My Very Detailed CPO Buying Experience

[mambro]

Tesla no longer refurbishes cars so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's faster now.

Is Tesla even putting fresh tires on these Used Cars? Assuming "tires" is one of the 70 points checked? (Prime example: the 21" rears that go to belts on the inside edge quicker than the rest of the tire.)

BTW.. OP, thank you very much for this thread! Very detailed and interesting stuff!

 

[jiten87]

Tesla no longer refurbishes cars so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's faster now.

Did not know this, thank you! Do you know when they stopped refurbishing?

 

[Super_Popular]

They don't even detail them anymore, simple wash. Its laughable.

 

[Cheburashka]

Did not know this, thank you! Do you know when they stopped refurbishing?

They stopped in April.

Make sure to get a really good look at your car before accepting it. Some are good some are not, depends on how previous owner returned it .

 

[barcagp]

I’m Almost done with my process. I will pick up car on Saturday after 1 day of back and forth with CU’s on rates.
However, I have had the worst time shopping for this car.
Tesla reps almost sound annoyed that you ask questions of the vehicle.
Even today as I almost closed, I asked to see a cheaper one that had almost same features for 3k less. The rep was annoyed and said that I had to make a decision; I work hard for my money. If I’m spending this much I want to be dam sure of what I want.
He told me I’d have to start the process all over if I changed my mind and that my CU would want to start a new process.
At one point they had removed the car from my deposit and had transferred it to another cAr since I asked to see pictures of the car. The one they sent was all beat up, I told him I was going to just continue the process with my current car, he said they had given it to someone else....but then they found it. It’s a circus- and they rather email you 1000x than call you and ask what you’re thinking.
Really frustrated almost to the point I don’t want to pick up Saturday. Save myself a lot of money-stick to a volt.

 

[Danny Troy]

Just an update to my earlier post. My service center visit was very impressive. They did the necessary repair in a few days. Gave me a 2018 MS loaner, which was a nice touch One of the things I brought it for turned out to be normal operation, which was a noisy AC compressor. Apparently they are pretty noisy when pushed hard. The 2018 loaner had the same issue. Guess it's more pronounced when you don't have a gas engine running. Still super happy with the car.

 

[barcagp]

So my delivery was delayed on the cpo. Got an email late last night that they could not get it there until Tuesday.
The car was already local, not sure what happened. My loan went through already. Tesla was wired the funds yesterday.
Now I wait ...

 

[16HR DAY]

I am currently purchasing a CPO car. Does anyone have the list of items on the 70 point check list?

 

[Richter12x2]

I put my deposit down yesterday morning, so far nothing but crickets. I'm glad I read this post or I would have filled out for financing as well! I'm already approved through USAA, but wanted to see if Tesla came in with a lower APR.

After waiting 15 minutes to get someone in customer service, they found out that I was in the process of being transferred from one salesperson to another, and they should reach out to me soon.

I've bought a lot of cars and this is the strangest experience buying a car I've ever had. That includes eBay.

 

[Super_Popular]

I put my deposit down yesterday morning, so far nothing but crickets. I'm glad I read this post or I would have filled out for financing as well! I'm already approved through USAA, but wanted to see if Tesla came in with a lower APR.

After waiting 15 minutes to get someone in customer service, they found out that I was in the process of being transferred from one salesperson to another, and they should reach out to me soon.

I've bought a lot of cars and this is the strangest experience buying a car I've ever had. That includes eBay.

I am so into Tesla it's not even funny. I just sold my 11th and I can honestly say that I am done.

Tesla has gone down hill so far that I would rather drive my 2004 CRV.

 

[Richter12x2]

Tesla no longer refurbishes cars so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's faster now.

See, that's the thing - I think Tesla is trying to change what they can, and I appreciate that. If you're totally refurbishing the cars, guaranteeing that what you get used is pretty much as good as new, I totally understand the stock photos on the website, and even the delay when ordering to some extent.

But if I'm buying a true used car, then I need REAL pictures of the car I'm getting, not a picture from your builder page showing a mockup of a Model S in the same color with pictures showing interior color. I want to see the wear on the driver's seat, the scratches around the lock cylinders, the trunk, door dings, tire wear, etc. I'm okay buying a car without being there in person if the deal is good, but I want a LOT of pictures.

The way it is now, if the car I ordered isn't perfect, and if they don't make it right, then I'll refuse delivery, and I'll keep moving that deposit to a different used Tesla until I get one that works for me. I'd love to have a Model S, but you're not doing me any favors, I'm buying from THEM, and I won't take a bad deal just because they think they're the only show in town, I'll wait for an electric Jag, or an electric Panamera and be just as happy.

Honestly, the Volt I have is so good, that it took a Model S to beat it, and it really wouldn't hurt my feelings at all to just get another Volt. I'm looking at Model S because I want something with a little more room, that is also a car and not an SUV or Crossover minivan wannabe. It's only because we loved the Volt so much that we even looked at Tesla in the first place. Knowing that even with a 50 mile range, over 2 years and 15k miles, less than 1k have been on gas. The Volt is the reason I DIDN'T buy a Model 3. The Volt is just a lot nicer car, and 15k cheaper.

The Model S is definitely nicer, more roomy than the Volt is, sure, but not $60k nicer for sure. If a used Tesla doesn't work out, I'm happy to give Volt another few years, and just see what the electric car market is doing in 2021.

For the record, still no phone call about the $52k car I purchased. I got 2 phone calls yesterday from salespeople asking if I wanted to test drive the Model 3, since I signed up for information a month ago, but neither of them could help me with my actual car.

 

[Maxv]

For what it's worth, my OA told me today that they're working on getting the pictures attached to each of the listings. Until then, the only way to go is to contact an OA (or hit the "request a call back" button) and wait until they get you some pictures because you're really rolling the dice if you plunk down a deposit on one of these, sight unseen. There is a lot of garbage on sale. I've seen more decent condition cars than bad when I request pictures. The pricing doesn't necessarily seem to be indicative of condition.

See, that's the thing - I think Tesla is trying to change what they can, and I appreciate that. If you're totally refurbishing the cars, guaranteeing that what you get used is pretty much as good as new, I totally understand the stock photos on the website, and even the delay when ordering to some extent.

But if I'm buying a true used car, then I need REAL pictures of the car I'm getting, not a picture from your builder page showing a mockup of a Model S in the same color with pictures showing interior color. I want to see the wear on the driver's seat, the scratches around the lock cylinders, the trunk, door dings, tire wear, etc. I'm okay buying a car without being there in person if the deal is good, but I want a LOT of pictures.

The way it is now, if the car I ordered isn't perfect, and if they don't make it right, then I'll refuse delivery, and I'll keep moving that deposit to a different used Tesla until I get one that works for me. I'd love to have a Model S, but you're not doing me any favors, I'm buying from THEM, and I won't take a bad deal just because they think they're the only show in town, I'll wait for an electric Jag, or an electric Panamera and be just as happy.

Honestly, the Volt I have is so good, that it took a Model S to beat it, and it really wouldn't hurt my feelings at all to just get another Volt. I'm looking at Model S because I want something with a little more room, that is also a car and not an SUV or Crossover minivan wannabe. It's only because we loved the Volt so much that we even looked at Tesla in the first place. Knowing that even with a 50 mile range, over 2 years and 15k miles, less than 1k have been on gas. The Volt is the reason I DIDN'T buy a Model 3. The Volt is just a lot nicer car, and 15k cheaper.

The Model S is definitely nicer, more roomy than the Volt is, sure, but not $60k nicer for sure. If a used Tesla doesn't work out, I'm happy to give Volt another few years, and just see what the electric car market is doing in 2021.

For the record, still no phone call about the $52k car I purchased. I got 2 phone calls yesterday from salespeople asking if I wanted to test drive the Model 3, since I signed up for information a month ago, but neither of them could help me with my actual car.

 

[dethman]

The way it is now, if the car I ordered isn't perfect, and if they don't make it right, then I'll refuse delivery, and I'll keep moving that deposit to a different used Tesla until I get one that works for me.

i was reading the order agreement, supposedly you can only move the deposit to a different used care ONCE and the 2500 is still nonrefundable. super lame.

 

[dethman]

I put my deposit down yesterday morning, so far nothing but crickets. I'm glad I read this post or I would have filled out for financing as well! I'm already approved through USAA, but wanted to see if Tesla came in with a lower APR.

After waiting 15 minutes to get someone in customer service, they found out that I was in the process of being transferred from one salesperson to another, and they should reach out to me soon.

I've bought a lot of cars and this is the strangest experience buying a car I've ever had. That includes eBay.

sounds like par for the course for tesla CS.

 

[Mensrea]

I just read through this entire thread, and I was laughing through the first half of it!

My friend just bought a used/CPO P85D, and his experience was anything but easy or straight forward. After putting down a $1,000 deposit they agreed to send him some photos of of the car and some damage on the front bumper, and wheels. After some complaining and arguing about the condition of this "CPO" they agreed to fix the damage. He waited a week for the car to get fixed before he could take delivery.

As I was also looking to buy a CPO from Tesla, I went with him to check out the car and to get familiar with this insanely strange car buying process. So we showed up right on time for the appointment (that was rescheduled that day for an hour earlier), so we dropped his wife off at the door (as we had to hunt for a parking spot) and she was told our delivery specialist was held up and we had to wait in the waiting room for him to greet us, my friend's wife was like "No" and walked into the delivery area anyways to inspect and look over the car, we followed her into the delivery area after parking our cars. His CPO car was so dirty, inside an out! Not to mention the damage they said they fixed, was still there, after preforming the cheapest "repair" possible. They ended up only respraying a 2 sq. ft. section of the front bumper, and on top of that, the bumper didn't look like it was reinstalled correctly. There was also crap in the cracks of the seats, chips in the windshield, and the wheels they said they repaired where still all curbed. After refusing to take delivery without a work order or some written documentation of an agreement to fix the issues, Tesla agreed to do the work and threw in the center console that my friend had plained to have installed after taking delivery.

This experience was anything but confidence inspiring.....

While I am still looking at the CPO's I have tried to budget to do some light repairs to any car I would possibly end up with.

Its really sad that Tesla would drop the ball on this CPO program, I understand the focus is not on the CPO program, but it really puts Tesla in a bad light the way they are going about this.

 

[thesnooch]

Picked up a 2015 Model S 60 CPO on 8/24/18. Whole process from start to finish took 7 days. My UVA was awesome and I have zero regrets!!

 

[NoirMS]

How long did it take for you to get your title? I'm 3 weeks today since my CPO purchase. Temp tags/registration run out next week.

 

[bigbear]

I bought a CPO this weekend, got a call hours after placing order. I have reached out several times since then and haven't heard anything.The 2k shipping cost is killing me, how long do i have to use the deposit on another tesla AND do i get access to cars before they go to the CPO website?

 

[NoirMS]

I bought a CPO this weekend, got a call hours after placing order. I have reached out several times since then and haven't heard anything.The 2k shipping cost is killing me, how long do i have to use the deposit on another tesla AND do i get access to cars before they go to the CPO website?

So as far as access to the CPO, no, unless you live near its location....for me, I was told no shipping and I had 7 days to get it, an absolute logistical nightmare for me, but when I viewed it on the website, at that time it was at a Manheim facility, which is off limits to non licensed members....so there was no way to view it even if I had lived close....so I imagine there are many scenarios.....
The deposit you can move over to another car and I don't think they rush you in immediately finding another....but I honestly don't know, just that you can move the deposit to another vehicle...
The reps, well, they come from both ends of the spectrum....I've had ones bend over backwards for me while complete neglect from others....I do know they are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy understaffed when it comes to their call center. Just keep calling....you'll get someone to help.

 

[NoirMS]

I bought a CPO this weekend, got a call hours after placing order. I have reached out several times since then and haven't heard anything.The 2k shipping cost is killing me, how long do i have to use the deposit on another tesla AND do i get access to cars before they go to the CPO website?

The CPO cars are being processed daily...all over the country.....a lot are 2 an 3 year lease that are ending, many fleet vehicles too....hence the Manheim Processing facility....you'll never know when they come online until they actually do, that's why most ppl use a search engine when finding a CPO, they show up online anytime of the day....I lost 5 before I nabbed mine....3 weren't even online for 24 hours....its tough if you have very specific specs that you want, like I did, so buying a CPO is an experience in itself. Best of luck!