model S lease return nightmare

[dippybird6]

After waiting for almost 2 years, I finally got my new model S last month, so I started my old model S lease return when I was informed abut my new model S delivery.
After waiting for more than 3 weeks, I finally got my lease return inspection yesterday.
The inspector charged me almost 4K for various things. He charged me $1600+ for 4 new tires because my old tires are 245/45R19 98V, and he said "the requirement is 245/45R19 98W". However, my Tesla owner manual said "the tire spec for 19 inch car is P245/45R19", He certainly demands something not in the factory manual. Anyone has such exprience?
He charged me another $1600 for color mismatch for different panels, he said it is three shades of red between driver doors and fender, and backdoors. It is insane the color looks exactly the same to me, but he said three panels look different. Does Tesla go this low to rip off lease customers. Do they really need to go get each penny they could to save their sinking stocks?!!!!

 

[Nosken]

In the current used car market, would it be better to pay off the lease residual, and sell it?

 

[dippybird6]

@Nosken That was my original plan. For my 2017 Tesla model S with 45K mi, the residual(buy-out quote) they gave me is very high, $45K.
I got a few quotes(shifts/vroom/carmax) from $40K to $45K. I am fine with getting $45K(basically no gain), however, the offer is valid only for 7 days. I would have to use my own money to buy the car from Tesla and get a clean title (which may take 2 mo from DMV) first before I can sell. I do not want to spend $45K and got an extra car stuck here. who knows what is the offer price after 2 month. Year, I heard about the used car marker is hot, but apparently not for Tesla.

 

[DerbyDave]

The V rated tires are cheaper than the W rated tires, which are the standard for Tesla 19" tires. It would be best for you to sell the car yourself and buy the car off lease. Carmax will give you a good price for the car as is, or you can get a better price by selling it yourself. Tesla really does seem uncaring about most things, and all they want is the most money from you they can get now, and that is for all deals -- new or used.

 

[Destiny1701]

Did you perhaps repair the car and the paint job was not done well? There are all sorts of paint repairs. Just wondering…

The tires issue is ridiculous.

 

[dippybird6]

@Destiny1701 the paint part is the most insane part of the whole thing to me. He did not notice/mention anything about the part during the inspection. He wrote me an email that night saying even though he did not notice anything on the spot, he noticed the paint issue from the picture he was taking. I looked hard the next day and could not tell the difference between different panels. the difference could be just from light/shades of the picture he took. Or if there is slight difference, it requires highly trained eyes to tell the difference(I could not tell at all even though I am a picky person,lol), what is the point of he needs to point out such subtle difference except for trying to squeezing out every penny he could? I do not think the next customer would be able to tell at all. I could not tell even after I am determined to find the difference.
On the tire thing, I asked for the reference where "W" requirements come from since it is not in the user manual, he could not come up with any link. the link he sent only says thread depth 4/32. lame.

 

[Destiny1701]

@Destiny1701 the paint part is the most insane part of the whole thing to me. He did not notice/mention anything about the part during the inspection. He wrote me an email that night saying even though he did not notice anything on the spot, he noticed the paint issue from the picture he was taking. I looked hard the next day and could not tell the difference between different panels. the difference could be just from light/shades of the picture he took. Or if there is slight difference, it requires highly trained eyes to tell the difference(I could not tell at all even though I am a picky person,lol), what is the point of he needs to point out such subtle difference except for trying to squeezing out every penny he could? I do not think the next customer would be able to tell at all. I could not tell even after I am determined to find the difference.
On the tire thing, I asked for the reference where "W" requirements come from since it is not in the user manual, he could not come up with any link. the link he sent only says thread depth 4/32. lame.

Can you send some pics here? Curious!
So it was in fact repainted then. I suppose it depends on how good the painter was ‍

 

[dippybird6]

@Destiny1701 here is the picture, I honestly could not tell the difference, can you?

 

[Nosken]

Yes, pretty obvious in the photo.
Did it have body damage?

 

[MP3Mike]

@Destiny1701 here is the picture, I honestly could not tell the difference, can you?

Yep. if you paid a reputable shop for the repair/repaint they normally offer a lifetime warranty. As such they should re-paint what they worked on for free so that it matches.

If you haven't turned the vehicle in yet, which it sounds like you haven't, you should contact whoever did the work and see if they will fix it before you turn it in so you don't have to pay Tesla to fix it. (You could also find a decent set of used tires that are up to Tesla specs to replace what is on there so that you don't have to pay for that either. You might even make money on that deal if your tires are relatively new)

 

[Destiny1701]

@Destiny1701 here is the picture, I honestly could not tell the difference, can you?

Yep. Immediately.
Front fender is a shade or 2 darker.

You should get your painter to repaint and blend properly! Hopefully they can

 

[dippybird6]

@MP3Mike where can I find a decent set of used tires that are up to Tesla specs? I was going to America's tire. thanks for the info!

 

[brkaus]

The initial post did conveniently leave out the paint damage. What was the cause of the paint damage and was there body damage? They now have a car that has diminished value. Did the other offers realize there was paint damage?

Maybe the place that painted the car will split the difference with you if it’s under warranty?

 

[AMPd]

I don’t really see how this is Tesla trying to get every penny out of you, the car clearly looks like it’s been repainted, the shop that did that did a horrible job.

 

[patgilm]

Why does it matter if it’s repainted? One of the benefits of leasing is that even if it’s in an accident and it’s fixed right it’s not your problem. A ton of leased cars have paint work and a lot look worse than the OPs car and they are taken back by the leasing company and sent to auction. Has anyone here ever leased and had an issue turning a car in? I leased a number of times and never had an issue turning it in. The only issue with my BMWs I’ve leased is that if it has runflats it needs to be turned in with runflats.

 

[AMPd]

Why does it matter if it’s repainted? One of the benefits of leasing is that even if it’s in an accident and it’s fixed right it’s not your problem. A ton of leased cars have paint work and a lot look worse than the OPs car and they are taken back by the leasing company and sent to auction. Has anyone here ever leased and had an issue turning a car in? I leased a number of times and never had an issue turning it in. The only issue with my BMWs I’ve leased is that if it has runflats it needs to be turned in with runflats.

But it wasn’t fixed right, the colors obviously don’t match.

 

[lbowroom]

But it wasn’t fixed right, the colors obviously don’t match.

Was it repaired in a Tesla certified shop?

 

[AMPd]

Was it repaired in a Tesla certified shop?

Good question.

 

[TrevTremaine]

Be glad you didn't have burnt out Daytime Running Lamps - those go for about $3000 per unit in Canada.

 

[brkaus]

Be glad you didn't have burnt out Daytime Running Lamps - those go for about $3000 per unit in Canada.

Same here, sadly. I have two black eyes on my car now.. But wouldn't those be a warranty item at this point in the cars life and not an issue for lease return?