EAP on window sticker but I didn’t pay for it, it worked initially and then didn’t

[FM1988]

Hi guys,

first post here and it is a long one. I have not been able to find anything similar happen to anyone else. I ended up buying a Model 3 October 2018, delivered to Cleveland in November. That's not really all that exciting... Went through all the usual early Model 3 problems with paint needing to be refinished and some scratches on the interior with parts needing replacement. So far pretty standard, although living in Detroit makes it a little more difficult with no Tesla dealers being here.

OK, now to the interesting part. When I bought the Model 3 LR AWD I wasn't prepared to pay for the autopilot and at that time it wasn't a standard feature. The car ended up being around $60k with the blue color option. Drove to Cleveland, took delivery of the vehicle and was a little surprised when the guy started explaining the autopilot to me. Turns out even the window sticker for my car was showing the enhanced autopilot option as selected. Drove for a while for the calibration and - voila - it was all there. Navigate on autopilot, parking, etc. Awesome technology. There are not other words for it. I drive a lot and the autopilot really took the stress out of it. I got used to it pretty quickly and did a ton of test drives even with strangers at supercharging stations and with out customers (automotive engineers for other car manufacturers) and everyone was equally impressed.

Imagine my surprise when I drove to work one day a few weeks ago (on autopilot) and tried to go get food for lunch and almost crashed into a car because the auto pilot didn't activate. I figured it might be an update and the car just needed a sleep cycle to reset. Nothing... Not even cruise control without the autopilot. This is over 9 months since I took delivery. So I contacted Tesla service and they told me I never had autopilot and anything that I might have had was a trial. When asking for the terms and conditions of that trial nothing could be provided. I contacted the dealer in Cleveland where I picked it up and sent him a picture of the window sticker with the enhanced autopilot. He also said I never bought it and he didn't know anything beyond that.

I am currently trying to see if I have any legal options based on the window sticker and the fact that I had this for 9 months already and they took it away over the air without even a warning.

So bear with me on my thought process:

You buy a new car from any manufacturer. You go to pick the car up and it happens to have 19" wheels instead of the 18"s you ordered. The option is clearly visible on the window sticker and you take delivery of the car and go on driving it enjoying the beautiful 19"s. 9 months later you drive to work. When you get out to take your lunch break a technician of the car manufacturer has, without notifying you, removed the wheels that you have had for 9 months. The nuts have kind of been tightened but not really, putting you in a moderate amount of danger. Would this be acceptable?

What do you think should happen? In my opinion it was their mistake and my property and just because they can make that change doesn't mean they should be allowed to. What's on the window sticker is supposed to be in the car. What if I sold the car now with the window sticker? Would I be responsible for the missing feature?

The service was terrible. They ignored me, didn't provide the terms and conditions of the "Trial" and didn't pick up the phone when I tried calling.

What do you guys suggest I do? I love Tesla and I love my car but I think this is just wrong.

 

[jimmym1981]

I'm a bit confused. Your sticker says it has autopilot, but you didn't purchase it with the car? The sticker says 62,700 but you are saying you paid 60K. Is that after taxes and fees?

 

[jmaddr]

Sorry, you may not like this but I don’t think you have any recourse. You didn’t pay for it. If you had a bill of sale with it on it, that might be different. The windows sticker is not legally binding. I think a better analogy might be that couple who were arrested after they spent money which was deposited by mistake in their account.

How much is it now for you to add?

 

[PowerBankT]

Sounds like you're upset that you got something you didn't pay for, and it was taken away?

Tesla is not at fault here. You didn't pay for it. If it were a vehicles wheels, any dealership would ask you to bring the car back in to get you in the correct vehicle or sort out financing. Legal options? lol....... You legally can purchase something you enjoyed pro bono for a while, accidentally..... what on earth....

 

[FM1988]

I'm a bit confused. Your sticker says it has autopilot, but you didn't purchase it with the car? The sticker says 62,700 but you are saying you paid 60K. Is that after taxes and fees?

Sorry, I can see how that might be confusing. I paid less than what is on the sticker because I did not order the enhanced auto pilot.

 

[smatthew]

If the Monroney sticker was wrong, you should have asked them to re-print it.

And if you've enjoyed autopilot so much, why don't you purchase it?

 

[Nocturnal]

I don't see any recourse. The window sticker isn't a binding agreement. If it's not in your sales contract that's it.

 

[Evergreeen]

When i moved into this apartment i had free cable for a year

 

[FM1988]

Sorry, you may not like this but I don’t think you have any recourse. You didn’t pay for it. If you had a bill of sale with it on it, that might be different. The windows sticker is not legally binding. I think a better analogy might be that couple who were arrested after they spent money which was deposited by mistake in their account.

How much is it now for you to add?

They want $8k. I asked for them to propose a deal because a mistake was clearly made. It's not like I wouldn't spend money on it but I do feel there was a mistake made on Tesla's part. We sell equipment that has features enabled via firmware and if there was ever a mistake made upon delivery and the customer received it, we wouldn't take it back. I feel a little cheated, as the features I want are now standard with cheaper vehicles. Just feel screwed over as an early adopter and the fact they refuse to work with me on gettin me a deal that get's me the features back.

If the sticker isn't of any legal substance, why have it at all?

 

[Jffurlan]

I went through an identical situation, and unfortunately you never had autopilot. There is (to my knowledge) nothing legally binding about the Monroney. Your analogy of the wheels is also inaccurate because this is software not hardware.

My Monroney said I had autopilot despite not paying for it. After about six weeks of full self driving, it completely disappeared. When I called Tesla they said I should have had it and they would get it re-enabled based on the Monroney. This went on for weeks with me going back and forth with Tesla and getting different stories, but no autopilot.

Finally, I got in touch with a Manager at one of the service centres who explained to me that the cars are built pre loaded with common software configurations, and after delivery are synced to the server based on what options you purchased. This can take months to be corrected. The Monroney is not printed after you order, and the only thing the matters is your MVPA. The options there determine what you have.

While it is incredibly frustrating, and even misleading, you did get 9 months of free software features. My advice (if you feel you are owed something) is to argue that AP and FSD were cheaper 9 months ago and you would have bought at those prices if you knew you had too. There’s a fair argument that if you had known you would have had to buy it, then you obviously would have before the prices went up.

 

[mongo]

You knew you didn't buy EAP. The only mistake on Tesla's part was not disabling it sooner.

 

[FM1988]

If the Monroney sticker was wrong, you should have asked them to re-print it.

And if you've enjoyed autopilot so much, why don't you purchase it?

Because it is now

If the Monroney sticker was wrong, you should have asked them to re-print it.

And if you've enjoyed autopilot so much, why don't you purchase it?

I feel a little cheated by the whole thing because they just took it away no warning and people who are not early adopters now receive it for free in a cheaper vehicle. There was a mistake made and now I am asked to cover all the costs by myself without Tesla compromising one bit. Reading this it feels more like complaining about bad customer service

 

[FM1988]

I went through an identical situation, and unfortunately you never had autopilot. There is (to my knowledge) nothing legally binding about the Monroney. Your analogy of the wheels is also inaccurate because this is software not hardware.

My Monroney said I had autopilot despite not paying for it. After about six weeks of full self driving, it completely disappeared. When I called Tesla they said I should have had it and they would get it re-enabled based on the Monroney. This went on for weeks with me going back and forth with Tesla and getting different stories, but no autopilot.

Finally, I got in touch with a Manager at one of the service centres who explained to me that the cars are built pre loaded with common software configurations, and after delivery are synced to the server based on what options you purchased. This can take months to be corrected. The Monroney is not printed after you order, and the only thing the matters is your MVPA. The options there determine what you have.

While it is incredibly frustrating, and even misleading, you did get 9 months of free software features. My advice (if you feel you are owed something) is to argue that AP and FSD were cheaper 9 months ago and you would have bought at those prices if you knew you had too. There’s a fair argument that if you had known you would have had to buy it, then you obviously would have before the prices went up.

That's great advice! Thank you! The tech is awesome and I do see that it's worth money. Maybe this is the way to not take a huge hit.

 

[FM1988]

That's great advice! Thank you! The tech is awesome and I do see that it's worth money. Maybe this is the way to not take a huge hit.

Do you know how what the price levels were at different points in time? Is there a forum entry that keeps track?

 

[Kuhz]

What does your final agreement paperwork that you signed say? Bet it doesn’t have EAP listed. Most Teslas came with EAP (when it was an option) because that’s what most people wanted anyway. However if you wanted to you could remove that software to save yourself 5k. You did that and on top of it enjoyed 9 months of free AP and now want your cake and eat it too.

 

[mongo]

I feel a little cheated by the whole thing because they just took it away no warning

The warning was that you did not pay for it. You never owned it. You know this.

and people who are not early adopters now receive it for free in a cheaper vehicle.

Irrelevant, and the included feature set is traffic aware cruise control + Autosteer. Not NoA, smart summon, auto park, etc. Plus, Tesla raised the price of the car when they included it. Tesla announces open-ended price increase of 'Full Self Driving' feature

There was a mistake made and now I am asked to cover all the costs by myself without Tesla compromising one bit.

Which is no different that the situation when you bought the car. (Beyond the price going up).

 

[Jffurlan]

Do you know how what the price levels were at different points in time? Is there a forum entry that keeps track?

You could see if they could honour the price of EAP on your Monroney? They don’t sell EAP anymore but if you want both maybe they’ll use that as a starting point?

 

[Bill Foster]

I suggest paying for it, if you want it.

Really you got a 9 month trial for FREE. you should be happy

 

[Az_Rael]

I am currently trying to see if I have any legal options based on the window sticker

I suspect the document you will be held to is your MVPA, which was your contract. There are some regulations regarding Moroney stickers, but I am not sure how they would play here.

This is not that uncommon of a situation with Tesla, normally they catch up eventually and remove the software. Biggest example was all the folks who bought SRs but were delivered SR+ until Tesla could update their cars.

 

[FM1988]

The warning was that you did not pay for it. You never owned it. You know this.


Irrelevant, and the included feature set is traffic aware cruise control + Autosteer. Not NoA, smart summon, auto park, etc. Plus, Tesla raised the price of the car when they included it. Tesla announces open-ended price increase of 'Full Self Driving' feature



Which is no different that the situation when you bought the car. (Beyond the price going up).

Thanks for the link. based on that I should be able to get at least Autopilot (not EAP) for $2k, which I would consider a fair deal.