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Used 2021 Tesla Model S Sedan Consumer Reviews

2.9 out of 5 stars
18 reviews

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Cons
4 out of 5 stars

Service needs help

j Chana, 10/25/2021
2021 Tesla Model S Plaid 4dr Sedan AWD (electric DD)
31 of 34 people found this review helpful

The car itself is amazing….BUT there are ALOTTT OF little things that need work. The way Tesla delivers 145k cars/suvs is very very poor at best. Service is worse in all auto industry, my plaid broke down on me 3rd day…yes 3rd day. Took them 3 days to get it towed due to my location, and I didn’t have a car for 2 weeks. Broke down for the 2nd time and when I was talking with the service rep he stated that they have been having problems with the new plaid models! If you have only One car (Tesla) I would recommend buying another random backup car or suv because you will 100 percent need it.

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
1 out of 5 stars
Value
3 out of 5 stars
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1 out of 5 stars

Great design horrible build

Adam in Colorado, 12/04/2021
updated 01/09/2023
2021 Tesla Model S Long Range 4dr Sedan AWD w/Prod. End 11/21 (electric DD)
58 of 65 people found this review helpful

The design of this car is amazing. Auto pilot is great on the highway though it requires that you jiggle the steering wheel (yoke) to know you are there which is kind of annoying as my hand is on the wheel just not torquing it enough. The build quality however is miserable. Panel gaps are all over the place, they actually have a tool to know if things are bad enough to fix so they rehung my door but left the rest all a little crooked, unacceptable for the price. This of course leads to a loud whistling sound at higher speeds. They heard the sound when I took the service personnel for a drive but decided they can't find the cause so it isn't a problem. Service is so bad I told my father to cancel his order. Update: whistling was a missing roof seal, finally found it after 3-4 visits, has to replace roof twice but now roof rattles and squeaks and they just gave up on fixing it and said it isn't a warranty issue of a brand new car. Also had 2 parking sensors fail. 14 service visits and out of service 5 weeks in the first 3 months of ownership. Update: I was very excited when I finally got mine. Honestly the technology is quite impressive. The build quality, however, was so abysmal and the service even worse. When it was delivered it had a whistling sound at speed. For a while they refused to test it and fix it as they say that is above the speed limit where they are though not where I commute. Eventually they did find the problem and it was because the glass roof was installed incorrectly. They replaced that and the windshield but introduced a horrible rattling. After having it for a month they returned it to me still rattling and said that isn't covered by warranty. So my $100,000 luxury car rattles as I drive to work. As a side issue, the range isn't nearly what they say it is, more like 300 miles on a long range with 19-in wheels. That is however still enough for me. It does use about 10% of the battery with sentry mode turned on while parked at work. I am one of the idiots who did pay for full self-drive. The only value I get out of that currently is that it will change lanes for me on the highway. It is like very good cruise control but nothing like what was promised. Overall, some of the best engineering but worst build quality I have ever seen.

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
1 out of 5 stars
Value
2 out of 5 stars
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3 out of 5 stars

Great car, terrible service and buggy software

Venky, 06/07/2021
2021 Tesla Model S Long Range 4dr Sedan AWD w/Prod. End 11/21 (electric DD)
65 of 78 people found this review helpful

I bought a Tesla Model S long range in December 2020 to replace an old but trusty Lexus. I can say with confidence that this is the best car I have ever driven. It accelerates faster than a Porsche, handles curves better than a BMW, rides smoother than a Lexus. Of course, the benefits of an all-electric car that can be charged at home are well known by now. However, once the thrill of driving wore off and the reality of owning a car that cost nearly $90k set in, the defects started to appear. Firstly, it lacks storage space. The cup holders are too close to each other, and placed very inconveniently, so my elbows often knock against my water bottle. The doors lack any storage space, so all my stuff is packed into a small compartment in the middle. The user interface of the massive screen is not well designed, especially for someone that needs reading glasses. The icons are all monochrome, often used buttons are at the bottom of the screen, and the scroll buttons on the steering column are not intuitive. The autopilot feature is truly in beta - even though they charge $10k for it. It works well on highways but is not ready for city driving at all. The biggest problem is their service. I have a problem with the car but it has taken over 3 weeks to get an appointment with their service center. It is impossible to get anyone on the phone to even find out if my car is safe to drive. When I reached out to them to get an earlier appointment, I got a curt one line reply that they are fully booked. Makes me wonder why an electric car has so many service needs - lends credence to the complaints about build quality. Any other premium car maker that charges $90 k would not treat their customers like this. Clearly, Tesla has a long way to go to become a customer centric company.

Safety
4 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
3 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
3 out of 5 stars
Value
2 out of 5 stars
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1 out of 5 stars

Electrical piece of JUNK!!

Rene Rodriguez, 09/16/2022
2021 Tesla Model S Long Range 4dr Sedan AWD w/Prod. End 11/21 (electric DD)
26 of 32 people found this review helpful

I bought a 2021 Tesla Model S for almost $120,000... that's right, at least you expect some respect from such a "respected" company.. WORSTT WORRSSSTTT customer service I have had in my life!!! It has been even a year and the yoke wheel is peeling off, plastic parts are broken and doors getting jammed. Worst thing is they do not provide a customer telephone number because they know they will get bombed with poor reviews!! That's why everything is though the app.... Tesla basically do not care about their customers because they know most of the customers are not satisfied with the cheap interior material they fabricate!! Hey guys, it is a $120,000 which not a lot of people can afford tgT nowadays.. They just while their...... with your concerns, trust me... I should have never left Mercedes for this piece of junk, but that is how life is, you learn from your mistakes.....

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2 out of 5 stars

Think twice when buying used Tesla

Carlos, 03/29/2022
2021 Tesla Model S Long Range 4dr Sedan AWD w/Prod. End 11/21 (electric DD)
10 of 12 people found this review helpful

I bought my 2013 Model S from its 2nd owner at 98k miles after lots of research reaffirming that maintenance cost was low and reliability was high. I actually loved my car, drove smoothly and quietly, but then I didn’t even reached 120k miles on it when the high voltage battery completely died on me. I parked one day at work with 80% charge and got out from work to find the battery completely drained to the point of not even starting or being able to put into neutral to push it to a charging stall. I left the car plugged in using 3 extension cords for the entire weekend (still at my job’s parking lot) and it didn’t take any charge at all and never turned back on again. I towed it to the nearest Tesla service center and after over a week they told me the battery had completely died and it needed full replacement to the tune of $23k (the car’s average value in the best condition possible and long range trim is ~$26k). I asked about warranty coverage and they told me I was out (over 100k miles and just at the 8 year mark). I asked hypothetically if I had the money for the repair what their warranty would be and they said 50k miles on the battery only. The message is: DON’T BUY USED TESLAS but if you do make sure you’re still within the warranty period. GET RID OF THE CAR BEFORE THE FACTORY WARRANTY EXPIRES, after that all bets are off, it may very well become a bottomless money pit. DON’T EVER BUY A TESLA WITH NEW BATTERY thinking that it’s like buying a new car - it isn’t, you’re only covered for 50k miles on a fresh battery - completely wasteful and senseless. It’s a great, fun, and classy car while the warranty lasts (service is great and at no cost for warranty covered items, no questions asked). But once out of warranty you’re all on your own. They wouldn’t even buy it back from me for parts - terrible customer service (when things went south) that leaves much to be desired from such reputable brand.

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
5 out of 5 stars
Comfort
5 out of 5 stars
Reliability
1 out of 5 stars
Value
1 out of 5 stars
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