Experiences and options to sell as-is after HV battery failure?

[OrbiterTI4]

Original owner of a Model S 85D. Based on several issues with the vehicle and the Tesla quotes to repair, I'm NOT interested in sinking additional money into the car should something happen HV battery-wise.

From the posts by owners who experienced HV battery failure errors, the only updates or resolutions I tend to see are from ones who go the route of replacement HV batteries from Tesla or a third party. Because I'm not interested in that course of action, I'm looking for insight from any owners still on TMC who went down the "sell as-is" path.

If anyone suffered a HV battery failure and didn't replace with a new/refurb battery, what method did you use to sell your Tesla, what costs/hassles/problems did you incur and would you choose to go the same route again? How long did the process take?

 

[EVRider-FL]

If the battery dies, would you replace the car with another Tesla?

 

[NV Ray]

Original owner of a Model S 85D. Based on several issues with the vehicle and the Tesla quotes to repair, I'm NOT interested in sinking additional money into the car should something happen HV battery-wise.

From the posts by owners who experienced HV battery failure errors, the only updates or resolutions I tend to see are from ones who go the route of replacement HV batteries from Tesla or a third party. Because I'm not interested in that course of action, I'm looking for insight from any owners still on TMC who went down the "sell as-is" path.

If anyone suffered a HV battery failure and didn't replace with a new/refurb battery, what method did you use to sell your Tesla, what costs/hassles/problems did you incur and would you choose to go the same route again? How long did the process take?

Based on folks I talked to in the 1200+ member Facebook Group I started, there are combination of sell as is actions with Teslas that have gotten either the BMS_u029 or BMS_u029 alerts requiring pack repair/replacement - General selling price has been $5k-$10K. Low end is trade in with Tesla (especially with recent Tesla Supercharger Transfer offer), rest is sell private party via Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, other online car selling site.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

If the battery dies, would you replace the car with another Tesla?

Maybe but trending no. Many factors would play in, such as status of tax credits, NACS ports/adapters on other makes, access by non-Teslas to Superchargers, DC charging buildout near our families, our personal auto loan situation, my job commuting status at the time, etc.

Based on folks I talked to in the 1200+ member Facebook Group I started, there are combination of sell as is actions with Teslas that have gotten either the BMS_u029 or BMS_u029 alerts requiring pack repair/replacement - General selling price has been $5k-$10K. Low end is trade in with Tesla (especially with recent Tesla Supercharger Transfer offer), rest is sell private party via Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, other online car selling site.

If there is a market, that's good. I also wonder about the time it would take of getting an agreement with a buyer.

 

[Unamonkey]

I'm in the same situation, too. Second owner of a 2015 MS 85D. Do the prices tend to be on the higher end if it sells with the FUSC?

 

[DewayneP]

To answer Unamonkey, as a person who would purchase a Tesla with a bad battery: No, FUSC would not be worth anything to me. Solely for the reason that there is no way to verify that it will transfer and that you didn't sell it back to Tesla. I'm very dubious as to purchasing a Tesla with FUSC and paying more for it if I can't verify that it will transfer.

 

[3mp_kwh]

If he's selling you the car and FUSC is displayed, than as a private sale FUSC transfers. What am I missing? Doubtful a used dealer would masquerade as a private seller. If there's evidence Tesla is shutting off FUSC for new owners of used Tesla's, ~~bought through private sale, with no dealer owner history (3rd, 4th, etc)~~, please provide it. Even then, you'd have to forget to check if FUSC was active on the display.

Rich Rebuilds got a lot of feedback from one of his latest "Tesla battery" vids, showing that on top of interest in what to do in the OP's situation there are a lot of mechanics looking to learn battery swapping and configuring these cars (not talking random cell replacements). I'm not there, yet, but equipped and as curious as anyone else. Hopefully, he follows up because then these "rollers" might find a better market.

 

[Fgpalmer71]

If he's selling you the car and FUSC is displayed, than as a private sale FUSC transfers. What am I missing? Doubtful a used dealer would masquerade as a private seller. If there's evidence Tesla is shutting off FUSC for new owners of used Tesla's, ~~bought through private sale, with no dealer owner history (3rd, 4th, etc)~~, please provide it. Even then, you'd have to forget to check if FUSC was active on the display.

I think he was trying to say that he doesn't trust the honesty of most sellers. He could buy the car only to find out that the FUSC was stripped by the previous owner and moved to their new Tesla. It could be there when he tested/checked out the car....and then vanish by the time he got it home. SOME people can be shady like that.....

 

[chemble]

I'm facing a similar issue and really struggling to know the right direction to go. I have Model S #1531 with 96,732 miles and everything was working great until about a month ago when the charge port would open, but not unlock. I've replaced several components on the vehicle before and so bought a new charge port off of ebay and installed it. This didn't fix the issue and I expected it was a firmware issue for the charge port, multiple attempts to fix via software downloads were unsuccessful and so I scheduled service with TSC.

Originally, they were going to send a ranger, but the day of appointment, they said they didn't have the right part for the repair. They completely ignored that I had already installed a new charge port and were waiting for a charge port to install. At the next scheduled date for the mobile repair, Tesla service cancelled the ranger and said I must bring it in to the TSC. By this time, the 100 miles of charge was down to 0 (about a month later) and I had to flatbed to the TSC. For this repair, the invoice was to replace the charge port and the 12V battery for an overall cost of about $1000, but tech said it could be less once they run diagnostics. Still thinking it was a software issue and that it would end up just being a 12V replacement, I agreed to the repair even though I had just installed the new charge port.

After they had it for a week, the technicians informed me that there were going to be additional repairs necessary "beyond the charge port." They said, "I need you to be aware there could be a potential issue with the high voltage pack which may also require replacement." The next invoice that they are asking me to approve is for replacing the 10 kW on board charger ($2400+ labor) while still charging me for the new charge port, bringing the total for the repair to $4000 because they are still charging me to replace the charge port, which obviously was not the problem.

So frustrated with TSC and while I would just fix the on board charger if that was the only issue, I can't justify it if they are going to replace that and then tell me that my HV pack also needs replacement. I've sent them a message about the insanity of charging me for a part that I've already replaced when they know that it is not the problem.

At this point, I'm just done with the car and looking for any way to get out of it and get some cash. Any suggestions? I've reached out to 057 technologies on multiple occasions, but I don't get any response.

 

[SO16]

I'm facing a similar issue and really struggling to know the right direction to go. I have Model S #1531 with 96,732 miles and everything was working great until about a month ago when the charge port would open, but not unlock. I've replaced several components on the vehicle before and so bought a new charge port off of ebay and installed it. This didn't fix the issue and I expected it was a firmware issue for the charge port, multiple attempts to fix via software downloads were unsuccessful and so I scheduled service with TSC.

Originally, they were going to send a ranger, but the day of appointment, they said they didn't have the right part for the repair. They completely ignored that I had already installed a new charge port and were waiting for a charge port to install. At the next scheduled date for the mobile repair, Tesla service cancelled the ranger and said I must bring it in to the TSC. By this time, the 100 miles of charge was down to 0 (about a month later) and I had to flatbed to the TSC. For this repair, the invoice was to replace the charge port and the 12V battery for an overall cost of about $1000, but tech said it could be less once they run diagnostics. Still thinking it was a software issue and that it would end up just being a 12V replacement, I agreed to the repair even though I had just installed the new charge port.

After they had it for a week, the technicians informed me that there were going to be additional repairs necessary "beyond the charge port." They said, "I need you to be aware there could be a potential issue with the high voltage pack which may also require replacement." The next invoice that they are asking me to approve is for replacing the 10 kW on board charger ($2400+ labor) while still charging me for the new charge port, bringing the total for the repair to $4000 because they are still charging me to replace the charge port, which obviously was not the problem.

So frustrated with TSC and while I would just fix the on board charger if that was the only issue, I can't justify it if they are going to replace that and then tell me that my HV pack also needs replacement. I've sent them a message about the insanity of charging me for a part that I've already replaced when they know that it is not the problem.

At this point, I'm just done with the car and looking for any way to get out of it and get some cash. Any suggestions? I've reached out to 057 technologies on multiple occasions, but I don't get any response.

Sadly, 057 appears to be defunct at this time. There are other threads about this.

Maybe you can get the old (new) part and resell it to cover some of that cost. But I agree that this service center just appears to be throwing parts at the problem without understanding it.

 

[chemble]

Sadly, 057 appears to be defunct at this time. There are other threads about this.

Maybe you can get the old (new) part and resell it to cover some of that cost. But I agree that this service center just appears to be throwing parts at the problem without understanding it.

So they still haven't figured it out and are asking me to pay for more parts to throw at it. First, the made me wait for 2-3 weeks for them to get a new charge port even though I had already gotten one, installed it, and told them it didn't help. When they installed the third one and were trying to charge me for it, I went off and they finally agreed to not charge me for that. Next they replaced the on-board charger. Apparently that didn't work either because now they are asking me to pay for a rear HV junction box. Stressed because I think they are going to end up having me on the hook for $4k worth of repairs and then tell me its the HV battery and they want $xxxxx.xx for that. Anybody know where this is leading?

 

[SO16]

So they still haven't figured it out and are asking me to pay for more parts to throw at it. First, the made me wait for 2-3 weeks for them to get a new charge port even though I had already gotten one, installed it, and told them it didn't help. When they installed the third one and were trying to charge me for it, I went off and they finally agreed to not charge me for that. Next they replaced the on-board charger. Apparently that didn't work either because now they are asking me to pay for a rear HV junction box. Stressed because I think they are going to end up having me on the hook for $4k worth of repairs and then tell me its the HV battery and they want $xxxxx.xx for that. Anybody know where this is leading?

That is ridiculous.

I would go there and talk to the service manager and say “are you going to make me pay for every part whether it needs replacement or not?”

 

[chemble]

That is ridiculous.

I would go there and talk to the service manager and say “are you going to make me pay for every part whether it needs replacement or not?”

That's good advice, I'll be going tomorrow.

 

[SO16]

That's good advice, I'll be going tomorrow.

And if that person is a real jerk about it, add “I shouldn’t have to pay for such poor troubleshooting skills.”

But start off being nice of course. Only do this as a last resort.

 

[brainhouston]

I'm in the same situation, too. Second owner of a 2015 MS 85D. Do the prices tend to be on the higher end if it sells with the FUSC?

To answer Unamonkey, as a person who would purchase a Tesla with a bad battery: No, FUSC would not be worth anything to me. Solely for the reason that there is no way to verify that it will transfer and that you didn't sell it back to Tesla. I'm very dubious as to purchasing a Tesla with FUSC and paying more for it if I can't verify that it will transfer.

I think he was trying to say that he doesn't trust the honesty of most sellers. He could buy the car only to find out that the FUSC was stripped by the previous owner and moved to their new Tesla. It could be there when he tested/checked out the car....and then vanish by the time he got it home. SOME people can be shady like that.....

To answer all 3 above, there's already procedure in place for this.
Buyer can verify SC01 status in-person thru sellers app then seller enters buyers email into app when removing the car
It instantly transfers to new account n buyer can verify SC01 code n finish the purchase.

@chemble did u have any error codes?
have u tried pulling manual release after port was open?

 

[chemble]

So I finally got my Model S back today. It has been inoperable since October, what a pain. Good news was that the HV battery is fine. I never got any error codes (at least not until I started trying to fix it). I replaced the charge port and that was the first thing Tesla Service did. Then, they replaced the on-board charger. That cost me over $3k. Next they replaced the HV junction box and that with those two changes, it's back in action. Total invoice was $4600 and the car was out of commission for >2 months - at this point what I expect from Tesla Service.

 

[chemble]

I'll be listing a 2012 Model S with 97k miles in the classified soon. Plus I have a number of charge ports from the ordeal that I now know work just fine. I was also able to procure the supposedly broken HV on board charger and HV junction box that I'm ready to part with. Had to work pretty hard to get those parts and they were not pleased they couldn't refurb them (probably swap a resistor or something) and then pop them back in some other poor guys car and charge them $4500. I'd be out of Tesla completely because of how painful Tesla service is to deal with except my wife loves them, the S was her old car nobody would give us a good trade for when she got her 21 Model X. It's going back to the shop later this month for a vibration during acceleration. If they can't handle the repair efficiently, we're going to trade it in on a Ford.

 

[TimT]

I'll be listing a 2012 Model S with 97k miles in the classified soon. Plus I have a number of charge ports from the ordeal that I now know work just fine. I was also able to procure the supposedly broken HV on board charger and HV junction box that I'm ready to part with. Had to work pretty hard to get those parts and they were not pleased they couldn't refurb them (probably swap a resistor or something) and then pop them back in some other poor guys car and charge them $4500. I'd be out of Tesla completely because of how painful Tesla service is to deal with except my wife loves them, the S was her old car nobody would give us a good trade for when she got her 21 Model X. It's going back to the shop later this month for a vibration during acceleration. If they can't handle the repair efficiently, we're going to trade it in on a Ford.

Very relieved it was not the HV. Sorry to read about all the TSC issues. Keeping my fingers crossed with my 2015 70.