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CPO Delivery Issues - Advice Wanted

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Hi Guys,

About a week ago, I purchased a CPO Model S and basically from the beginning it's been a pretty bad experience. At this point, I'm pretty fed up with pretty much everything Tesla and I'm not really certain on what to do next. Any advice would be appreciated.

I found the MS on August 22, and started talking to my sales adviser. There was a bit of dependency regarding pricing (at some point they recalculated it higher, but they honored the initial price) and about delivery fee. (they initially offered to deliver it to Cleveland for $0 - about two hours away - but later delivered it to the local service center) Remediation and shipping took about 5 weeks or so and I went to pick it up on September 29. When I arrived, everything went down hill.

I arrive about 15 minutes early, which I was told wasn't a problem, but they clearly weren't ready for me. When I walked in I was immediately told that the car wasn't charging and they were swapping out the charger because, "they break all the time - especially on the older Teslas." When we moved to the trunk, the rear facing seats wouldn't latch. When we went to the frunk, it wouldn't open. There was also a pretty big ding in one of the rims, which I pointed out.

At some point, the DE decided that I should be oriented on a different car, so I was. When I returned the frunk and seats were 'adjusted' and I was told they would fix the rim, but there needed to be, "red tape" about who was paying for it - the local shop or where the car was refurbed as it clearly wasn't refurbed well. I was then asked to sign a form stating that there was nothing outstanding, which clearly wasn't the case. I objected and it was hand written on the form.

On the ride home, the car was pulling to the right - 3 seconds and I'm on the rumble strip, 5 and I'm in a different lane. The seat back also slooowly reclines on its own - so slowly I thought it was me. The next day when I was really looking at the car, I noticed the clear coat peeling on another rim.

I reported all of this and was told they would take care of it.

I dropped the car off at the beginning of this week. They issued me a rental. The windshield wipers crashed into each other and didn't work. I turned around, reported it, and they issued me another one - a huge SUV. Great.

I spoke to them today and they said the car aligned within tolerances and the seat seamed fine. They've yet to take the car to the body shop (refinishing the rims?) and I should expect it back the end of next week. During our conversation the service adviser stated that it, "wasn't properly refurbished", there was, "pending parts on order from it when it was refurbished that still need addressed", and that, "it was probably delivered to me to meet a quarterly goal."


So, it's been a week since my CPO MS was 'delivered' to me. It was broke when I picked it up, and I've driven it a whopping total of 2 days. I've requested a call back from Bob, the SC GM, but he hasn't called.

At this point, I'm pretty disillusioned with this entire process and car. It feels like a really, really stupid purchase despite the car being desperately pretty and feeling the like the future when behind the wheel. The car clearly wasn't gone over as well as it should have been, and no one seems to really give a crap.

I believe that I should be putting pressure on them to actually do this right, but who exactly - the SA? GM? Delivery Expert? Someone else? I'm going to ask them to correct the warranty date based on when the car was delivered as it should have been, but I feel like I should be compensated for this being a complete cluster, and I'm not sure that is reasonable and/or what is reasonable.

Any feedback would be helpful.
 
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During our conversation the service adviser stated that it, "wasn't properly refurbished", there was, "pending parts on order from it when it was refurbished that still need addressed", and that, "it was probably delivered to me to meet a quarterly goal."

@JonMc The root cause here is the root of all evil - counting cars as delivered while they still have shitloads of rework to be done. This seems to apply to Tesla all new custom/inventory/CPO deliveries. DO NOT COUNT A CAR TOWARDS A QUARTERLY DELIVERY GOAL IF IT HAS PROBLEMS TO BE FIXED. Otherwise you get what you reward and currently it is an unacceptable level of unfinished cars signed off to unhappy end-customers.
 
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So, I just returned from the Dedham, MA store to inspect, test drive, and pay for my 2014 CPO MS 60.

Prior to today, communication was pretty abysmal. Multiple business days to return emails, questions unanswered, phone calls ignored and never returned.

I gather that the employees are incredibly overworked and just don’t have the time to give proper attention to every customer.

That being said, they Uber’d me to and from the airport for my appointment, were prompt and considerate during, answered all of my questions, setup delivery ASAP, and the refurb was precisely completed. New tires, brakes, mobile charging connector, sunroof tracks and parts completely replaced, front seats reapholstered - the list goes on and on.

Short of a few cosmetic flaws which are to be expected in a three year old vehicle, everything went great. They even printed me out a copy of the work that was completed during the refurbishment process.

In the end they’re just people, mostly doing the best they can. I’m sorry you had a bad experience, I would run it up the flag pole until you get desirable results.

Hate to see what happens when Model 3s start flooding the market in a few months time.

————————————————————————

Additionally, FWIW, I’m not required to sign anything regarding the condition of the vehicle until it has been delivered to my home address. Assumably incase there’s damage in the shipping process.
 
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I picked up my CPO in Fremont and noted a number of issues. I made them put everything on a Due Bill and told them I was walking if they did not agree to fix everything. They agreed and my local center, Van Nuys, did an exceptional job fixing everything. Get a Due Bill and don’t be afraid to walk. Also, ask to see the alignment specs. They are required to do an alignment as part of the process.
 
We picked ours up on Thursday. Found some weird quirks with the car but nothing comparable to what you are going through. We had a due bill at time of purchase so they stated that when the ranger came to resolve that issue, he would address the other things we found. Hope it all works out
 
I will say that after the inspection and test drive things quickly fell apart once more.

  • Sales person asked me how I was going to pay for the car, even though I’d sent his colleague (as requested) a certified check from my bank for the full amount a week prior
  • Promised delivery on a holiday before checking with the transport company
  • Didn’t check to make sure the title was being worked on, thus delaying delivery further
  • Stops all communications mid-conversation (email, or via text message), with no explanation, follow up, or closure
Any of these alone would be understandable, and forgivable, once. Things happen, people are busy, I get it.

Once a pattern is set, the fact that we’re even having this discussion about our varied experiences involving Tesla sales and how they’re consistently dropping the ball, and that it’s even a concern on my mind, is indicative of a deeper problem.

From an outsider’s perspective, making assumptions, I can only conclude that the salespeople are overburdened for both their personal skill and experience levels as a whole.

What it boils down to for me, is communication. The first conversation I had with my sales representative after placing a deposit was that regardless what happens, my only request is that communication is clear, consistent, and preemptive.

Needless to say, they have failed in so many ways.
 
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FWIW, I filled out my delivery survey yesterday. It was pretty bad, as you would expect per my OP. I've also filled out an 'escalated' support request through the MyTesla portal. I expect both of these to go no where, but I'm hoping to be surprised.

My MS spent the entire weekend in a parking lot for a body shop. Ugh.
 
Trying to buy a CPO Model S now and I struggle to understand how Tesla is such a massive customer service nightmare. Does anyone have a good experience with this company? Are my expectations too high? Even the pompous goofs at the BMW dealership have never been this bad!

I picked up my CPO two weeks ago. As I understand it many people here have had hit or miss service, but my experience has been great. That includes communication with the CPO advisers, the store where I picked up the car, and also with my local service center. Now granted, I spent maybe 3 months researching this experience and I have to be honest, it is a different buying experience. Consider me lucky I guess...
 
Yeah communication has been shi*** at best. It’s something Tesla really really really....really needs to get better at.

I’ve had better communication and a buying expierence buying a gasoline car at a dealership.
 
UPDATE: 3 days at body shop without moving an inch. After speaking with someone in service, they claim that the body shop has discovered that the front bumper has a broken tab that could cause it to partially detach when hitting a large bump. No ETA until tomorrow. It's coming in primer, so it's going to need matched to my car's pearl white.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous. I dont even know what to think at this point.

They did confirm that I'm getting 4 new rims, which is nice I guess...
 
The CPO process is an intensive 4 step activity as follows:

1. Wash car
2. Sell car
3. Customer brings car back for repairs
4. Repeat step 3

Eventually they seem to address everything, but it is a bit of a hassle early on for sure. You can just tell they are pushing the cars out w/o really looking at them or (more likely) they know, but just sell it anyway. Heck, I drove away with the big drive unit clunk that no one could have possibly missed. I brought it back two weeks later to have several things addressed (inclusing a new drive unit).
 
UPDATE: My Model S is still sitting in the same place without any activity. It's been about 6 days. As of late this week, they still didn't have an ETA for the arrival of the front bumper. I'm beginning to wonder if something happened to the car after I dropped it off. I might have to make a trip to the body shop to see what's up.

One thing I do want to note is they did offer to give me the take-off 21" cyclone rims with a set of snows on it as goodwill. I think that is very, very fair assuming I actually get the car back soonish, and that it hasn't been weenied after I dropped it off.

Stats So Far:
Total Days Owned: 16
Days Driven: 3.5
Days In Service: 12.5
Number of Issues: 7 (or more)
 
Well, we just finished a CPO purchase which began July 31. We picked up the car this Friday (October 13th). The communication from Tesla was pretty bad during these months -- as we have found to be typical for the past five years of our interactions with them. Silence interspersed with 25% BS and 50% misinformation is routine.

However, we found a long time ago how to deal with Tesla's style. Unfailing patience and frequent, encouraging communications from our end finally resulted in a car which was amazing at delivery. If we had pressed hard for quicker delivery we probably could have gotten the car a lot earlier, but it would have been in a condition similar to that described by other unhappy posters. Instead, there were thousands of dollars in upgrades and modifications to which we really weren't entitled, and cosmetics far beyond what anyone could expect in a five year old Signature.

If you choose to buy a CPO, and have a lot of patience and healthy skepticism about the timelines, you'll most likely get a great used car (with a great warranty).
 
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Did they offer you a loaner? I feel that is the least Tesla could do.
Yes, but an Enterprise rental, not an actual real-life Tesla. It's a beast - a QX80.

It's actually my second rental. The first, an Infinity Q70, had malfunctioning wipers, so I had to bring it back about 15 minutes after they provided it to me. The, "tank" (which is what my kids have taken to calling the QX80) was the only clean car they had available when I made my quick return.

It sucks even more than what I expected as I can't fit it in my garage. It's hogging a corner of my driveway, just begging for my wife to bump into it with our other car, a Volt.
 
If you choose to buy a CPO, and have a lot of patience and healthy skepticism about the timelines, you'll most likely get a great used car (with a great warranty).
I concur, but I think it goes even further than that. You really, really need to temper your expectations. If you're expecting Tesla to be something special, you'll be very, very disappointed. When push comes to shove, CPO vehicles are flat-out just used cars. I've had significantly better experiences with other 'dealers' and other marks.

This entire ordeal has left me really disillusioned with Tesla all together. I'm convinced that when other car companies finally catch up (and they will) these sort of nightmares will be the undoing of Tesla. Folks will realize there isn't anything special here, and they can get a similar product with a better experience from a Cadillac, Lexus, or whoever the new trendy company is at the time. I also think that reality is closer than almost anyone expects.

It's a shame, and continues to be...