New Vehicle Warranty - Exact expiration date/mileage?

[ReversePolarity]

So the SC is trying to charge for a repair that I thought would have been covered by warranty.

For most of us who purchased "new", the car is going to have a few dozen miles on it, or more if purchasing test driven vehicle, and the issue is whether the warranty expires precisely at 50,000 miles on the clock, OR if its 50,000 miles from the date of registration

Mine was a test drive vehicle with 5000 miles on the odometer and was unregistered (not to tesla nor a prior owner) and so far I've owned the car for 34 months / 48k driven miles.

Unfortunately today with 53k odometer miles I bring it in for repair and they stated that the vehicle is no longer under warranty.

To my knowledge, (unfortunately) confirmed verbally by Tesla associate, its 4 years (50,000 miles) from the date I pickup the vehicle. Its also written written somewhat vaguely in the warranty book, it states the warranty: begins on the "first day a new vehicle is delivered" and "for a period of 4 years or 50,000 miles (80,000 km), whichever comes first". It also doesn't help that there are multiple "versions" of the warranty book.

To me, I'm reading it as, I get 50,000 miles warranty starting from the point I picked up the vehicle, regardless of how many miles on it.

Does anyone have prior experience with this issue?


https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Model_3_New_Vehicle_Limited_Warranty_NA_en.pdf

 

[Doanster1]

Warranty coverage always kicks in from the date the car was put into service, NOT when it was born. So if you took delivery with 5K miles on the clock, then you have until 55K.
Even if they claim otherwise, you bought the car back when the Pre-Owned warranties were still in play so you def have 50K from time of your possession. Hopefully a friendly reminder that you bought a demo car with 5K on the clock will resolve things quickly.

 

[ucmndd]

Warranty coverage always kicks in from the date the car was put into service

This is correct, although I recall seeing some language in the past that says Tesla defines loaner cars, dealer demo vehicles, etc. as being placed "in service" at the time they enter the loaner/demo fleet.

I'd have to look for it, but I'm reasonably certain "in service" isn't equivalent to "when first sold" in Tesla's eyes.

 

[Doanster1]

This is correct, although I recall seeing some language in the past that says Tesla defines loaner cars, dealer demo vehicles, etc. as being placed "in service" at the time they enter the loaner/demo fleet.

I'd have to look for it, but I'm reasonably certain "in service" isn't equivalent to "when first sold" in Tesla's eyes.

Demo cars are not put into service as confirmed by the OP. Stated that upon delivery, the car had never been registered. And like I said, three yrs ago there was still CPO so he would’ve gotten 4/50 from date of pickup.
Still hope they quickly reverse their initial decision.

 

[ucmndd]

Looks like the language was added at some point, so it depends on whether or not it was there in the warranty revision that was in effect when you bought your car. The current document has the following language:

But, the document you link to above, which has a publication date of October 2018, does not. So you probably need to point that out to them and fight it. When did you buy the car?

 

[ucmndd]

Demo cars are not put into service as confirmed by the OP.

See my previous post, this is not true for current purchases subject to the current warranty document.

However it seems it WAS true when OP bought their car, so they have a case.

 

[ThomasD]

Did Tesla register the car in their name when it was a demo. If they did not and you are the first registered owner the original warranty stands You could run the vin and see when it was first registered

 

[ReversePolarity]

Looks like the language was added at some point, so it depends on whether or not it was there in the warranty revision that was in effect when you bought your car. The current document has the following language:

But, the document you link to above, which has a publication date of October 2018, does not. So you probably need to point that out to them and fight it. When did you buy the car?

Did Tesla register the car in their name when it was a demo. If they did not and you are the first registered owner the original warranty stands You could run the vin and see when it was first registered

My car is MY2017 took delivery in Dec 2017, i'm the first owner on the title (and qualified for all rebates). I am now realizing theres subtle updates in the warranty doc, this is the one i found; 4/27/2017.

When Does the Warranty Period Begin and End?

This New Vehicle Limited Warranty begins on the first day a new vehicle is put into use by delivery to the first retail purchaser(s), or by leasing or registering as a company car or demonstrator, whichever is earlier, and provides coverage for the period based on the specified warranty as described in the Warranty Coverage section of this New Vehicle Limited Warranty.​

Stating "registering as a company car or demonstrator" which, at first glance could mean I'm disqualified, but I was the first retail purchaser, and when they used it as a test drive vehicle, it was not explicitly registered. To me, "registering as a demonstrator" means the vehicle had to be titled/registered AND used as a demonstrator car. In CA, you can use non-registered vehicles to do test drive if you have dealer plates. Maybe its registered in their system as a demonstrator, but definitely not registered with the California DMV.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/New_Vehicle_Limited_Warranty_North_America_en_US.pdf

But anyways, the SC seemed to be sticking with their guns. Aside from spending 20 minutes pushing a dispute letter to corporate, what are some other steps I can take before raising the stakes?

 

[ucmndd]

I think if the language was there in April 2017 and you took delivery in December, there’s not much to be done.

Tesla uses lots of cars in this manner, as do other dealers, and they are still eligible to be sold as “new cars” as they aren’t registered in the usual sense of the word - by using dealer plates as you describe.

Unfortunately you don’t appear to have a lot of recourse in this case.

 

[ReversePolarity]

I guess it really just depends on how the word "registered" is defined. Theres no explicit wording that the warranty ends at 50k on the clock; although here we're just trying to debate whether putting a dealer plate (which can be freely moved from one unregistered vehicle to another without "registering" with DMV) car so it can be driven around by potential customers =X

 

[r1200gs4ok]

So the SC is trying to charge for a repair that I thought would have been covered by warranty.

For most of us who purchased "new", the car is going to have a few dozen miles on it, or more if purchasing test driven vehicle, and the issue is whether the warranty expires precisely at 50,000 miles on the clock, OR if its 50,000 miles from the date of registration

Mine was a test drive vehicle with 5000 miles on the odometer and was unregistered (not to tesla nor a prior owner) and so far I've owned the car for 34 months / 48k driven miles.

Unfortunately today with 53k odometer miles I bring it in for repair and they stated that the vehicle is no longer under warranty.

To my knowledge, (unfortunately) confirmed verbally by Tesla associate, its 4 years (50,000 miles) from the date I pickup the vehicle. Its also written written somewhat vaguely in the warranty book, it states the warranty: begins on the "first day a new vehicle is delivered" and "for a period of 4 years or 50,000 miles (80,000 km), whichever comes first". It also doesn't help that there are multiple "versions" of the warranty book.

To me, I'm reading it as, I get 50,000 miles warranty starting from the point I picked up the vehicle, regardless of how many miles on it.

Does anyone have prior experience with this issue?


https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Model_3_New_Vehicle_Limited_Warranty_NA_en.pdf

I too was concerned about this.....I bought my car on 21 Oct 2019....warranty at that time was 8 years and xxx miles...have to go back and look at mileage....three weeks after deliver on 30 jan 2020 a new revisions and warranty came out which changed the mileage....I called them and they said the manual at time of sale is what I have, not eh new one...

tells is changing the manual so just print one out when you buy the car....that will be your warranty