Delivery Bait/Switch Trade in Value Decreases Each Time

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

Ordered May 1st, updated Order 6/10, did all paperwork and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally get VIN emailed but not in my Tesla account. Advised my current Tesla Model S payoff amount needs to be updated. Here is where it gets interesting.

Two weeks prior to delivery Sales associate updated it which was reflected in the breakdown of amount due, but now the completed trade in value check box shows a new trade in estimate is underway. Email received of the new estimate, car is the same, the rounded mileage of the car is the same as the original trade in value that was accepted. New trade in offer is $2,600 less.

Get notified i can take delivery a day earlier if available, so I say yes. Get asked to take new photos of the vehicle and update trade in information, do so as requested and email photos as their is no place to attach due to the last time the trade in was updated.

Day of delivery, I get an email with a 3rd trade in offer that is now $3,600 less then the one received 2 weeks ago.

In total the difference from the original offer to the day of delivery offer is $6,200 with the details of the trade in not changing even in Tesla's emails. Completely unacceptable especially for the difference from two weeks ago.

When i get a call from a delivery specialist I advise that this is unacceptable and if this is not corrected then i am unable to take delivery today. The response I get is then we will need to release the VIN.

WHAT? if I dont take early delivery while you try to screw me you will cancel my order????? The delivery associate advised that they will just rematch us to a vin at another time. I then had to explain to her that they dont make what i ordered months ago any longer so that is not possible.

I ask to speak to management and sit on hold for 15 minutes, I dont get anyone from management only that she spoke with Management and they can hold it until Tuesday while i review my trade in options..... No reasons for the drastic change from start to finish or even from 2 weeks ago till now.

This would be our 4th Tesla, just picked up my Wife's new X 2 months ago and like the first 2 we got 3 years ago, experience was easy, fast, no issues, now with the Y it has been a nightmare. Asked for a manager call back since i never was able to speak with one and was told she will let them know, so not expecting one while i figure out what i am going to do.

 

[sgilardi]

Were there any other details associated with the final trade in offer? The 100k miles seems like a rounded estimate of sorts - did you provide a more accurate one?

When I provided pictures + updated milage (increased around 1k), they took off $500 from their offer - which for a car in great condition I was pretty surprised over. I ended up selling mine to Carvana - much simpler and they offered more.

 

[TomServo]

I got $5K more selling my car via the KBB Instant Cash Offer program than Tesla offered. I sold my car a month prior to delivery so I wouldn’t have to worry over any last minute issue that would sour the deal. So glad I did. You have better options than taking Tesla’s offer. Did you investigate them?

 

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

Yes, it’s under 100,000 miles, Tesla rounded it up to 100,000 every time. Another thing I just noticed is the original said it was good for 30 days, the second one good for 7, now today’s which was the worst is valid for 30 days again? I may have but the bullet and ate the difference from 1st to 2nd but for some reason that one was only valid for 7 days.

I will have to check out KBB, it’s just shady they keep lowering it with zero change to condition Or mileage and change how long the offer is valid. Especially when they delay delivery and force you into a new offer Not even 2 weeks later and then wait for delivery day to try and force another new lower value and threaten you with order cancellation if you don’t accept it.

 

[Zythryn]

The trade in value depends on the condition of your car AND the condition of the used car market.
While the condition of your car may not change, the condition of the used car market certainly can.
If you are unhappy, sell through Carvana or Carmax. I hear many people have been happier going that route.

 

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

While I understand the market changes, why then was my 2nd trade in offer 13 days ago expire date 7 days as opposed to 30 like the other 2 offers?

 

[gaswalla]

It’s true that OP has other options and can do more heavy lifting with a better outcome. That being said, it’s a pretty shady business practice that Tesla is running. A reputable business practice would be to have obligation to adhere to a prior trade in unless something was misrepresented

 

[TBigSur]

I traded in a KIA for a M3 and had to go through three "evaluations" and the price never changed. This time around I let them give me a quote and I knew the Y was going to take a while to get to me. I ended up posting on craigslist and selling my truck for almost 7k more then the Tesla offer... but now stuck with one car for a month and probably another one. I'll also have to rent a car then uber to Tesla HQ rather then drop one off and pick up the new one.

 

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

I should have just sold it when I had the offer from a buyer service, it was more then Tesla but only a couple hundred and balanced out with the tax savings. It was just easier with Tesla, never had an issue with previous trade ins with them. I guess as volume grows customer service goes with it.

 

[tonyb99]

Tesla trade-in $20k, sold privately in 2 days $27.5k. Caveat emptor.

 

[Sunshine State]

Tesla has little to no flexibility with the 30 day and 1,000 mile cap on pricing. A cap would be understandable if they could deliver their cars within a reasonable window but if they can’t they should accept that the delay is not the customers problem. In our recent experience we had a delivery date scheduled at our local Florida delivery center for an inventory car Tesla was charging to move from NY. Our Tesla Performance 3 trade was garaged at a second home in Dallas so we drove it from Dallas to South Florida just 2 days before Teslas scheduled delivery time. The day before delivery Tesla called to cancel our delivery because the new car hadn’t arrived and they didn’t know why but thought it would arrive soon. Thirty days past but still no estimate of the arrival so we drove the P3 back to Dallas. Eventually about a month later we received a call from Tesla that the new car had arrived and they scheduled delivery the coming weekend and they could only hold the car a few days. I explained that it took over 4 months to deliver the car from NY and now due to Tesla canceling our delivery that our trade was back 1,200 miles away. I asked if we could drop the trade in Dallas to not add another 1,200 miles after the first 2,400 mile wasted round trip on a 6,000 mile car. Tesla suggested that we should just buy the new car outright without the $3,250 trade/tax savings and then advertise and sell the P3 outright in Texas. Teslas 4 month delay dropped our value over $5k so we cancelled the deal.

 

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

Took delivery today with no trade in, have an offer better then what Tesla’s last was have another one on the way as well. Moving forward not ever gonna mess with their trade in process again.

 

[Threader]

Ordered May 1st, updated Order 6/10, did all paperwork and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally get VIN emailed but not in my Tesla account. Advised my current Tesla Model S payoff amount needs to be updated. Here is where it gets interesting.

Two weeks prior to delivery Sales associate updated it which was reflected in the breakdown of amount due, but now the completed trade in value check box shows a new trade in estimate is underway. Email received of the new estimate, car is the same, the rounded mileage of the car is the same as the original trade in value that was accepted. New trade in offer is $2,600 less.

Get notified i can take delivery a day earlier if available, so I say yes. Get asked to take new photos of the vehicle and update trade in information, do so as requested and email photos as their is no place to attach due to the last time the trade in was updated.

Day of delivery, I get an email with a 3rd trade in offer that is now $3,600 less then the one received 2 weeks ago.

In total the difference from the original offer to the day of delivery offer is $6,200 with the details of the trade in not changing even in Tesla's emails. Completely unacceptable especially for the difference from two weeks ago.

When i get a call from a delivery specialist I advise that this is unacceptable and if this is not corrected then i am unable to take delivery today. The response I get is then we will need to release the VIN.

WHAT? if I dont take early delivery while you try to screw me you will cancel my order????? The delivery associate advised that they will just rematch us to a vin at another time. I then had to explain to her that they dont make what i ordered months ago any longer so that is not possible.

I ask to speak to management and sit on hold for 15 minutes, I dont get anyone from management only that she spoke with Management and they can hold it until Tuesday while i review my trade in options..... No reasons for the drastic change from start to finish or even from 2 weeks ago till now.

This would be our 4th Tesla, just picked up my Wife's new X 2 months ago and like the first 2 we got 3 years ago, experience was easy, fast, no issues, now with the Y it has been a nightmare. Asked for a manager call back since i never was able to speak with one and was told she will let them know, so not expecting one while i figure out what i am going to do.

I feel your pain. I cancelled my order last week after 7 weeks of waiting and an unacceptable re-evaluation value on my Model 3 trade in.
I'm glad I drew the line and did not cross it. No I was not going to go to the trouble of selling the car myself and there are no Carvana or Carmax in Canada.

 

[Velcade]

My trade went over the 30 days and I needed to submit an odometer update. I drove 1800 miles in that time frame and the trade in value did not decrease. I'm actually trading in the car next week so I'll let you know if they pull something when I get there.

 

[Rocky_H]

Tesla is not a used car dealer and really doesn't want anyone's used cars. They are not actually buying them. They are just a pass-through for the bids from auction sites like Carmax, so this is just reflecting a lot of churn in the used markets among those wholesalers.

 

[2017S&XLftBhnd]

Tesla is not a used car dealer and really doesn't want anyone's used cars. They are not actually buying them. They are just a pass-through for the bids from auction sites like Carmax, so this is just reflecting a lot of churn in the used markets among those wholesalers.

Pretty sure Tesla sells used Tesla’s as that is what was being traded in. As many have said I got a better deal with a service for my Model S anyway, I just hope they fix their process.

 

[tonyb99]

Tesla trade - $20k, private sale - $27.5k and it took two days. Caveat emptor.

 

[Velcade]

No bait and switch. It was very easy. They didn't even look at the car. All in all the delivery process took 10 minutes.

 

[KnoxEVfan]

This just happened to me as well, after I already accepted their trade-in offer & had financing arranged! On today, Sunday, Valentine's Day, I got an email demanding I submit an odometer update, which I did, and then the whole trade-in offer vanished from my payment info--3 days before my delivery appointment.
If they don't sort it out, I'm going to cancel my Model Y order, and I plan to inform them that this will be the last time I buy anything from them.

 

[Threader]

Tesla should really honor their initial trade offer for as long as it takes for them to deliver the car. Or they shouldn't offer trade-ins. One or the other. Current trade-in offer 30 day expiry shenanigan's is a terrible business practice for a direct factory order business model for which the delays are entirely the responsibility of Tesla and not the consumer.