Do NOT try to buy an early employee Model 3 used any time soon....

[ModelNforNerd]

Tesla Model 3 Photos Flooding Instagram — Florida, Texas, New York, Ohio (+ Interesting Employee Car Agreement Details Leaked)


Details about the employee agreement have been leaked, one of them being:

Tesla reserved the right to “reduce or disable certain functionality” in a vehicle that was quickly flipped.



Basically, if they find out you tried to flip the car, they may effectively neuter it, destroying its resale value.

 

[speedy]

Tesla reserved the right to “reduce or disable certain functionality” in a vehicle that was quickly flipped.
Basically, if they find out you tried to flip the car, they may effectively neuter it, destroying its resale value.

That clause is in there only if you sell it for more than the original price...

There appears to be only 2 restrictions that I can see:

1) The car must be initially registered to the employee or family member
2) The car may not be bartered, sold or exchanged for more than the original purchase price

Both seem reasonable and doesn't preclude the employee from selling the car if they so choose..

 

[dsvick]

On the other hand I'd have no problems contacting one of them and telling them I'm interested in order to score a test drive !!

 

[flamingoezz]

I really doubt they can do this to the resale buyer. sure they can enter into an agreement with their employees to deter them from selling, but they can't punish a buyer who has no relationship to tesla and has not accepted that agreement.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

That clause is in there only if you sell it for more than the original price...

There appears to be only 2 restrictions that I can see:

1) The car must be initially registered to the employee or family member
2) The car may not be bartered, sold or exchanged for more than the original purchase price

Both seem reasonable and doesn't preclude the employee from selling the car if they so choose..

Either way, I think Tesla did a good job of protecting themselves here.

As long as they start delivering to non-employees.....literally ANY DAY NOW, it becomes moot anyway.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I really doubt they can do this to the resale buyer. sure they can enter into an agreement with their employees to deter them from selling, but they can't punish a buyer who has no relationship to tesla and has not accepted that agreement.

I think they did it because in this early phase, these cars are basically rolling betas. It would make sense to have employees playing with unfinished UIs, but they reserve the right to restrict customers' access to an unfinished product.

I totally get it. But again, moot point if they start deliveries soon.

 

[oktane]

Doesn’t matter what your agreement says, tesla cannot remotely disable cars simply because they are sold.

 

[ecarfan]

Doesn’t matter what your agreement says, tesla cannot remotely disable cars simply because they are sold.

And yet, it appears they can in fact do that if the original purchaser violates the terms of their purchase agreement.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

..

And yet, it appears they can in fact do that if the original purchaser violates the terms of their purchase agreement.

Yea, I'm inclined to believe that a multi billion dollar company's lawyers are better than anyone I could wrangle up.

 

[ecarfan]

Yesterday there was a thread on TMC started by a member, whose profile said they were located in Moscow, who wanted to buy a Model 3 immediately and said they were willing to pay $70K or more for it. It was pointed out that Tesla/SpaceX employees were currently prohibited from reselling their new Model 3’s for a profit.

I just searched for that thread but can’t find it.

 

[TexasEV]

If a Tesla employee didn’t like the restriction, he could always defer his purchase until the cars were available to the public.

 

[Runt8]

..



Yea, I'm inclined to believe that a multi billion dollar company's lawyers are better than anyone I could wrangle up.

Lawyers regularly draw up contracts that they know aren’t enforceable, knowing that the threat is enough to dissuade most people. I’m certainly not qualified to say whether or not this contract falls in that category. My gut says that Tesla would lose a lawsuit brought on by the second buyer, but I’m betting they could fire the employee who broke the contract.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Lawyers regularly draw up contracts that they know aren’t enforceable, knowing that the threat is enough to dissuade most people. I’m certainly not qualified to say whether or not this contract falls in that category. My gut says that Tesla would lose a lawsuit brought on by the second buyer, but I’m betting they could fire the employee who broke the contract.

Again....we're hopefully days away from it being a moot point.

 

[Big Dog]

^^Perhaps, but a law suit would take months, and by that time, production ramps up.

Likely, Tesla is more concerned about a competitor buying one to take it apart than selling it to a collector in Florida who is willing to pay 2x.

 

[tomas]

^^Perhaps, but a law suit would take months, and by that time, production ramps up.

Likely, Tesla is more concerned about a competitor buying one to take it apart than selling it to a collector in Florida who is willing to pay 2x.

Bingo. Or a hobbyist on a forum who will blog their dissection.

 

[jhs_7645]

I think they did it because in this early phase, these cars are basically rolling betas. It would make sense to have employees playing with unfinished UIs, but they reserve the right to restrict customers' access to an unfinished product.

I totally get it. But again, moot point if they start deliveries soon.

^^^ This

reduce or disable certain functionality

The employees getting the car now are most certainly getting versions of the software that have functionality that likely will never ship / beta features / bug reporting tools / diagnostic tools. My company often times releases software to employees that have features/etc.. that would be harmful to future business if they were to be released to the public. I'm sure that's the case here.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

So, why would you disagree with something I literally posted the link to.

You're disagreeing with Tesla, right?

I'm only the messenger here.

I think maybe we're due for a refresh of the comment rating system.

 

[speedy]

The employees getting the car now are most certainly getting versions of the software that have functionality that likely will never ship / beta features / bug reporting tools / diagnostic tools.

I believe this to be true, so that if that car is sold, Tesla has the right to disable those aspects of the sw. For example, maybe current employees are getting free Supercharging while they help 'beta' these cars. Tesla could certainly disable that feature if the car is sold, as free Supercharging is not included in the standard features...

 

[jhs_7645]

So, why would you disagree with something I literally posted the link to.

You're disagreeing with Tesla, right?

I'm only the messenger here.

I think maybe we're due for a refresh of the comment rating system.

I didn't disagree? ??? I clicked 'informative'.

 

[speedy]

I totally get it. But again, moot point if they start deliveries soon.

Wait, did I miss something? Is Design Studio for Model 3 already open to non employees? Have early reservation folks configured their vehicle already? That has to happen before Tesla can build and deliver, right? Even if Design Studio is open now, it would seem the earliest delivery for current orders would be around end of December, assuming 'production hell' doesn't play a role.....

My view on Tesla trying to prevent employees reselling at a profit is to prevent a black market for the Model 3. Folks who can make money on the Internet with Model 3 reviews, etc are willing to pay a premium for one as it makes them money. But that just drives up the price of the car and encourages opportunists and Tesla does not want their employees to be part of that. I can understand that, so having a clause the prevents profiteering from your privileged position is entirely reasonable. They don't prevent you from selling your car, just not at a premium.