Airbag Recall Repair Time

[Perdire]

I am in a pickle—went to pick up a used Tesla Model S 2016.5 75 from across the country and bring it back; last VIN check identifies the airbag recall and the Porsche dealership I am buying from says they can’t hand it over until the safety issue is fixed.

At first the manager was so annoyed that he was thinking of tossing it up to an auction rather than dealing with Tesla SC. I practically begged him not to, and he agreed to get in touch with the original owner—which the original owner very generously agreed to contacting the SC for the repair—it’s scheduled for August 5th.

Do I reasonably expect the repair to just take same day, or is it going to be an even longer wait?

If the used market wasn’t so intense, and this Model S wasn’t such an incredible buy, I’d have probably walked out, but now I’m trying to plan my life around this and it’s hard to know how things will play out. There’s a lot of logistics and I’m just trying to get a sense of what could-likely will happen.

 

[KyleDay]

Probably same day

 

[PCMc]

The airbag recall on my mid-2016 Model S was completed in my garage by mobile technician. It's been a couple years since it was done, but I recall he completed it in less than 2 hours.

 

[richrootes]

Ditto - carried out at home by a mobile technician in around an hour

Good luck!

 

[KalJoMoS]

I can’t understand why this airbag recall is an item that seller is refusing to give ownership over? I traveled cross continent to pick up mine and it had two other recalls over that one listed - airbag/seatbelt/steering rack. Seller told to get in touch with Tesla to plan the service. It took me a month to get them solved.

 

[Perdire]

I can’t understand why this airbag recall is an item that seller is refusing to give ownership over? I traveled cross continent to pick up mine and it had two other recalls over that one listed - airbag/seatbelt/steering rack. Seller told to get in touch with Tesla to plan the service. It took me a month to get them solved.

It struck me as peculiar as well, but, again this was a Porsche dealership. I wasn’t allowed to put paperwork in to buy the car until I had been given a video inspection of the car—which I certainly appreciated—but, again given the market, would have normally meant costing the purchase of the car. They had so many inquiries because of how competitive the price was they shortly delisted, told me if I didn’t buy it they were hiking the price. The management also didn’t understand how transferring the account worked. I also had to call—and very nearly explain—to ensure the car was charged before I left with it. The only reason they seemed half inclined to know was because they sell the Taycan.

 

[airborne spoon]

It takes about 20 minutes to accomplish. I have done it on my car when i was doing the heated wheel retrofit because tesla had already done it and i had to change from the blown airbag that i got at a scrap yard for the functional one that was already in my car.
I remember when tesla did the recall fix i barely had time to finish the cup of hot chocolate from their Keurig before the guy came back saying the car was ready to go.

 

[MP3Mike]

I can’t understand why this airbag recall is an item that seller is refusing to give ownership over?

Legally they can't sell a new car with an open recall. But there is no restriction on selling a used car. It could be they don't understand the law, or it could just be their policy that they won't sell a car with an open recall.

 

[Perdire]

It takes about 20 minutes to accomplish. I have done it on my car when i was doing the heated wheel retrofit because tesla had already done it and i had to change from the blown airbag that i got at a scrap yard for the functional one that was already in my car.
I remember when tesla did the recall fix i barely had time to finish the cup of hot chocolate from their Keurig before the guy came back saying the car was ready to go.

Well, that’s what I’m hoping for! This has definitely been reassuring, so, thanks.

 

[Perdire]

Legally they can't sell a new car with an open recall. But there is no restriction on selling a used car. It could be they don't understand the law, or it could just be their policy that they won't sell a car with an open recall.

That’s both interesting and informative—I definitely get the sense they only accept trade-ins to accommodate their buyers. So, definitely could be some ignorance on their part. It’s in CA though and they have some weird laws. The dealership claimed they’ll “make it up to me” when I come back for it in August. We’ll see what that looks like come then.

 

[PCMc]

That’s both interesting and informative—I definitely get the sense they only accept trade-ins to accommodate their buyers. So, definitely could be some ignorance on their part. It’s in CA though and they have some weird laws. The dealership claimed they’ll “make it up to me” when I come back for it in August. We’ll see what that looks like come then.

Some states place limits on the ability to renew registration or transfer ownership if there is an open emissions recall. If I recall correctly CA does this if the repair has not been performed within a given window of time (something like 2 year, but been a while since I was directly involved in a recall discussion with ARB). The way this is handled is manufacturers are required to provide the CA DMV with a list of applicable VINs. I don't have any direct experience if this also would apply to an open safety recall, but this may be what is trigger them to say it has to be corrected before sale. They may simply be trying to prevent you running into an issue when you go to register the car and protect themselves against an irate customer coming back and complaining to them.

 

[ibtm]

I just got the e mail on the air bag recall. It indicated that they will call me when my car is ready to be totally replaced. Good straight forward communication!