Buyer beware. Buying a CPO Tesla feels like a SCAM.

[Super_Popular]

oh god don't tweet Elon, geez.

 

[ToothSlayer]

You should send a tweet to Elon.

Lol.
I don’t tweet, not that it would have made a difference.

 

[yo2boy]

oh god don't tweet Elon, geez.

How else will his issue get resolved? Service center keeps dodging him

 

[mtndrew1]

If a company’s business model is to sell used cars for high prices sight unseen then it’s on them to ensure the cars meet a very strict threshold for quality and cleanliness.

I wouldn’t even accept a Corolla from Enterprise with this level of filth. Absolutely revolting. I’ve bought used cars from corner lots which were cleaner.

 

[Qbenjamin]

Not sure I follow your theory. I personally love the tan and cream interior in a Model S and I've always had light interiors n my cars and they have all been spotless and in immaculate condition. I detest black interiors for the same reason as I want to see if something is not clean.

The problem here is not the interior color but the fact that they trashed the OP's car before it was sold to him and did not have the courtesy to refurbish the car or the decency to immediately make things right.

I agree, I would have absolutely refused to accept this car if it was delivered in half as poor condition it was delivered to the OP. The lesson to learn here is to NEVER pay for a CPO car until you have seen and inspected it in person.

There's no theory to be explained, I just said that I'd never buy another tan interior again, too challenging to keep clean. I had a few times I accidentally hit my somewhat greasy head on the interior trim of my last S, or touched the upper cloth trim and left fingerprints. I don't miss the tan interior at all, but I do like the lighter appearance overall.

On another note, I'd gladly do another tan or light interior in a vehicle, but not if it's the cloth/alacantra type of material. I have a Honda Ridgeline with a very light grey upper interior. I left dirt residue on the A-pillar this weekend after installing some tweeters. No biggie, wiped right off since it was a plastic/vinyl type of material.

 

[Chris350]

Honestly..... I would be camping out at the saleman's/service center front door....

I know it's a drive.... But at this point, if it had been in your position, they would have had to put a restraining order out on me...

5 weeks is just not acceptable...

 

[ToothSlayer]

UPDATE:

According to the service center I am receiving the loaner tonight. Truck company should be calling shortly to give an ETA window.

 

[Pentium2004]

Ill try to keep this short and to the point. I'll also keep names out of it as I really do not intend to cause anyone any harm.

First of all, I love Tesla. An amazing company that makes a kick ass car led by a true visionary.
For most of the past 10 years i've been driving different BMW's as they provide the best driving experience in my opinion -- that was until I drove a model S.

So, I spoke with a sales person at Tesla. We went over options and available CPO's.
Overall a very helpful and accommodating person.
KEY POINT:
me: I never bought a car that I haven't seen in real life, or taken out for a test drive. What guarantee is there that the car is in good shape.
him: All of our CPO cars go through the rigorous Tesla certification process and have passed the Tesla quality standards in terms of esthetics and function.

This was enough of an explanation for me. it made sense. If its good enough for Tesla, its sure as hell good enough for me.

So, I bought a sexy white MS85D with 40K miles. All i saw was a photo of the car in what looked like a tesla workshop of some sort. I was referred to the nearest service center to my location (4 hours away) who were supposed to handle the delivery

Theres a bit of a mini-fiasco story with the delivery but lets skip that to keep this post on point. All i'll say is that after the papers were signed via overnight fedex back and forth (and people were super nice and friendly too) it felt like they forgot about me and sounded very annoyed every time I called to ask about when the car is getting delivered. Apparently it was being delayed because of the necessary detailing that had to be done.


Delivery:
delivery was in the late afternoon on a dark and gloomy day.
Took the car, signed the papers. Truck left.
I immediately call to ask about the cleanliness of the car. I was told that as a CPO it is within the Tesla standards.

Next day, in the sunlight, I had a better look at the car. and thats when I realized just how bad the car's condition is.
Issues:
- Headliner in TERRIBLE condition, Truly disgusting
- Steering wheel leather has what appears to be permanent damage. Maybe its just
- Blemish / paint chip on the front of the hood
- Leather seats have dark streaks of what looks like oil / grease stains
- Dirt and gravel pretty much everywhere.
- The rear trunk center storage compartment (requires lifting the trunk floor) has dirt and gravel, some weird clothing item, and most revoltingly a dental hygiene tool (an interdental floss -- is it used?? I hate to even consider the thought)
- Headliner is peeling and coming off in a couple of areas
- Center console has 2 deep gouges in it.

Other issues:
- BT audio connectivity SUCKS ( i have had to do a soft reset a total of 9 times now in 5 weeks).
- Wheels need alignment. The autopilot blue steering wheel looks funny at an 11 o'clock position when driving in a straight line.

Obviously I called and raised hell with the service dept. Sent them the photos. they apologize and say "let me see what I can do and ill call you back."
No call back, so I call next day. " Whats the update?"
"We are still looking into it, give me until the end of the day."
Car was delivered Monday. By Friday absolutely nothing was done. Each and every day I was told "I'll get right back to you with a way to correct this."
So, I call and tell them that ill take it to a local Auto detail specialist and get it cleaned up. Detail guy says headliner is beyond repair.
I call back and give the service team the update on Saturday. Service guy says "ok, we will have to send a truck to pick it up and bring it here. We will provide a loaner while we work on your car. Let me call you monday when my manager gets here to get it set up for you."
Monday comes. Nothing. Late afternoon I call the sales guy I bought the car from. "Hello -- Here's he deal, if this car was in a dealership there is no way in hell i would have bought it. I trusted you and the company when you said it is within the Tesla quality standards being a CPO car. whats the return policy on the car? and don't worry, i'll purchase another CPO, I just don't want this one"
"There is no return policy. The car is in good shape. Just cause you don't like it, does not mean you can return it."
"i'll send you the pictures, then lets talk about the Tesla quality standards"

I sent the pics, with a written request to return the car and to have my money back.
this was 4 weeks ago. I have sent him maybe 4-5 other emails and called about 4-5 as well. Have not heard back from Mr. Sales guy.

The service team eventually got back Tuesday. "We are working on the details on the loaner give us a couple of days."
I call Friday "no movement yet. Please be patient"
Another week goes by with absolutely nothing happening. Dodging my phone calls, everyone is in a meeting, and people are getting sick all of a sudden. I called Tesla headquarters in CA. they say all they can do is have the service center in charge of the car handle the problem. But, they will send it over to the escalations department. they recommended I speak with the manager in the service department but refuse to say his name.


On a Monday I get in touch with the manager. Super rude individual.
verbatim : "We are not sending a truck to pick your car up -- it is too expensive."
My reply was : "you know whats too expensive? paying $70K for a car with black and brown grease marks all over, a peeling headliner, and dental hygiene products in the trunk."
He insists that its too expensive to send a truck to pickup the car and provide a loaner. He said the best he can do is fix it in a Tesla approved body shop, and order the parts necessary and have it sent there. And they will arrange for a Luxury rental from Enterprise.
I explain to him that if the repairs take a month, and I have already been dealing with a month, then I will have paid for a car that I am completely unhappy with for 2 months -- thats not cool. And who wants to pay for a Tesla and then drive a car with an ICE and have to put gas and stuff..??
All he could do is send the mobile unit to fix the issues, scheduled on Friday, which will be 25 days from delivery.

Mobile unit gets here, the poor guy is shocked. He takes photos, all the while shaking his head. Says there is no way this can be done in the field. Recommends the car be sent back. this was 10 days ago.

Despite the recommendation from the mobile unit, it took the service team a whole week to give me straight answer about sending a loaner and picking my car up.
this is supposed to happen by Saturday. It will be almost 6 weeks from delivery.


I don't know what to think about the whole thing. But I will definitely never buy CPO from Tesla again, and quite frankly I am questioning whether I should ever buy another Tesla at all.
For $70K I would have bought a very nice beamer, and would have received excellent customer service from a very reputable auto maker.
I paid $70K for a car that, and lets all be honest with each other here, is severely lacking on the inside. But, we are all ok with it because it drives amazing, and we all buy into the company and its mission as a whole. For me though, this touchy feely crap only goes a certain distance. Once I started getting treated like dirt, and spent my commutes alongside a lot of dirt, reality set in that I've been conned.

I would still love to be able to get my money back and give this dirt pile back.

When Tesla delivered me my first brand new MS with missing options and a cracked roof I asked for them to take it back. They told me the same thing that just because I don't like the car I can't return it. I told them if they want to avoid me driving it through the glass in the showroom and being on tonights news they better take it back (I know I sounded crazy). It worked though and I seriously felt that way because I had spent just under $100k for this car and it wasn't even what I was expecting. Ask for the district managers number and let them know what is going on. I found after my whole ordeal that the district manager wasn't even aware of the issue. It's hard to believe a major mistake can happen requiring a buy back and the district manager doesn't even know about it.

 

[mtndrew1]

UPDATE:

According to the service center I am receiving the loaner tonight. Truck company should be calling shortly to give an ETA window.

While I’m happy for you it’s appalling that it had to come to this to resolve such an obvious screwup. Please make sure this gets way up the chain so that nobody else has to deal with this nonsense.

 

[TeeEmCee]

Look at the first picture There is fraying of the headliner. How the heck does that happen? I guess I can understand someone using the headliner as a napkin for dirty hands but it coming apart?

Believe it or not, the Model 3 on display at my local Tesla store had exactly that headliner problem on both sides, right above the rear doors.

 

[Super_Popular]

How else will his issue get resolved? Service center keeps dodging him

Filing a valid complaint with your states consumer affairs always has worked for me. Most states Attorney General's offices actually have a person that strictly handles car complaints.

I am sure that Tesla will handle this, sometimes you have to email and call over and over but they eventually come around and this is clearly a a bad judgement call on their part.

Also, the OP should not have taken the car....no offense OP. But this car is clearly trashed.

 

[Dutchie]

You’re absolutely right.

I held the company in high standards and thought this BS is beyond them. After all, if the car is good enough for Tesla to sell as CPO then who am I to say otherwise.

I definitely regret falling for the trap. Hence the word Scam in the title.

I knew I was overpaying but I was without a car and convinced myself that overpaying is ok bc the car is kind of worth it. Plus I thought that Tesla have earned the right to overcharge.

I understand that you took delivery this way. You hear all these great stories about customer satisfaction, the fact that there are no sales people etc. We all took the plunge with a new company and trusted them with our (lot off) money. $70K is really a lot of money!
That Tesla is delivers a car like this is unacceptable and makes people distrust the company. I am glad that they finally try to make things right. I would really like to know how this could have happened. When things are all set and done I think a nice compensation would be in order even if it were to be a couple of free services.

 

[GatorGuy]

Believe it or not, the Model 3 on display at my local Tesla store had exactly that headliner problem on both sides, right above the rear doors.

Yikes..

 

[Don TLR]

I honestly think Tesla should charge MASSIVE fees for people who trash service loaners. This is the only way some will learn to respect property that does not belong to them. When you return your loaner, someone should go through the exterior and interior and bill the person for all damages to the vehicles plus a $250 detailing fee if the car was trashed. Such people should them from now on receive a Ford Focus as a service loaner.

Heck yes, keep the old Pinto out back for "Those People" , I hope they have a note in their folder..


OP so glad its finally got some attention and you should definitely take this up with a regional manager, this is just not acceptable..

 

[ACA Man]

I obviously did not mean that the car was trashed on purpose but the car was allowed to be trashed while it was in the CPO fleet under their care and ownership, which is the same as allowing the car to be trashed. And then they did not fix it before delivery and from what I can tell WEEKS after delivery.

I think the OP has been too patient. I would have gone nuclear by the second day of getting the run-around.

I know.

 

[ACA Man]

A new car would be a lot easier but a CPO is going to be really tricky if you want to force them to do a buy back.

I hate to say this but this is why before you buy a used car you must insist on inspecting it in person. I would not have been trusting as you but sadly you are in this situation because you trusted Tesla to deliver a CPO car in like new condition.

You can't inspect the car in this case, unless you were willing to drive 4 hours to where the car is.
Unfortunately, quite a few people had gone through this since they live nowhere near a SC. :-(

 

[ACA Man]

I DID go nuclear. On pretty everybody. Guy who sold it doesn’t answer answer my calls or emails any more after seeing the pictures. SC gives me the famous “I’ll call you back”
And when they eventually do they are rude and tell me it’s too expensive to send a truck with loaner.
Cali have nothing to say other than “we are putting it in our escalations system”.

After 5 weeks (and counting) this post is my way of going nuclear.

They only answered your emails when they didn't have your money.
And their so-called Escalation is more like a joke these days.
I've been there and got nothing resolved so first step is arbitration then we'll go from there.

 

[ACA Man]

tbh you should of been more careful on your part

you should of checked the whole car before accepting delivery. i would not have done delivery at night time.

let alone, 70k is way overpriced for a 85D with 40k miles even if it was in mint condition/fully loaded.

overall you have to remember these are still sales people and not your friends

My guess is once the car got unloaded from the truck then the truck driver can just leave?

 

[ACA Man]

How else will his issue get resolved? Service center keeps dodging him

There is legal steps in place.

Check your owner manual.

 

[SnakeDoctorTD]

Man, I was already wary of buying a new Model S sight unseen. A used/CPO is just scary. I hope they can resolve your issues, because anyone considering a CPO will probably come across this thread.