CPO purchase shenanigans

[Marlon]

Just wondering how often people are encountering unexpected issues when buying CPO cars in Canada and what can be done about it.

I'm picking up a CPO Model S in a few days and it is equipped with winter tires... for delivery in July! This wasn't disclosed in any written information. I only noticed this after inspecting the photos of the car -- I already have these tires for another car (Michelin X-Ice) and recognized the graphic on a tire photo. No reasonable person would be expected to catch this. I'll be driving 1300 km to pick up the car, so it's a big issue to travel that far and then find out there are new issues. Full disclosure ahead of sale of anything not "stock" as a new car should be a given. After telling my Tesla advisor the concern, nothing was done. It's a "take it or leave it" kind of thing. So true price of car is a fair bit higher as it will need all season tires.

Any luck by others getting some sort of satisfying resolution for CPO a issue?

 

[bpjod]

It’s a pre-owned vehicle. They’ll sell it with whatever tires it has on it when they took it in. How is this surprising? I wouldn’t expect anything different. You can always refuse the car. And yes I understand the distance issue. I once flew 900 km, to a different province, to test drive and hopefully buy a used vehicle. I didn’t know whether I’d be buying and driving home a new (to me) vehicle or taking a cab back to the airport and buying a ticket home. I drove.

Given your location, you’ll need both winter and summer tires anyway. Now you’ll be buying summers instead of winters. I find summers cost less than winters, so there’s a small silver lining.

 

[sando]

They really do need to provide more information and better quality photos. I looked at a few and couldn't tell if a car had paint scratches or just lights reflecting from the cars surface. One even had a cracked window in the back, couldn't get any info if it would be fixed before pickup. I also tried using the request callback feature to ask and get clarification, but never got a call.

 

[CadillacJack]

Is it the titanium P90D that was on earlier this month? I did notice it had snows in the pics and wondered if they would update those before delivery.

I took a CPO delivery in July 2015 when they did a real CPO experience. They replaced the nose cone and a lot of other things. Now that my S is falling apart I actually just bought a ‘CPO’ Model 3 performance. I saw it in person at Lawrence to verify the shape and the scratches in the pics - luckily I could find it in the yard. But hard to do when you’re far away.

 

[Marlon]

Is it the titanium P90D that was on earlier this month? I did notice it had snows in the pics and wondered if they would update those before delivery.

I took a CPO delivery in July 2015 when they did a real CPO experience. They replaced the nose cone and a lot of other things. Now that my S is falling apart I actually just bought a ‘CPO’ Model 3 performance. I saw it in person at Lawrence to verify the shape and the scratches in the pics - luckily I could find it in the yard. But hard to do when you’re far away.

No, it's a P100D. I originally had a different car reserved and it was painful getting basic information such as if the parcel shelf and trunk floor cover was going to be included or not as they weren't in the photos, then waiting weeks to find out how I might get replacements (with the final answer being that I could purchase a full size trunk all weather cover, which was not a replacement for the smaller missing piece). Makes you wonder how easily things will be supported after the sale if they can't support you very well even during the sale...

I pick up car in 2 days so fingers are crossed there are no more surprises. All I'm getting by conversation seems to be "the car is safetied and otherwise is sold as is" and you can't even test drive. The "as is" could at least be a little more descriptive (as per my original post).

 

[zwz002]

That's very typical Tesla, lol... The benefit of buying used via Tesla is also very clear, you get a new warranty and the pricing is pretty competitive. I would just schedule service appointments after you take delivery and get the issues addressed.

 

[MP3Mike]

I took a CPO delivery in July 2015 when they did a real CPO experience.

That is because in 2015 it was an actual CPO program and advertised as such. They no longer have a CPO program, they now just sell used Teslas.

 

[ConfusedF]

No, it's a P100D. I originally had a different car reserved and it was painful getting basic information such as if the parcel shelf and trunk floor cover was going to be included or not as they weren't in the photos, then waiting weeks to find out how I might get replacements (with the final answer being that I could purchase a full size trunk all weather cover, which was not a replacement for the smaller missing piece). Makes you wonder how easily things will be supported after the sale if they can't support you very well even during the sale...

I pick up car in 2 days so fingers are crossed there are no more surprises. All I'm getting by conversation seems to be "the car is safetied and otherwise is sold as is" and you can't even test drive. The "as is" could at least be a little more descriptive (as per my original post).

Did you pick up your car? How was your experience?

 

[Marlon]

Picked up the car - it's been 3 day now and I am regretting the purchase. The car itself is nice but wow I don't really see how this is going to be supported with any problems.

Rear door handle isn't opening and closing right so I tried to schedule a repair. My sales agent previously told me (before the sale) that almost all repairs were mobile now so I wouldn't be having to travel to Toronto (1300 km) for service. I tried to schedule repair using the app today - there is no option for mobile repair - just to go to Minneapolis MN! What a joke. You can't even go to USA with the pandemic restrictions.

When picking up the car, the delivery agent said the winter tires being on the car "should never have happened" but they were unable to swap them for all seasons that day. So I took delivery with winter tires and there is no plan to address it further. Car was also supposed to come with 30 days of premium connectivity - and it's not present. Before purchase, I was told that it had Autopilot hardware 3, and it turns out that it has only version 2 (discovered after I took delivery). There is no phone number where you can talk with someone about getting warranty service done - the warranty document gives a phone number with "self serve" information but no link to a person! Is this for real???

Should have kept the Chevy Volt - it was very reliable and I could at least get work done on it if necessary!

 

[richyrich]

Rear door handle isn't opening and closing right so I tried to schedule a repair. My sales agent previously told me (before the sale) that almost all repairs were mobile now so I wouldn't be having to travel to Toronto (1300 km) for service. I tried to schedule repair using the app today - there is no option for mobile repair - just to go to Minneapolis MN! What a joke. You can't even go to USA with the pandemic restrictions.

Sorry you're having a hard time, P100D must be a great drive! I'm guessing Thunder Bay has no Service Center and no Ranger? If so TBH it's not a great place to have a Tesla. We had no SC in Ottawa for my first year of ownership BUT the Rangers were excellent. To get one you just create a ticket through the app, select the location you want service (home/work/wherever) and they come to you.

Due to Tesla's size they don't have the network of GM yet, but they're working on it; as a result some of the more far-flung cities just don't have great service yet. TBH I'm surprised nobody at Tesla brought that up? What did they say would happen for warranty issues and servicing, specifically when you're in Thunder Bay?

 

[Marlon]

They told me there was a ranger!

 

[richyrich]

They told me there was a ranger!

So when you go into the app to schedule a service, are you sure you're using it right? After you choose what the issue is you go to a screen which allows you to search up an address and this can be a bit confusing - what it's asking for is the location where you want the service (so you should search up your home address). It's not asking you to find a service location to take your car to - maybe that's where you're finding MN? Maybe that's not your issue but it threw me the first time. I used the app to do exactly this a couple of days ago - even though we have an SC you always book for your own address and they contact you if it needs to be a SC thing.

 

[Marlon]

Thanks richyrich - I'm positive I'm using it right. I put my home location in and no mobile service prompt comes up. I phoned the Toronto Lawrence service centre and they said to just make a roadside assistance request as it's the same team that handles the work, so I did that and received contact by text message, but when they found out I actually didn't need roadside assistance, they cancelled service and didn't address my request to get mobile service. They advised to call the service number 877-798-3752, option 2, which just leads to self service information due to "higher than normal call volumes" which has been the same message for several days now with multiple calls.

If anyone wants to try making a mobile service request for the Thunder Bay region, here's the address for the Chevrolet dealership (that doesn't sell electric cars for some reason):
399 Memorial Ave
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 3Y4
And if you get routed to service in Minnesota, then it would appear that there is no mobile service (at least for now) in parts of Northwestern Ontario (which is a problem for not only us, but people travelling across Canada).

I wonder if other parts of Canada don't have mobile service access right now or what is going on with Tesla not being able to have a contact number where someone can actually take on a problem and find a solution, instead of just passing the buck...

 

[ConfusedF]

This is really disappointing to find out. I am sorry you have to deal with this when it should be most exiting time with new car.

I hope Tesla provides solution for your situation.

 

[richyrich]

@Marlon I think I can get you some help on this. You have a private message from me.

 

[Vawlkus]

Some Rangers do show up in the app when booking service (mine does now), but most times you pick a nearby SC and put ‘Mobile service’ in the body so the SC will forward the appointment request to the Mobile department.

Its cumbersome, but functional for now. I look forward to when all Rangers will show up in the app so we don’t have these kinds of irritations for new buyers.

 

[Marlon]

@Marlon I think I can get you some help on this. You have a private message from me.

Thanks for reaching out - it made all the difference in getting the Ranger to come. Not sure what would have happened otherwise...

The Ranger came last week and repaired the door handles. Ranger was very professional. There was another issue that the delivery agent had identified and said on delivery day that he was scheduling Mobile Service, but the Ranger didn't know about this and couldn't find any record of the request. Ranger will also come back later (likely no earlier than 6 weeks) to update FSD hardware that was supposed to be installed before I took possession of car. This pending service doesn't show up on the Tesla app (yet). Ranger said they accumulate service requests and then come this way about once every 6-8 weeks. Who knows if they are quicker if there is a major problem that is critical for driving...

So far, the service that was done is great, but I'd say arranging for it is sketchy and error prone. For anyone reading this, my "invoice" shows the service rate is $175 per hour, which I would expect would be charged for any work out of warranty. For comparison, I think the shop rate in the area is around $100 per hour but am not certain.

 

[CadillacJack]

Glad that worked out. I would say to all considering a ‘CPO’ that you have to have a lot of patience. I’m waiting for a new to me S to be delivered, and it’s taking weeks. Tesla sales folks have little influence over service’s schedule to slot in for certification, delivery etc. It’ll be about a month from order to delivery when I get it - hopefully. :/

 

[richyrich]

Best bet is always to use the app to make service appointments. There is a team who monitor and manage them, in this case they gather up a set of calls for rangers to do in areas that are far from service centres.

I believe another issue here is that your profile needs to be up to date. Without this there may be issues with scheduling a location and having Tesla contact you. In this case I’d blame the sales folks not bothering to fill it all in. My recommendation when you’re a buyer is login to the Tesla site and make sure your profile and vehicle information are all present and correct.