[Dormant] Electric Vehicles

Not a second hand owner here but I can speak to buying and ownership from the other perspective. 2018 Tesla model 3 lr rwd. Buying process was straightforward, place order online, fill out forms online, bring required papers and checks to pickup, leave with vehicle. I did have some paint chips/scratches from shipping which I raised as an issue to the delivery manager. They put me in a loaner while car was out for repair at body shop. Content with repairs no cost to me.

Looking forward, the past 5.5 years of ownerships have been pretty smooth. No major issues. Some buggy software back in 2018/2019, when they were making tons of new features and updates. It's now pretty stable/mature. All of which were OTA updates. The only physical recall I had was the cable for the backup camera can rub and wear through. So they replaced the harness there during one of my other visits at no charge.

Bring in twice a year for winter/summer tire swap and brake lube. Have had lower control arms go under warranty and a crack in a control rod out of warranty.

Service centers were hit or miss in terms of smoothness. They seem to have gotten better with my more recent experiences.

One of the three 16amp onboard charges has failed. Technically in warranty, but I didn't address it for over a year due to other factors, which is on me. So I've just been riding it out with 32amp charging instead of 48. Still plenty fast for home charging and I don't really see the value in replacing it right now. This doesn't affect supercharging (fastdc charging).

As for software, I did get the FSD package when it was $5k. And got the retrofit 3.0 hardware upgrade (no cost). It's great on highway and I use it pretty regularly. City streets, which is in beta, has been pretty janky but has shown continued improvement. It's not quite smooth enough for passengers imo, but it does some impressive maneuvers at times. I expect some further refinement in here, but I don't expect it to ever achieve what the name it was marketed under. I wouldn't pay much more than $5k for its current capabilities.

My biggest gripe with the car honestly is the auto wipers can be pretty sub par due to their vision based system. Have to use manual mode somewhat often.

No significant battery degradation at 55k mi. Get about 305 on charge. Was 310new and they technically bumped it to 325 sometime afterwards. It's charge as high as 317, but I road trip fairly infrequently to have many data points here.

TLDR, I'd buy another Tesla, but I'd also shop around in 15 yr when I expect to be in the market again.