Defective Door/Window

[JehuWarrior]

Where to begin…..I have 2 questions:

So I picked up my Model 3 in mid December and 3 days later had the windows tinted. Driving on the freeway that weekend I hear a loud wind sound coming from the drivers side, upper left part of the window. I take it into Tesla to look at and long story short, the door and window are defective. They figure this out on my 3rd trip back to the dealer and replace the window and adjust the door (And my new tint along with it). What are my options in regard to the window tint missing on the drivers side due to the replacement of the defective part? I already paid for the tint and don’t want to pay again because Tesla sold me a defective car.

Apparently the geniuses at Tesla Buena Park put the wrong paper plates on my car and gave my paper plates to someone else. This other person drove in the toll lanes and I got a bill for toll evasion violations. After some serious back and forth with Tesla, im told to “pay the tolls and they will reimburse me”. I thought about it and refused to pay since those are not my violations and the dealership screwed up royally. The toll roads said Tesla can simply write me a letter admitting to the screw up and that would be enough to clear the fines but I’ve received pushback when i asked about it. What recourse do I have when it comes to this? The consequences are severe, such as a lien being placed on my car due to unpaid fines (that I did not create).

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[jjrandorin]

If you are asking is tesla going to reimburse you for (aftermarket) tint, the answer is almost assuredly no. Tint is just like any other aftermarket modification. Thats going to be on you to replace that. You can ask them, and they might do something for goodwill but its unlikely and I am positive there is no obligation there for them to do anything about that.

As for your other question, I get trying to stand firm on the "principle of the matter" because you did not incur those tolls, but are you really going to risk a lien on your car because of that?

The less confrontational thing to do would be to get in writing from someone that they would reimburse you and go ahead and pay it (so you are not running afoul of something that is going to be much harder to fix later from a fee perspective).

Of course, you can stick to your guns on the principle of the matter, and might eventually get tesla to do whatever is being asked by the toll roads, but that will likely take some time (if you ever get to that point) and mark you as "that person" to all the local staff.

Some people dont care about stuff like that (being marked as "that person") because they think it either doesnt matter, or "they are in the right" or whatever, but in my opinion, THIS is not the "hill you want to fight on", so to speak. I would pay and get reimbursed on the tolls, and the tint is on you (defective parts happen, and there is likely a clause somewhere about modifications).

With that being said, it wouldnt hurt to ask tesla about the tint, but it would certainly matter who you asked, and how, since as I said I dont think there is an oblication there. Typically a decent tint place will give you a discount for doing that one window, so thats another avenue I would consider if it were me, but understand if you dont want to consider that.

 

[afadeev]

Where to begin…..I have 2 questions:

So I picked up my Model 3 in mid December and 3 days later had the windows tinted. Driving on the freeway that weekend I hear a loud wind sound coming from the drivers side, upper left part of the window. I take it into Tesla to look at and long story short, the door and window are defective. They figure this out on my 3rd trip back to the dealer and replace the window and adjust the door (And my new tint along with it). What are my options in regard to the window tint missing on the drivers side due to the replacement of the defective part? I already paid for the tint and don’t want to pay again because Tesla sold me a defective car.

Apparently the geniuses at Tesla Buena Park put the wrong paper plates on my car and gave my paper plates to someone else. This other person drove in the toll lanes and I got a bill for toll evasion violations. After some serious back and forth with Tesla, im told to “pay the tolls and they will reimburse me”. I thought about it and refused to pay since those are not my violations and the dealership screwed up royally. The toll roads said Tesla can simply write me a letter admitting to the screw up and that would be enough to clear the fines but I’ve received pushback when i asked about it. What recourse do I have when it comes to this? The consequences are severe, such as a lien being placed on my car due to unpaid fines (that I did not create).

You are SOL on tint, and will need to pay to have it re-applied.
It's an after-market add-on, and the surface to which it was applied turned out to be defective and got replaced.

w.r.t. toll violations, what is your end goal?
To prove to the toll processing company that Tesla screwed something up (true, but who cares?!)? Or get toll processor off your back?
I would pay the fines, and take dealership up on the offer to cover the costs. If they renege (unlikely, but not impossible), take them to the small claims court.

a

 

[CarlThompson]

As for your other question, I get trying to stand firm on the "principle of the matter" because you did not incur those tolls, but are you really going to risk a lien on your car because of that?

The less confrontational thing to do would be to get in writing from someone that they would reimburse you and go ahead and pay it (so you are not running afoul of something that is going to be much harder to fix later from a fee perspective).

Of course, you can stick to your guns on the principle of the matter, and might eventually get tesla to do whatever is being asked by the toll roads, but that will likely take some time (if you ever get to that point) and mark you as "that person" to all the local staff.

Some people dont care about stuff like that (being marked as "that person") because they think it either doesnt matter, or "they are in the right" or whatever, but in my opinion, THIS is not the "hill you want to fight on", so to speak. I would pay and get reimbursed on the tolls, and the tint is on you (defective parts happen, and there is likely a clause somewhere about modifications).

With that being said, it wouldnt hurt to ask tesla about the tint, but it would certainly matter who you asked, and how, since as I said I dont think there is an oblication there. Typically a decent tint place will give you a discount for doing that one window, so thats another avenue I would consider if it were me, but understand if you dont want to consider that.

I have to disagree with you on this. It's possible to ask Tesla to do their job correctly and fix their own mistake without making yourself "that guy." You can simply politely say that you're not comfortable with paying someone else's fine and that while you understand that everyone makes mistakes you would rather they cleared up the problem the official and correct way even if it's a little more work. I think if you approach them politely, honestly and earnestly with your reservations they'd understand and respect that as long as you're not yelling at them for a simple honest mistake.

And perhaps I'm paranoid but I could see paying someone else's fines rather than officially clearing up who has what plate causing worse problems down the road. What if that other person hits a pedestrian next and takes off but someone records the plate number? The police may not believe it wasn't you when you've essentially in their eyes acknowledged that it is you by paying fines incurred by the car with those plates.

 

[JehuWarrior]

I have to disagree with you on this. It's possible to ask Tesla to do their job correctly and fix their own mistake without making yourself "that guy." You can simply politely say that you're not comfortable with paying someone else's fine and that while you understand that everyone makes mistakes you would rather they cleared up the problem the official and correct way even if it's a little more work. I think if you approach them politely, honestly and earnestly with your reservations they'd understand and respect that as long as you're not yelling at them for a simple honest mistake.

And perhaps I'm paranoid but I could see paying someone else's fines rather than officially clearing up who has what plate causing worse problems down the road. What if that other person hits a pedestrian next and takes off but someone records the plate number? The police may not believe it wasn't you when you've essentially in their eyes acknowledged that it is you by paying fines incurred by the car with those plates.

I disagree as well. I have emailed them twice about my concerns about paying the fine and both times have been told to just pay the fine and they would reimburse me.

The issue I have is acknowledging that the fine is mine by paying it when it was it my fine to begin with and was the result of Tesla screwing up. What else has this other person done with the plates linked back to me. Tickets? Parking fines? This has the potential to cause issues for me down the road and I am not comfortable with accepting responsibility.

 

[afadeev]

And perhaps I'm paranoid but I could see paying someone else's fines rather than officially clearing up who has what plate causing worse problems down the road. What if that other person hits a pedestrian next and takes off but someone records the plate number? The police may not believe it wasn't you when you've essentially in their eyes acknowledged that it is you by paying fines incurred by the car with those plates.

The plates in question are temporary paper tags, that usually come with a 30-day expiration window.
With the plate mix-up issue documented (can't be THAT uncommon), legal downsides are contained. The whole mix-up auto-resolves when temporary plates expire, which is just about now (based on OP's timing).

I disagree as well. I have emailed them twice about my concerns about paying the fine and both times have been told to just pay the fine and they would reimburse me.

The issue I have is acknowledging that the fine is mine by paying it when it was it my fine to begin with and was the result of Tesla screwing up. What else has this other person done with the plates linked back to me. Tickets? Parking fines? This has the potential to cause issues for me down the road and I am not comfortable with accepting responsibility.

Have fun storming the castle!

 

[CarlThompson]

The plates in question are temporary paper tags, that usually come with a 30-day expiration window.

Has California changed this? Every time I've bought a car there (and I've bought several) the temporary registration was for 90 days and I've needed almost every bit of the 90 days to get my permanent plates more than once. I don't recall ever getting my permanent plates in less than 30 days. Where are you getting your 30 day information from?

 

[stopcrazypp]

I disagree as well. I have emailed them twice about my concerns about paying the fine and both times have been told to just pay the fine and they would reimburse me.

The issue I have is acknowledging that the fine is mine by paying it when it was it my fine to begin with and was the result of Tesla screwing up. What else has this other person done with the plates linked back to me. Tickets? Parking fines? This has the potential to cause issues for me down the road and I am not comfortable with accepting responsibility.

Them writing a letter probably requires something from the legal team at corporate and isn't something the service center can directly deal with, while reimbursing you for the fine, they probably have something in the system that they can easily use. I'm guessing that's why you are getting push back.

As for other suggestions that police might not believe you, given you have the whole email conversation and it's easily traced that the paper tag does not match with the VIN, I don't think it'll get to that point. However, that said, can't the toll authority accept the email conversation with Tesla as evidence of the screw up? Does it really have to be a letter?

I would be more concerned about if they got the paper plates back yet from the other person, so that more fines don't get racked up on your behalf.

As for the other stuff about aftermarket mods, I can say for certain it is standard policy is that it is not covered at all (in fact I had to sign a waiver for potential damage to my PPF when I had my car in). Not sure if there is anyone with evidence getting it covered under goodwill if any aftermarket mod gets damaged as part of service.