Extended Warranty Not Available unless purchased through Tesla?

[MsElectric]

I have exchanged a few communication with Tesla legal to clarify their position on ESA availability on 3rd party purchases as well as to suggest that they add language to their site/agreements to identify that restriction do/may apply. So far no movement on the being authorized or allowed to purchase the ESA. I continue to communicate with the Tesla team and have another year before my warranty runs out so I have time

Why would they possibly limit you from buying an extended warranty as long as the car is under the initial factory warranty? Just about every other automaker allows you to do that... To the best of my knowledge if you buy a car from a private party, you can add the extended warranty on your own as long as it is done prior to the factory warranty expiring. If this is no longer the case it would be good to know...

I never liked the fact that the CPO warranty REPLACES rather than EXTEND the factory warranty, as is the case with other manufacturer's CPO programs. For example, if you bought a 2015 CPO Mercedes, you can extend the initial factory warranty by an additional 2 years at extra cost meaning your car is covered until 2021. With the Tesla CPO Program you are covered until 2019 but there is no way to pay extra to extend that. On the other hand if you bought the same Tesla from a private party and they had bought the 4 year extension, then that same tesla will have warranty coverage through 2023!

The reason this is an issue for us is because we like to keep our cars for 6-7 years. Unfortunately for us the Tesla CPO program and their refusal to accept payment to extend that warranty makes it more desirable for us to purchase a Model S from a private party with the additional 4 year warranty extension. Seems unnecessary as if Tesla is going to the trouble of certifying a car, they should be able to stand behind the car by offering the same warranty extension choices.

I'm not asking for something for nothing here but it would be nice to have the option to pay for a warranty extension as allowed by other car manufacturers...

 

[Maaz]

This is not true. I have screen shots of emails with tesla from when I bought my P85 from a private party, the car is still
inder warranty and tesla has responded to me
saying " You can choose to extend this warranty for an additional 4 years and/or 50,000 miles, as long as you purchase the extension within 30 days of the expiration of the original warranty."

 

[tomanik]

This is not true. I have screen shots of emails with tesla from when I bought my P85 from a private party, the car is still
inder warranty and tesla has responded to me
saying " You can choose to extend this warranty for an additional 4 years and/or 50,000 miles, as long as you purchase the extension within 30 days of the expiration of the original warranty."

Of the people I have spoken to so far from my Service Center and Tesla Corporate, for my situation it does seem to be the case that I can purchase the ESA. I am still within the new vehicle warranty period but having purchased the vehicle from a 3rd party I have so far been told that I cannot purchase the ESA. The best answer I have received as to why is that having been purchased from a 3rd party they are unsure of its history (ex. maybe the car has been salvaged).

If you have an email stating you can purchase the ESA then hold onto it.

Also, when you log into your Tesla account (my.teslamotors.com) do you have a link that provides the option to purchase services, such as the ESA agreement, under your P85?

 

[Maaz]

Hm let me check for you. Also do you think it's different because you're from Canada and warranty laws are different or something?

Tomanik, nothing of the sort on mytesla, but it also says it has trouble loading my documents and won't show anything even after a refresh.

 

[tomanik]

Hm let me check for you. Also do you think it's different because you're from Canada and warranty laws are different or something?

Tomanik, nothing of the sort on mytesla, but it also says it has trouble loading my documents and won't show anything even after a refresh.

That is the same behavior that my '3rd party' purchased P85 has in my account as well. Also uploading a document always fails. This was not the case for my other Model S which was purchased new from Tesla. I had spoken to Tech Support originally about this as I thought maybe there was an issue with my account and why I could not purchase services (ex. ESA) for the used P85, something I had successfully done with my previous Model S. As far as I have been able to determine unless this link is provided there is no way to purchase the ESA.

Anyway, yes it could be a Canada thing or any number of other reasons. Still curious if anyone has been successful in purchasing an ESA for a privately bought Tesla Model S

 

[MsElectric]

Of the people I have spoken to so far from my Service Center and Tesla Corporate, for my situation it does seem to be the case that I can purchase the ESA. I am still within the new vehicle warranty period but having purchased the vehicle from a 3rd party I have so far been told that I cannot purchase the ESA. The best answer I have received as to why is that having been purchased from a 3rd party they are unsure of its history (ex. maybe the car has been salvaged).

I think this is an extremely silly and nonsensical statement by them as they also refuse to sell an extended warranty even for their own CPO cars, and they presumably know the history of the CPO cars that they sell It's a horrible policy because if you buy a 2015 CPO car you are stuck with only 4 years of warranty coverage with no way to extend that any further. As long as the car is under warranty they should allow you to buy an extended warranty IMHO.

 

[fstech]

+1 It would great if someone could chime in who has purchased an ESA for a privately purchased Model S. @tomanik thanks for the update.

 

[tliving]

At the moment this is the only deficiency I see with Tesla's CPO program and the only reason we'd opt for a private party purchase over a CPO purchase.

Im not in this state but out of curiosity, is there a way to confirm if a Model S is covered by the extended warranty or not?

 

[MsElectric]

Im not in this state but out of curiosity, is there a way to confirm if a Model S is covered by the extended warranty or not?

I bet if you call your local SC and give the VIN they would let you know. At least any car dealer will give you that information over the phone and I hope it is safe to assume that Tesla would offer the same information. Otherwise if you are buying a car from a private party, I bet you can go to the SC with that person and they hopefully have some way to print that out for you and hopefully also print a copy of the car's service records.

Has anyone been able to get a Tesla SC to print the car's service records or email that information to you?

 

[Cyclone]

Has anyone been able to get a Tesla SC to print the car's service records or email that information to you?

I have asked repeatedly for that info on my CPO and they have thus far, refused w/o being outright on it. "We'll look into it" and two months later, I still don't have them.

 

[tga]

Has anyone been able to get a Tesla SC to print the car's service records or email that information to you?

FWIW, I've read several times here that Tesla will not give you a prior owner's service records, citing "prior owner privacy concerns" or the like.

 

[Cyclone]

FWIW, I've read several times here that Tesla will not give you a prior owner's service records, citing "prior owner privacy concerns" or the like.

I specifically asked them to blackout/whiteout any customer info on the photocopier and call me when to come in for those redacted copies, but still a no-go.

 

[MsElectric]

FWIW, I've read several times here that Tesla will not give you a prior owner's service records, citing "prior owner privacy concerns" or the like.

This is a horrible policy. They can obviously redact customer information. Just about any car dealer out there will give you the service records for the car. With Mercedes it is called VMI (Vehicle Master Index) and it lists the entire service history of the car including services performed and when along with any issues reported and what was done to resolve them. This information was provided with a smile whenever we had bought a CPO Mercedes. In fact if you call to inquire about a CPO Mercedes available for sale, they will gladly fax you the VMI history for the car.

I'm not sure how can Tesla adopt a policy less reasonable than a Mercedes dealer in this situation...

If you were the original owner of the car, would they print the car's service history? I suppose they can't pull this "prior owner privacy" nonsense if you are in fact the original owner. If you are the original owner and you want to list the car with the service records I hope Tesla will provide the service history at least to the original owner.

Personally I wouldn't want to buy a car without the service history records.

- - - Updated - - -

I specifically asked them to blackout/whiteout any customer info on the photocopier and call me when to come in for those redacted copies, but still a no-go.

What reason did they give you for refusing to divulge the service records of the very car that you own? Obviously they can't claim privacy nonsense if they redact that information out.

 

[Cyclone]

They said they would look into it. Repeated the same line a week later. Repeated it at delivery. Repeated it when I took the car in for a few fixes. Repeated it again when I had to go in for another problem. I stopped asking after the sixth time.

 

[CatB]

Also, when I take my car in for service I generally have a lot of surprise upgrades - all n/c - to bring my 7xxx vintage up to factory spec. Am hoping that works for ESA as well. Doubt third party would even know, much less pay for those. I am sure it is all preventive maintenance - which I think is brilliant. That has been happening for mainframes for >30 years TYVM.
I have to giggle smugly when I remember all the early suspicion on whether or not to buy the extra coverage in the early days. I concur with all the "get it from Tesla" advice.

 

[MsElectric]

They said they would look into it. Repeated the same line a week later. Repeated it at delivery. Repeated it when I took the car in for a few fixes. Repeated it again when I had to go in for another problem. I stopped asking after the sixth time.

It's astonishing they are essentially refusing to give you the service records for the car that you actually own.

I think when it comes to service related matters what you get from a car dealer should be the baseline and the bare minimum on what to expect given how universally loathed car dealerships are. It's never good to have a Tesla policy that is less than what you can get at a car dealer.

After looking up several Model S cars on Carfax it became evident that Tesla does not share their service records with CarFax so all you get with Carfax is some idea about whether the car was bought from the factory or as an inventory car along with how many past owners it has had along with any insurance reported accidents.

For service records, Tesla is the only source. I still wonder if they will print the entire service history of a car for the original owner of the car. I can't imagine any excuse they can offer to withhold this information from the original and only owner of the car. I still think if you own the car or if you are considering buying a Model S as CPO, they should share the service history of the car, just like any car dealer would.

 

[tga]

I haven't tried to get service records, so I have no first hand experience. However, I was looking at an S at a local high-end dealer (taken in trade), so there was no prior owner to ask for them.

My plan (which was not put into action because the dealership was unwilling to budge on price), was to take the car to Tesla Service for a PPI and then ask them for a copy of the records. If that didn't fly, my next plan was to ask them to verbally review the records with me, and point out any potential issues. Again, I did not try this, so I don't know if they would do it.

Given that the prior owner's name and address is all over the title you'd get when you buy a new car (from the prior owner or a dealer), I don't see the big deal with having this info on the records. OTOH, service isn't critical; we're not talking about an ICE that will self-destruct if the engine oil isn't changed. Plus, if it's a CPO, you get plenty of warranty to deal with any issues that might come up.

 

[MsElectric]

Given that the prior owner's name and address is all over the title you'd get when you buy a new car (from the prior owner or a dealer), I don't see the big deal with having this info on the records. OTOH, service isn't critical; we're not talking about an ICE that will self-destruct if the engine oil isn't changed. Plus, if it's a CPO, you get plenty of warranty to deal with any issues that might come up.

Except as has been pointed in this thread, Tesla will not sell you an extended warranty. You can buy a 2015 CPO car and your warranty runs out in 2019 with no way to extend it. On the other hand if you by the exact same car from a private party with the extended warranty you have warranty coverage through 2023. This is a big deal for those of us who would never consider owning a premium car out of warranty.

IMHO Tesla should sell an extended warranty for any car that is still covered by the warranty up to the total 8 year warranty period you could normally get. Again I'm not asking for something for nothing, just the option to pay Tesla for extended warranty coverage for peace of mind. I'd much rather pay $4,000 and know the car is covered for 4 more years than find out I'm on the hook for a massive repair bill, especially given only Tesla can service or supply parts for the car...

 

[tga]

Except as has been pointed in this thread, Tesla will not sell you an extended warranty. You can buy a 2015 CPO car and your warranty runs out in 2019 with no way to extend it. On the other hand if you by the exact same car from a private party with the extended warranty you have warranty coverage through 2023. This is a big deal for those of us who would never consider owning a premium car out of warranty.

I understand your concern about owning an out-of-warranty, expensive to fix car, but I think that issue applies whether the car is new, CPO, traded in at a BMW dealer, but I think that 4/50 is probably sufficient for dealing with any problems caused specifically by prior owner service negligence (which, IMHO, should be minimal).

IMHO Tesla should sell an extended warranty for any car that is still covered by the warranty up to the total 8 year warranty period you could normally get. Again I'm not asking for something for nothing, just the option to pay Tesla for extended warranty coverage for peace of mind. I'd much rather pay $4,000 and know the car is covered for 4 more years than find out I'm on the hook for a massive repair bill, especially given only Tesla can service or supply parts for the car...

No argument here, but in my mind "No extended warranty sales to subsequent owners" is a different issue than "No sharing of service records with subsequent owners"

 

[MsElectric]

I understand your concern about owning an out-of-warranty, expensive to fix car, but I think that issue applies whether the car is new, CPO, traded in at a BMW dealer, but I think that 4/50 is probably sufficient for dealing with any problems caused specifically by prior owner service negligence (which, IMHO, should be minimal).

I think you and I see extended warranties differently. We don't necessarily look to an extended warranty to just protect us from any past negligence or defects but to offer us complete peace of mind for repairs. We also usually keep our cars for about 6 years so 4 years of coverage is not sufficient for us and this is where the thread's topic of Tesla not selling an extended warranty to anyone but the original owner comes in. Every other car manufacturer we have bought cars from offers the extension of the warranty at additional cost. Mercedes for example allows you to extend the CPO warranty for up to 7 years.

As I've said before this is not about getting something for free but paying for the extension warranty just as the original owner is able to do.

Tesla's Refusal to sell an extended warranty as well as essentially conceal service records of the car have been brought up in this thread I think because they are both examples of Tesla policy being worse than the policy of a car dealer and that's never a good place to be... IMHO Tesla policies need to be at least on par with the policy of a typical car dealer, and I'm sure most would agree that is a pretty low bar

Moral of the story here seems to be if you are buying a lightly used car and care about long term warranty coverage, buy it from a private party with the extended warranty. Seems odd because you'd think tesla will stand behind their CPO cars for extended warranty purchases as the same car is ostensibly eligible for extended warranty purchase when owned by the original owner, as the car is still under the factory warranty.

This is just a bad policy IMHO from an otherwise wonderful car company and I hope this policy is revisited by Tesla and made right. Especially considering CPO cars are thoroughly checked by Tesla, I'm not sure why they are refusing to sell extended warranties for those cars.