Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

My CPO experience is already awful.

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Wow,

I recently received my CPO in the Raleigh area and it wasn't nearly as bad, I would assume the same folks were involved.. That being said I am super pushy and annoying. I would call the delivery manager the sales guys and the service manager until I would get a response. I went as far as tracking down the body shop that the work was being done at. They gave me the best timeline and ended up being spot on. After delivery the service team has been super awesome by the way. So far every request I have made regarding issues have been addressed. Sorry you went through all this trouble.. I find it interesting that Tesla would take this approach with there growing CPO market. For the cost you would expect white glove service. I am almost 100% sure this comes down to the amount of money Tesla pays there employees, Cmon Tesla!! Step up your customer service game!

I'm glad to hear that the Raleigh service team does a good job!

I was called by my delivery specialist and he confirmed that they would be receiving the car this week and sans major problems in the car (that was missed by the Orlando team) I should get delivery this week.

Outlook: Cautious optimism

BTW did you look at any checklists o something before you took delivery? What's your car? I'm glad it worked out great for you.
 
Yes i asked them to provide some docs like an alignment report and the list of work they did.. You also have a place for the delivery person to write down any issues you see. I only found a few at delivery, but then after living with it for a few days I found other leather and trim issues inside that Trevor agreed to fix at no cost. Honestly all of the waiting will be worth it.. And my car is a 2014 dark blue model s 85.. No AP hardware. I didn't see the value as I only drive to work mostly no intestate driving for the most part.. In 4 years I will get an AP2 car for half price:). I do regret not getting a Performance model though.. The speed is very addictive and I already want more!!
 
Yes i asked them to provide some docs like an alignment report and the list of work they did.. You also have a place for the delivery person to write down any issues you see. I only found a few at delivery, but then after living with it for a few days I found other leather and trim issues inside that Trevor agreed to fix at no cost. Honestly all of the waiting will be worth it.. And my car is a 2014 dark blue model s 85.. No AP hardware. I didn't see the value as I only drive to work mostly no intestate driving for the most part.. In 4 years I will get an AP2 car for half price:). I do regret not getting a Performance model though.. The speed is very addictive and I already want more!!

Glad to hear all of that! I'm getting a 85D that doesn't have a lot of options (but does have AP1). I'm sure the speed will be plenty for me but in a year or two I can see myself getting too jealous about a lack of options, plus AP2 will probably be amazing by then, so I'll trade it in for a 2017 CPO when it's 2018 or 2019. Good plan :)

I did get a list of the CPO inspection results & refurbishments and it's a pretty long list. I hope I don't find much more when I take delivery!
 
Glad to hear all of that! I'm getting a 85D that doesn't have a lot of options (but does have AP1). I'm sure the speed will be plenty for me but in a year or two I can see myself getting too jealous about a lack of options, plus AP2 will probably be amazing by then, so I'll trade it in for a 2017 CPO when it's 2018 or 2019. Good plan :)

I did get a list of the CPO inspection results & refurbishments and it's a pretty long list. I hope I don't find much more when I take delivery!

At least you got a list. I don't even know what they've done or inspected yet.
 
So, an interesting update:

My delivery advisor called me to said there were significant problems with the paint work so the car would have to be sent to the body shop, which will take another 1-2 weeks.

To make things a whole lot better though, they're giving me a loaner until then (actually driving it to my house now), even though I haven't signed the final papers yet. As frustrated as I am for this latest delay (2 more weeks puts it at 9 weeks) they really did their best to make the situation a whole lot better for me, so I appreciate that a lot.
 
Ok. So that may be good news for me. Mine is at the body shop/paint shop. However I wasn't offered a loaner. Maybe I should push for that. They expect to get it back today supposedly in the late afternoon. Estimate is that they'll still have another 1/2 day of stuff to do to the car prior to me being able to pick up It's tight, but they claim to still be comfortable for Friday. I of course have my doubts, and they are growing with every passing hour.

Mind you, they thought they'd get it back last Friday. And then Monday. And then Tuesday.
 
Just an update after today's end of day call. NOTHING is going on. Car still isn't back from the body shop. Asked for a loaner, and that was turned down. They now expect it to be back on Thursday, and rather than it being a half day refurbishment, they are pushing out my pick up until Saturday mid day.

Who wants to bet, I'll be cancelling my Model S deposit and Model 3 reservation on Friday afternoon? This has been the most infuriating process I've been through. The past four cars I've purchased I've walked in, bought it and walked out. Less than an hour. This process has been 7 weeks of delays and misinformation.

Even if I do get it on Saturday I'll be shocked if it's even in decent condition. I see notes about dirty cars, not detailed, damage, and other fix it problems.

The worst thing is, I've sold my car, given Tesla was providing a pathetic trade in value on it, on the premise that the car would be ready this week. Hell, they were calling me last week saying it would be ready LAST friday, which is why I finalized the sale of my car on Monday. I've dropped everything I could to be prepared to go get the car from Tesla. I've delayed vacations on the promise that "You'll be able to pick up your car any day now". LIES. This is seriously unacceptable.
 
Just an update after today's end of day call. NOTHING is going on. Car still isn't back from the body shop. Asked for a loaner, and that was turned down. They now expect it to be back on Thursday, and rather than it being a half day refurbishment, they are pushing out my pick up until Saturday mid day.

Who wants to bet, I'll be cancelling my Model S deposit and Model 3 reservation on Friday afternoon? This has been the most infuriating process I've been through. The past four cars I've purchased I've walked in, bought it and walked out. Less than an hour. This process has been 7 weeks of delays and misinformation.

Even if I do get it on Saturday I'll be shocked if it's even in decent condition. I see notes about dirty cars, not detailed, damage, and other fix it problems.

The worst thing is, I've sold my car, given Tesla was providing a pathetic trade in value on it, on the premise that the car would be ready this week. Hell, they were calling me last week saying it would be ready LAST friday, which is why I finalized the sale of my car on Monday. I've dropped everything I could to be prepared to go get the car from Tesla. I've delayed vacations on the promise that "You'll be able to pick up your car any day now". LIES. This is seriously unacceptable.

I'm sorry you are so frustrated, my friend. I have been in a similar situation, but yours seems to be worse. In my situation I didn't think they were "lying" to me - more like they were extremely hard to get a hold onto and provided no information. Oh and they increased the price on me.... forgot about that.

I think the reason I got a loaner car and they turned you down is that their estimate for my car being ready is a week and a half, whereas it seems like they're still expecting your car to be ready within a few days.

In addition, as I've said previously, this thread I opened got noticed by their management and I was called by Todd, who I think heads the CPO program. In addition to him giving me the LTE upgrade for free for my frustrations, last week I called him again and let him know about the constant and ongoing nature of my problems with the process and the people; and he contacted the Raleigh service for me. I am fairly certain this played a hand in them offering me the loaner without me actually having purchased a vehicle from them yet.

Giving me a loaner was an extremely nice thing for them to do, as I am loving the car and this takes care of all my transportation problems that I've been having (like you), and I am very grateful for it, but let's make no mistake here. If their new timeline is correct, it will have been 9 weeks for me to receive my car from day of deposit. They promised me 4-6 weeks.
 
Unfortunately for me they did lie or if not lying outright they were completely misinformed.

I was advised at the beginning before I placed my deposit that if I selected a car that was local to my sc that i could pick it up within 3-4 weeks.

So I did just that. Selected a car that was in Illinois per my salesperson. Was told the car was in pristine condition and didn't Need anything for cpo process so it should be a quick certification. Placed my deposit. When I checked in 2 weeks later to see what progress was made on the car, it was then that I found out the car wasn't local. It was in fact in Connecticut. So inquired when would it be moving. They said any day now. We should still be able to meet the 4 week threshold.

A week passes. I contact them to see where the car is and what needs to be refurbished. At that point I find out the car is stuck in New Jersey. That the car carrier is waiting on other cars. That a snow storm has stranded them there. Still being told 4 weeks is possible.

Week 4 happens. Car has finally started moving. Told it could be plausible in week 5 to get the car. Car arrives. It's then revealed that the car has hail damage to the hood and the rear bumper needs Repainting/replacement. So much for pristine condition.

Week 5 happens. Advised that it could still happen in week 6.

Nothing happens in week 6 although in Wednesday of week 6 I'm called and said that the car might be possible for pick up on Friday of week 6. Friday passes. No call. Chase down salesperson who advises the car hasn't been returned from refurbishment. Should be back on Monday. Chase down both Ds and salesperson Monday. Advised car isn't back yet but could still pick up this Friday. Should be back on Tuesday. Chase down both again on Tuesday. Advised car still isn't back but Friday is still possible. Chase down both again today. Wednesday. Advised car isn't back. But pick up Saturday is possible.
 
Unfortunately for me they did lie or if not lying outright they were completely misinformed.

I was advised at the beginning before I placed my deposit that if I selected a car that was local to my sc that i could pick it up within 3-4 weeks.

So I did just that. Selected a car that was in Illinois per my salesperson. Was told the car was in pristine condition and didn't Need anything for cpo process so it should be a quick certification. Placed my deposit. When I checked in 2 weeks later to see what progress was made on the car, it was then that I found out the car wasn't local. It was in fact in Connecticut. So inquired when would it be moving. They said any day now. We should still be able to meet the 4 week threshold.

A week passes. I contact them to see where the car is and what needs to be refurbished. At that point I find out the car is stuck in New Jersey. That the car carrier is waiting on other cars. That a snow storm has stranded them there. Still being told 4 weeks is possible.

Week 4 happens. Car has finally started moving. Told it could be plausible in week 5 to get the car. Car arrives. It's then revealed that the car has hail damage to the hood and the rear bumper needs Repainting/replacement. So much for pristine condition.

Week 5 happens. Advised that it could still happen in week 6.

Nothing happens in week 6 although in Wednesday of week 6 I'm called and said that the car might be possible for pick up on Friday of week 6. Friday passes. No call. Chase down salesperson who advises the car hasn't been returned from refurbishment. Should be back on Monday. Chase down both Ds and salesperson Monday. Advised car isn't back yet but could still pick up this Friday. Should be back on Tuesday. Chase down both again on Tuesday. Advised car still isn't back but Friday is still possible. Chase down both again today. Wednesday. Advised car isn't back. But pick up Saturday is possible.

Oh. And to top it off I still haven't seen a single freaking picture of the actual car I'm due to pick up. Unbelievable.

This is just really unacceptable, I'm sorry for all of it. Looks like you were promised 3-4 weeks but it's going to be 7 weeks instead. Not that different from mine (in terms of the delay) except it sounds like they literally gave you misinformation every single time, and their misinformation caused you to arrange your life in a very inconvenient way.

The fact that they STILL don't have pictures for you is really unacceptable. The pics they sent me were awful (there was a HUGE smudge in the camera... in every picture... so someone took a pic, looked at it and saw the huge smudge, and said "this looks great I'm gonna take more"... how?) but at least I saw the car is real.
 
This story and many other like are the exact reason I went private party instead over CPO. Private party affords you the ability to see the car, inspect it, pay for it, and drive off. All at the same time.

My private party pre-owned Model S was flawless. The previous owner took outstanding care of it. The previous owner even had high end tint and Xpel wrap put on the car.

On the other hand, it seems the CPO cars are always beaten by a shovel and have other non functioning issues. Then the long reconditioning process does nothing because Tesla still tries to deliver them to the customer or local service center in horrible shape. It's unacceptable for me for Tesla to say, oh by the way; the last 7 weeks we did nothing, it now needs significant body work and new paint. No way would I take delivery of that. and buying private party this would be obvious.

TL;DR. Buy private party. Buy a plane ticket if you have to and drive it home.
 
  • Like
Reactions: croman
Non-responsive Tesla employees to customers seem to be the norm. I have been hearing about this in this forum for years. I wonder how things will go once Model 3 arrives. I think we should expect that the customer experience in every aspects of sales and services will get a LOT worse.
 
I know I'm ranting some, but this is a continued pattern of promises, then failure to deliver and continued delays. That is what is frustrating. I know if they had told me at the beginning this would take 7-9 weeks that I would've A) chosen a different car B) had adjusted timing and expectations.

The only reason why I went CPO is to pursue the 4/50k. That was the major compelling reason. That and "refurbished" by the factory should be better than a private party sale. Especially if you read the documentation on the CPO process. We will see if they are able to deliver. I have a suspicion that if I even get a car on saturday I'll have a long Tesla owes list for my next service visit.
 
This story and many other like are the exact reason I went private party instead over CPO. Private party affords you the ability to see the car, inspect it, pay for it, and drive off. All at the same time.

My private party pre-owned Model S was flawless. The previous owner took outstanding care of it. The previous owner even had high end tint and Xpel wrap put on the car.

On the other hand, it seems the CPO cars are always beaten by a shovel and have other non functioning issues. Then the long reconditioning process does nothing because Tesla still tries to deliver them to the customer or local service center in horrible shape. It's unacceptable for me for Tesla to say, oh by the way; the last 7 weeks we did nothing, it now needs significant body work and new paint. No way would I take delivery of that. and buying private party this would be obvious.

TL;DR. Buy private party. Buy a plane ticket if you have to and drive it home.

Private party is not the best option if you wanna get a cheaper Tesla, in the 40-50k range, because it means you'll have to get a pretty old/high mileage car that's about to be out of warranty, vs the CPO warranty which is 4 years/50,000 additional miles.

Sure you can get the extended warranty but that's quite a bit of money...
 
Update: My car is at the service center!!! Undergoing refurb. Things are finally moving, and we are on track (barring any unforseen flaws/damage) to pick up tomorrow at noon. Phew.

I hate to say this but it's possible for them to find cosmetic defects at that stage and send it back to the body shop for an additional week. That's what happened to me exactly. But if that happens then you could potentially ask for a loaner for the week.