Anyone Have Registration Problems?

[Phlier]

So I live in Utah. Nearest Tesla store is in Las Vegas.

Bought my car in Las Vegas. "Oh, sure, we do this all the time. No problem registering it in Utah," says my Delivery Specialist at the end of paper signing. I asked her if I needed to take the papers to the local Utah DMV to register it myself. Nope, they'd send it all in for me, she said, stating that I'd have my tags in plenty of time before my two week "Special Drive Away Permit" expires.

You know that little feeling you get in your gut when you know something is going to go wrong? Yeah, that one. I had it right when she said that.

So my car turns into a pumpkin at midnight tomorrow night. I call the Utah DMV today. Nope, they have yet to even receive the paperwork on my car.

I call the Tesla store in Las Vegas. Lady says they still show my paperwork "In progress." What does that mean, I ask. "Well, I'm not sure what it means," the lady responded oh so helpfully. "But I'll call the people that handle this and call you back."

Have you ever noticed that when you talk to Tesla people on the telephone that they're very much in a hurry to get you off the phone with the "I'll find out and call you back" statement, then never call you back? Honestly, I have yet to call Tesla and talk to someone that *could* answer a question without having to "...find out and call you back." Does anyone at that company actually *know* anything? And why the bloody *censored* do they never actually follow through and call you back?

I knew I should've insisted on taking the registration paperwork home with me to turn into the DMV myself. Should've listened to that gut feeling.

Just a few business hours left in the day for the 'Vegas time zone. Anyone wanna place bets on whether or not she calls me back? I told her that I'd literally drive the 150 miles down to Vegas and pick up my registration paperwork and hand deliver it to my local DMV if they still had the papers there. "I'm not sure how I could find out if your papers are still here or not." *sigh*.

So, as I said, my car turns into a pumpkin tomorrow night at midnight. IMO, it was up to Tesla to make sure that I got the plates for my car before the temp tag expires. So I'm not going to stop driving my car due to their screw up. And I'm sending every ticket I get for driving an unregistered car to Elon.

They got paid for their car. It was their responsibility to get good and correct paperwork (I'm just waiting for the DMV to call me telling me there's a problem with the paperwork when they finally *get* the paperwork) to the DMV in time for them to issue me plates to continue driving the car without interruption from the time I took delivery.

I do love my car, but OMG, Tesla as a company is really ruining the experience.

/rantmode

Anyone else have registration issues like this?

 

[AceSkywalker]

Sounds par for the course for post-delivery woes with Tesla. Car is great, but if you need to deal with the company, its gonna try your patience.

 

[ngogas]

I live in Utah. Got my car here in salt lake showroom. They took care of all the paper work in California office and sent everything needed to Utah dmv. Was smooth. Took up to 3 months but paperwork was at the dmv in about a month.

 

[ngogas]

I wouldnt be so strict on the timeline. I remember driving my bmw for 3 months while BMW worked it out since I live in Utah and for the car in Idaho. Took while to register but driving it around I didn’t get any issues.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

I had to get a second set of temp tags for my car. (Texas)

Luckily the people at the nearest delivery center were willing to just email it to me. I printed it and laminated then slapped it on the car. Zero complaints with the process.

Finally got my real plates in and I’m sad because I’m now expected to run a front plate.

 

[talkingevs]

I got mine from Vegas in July 18'. Exact same thing happened to me and it ended up getting registered by them the day of or right before the expiration of the temp tag. But we get 30 days in Nevada. Just keep the paperwork showing you paid to register it and then see if Utah will give you a new temp tag.

 

[SMAlset]

From what I understand Tesla has a service they use that does the registration processing. So that's probably why she needed to call the people that handle that. I live in Calif and my delivery was on 9/23. I received my license plate and registration card from CA DMV on 10/11, my Title for the car arrived on 10/17. Drove around with my red temp sticker until then. I know in some states where cars can't be sold and delivered in the same state, people were able to get a temporary extension.

 

[Phlier]

Thanks for all the info, everyone. Ended up driving to Las Vegas. They had “misplaced” some paperwork, so had to re-sign stuff.

I’m sitting at a Vegas Supercharger as I type this, getting ready to drive back across the 115F desert.

The saga continues...

 

[xMFx]

I had a similar experience after purchasing my car. I was told initially by the delivery specialist I would receive a package in the mail with everything I needed to register in 7-10 days. After 14 days I called the local service center to find out where my packet was but no one picked up and I was routed to Southern California. The rep said he couldn't really help me and to reach out to the local service center... Okay, it was close to closing time so I decided to just wait until the next day. I call a couple hours after they open the next day and my call is taken by... Surprise, the same rep that took my call the previous night. At this point he acknowledges how slightly crazy it is I can't get a hold of the local service center and instead attempts to help me. He informed me that I don't need a title and that I can just take the final bill of sale in and register the car. Okay, I'll give it a shot.

I print out the bill of sale and take it to the DMV, they laugh and I drive out to the service center determined to speak with someone. Gentleman I speak with disappears into the back and after a few minutes is back to tell me it should be in the mail but they can't see the details because they don't have access. I leave annoyed but assured it will arrive soon.

Fast forward to the day before my 30 day registration expires. I call the service center, only during my last visit I was smart enough to get an extension to dial, and a rep answers. He goes on to tell me that they are receiving a ton of these calls every day and that they are backlogged because of all the cars they sold at the end of the quarter. He proceeds to look up my info and returns to the call with details about my registration and a tracking number. I'm choosing to ignore the fact that they could actually see the details of my registration information on my second visit, contrary to what I was told during my first.

I will say that since the registration information wasn't going to make before the weekend and my tag would expire they offered me another 30 day tag to get me by. So, you may want to contact your service center and see if you can get another tag to keep you on the road.

TLDR: Registration information arrived after my tag expired and Tesla offered me another 30 tag to keep me on the road.

 

[afadeev]

Bought my car in Las Vegas. "Oh, sure, we do this all the time. No problem registering it in Utah," says my Delivery Specialist at the end of paper signing. [...] So my car turns into a pumpkin at midnight tomorrow night. [...] Anyone else have registration issues like this?

Not like this (I bought the car in the same state in which it was going to be registered), but yes, Tesla's post-sales customer support is abysmal. They offered to transfer my old license plate tags and save me money, but didn't do that, and registration arrived with new plates a few days after temporary paper tags expired. I was charged a little extra for the new tags I did not need, or requested.

For what it's worth - registering a car in a different state than the one you bought it in, takes a little more paperwork - BTDT with another brand.
You really need to do your homework and work with someone at the selling dealership who has done something like this before. Ideally, you will have confirmed through 3rd parties that the person telling you they've done it before is not lying (internet forums help a lot).

If you just blindly trusted a sales rep's optimistic promises, especially a Tesla's sales rep's promises ... well then, sorry ... but you voluntarily belly flopped into a middle of a cow pie ...

At this point, I would sit back and wait for the plates to arrive, with some extra delay due to cross-state registration requirements. Stock up on single-malt, and relax.
I would expect them to show up, eventually. But if you incur the wrath of law enforcement in the interim, it will be on you, and putting too much trust into sale person's empty promises.

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