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"non refurbished" CPOs?

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See the screenshot below for a new listing which warns buyers that the car is not refurbished, as alluded to by @Plan B

The price seems to be lower than recent refurbished 75D's, but still elevated.

20180410_182901.jpg
 
There seems to be a new statement added to Tesla's site for all of the used cars. If you look at any of the used vehicles, they now have this disclaimer:

'
Not Refurbished

This car has passed a 70-point mechanical inspection and will be cleaned before delivery. If you would like any additional work that is not covered under your warranty, we can help arrange service after delivery for an added cost. For more information, please request a call
"

My understanding had been that in the past they went through a thorough refurbishment process. Based on this statement, it seems like they are no longer going to do that (and are also charging much more for the vehicles). This is all making CPO Teslas far less appealing.

I emailed my OA to ask about this, but haven't heard back. Has anyone else heard any more on this?
 
They are probably going to raise the standard for trade-ins that make it to CPO and dump the rest. Since they're not putting any money into refurb, maybe they will be able to actually lower the price (yes, crazy).

I would think this would mean an influx of sub-par condition trade-ins will now show up on the dealer lots.
 
My guess is that they weren't making money on CPOs last year based on the work performed and the prices they charged. I am glad I got mine when I did. I couldn't afford one at current prices.

I was told they made this change to save money, because they were vendoring all the work out. Wheel repairs, dents, paint touch up etc...and it was costing a fortune.
 
There seems to be a new statement added to Tesla's site for all of the used cars. If you look at any of the used vehicles, they now have this disclaimer:

'
Not Refurbished

This car has passed a 70-point mechanical inspection and will be cleaned before delivery. If you would like any additional work that is not covered under your warranty, we can help arrange service after delivery for an added cost. For more information, please request a call
"

My understanding had been that in the past they went through a thorough refurbishment process. Based on this statement, it seems like they are no longer going to do that (and are also charging much more for the vehicles). This is all making CPO Teslas far less appealing.

I emailed my OA to ask about this, but haven't heard back. Has anyone else heard any more on this?

Probably a response to cars like this Buyer beware. Buying a CPO Tesla feels like a SCAM.

They didn't even clean that one, let alone refurbish it. So change it to "and will be cleaned before delivery, maybe".
 
I don't think this is the policy of any other high end Manufacturer's CPO sales. Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, etc. It says to me they don't want to be in the used car business. It's one thing to have this policy when a buyer can go see the car and test drive it before buying but quite another when buying sight unseen and even paying shipping charges. My suggestion to would be used Tesla buyers is if you are going to buy a CPO vehicle, only buy if it is close enough to you that you can go see it first. Otherwise, you are taking a big risk. At least with private party you can request and get a boat load of photographs first and if they are close you can go see and test drive the car. I won't be surprised to see that the rumor that Tesla has made a deal to do all their trade-ins through Car-Max turns out to be true. This change can do nothing but hurt their reputation. I don't see how they could be losing money on their trade ins due to refurbishing costs when they can review the vehicle or have it reviewed and factor in things like dent removal, seat refurbishing, etc. into the price they pay for the vehicle. Especially given their high selling price for CPO.
 
From selling my personal used cars I learnt over the years that the two things that pay off big is detailing the car and taking good pictures for the ad. With this knowledge, I am puzzled by Tesla's decision.

But as a big brand it may be different than for a private individual.
I can kind of see a big corporation getting away with only using stock photos and not showing the actual car until it's sold. And if it is in bad shape, the buyer will probably have it detailed, then start loving it and quickly forget how it once looked. Customer psychology is hard to truly understand. Tesla surely did the analysis though.
 
They better have a LOT of detailed pictures of each car now, there's no way I'm buying something not brought up to prior CPO standards based on stock photos.
I purchased CPO based on the reputation they had prior to this change and was ecstatic when I got my car in mint condition.
 
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See an update here via Electrek:

Tesla stops ‘refurbishing’ its used cars ahead of big influx of leased vehicles coming back

So basically:

1- Sorry we can't deal with the increasing number of lease returns, so if you really want a car, you'll go through the hoops and pay for the refurb:
==> So, math 101: if you have leased more cars, more cars are going to come back at the end of the lease. Maybe you should have planned for it?. Heads up: you did a bunch of 2-year deals 2 years ago, esp in Q3 2016...these cars are coming back soon.

2-Prospect want pics? Prospect is going to have to ask for them.
==> That's going to scale well: prospect --> OA --> Where is the car? --> someone on location taking pictures --> OA --> prospect. --> Car not good? Let's do it all over again. --> oh wait I found one but now I need to understand how much it's going to cost me to fix --> too expensive? --> let's do it all over again, again and again.


Telsa, I love you. But sometimes, I just don't.
 
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