Used Tesla Model X Is The Only Electric Three-Row Family Hauler You Can Buy Under $20,000, But Here's A Reality Check

When the Tesla Model X was new, the popular 90D version cost about $100,000. Thanks to the magic of depreciation, though, the cheapest Model Xs can now be found in the $15,000 range. As far as practical family cars that still run and drive go, a price like that is hard to beat. And if you want an electric three-row family hauler, it's your only choice south of $20,000. That makes it a tempting buy for people with a limited car budget who have gotten sick of playing gas price roulette. It's also an incredibly risky purchase and not a gamble most families should take. 

Admittedly, I'm no lover of Elon Musk nor fan of many of his actions, so there's no getting around the fact that I'm biased here. Still, my issue with most families buying super cheap Model Xs has nothing to do with that. My issues with buying a scarily cheap Model X are much more cheap-Model-X specific.

The first potential problem, of course, is that we're talking about a decade-old vehicle that was originally designed to cost $100,000. On a limited budget, heavily depreciated luxury cars are almost always a bad idea, but since the Model X is electric, there's no engine, traditional transmission, starter, or alternator that could break on you. So that's nice. Still, wear items will need to be replaced, and replacement parts can be pricier than you're used to. Even tires can get expensive fast.

When Tesla revealed the first Model X prototype back in 2012, its target market was still early adopters, not mainstream buyers. Early customers wanted to be on the cutting edge, and they were willing to put up with, shall we say, "quirks" and "annoyances" that early Model S buyers were used to but Honda and Toyota buyers would never have tolerated. With age, those issues can get worse.

Which brings me to the Model X's party trick — those eye-catching rear doors. First of all, they're power-operated, and — no matter how fast power doors open or close — if you're used to only needing three seconds to pop open a car door, grab whatever you need, and then close the door again, waiting on power-operated doors can be annoying. The same issue applies to minivans with power-sliding rear doors, so it isn't a Tesla-specific problem; but, if you're considering a cheap Model X, it's still worth noting.

I'm also not sure if you remember, but Tesla kept delaying the production Model X, and while the so-called "falcon wing" doors may not have been the only problem causing the delay, getting the doors to work correctly clearly caused at least some issues. In 2016, Tesla ended up suing the supplier, eventually settling the lawsuit. The weird doors on the production version allegedly worked well enough to sell, but when our friends at Consumer Reports bought a Model X to test, it ran into frequent problems with the doors and highlighted a few other notable flaws:

But beyond the brag-worthy magic, the all-wheel-drive Model X 90D largely disappoints. The rear doors are prone to pausing and stopping. The second-row seats can't be folded, limiting cargo-carrying ability. The big windshield is neat but not tinted enough to offset the brightness of a sunny day, and wind noise is excessive.

If the doors were having problems when the Model X was new and still clobbering four-year-olds in 2023, do you really want to deal with decade-old, out-of-warranty "falcon wing" doors and all the potential risks that come with them? In a car Tesla already canceled? Especially with owners still posting online about Tesla's service centers failing to fix broken doors? It's one thing if we're talking about a sports car, but most parents need their three-row family haulers to work, and you're playing a dangerous game if you decide that technically-not-a-minivan you buy should be a scarily cheap Model X. Even if that means you have to wait to go electric until you can afford a different family hauler, longterm, that's probably the smarter move.