Paying for supercharging

[ai4px]

We've just bought a Model S from an online retailer and they won't release the title for a month. This wasn't an issue when we bought our 2014MS because it had free supercharging... but this model says "supercharging not permitted, add to account". Well we can't do that until we get the registration. I asked Tesla today by filing a fake service request against one of the cars we do have on account. They said to send them the resistration which we can't do until we get the title in the mail.

It's frustrating because my wife wanted to take the car on a trip to Florida in midApril, so I think she won't be able to take the new car. I seem to recall back in the day, Tesla would let you supercharge up to $100 "on credit".

Anyone got any ideas other than my Chademo adapter about how to get fast charging for my wife on this trip?

 

[Tronguy]

Um. You do have a registration, albeit temporary, in the glove compartment, right? Issued by somebody. My understanding is you need three things to motor a car around the landscape: A driver's license, a registration, and a proof of insurance. Not to mention license plates, although dealer-supplied new or used cars tend to drive around with temporaries. A traffic stop that turns up missing ones of these nominally gets you arrested (if no driver's license) or gets the car towed or ticketed (no registration or proof of insurance).
I've been given temporary ones of all of the above at one time or another during my lifetime. What have you got?
All Tesla is asking for is proof that you own the car. What kind of proof would you show, say, a cop if he/she wanted to know?

 

[ai4px]

Hmm.... I'll try it! I figured they wanted my home state registration.... worth a shot....

 

[MP3Mike]

Can you just send Tesla the bill of sale to get it added to your account?

Does the dealer have it in an account? If so have them transfer it to your Tesla account. (It only takes a few minutes.)

Why won't they release the title for a month? Do they really have it? (I've seen a case where a dealer bought a leased Tesla and sold it only to find out that they couldn't buy out the lease. (The owner had to buy out the lease and then sell it to the dealer, and I don't think the owner had the money to buy it out.) They had to undo everything, get the car back from the new owner, and return it to the original owner.)

 

[Tronguy]

As regards titles: Some states require, as in "if you don't do this, we're coming after you, with felony charges" that a title be given to the owner of a newly purchased car on the spot. Those that don't deliver.. there's often something nefarious going on. You might want to call the DMV in your state and ask if that is normal or not.
Dealerships have lost their licenses over stuff like this.

 

[ai4px]

Didn't work... couldn't even get past entering the VIN.... the car was formerly under lease and they need it to be released or see new registration. damn.

 

[TaraFirma]

Just went through this the other day myself. I sent in a copy (front and back) of my DL and a copy of the buyers order. The car was added to my account within a few hours.

 

[MP3Mike]

Didn't work... couldn't even get past entering the VIN.... the car was formerly under lease and they need it to be released or see new registration. damn.

That makes it sound like the lease hasn't been paid off yet... I.e. They don't own the car and can't sell it to you. It sounds like the example I shared above, so don't be surprised if you have to return it.

 

[ai4px]

Just went through this the other day myself. I sent in a copy (front and back) of my DL and a copy of the buyers order. The car was added to my account within a few hours.

I tried that... Tesla won't let me get past entering the VIN.

 

[JimmyB]

Tesla's lease release system seems to be a bit of a sh!tshow (why am I not surprised?). I had to pull out of the purchase of a nice looking end-of-lease 2019 LR because, while they were super quick in facilitating final payment from the owner / seller, they could give no clarity at all on when the title might arrive beyond "two to six weeks".

Instead I'm buying a 2020 LR+ from a dealer, collecting it tomorrow. I already played with the "claim ownership" screen, and in my case I am able to enter the VIN. This takes me to a second screen asking for my contact details, and then a third screen to upload the relevant ownership and ID documents.

Here's a screenshot of the 'approved documents' list, in case helpful. Based on this I'm hopeful that I will be able to get the car added to my account relatively painlessly; I'll report back.

 

[JimmyB]

Well that was an extremely easy process.

I collected the car, fired up my laptop and uploaded pictures of my driver's license and the temporary registration. The site asked me to change the name of the car (to "FPJ", IIRC?) in order to confirm, and gave me a warning that some features may not transfer. So I did as instructed, the MCU rebooted, and the car appeared in my account pretty much immediately. I stopped at a supercharger an hour or so later just to verify that everything was working, and indeed the car was able to charge just fine (and I was indeed charged for the privilege )

 

[ai4px]

Well I got my title today.... it was a tesla lease and the previous owner was listed as "tesla florida". Went to the DMV and got everything in my name.... back to the tesla web site to claim ownership and the VIN is locked still. I'm on hold for SALES right now because there is no option in voice mail hell for this question.

 

[ai4px]

Well that was an extremely easy process.

I collected the car, fired up my laptop and uploaded pictures of my driver's license and the temporary registration. The site asked me to change the name of the car (to "FPJ", IIRC?) in order to confirm, and gave me a warning that some features may not transfer. So I did as instructed, the MCU rebooted, and the car appeared in my account pretty much immediately. I stopped at a supercharger an hour or so later just to verify that everything was working, and indeed the car was able to charge just fine (and I was indeed charged for the privilege )

I figured out the problem.... the site isn't offering me a place to upload my documents. I searched this forum and found the email address of changeofownershipna at Tesla dot com. I got an auto reply from the mail server, so that's a good email address.

 

[JimmyB]

Bummer it's turned out so complicated for you. I was slightly incredulous that mine went through so easily - I guess the car was already flagged "in the system" somehow as being at a dealer?