This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

Believe it or not, the cheapest used Tesla Model Ss are now down to the price of an entry-level Mercedes E-Class, and Supercharger access provides free mileage
This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

Ignore all the persistent problems for the Tesla Model 3 and focus on what it’s meant to be: the electric car much of the middle classes could afford, and should want. Things aren’t really going as planned for the car, which is amazing considering how relatively smooth the Model S’s birth was.

Funnily enough, Model Ss have become mainstream-affordable, for the well-paid middle classes. Demand is strong so residual values are too, but while the troubled Model 3 starts at $35,000 in the US, you can now put a UK-spec Model S on your drive for £36,000. Less, if you haggle. That’s the same sort of price as a base-spec Mercedes E-Class, but with free mileage for life.

This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

Born into an ethos that saw constant evolution, from power upgrades to over-the-airwaves software additions, the Model S was a vision of an electric car future. And we liked it, despite it being about the same size as Belgium.

It delivers a serious kick of acceleration, a tech-focused interior and all-day cruising comfort, not to mention the lifetime free Supercharger access. Forget the Death Star-eclipsing mass; it was, and is, a brilliant car in any guise.

This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

There are two sub-£36,000 Model Ss on Auto Trader right now, but none on Pistonheads or eBay at the time of writing. The reason these two are cheap? They’ve crammed-in the motorway miles over their short lives, with 76,000 and 80,000 miles to speak of. The former is a fiver cheaper but it’s also the mere 60kWh biffabout, with the least power and range of any S. Our pick is an 85kWh car, and it’s much more like it.

It’s rear-wheel drive so lacks the outright traction of the later four-wheel drive supercar-bashers like the P100D, but it will still hurl you to 62mph in 5.4 seconds (a figure that we find strangely difficult to cross-check via Google search due to the mind-scrambling array of 85-badged alternatives – P85, P85+, P85D). It’s brisk enough for you, sir, and will touch 140mph if you like.

This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

What it doesn’t seem to have is a fastidious seller. Even if you’re being generous the advert description extends to just seven words; we’re including the price and the numerical ‘1’ in that count. That’s not good enough when you’re selling cars worth £1000, let alone a high-mileage EV worth over £35,000.

Nor does the seller, a private individual, seem to know how a Model S works, listing ‘CVT’ in the title line. Perhaps he or she means Crushingly Vicious Torque. Maybe you can think of something even more creative…

This Used Tesla Model S Is A Surprising Alternative To A New E-Class

Anyway, the advert goes as far as to claim that the car has a Tesla service history, is green and has had one owner. We can see for ourselves that it has flat-based leather seats, floor mats and that both luggage spaces, the rear boot and the frunk, are in fair-to-good order.

Buying this would be something of a gamble, in the sense that we don’t yet know how long-lived the Model S’s batteries will be after having eaten 80,000 miles of Tarmac. Maybe they’ll last for tens of thousands of miles more… or maybe they’ll begin to degrade quickly until your range is little better than 100 miles per charge.

Nonetheless, a Model S with free Supercharger access is a mightily tempting alternative to a mid-sized exec car. You’d be mad not to at least think about it.

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Comments

The Stig's Canadian Cousin 1

Yes but who will actually do that?

02/12/2018 - 15:05 |
2 | 2

Probably me if I could afford it…

02/12/2018 - 15:06 |
6 | 4
theAQUAwolf (audibros)

Jesus… O_O

02/12/2018 - 15:09 |
2 | 2
Ali Mahfooz

“The car is green”… does it mean the colour green or doesn’t emit any smoke green? 🤔

02/12/2018 - 15:15 |
10 | 0

LOL

02/13/2018 - 05:56 |
0 | 0
5:19.55

If the battery die like my phone after 2 years :x

02/12/2018 - 15:17 |
38 | 0
Jakob

They hold their value rather well if you look at it like that. It’s a 4 year old car with 125000 km on the clock, I’m surprised it’s still that expensive. A brand new Model S 75 (which is similar in performance and range as the old Model S 85) costs between 60k and 70k €, depending on where you live, so this car has merely lost a third of its value (35k GBP = 40k €) over that time.
That’s much less depreciation than a Mercedes-Benz E-Class would suffer from. In fact, if you were to buy a Mercedes-Benz E-Class that’s a year old and has maybe 20000, 30000 km covered, it would already have lost half of its original value.

02/12/2018 - 15:21 |
22 | 0
DL🏁

Whatever you do before you buy the Tesla for £37k, DO NOT look at how many E60 M5s you can buy for this money. Or W204 C63, or C6 RS6. And definitely, don’t watch any exhaust sound youtube videos with these cars. This will ruin your Tesla purchase.

02/12/2018 - 15:28 |
204 | 2

Proceeds to look at E60 M5s instead

02/12/2018 - 15:47 |
58 | 0

Or even a Kia stinger gt in a year or so if you would want something more modern

02/12/2018 - 15:48 |
40 | 2

Or F10 M5.

02/12/2018 - 21:45 |
0 | 0

E60 M5? You’d best put another 10,000 on your budget…
The W204 is definitely an appealing choice though. Those cars are pretty solid.

02/12/2018 - 23:17 |
6 | 0
Rahul 1

[DELETED]

02/12/2018 - 15:32 |
2 | 2

EDIT: I was talking about another car over this Tesla

02/12/2018 - 18:40 |
0 | 0
Stegosaurus

Don’t these have to have all the batteries changed/serviced every 5 years? If so, it’s only 1 year away from a very expensive bill…

02/12/2018 - 16:33 |
10 | 0
Anonymous

I wouldnt buy it firstly because im personally not a fan of the design and secondly id miss the exhaust and engine sound id rather have a v8 or a e60 m5 with that awesome v10

02/12/2018 - 16:36 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

CVT = corruptibly velositous transportation. Defo a better moniker than P85 :-P

02/12/2018 - 16:38 |
2 | 0