Anyone else with an awful used buying experience?

[Sposborn]

I am somebody who is normally understanding and EXTREMELY level headed as I work retail and have to deal with clients who are sometimes not having a good time with a purchase, and try to make the best of it. I also try and make sure that the customer is taken care of, however I have had one of the most awful experiences not only buying a car, but one of the worst purchasing experiences period.


Roughly about a month and a half ago, I found a model s 60 kWh in Chicago that I put a deposit on. I went through financing, went through trade in quotes for my current vehicle at 16200, etc. I had everything set until my advisor called me and we went over some things and through the call found out the car had been in an accident (Meaning they could not sell the vehicle). I said that was find and went along to try and find a replacement model s to only have my advisor not reply several times, or have him reply in the following days and the vehicle selling that I inquired about. Slightly annoying, but I can understand they are probably busy. I get my refund for the car I initially had trouble with and all is well on my search for another model s (or model 3).


A few days ago, I was searching on EV-CPO for a used model s and came across one that was located in MA. I was curious as I was sure that they had mentioned that they can’t ship between centers, however decided I would try and call customer service and ask, which to my delight they confirmed that they could work out a location or have it moved to a local center. So eagerly I went ahead and put my deposit in for a used 2013 Model S 60 kWh, did the online application - was approved, put trade in information, etc and now I was happily awaiting my call from the advisor to finalize my purchase.


Today he sends me a nice email welcoming me to the Tesla family and giving me the rundown. He tells me that the pickup location has to be set in NY, an hour away from where the car originally was located, and this would put it into a 10 hour drive for me to get the vehicle. I was sort of annoyed, but was willing to drive out to pick up the car no problem. However, I got a new estimate for my car for 14200 - only about 5 weeks after I had ordered my other model s and had issues with it being a fault on Tesla’s side. I sent an email and received a call from my new advisor who explained that he would not speculate but would guess that the 2k cost different is with it being winter and not as many cars are being bought/sold in winter. I was pretty upset and asked why I was getting the blunt end of the deal when my original car fell through for a fault out of my control, he replied that they have a team of folks who do the estimates and it was something that they do not haggle like traditional dealerships on.


Has anyone had a bad experience like this? I really am just wanting to say forget it all and cancel the purchase and cancel my model 3 reservation. It’s aggravating that they would counter argue taking care of somebody with “not being like a normal dealership”. I asked if they would meet in the middle and all I got on the phone was a rebuttal of “our team of experts narrowed it down to that offer”. I really am disappointed with this experience overall so far, and just wondered is this what I should expect with Tesla?

 

[Chancellor32]

Not really sure this qualifies as a bad experience? If you had done your research you would know that they don't ship anymore and that you have to pick up the car wherever that's located. If you don't want to drive far don't select a car that is far away. As for trade values those will change day to day, 5 weeks later your car has more miles and more wear and tear. Does that equate to a 2k loss? maybe not but again if you had done your research you would know that tesla low balls trade in offers. better to sell your car private party. What you should expect from Tesla is an amazing car and a company that will do what is reasonable to make things right. The problem now is people are wanting a white glove experience when in all reality they don't have time to deal with that. Best of luck on your search, the car is worth any amount of headaches to get it.

 

[Sposborn]

My research was with the company directly asking... I also have a KBB estimate for the 16200 still today.

 

[Chancellor32]

Do a quick scan on TMC and you would have found that they don't ship used cars anymore. Unfortunately Tesla hires kids for their customer service line, they frequently don't know the right answer to questions and know even less about the cars. As for the trade in, not sure what to say. If they aren't offering 16200 still then either take what they are offering, sell to carmax and go private party.

 

[pkcho68]

My research was with the company directly asking... I also have a KBB estimate for the 16200 still today.

Not sure if you have SHIFT in your area but I've sold two cars through them and their offer is close to KBB and better than Car Max. I didn't go with a trade in and picked up my 2015 Tesla two weeks ago. I'm loving it every day and its by far the best car I've ever owned. Good luck

 

[Sposborn]

Not sure if you have SHIFT in your area but I've sold two cars through them and their offer is close to KBB and better than Car Max. I didn't go with a trade in and picked up my 2015 Tesla two weeks ago. I'm loving it every day and its by far the best car I've ever owned. Good luck

Awesome, thank you for bringing that up. I’ll look into it and see if they do anything around me. I am glad you are liking your Tesla !

 

[Jashev]

Have made two CPO purchases from Tesla. Both were excellent experiences. Trade in stuff is always iffy with any dealer. I generally sell my cars privately and do much better. If you don't want to go through the private sale hassle, then you accept the price difference. When the dust settles, you will find yourself with an amazing car.

 

[BulldogsRus]

Not really sure this qualifies as a bad experience? If you had done your research you would know that they don't ship anymore and that you have to pick up the car wherever that's located. If you don't want to drive far don't select a car that is far away. As for trade values those will change day to day, 5 weeks later your car has more miles and more wear and tear. Does that equate to a 2k loss? maybe not but again if you had done your research you would know that tesla low balls trade in offers. better to sell your car private party. What you should expect from Tesla is an amazing car and a company that will do what is reasonable to make things right. The problem now is people are wanting a white glove experience when in all reality they don't have time to deal with that. Best of luck on your search, the car is worth any amount of headaches to get it.

...why wouldn't you want what all other manufacturers at that price point offer? Tesla doesn't operate in a vacuum, nor are they the only EV maker, and within a year or so could have quite a bit of competition tbh so the "don't have time to deal with it" excuse simply doesn't cut it IMHO. The point is that Tesla was the one that screwed up the initial purchase with the "oversight" of an accident vehicle after he had gone through all of the hoops initially. But where did you see that he stated he wouldn't travel? It states right in his post that they initially agreed to move the car to another location, then later he stated he had no problem driving to pick up TEN HOURS away. I mean, they AGREED on the 16200 trade in only 30 days prior then chopped off 2k despite never returning his calls/emails in those same 4 weeks for another one of THEIR cars, and yet you tell him "to expect from Tesla...an amazing car and a company that will do what is reasonable to make things right".

I mean, these stories sound like how you'd get treated at some shady used car lot, not a company trying to take on the lux brands and charging north of $65k on avg. My point is, people don't forget about customer experience and most will be with this brand for a good 4-8 years, which by that time most likely Benz, BMW and Audi will have a foothold and be dying to take their business away. I really think they should be doing more to make the buying experience better somehow.

 

[PhilDavid]

I am somebody who is normally understanding and EXTREMELY level headed as I work retail and have to deal with clients who are sometimes not having a good time with a purchase, and try to make the best of it. I also try and make sure that the customer is taken care of, however I have had one of the most awful experiences not only buying a car, but one of the worst purchasing experiences period.


Roughly about a month and a half ago, I found a model s 60 kWh in Chicago that I put a deposit on. I went through financing, went through trade in quotes for my current vehicle at 16200, etc. I had everything set until my advisor called me and we went over some things and through the call found out the car had been in an accident (Meaning they could not sell the vehicle). I said that was find and went along to try and find a replacement model s to only have my advisor not reply several times, or have him reply in the following days and the vehicle selling that I inquired about. Slightly annoying, but I can understand they are probably busy. I get my refund for the car I initially had trouble with and all is well on my search for another model s (or model 3).


A few days ago, I was searching on EV-CPO for a used model s and came across one that was located in MA. I was curious as I was sure that they had mentioned that they can’t ship between centers, however decided I would try and call customer service and ask, which to my delight they confirmed that they could work out a location or have it moved to a local center. So eagerly I went ahead and put my deposit in for a used 2013 Model S 60 kWh, did the online application - was approved, put trade in information, etc and now I was happily awaiting my call from the advisor to finalize my purchase.


Today he sends me a nice email welcoming me to the Tesla family and giving me the rundown. He tells me that the pickup location has to be set in NY, an hour away from where the car originally was located, and this would put it into a 10 hour drive for me to get the vehicle. I was sort of annoyed, but was willing to drive out to pick up the car no problem. However, I got a new estimate for my car for 14200 - only about 5 weeks after I had ordered my other model s and had issues with it being a fault on Tesla’s side. I sent an email and received a call from my new advisor who explained that he would not speculate but would guess that the 2k cost different is with it being winter and not as many cars are being bought/sold in winter. I was pretty upset and asked why I was getting the blunt end of the deal when my original car fell through for a fault out of my control, he replied that they have a team of folks who do the estimates and it was something that they do not haggle like traditional dealerships on.


Has anyone had a bad experience like this? I really am just wanting to say forget it all and cancel the purchase and cancel my model 3 reservation. It’s aggravating that they would counter argue taking care of somebody with “not being like a normal dealership”. I asked if they would meet in the middle and all I got on the phone was a rebuttal of “our team of experts narrowed it down to that offer”. I really am disappointed with this experience overall so far, and just wondered is this what I should expect with Tesla?

Not to take anything away from your disappointment but people have had far worse experiences.

At the end of the day, Tesla is under no obligation to buy your car. Yes they gave you an estimate but the buyback quote for cars is ALWAYS time sensitive. Even if you get a CarMax quote, it expires in about 2 weeks and that is for a reason.

Used car sales are volatile and the seasons do affect the value. Please don't be upset with Tesla bout this matter. Either sell the car on your own or accept their trade in offer.

Look at it this way, Most Tesla vehicles depreciate at least about $1,000 each month. So, if it has been two months since the trade in quote, you already have the benefit of $2,000 worth of depreciation for the Tesla you are about to buy so really you have not lost $2,000.

All this is not Tesla;s fault. As long as the CPO car you found is not damaged, you should be fine.

 

[Benjanos]

+1 always try to sell privately/separately to your next purchase. The "convenience" of the trade in usually comes at a cost in one shape or form. Also [personal opinion] I always avoid financing/leasing tied to the vendor if at all possible.

My brain only likes to digest one number at a time, else I know I am going to get screwed

 

[croman]

Tesla just sucks at customer service. I'm not kidding that the dealership model they trash works pretty well for most. Tesla comes across as way more into games and hiding the ball. Tesla also does shady bait and switch CPOs. It's not a good look. Great cars, poorly run company.

 

[SMAlset]

Tesla doesn't keep the cars they take as trade-in. They go to a wholesaler who auctions them off to other used car lots and potential end users. And yes the price they are willing to pay will vary week to week. We went to CarMax for quotes on both of our cars that were being replaced by our Teslas. When we took my car in to them back in November I thought their quote was only good for one week. The changing market for used cars is why Telsa doesn't do trade-in quotes generally until the last week before delivery. And if something changes and your delivery gets delayed, the quote expires. Forgot what the time frame was when we were buying our Model S, but I clearly remember being told there was a quote expiration. Your quote will be determined by comparing your car (condition and mileage) against what then also is available out there at the time. Someone lists the model with better condition or fewer miles or maybe a more desirable trim package and the value of your car will drop until the other car gets sold.

Basically this is not something you should be upset over. It's just the business of used cars. And of course you don't have to use Telsa for your trade-in. We did for our first car but used CarMax for our 2nd one. They give you a check on the spot and also handle all the titling requirements to take title out of your name and put it into theirs. Selling the car yourself can give you the highest return but not everyone has the time to do so or wants to show the car, go down to DMV to transfer the title, etc.

 

[BulldogsRus]

Tesla doesn't keep the cars they take as trade-in. They go to a wholesaler who auctions them off to other used car lots and potential end users. And yes the price they are willing to pay will vary week to week. We went to CarMax for quotes on both of our cars that were being replaced by our Teslas. When we took my car in to them back in November I thought their quote was only good for one week. The changing market for used cars is why Telsa doesn't do trade-in quotes generally until the last week before delivery. And if something changes and your delivery gets delayed, the quote expires. Forgot what the time frame was when we were buying our Model S, but I clearly remember being told there was a quote expiration. Your quote will be determined by comparing your car (condition and mileage) against what then also is available out there at the time. Someone lists the model with better condition or fewer miles or maybe a more desirable trim package and the value of your car will drop until the other car gets sold.

Basically this is not something you should be upset over. It's just the business of used cars. And of course you don't have to use Telsa for your trade-in. We did for our first car but used CarMax for our 2nd one. They give you a check on the spot and also handle all the titling requirements to take title out of your name and put it into theirs. Selling the car yourself can give you the highest return but not everyone has the time to do so or wants to show the car, go down to DMV to transfer the title, etc.

While technically true, if you reread the OP's post he stated that on multiple occasions it was Tesla at fault for him not getting the vehicles he wanted (car was in accident, then no response to calls/emails abouty another), not that he couldn't make up his mind about cars he was looking at. Me personally I think they should've just honored the quote and not give him some "winter sales BS" (heck, he should argue that they should give him a discount then if sales are slower right now!). But we can all agree that right now they are WAY over their head selling cars, almost like it's being run by high school dropouts with ADHD and Tesla is slow to react. I bet most current owners are just praying they have no issues, knowing they will have a crapshoot with customer care.

 

[SMAlset]

While technically true, if you reread the OP's post he stated that on multiple occasions it was Tesla at fault for him not getting the vehicles he wanted (car was in accident, then no response to calls/emails abouty another), not that he couldn't make up his mind about cars he was looking at. Me personally I think they should've just honored the quote and not give him some "winter sales BS" (heck, he should argue that they should give him a discount then if sales are slower right now!). But we can all agree that right now they are WAY over their head selling cars, almost like it's being run by high school dropouts with ADHD and Tesla is slow to react. I bet most current owners are just praying they have no issues, knowing they will have a crapshoot with customer care.

No way of knowing who was responsible for the accident (could have been transport company) and with so many orders trying to get placed and delivered before end of year and so many people at least here on TMC seemingly changing their minds on configuring their final car order (like what a headache trying to reserve and then release pre-configured cars that were set for production) I don't doubt the staff is busy. Maybe the car he was interested in was already taken, and nothing to report, who knows. Anyway when we were getting nervous about waiting to get a quote for trade-in we just went to Carmax and did it through them. Simplfied things on the purchase end for us, the contract was able to be prepared sooner, and who knows maybe our delivery happened sooner too.

While Tesla is operating on full tilt right now; and yes for some, communication and scheduling and delivery hasn't gone smoothly, I wouldn't begin to throw out the description of dropouts with ADHD that you did. Many people haven't had issues and weren't stressing out over their orders. I do think that Tesla has made improvements since Q3 and working to get a better handle on things. With most of us I presume spending more on our Teslas than for any other car before, I think being apprehensive is understandable though. I know I had my fingers crossed my delivery would go well.

 

[Alset4S]

The Tesla used car process is a mess. They need to hire someone away from CarMax, Vroom or whatever. An experienced used car manager that can fix this broken process.

I finally cancelled my order after two weeks when they were unable to supply my lender with a basic sales order. Cancelled on Thursday picked up 2016 75D in Denver 4 days later. That's how a copodent dealership sells and delivers s car.

The 800 plus miles I drove home using Nav on autopilot with xero fuel cost was awesome. Love the cat.

 

[iCharge]

..............

Most Tesla vehicles depreciate at least about $1,000 each month...........

.

Even though we all know it, but reading that, Ouch !!! it hurts !!

 

[crunchtime2k]

Awesome, thank you for bringing that up. I’ll look into it and see if they do anything around me. I am glad you are liking your Tesla !

What kind of car you selling? Im in winona lake and might be interested , never know!

 

[SMAlset]

The Tesla used car process is a mess. They need to hire someone away from CarMax, Vroom or whatever. An experienced used car manager that can fix this broken process.

I finally cancelled my order after two weeks when they were unable to supply my lender with a basic sales order. Cancelled on Thursday picked up 2016 75D in Denver 4 days later. That's how a copodent dealership sells and delivers s car.

The 800 plus miles I drove home using Nav on autopilot with xero fuel cost was awesome. Love the cat.

I love cats too! And love our 2017 75D . When we were at CarMax we asked if they had used Teslas (not sure which timeframe that was) and the answer was no. I assumed since they do inspections on site themselves their staff wasn't knowledgeable enough at that point to evaluate EVs but sure they are working on adding that ability. We were quite impressed with their service in general. Pretty straight forward and painless and quick. While we didn't trade-in our first car with them we did for our second when we were buying our Model 3.

There have been a number of employee changes at Tesla over the past year and we can only hope for the better. Not sure who heads up the Trade-in program. But people wanting to trade in their old cars should definitely consider other options. On our first car CarMax came in with a higher quote than Tesla did (of course Telsa doesn't do the inspections at the moment like CarMax does when you drive there - and even with our recent September Model 3 purchase they were going to base the quote off of several photos inside and out of the car that they asked us to send so I assume a number of times the quote will be lower to be more on the safe side for them. I see it really as a convenience for customers to do the trade-in through Tesla). Tesla did match CarMax's quote on our first car. Not sure if they still do that or not.

 

[Sorabh]

Agree with OP that the CPO process is horrific. The only problem is that I wanted to buy a car and my choices were to buy a new Tesla or a used one.

I cant afford new so had to go through CPO hell to buy my car. I put up with not being responded to, responding to the same question multiple times as well as a car with obvious defects at time of sale.

I have had the car for 2 weeks and all is forgotten and I am back to being a fan boy.

BTW I did ponder getting something else and there is nothing even close.

 

[Chancellor32]

While technically true, if you reread the OP's post he stated that on multiple occasions it was Tesla at fault for him not getting the vehicles he wanted (car was in accident, then no response to calls/emails abouty another), not that he couldn't make up his mind about cars he was looking at. Me personally I think they should've just honored the quote and not give him some "winter sales BS" (heck, he should argue that they should give him a discount then if sales are slower right now!). But we can all agree that right now they are WAY over their head selling cars, almost like it's being run by high school dropouts with ADHD and Tesla is slow to react. I bet most current owners are just praying they have no issues, knowing they will have a crapshoot with customer care.

are you a current owner?