# Early Model S experiences?



## Power Surge (Jan 6, 2022)

I'm considering buying an early Model S, mainly looking at 13 and 14 85s and P85s. 

I do realize those cars are now 8+ years old. Most I come across are in the 50-100k mile range. 

I would like to hear people's experiences who have owned this particular year and model. Good or bad. 

I am trying to decide if this would be a smart buy or not. I have seen some people mention those early cars had issues, but I would think with the Tesla warranty, would most of those things have not been addressed by now? 

Thanks for any and all advice .

Sal


----------



## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

I haven’t owned one but there are a few things you need to know about the early cars.

First, get the service history on the car and check for any motor replacements. Early Model S suffers from a “windmilling” noise from the motors. Tesla mostly replaced those with motors until they figured out what the problem was.

Secondly, has be the main battery been replaced? Very expensive if it’s out of warranty. Jason Hughes wk057 on Twitter offers a third party warranty for older Model S batteries. Might be something to consider.

Early Model S also had terrible seats. Elon calls them “Toadstool” seats. They’re very uncomfortable and offer little to no bolster support. They were also leather so they’re very likely to be polished smooth which makes it even worse.

Also check the onboard chargers, those were known to fail.

Check the front steering rack to see if it’s been replaced. Early units had aluminum bolts holding the steering motor on and they corroded and a lots of them snapped off. Happened to a friend of mine. New units use steel.

Then there are the door handles. Ouch. They went through 4-5 designs of those to try and weed out the problems. They’re expensive to replace and most people have had at least 2-4 of them fail over time.

After 8-9 years of making them the current Model S is a fantastic car, Tesla has weeded out all of the early problems. It uses a totally new battery design, they got rid of the old motors and use Model 3 motors in them now, fixed the door handle problems, much better door seals, seats are extremely comfortable etc…


Quite honestly I know it’s tempting to get an early Model S because the prices have come down a lot but the 2012-2014 years had a lot of problems. I wouldn’t recommend them unless you don’t mind spending a lot of money on parts and service. You’d be better off with a used Model 3.


----------



## Power Surge (Jan 6, 2022)

TrevP said:


> I haven't owned one but there are a few things you need to know about the early cars.
> 
> First, get the service history on the car and check for any motor replacements. Early Model S suffers from a "windmilling" noise from the motors. Tesla mostly replaced those with motors until they figured out what the problem was.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the detailed and informative reply. This does give me more to think about. Yes, price is the biggest factor, however I do really love the looks of the early P85s as well. But price doesn't help if the car might be a money pit.

A related question... can you buy parts from Telsa and do the work yourself? I am a master auto technician and have no problem replacing needed parts myself. But I rarely hear of people having work done outside of Tesla.


----------



## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

Power Surge said:


> Thank you for the detailed and informative reply. This does give me more to think about. Yes, price is the biggest factor, however I do really love the looks of the early P85s as well. But price doesn't help if the car might be a money pit.
> 
> A related question... can you buy parts from Telsa and do the work yourself? I am a master auto technician and have no problem replacing needed parts myself. But I rarely hear of people having work done outside of Tesla.


Some parts you can buy over the counter but it's mostly trim stuff. Anything electrical, motor, battery, electronics… nope. Tesla does not sell those parts to the public. You can buy parts from wreckers but so far Tesla has not let third parties other than approved body shops or their own device centers do work on their cars. Partly for legal reasons (400 volts will kill you) partly because they're either just not willing or able to do it right now


----------



## Knappjr (7 mo ago)

Power Surge said:


> I'm considering buying an early Model S, mainly looking at 13 and 14 85s and P85s.
> 
> I do realize those cars are now 8+ years old. Most I come across are in the 50-100k mile range.
> 
> ...


I’ve had a Model S 85, 2013 and I have nothing but good things to say about it, The range has decreased somewhat as the battery ages, but I am fully prepared to replace it if need be. My singular complaint about Tesla is their service at their center. The mobile service unit does a superb job however. 

I wouldn’t be afraid to invest in the used edition if you get reasonable guarantees.
JKnapp


----------

