Buying a salvage Tesla from Copart — what to look for

Description

Buying a salvage Tesla at auction (Copart) is a popular path in Belarus due to price. But the risks are huge: flood cars with concealed damage, killed batteries, hidden frame-rail problems.

What to look for

1. Check the VIN through auction databases and damage history.
2. What to look at: nature of the damage, state of charge at the auction, deployed airbags (paradoxically, deployed is better — it means the impact was real and the lot is honest, but budget an extra $2,000–5,000 for replacement: airbags, pretensioners, the SRS module, sometimes the dashboard), Tesla certificates.
3. Flood car — only if you're ready to replace EVERYTHING, work with your hands, or have your own shop.
4. Set aside at least $10 000 for potential repair and be prepared.
5. Frontal impact without frame-rail damage — the safest option for restoration.

Community experience TESLA Belarus

From the TESLA owner's group BELARUS chat — analysis of 400 000 messages.

Who reported the issue: Vitaliy Moskalevich, AleXXXiz, Igor Efremov

Who found the fix: Винсенте Дель Пухини, Zverski, Denis, Никита, firago, Dzianis Balyka

Discussion in Telegram: #335244, #265124, #143617

Links

• What to know when buying a salvage Tesla? (Tesla Motors Club): https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/what-to-know-when-buying-a-salvage-tesla.146705/
• Buying a Salvage Tesla (Tesla Motors Club): https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/buying-a-salvage-tesla.266187/