Should you buy a second-hand Tesla Model 3? This is our verdict after living with one

We’ve been living with a certified pre-owned Tesla – here’s our verdict on driving the second hand EV. The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y have consistently ranked among the best-selling cars in the UK for years, with the Model Y the UK’s favourite new electric car for the past two years. However, the Model 3 was launched before the Model Y, and that means there are plenty of used Tesla Model 3s available on the market with prices starting at around £10,500 on used car websites. You’ll pay more for the best cars on Tesla’s Certified Pre-Owned scheme (currently prices start at just under £20,000) as these cars are newer, thoroughly checked and with the latest software – plus they come with a Tesla warranty.

Countless potential buyers are wondering whether a pre-owned Tesla Model 3 would be a wise purchase, so to find out whether a used Tesla is worth spending money on, I decided to see what it’s like to live with a second-hand model. How quickly has a car like this aged? How has the build quality stood up? What’s the technology like to live with? And crucially, what has time and mileage done to the battery and range of the car?.

For our tests, I’m running a Long Range All-Wheel Drive 2021 Model 3 from Tesla’s official used car scheme – Tesla Certified Pre-Owned – to answer all of these questions and more. I’ll be updating my used Tesla review as I get more hands-on experience with the car, so check back in to see how the second-hand EV performs under real-world conditions. The mark of any car is how much you miss it when it’s gone, and there is a Tesla-sized hole in my heart now my Model 3 has gone on to find its next owner.

It turned out to be a remarkably easy car to live with. It wasn’t perfect – no car is – but I enjoyed driving it, as did my wife. It was impressively efficient, the tech all works seamlessly and even the quality – a previous Tesla foible – was okay. As a used car, I could not have wished for more. My car turned up – delivered to my driveway – in absolutely perfect condition. I’ve always been slightly hesitant about Tesla’s white interiors, but mine was absolutely spotless after other people sitting in the car for 24,000 miles over three years. The bodywork was absolutely perfect, too – whether any repair work had been carried out, I neither knew nor could spot any signs. In fact, my wife and many friends just thought it was a brand new car.

That also applies to the software – for all intents and purposes, this was the same as a brand new car. The software was up-to-date (and continued to update to bring new functionality – notably a Tesla app for my Apple Watch) and all the clever features that you get with a new car, you get with an older one. At some stage the hardware in my car will, no doubt, age to a level when the latest tech won’t be able to be applied, but I’m pretty confident that most of the more important features you can get in a brand new Model 3, you can get in my three year-old one.

What you do get in a new Model 3 is a better ride. The biggest criticism I have of the first generation Model 3 (of which mine was one) is the ride quality. I learned to live with it, but if you have rear passengers who are sitting pretty close to the rear axle, they’ll complain that the bumps make it a bit uncomfortable at times – certainly more than it is sitting in the front. When it comes to range and efficiency, as you will see from the picture down the page, my car was showing a total range when fully charged of 323 miles. That’s impressive for any EV, let alone one that’s three years old and being run through the coldest months of winter.

I probably could have achieved close to those 300 miles in reality, if I had wanted to run the battery down close to zero. But only once did I rue running an EV: when I had completed one 250 mile round trip and needed to set straight off on another. What I should’ve done – and could’ve done – is stop off at the Tesla Supercharger not too far from me to top up the battery. A schoolboy error, really, from the need to get home and let the dog out.

My only other criticisms of the Tesla Model 3 are minor. The indicators don’t cancel quite as effectively as on some other cars. I still like to have a car with Apple CarPlay in it, which is not an option on a Tesla. Tesla’s own systems can manage the same functions, but phone calls and responding to messages aren’t quite as intuitive. Linking the excellent sound system to my Apple Music account meant I could access all my music and playlists easily, though.

Otherwise, Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot semi-autonomous driving worked better than most other systems I’ve encountered – although you still have to take over control occasionally. And I really enjoyed the Tesla to drive – it feels like a brilliantly engineered car where software, major controls and drive system all work well together. It’s fun to drive! And I absolutely love that deep front windscreen that gives you a real widescreen view out – as it should with an EV without an engine under the bonnet.