloop company showed on their 600,000 mile pack it does it less than what even Tesla thought.

Assuming left with a full charge in a Long-Range 3, no winter losses... one stop for 20 minutes? How fast do you cannonball home?

If you're driving 325 miles home, will you eat? Stop for 20 minutes, eat while charging, done. Gives your eyes a chance to refocus. Think of the savings as being money instead of time. 

Battery deg shows up as decreased range.  Data from owner groups looks like there's an initial drop of a few percent and then almost none for the next few hundred thousand km. Data points get thin after that.

One thing Tesla needs to do is tell you about the quality of the facility's nearby.  Restaurants, book stores, sight seeing etc. all within a short walk of site. 
    Use something like Michelin stars  to rate the various places nearby. 

In reply to frenchyd :

I think Google has that covered. It's more their thing. 

Trucks & boats?   
    I assume since there is no limit to how much rain you drive in. It's going to be OK to back a truck into the lake to launch a boat?  
   Any idea of how far you could go before you're in trouble?   

In reply to frenchyd :

Once the truck starts to float and your tires lose traction, you're in trouble.

I suspect that will happen before you get into other sorts of trouble as automakers have a pretty good idea how their vehicles get used.

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to frenchyd :

Once the truck starts to float and your tires lose traction, you're in trouble.

I suspect that will happen before you get into other sorts of trouble as automakers have a pretty good idea how their vehicles get used.

But what if it has one of those propeller thingys on the hitch?  Will that help?