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Is this how Tesla does business? (Long)

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They don't use the term but whats the difference when a manufacturer inspects the car, warranties the car and sell the car? It may not be the greatest inspection but I'm not aware of a minimum standard that makes a car CPO other than the manufacturer selling it as a car they warrant.

i think they got burned in California. Calling a car”certified” there has some legal obligations. I did buy a real Tesla CPO car back when it was possible. I asked for and was refused the “200 point” checklist. I wasn’t in California, and my state doesn’t have regulations, so there was nothing to do. but I recall reading that the refusal to reveal the checklist policy cost them some money, so they dropped the CPO marketing BS.

FWIW, when they refused to show it, I took it to mean it didn’t exist.
 
i think they got burned in California. Calling a car”certified” there has some legal obligations. I did buy a real Tesla CPO car back when it was possible. I asked for and was refused the “200 point” checklist. I wasn’t in California, and my state doesn’t have regulations, so there was nothing to do. but I recall reading that the refusal to reveal the checklist policy cost them some money, so they dropped the CPO marketing BS.

FWIW, when they refused to show it, I took it to mean it didn’t exist.

It doesn't make much sense to me, the 200 point list is now a 70 point list which they advertise on their web site against each "used" car. If you asked for the 70 point check list I imagine you'd get the same problem as I'm not sure Tesla do that inspection with any sense of attention to detail either. They seem to rely on the customer finding the fault on new and used cars and book it in for correction. When you're riding high on demand and people are prepared to put up with most things it is a cheap way to go for them as many things will be accepted or become too much trouble to get fixed.
 
You want a one word answer? Yes.

But driving the car makes it all worth it regardless.

This is what Tesla counts on: enough customers continuing looking the other way and forgiving Tesla of its errors, poor communications, poor expectations management, and lack of accountability.

Problem is, the early-adopter days are over. Tesla can’t get away with this anymore. But getting away with it is still so ingrained in the company culture, from the CEO on down, it’s extremely difficult to fix. First the CEO has to acknowledge the problem, and only after that can he credibly make the proper cultural changes so the company’s teams and systems reflect a stronger urgency around optimizing and sustaining customer success (not just satisfaction).

But the CEO has yet to acknowledge the problem.
 
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. but I recall reading that the refusal to reveal the checklist policy cost them some money, so they dropped the CPO marketing BS.

Actually it had nothing to do with that. One night in around 2016 Elon flippantly tweeted something like: "we don't sell CPO or pre-owned cars, we sell USED cars" and just like that, the CPO label was gone. (I can't find the original tweet, I think it's been deleted). The Re-marketing staff and web team had to scramble the next day to whitewash any mention of "CPO" from their website and change every instance to just "Used".

But the underlying "CPO" program itself didn't change until a year later when they dropped doing the refurbishment step and started selling cars only with the 70-point "safety" inspection and no repairs beyond tires, brakes, or other safety related issues. It was just too expensive to continue offering the refurbs. So no paint touch ups, no dents or scratches fixed, curb rash out the wazoo, and interiors just left dirty and/or trashed.
 
Sorry OP that this happened to you. Experiences like this are unacceptably common with Tesla, unfortunately.

The CPO acronym in Tesla-speak does exist, it stands for Crappy Pre-Owned.

The sad truth is, once you took possession of the vehicle, Tesla promptly throws you into the vast and crowded pool of owners who still have problems with their cars and are waiting for resolutions.

Tesla employees and management probably has a standard response when someone asks what to do to help those owners: "Don't worry about them. We have no competition ".
 
Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I am scheduled to pickup another 2016 P100D this Thursday. This one is $100 cheaper, but is a late 2016 build (FSD capable but not activated) and has half the miles at 17k. We will see if this one is damage free and I will update the thread.

Now I have to figure out if the FSD is worth it!

mcneil141
 
Hi folks,

Is this normal?

TL:DR: Tesla made multiple pricing/listing errors, attempted to deliver a damaged/dirty used car and won’t return my communications.

I found a 2016 P100D at Tesla.com that was exactly what I was looking for.

I originally placed an online reservation on Tuesday, March 24th. I was contacted that afternoon and was told the car would arrive within 7-10 days. Great! Three days later, a used car advisor contacted me to tell me there was a pricing mistake and the actual car price would be $5,000 more and I had until the following Monday to decide to take the car or get a refund for the $100 reservation.

I researched prices and confirmed that the price was very low. I agreed to take the car for $5000 more but with the $500 transfer fee waived. A couple of days later, I found “my” car for sale again (at a lower price) on the Tesla website. I paid the reservation fee again to secure the car and called my advisor.

My advisor admitted there was a mistake in relisting the car, honored the lower online price and waived the $500 transfer fee with a promise to refund the second reservation fee.

3 weeks after my initial reservation, my appointment arrived and I was very excited to finally get the car. At pickup, I expected to see some normal wear and tear found on a 35,000 mile car like swirl marks, light scratches, paint scuffs, light door dings and some interior wear. I was not prepared to find a rear bumper with multiple 18 inch long cracks, missing paint and deformed plastic. This car is rough and will need a new bumper at the minimum. Not to mention all the small scratches and scuffs, there is a significant ding and missing paint on the leading edge of the hood and a good sized ding in the center of it, most likely from a golf ball. The exterior had been washed and waxed, but the interior was a mess. It was vacuumed, but every surface was grimy and dirty. We looked in the console and found an old Tic-Tac. There is white paint on the steering wheel. It was clear that the car had been washed and vacuumed, but no attempt to present a clean car was made.

The delivery guys were great and understood my rejection of the car.

I called the used car center main number because my advisor did not respond to my calls, texts or voicemails that day. I took a vacation day to drive 1.5 hours to the delivery center and wanted to make the best of it. I made an offer that I would accept the car if they repaired the bumper or reduced the price by $1k so that I could have the repair made. I hung around town for 3 more hours hoping to hear a decision. No official response to my offer. I called and texted my advisor a dozen times over the next 3 days with no response. I still don’t have the refund from the duplicate reservation fee.

I work in the apartment business and occasionally deal with escalated resident issues. I have been 100% professional and understanding as I know that business issues can occur. I also understand that we are dealing with a crisis and they may be short staffed. They have no reason to avoid me.

Has anyone else experienced an ordeal like this?
I would never buy a used car from Tesla. You may get lucky and find a gem, or you may get hosed. You unfortunately got hosed. They used to refurb them before the sale, but stopped a couple years ago. Now it is as-is which sucks when you can't actually see what you are getting prior to delivery.
 
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I would never buy a used car from Tesla. You may get lucky and find a gem, or you may get hosed. You unfortunately got hosed. They used to refurb them before the sale, but stopped a couple years ago. Now it is as-is which sucks when you can't actually see what you are getting prior to delivery.
Agreed. Do some searching around this forum before you buy used from Tesla because it's a nightmare for most & Tesla doesn't care much either.
 
Hi all, I am pleased to report that I picked up the car and it is beautiful. As expected, it has a few stone chips and a scratch on the lower rear bumper, but overall, very nice. This car was cleaned before delivery.

The delivery folks in Raleigh NC were great and I am very happy. It was well worth the pain to find the right car.

mcneil141
 
Hi all, I am pleased to report that I picked up the car and it is beautiful. As expected, it has a few stone chips and a scratch on the lower rear bumper, but overall, very nice. This car was cleaned before delivery.

The delivery folks in Raleigh NC were great and I am very happy. It was well worth the pain to find the right car.

mcneil141

Congratulations. I am glad it worked out for you.
 
CPO? So does that mean Tesla certifies them as crappy as well? I don't know of any other car MFG that resells cars in such poor condition and with so much misrepresentation and lack of disclosure. Pretty pathetic IMO and it degrades the brand over time. Musk is clueless about brand degradation and customer service.
Musk is not clueless.
He just doesn’t care as long as people keep buying their cars so why should he?
 
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Musk is not clueless.
He just doesn’t care as long as people keep buying their cars so why should he?

Because this is the way to erode your business and get really poor PR. I know many people that would buy a Tesla but won't because of these easy to mitigate issues. I don't run my businesses this way, meaning poorly. Yes he is clueless to CS, that's why so many people complain about it and they have so many reluctant buyers.