When it comes to buying a new car, not everyone can afford the shiniest vehicle on the lot or has the cash to drive away with a brand-new model.
Instead, the used car market is booming, as in the industry of buying wrecked vehicles as something a fixer upper.
Given that the cheapest price of a Tesla sits at $44,000 in 2024, nabbing one of Elon Musk's electric vehicles for a mere $15,000 seems like a steal.
Well, until you see the state it's in.
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The YouTube channel Wham Baam Teslacam shows how an 18-year-old purchased a wrecked 2018 Tesla Model 3 and set out trying to put it back together.
In the video, the host explains: "Winston purchased this totaled Model 3 from a wrecking yard and rebuilt it himself in his garage.
"Once the car was completely rebuilt he plugged in his USB drive and retrieved the footage stored locally on the Tesla's computer finally revealing how the car had been totaled."
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The footage shows the owner happily coasting along, before suddenly, another car appears from the right and doesn't have the opportunity to stop.
The video continues: "The Tesla driver T-boned the other driver on the driver's side, the Tesla was a total loss and was sold to Winston by Geico Insurance - Winston won the auction for $15,000 before setting out to build the cheapest Tesla in the US."
There's more to the story, as Winston's parents actually bought the totaled Tesla and he vowed to rebuild it for them. WintonsGarage is the YouTube channel where you can watch him trying to restore the Model 3 to its former glory and achieve his mission of creating the world's 'cheapest' Tesla.
Did Winston do it? Yes, yes he did.
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The Tesla's road to restoration was a successful one, and in the end, Winston said he spent around $25,000 on the entire project.
This included the orignal $15,000 for the totaled Tesla, $9,000 for parts, and $1,000 for taxes.
Being able to drive around in a Tesla for just a fraction of what Mr. Musk is charging seems like a pretty sweet deal, although a lot of time and effort clearly went into transforming the wrecked vehicle.
Not to burst Winston's bubble, but a quick scan of Autotrader reveals plenty of used Teslas coming in for well under $25,000, and better yet, they won't take months to restore.
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Still, we've got to admire the gumption of an 18-year-old using his smarts and trying to bring a wrecked car back from the dead. This is one lucky vehicle saved from the scrapheap.
Let's see if Elon Musk thinks this is as impressive as the guy who built a wooden Cybertruck for $15,000.