Buying used from Tesla, bad experience, any recourse?

[addictedtocars]

Not always true. The MX I sold had no problems and I babied the vehicle entire time I owned it.

I have purchased quite a few used cars and all were just fine.

 

[z168]

Picked mine up this weekend. Mine was down 88% or 227 miles. Car was dirty and wasnt cleaned well. Thank goodness the previous owner didnt appear have pets.
Havent tried the full self driving option yet so i better check if it works

 

[ElectricLove]

Picked mine up this weekend. Mine was down 88% or 227 miles. Car was dirty and wasnt cleaned well. Thank goodness the previous owner didnt appear have pets.
Havent tried the full self driving option yet so i better check if it works

Wait, at 88% charge it was getting 227 or at 100% charge it is getting 227 Rated miles?

Yeah, their cleaning is surface at best, cracks and crevices are ignored completely.

 

[ElectricLove]

So, Mobile Service was here this morning. They didn't have the missing J1772 adapter or a way to remove the locked tow-hitch (no key for it). They also couldn't get the front facing cameras in alignment, images were all over-exposed until we built a cardboard tunnel to block out all the light, but even then it kept coming in pitched too high...

So, they were not able to resolve anything but did get me set up at the local service center to get the X in today. So, I took it to Tempe Service Center and hoping for the best, they said they can fix everything (except battery of course). They also said "the battery is fine".

 

[Cwub]

Good luck electriclove! I also just ordered a 90D and hoping there’s no battery issues fingers crossed

 

[Battpower]

I have had better service at the local Hyundai dealer.

What's their waiting list like for yellow screen fix?

 

[StoXto3toY]

So, Mobile Service was here this morning. They didn't have the missing J1772 adapter or a way to remove the locked tow-hitch (no key for it). They also couldn't get the front facing cameras in alignment, images were all over-exposed until we built a cardboard tunnel to block out all the light, but even then it kept coming in pitched too high...

So, they were not able to resolve anything but did get me set up at the local service center to get the X in today. So, I took it to Tempe Service Center and hoping for the best, they said they can fix everything (except battery of course). They also said "the battery is fine".

How'd it go?

 

[nctalkinghead]

What's their waiting list like for yellow screen fix?

No list at all. That South Korean glue cooks perfectly every time

 

[ElectricLove]

How'd it go?

They gave me Uber credits and the car is at the Service Center overnight... we will see if it gets done tomorrow...

so, since they don’t have master keys or know how to order spare keys (the number is on the cylinder) from manufacturer they are going to remove the entire rear tow receiver and replace it with a new one to resolve that issue... seems like a dumb way to do it but ok...

They said they’ll give me the missing J1772 adapter, replace the rubber strips on top of FWDs (gummy and smudges upon touching it) as well.

They couldn’t figure out how to get the front facing cameras into proper calibration for AP tho, so I don’t know the plan on that one yet.

Hoping to have it back tomorrow...

 

[MP3Mike]

so, since they don’t have master keys or know how to order spare keys (the number is on the cylinder) from manufacturer they are going to remove the entire rear tow receiver and replace it with a new one to resolve that issue... seems like a dumb way to do it but ok...

I wonder if that is cheaper than them bringing in a locksmith to unlock it. (They might have to remove it, or at least the bumper cover, to give the locksmith enough room to work on it anyhow.)

 

[ElectricLove]

Well, I hope they at least get a locksmith to remove the hitch after they remove it so they can reuse the parts...

 

[ElectricLove]

So, update; no update on vehicle yet but a possibly solution.

Tesla said I should trade it back in with them. They are giving me a value within $1K of what I paid, not terrible (though still a loss). So I am thinking of trading it in and buying this one from them instead: 2016 Model X | Tesla it is more money but the 100kWh battery size should help with the range issues and the Ludicrous-mode should make me so happy I forget about the whole ordeal...

 

[ACA Man]

Bought an X from Tesla this week.

Those that don’t know the process, it goes same as buying new;
1. Pay an “order fee” (extra $100 slapped on top of the price)
2. Arrange trade-in or whatever payment method you will use (just check box in app)
3. Wait for deliver to be scheduled
4. Go to appointment, see vehicle at delivery center, visual inspection
5. Pay them and drive away...

We went through this and always “trusted” Tesla. I’ve owned 5 Teslas before (2 roadsters and 3 S), not new to the cars, but never purchased directly from them before. So when they said “no test drives and no returns” I wanted to believe everything would be just fine.

I was wrong!

We made the process as easy and painless on Tesla as we could; paid in full in cash, didn’t get overly picky at delivery on petty items, came early for appointment (they ended up an hour behind so we waited for 2 hours), flew to California (from Tempe, AZ) to pick it up where it was located, etc

The car looked fine, couple dings consistent with mileage and photos on their listing, detailing job sucked, lots of dirt and French fries in the cracks of seats... but hey that’s just clean-up, no big deal...

So, we drive off, feeling mostly good about our new X and excited to drive it home on the 6-7hrs journey.

Then it went downhill, 20 minutes into driving we had an autopilot mishap where it dove off the road slightly and said camera obstruction. Windshield totally clean, skies clear and middle of day in Costa Mesa (4pm)... thought that was odd... then a few minutes later it happened again while AP was engaged... we mostly didn’t use AP but just cruise control down to San Diego to supercharger there (taking the longer way home vs I-10, has another pickup on way home).

Once we left San Diego cruise control would not engage or respond, trying to turn on AP the car then said “cameras need alignment, contact service”, so we went on app and next available appointment is more than a week out.

We had to drive home without even having cruise control available on the car. Sales Advisor only responded with “contact service”.

So that was the first issue, now second; the car will only charge up to 233mi “rated” range at 100% SOC. This brings in another used inventory issue, other than telling us “everything is in good health” there is no real way of knowing what the range is going to be when you buy a used one from Tesla. And the kicker is their postings clearly give a rated range consistent with the new range, on ours the listing said 257mi range. We expected 257 or at least close to it (2-3% variance), not the nearly 10% less that our vehicle is actually at.

Told sales person and their response was again to ask service. Asked service and they say it’s consistent with age to have that much degradation of range... ok great, but why wasn’t I told this before buying? Why doesn’t Teslas sales listing for these vehicles tell you the actual rated range instead of the “original” range if they clearly know the two aren’t at parity?

Third issue; they left the tow receiver installed and at Costa Mesa (delivery center) told me they don’t have the key. Sales person said “contact service” so I went to our local SC (Tempe) today and they said they don’t have keys for these, they tried the 4 keys they had from units on the shelf and none worked.

So, here we are, feeling like idiots for buying a very expensive car, handing over a huge sum of hard-earned cash and no feeling like we got the raw end of the deal on items we could not have known prior to purchase (range after charging and AP failures, obviously the receiver we saw at pickup)...

I reached out to sales advisor and asked if we could return it or exchange for a different one (pay the difference) that has a healthier battery and operational AP... she only indicated that they don’t do returns...

Thus far I have only gotten “no” as an answer.

I’m wondering if others have had similar disappointments with used purchases from Tesla and if so any positive resolutions or ideas you could share with me to help me through this?

I don’t know what I can do to help alleviate the situation and walk away feeling like we came to amicable resolution where both parties feel good about the situation...

If you look closely at their ad for your car where it shows the original rated range, there should be an asterisk next to the number as a mean for Tesla to disclaim it.

I believe they added that note after we filed our lawsuit for that specific reason as to no notification of the battery health.
We bought ours under their CPO program a little over 2 years ago and it’s really a joke, even back then, when they stated they put the car under their so-called 270 inspection points.

 

[ACA Man]

So, update; no update on vehicle yet but a possibly solution.

Tesla said I should trade it back in with them. They are giving me a value within $1K of what I paid, not terrible (though still a loss). So I am thinking of trading it in and buying this one from them instead: 2016 Model X | Tesla it is more money but the 100kWh battery size should help with the range issues and the Ludicrous-mode should make me so happy I forget about the whole ordeal...

Learn from your mistake if you decided to trade it in.
Ask them to charge to 100% to get the rated range prior to signing the paperwork.
Good luck.

 

[MP3Mike]

So, update; no update on vehicle yet but a possibly solution.

Tesla said I should trade it back in with them. They are giving me a value within $1K of what I paid, not terrible (though still a loss).

While a $1000 loss isn't horrible they should either fix it or give you 100% back.

 

[SoCalTezla]

While a $1000 loss isn't horrible they should either fix it or give you 100% back.

completely agree with this. Have them make you whole

 

[ElectricLove]

The X is still with them at the service center. No update today on what is going on, other than I assume it still isn’t cooperating. I suggested they change out the AP hardware to 3.0 and see if that does it! No loaner either so I’m just car free all week, nice feeling after handing over a fat check to Tesla!

 

[ElectricLove]

I ended up getting the X back right at the end of the day today... Cameras replaced and calibrated (the original cameras apparently were just not giving the computer “perfect” images). They removed the tow hitch, replaced the top two sections on the FWDs (the rubber seal was breaking down). So now the X is back in my driveway and charging up...

I am still seriously considering replacing it tho, as this left a bad taste in my mouth, tho the car is beautiful and solid and now operating flawlessly...

The range is interesting, while there it got the latest software update (2020.4.1), don’t know if this is related or not but the app is suggesting that if I charge to 100% I’ll have 241 rated miles now. Since they didn’t do anything with the battery, not even charge it, I don’t know what to attribute this change to, besides the software update (which means battery health isn’t any different, just reported range being higher).

 

[TonyT]

I ended up getting the X back right at the end of the day today... Cameras replaced and calibrated (the original cameras apparently were just not giving the computer “perfect” images). They removed the tow hitch, replaced the top two sections on the FWDs (the rubber seal was breaking down). So now the X is back in my driveway and charging up...
.

Did they replace the glass? not just the seals?

 

[ElectricLove]

Did they replace the glass? not just the seals?

Yes, which seems silly to me but they did...