MY erroneously listed as salvage. Supercharging disabled and warranty voided

[drmo2]

So my VIN was erroneously (or fraudulently) used on a salvage title in another state (police are investigating). Now supercharging is disabled and the warranty voided. The service center wants $850 for the 1st inspection to reenable supercharging, no word on the second inspection. I would think that Tesla could use all of their electronic records of my car and verify that it hasn't been in a serious wreck, the mileage doesn't match with the other car, and it hasn't been in that state in 2 years. Anyone else have an error like this? Any ideas on how to resolve it?

 

[Ostrichsak]

My guess: simple human error. Someone at a DMV somewhere fat-fingered a VIN an it wasn't caught.

Anecdotal story:​

Something similar happened to me decades ago where I had a motorcycle that I used to saw a deer in half at triple digit speeds. As you can imagine, the motorcycle didn't fare too well. I replaced it with the exact same one and, since it was from the same dealership only weeks later, the VIN was off only on the last two characters. As luck would have it, they were the same two digits, just transposed. Fast forward half a year or so and when I wen to sell that bike the history check came back as salvaged. Cursory investigation indicated that the issue was what I opened this post with. It wasn't fun to get corrected even though it was nothing I did wrong other than have bad luck.​

I suspect this may be what happened with yours as well. The good news is that it can be fixed. The bad news is that it's not going to be easy for you even though you likely did nothing wrong. Your efforts need to begin with the DMV where the VIN was actually marked as salvage because that's where the mistake occurred. Getting a DMV to acknowledge and rectify their mistake will be an entirely other saga, I'm afraid. Best of luck.

 

[Watts_Up]

You should request from Tesla the ownership timeline for your VIN number to retreive:

when did the change of ownership and address was performed and​

who requested the change, such as a car dealer or a'new' owner.​

You should also contact your car insurance who would be able to trace the 'other' car new owner with the swap VIN,
if you never lost your Tesla account and were still able to drive and receive software updates for example,

​

For how long did you own your car and when did you discovered the VIN issue?

Did you still have access to your Tesla account since the car VIN was swapped?​

And did you have a Tesla's Premium Connectivity subscription?​

If so, was this also removed or not, and still pay for it?​

​

Similarly, did you ever used a Supercharger before the VIN swap?​

Can you look then at the charging history, and your Credit Car usage?​

In the meantime, I would certainly change the security access to your Tesla account,
and use multi-factor authentication. Also can you still have access to your current
vehicule and in particular can you set a PIN number, change the speed limit or set a valet mode?

It would be very interesting to know if the VIN number was duplicated into two different accounts?​

Or if the other vehicle was used without having a Tesla account if you still have access to your current account?​

​

​

There is something not clear about how your car VIN number could been used on another Tesla account?

If there was no new Tesla account, then how the other car could communicate with Tesla, for example​

when signing for making new card keys and start the car, unless the other user was tricking Tesla to drive the car?​

​

If there was a new Tesla account, and the ownership was transfered, then how were you still able to have your Tesla account​

and drive your car, assuming that Tesla check for duplicated VIN when someone sign for a new Tesla account.​

It seems that seems that you experienced a "title washing scam" similar to flooded car sold in an other state with a clean title.
But I would have never think that this would be possible with Tesla, at least using someone Tesla account and not an undecleared wreck.

 

[drmo2]

You should request from Tesla the ownership timeline for your VIN number to retreive:

when did the change of ownership and address was performed and​

who requested the change, such as a car dealer or a'new' owner.​

You should also contact your car insurance who would be able to trace the 'other' car new owner with the swap VIN,
if you never lost your Tesla account and were still able to drive and receive software updates for example,

​

For how long did you own your car and when did you discovered the VIN issue?

Did you still have access to your Tesla account since the car VIN was swapped?​

And did you have a Tesla's Premium Connectivity subscription?​

If so, was this also removed or not, and still pay for it?​

​

Similarly, did you ever used a Supercharger before the VIN swap?​

Can you look then at the charging history, and your Credit Car usage?​

In the meantime, I would certainly change the security access to your Tesla account,
and use multi-factor authentication. Also can you still have access to your current
vehicule and in particular can you set a PIN number, change the speed limit or set a valet mode?

It would be very interesting to know if the VIN number was duplicated into two different accounts?​

Or if the other vehicle was used without having a Tesla account if you still have access to your current account?​

​

​

There is something not clear about how your car VIN number could been used on another Tesla account?

If there was no new Tesla account, then how the other car could communicate with Tesla, for example​

when signing for making new card keys and start the car, unless the other user was tricking Tesla to drive the car?​

​

If there was a new Tesla account, and the ownership was transfered, then how were you still able to have your Tesla account​

and drive your car, assuming that Tesla check for duplicated VIN when someone sign for a new Tesla account.​

It seems that seems that you experienced a "title washing scam" similar to flooded car sold in an other state with a clean title.
But I would have never think that this would be possible with Tesla, at least using someone Tesla account and not an undecleared wreck.

I am the sole owner (Nov 2020). I learned about this this past Sunday when I tried to supercharge and it said Supercharging not enabled. I supercharged Dec 31st no problem. The salvage title is from December 2023. There have been no problems with my account and I am not blocked. I doubt the other car would work but even if it did the VIN is probably correct; I think this is simply a paperwork error. Ironically, that car might notbe nlocked from charging.

Tesla hasn't responded to me about any of these points. Although I agree that they should simply be able to check all of this in their software. Not to mention it sends info to Tesla when there is an accident. It seems that they simply run an automated search on Tesla VINs and if it comes up as Salvage, then they block supercharging and void the warranty without notifying the owner, and they don't bother to check their own software records.

 

[drmo2]

My guess: simple human error. Someone at a DMV somewhere fat-fingered a VIN an it wasn't caught.

Anecdotal story:​

Something similar happened to me decades ago where I had a motorcycle that I used to saw a deer in half at triple digit speeds. As you can imagine, the motorcycle didn't fare too well. I replaced it with the exact same one and, since it was from the same dealership only weeks later, the VIN was off only on the last two characters. As luck would have it, they were the same two digits, just transposed. Fast forward half a year or so and when I wen to sell that bike the history check came back as salvaged. Cursory investigation indicated that the issue was what I opened this post with. It wasn't fun to get corrected even though it was nothing I did wrong other than have bad luck.​

I suspect this may be what happened with yours as well. The good news is that it can be fixed. The bad news is that it's not going to be easy for you even though you likely did nothing wrong. Your efforts need to begin with the DMV where the VIN was actually marked as salvage because that's where the mistake occurred. Getting a DMV to acknowledge and rectify their mistake will be an entirely other saga, I'm afraid. Best of luck.

I agree that this sounds like human error, but now I have to prove it to Tesla, and to all of the VIN search engines, the BMVs of two states, get the title cleared, try to get Tesla to fix it without charging ridiculous amounts, etc. Then I can hopefully sell it and never buy a Tesla again because they have not been helpful.

 

[ATPMSD]

I would think if you can obtain a copy of the title for your car from the State, and it is not a “salvage” title, you should be able to provide a copy to Tesla ask to have it corrected in their system. (?)

 

[MP3Mike]

Not to mention it sends info to Tesla when there is an accident. It seems that they simply run an automated search on Tesla VINs and if it comes up as Salvage, then they block supercharging and void the warranty without notifying the owner, and they don't bother to check their own software records.

But a vehicle can be declared salvage for lots of reasons that don't get automatically reported to Tesla. For example:

• Vandalism
• Hail damage
• Tree falling on vehicle
• Flood
• Theft

 

[drmo2]

But a vehicle can be declared salvage for lots of reasons that don't get automatically reported to Tesla. For example:

• Vandalism
• Hail damage
• Tree falling on vehicle
• Flood
• Theft

Yet if the car continues charging fine why would they block supercharging? Surely hail damage isn't going to damage the battery. And a quick look at the car shows that it hasn't been seriously damaged. I had it in to a Tesla authorized collision center for minor trunk damage, and they found no other problems.

 

[drmo2]

Yet if the car continues charging fine why would they block supercharging? Surely hail damage isn't going to damage the battery. And a quick look at the car shows that it hasn't been seriously damaged. I had it in to a Tesla authorized collision center for minor trunk damage, and they found no other problems.

I should add that the photo of the wrecked car shows massive damage that their system should detect.

 

[drmo2]

The most recent info from the insurance auction is that the VIN plate was damaged on the other car in the accident, and was replaced with my number (one digit different from the one on the computer in that car). I'm still waiting from official documents from the insurance and bmvs to send to Tesla.

 

[MP3Mike]

The most recent info from the insurance auction is that the VIN plate was damaged on the other car in the accident, and was replaced with my number (one digit different from the one on the computer in that car). I'm still waiting from official documents from the insurance and bmvs to send to Tesla.

That isn't possible. VINs have a check digit in them, so if you change any one digit the check digit would have to change as well, so a minimum of two digits would need to change to have a valid VIN. But maybe Tesla is only looking at the serial number portion of the VIN, and not matching the entire VIN. (Their service invoices only show the serial number portion.)

But any system where a VIN is put in should be validating that the check digit matches, and refuse to accept a bad VIN...

 

[drmo2]

I can take the serial number that the insurance gave me with 1 digit difference and it shows up in an online vin check. So maybe Tesla uses a different system. Or are you referring to the bar code? Tesla never checked the cars, they just did an Autocheck search for salvage titles. Ironically the totaled car shows up as fine in the vin check.

 

[MP3Mike]

So maybe Tesla uses a different system

The VIN format and check digit are government mandated.

 

[drmo2]

The VIN format and check digit are government mandated.

Maybe that is why the insurance company won't show me the pictures. They admitted that it doesn't match the computer info though. Maybe whatever program they entered into "corrected" the check digit when they were making the replacement VIN plate. That is what dmvrecords. us. org does when I entered the number but with the last digit changed. I didn't notice because I assumed it wouldn't make a change.

 

[mongo]

That isn't possible. VINs have a check digit in them, so if you change any one digit the check digit would have to change as well, so a minimum of two digits would need to change to have a valid VIN. But maybe Tesla is only looking at the serial number portion of the VIN, and not matching the entire VIN. (Their service invoices only show the serial number portion.)

But any system where a VIN is put in should be validating that the check digit matches, and refuse to accept a bad VIN...

Yeah, same for transposing last two digits, that can't make a valid VIN.

 

[OrbiterTI4]

There is a Wiki article explaining a VIN check calculation at <Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN codes)/Check digit - Wikibooks, open books for an open world>. FWIW it matches my vehicles so I don't doubt the method.

My math brain isn't working well this morning, so I'm not sure if there's a magic transpose of digits that would allow the check digit to remain the same given the mod 11 used.