CPO Question - Should I be Happy or not?

[aollivierre]

I have now been a Tesla owner for about 3 months. Purchasing my car was one of the most exciting process I have ever experience. The car is great to have and I love to drive the car....

but....

I am not happy with something very critical and I am hoping the group here can help. I was led to believe that buying a car directly from Tesla was the right thing to do....Buying a CPO vehicle would take care of any issues one would have when buying a car of this level. So I did....

I was also told the car would go thru a CPO process as part of the purchase. I read somewhere that all CPO when thru a very intense 216 point system so to make sure the car is presented to a new buyer in good condition. I was also told that I could get a copy of this CPO check list....To date, I have receive nothing! and when you ask, I get a very vague answer and with a semi-unclear answer indicating that one day I would get that checklist. Still nothing.....

Since I've own the car, the vehicle has been in the shop a lot. More than I would like....Currently in the shop now and it has been over a week with more parts on order. This last service order is 6 pages long....

Question to the group:
Should I feel slighted by Tesla that perhaps this vehicle was misrepresented?
Should I demand this so called CPO process the vehicle went thru when purchased?
Should I demand a new car?

I really do love the car, but I HATE having to take the car back for items that in my opinion should of been caught up front if the car did go thru a "CPO" process. The items recently addressed since I've own the vehicle are not overnight issues. these are things that should of and could of been caught if the car did go thru a CPO process.

Thoughts.....

 

[Cory151]

What kind of issues are you having? CPO is NOT a guarantee of no issues (it is, after all a used car), its a guarantee of it will be corrected at no expense, to you. Know that you are buying one of the fastest, quietest, safest and most reliable vehicles the world has ever seen, but even they not immune to the occasional issues that plague other manufactures.

I have a CPO P85D, and its never been involved in service of any kind while I've owned it.

Do you happen to know what all 216 points are of the inspection?

 

[David.85D]

Sorry. Unfortunately this seems pretty common. The awesome car hides glaring issues in an awkward/inexperienced sales process.

I asked for and was refused the service history and cpo checklist. They did answer a couple of specific questions (how much tread and brake pad left). They have been willing to check the service history when a question came up (like which annual service i was on).

I doubt you have a legal basis to demand a replacement car unless the repair issues meet the requirements for a “lemon law” claim in your state, and those rules vary a lot.

 

[David.85D]

I love my car. Easily the best car ive ever owned, including performance cars ive souped up.

Focus on that.

This too shall pass.

 

[Tiger]

It's a known issue, Tesla has very poor quality control in multiple processes.

• Tesla Service/Quality control is still as bad as ever I guess

I wonder who's their global operations head of quality assurance? Nobody?

 

[ahirbe]

I have just purchased a CPO last week and am hopeful to get a good one. About the service history, if you call your service center them the VIN they might tell you everything that has been done to the car (service history) I have been calling them for months and checking on VINs that Have considered buying. I ultimately went with the CPO because of the warranty and the "peace of mind" I hope the situation resolves itself for you...you could always start tweeting Elon about the issues

 

[aollivierre]

What kind of issues are you having? CPO is NOT a guarantee of no issues (it is, after all a used car), its a guarantee of it will be corrected at no expense, to you. Know that you are buying one of the fastest, quietest, safest and most reliable vehicles the world has ever seen, but even they not immune to the occasional issues that plague other manufactures.

I have a CPO P85D, and its never been involved in service of any kind while I've owned it.

Do you happen to know what all 216 points are of the inspection?

What kind of issues are you having? CPO is NOT a guarantee of no issues (it is, after all a used car), its a guarantee of it will be corrected at no expense, to you. Know that you are buying one of the fastest, quietest, safest and most reliable vehicles the world has ever seen, but even they not immune to the occasional issues that plague other manufactures.

I have a CPO P85D, and its never been involved in service of any kind while I've owned it.

Do you happen to know what all 216 points are of the inspection?

No. They do not clearly outline these points.

 

[aollivierre]

As

What kind of issues are you having? CPO is NOT a guarantee of no issues (it is, after all a used car), its a guarantee of it will be corrected at no expense, to you. Know that you are buying one of the fastest, quietest, safest and most reliable vehicles the world has ever seen, but even they not immune to the occasional issues that plague other manufactures.

I have a CPO P85D, and its never been involved in service of any kind while I've owned it.

Do you happen to know what all 216 points are of the inspection?

As for the list of issues, wow....its pretty long. I will tell you the issues have been resolved, but a new owner who purchases a vehicle with the piece of mind that it went thru a process to catch some obvious issues, should of been addressed.

 

[Lasttoy]

You must be very young. Never ever trust a used car salesman, ever. I know, I have been one. There is no way Tesla can inspect or know hidden problems. BUT, the fixes should be 100% free. They state Pre inspected, owned, etc, etc. Yada, they need good karma, should be free with loaner. That would give them a desire to get it better.

 

[Sprandt23]

I just purchased a CPO back in October, and considered a few points when purchasing....
- I went CPO because that was my budget (vs new)
- I specifically looked at models with less than 50k miles, to include the extended warranty

Obviously newer or lower mileage models are more expensive, but for me that trade to have any issues with the car completely covered for the next 50k miles was worth the extra I was spending. Like you, I asked for the completed CPO 'checklist' but wasn't given one as that was 'policy' to not give them to customers. (I did get a blank copy to know what they 'inspected') I will say, the vehicle was in basically new condition when I saw it on the showroom floor.

I have had a few things come up in those 4 months, 2 visits for small items, and 1 for a fluid leak (just dropped off yesterday, so still diagnosing, but it could have been the single digit temps here for the last 3 weeks that cracked a seal or something).

I will say, my experience with the SC has been nothing short of superb. They are always ready to take care of you, have had great communication, and always get a nice condition S or X as a loaner. Truly a valet experience, which for me makes the slight hassle worth it. Plus I look at it as not putting miles on my own S for those few days while it is in the shop. Remember, this is a piece of technology on wheels, there are going to be issues that come up given its complex nature - but I still enjoy driving it every day!

 

[Lifeinabox]

My S was the first CPO purchase, ever. Do other luxury manufacturers provide a full repair bill at sale? My guess is no. I was lucky enough to get the hand-written copy of my repair bill. It was pretty darn extensive.

I've also experienced a few nagging issues, but, honestly, I expected issues knowing this is still a gen 1 product and I was buying used. I still love my car and Tesla's service in fixing everything so far has been exemplary. Case in point, last week I brought my car in for an annoying and persistent squeak where the passenger seat belt meets the seat. No questions asked I have a replacement seat on order to arrive in a month.

 

[David.85D]

Most other companies provide it. Google “certified preowned inspection checklist” first page results show many examples - bmw, infinity, porsche, ford, subaru, nissan

 

[Sethsla]

We bought a CPO 2013 S in Sept 2015. We procured it through our local sales/service center and I befriended the manager. He was terrific in addressing our few initial problems and reservinmg us a loaner for a long scheduled 2000 mile trip whiole our CPO was getting serviced. In fact, Telsa loaned us a new P85D for the 2+ weeks of that trip! When we returned, our CPO was nearly perfect and has been a joy to drive. Telsa has bent over backwards to service our car ever since. My suggestion would be to contact your local sales and service managers and have have them help you where needed with service and/or loaner cars. Hope that helps.

 

[steve841]

Personally, I dont think a checklist would be worth the paper its written on ...

More curious if CPO buyers actually personally reviewed and test drove their vehicles???

No way I'd find it remotely acceptable to purchase a used vehicle sight unseen. The cost of a few hundred dollars and a day or two of time for a large purchase seems like a basic thought.

 

[zer0cool]

From my understanding, almost every preowned Model S that Tesla sell is a CPO. That basically means Tesla "certified" is pretty much meaningless since every preowned car is certified... The major benefit you get of course is the extra warranty so you can fix problems.

I assume Tesla does this so it can sell all the cars at CPO prices instead of having non-CPO cars for thousands cheaper. Look at a major BMW or MB dealer site, and see that they have both CPO and non-CPO cars. CPO is supposed to be meaningful so that you can reasonable trust that a CPO car is in at least above average condition and doesn't have any obvious mechanical/electrical problems that ll require major fixes in the near future. A car that hasn't had annual services done and/or has had lots of repairs due to either build quality or aggressive use, etc. shouldn't be CPO.

I have called BMW dealers before asking why certain car wasn't certified and they said that they only certify cars in great condition. Or they say up front either the car is still really new and certification just adds too much cost/price or that it's just not worth certifying the car given the added cost/price. Therefore, they are clear why that car is several thousand dollars cheaper than an equiv certified car.

A CPO Tesla should be in great condition. Otherwise the car should be sold as a non-CPO for thousands cheaper.

 

[Sprandt23]

More curious if CPO buyers actually personally reviewed and test drove their vehicles???
QUOTE]

Unless you luck out and find one at your local SC, this isn't very likely to be possible. I scoured online for months before putting a deposit on a CPO back in September. Car was in California, and ended up taking delivery in Arizona....It took work to even get pics of the actual car (and that was *way* after the deposit). You are definitely taking a leap of faith with a CPO, but that is what the warranty is for I suppose. I couldn't have been more pleased with the condition my 85D was in when I took delivery. I've had it in the SC for a few small issues, but service has been excellent there as well.

 

[Lifeinabox]

Most other companies provide it. Google “certified preowned inspection checklist” first page results show many examples - bmw, infinity, porsche, ford, subaru, nissan

As someone else said, checklists are meaningless. I was referring to actual repair bills.

 

[redbaronace]

I would say just be thankful to have such a wonderful car as this and that you are under their warranty. The more they fix, the less to potentially go wrong once you are out of warranty.

I only have 2000 miles remaining on my bumper to bumper warranty and I am looking at every possibly fix right now to be done before the expiration of the warranty.

As a side note, I drove my Lexus GS350 (previous car) today after not being in it for over 2 months and lets just say that I have gotten spoiled by the Tesla.

 

[aollivierre]

new

I would say just be thankful to have such a wonderful car as this and that you are under their warranty. The more they fix, the less to potentially go wrong once you are out of warranty.

I only have 2000 miles remaining on my bumper to bumper warranty and I am looking at every possibly fix right now to be done before the expiration of the warranty.

As a side note, I drove my Lexus GS350 (previous car) today after not being in it for over 2 months and lets just say that I have gotten spoiled by the Tesla.

i was a Lexus driver as well. Don’t misss it.

 

[BigNick]

I have put 5000 miles on my CPO since taking delivery in early November 2017.

Any issues I had with the car have been addressed, including replacing driver seat springs (the seat had a slight rocking forward/backward looseness). My car also came with upgraded TPMS and brand-new Michelin Primacy 19-inch tires (wasn't expecting new tires on a car with only 32K).

Everything was covered under warranty. The only thing I've had to pay for is the ton of accessories I've ordered. Still up in the air about that center console.