Petition to force Tesla to come up with a retrofit for AutoPilot

[MsElectric]

I doubt most of the people signing the petition have any idea about the number of system components and sensors involved. If they did they wouldn't be asking that a retrofit be made available.

I honestly would not even want a retrofitted car that had its insides taken apart to install drill, wire, and enable 12 sensors all over the car. For those of you clamoring for a retrofit please take a deep breath and realize what you are asking for. Even if Tesla were to offer it, you are going to have a car with many components taken apart and put back together and it will likely cost about $15K. It is not going to be worth it. You are far far better off selling your car and buying a new one.

Or hold onto your car for about a year or so and buy a Model S next year or whenever they do the exterior facelift and/or high capacity batteries. As much as I have empathy for those demanding a retrofit it is a lost cause due to the cost and complexity involved. Would you pay over $15K for a retrofit? Because that's about what it would cost to take your car apart and drill in and install all those sensors.

 

[yobigd20]

dup thread: Petition to force Tesla to come up with a retrofit for AutoPilot - Page 2

 

[Jeddi]

This is a ridiculous petition. I'm glad most of us here are on the same page.

 

[DJ Frustration]

And just FYI, if I were to buy the same configuration today that I ordered last June, it would cost me over $7,000 more. I would never have paid that kind of a premium for the autopilot sensors. No way. I'm a happy camper!

If I ordered the exact same car today as I did in December of 2012, mine would cost ~ $8,100 more. +1 for pointing this out to those with remorse.

 

[yobigd20]

Name one car company that does that.

Chevy offers money-back guarantee on new vehicles

60 days from date of purchase. "Returned vehicles can't have more than 4,000 miles on them and they can't be damaged."

dunno if they still do this, may have been a promotional deal at a time.

 

[AudubonB]

1. ABSOLUTELY!!! YOU BET!!!! AND CHARGE THE AMOUNT OF TIME, EFFORT AND Other cost it entails....
Oh, and by the way, TMC also should charge for all those over-the-air software updates we also already obtain.
Oops, let's re-think this.

2. I need Mr. Henry Ford's #. It's about that Model T I bought 83 years ago. He needs to bring it up to date.

3. Can we start a petition demanding Tesla NOT WASTE its shareholders' equity on mollycoddling clients who were perfectly happy a few days ago...until something shinier and glitzier and newier came along? I'll be the first to sign THAT.

 

[CalDreamin]

You don't even get what the issue is here. If you bought your Dell laptop yesterday and today Dell announced a better laptop for the same price, I am sure Dell will give you a refund or do something to make you happy.

To carry the analogy further, Tesla can commit an Osborne and announce substantial product improvements far enough in advance that nobody would miss an opportunity to defer their purchase so they can get the improvements. And like Osborne, Tesla can go bankrupt because their announcement causes sales to collapse.

 

[MsElectric]

1. ABSOLUTELY!!! YOU BET!!!! AND CHARGE THE AMOUNT OF TIME, EFFORT AND Other cost it entails....
Oh, and by the way, TMC also should charge for all those over-the-air software updates we also already obtain.
Oops, let's re-think this.

2. I need Mr. Henry Ford's #. It's about that Model T I bought 83 years ago. He needs to bring it up to date.

3. Can we start a petition demanding Tesla NOT WASTE its shareholders' equity on mollycoddling clients who were perfectly happy a few days ago...until something shinier and glitzier and newier came along? I'll be the first to sign THAT.

I realize and agree this is unreasonable but Tesla can turn this whole thing around by giving people a migration path to newer cars and technology as they release them. Otherwise this is going to keep coming up over and over again. They should come up with a "reacquisition fee" that is fair for them to cover their expenses in reconditioning the car and selling it as a CPO and then depreciate for miles driven and time owned like an inventory car. Problem solved for now and in the future when more enhancements are introduced.

The people who are complaining are not going to go away, as much as I disagree with some of what they are demanding. Give them a reason migration path to sell and buy new and everyone will be happy.

 

[dsm363]

I realize and agree this is unreasonable but Tesla can turn this whole thing around by giving people a migration path to newer cars and technology as they release them. Otherwise this is going to keep coming up over and over again. They should come up with a "reacquisition fee" that is fair for them to cover their expenses in reconditioning the car and selling it as a CPO and then depreciate for miles driven and time owned like an inventory car. Problem solved for now and in the future when more enhancements are introduced.

The people who are complaining are not going to go away, as much as I disagree with some of what they are demanding. Give them a reason migration path to sell and buy new and everyone will be happy.

They already do have a migration path in a sense. CarMax and others will buy the car and I believe Tesla has started doing trade ins too. They can then buy a new car.

 

[Johan]

I realize and agree this is unreasonable but Tesla can turn this whole thing around by giving people a migration path to newer cars and technology as they release them. Otherwise this is going to keep coming up over and over again. They should come up with a "reacquisition fee" that is fair for them to cover their expenses in reconditioning the car and selling it as a CPO and then depreciate for miles driven and time owned like an inventory car. Problem solved for now and in the future when more enhancements are introduced.

The people who are complaining are not going to go away, as much as I disagree with some of what they are demanding. Give them a reason migration path to sell and buy new and everyone will be happy.

You forget that there is another customer on the other side of the deal: the one buying the CPO car. And that customer is not going to pay almost the same for a used car as for a new one. Price them too high and soon Tesla will look like an ICE-dealer with a lot that's filling up every day... Not pretty and not good for business.

 

[pzz]

This is a ridiculous petition. I'm glad most of us here are on the same page.

I seriously doubt you would still say that if you missed the new sensors by 2 days because Tesla decided to produce and ship your car earlier. Obviously if I bought my Tesla back in 2012, I could also care less what petition somebody is trying push.

 

[GSP]

I honestly would not even want a retrofitted car that had its insides taken apart to install drill, wire, and enable 12 sensors all over the car. For those of you clamoring for a retrofit please take a deep breath and realize what you are asking for. Even if Tesla were to offer it, you are going to have a car with many components taken apart and put back together and it will likely cost about $15K. It is not going to be worth it. You are far far better off selling your car and buying a new one.

Or hold onto your car for about a year or so and buy a Model S next year or whenever they do the exterior facelift and/or high capacity batteries. As much as I have empathy for those demanding a retrofit it is a lost cause due to the cost and complexity involved. Would you pay over $15K for a retrofit? Because that's about what it would cost to take your car apart and drill in and install all those sensors.

That is not even half of it. The braking system also needs to be replaced with the new electrically assisted system in the new cars, and the steering wheel assembly replaced and the electric power steering system.

Doing a retrofit outside of the controlled factory build process would require extreme effort and care from a very experienced tech. Not practical at all in the field.

GSP

 

[MsElectric]

They already do have a migration path in a sense. CarMax and others will buy then car and I believe Tesla has started doing trade ins too. They can then buy a new car.

IMHO Tesla should bring the task of buying back Teslas that have not been in an accident in-house and roll out a CPO program right away. This way Tesla will be the one point of contact for buying your used Tesla and charging the difference for a new Tesla with the features you want. In the meantime you can drive the Tesla you have until your new Tesla is ready and the process can be completely seamless. They can then roll out a national Model S CPO database like what they had/have for the Roadster. As long as the Tesla someone wants to "exchange" is not accident damaged or otherwise compromised, Tesla should handle them directly in a fair way.

 

[mbcaffe]

if it is has been previously stated, I apologize. Tesla should wait to introduce new technology with a new model year like the rest of the car manufactures. In other words, last week's announcement should have said that a 2015 model S is coming out and it will have dual motor, limited auto pilot, etc., etc. they should not be required to have a "retrofit". That is like asking Chevrolet to retrofit Corvette's 2014 6 speed automatic with the 2015 8 speed automatic.

 

[dsm363]

I seriously doubt you would still say that if you missed the new sensors by 2 days because Tesla decided to produce and ship your car earlier. Obviously if I bought my Tesla back in 2012, I could also care less what petition somebody is trying push.

Just because someone would say that though doesn't make them right. Of course they are upset at missing an unknown cutoff. That's just human nature.

 

[MsElectric]

You forget that there is another customer on the other side of the deal: the one buying the CPO car. And that customer is not going to pay almost the same for a used car as for a new one. Price them too high and soon Tesla will look like an ICE-dealer with a lot that's filling up every day... Not pretty and not good for business.

This depreciation can be covered in the "reacquisition fee." Most new cars loose about 25% of their value in the first year and likely loose about 10% of the value the moment you acquire it. Teslas are not going to be any different. The $1/mile $1K/month formula plus about a $5-7.5K "reacquisition fee" should allow Tesla to make a profit selling these cars back as CPO vehicles while still making a profit. This favors cars that are just a month or two old with very few miles and rightly so as the older the car gets during the first year the closer you get to about a 20-25% depreciation.

- - - Updated - - -

I seriously doubt you would still say that if you missed the new sensors by 2 days because Tesla decided to produce and ship your car earlier. Obviously if I bought my Tesla back in 2012, I could also care less what petition somebody is trying push.

So assuming such a car is less than a month old and only has a few hundred miles, Tesla could perhaps buy it back for around $6-8K less and sell you a new car. Would you consider that to be fair?

 

[Bonlaw]

Kind of torn on the issue.
I agree with @golfski to an extent and with opposing viewpoint also.
With the traditional car you know when new models are coming out and can elect to wait and see if there are significant improvements. Also in the months leading up to a new model year, the current cars are generally heavily discounted. These options are not available to Tesla purchasers.
There is a huge difference in buying or upgrading to new computer because of significant changes, vs the cost to upgrade or trade in your Tesla. Everyone new about the iPhone 6 and 6plus far in advance of the release resulting in informed decision making.
This is especially unfortunate for those that just recently received their cars.
It is also recognized that if there was an announcement of a big change for relatively little cost, that few would have ordered the Tesla S in the 6 months prior thereto.
Not sure how this type of issue can be better handled in the future, but there should be a way to do so that is "fair" to both Tesla and Tesla supporters.

 

[stephenpace]

I seriously doubt you would still say that if you missed the new sensors by 2 days because Tesla decided to produce and ship your car earlier. Obviously if I bought my Tesla back in 2012, I could also care less what petition somebody is trying push.

I 100% understand why someone missing out on the sensors by 2 days is going to be angry. We even had the case described here on TMC where someone picked up two cars on the same day, and his girlfriend's car missed out and his didn't, souring her delivery experience. Tesla should think hard about how to minimize that type of issue without triggering an Osborne effect.

 

[pzz]

This depreciation can be covered in the "reacquisition fee." Most new cars loose about 25% of their value in the first year and likely loose about 10% of the value the moment you acquire it. Teslas are not going to be any different. The $1/mile $1K/month formula plus about a $5-7.5K "reacquisition fee" should allow Tesla to make a profit selling these cars back as CPO vehicles while still making a profit. This favors cars that are just a month or two old with very few miles and rightly so as the older the car gets during the first year the closer you get to about a 20-25% depreciation.

- - - Updated - - -



So assuming such a car is less than a month old and only has a few hundred miles, Tesla could perhaps buy it back for around $6-8K less and sell you a new car. Would you consider that to be fair?

I am waiting on a quote from Tesla. $6k would be ok with me, $8k is too much.

 

[Johan]

This depreciation can be covered in the "reacquisition fee." Most new cars loose about 25% of their value in the first year and likely loose about 10% of the value the moment you acquire it. Teslas are not going to be any different. The $1/mile $1K/month formula plus about a $5-7.5K "reacquisition fee" should allow Tesla to make a profit selling these cars back as CPO vehicles while still making a profit. This favors cars that are just a month or two old with very few miles and rightly so as the older the car gets during the first year the closer you get to about a 20-25% depreciation.

- - - Updated - - -



So assuming such a car is less than a month old and only has a few hundred miles, Tesla could perhaps buy it back for around $6-8K less and sell you a new car. Would you consider that to be fair?

Likely this is exactly how they do it. Check out the "Post your quote" thread for the real-world quotes people are being offered.