The Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars podcast – Episode # 124 – Buying a Nine year old Tesla and loving it

124 – Buying a Nine year old Tesla and loving it

Podcast: Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars
Date: 15 June 2026
Hosts: Trevor Long & Stephen Fenech

[00:00:01] Trevor Long: This is Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars with Steven Fenech and Trevor Long.

[00:00:06] Stephen Fenech: Thanks to NRMA Insurance and Uniden.

[00:00:09] Trevor Long: We appreciate their support. NRMA Insurance, helping Australians protect what matters most for 100 years, and they’ll be doing it for a long time to come, no doubt. And all we ask is that when your car is up for renewal, give them a call, get a quote, and see if it matches or comes close to what you’re currently paying, or it might even be a lot less. And Uniden smart dashcams, if you’ve got a car, then you need a dashcam. Front and rear is our recommendation, but they make beautiful dashcams at every price point.

[00:00:34] Stephen Fenech: Award-winning dashcams.

[00:00:35] Trevor Long: Award-winning, really easy to use, great app so you can see the footage in almost real time. Once you park the car, you can download that footage and use it for whatever you might like. We’d love to hear from you. 0477 657 657 is our number. You can send us a little text message and we will get you on the show and have a chat about your EV journey. Speaking of which, on the line is Leo.

Leo — Buying a secondhand 2017 Tesla Model S

[00:00:59] Leo: Hello.

[00:00:59] Trevor Long: Hello, mate. Where are you at in your world of electric cars? You’re an owner or a buyer?

[00:01:06] Leo: Yes, I’m owner again. So I’ve had 3 electric cars, all Teslas.

[00:01:13] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:01:14] Trevor Long: Okay. Fanboy.

[00:01:15] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:01:17] Leo: Started with a Model 3 Standard Range in 2019. Yep. There was, I think, one of the first batch of the car delivery in Australia. Then done 3 years and about 80,000 kilometers. Back then the warranty was 80,000. So I thought, hmm, it’s probably, it’s time to upgrade and sell. Right. So I sold it. Back then the price were pretty good on the secondhand market because the limited supply. Yep. So upgraded to Long Range Model 3.

[00:01:48] Trevor Long: Nice.

[00:01:49] Leo: In 2022.

[00:01:50] Stephen Fenech: Nice.

[00:01:51] Leo: Yeah, dual motor, nice car. Had it for a year. Then sold it and went to petrol.

[00:01:59] Trevor Long: Wait, whoa, whoa, hang on a minute.

[00:02:01] Stephen Fenech: So you’ve had two electric cars, you had two Teslas, and then you went back to petrol. Leo, explain what happened.

[00:02:09] Leo: Okay, so one of the reasons, obviously the, well, obvious reason that the electric cars, especially Teslas back then, the prices went all over the place, up and down, but they were still pretty expensive. And so yeah, financially it’s monthly payment. It’s nice, it’s beautiful cars. But yeah, I thought, well, I’m done with the payments.

[00:02:32] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:02:32] Leo: I thought I’ll just go back to petrol. So I got the old Lexus RX.

[00:02:37] Stephen Fenech: Oh, nice.

[00:02:38] Leo: Yep. Yeah, I always liked Lexus and I had few Lexus. Yeah, it’s nice. 2012 Lexus. Okay. We’ve done 70,000 on it since. Then recently, well, recently when the prices went for the petrol went up, I started looking again and my life slightly changed. I have a little bit more every other week when I have kids. I drive quite a lot for, you know, school pickup, you know, cheerleading training and other things. It’s quite a lot of sometimes 100, 150 kilometers per day.

[00:03:14] Trevor Long: Yep, the parent Uber is a big deal.

[00:03:17] Leo: Yes. Yes, it is. And I thought, well, yeah, maybe I should consider to go back to electric and the prices went down for the secondhand. So I wasn’t considering it. Well, I tried Geely test drive and there was something else I tried. I don’t remember.

[00:03:35] Trevor Long: JAC.

[00:03:35] Leo: At some point I was considering the new cars.

[00:03:38] Trevor Long: Okay. So you did think about buying a new car, but you ended up buying a secondhand one, mate, because the market for secondhand, you’ve mentioned it a couple of times now, I’m assuming the market for secondhand was quite attractive at that point.

[00:03:49] Leo: Yeah, so the issue with the new electric cars, this year, of course, you can get fairly inexpensive, but there will be unknown brands. We don’t know what’s going to happen in 3 years. You discussed it many, few times. Yep. And yeah, so the interior, for example, Geely is amazing. It looks good, but what’s going to happen in 3 years and 5 years? I don’t know. Yeah, they’re still under the warranty and most of them still, you probably need to get financed. This whatever the leasing called now. And I couldn’t get it from my work anyway, so it would be just normal, normal finance.

[00:04:26] Trevor Long: You’re killing me, mate. What did you buy?

[00:04:32] Leo: Well, well, the best car ever made. So of course it’s Tesla Model S. Yeah, Model S. And it’s exactly the same as Steven had. I actually watched his video, his review. 75D. Yeah.

[00:04:47] Trevor Long: So it might be your old car.

[00:04:48] Stephen Fenech: My car’s got white seats and it’s silver.

[00:04:51] Leo: No. Well, you know, it’s not white. It’s like beige seats.

[00:04:55] Trevor Long: Beautiful.

[00:04:55] Leo: It’s back then you, you, you have, you had options.

[00:04:58] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:05:00] Stephen Fenech: I got to say, mate, the Tesla Model S and I’ve been driving Mercedes-Benz for most of my life. That’s probably my favorite car that I’ve ever had.

[00:05:09] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:05:10] Trevor Long: You Model S, you still speak about it with great adoration.

[00:05:13] Stephen Fenech: And I would have got the next model if it was available.

[00:05:16] Trevor Long: But you’ve opened up a wound, Leo. You’ve opened up a wound. But you’re driving—

[00:05:20] Stephen Fenech: I love that car.

[00:05:20] Trevor Long: I couldn’t believe— You’re driving an almost 10-year-old car. This is fascinating to me because you earlier mentioned things like having that very early Model 3 and getting rid of it at the kind of warranty age. And, you know, so it’s an interesting perspective that you’ve come so far and you now have faith and trust in a car that is, you know, nearly 10 years old. But it sounds like it’s a great car because you’ve also got a family and you need that room. So it’s probably way better than a Model 3 in that sense.

[00:05:50] Leo: Yes, that’s one of the considerations, was one of the considerations, because more or less it’s like hatchback. It’s really big. And yeah, I do—

[00:05:58] Stephen Fenech: It’s got a lot of room in that car.

[00:05:59] Leo: Surfing. So I have a lot of—

[00:06:01] Stephen Fenech: So what year model is it, mate? What year model is it?

[00:06:04] Leo: 2017.

[00:06:05] Trevor Long: ’17, okay.

[00:06:06] Leo: The same. Yeah, it’s—

[00:06:07] Stephen Fenech: That was my car was ’17, late ’17 mine was. Yeah, wow.

[00:06:10] Leo: Yeah, I think your interior, yeah, it was wide. Yeah, it’s a beautiful car. And of course, yeah, I understand the risk. You know, it’s like, oh yeah, old car, what’s going to happen with battery?

[00:06:20] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, did you get it checked out? Was there a report to say the battery health, Leo, when you bought it? Was there something you could check?

[00:06:26] Leo: No, I asked, yeah, I asked previous owner if there was. We were trying to find, I think that back then for this model, I don’t think there is service mode or something. It wasn’t. So I just asked him to charge in full. It was 350, 360 in full, which is so reasonable.

[00:06:43] Stephen Fenech: I think new one news about 430, I think it was 430.

[00:06:47] Trevor Long: That’s horrible.

[00:06:48] Stephen Fenech: Over 10 years. Over 400 brand new years.

[00:06:50] Trevor Long: Lose 70 K’s over 10 years.

[00:06:52] Stephen Fenech: Not bad.

[00:06:53] Leo: Yeah.

[00:06:53] Stephen Fenech: Well, mate, I think, yeah, that’s still workable.

[00:06:56] Trevor Long: Mate, you buy a brand new car today with 350 to 400 K’s range. So what you’re doing is you just say to yourself, I’m buying a car with 350 K’s range. So you don’t talk about what you lost.

[00:07:08] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that gets you far.

[00:07:08] Leo: Yes. And the performance, amazing. So it’s like every traffic light is drag race, obviously.

[00:07:16] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I love that car.

[00:07:17] Leo: They don’t see many of them, Model S. That’s a good point.

[00:07:21] Trevor Long: Good point. It’s, you know what, I’ll make this call because people know my views on owning a Tesla and it’s purely because I like having something unique. Not many Kia EV9s on the road, not many Cupra Borns, a lot of Model 3s. But I would own a Model S because not many of them around. I think I see once a week.

[00:07:39] Stephen Fenech: Leo said, I can’t believe I sold the car. Is that right, Leo?

[00:07:42] Leo: You can’t believe it.

[00:07:43] Stephen Fenech: Well, you know, I was locked into a lease and I thought, you know what, time to move on. And yeah, you know what, I had, it was harder than I thought to sell it.

[00:07:52] Trevor Long: Yes, you thought you were gonna get a lot more for it.

[00:07:54] Stephen Fenech: I thought I was gonna get a lot more for it, but then sort of the market adjusted itself.

[00:07:57] Trevor Long: I would call you financially irresponsible ’cause you kept that car, think of all the money you’ve spent monthly on that new lease. You could have owned that car outright by now and Leo’s still driving the bloody thing.

[00:08:06] Leo: That’s exactly what was my thinking. Yeah. Yeah, it’s like buying a new car, especially when Model S was new, it was, $130,000, $140,000. That’s ridiculous.

[00:08:16] Trevor Long: Now, that’s a lovely, lovely story. Really fascinating that you went so deep into EV a couple of times, went back to petrol, and then back in. But still, this period of time, as we’ve heard from many other people, has forced them to think about the cost of running a car. And yet you’ve rather than— you test drove some new cars, you’ve gone, I’m going to go with one of the better cars of all time, one of the best electric cars of all time. I think we’d pretty much all agree, right?

[00:08:41] Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:08:41] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:08:42] Leo: So that’s right.

[00:08:43] Stephen Fenech: That’s a great story.

[00:08:43] Trevor Long: So you intend to hold on own it for a while, I’m assuming, to get your money back?

[00:08:47] Leo: Yeah, yeah. So the way I see it, the way and how many kilometers I drive, 3 years it should pay for itself roughly. Nice. So yeah, and I still have a Lexus, so if I need it, so I take—

[00:09:00] Stephen Fenech: What color is the Model S, mate? What color is it?

[00:09:03] Leo: Blue. It’s blue.

[00:09:04] Trevor Long: That’s a nice color.

[00:09:05] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, it’s a nice color on the Tesla.

[00:09:07] Trevor Long: Yeah. Well done, Leo. Happy motoring, my friend.

[00:09:09] Stephen Fenech: Mate, I’m jealous, mate.

[00:09:10] Trevor Long: I’m jealous.

[00:09:10] Stephen Fenech: You’ve got a Model S, mate.

[00:09:11] Trevor Long: I’m jealous. You are making Steven rethink his life choices right now, aren’t you? Yeah, I am, mate. Lovely hear from you, Leo. Really good stuff, mate.

[00:09:18] Leo: Thank you, guys.

[00:09:19] Trevor Long: Thanks, mate. Cheers, mate. Excellent stuff. There you go. Steven has been made to regret his life.

[00:09:24] Stephen Fenech: He said he watched my videos. He’s got the exact car I had, the 75D 2017. Mine was late 2017 model. Wow. You know what? I could have hung onto the car, no doubt.

[00:09:36] Trevor Long: Obviously.

[00:09:36] Stephen Fenech: And I could have hung onto it, but I think the lease was finished and I think sort of the benefit of the lease was finished. I had to move on. Yeah, but, and I wrote a story about how I left Tesla, went back to my ex, and, uh, that got a lot of feedback, that one.

[00:09:55] Trevor Long: All for content, Stephen, here. All for content.

[00:09:57] Stephen Fenech: That’s what it’s about.

[00:09:57] Trevor Long: Two blokes storing electric cars. We’d love to hear about your electric car journey. Send us a text or a WhatsApp message, 0477 657 657.

[00:10:12] Stephen Fenech: Ah, I love it. The joys of watching the YouTube version, you know, you’re missing out, you’re missing out on the moves.

[00:10:19] Trevor Long: Stephen’s got the moves, folks. Stephen has the moves, that’s what Joe says. Um, 0477 657 657. Let’s keep going with your calls. Permanence on the line. G’day, Perman.

Pimenta — Ordered a Tesla Model Y L 6-seater, due August

[00:10:29] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, how are you, mate?

[00:10:30] Trevor Long: You’re in the market for an EV?

[00:10:33] Pimenta: Oh well, when I contacted you guys, I was in the market. I did my research, guess what? I opted for the Model Y L.

[00:10:41] Stephen Fenech: Excuse me, that was my pick, mate. I said I bet you Tesla’s probably the best fit. I suggest— and you, boom, you, you proved me right, mate.

[00:10:50] Trevor Long: How did you narrow it down? Like, how did you arrive at the Tesla?

[00:10:55] Pimenta: Oh man, I did a lot of research, asked friends questions, I went on ChatGPT, I did a lot of things. I was stuck between Zeekr 7X and Tesla.

[00:11:06] Trevor Long: That was, that was a main market.

[00:11:07] Pimenta: Yeah, I mean, I was like, okay, at the end of the day, I was— I wanted something with a very good resale value, something that’s been there for some time, good range, and also have a family. I was like, you know what? Yes, I think I’m going to go with—

[00:11:22] Stephen Fenech: You had a few boxes to tick.

[00:11:24] Trevor Long: It’s a fascinating one because if you look at— I think Model Y versus Zeekr 7X is a strong— that’s a big competition out there, right?

[00:11:32] Stephen Fenech: Comparison.

[00:11:32] Trevor Long: Yeah. But you’re very right to think— and look, I have no reason not to have faith in Zeekr for the long term. At all. But if you were to look at them side by side, you go, well, Tesla’s been in Australia for years. You’ve got resale data over those years, plus recently, whereas Zeekr, very new. You don’t know yet really how that’s going to hold up. So it’s probably the wiser choice. There’s more, slightly more risk in the Zeekr, but a lot of people do prefer the Zeekr for other reasons. But you’ve gone the long wheelbase version.

[00:12:02] Pimenta: Yeah, the long wheelbase.

[00:12:03] Trevor Long: Yeah, good space.

[00:12:04] Stephen Fenech: And Piment too, you specify too, you drive a fair bit every day. Day. So the range is very important as well.

[00:12:12] Pimenta: Yeah, yeah, it was an important thing for me. I drive about 36k per year. That’s, that’s a long one. So I wanted something that would last that long. And yeah, good for family as well, though the Zica was a bit, oh my God, I’m missing out in the premium stuff and, you know, the fast charging and, you know, all that. But then I have to consider long-term resale value.

[00:12:35] Trevor Long: Yeah, fair, fair. So you ordered a couple of weeks ago. Have you— when do you pick it up if you haven’t already?

[00:12:40] Pimenta: Well, I haven’t. It’s a long wait time, man. I think I have to wait till August.

[00:12:47] Stephen Fenech: Oh, that’s a couple of months. You’ll be right, mate.

[00:12:49] Trevor Long: Yeah. Oh, hang on. Stop me for a minute there, folks. Let’s just rewind to when Steven was waiting for his Mercedes and I was waiting for my Cupra.

[00:12:55] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:12:55] Trevor Long: And we were both monitoring the ship for arrivals.

[00:12:58] Stephen Fenech: 2 months felt like a year.

[00:13:00] Trevor Long: I went to Wollongong to see the ship come to port.

[00:13:02] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that’s how much of a nerd Trevor is. That’s right.

[00:13:05] Trevor Long: Yeah. So what are you going to do in those couple of months? What are you going to do to prepare to be an EV owner?

[00:13:11] Pimenta: Well, I am trying to— I do have solar now. I am trying to get the home charger installed. Yeah. And also I’m trying to get a Tesla battery Powerwall installed as well.

[00:13:26] Stephen Fenech: Geez, you’re all in on Tesla, Pimenta, are you?

[00:13:28] Pimenta: Yeah, I just fell in love with Tesla after doing some review, man.

[00:13:33] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, yeah. Right. All right. Did Tesla not chuck in a wall charger, mate, or do you have to buy that separate?

[00:13:37] Pimenta: Oh, I think— oh no, they didn’t. I have to buy it separate.

[00:13:41] Trevor Long: The days of Tesla chucking in things were back when Steven bought a car. That was a long time ago when you got free Supercharger. 8 years ago. Yeah, they don’t need to do that no more. So wall charger, battery, you’re going the whole hog. You’ll be, you’ll be super green in August.

[00:13:57] Pimenta: Yeah, you know what, I didn’t actually know that no EV comes with a spare tire. That’s like disappointing.

[00:14:03] Stephen Fenech: Yes, very rare. No, no EV comes with a spare tyre. So have you heard of an EV with a spare tyre?

[00:14:07] Trevor Long: I don’t look enough, but I’ve never seen one.

[00:14:09] Stephen Fenech: The thing with it, mate, and from a former Tesla driver myself, Piment, I’ve had a couple of flat tyres and they come to you with a new tyre, take yours to the repair centre, and then you go and pick it up when it’s been repaired. So they come to you, they change your tyre, not a problem.

[00:14:25] Pimenta: Okay, that’s good then.

[00:14:26] Trevor Long: Also, you’re not missing out. So the thing is, it’s not like you’ve made a decision for a car versus everyone else. The Kia that I’m in right now has no spare tyre, but to be clear, you know, they have a tyre inflation kit. So if you’ve just got a flat tyre, it can be inflated with this.

[00:14:41] Stephen Fenech: Does Tesla include that?

[00:14:42] Trevor Long: Is there one in a Tesla?

[00:14:43] Stephen Fenech: They include it in all cars. Do they really? I know that my Mercedes has one.

[00:14:47] Trevor Long: Yeah. So yeah, I don’t think you’ll be too stressed there. So how’s the family? They excited about the car?

[00:14:53] Pimenta: Yeah, all excited. Can’t wait to go green very soon.

[00:14:58] Trevor Long: Very good, mate. Well, that’s great. Love your passion for it, mate. It sounds like you’re going to be a very excited Tesla owner in just a couple of months from now, mate. Thank you so much for listening and for reaching out.

[00:15:09] Pimenta: No worries. Thanks, man. Appreciate that.

[00:15:11] Trevor Long: Cheers, buddy. No worries at all. There you go. I love the excitement.

[00:15:14] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, he’s all in on Tesla. And you know what he did? He had— I loved how he had his— he had all these boxes he had to tick. The range, fit the family in, all this resale value.

[00:15:23] Trevor Long: And isn’t it interesting, though, you have that moment of, okay, but I know I’m missing out on something with the Zeekr 7X. So that’s a real acknowledgment of the Zeekr’s appeal, cabin appeal, because it is a premium vehicle. But he’s just gone, well, I’m just going to wait and see. Maybe his next car will be a Zeekr.

[00:15:39] Stephen Fenech: Is it the elephant in the room though, that the resale value of all these new brands, we just don’t— it’s just unknown. Like, what if I buy a Zeekr for $60K? Is it going to be worth $20K in 2 years? Like, what’s the— that’s the— not just Zeekr, all those brands.

[00:15:53] Trevor Long: I genuinely— and maybe this is the, you know, glass is half full kind of approach, but I really think that in 2 years we’re going to have a strong demand for EVs. Yeah. And the secondhand market will be a really important part of that.

[00:16:04] Stephen Fenech: Very big.

[00:16:05] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:16:05] Stephen Fenech: So, agreed.

[00:16:06] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:16:06] Stephen Fenech: So it’s all about demand, supply and demand. And I think if people who don’t want to maybe spend big money or bigger money on an EV, then there’s hopefully a healthy EV secondhand market.

[00:16:16] Trevor Long: Well, if you’ve got a passion for the car that you’ve just bought or you’re in the market for, we’d love to hear from you. 0477— thanks to Vodafone, you can send us an SMS, 0477 657 657. Send a WhatsApp if you like. Doesn’t matter. Save us in your phone as Two Blokes and Steven will reply, never. Because I do all that.

[00:16:31] Stephen Fenech: Because it’s Trevor’s number, it’s his personal number.

[00:16:34] Trevor Long: We’d love to hear from you. It’s on me for too long there, sorry, I stuffed that one up. I was trying to be fancy. Two blokes talking electric cars. Thanks to NRMA Insurance and Uniden smart dash cams. We’d love to hear from you. Colin’s on the line. G’day, Colin.

Colin — BYD Sea Lion 6 ownership and parts wait time

[00:16:56] Colin: G’day, mate.

[00:16:57] Trevor Long: Mate, you own a BYD Sea Lion 6, is that correct?

[00:17:02] Colin: Yeah, that’s right. Yeah, I had it for about 6 months now. Oh, nearly a year, actually.

[00:17:06] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:17:07] Trevor Long: How’s it going for you?

[00:17:08] Colin: Yeah, pretty good, actually. Better than expected. Yeah, I bought a hybrid basically because I didn’t want to go full electric at this stage because of the lack of charging infrastructure. But it’s worked out really well.

[00:17:22] Stephen Fenech: So where are you in an area where there isn’t much or you just, just is that your general perception there? There isn’t much or what’s the situation?

[00:17:31] Colin: It was more that I do a bit of country driving and I’m happy with the coverage in metro areas, but just the coverage outside of Sydney wasn’t great at this stage. It’s actually a lot better now. I went on a road trip a couple of weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of recharging stations going south, down the South Coast, for example.

[00:17:54] Trevor Long: Oh, down the South Coast. I was going to say, where did you go? So what sort of areas that were covered that you didn’t think would be?

[00:18:02] Colin: One of my customers is down in Eden, actually. Okay. And yeah, getting down that far, it’s— they’re a bit few and far between. Well, they certainly were when I was looking anyway.

[00:18:14] Trevor Long: Any— and you mentioned in your text to us that you switched to the AGL plan. Is that a noticeable change for you getting the cheaper overnight charging?

[00:18:21] Colin: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that was one of the kickers that actually put me— made me change. Basically between midnight and 6 a.m. every day you get the $0.08 per kilowatt hour versus normal $0.30 per kilowatt hour during the day, you know, so it was a no-brainer.

[00:18:38] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:18:38] Stephen Fenech: You said you drive mostly entirely as an EV. What range does the Sea Lion 6 have from memory on the— as an EV?

[00:18:47] Colin: Yeah, it’s rated at 92 kilometres, the one I bought. They’ve since brought out a new model which does about 130. I get regularly about 82 to tops 90, depending on how I drive it, obviously. But yeah, again, it’s, it’s enough for most days. I charge it every night, just plug it in. I’ve got a home charger, a 7-kilowatt charger.

[00:19:12] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:19:13] Stephen Fenech: So you said you got— you mentioned a customer down in Eden, so you obviously do a lot of driving for your work. So yeah. And so this is still, still okay. Would your next car be potentially an EV or would you still stick to hybrid?

[00:19:30] Colin: Yeah, I’m looking at an EV next. I mean, you know, the speed at which these things are being developed is unbelievable. And battery technology, you know, talking about solid-state batteries with a 1,000-kilometer range, when that becomes the norm, certainly I’d look at full electric.

[00:19:48] Trevor Long: Yeah, right.

[00:19:49] Stephen Fenech: For sure.

[00:19:49] Trevor Long: And what’s been your biggest concern with the BYD? We’ve had, you know, obviously different reports about BYD. A lot of people absolutely loving it. And I think it’s about scale too. There’s so many people with BYDs now. You’re starting to uncover some of the, you know, teething issues with the brand. What’s been your experience?

[00:20:07] Colin: The car has been brilliant, actually. A couple of teething issues, but the main issue I have is really the supply of parts and the actual service network that’s around. Um, you know, I was— I actually bought the car with a factory, factory-fitted supposedly a tow bar option, and it took a year to— no, 9 months to arrive.

[00:20:30] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:20:30] Colin: Um, and then there was a confusion about who paid for the fitment because it should have been factory fitted, but then it was fitted by, um, the local dealer. So, you know, there was a bit of an argument about who paid for the installation. Oh really? And similarly, the only issue I’ve had with the car is that the charging pad has never worked.

[00:20:50] Trevor Long: And so the wireless charging pad for your phone.

[00:20:52] Colin: Oh yeah, that’s right. Yeah.

[00:20:55] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:20:56] Stephen Fenech: Never.

[00:20:56] Trevor Long: So have you tried multiple phones? Because I’ll be honest with you, we both review tech and cars. So I noticed that a lot of phones struggle because you’ve got to place them in the right spot. And if they all use Qi 2, which is a magnetic attachment, it’d be amazing, but they don’t. So you’ve obviously tried different positions and phones and things.

[00:21:12] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:21:12] Colin: Yeah. I mean, I’ve got a phone case. I took it out the phone case. I tried my wife’s phone, you know, and nothing, nothing worked.

[00:21:20] Trevor Long: So what do they say about that? Yeah.

[00:21:22] Stephen Fenech: What’s your response?

[00:21:23] Trevor Long: I want it replaced. I’ll be honest with you. I’m there every week saying, no, no. When’s it ready? When are you changing it?

[00:21:29] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:21:30] Colin: I mean, they actually said it was faulty and they would order a new one, but— and let me know when it came in. But it hasn’t come in yet. And that was at the 3-month service, you know, the 3,000-kilometer service.

[00:21:41] Trevor Long: All right.

[00:21:42] Stephen Fenech: So you notice that when you bought the car, then the 3-month service still wasn’t ready to be repaired? That’s right. Yeah. And that’s a long time to wait, you know.

[00:21:53] Trevor Long: So how long has it been since the 3 months, since they ordered it, the 3-month service? How long has it been?

[00:21:59] Stephen Fenech: 9 months. Yeah.

[00:21:59] Trevor Long: 6 months.

[00:22:00] Colin: Over 6 months.

[00:22:01] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:22:01] Colin: That is nearing 8 months.

[00:22:03] Stephen Fenech: That is crazy talk because, look, every brand has some issue. I’ll tell you my little story. My brand new Mercedes EQE 350 had an issue 2 days after I picked it up and they said, we’ve got to get a part, you can’t drive it for a month. I went, are you joking? And my suggestion was take a part off another car, give it to me. And that’s what they did. So even Mercedes-Benz can have those sorts of delays. For me it was going to be a month. And so yeah, any delay is frustrating.

[00:22:37] Trevor Long: And you know, I think also the wireless charging pad. So I’ll play devil’s advocate for a minute. Let me play BYD spokesperson’s— you know, you got me on the phone, right? Oh, look, sorry, sir, that’s a very unique part. It’s not a part we commonly need to replace. So that kind of makes sense, right? You go, it’s not like it’s a wheel or a bumper or a glass, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s a strange part. But still, yeah, you ring the factory and it’s on the next ship. Like, it honestly, that’s a— at worst, it’s got to be 2 months, right? 6 months is out. What do they say when you ring them and say, do you remember 6 months ago you ordered a part?

[00:23:13] Stephen Fenech: Where is it? What is it? Where’s it gone?

[00:23:16] Colin: Actually, I did write to them. I’ve got the full year service happening on June 10th and I’ve written to them and asked them to make sure that the part’s in and I got no reply. And if you think I’m taking no reply for an answer.

[00:23:32] Stephen Fenech: So by then it’ll be a year. Or 9 months, what would it be?

[00:23:35] Trevor Long: A year? 9 months?

[00:23:36] Colin: A year. Well, yeah, 9 months. Wow. So, and you know, I can appreciate—

[00:23:41] Stephen Fenech: You could have a baby in that time. 9 months. You could have had another kid by then, mate.

[00:23:47] Colin: Yeah.

[00:23:47] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:23:48] Colin: Look, I can appreciate the issue that they have because they’ve got so many models and they change the models. You know, they update them every year. It’s almost like a phone, you know, an iPhone that gets a new version every year. And, you know, stocking parts must be a nightmare for them.

[00:24:02] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:24:03] Trevor Long: Well, I think it’s— I’m not going to say it’s a unique problem because I don’t have any experience, but I would love to hear from people with parts questions because, and especially from new brands, which I guess is core to your question, Colin, is, you know, is this a new brand problem? Because if you look at, you know, our mates at Suttons, you know, they would have— they have a warehouse full of parts for the cars they sell because when they service a car, they want to provide the parts. It’s how it works, you know.

[00:24:27] Stephen Fenech: Exactly right.

[00:24:28] Trevor Long: Are these new brands stocking parts at the same level? Is it the right number? Are they turning the efficiency around? The problem is they’re new. So what’s the experience of buyers? So we’d love to hear from other people who are listening and watching. If you’ve had an experience with a new brand and a part, let us know. Has it been quick or long? We’re happy to hear both sides of the story, obviously, because I think Colin, you raise a really interesting point about the car. But I’m glad that overall it’s been a good experience for you and that I think long term you’ll probably reflect on BYD as being a successful one for you.

[00:25:00] Colin: Yeah, absolutely. Look, no complaints about the car. It drives well. You know, all the benefits of electric driving. Yep. You know, instant torque and so on. So very happy with it.

[00:25:13] Trevor Long: But you just can’t charge your phone wirelessly, mate.

[00:25:16] Stephen Fenech: All right.

[00:25:16] Trevor Long: It’ll get there. Thanks for getting in touch, mate.

[00:25:19] Colin: Yeah, no worries.

[00:25:20] Trevor Long: Thank you, mate. Cheers, mate. Appreciate it. That’s very kind of you, mate.

[00:25:24] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it is a valid question, though, that you mentioned your question about the new brands. Like, what’s the setup? Remember, we’ve said everything’s all rosy when you buy the car, but you’re never thinking about, well, what if I need a part? What if I need to get serviced or repaired? What’s that? That’s the question you got to ask. And I think a brand’s— the quality of a brand, I think that that’s what reflects the quality of a brand, that after-sales service. If they still want to know you after you’ve paid the money, then that’s a quality sign of a good brand.

[00:25:55] Trevor Long: And I would argue that’s why you keep going back to Mercedes, because when you walk in the door, oh yeah, they greet you like, they know my name. They’re like a recurring customer, which is what they want, you know? Well, after-sales support and service, what are you seeing with your car, your brand? Let us know. 0477 657 657. Send us a text or a WhatsApp. We’d love to hear from you. I mean, if we had more money, we’d just get like stings made instead of looking at us. Yeah, they’d be looking at graphics and things.

[00:26:32] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that’s all right, mate.

[00:26:34] Trevor Long: There’s a large investment involved in getting—

[00:26:37] Stephen Fenech: still watch us on YouTube.

[00:26:38] Trevor Long: Yeah, you’ll have a laugh just to look— Stephen, just to watch Stephen look like an idiot. Yep, it’s my favorite part of the day. Phil’s on the line. G’day, Phil.

Phil — Ordered a Tesla Model Y L 6-seater for the family

[00:26:46] Phil: Hello, how are you guys doing?

[00:26:48] Trevor Long: Really, really good. Uh, you own an EV or you’ve got your money down on one?

[00:26:52] Phil: I think we have put in an order. Yes, we have.

[00:26:56] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:26:57] Stephen Fenech: Mate, well, tell us, mate. Come on, what’s the go?

[00:27:00] Trevor Long: To reveal it.

[00:27:02] Phil: Look, uh, we’ve put an order down for a Tesla Model Y, L being the, uh, the 6-seater version.

[00:27:08] Trevor Long: Second call of this show.

[00:27:10] Stephen Fenech: This year, earlier on the same show, uh, a gentleman named Piment has also put his money down on a Tesla.

[00:27:15] Trevor Long: He’s waiting until August, August, he said.

[00:27:17] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, so when’s your window for delivery, mate?

[00:27:20] Phil: Yeah, July, August is the same.

[00:27:21] Trevor Long: Right, but I, I’m detecting, Phil, using my superpowers, I’m detecting that I don’t know that you’re certain about this. You’re like, I put my money down. There’s words and language there that makes me think that you could be swayed. Have you considered other cars?

[00:27:35] Phil: Look, we want more, 6 or more seats, right, in the car. So we did sort of go, oh, can we push ourselves back down to 5 seats? And we took a few cars for test drive and sort of looked at each other and went, well, an EV is definitely the next, the next car for us. But to replace our Ford Everest? Yeah, not, not, not going to happen. Yeah. So we looked at the Model Y and thought, oh, that might be an option. I heard, I think Trevor bagged it out a little bit.

[00:28:09] Stephen Fenech: He’s never been a fan of the Model Y, mate. He’s never been a fan of that.

[00:28:13] Trevor Long: That’s just a Musk slash— I’m not a massive fan of design.

[00:28:16] Stephen Fenech: He’s not a fan of Elon either. And I suspect, are you an Elon fan or no, Phil?

[00:28:22] Phil: I am, and look, I am very impressed with his intelligence, all of the way he runs his businesses, all of that sort of stuff. Very, very, very impressed and would love to say that I work in a similar manner, but just some of the things he says, I’d be happy not to go down that track. I always, not sure about Teslas. Admired the design but always thought they sort of looked funny. But this, the newer Model Y looks—

[00:28:50] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, it looks nice. Very nice. I’m a fan. Trevor’s not.

[00:28:53] Trevor Long: It doesn’t make any difference to me. It’s a frog, not a toad at best. But, you know, that’s, that’s what—

[00:28:59] Phil: Yeah, the new one. The new one’s the nice, you know, little. Yeah, very nice.

[00:29:03] Stephen Fenech: And Phil, Phil’s just convincing himself of that. You need a lot of seats, mate. So it’s— is it a—

[00:29:08] Phil: you got a few kids or, you know, Yeah, 3 kids and occasionally foster caring.

[00:29:14] Stephen Fenech: Oh, okay. Okay. So you having room in your car was a very important criteria.

[00:29:20] Trevor Long: And is it right to say then, if you’re saying that, you know, you’re petrol going electric, that really you don’t have much option in the electric space unless it’s the Tesla Model Y, really? Because anything more is going to cost a lot more. You know, even the Mercedes-Benz EQB, which would do 7 seats, is like $87,000. A Volkswagen ID.Buzz would take you into $90,000. Obviously, the Kia EV9 is going getting close to $100,000. So I’m assuming that’s really pricing you out.

[00:29:46] Phil: And those models don’t tow unless you get the, the, the medium sort of range and above model. So then it’s even more than sort of the numbers you guys have suggested. Yeah, that was really pricing us out. Look, I got in the Model Y as a test drive after we looked at the YL and, and was very impressed with the test drive. Maybe the turning circle is the only, the only painful thing. But look, I was We were driving on the way after test driving an EV, Kia EV5, on the way to Tesla in Nunawading. And I was sort of talking to my wife, oh, I betcha the sales guys aren’t that great and they’re really arrogant and everything. Walked in and it was mostly a really good experience. Yeah. Sat in the driver’s seat and went, looked at, looked at her and went, this minimalist design actually is

[00:30:41] Stephen Fenech: You’re all in. So bad. Yeah.

[00:30:42] Phil: And Sunday we took it for an actual test drive, the YL, with, with the 3 kids. And, but yeah, they loved it. We are sold. We are.

[00:30:53] Stephen Fenech: Yes. Yeah, definitely. Oh, look, let me, let me be very clear. Tesla has, right? Tesla has a certain allure, right? They’ve got no doubt. And it’s that minimalist, just like Phil mentioned, that minimalist look and feel, really high-tech feel to it. That a lot of other brands can’t match that.

[00:31:10] Trevor Long: No, yeah, they can’t. And look, I want to be very clear, I think Elon is an absolute fruit loop. I think the bloke is off the charts crazy, but he’s also, as you said, a genius, pure genius. I think SpaceX and the Tesla charging network are his greatest achievements. I think the cars are excellent. They are some of the best driving cars. They have such great performance. They have a beautiful design interior. They have minimal interior. So there’s a lot of reasons to love it. I just personally couldn’t have one. And I’ve said a lot of times, Phil, a lot of my feeling is because I’ve always been someone who wants not the same thing as everyone else. I said this last week. It’s like I just— that’s just how I operate, you know.

[00:31:45] Stephen Fenech: The Y wheels, pretty won’t be that common.

[00:31:46] Trevor Long: It looks the same as the Y. It’s very hard to tell the difference. So Phil, let me be clear. I think you’re going to love the car. I think it’s a great car. There’s nothing to regret about buying a Tesla Model Y at all, especially given you’re going to have great comfort for the kids. And that walk through to the third row for the kids is a game changer when they get older. How old are the kids?

[00:32:07] Phil: 14, 12, and 9.

[00:32:10] Trevor Long: Yeah. So the 9-year-old out of, out of a booster. So they’re all out of boosters, which means it is comfortable. They can sit anywhere. You know, mate, you’re going to love this car.

[00:32:19] Stephen Fenech: What, Phil, what’s, what’s your charging arrangement going to be? Have you looking at a wall charger? What’s the go?

[00:32:26] Phil: Figure I might go with the, the Tesla universal one because you can get a 32-amp plug. And so then we’ve got solar. Use, use my Home Assistant setup to just to basically charge off the excess.

[00:32:41] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:32:41] Phil: And then if we really need to, we’ll just, we’ll just force it to charge so it can get up to 7 kilowatts anyway. Yeah, that’s where single phase. So we’re never getting more than that. And then when, if vehicle to grid becomes a thing, might look at that down the track because the YL is going to be vehicle to grid compatible.

[00:33:00] Trevor Long: So it’s kind of the first time Tesla’s gone there.

[00:33:02] Stephen Fenech: You’ve got a load. You’ve got a load. Yeah. So that’s different to vehicle to grid.

[00:33:07] Trevor Long: Vehicle load just means you can plug power point stuff into it. Yeah, right. Like you just plug, have an Aussie power point. Mate, that’s really cool.

[00:33:14] Phil: They do do it in the US. They do do it in the US with the Cybertruck.

[00:33:17] Stephen Fenech: So maybe it’ll come here.

[00:33:20] Stephen Fenech: Well, the Cybertruck is on these— interesting you mentioned that the Cybertruck is on the Australian website. So there’s the Model 3, the Model Y, so the Model Y says inquire and order, and the Cybertruck just says inquire. Not, not, yeah, just to have a look at it. So does that mean that they’re gonna— it’s gonna come out?

[00:33:39] Trevor Long: It won’t pass Australian design regulations, it just won’t work here. They’re also not going to make it in right-hand drive. There’s a million reasons why it won’t make it here. It’s just his, you know, passion project that he wants to have shown to people, and it’s a highlight, you know, people think of Tesla because of the— some people because of the Cybertruck. So they want to show it on the website. But good news is, mate, you won’t be near one of those, Phil. You’ll just be enjoying them.

[00:34:02] Phil: That’s great.

[00:34:03] Stephen Fenech: What color do you get, Phil?

[00:34:07] Phil: A little bit back and forth on the color. Maybe a great question. Maybe, maybe a great question for you. Do you think color has an impact on resale? No.

[00:34:17] Stephen Fenech: And we’re talking 8+ years I’m hoping no color doesn’t, but you know what color though, I’m surprised to know has an effect on insurance. If your car is lighter, it’s cheaper to insure than a dark, because a lighter color car is easier to see. A darker car, yes, is harder to see. Yeah, so that’s, that’s what I was told by an insurance company. I won’t mention which one. Okay, an insurance company told me that when I was insuring my car, when I was insuring my Model S. Okay.

[00:34:45] Trevor Long: Okay, well, that was—

[00:34:46] Phil: I’m going to say that was in the Dark Ages.

[00:34:48] Stephen Fenech: So I don’t know. So does that mean you’re getting a white one then, mate?

[00:34:50] Trevor Long: No. You know, I would say to you, we are getting a white one.

[00:34:54] Phil: Look, we, we don’t really like— we, we thought we liked the Cosmic Silver, which is a bit of a goldy silver when we first saw it. But we— that’s the, that’s the color we test drove. And seeing it out, outside of the showroom.

[00:35:08] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:35:09] Phil: Oh, it’s, it’s, it looks— it just reminds me of a champagne color car we had when I was, when I was 12. So. Okay. More than happy not to go with that color. We, you know, my family has always had silvery champagne colored cars, so we got to, we got to keep breaking the mold.

[00:35:24] Trevor Long: We got a beautiful deep blue.

[00:35:26] Stephen Fenech: Step out on your own, mate. Create your own path.

[00:35:29] Trevor Long: I love, nice.

[00:35:30] Phil: I love the blue, but they don’t have the blue in the wire.

[00:35:32] Trevor Long: Oh, really?

[00:35:34] Phil: I have a, like a sky.

[00:35:36] Trevor Long: It’s a Glacier Blue.

[00:35:38] Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:35:39] Phil: Yeah.

[00:35:39] Stephen Fenech: And that would have been what, an extra $1,500 or $2,000 or.

[00:35:42] Trevor Long: Yeah, it’s $2,600 to get the ultra rare $2,600 to get the ultra red. Because if I was you, I’d be getting the red or the black. Because I do think personally that the white is— the white and the silver are bloody everywhere.

[00:35:57] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, that’s what he’s getting.

[00:35:58] Trevor Long: White, he said. No, that’s what I’m saying. If you’re looking at resale, standing out in a listing, it might be better. But, oh, you know, mate, stick with the white. You’re going to get it for 8 years. In 8 years, if you’re trying to sell it in a year and a half, 2 years, fine, play around with color. Yeah, but 8 years, mate, it’s going to be how you look after that battery, how you look after that car.

[00:36:15] Stephen Fenech: Hopefully more.

[00:36:15] Trevor Long: Yeah, okay, well, that’s great.

[00:36:17] Stephen Fenech: You know what, Teslas have great longevity, mate.

[00:36:19] Trevor Long: Well, we spoke to Leo at the start of the show, he said he’s just bought a secondhand Model S, 2017 Model S, and he loves it. Yeah, so mate, you’re fine, you’re on the right path. And, uh, I don’t know, the other problem I’ve got for you, mate, it sounds like you’re debating with your missus what color to get. I don’t think you have any say in this. Yeah, what part of that do you not have a say?

[00:36:38] Stephen Fenech: Not you, she picks.

[00:36:39] Phil: Yeah, basically it’s we don’t need to spend any more money, we’re happy with it. Okay, okay.

[00:36:44] Trevor Long: Warren Finance wins.

[00:36:45] Stephen Fenech: She picked the color.

[00:36:46] Phil: There you go. The only question I do have is there’s all these people, you go on these forums and things and everyone’s worried about dents and scratches and everything. And so everyone’s getting PPF and I thought that’s thousands of dollars. But really what, what, what’s, again, you, I don’t know that it’s actually gonna help improve resale value.

[00:37:06] Trevor Long: So really I was thinking— here’s how I look at it. I looked at our Kia Carnival that we traded for the EV9 and, you know, had scratches on it. And, you know, it was, it was not the car I would love to have kept because it was a family car. And I might— if it made a difference to the resale, I didn’t notice. Genuinely, you know, if you’re absolutely scratching the damn thing, fine. But in 8 to 10 years, your car is going to have chips and scratches on it. Any 8 to 10 year old car is. Yeah. So is a PPF really a requirement? You know, I’ve got a graphene coating on my Cupra because I love the color and I want it to look after itself. Did I put anything on the Kia? No, because it’s a family car that’s going to get, you know, all sorts of stuff happen to it. So honestly, don’t stress.

[00:37:51] Stephen Fenech: I think, yeah, just do your best to look after it as best you can. Care for it.

[00:37:55] Trevor Long: Teach the kids how to wash the car and make it a family activity every 2 weeks and look after the car. That’s the best thing you can do.

[00:38:01] Stephen Fenech: That’s the best way to keep the resale value.

[00:38:03] Trevor Long: Not have all that residue from road filth and just general filth on it and wash the car well. You know, that’s the best thing you can do, Phil.

[00:38:12] Phil: Awesome.

[00:38:12] Trevor Long: Good luck, mate. Enjoy the car. Look forward to hearing from you once you’ve had a few months of motoring, buddy.

[00:38:17] Phil: We will.

[00:38:18] Trevor Long: We will. Cheers. Thanks for getting in touch. Lovely to hear from Phil there. And what a lovely family looking after other kids as well as their own. Yeah, great. I mean, it’s all well and good to have 3 kids of your own, but then taking on foster kids, credit to you, Phil. And Mrs. Phil. Yep. Um, lovely stuff. Um, we’d love to hear from you if you’ve got a story about the car you’re buying or you’re interested in just narrowing down the car choices you might have. We’d love to hear from you. Send us a text— thanks to Vodafone— 0477 657657, or a WhatsApp, doesn’t matter. We’ll get them both and we’ll try and get you on a show real soon. Stephen, I think we could just churn it out and do it all over again next week.

[00:38:53] Stephen Fenech: I will clear my diary.

[00:38:55] Trevor Long: Okay, mate.