In summary: Paying for a car I cannot drive and Texas issued my title to someone who doesn't own the car because of Tesla's error.
The Story:
We received a MYLR7 3 February 2022. On approximately 24 February Tesla mailed the registration paperwork, however, the MCO WAS WRONG!
Tesla sent me a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin (MCO) for a Model S Plaid, but I did not purchase a model S, I bought a Model Y. (I was unaware at the time, but turns out Tesla also sent my MCO to another person. [Foreshadowing]) As to why we were sent the MCO: Texas... (you'll learn more later).
I contacted Tesla as I did not feel it was ethical to submit paperwork to Texas DMV incorrectly. It took Tesla 30+ days to resolve the matter resulting in me owing Texas a 5% sales tax late fee. Tesla finally mailed me the correct MCO and I immediately submitted the paperwork on the 59th day of "ownership" (April 2nd) to avoid a 10% late fee on the 60th day and paid a rush and processing fee to avoid the additional Texas DMV fee (note Texas has really asinine registration laws).
After 1 month of waiting I received a letter from the state of Texas stating my VIN was already registered and that my application was rejected (April 29th 2022). At the same time I received a Statement of Fact letter from Tesla informing me that they had issued MCO's incorrectly and were trying to resolve the matter. To my utter disbelief they had sent my MCO to another customer, who then submitted that document to the TEXAS DMV with non-matching paperwork and TEXAS issued them the Title for my car.
Wow! Catch you breath it gets better...
I call Tesla and they tell me it's ok to keep driving the car because they provided me with the.... Statement of Fact!
No, it's not ok. The registration expired, I cannot legally drive the car. If we get pulled over will the car be towed? How can I drive a car without a license plate? Needless to say I informed the Tesla rep that was not an intelligent response for a plethora of reasons. Adding complexity, we were relocated to PA by my company so I cannot walk into a Texas Tax assessor/DMV myself to argue with the folks who seem to be in no rush to help.
Tesla spent the next 3 weeks waffling on what to do after I requested a Tesla loaner while the matter was resolved. They told me 2-3 weeks.
End of May I was told they couldn't provide a Tesla loaner and wanted me and the wife to drive a gas loaner. We had no other option but to be forced by Tesla to drive a gas hog (need a 7 seat vehicle) when gas prices hit the all time high over the summer costing us more than $300+ per month while I'm still making payments on a more expensive vehicle.
After many requests for updates were not returned I finally reached someone in California who seems to be responsive, but it's now 5 August (6+ months after I purchased the car) that we cannot use it.
I would like guidance from someone else who experienced this issue as I would like the vehicle replaced (including the tint I had added) or I want to sell the car and be done with it. Any Lawyers who can help?
I have an object sitting in my garage, $5000 lost somewhere in registration land that I hope to get back (the title girl or Texas or Tesla have it) and I am paying for gasoline at all time highs because of the failure from the company I bought a car from to avoid exactly this situation. I would love to sell the car and get another electric vehicle now just so we have one to drive (we don't like driving ICE vehicles anymore), but really we love the Model Y so uncertain what to do.
The person who's MCO I received never had an issue because I'm not unethical, but here I am getting shafted... frustrating.
I've been very patient with Tesla through all of this and never even yelled on the phone, but as we've not reached 6 months I needed to vent. Thank you for reading and I look forward to your thoughts.
.
