The $30,000 Used Performance Sedan That Will Get You To 60 MPH In Less Than 3 Seconds

These are strange times we’re living in. It wasn’t that long ago that achieving 0-60 mph in the three-second range was the exclusive domain of supercars starting at a bare minimum of a couple of hundred thousand dollars. But cars keep getting quicker, the technology keeps getting cheaper, and nothing depreciates like a premium electric vehicle. In 2025, you can zip across the quarter-mile in a used EV in well under 15 seconds for about what you’d spend on a brand-new Nissan Pathfinder.

The Tesla Model S P100D launched in the low six figure range for the 2016 model year, but time has been unkind to that price tag, and very kind to the savvy used-car buyer. We’re seeing listings as low as $19,500 for pre-owned models, which almost feels preposterous when you take this car’s incredible performance specs into account.

A Look At The Tesla Model S P100D

The headline-grabber when it comes to the P100D is the car’s incredible 2.3-second 0-60 time when launched in Ludicrous Mode. The car has also been clocked with a quarter-mile time of 10.5 seconds, crossing the finish line at 125 mph. For reference, the McLaren F1 has been clocked doing the quarter-mile in just around 10.4 seconds, so the P100D is in very, very good company.

Specs are only one part of the package when you’re buying a performance model, of course. The most important thing is how it feels to drive, and we can say that the P100D is a satisfying ride. Reviewing the 2018 model when it first came out, we had strong praise for the “firm but comfortable” standard air suspension, and we liked the confident feel of the steering and the brakes.

Related

Porsche Will Pay You Handsomely To Give Up Your Tesla Model S

Would you give up your current EV and jump to Porsche’s latest offerings?

There are better-feeling cars out there, to be sure, but few at this price.

What Will A Tesla Model S P100D Cost You In 2025?

To get an idea of what a P100D will cost in 2025, we’ll start with a look at the Blue Book. Here are the current fair market purchase prices for each model year, alongside their original MSRPs, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Kelley Blue Book fair purchase prices typically assume around 15,000 miles per year, depending on factors like location. But, when we take a look at listings on AutoTempest, we find quite a few models with fewer than 100,000 miles on the odometer selling at around these prices, or better, including:

• A 62,233-mile 2018 model selling for $29,995.
• A 69,278-mile 2018 model selling for $31,987.
• A 65,095-mile 2018 model selling for $29,995.
• A 74,952-mile 2018 model selling for $28,000.
• A 71,158-mile 2016 model selling for $32,000.

The cheapest model we could find was a 2016 selling for $19,500 with 101,858 miles on the odometer.

Related

Unique Jaguar I-Pace Owned By King Charles Could Be Yours

This 2018 I-Pace is the only example finished in Loire Blue and it’s currently up for sale.

Note that the 2.3-second launch time is made possible by Ludicrous Mode, which wasn’t a standard feature. Most used P100Ds do feature Ludicrous Mode, but if a listing does not specify that the car has the feature, then be sure to ask (or better yet, take it for a test-drive and find out for yourself) before you go spending your hard-earned money.

What Will It Cost To Maintain A Tesla Model S P100D?

According to RepairPal, you can expect to spend around $1,047 a year maintaining a Tesla Model S. CarComplaints has very few serious reports on file for the car, but one driver of a 2016 model reports a broken left-side control arm, and another reports stiff power steering occurring at 70,850 miles.

Teslas do cost a little bit more than most other cars to maintain, but the 2016–2018 Model S isn’t known for being especially unreliable or costing an arm and a leg just to keep it running. If you’re willing to spend just a little extra on routine maintenance and diagnostics, the Model S P100D is far from a money pit.

A Golden Age Of Affordable Performance

A phrase that gets thrown around all the time when we’re talking about EVs: instant torque. This refers to the fact that an electric motor is able to access its full torque potential in an instant, simply snapping into motion, where combustion engines have a “torque curve,” as they get up to speed. One of the biggest hurdles faced by EV developers is not transferring power to the wheels, but ensuring that the tires don’t shred to ribbons when you tap the accelerator.

High horsepower and low 0-60s have been almost trivialized by electric motors. We recently covered an 88-pound donut-shaped motor that produces 845 hp. The Koenigsegg Dark Matter can produce 800 hp, resulting in a total power output of 2,300 hp when paired with a 5.0-liter V8 and a couple of turbochargers in the Gemera. Automakers simply can’t afford to ignore electric if they want to remain competitive at the track.

Related

Best Electric Sports Cars Of 2025

While true electric sports cars are rare, there are a number of sporty EVs with breathtaking power and performance.

What we’re seeing now is the introduction of electric performance models to the used market, and we’re finding that they suffer some of the worst depreciation rates in automotive history. That is, they’re premium models, which tend to lose value quickly, and they’re electric, another segment whose value drops like a rock on the used market. So you have the 762-hp Model S P100D selling for around 30 grand, and the nearly 400-hp Jaguar I-Pace going for as little as 20,000 bucks and change.

Horsepower Is Only Getting Cheaper

This all adds up to an unprecedented proliferation of power. Not that long ago, it would have cost you a small fortune to get behind the wheel of, say, a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, starting at a base MSRP of $58,295, with a power output of 707 hp. When this car shot up to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, it was like watching man take his first step on the moon. Today, you can clear that record by a full second for less than half the price.

Related

Lucid Another Step Closer To Being Even More All-American

It will soon get a key battery component from American manufacturers, and even mines.

Much has been made about the “democratization of horsepower” thanks to the introduction of sporty EVs, but the rapid depreciation of used models has amplified that democratization beyond even the most optimistic forecasts of just five or 10 years ago. Pretty much anyone who wants to drive a five, six, seven-hundred horse monster can do so for about the price of a brand-new Mazda CX-30, and we’re only now starting to see the effect this is going to have on the industry and on automotive culture in general.

We can agree that there’s something to be said for the smell of gasoline and the roar of a V8, but when it comes to just putting up big numbers, and short track times, you simply can’t compete with electric on horsepower for your dollar.

Sources: RepairPal, CarEdge, CarComplaints, Kelley Blue Book, Auto Tempest, Tesla.