A New Jersey dealer is trying to flip a barely-driven Tesla Model S Signature for $259,995 — roughly $100,000 more than what Tesla charged buyers for the collector’s edition.
The car carries VIN #71 and just 297 miles on the odometer, and it’s listed at J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, for more than double the price of a standard Model S Plaid.
A $100,000 markup on a car Tesla just built
The listing prices the vehicle at $259,995, plus a $495 documentation fee, for an all-in total of $260,490. It’s a one-owner car with a clean Carfax, zero accidents, and a clean title, according to the AutoCheck report attached to the ad.
Everything about it points to a Signature Series unit: the exclusive Garnet Red paint, gold brake calipers on carbon-ceramic brakes, 21-inch wheels, and a low VIN ending in S00071. Tesla built only 250 Signature Model S sedans — each with a numbered dash plate reading 1/250 through 250/250 — as part of an invite-only, 350-vehicle farewell run for the Model S and Model X.
Tesla priced the Model X Signature at $159,420 and the Model S Signature landed in a similar range around $155,000. So the J&S Autohaus ask represents roughly a $100,000 premium over Tesla’s own price for the car — before the buyer has even taken delivery.
The markup looks even steeper against a regular Plaid. Tesla’s final Model S Plaid inventory sold for $124,900, meaning this listing is priced at more than twice a standard, non-collector Plaid. Even the same dealer undercuts its own listing: J&S Autohaus has four other 2026 Model S Plaids on its lot ranging from $149,490 to $155,490, and base Model S units from $110,490.
Why someone thinks it’s worth a quarter million
The bet here is scarcity. The Signature Series is the last Model S and Model X Tesla will ever build. As we reported in April, Tesla ended Model S and Model X production, and the Fremont line that built them is being converted to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots.
Access was invite-only. Tesla emailed the offer to a select group of existing owners, and if you didn’t get the invite, you couldn’t buy one. That combination — 250 units, invitation-only, and a hard end to a 14-year program — is exactly the kind of setup that attracts flippers hoping to cash in on collectors who missed the list.
The “Signature” name also carries history. When the Model S first launched in 2012, the first ~2,000 cars sold were Signature editions that required a $40,000 deposit and cost nearly $100,000 each. Those early owners were Tesla’s original believers, and this final run is a deliberate bookend to that story. I still own one of the original Tesla Model S Signature.
The problem is what the car actually is. Beneath the Garnet Red paint and gold badges, the Signature is fundamentally the same Model S Plaid that Tesla has left largely unchanged since the 2021 refresh — no new battery cells, no faster charging, no steer-by-wire, no meaningful range gain. Buyers are paying a six-figure premium for a paint color, some gold trim, and a numbered plate.
Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
Reviewed By: Editorial Team
