How did you initiate the process? I just spoke to the service manager at our local Tesla and requested a buyback. She said she’ll get it started but it will take 30-40 days for a response. I was informed by another member here that I should email [email protected].
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Lemon law buyback successes without having opted out of arbitration?
- Thread starter sorka
- Start date
- I opted out of arbitration when I purchased the car by sending the opt out
- I have won against Tesla in the past using lawyers. It cost me nothing and they handled everything. Perhaps I got less of a settlement than I could have?
- Yesterday I opened another service case for my car. This time it was a noise complaint and they wanted to charge me $450. Likely to be waived after visit or perhaps if I can't replicate the issue, they just blow me off again. I said that was ridiculous and in the service chat that I want to have them buyback and to forward to appropriate people. The service rep said they have forwarded to management.
- My latest issue is I believe a front axle needs to be replaced. When stopping (without brakes) it has a clicking noise. My entire car sounds like styrofoam box rubbing against each other constantly depending how the FWD closes. Over time its just getting worse that it is embarrassing. Over the life of the car, it has been in service more than 30 days which
- it has been in twice for safety restraint issues
I had the car transferred from my wife's tesla account to mine, but I haven't been able to get them to send me service records while it was in my wife's tesla account.
Did you fill out the paperwork for the buyback when you surrendered the car, or ahead of time? I'm working in another state, so trying to figure out if I'll have to come home twice or just once.
I filled a case with the NCDS and Tesla offered a buyback within a week of me doing that. They're trying to avoid having the car titled as a lemon buyback is my guess. Anyways, I rejected their offer and proceeded with arbitration. We've had the car almost 3 years and put 50,000 miles on it. The arbitrator still ruled in our favor even though Tesla said lemon law buyback is limited to first year of ownership in Colorado.
I get it. You've been lucky twice. This is not how it usually goes with binding arbitration. Again, the judges are paid for by Tesla so there's a massive conflict of interest.
If you opt out of binding arbitration within the first 30 days of purchase, it doesn't mean you can't still go that route, it just means you aren't forced.
Also, with arbitration, all you can at most is what you paid. In my first lemon law suite years ago over my C5, I was awarded an extra $10K punitive in the settlement on top of my total expenses because had it actually gone to court, the punitive damages would have been even higher. With binding arbitration, there is no punitive.
Now for those that didn't opt out and are subject by binding arbitration, asking Tesla to buy your vehicle back is a pretty good option. Lots of had success sending their request to [email protected].
As to title branding, in California, if the manufacture agrees to buy your vehicle back because you claimed it had defects they were unwilling to or unable to fix, they must brand the title as a lemon even if the case was settled outside of the courts or arbitration.
in the service app i requested a buyback and they had the local service center email [email protected] to start the process of buyback. That email address is not mailable from outside tesla, it bounces back
Do you have proof they did what they said? I'm inclined to believe that email address is not real.
Your contract says exactly what you need to do to request a buyback. Why not just do what it says?
I was CC'd on the email that was sent to CMManagement. I replied back and CMManagement email address said it is a valid address but only intended for Tesla employees.
The email says it can take up to 30 days for a response on whether they will buy it back. I know 2 people that went the route of the service advisors at the local Tesla and they both got pretty much the entire purchase price back.
The email says it can take up to 30 days for a response on whether they will buy it back. I know 2 people that went the route of the service advisors at the local Tesla and they both got pretty much the entire purchase price back.
jbeezely4051
Member
Agreed. No harm in opting out of the arbitration clause to keep your options open.
But for those with clear cut lemon issues with your car, don’t waste your time. I highly recommend just going through the arbitration process and find out your decision in less than 2 months from the day you file your online complaint with your state arbitrator. zero conflict of interest. That may have happened in the 80s when hedge funds had interest in both manufacturers and arbitrating organizations. That was done away with decades ago.
Lawyering up will take at least 6 months minimum before you receive any kind of restitution. Assuming you win. And some states like Florida will refuse any lemon law cases in their courts until an arbitrator is used. Not to mention, lawyers will seek payment no matter what. If they go through pre-trial motions and realize you’re at a disadvantage, they’ll run the hours up and encourage you towards a settlement. For settlements, lawyer fees are not paid by the manufacturer. Only buybacks. The dirty secrets of lawyers. My father is one.
rpo
Member
The service manager at Bellevue refused to do this when I requested it despite that my vehicle had been towed there twice already and literally broke down during my pick up at the service center before I got it to drive at all in addition to dozens of other issues. I wish all service managers were like yours because Bellevue has a well earned 1 star rating on google and is filled with tons of negative reviews mentioning the service manager by name.
I am in Florida. But I think others will find this useful. Sine I am under NDA I cannot say how my case was resolved but I can say that I no longer have 2 Teslas anymore. Florida Law applies regardless of opting out or not. I did not opt out.
rpo
Member
I did not opt out, and actually tried Tesla's arbitrator at the beginning, but Tesla lied to the arbitrator regarding the amount of time spent at service, number of tows, and refused to release service records, so the arbitrator told me that getting legal counsel would be the best way of handling it, so that's what I did.
rpo
Member
Yep, I did not know at the time that the service records would disappear from the app. To be honest, the service records my attorney managed to obtain were pretty abysmal anyways. Some showed the car arriving in service weeks after it was towed to the service center and then had no record of any work being done. And we never received all of the records either.
jbeezely4051 May I ask you some question on your arbitration process in private? Thanks a bunch in advance, just needed some help.
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