Buyer’s guides
Buying a used Tesla: what to check
Short guides to the questions a VIN can and cannot answer; most list their sources.
All guides
Does free Supercharging transfer when you buy a used Tesla?
What Tesla will and will not tell a buyer, the difference between SC01 and SC05, and how to check the factory record before you pay.
What Tesla will and will not tell a buyer, the difference between SC01 and SC05, and how to check the factory record before you pay.
Does a used Tesla have Full Self-Driving? How to check by VIN
What the factory record can and cannot tell you about Full Self-Driving on a used Tesla: the three codes, the hardware tell, and what to check in the car.
What the factory record can and cannot tell you about Full Self-Driving on a used Tesla: the three codes, the hardware tell, and what to check in the car.
Is a used Tesla HW3 or HW4? How to tell by VIN
Which Autopilot computer and which media computer a used Tesla has, how Tesla's record names them, and why HW3 or HW4 matters for FSD.
Which Autopilot computer and which media computer a used Tesla has, how Tesla's record names them, and why HW3 or HW4 matters for FSD.
Why some VIN checkers get Full Self-Driving wrong
Several codes in Tesla's record mention Full Self-Driving. Misread one as a purchase and a car without FSD sells as if it had it. How to tell them apart.
Several codes in Tesla's record mention Full Self-Driving. Misread one as a purchase and a car without FSD sells as if it had it. How to tell them apart.
How to check a used Tesla's battery health before you buy
Tesla's own battery health screen, what its green box does and doesn't mean, the numbers Tesla calls normal, and a check that works on any Tesla.
Tesla's own battery health screen, what its green box does and doesn't mean, the numbers Tesla calls normal, and a check that works on any Tesla.
Will a salvage or rebuilt Tesla Supercharge?
Tesla switches off fast charging and voids the warranty on cars it calls unsupported, some with clean titles. How to check, and how charging comes back.
Tesla switches off fast charging and voids the warranty on cars it calls unsupported, some with clean titles. How to check, and how charging comes back.
How to spot a flood-damaged Tesla
Where Tesla draws the line for a flooded car, the battery flood ports to look at underneath, and why no warning light tells you they opened.
Where Tesla draws the line for a flooded car, the battery flood ports to look at underneath, and why no warning light tells you they opened.
What Tesla's own records show on 183 used Teslas
Free Supercharging, Full Self-Driving and hardware upgrades, counted across the factory records of the cars checked on this site.
Free Supercharging, Full Self-Driving and hardware upgrades, counted across the factory records of the cars checked on this site.