Deactivated Salvaged Roadster - Service Resources

[alang_94526]

I'm looking for a resource to get service for a Telsa Roadster (000531).

A few months ago, I bought a salvaged Roadster and subsequently discovered that Tesla take a unique position whereby they "deactivate" a salvaged vehicle which means you can't get parts and you can't get service. Add to that, they don't enable 3rd parties to do service on their vehicles, you are essentially dead in the water if you need any service or repair done.

This has now become a very expensive time bomb.

When I asked Tesla how I should get it reactivated, they created an "inspection process" just for Roadsters (they already had one for Model S but none for Roadsters), whereby I could take it to their certified body shop who would inspect it and if it passes, I can get it reactivated.
The creation of this process took several months and I had it inspected.
They declared the previous owner's repair on the chassis to be "unclear if it is roadworthy" and they require a completely new chassis to be installed (plus some other miscellaneous items) totaling a staggering $36,000.

Hence, I need to find somewhere skilled in the art of repairing deactivated Roadsters before it ever breaks down (again - it did it once already).
The car has a few minor issues (airbag light on, TMPS fault occurs now and again and a permanent "maintenance required" status) but my biggest concern is if it dies one day.

 

[jeremyz]

It's interesting that you appear to have bought this car from ElectricLove. ElectricLove works for a company that offers 3rd party repair services for the Roadster.
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/30728-Salvaged-VIN-531-on-ebay

 

[PV-EV]

I had my totaled Roadster repaired by a third party and underwent the Tesla inspection for $1200. Car was pronounced fit and is now supported by Tesla, meaning I can buy parts and get service from them. Painful, but they got you over a barrel.

 

[Chickenlittle]

It's interesting that you appear to have bought this car from ElectricLove. ElectricLove works for a company that offers 3rd party repair services for the Roadster.
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/30728-Salvaged-VIN-531-on-ebay

Why am I not surprised from your description of repairs. Perhaps it maybe more cost effective to sell parts rather than try to repair?

 

[wiztecy]

If that is the same Roadster as ElectricLove's I hope that the salvage issue was discussed and disclosed with you about not being able to buy parts before you bought it. I thought he went through the same thing trying to get it inspected, I guess we now know why it never passed if this is indeed the same car and all the grumbling back when.... I honestly could not sell any car that way, especially one that costs a pretty penny knowing the issues I had with the thing and to be knowingly aware that there's no way to buy parts or support this car to keep it on the road is not ethical in my opinion.

Many threads are on TMC talking about these issues, how many people are pulled into wanting to buy a Roadster, can't afford it, and get suckered into a salvaged one. Thing is, salvaged cars should be sold at least at half the cost of a non-salvaged one. And with the Tesla certified inspection, I suspect, if this is done, well then the value is a bit higher since the car can still be drivable and supported just like a non-salvaged one. But in no way does a salvage car hold close to the same resale value as a non-salvage. Before throwing down all my money purchasing my used Roadster, I looked at the salvaged route. Very attractive due to a lower price and being able to drive one of these awesome cars, but since I've dealt with, bought, drove, and sold salvaged cars in the past I knew its way too risky especially when its an EV and especially when its a pricey investment.

Anyways.... Sorry to hear about this. It sounds like a headache and putting all that money to buy this car can really bring a person's energy down that's for sure. It does sound like possibly the same car since I believe it was sold around the SJ/Diablo area. Tesla locks down cars like this all due to lawyers and the risk / benefit assessment. Its found that since its a new technology, that the car company is getting its foot planted on the ground, that someone who gets shocked, killed, hurts someone else with a car that was salvaged and on the road which then was found at fault can come back to haunt Tesla. Cutting out those cars from the road does create some unhappy customers, but in the long run, it keeps Tesla up and going to support cars that are not salvaged or ones that do pass their salvage roadworthy certification tests.

If you do a search on 'ElectricLove' you'll find more in-depth history on this vehicle.... which you may or may not like depending on the circumstances and if indeed is the same Roadster.

Lastly, Tesla doesn't 'deactivate' the Roadster. With the Model-S they can send down remotely the ability prevent the car from charging from all of Tesla's Superchargers as well as any DC fast charging such as CHADemo. They can't and don't do this with the Roadster, meaning, shutting down its ability to charge. Only the 2.x Roadsters contact Tesla (about low battery SOC), the 1.5's have no Tesla connectivity. Still the Salvaged Model S's can still charge off of AC just fine and Tesla doesn't prevent that from happening.

 

[MitchJi]

I had my totaled Roadster repaired by a third party and underwent the Tesla inspection for $1200. Car was pronounced fit and is now supported by Tesla, meaning I can buy parts and get service from them. Painful, but they got you over a barrel.

IMO it's a bargain to spend $1.2k to get the manufacturer's certification of roadworthyness on your salvaged title vehicle. You'll be smiling when you sell it.

 

[ecarfan]

I had my totaled Roadster repaired by a third party and underwent the Tesla inspection for $1200. Car was pronounced fit and is now supported by Tesla, meaning I can buy parts and get service from them.

Glad to hear your Roadster is roadworthy.
Care to share what business repaired your Roadster, what was repaired, and what the cost was?

 

[PV-EV]

IMO it's a bargain to spend $1.2k to get the manufacturer's certification of roadworthyness on your salvaged title vehicle. You'll be smiling when you sell it.

The painful part was not so much the money but the 3 weeks it took for their certified body shop to inspect. They dismantled the rear of the car, lost parts, and did a poor job of putting it all back. Repairs were covered by the insurance money we got when they deemed the car totaled.

 

[Chickenlittle]

The painful part was not so much the money but the 3 weeks it took for their certified body shop to inspect. They dismantled the rear of the car, lost parts, and did a poor job of putting it all back. Repairs were covered by the insurance money we got when they deemed the car totaled.

If this is the same car I remember complaining that it wasn't listed with the details of it requiring inspection back when he was selling it

 

[wiztecy]

If this is the same car I remember complaining that it wasn't listed with the details of it requiring inspection back when he was selling it

That was with ElectricLove's Roadster, not PV-EV's Roadster. I remember that discussion on whether if its an obligation of the seller to disclose such a thing to the buyer, as well as the issue or the hiccup this car was having if I recall, when he was trying to get the car pushed through that inspection processes.

To me it comes down to your integrity, the integrity of the seller. Meaning, yes it may not be illegal to sell a car like that and to be mum about all the small issues it has that you may know about when selling a car as a private seller. Interesting enough I don't believe this is legal if you're a dealer, so that should say something about this....

But it is a small world and a small community of people who own/buy these vehicles, and the fact that all this type of data/info bubbles up faster now with technology and quick information exchange of the Internet, that it doesn't stay hidden for long and eventually becomes disclosed anyways, and what becomes lost is the person's reputation that then becomes very hard to gain back, but worse of all a person who does have integrity to not sell the car to someone without taking a loss for what is a real financial loss since the vehicle is not worth the same as one that can be inspected, and that can and will be supported by Tesla to stay on the road. I'd hate if this happened to me, so that's what it typically comes down to and the test. Would I like to be on the receiving end of this if I was the buyer of my product or item if I market it the way I currently am at the price I am asking. Price is important, there are sales where the seller is just fed up with the project, in over their heads and puts the entire project up for sale "as-is" to the buyer. In that terms its not so much a requirement to say everything you ran into and the issues. The vehicle is being sold and disclosed as a vehicle that is sold "as-is" with "no implied warranty". With that the buyer has released his full rights in having full knowledge on a vehicle and the issues that come with it no matter if they are known or unknown. The thing here is an "as-is" car is sold or listed at a *substantially* lower price than a vehicle that is comparable, known to be road worthy, and known not to have issues.

If I recall, ElectricLove was selling that salvaged Roadster for at almost the same market price as one that was not salvaged, so I didn't see any huge discount nor identify it as an "as-is" sale.

Lastly, we still don't have confirmation from the OP if this is the same car or not. I hope not for that I don't like seeing people get burned.

 

[Chickenlittle]

That was with ElectricLove's Roadster, not PV-EV's Roadster. I remember that discussion on whether if its an obligation of the seller to disclose such a thing to the buyer, as well as the issue or the hiccup this car was having if I recall, when he was trying to get the car pushed through that inspection processes.

To me it comes down to your integrity, the integrity of the seller. Meaning, yes it may not be illegal to sell a car like that and to be mum about all the small issues it has that you may know about when selling a car as a private seller. Interesting enough I don't believe this is legal if you're a dealer, so that should say something about this....

But it is a small world and a small community of people who own/buy these vehicles, and the fact that all this type of data/info bubbles up faster now with technology and quick information exchange of the Internet, that it doesn't stay hidden for long and eventually becomes disclosed anyways, and what becomes lost is the person's reputation that then becomes very hard to gain back, but worse of all a person who does have integrity to not sell the car to someone without taking a loss for what is a real financial loss since the vehicle is not worth the same as one that can be inspected, and that can and will be supported by Tesla to stay on the road. I'd hate if this happened to me, so that's what it typically comes down to and the test. Would I like to be on the receiving end of this if I was the buyer of my product or item if I market it the way I currently am at the price I am asking. Price is important, there are sales where the seller is just fed up with the project, in over their heads and puts the entire project up for sale "as-is" to the buyer. In that terms its not so much a requirement to say everything you ran into and the issues. The vehicle is being sold and disclosed as a vehicle that is sold "as-is" with "no implied warranty". With that the buyer has released his full rights in having full knowledge on a vehicle and the issues that come with it no matter if they are known or unknown. The thing here is an "as-is" car is sold or listed at a *substantially* lower price than a vehicle that is comparable, known to be road worthy, and known not to have issues.

If I recall, ElectricLove was selling that salvaged Roadster for at almost the same market price as one that was not salvaged, so I didn't see any huge discount nor identify it as an "as-is" sale.

Lastly, we still don't have confirmation from the OP if this is the same car or not. I hope not for that I don't like seeing people get burned.

Yes that was what I meant. Didn't mean to imply Pvt.-ev

 

[alang_94526]

Yes it's the same car.

 

[alang_94526]

And for the record, I was aware that it was a salvage title, but not aware of Tesla's policies on supporting (or not) salvaged vehicles. I bought it primarily as a "beater commuter" car to take advantage of CA's carpool lane rules, save gas and save putting mileage on my "real car". I mistakenly saw the salvage route as a means to achieve the goal without costing an arm and a leg. I looked at a non-salvage vehicle at the time which was $15K more expensive and 2 years older but ended up going for the salvage option. Should have gone for the other one obviously (my wife reminds me all the time - "should have gone for the blue one") ;p
I bought a salvage truck once for my teenage son (he's not that good a driver and buying a newer vehicle seemed like a bad idea). It had gone very well and the experience gave me a false sense of confidence in this one.

 

[alang_94526]

If that is the same Roadster as ElectricLove's I hope that the salvage issue was discussed and disclosed with you about not being able to buy parts before you bought it. I thought he went through the same thing trying to get it inspected, I guess we now know why it never passed if this is indeed the same car and all the grumbling back when.... I honestly could not sell any car that way, especially one that costs a pretty penny knowing the issues I had with the thing and to be knowingly aware that there's no way to buy parts or support this car to keep it on the road is not ethical in my opinion.

Many threads are on TMC talking about these issues, how many people are pulled into wanting to buy a Roadster, can't afford it, and get suckered into a salvaged one. Thing is, salvaged cars should be sold at least at half the cost of a non-salvaged one. And with the Tesla certified inspection, I suspect, if this is done, well then the value is a bit higher since the car can still be drivable and supported just like a non-salvaged one. But in no way does a salvage car hold close to the same resale value as a non-salvage. Before throwing down all my money purchasing my used Roadster, I looked at the salvaged route. Very attractive due to a lower price and being able to drive one of these awesome cars, but since I've dealt with, bought, drove, and sold salvaged cars in the past I knew its way too risky especially when its an EV and especially when its a pricey investment.

Anyways.... Sorry to hear about this. It sounds like a headache and putting all that money to buy this car can really bring a person's energy down that's for sure. It does sound like possibly the same car since I believe it was sold around the SJ/Diablo area. Tesla locks down cars like this all due to lawyers and the risk / benefit assessment. Its found that since its a new technology, that the car company is getting its foot planted on the ground, that someone who gets shocked, killed, hurts someone else with a car that was salvaged and on the road which then was found at fault can come back to haunt Tesla. Cutting out those cars from the road does create some unhappy customers, but in the long run, it keeps Tesla up and going to support cars that are not salvaged or ones that do pass their salvage roadworthy certification tests.

If you do a search on 'ElectricLove' you'll find more in-depth history on this vehicle.... which you may or may not like depending on the circumstances and if indeed is the same Roadster.

Lastly, Tesla doesn't 'deactivate' the Roadster. With the Model-S they can send down remotely the ability prevent the car from charging from all of Tesla's Superchargers as well as any DC fast charging such as CHADemo. They can't and don't do this with the Roadster, meaning, shutting down its ability to charge. Only the 2.x Roadsters contact Tesla (about low battery SOC), the 1.5's have no Tesla connectivity. Still the Salvaged Model S's can still charge off of AC just fine and Tesla doesn't prevent that from happening.

The "deactivate" term was used by their certified inspection shop and refers to Tesla deactivating the vehicle from a support perspective. I should feel glad I guess that they can't physically deactivate it ;p

 

[shrink]

I bought it primarily as a "beater commuter" car to take advantage of CA's carpool lane rules, save gas and save putting mileage on my "real car".

Quite possibly the first person to call the Roadster a "beater commuter?"

Sorry about the servicing issues you're having. Tesla's policy on servicing salvaged cars has been debated and discussed in several different places on this forum. I do wish the process was easier and that Tesla was more lenient and flexible. However, it is what it is, as the saying goes.

I also wish you had been informed of such policy prior to purchase. Sounds like you were fully aware of the salvage status and that it had been deemed road-worthy for registration by the state. Perhaps you didn't ask about Tesla serviceability. Some might argue that falls under caveat emptor. I personally would have fully disclosed that as a seller to a potential buyer and priced it accordingly.

 

[wiztecy]

This thread is why I for one would not EVER allow Gruber or ElectricLove get withing any feet of touching or working on my Roadster. If a person fails to disclose something so serious and so major to a buyer of a vehicle, that this car is no longer serviceable nor can any part be purchased by the dealer for it, but then to sell it to some innocent fellow..... Well then I have to ask you, would you want that same person/company to work on your precious Roadster. What if they shorted something out in your ESS or PEM that caused an intermittent fault and failure. One that they knew they cause, knowing aware that they damaged your car. Based upon their past behavior and ethics my gut feeling is that they'd pass on the damage to you and stay mum about it. Sad.

 

[bonnie]

Roadster owners are a small community - once you hurt your reputation within this community, pretty hard to fix it.

 

[alang_94526]

Quite possibly the first person to call the Roadster a "beater commuter?"
.

It's all relative - my other car is a Maserati GT (another mid life crisis in a long series of mid-life crises) so in comparison, the salvage roadster is a beater

 

[ElectricLove]

I apologize if you felt misled, I disclosed all known issues with the vehicle... I sent you a contact who is interested in the Roadster if you are thinking of selling at this point. I'm amazed that Tesla wants to change the chassis on the car, it is undamaged, the only "seedy" repairs were in parts where I didn't use the bolts/hardware that Tesla would've due to my not having the appropriate bolts on hand. These repairs were not in critical safety components!

And to be clear Tesla did sell me a new airbag ECU, airbags and seat belts for this vehicle, which I installed. All safety systems were taken care of. It was later on that I had issues with my local service center.

Anyways, I'm happy to provide you any/all free tech support that I can remotely for your Roadster!

 

[alang_94526]

I apologize if you felt misled, I disclosed all known issues with the vehicle... I sent you a contact who is interested in the Roadster if you are thinking of selling at this point. I'm amazed that Tesla wants to change the chassis on the car, it is undamaged, the only "seedy" repairs were in parts where I didn't use the bolts/hardware that Tesla would've due to my not having the appropriate bolts on hand. These repairs were not in critical safety components!

And to be clear Tesla did sell me a new airbag ECU, airbags and seat belts for this vehicle, which I installed. All safety systems were taken care of. It was later on that I had issues with my local service center.

Anyways, I'm happy to provide you any/all free tech support that I can remotely for your Roadster!

For the record (I have already stated this in my personal communication to you) that you willfully and cynically withheld the critical disclosure that you knew that I would be unable to get service and support from Tesla. I call this "dumping your trash". While not illegal, it is ethically and morally bankrupt and I personally could never do that. I am done communicating on this topic.