Amber CEO Joe Pak hosts an interview with Amber advocate and customer Tony Stark as we discuss his decade-long experience with new and used Tesla vehicles, the reality of owning pre-owned EVs, and the best steps to take when purchasing a used Tesla to ensure peace-of-mind in the event that the vehicle requires repair. Discover the Amber difference directly from Tony, and learn more about what makes Amber a revolutionary option for your Tesla ownership.
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Video Transcript:
Joe Pak: All right Tony thank you for joining us, I know it's a Friday so [...] I appreciate your time. [...] I've been wanting to have this conversation for a little while - you've been with Amber as an Amber customer for a couple months now, is that right, Tony?
Tony Stark: I'm sorry can you repeat that Joe?
Joe: Yeah, you've been with Amber as an Amber customer for a few months now, is that right, Tony?
Tony: Yeah I believe going on six months now.
Joe: Six months. Time is just like flying [...] it's really an interesting thing.
Tony: It is. It is.
Joe: But you know one of those times that we've talked, Tony [...]I was thinking about digging a little bit deeper into how you got to this place in the first place. So [...] sort of like jogging back through time. I'm curious, like, how did you get into Teslas in the first place?
Tony: Well, I've always been intrigued I would say, back to about 2009 when the Roadster came out, the whole aspect of electric, you know, [...] the concept of not spending money on fuel, not going the whole route of "I'm going to be like everyone else with gasoline." You know, times have have changed, gasoline gets more expensive, [...] it goes up and down. And then the aspect of Technology - I'm a big technology person and if you know anything about Tesla you know one of the number one things is technology. It's the reason why I kind of lean towards [...] liking Tesla and EVs. Pushing from any other manufacturer to Tesla, hands down, on technology, I mean the support, everything is [...] there.
Joe: Yeah, so if it's Roadster that got you interested in EVs, you've been an EV person then for over a decade now right?
Tony: Yeah.
Joe: Wow, so how did - the first EV then that you bought, my understanding is that it was a used Tesla. Is that right?
Tony: Say again?
Joe: So the first EV that you purchased was a used Tesla, is that right?
Tony: Correct, absolutely.
Joe: So walk me through that. So you've been fascinated with Tesla and EVs for over a decade now. I'm sure you've seen all these models come out, the S the X, 3 and Y, but how did you get into used Teslas? It's such a new space and frankly I think a space that people are pretty afraid of. You know, there's lots of concerns about the battery and [...] whether these vehicles are worth it or not so how did you decide that you wanted to go and get a used Tesla?
Tony: Well, from price point of course [...] new is always supposedly better. But as I said, as far as price point, there's a huge jump between purchasing a new Tesla and a pre-owned Tesla and I'm a type of person that [...] I do have an understanding of the concept of cars. You do just a little bit of research and understand that okay, well, if a car only has 30,000 miles or 40,000 miles [...] it should theoretically [...] last, whether it's an EV or a gasoline car. The primary concept is it's still a young car. So that's what drove me to say "okay, well, I'll go out on a limb and since it's still [...] fairly decently low mileage, I don't think anything can go wrong, but if it does [...] I will have to have a backup plan."
Joe: Sure, and when you were going out buying that first car - I can't remember, what was the first car that you bought, the Model S or the X?
Tony: The Model X.
Joe: The Model X, that's right.
Tony: Now, I was looking for a Model S - I liked everything about it. At the same pricing level, I could go get a Model X or a Model S and the Model X, of course, with the technology, the Falcon Doors [...] kind of draws a person a little bit more towards a X than a S.
Joe: Yeah, and you had a bit of a journey, right, to get to that first car [...].
Tony: Yes, it was a very, very difficult journey.
Joe: Yeah, if you could walk us through, like, some of that, that would be really interesting. There's just, there really isn't a lot of information, still, on these cars, so I'd be curious: where did you even find these cars and what were you really looking at, other than mileage, when you were evaluating them?
Tony: Well, I know that me being a performance person, I didn't want something basic. So, I had to weigh my options as far as do I want something more performance-based or do I want something just basic and just try it out. But at that point, I'm like "well, heck, why not have both of them?"
So, my journey started with just doing a basic search of [...] used Model S, and [...] as I'm looking through that I'm like, "oh, well, why did a Model X pop up?" And I put in Model S. So I was intrigued by the Model X. And then my journey began of "okay, well, let me start smaller" and I looked for a Model 3, found the perfect Model 3 because of Hertz Rental Cars. They were [...] selling a lot of their fleet, so my mentality is, "hey, it's a rental car company, most of the time they have to take care of the car to be able to continue renting them out."
So, the one that I found was in Pennsylvania. I'll leave the rest of the details out but we purchased a vehicle, got the financing for it, and unfortunately it got totalled in a parking lot at the dealership. It was the most perfect Model 3 that we wanted, it had - I believe it had the Full Self-Driving [...] already paid for as an option, it was a Long Range, so it was everything that we wanted. So, we fast forward and we continued our search and we said we would only search for 30 days. After 30 days we wouldn't search for Tesla anymore.
A day later, sure enough, it pops up and we came across a Model X and so we looked. We drove about two hours to go check it out and one thing - like you asked [...] "what what else was I looking for besides mileage," I guess you want all the bells and whistles. You don't want to leave anything left out, so you know, the captain's chair is in the rear, Full Self-Driving, the performance that had ludicrous mode was [...] already paid for. And that is kind of a difficult thing to do, is to contact the dealership and say "hey, does this have Full Self-Driving?" Well, most dealerships would say "yeah, it has Full Self-Driving." "No, does it have the prepaid subscription, you know, service already for it?" And they can't tell you that.
So, you have to walk-through a Salesman through the vehicle, through the screens, and say "hey, this is the option is there." Another thing is, like, the Ludicrous Mode, you would have to walk a sales guy that has no clue about a Tesla, they're just selling a used car of "hey, can you see if this option is there?"
And this is the one that we came across, it had every box checked, and at that point I said "okay, well, this is the one." It was good, we liked the color, had all the [...] creature features that that were [...] normally with a Tesla full paid, so that's why we pulled the trigger on this one and we liked the Model X so much that we actually went out and bought a Model Y brand new just to [...] indulge ourselves a little more with Tesla.
Joe: Gotcha, and how many miles and what year was that Model X when you bought it?
Tony: A 2019 Model X Performance and it had 61,000 and some change.
Joe: Got it, so still under battery warranty.
Tony: Still under battery warranty, which is a big thing for me, is that when I was choosing the right Tesla, one thing I did want to make sure was that it had the High Voltage Battery Warranty. Doing a little basic research on Google, you can [...] pretty much pull up the information and see what the year and the mileage is and it definitely fell under that threshold.
Joe: Got it. So, what I heard from you was you weren't necessarily worried about the battery because it was covered under the Tesla warranty, is that right?
Tony: Correct.
Joe: Gotcha. So, through this process, you now own two used Teslas, is that right, Tony?
Tony: Yep, two Teslas now.
Joe: So, I would say that's [...] two times more than most other folks out there, right, in terms of the used Tesla market. What's the one piece of advice you think you [would] give people thinking about buying a used Tesla if you were to jog back through your process and think about [...] the learnings that you took away?
Tony: Okay, so, I have recommended and had a few friends buy used Teslas. The first thing, number one, was get the exact model and specifications that you want. If you can find Full Self-Driving that's already been paid for, do it. If you can find one [...] that's a Performance, do it. So, that's my number one thing on there.
The second thing is, and I kid you not, I'm a big person that believes in - I've always [rathered] be prepared than not prepared. So, I always, always, always, - and I did this before Amber -[...] look for someone that would give extended coverage on it, just in case something happens. I'm a huge just-in-case person and so that's - that was my second recommendation was, you know, make sure that you add [...] an extended warranty on there so that you can make sure that you have that peace of mind no matter if it's in the middle of January, or it's raining outside, or anything that goes on, you just have that peace of mind to know "I'm okay."
Joe: That's interesting you say that. There's a popular belief out there that these cars don't require maintenance and I think that does then extend into the idea that they may not need much repair. So, when we talk to a lot of used Tesla purchasers or prospective purchasers they're really focused just on the battery, right, and making sure that that battery warranty is in in place. So, I'd be curious, like, what other things were you really thinking about when you think about just in case, right, with a car like this that doesn't require a lot of maintenance?
Tony: So, knowing that I bought a Model X and, like I said, it has every little creature feature, fun feature, whatever it is in there, which means, guess what? More that can break
Joe: Sure.
Tony: The Falcon doors, all the way down to the automatic opening of the driver's door, the suspension, that is a great suspension, you know, those parts [...] don't always [...] stay fully functional for the entire life of a car. All electronics, of course, and when you think about something on cars that is electronics, that's a person's number one fear. You know, it's easy to say "hey, I can change the oil in a car" or "I can change the tires" or "I can change brakes," but when you say "hey, this has something wrong with electronics," you know off the bat that you want something to be covered when it comes electronics.
Joe: How did you have that foresight, then, to know, because I think again, these are new. Cars have been around but these are new types of cars, so there's still a gap in education understanding of [...] what types of components go into the car, what even could break, [...] because I think the transparent debate that's around an extended warranty is always "hey, am I gonna win on this or is the house going to win or come on top?" [...] I think that's generally this push and pull, but it doesn't seem like that was the way that you were thinking about that equation, or at least like what I'm detecting from you.
Tony: So, I guess in reality, and this is just being honest about it, when I did look at other warranties it wasn't a matter of if they're going to take care of me, it's a matter of what's their knowledge of it, what's their knowledge of this vehicle, and in the case of Amber, you see Tesla, you see Tesla on the page a lot. So, when you see someone that talks about that specific vehicle, there's an idea that pops in your head, "okay, this person knows about about this vehicle" or "this company knows about this vehicle," so therefore, when it comes to coverage they'll know about Tesla.
When you look at other third party warranties it's an array of different companies that they cover for, you know, parts or labor or whatever, if it's [...] any kind of other manufacturer and I think that that has a lot to play into it as well. And when you search for [...] what could go wrong with the Tesla, for me, it's just like, what could? You type in Tesla Model X and problems and then you take a look and what you see is the most common thing that goes wrong with the car. And guess what? It's not the HV battery, it's all of the other electronics behind it.
And then you go on to reading a little more about "okay, well, what about the HV battery that I always hear [about], the High Voltage Battery that I always hear has to be replaced, and then once you start reading more and more about it it's like well, that's not what everyone said. That's not the biggest news that you hear, it's not the HV battery, it's maybe the Falcon Door gets - the strut or something goes out on it. And that turns and it makes you think, "okay, well, forget about the HV battery, I want everything else covered."
Joe: Yeah, so it - just jogging back through that, you were looking for an extended warranty while you're buying this car, you really want to prepare for just-in-case [...]. For the folks that are really thinking about used Tesla purchases, because, you know, we were looking at some data earlier this week that suggests the first month of next year, 2025, there's going to be a huge spike in available volume coming off of leases. [...]
All of that volume is going to go into the used Tesla and EV market, so there will be a lot of this inventory out there, the UCV tax credit still available for now, so that is another incentive for folks to go out and purchase these cars. When they're thinking about an extended warranty what do you think are the one or two things that you would absolutely want to make sure that are in place? I think the first thing I heard from you was expertise or knowledge around the specific car, Tesla, right? What are some of the other things that you would recommend looking into?
Tony: How they're - how fast they process their claims, how difficult is it for a claim to get pushed through, because that's the, I guess, the number one thing that everyone thinks bad about warranties is everything will get denied if you can't seem to provide previous history of the vehicle. Well, heck, I bought a used vehicle, what history would I know about it? So, that's [...] the number one. Number two thing is that you would look at a warranty and say "hey, when I'm doing my research I want to make sure they are going to cover it, whatever part it is." How quick they are and if it's going to be - if I have to get reimbursed - and those are the biggest, those are the biggest three. And the last thing is upfront cost, the cost of it. How much am I going to pay for this warranty compared to, you know, another company or what they are actually going to cover.
Joe: Yeah, and why does upfront cost matter to you?
Tony: In a lot of people's aspects, especially when it comes to buying a used Tesla, people see the Tesla as it is, it feels luxury, it has that kind of luxury look, but it's affordable. So, when you're looking at upfront cost, you're not going to say "hey, somebody's going out and buying a [...] $15,000 vehicle after the EV tax credit." And there's a reason why they're spending $15,000, maybe that's their budget range, so when that budget range is smaller and you have have a higher upfront cost with an extended warranty, that person may have just put down $5,000 for the Tesla to turn around [and] say "hey, I want an extended warranty [but] I don't have that extra $4,000 or $3,000 or $5,000 upfront to be able to pay for it." And that was a determining factor for me going with Amber compared to any other companies as well.
Joe: Yeah, and you're a two US Tesla household now, right? Or is it three or how many cars?
Tony: Two Teslas.
Joe: Two Teslas. Who do you think - so, to your point, some of these prices have really come gone down. I mean, I think we had a customer the other day tell us that they purchased a vehicle Model 3, I think over 100,000 miles, for under $15,000. I think they actually applied the tax credit to that, so it might have even gone lower - closer to $10,000. Very few $10,000 luxury cars out there on the market, right, for purchase. Who do you think the buyers of these cars are going to be? Especially all of these Model 3 and Y coming off of lease in the next couple months? I'd be curious, are there certain types of folks that you're coming across that that seem to be purchasing these more than others? What's [...] the trend that we can look ahead to here in terms of the buyer profile?
Tony: I would say someone who's now - they're coming to the concept of - with Elon being very vocal nowadays - people are starting to look at his vehicles and say "oh, well, this guy's a smart guy." And when they say he's a smart guy, okay, well, what does he have? Oh, he owns Tesla. Oh, well, if he's that smart and owns Tesla, he's doing something correct.
And then at the same aspect is, its people who are really tired of paying for big oil and want the money to go in their pocket. With the amount of solar that's becoming available where people are charging their cars with their solar roofs and literally paying themselves to drive. I guess a lot of it is a financial factor of it, [...] if I'm only paying $20, $30, $40 bucks more at home to fill up my car with [...] electricity compared to $400/month, that provides me and my family with more money at home. That also opens the opportunity in my mentality, how I thought, was the money that we're saving from fuel, I can pay for my extended warranty every month for that.
Joe: Yeah, yeah, that makes total sense. I do have one more question for you, Tony, before we wrap here, but thank you again for your time, and this is one that we've been thinking about for some time. How long do you think these cars are going to last? So, your car, I think you said, your Model X [is] still under 100,000 miles. It'll be out of battery warranty at 150,000, right? Is that right? Or 125,000?
Tony: I believe it's 120,000, I believe, so I could be wrong, but either way it goes - your question is how long will it last and how long do you...?
Joe: I guess there's that question, then also: how long do you want to keep it?
Tony: Well, in reality, technology changes.
Joe: Sure.
Tony: And with Tesla, it seems like it's always changing, whether it's updates with the vehicle or not, there's always some new screen or some new [...] ECU that's running the car or better battery technology and I believe that would be the only reason why I would leave the vehicles that I have now. As far as expecting how long they'll last, an average person if they sat and did the research and say "how long will a Tesla last," and the first answers that come up and said "these vehicles are made to last at least 200,000, 250,000, 300,000 miles," that right there should make a person think "okay, well, heck, I can't even get a gas vehicle to last 150,000 miles," you don't even have it any anymore. And in most cases, even if you don't want it to last that long, most people don't even hold on to a vehicle that long in the first place and that's something that I recommend to people as well, is you don't keep a car more than three or four years anyway, what difference does it make if it's going to be out of out of warranty for a battery?
Joe: Yeah, so you think that they'll last double and folks shouldn't be worried because there will be another owner that picks up that car inevitably drives it.
Tony: Yeah, someone else will pick up that car, someone else will be on Amber's website getting a quote to get an extended warranty on a vehicle.
Joe: Great, excellent, Tony, thank you again for your time, we appreciate it.
Tony: Absolutely.
