Pre-owned Title/Registration Nightmare...

[Dr_BTF]

I recently (12/10/2019) bought a pre-owned Model S from Tesla. I live in Kentucky but drove to Sanford/Orlando to take delivery and drop-off my trade-in. It's one-month later and I still can't Title/register my car. When I took delivery, I was given a packet of information that the Tesla store stated contained all the information needed to title and register the car in Kentucky. On my first trip to the DMV, they said "Where's the Title???" (the physical title is needed for registration in Kentucky, even when bought from a dealer) and I was sent on my way. Phone calls to Tesla said "you should be receiving a FedEx with additional documents". One month later, no FedEx, no documents, no Title and no registration. More phone calls to Tesla last week and I received a second temporary tag, but nobody seems to be able to help actually locate the title or move things forward in any way. The most frustrating thing is that nobody seems to be able to tell me who's job it is to handle this.

Does anyone have contact information for someone at Tesla that has more seniority than a telephone support-tech or a desk-worker at the dealership? While the people I talk to are nice, they haven't been helpful in resolving my issue.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Our first used car purchase from Tesla took 6 months to receive title work & it was nearly impossible to talk to a human for most of that period.

 

[Dr_BTF]

Doing some further research, apparently it is illegal for a dealership to issue a second temporary tag in Florida...

https://www.flhsmv.gov/safety-center/consumer-education/buying-vehicle-florida/buying-licensed-dealer

 

[JoeMartin]

Doing some further research, apparently it is illegal for a dealership to issue a second temporary tag in Florida...

https://www.flhsmv.gov/safety-center/consumer-education/buying-vehicle-florida/buying-licensed-dealer

My title took around 45 days to come in, and they did issue a second temp tag for me in Florida (I've noticed that Tesla doesn't seem to understand the rules and regulations for most states).

 

[beatle]

Tomorrow will be 13 weeks since I took delivery of my car from Tesla. Tesla took care of the registration with the VA DMV so I had plates in about 3-4 weeks, but I have never seen my title. I've inquired via email 3-4 times, and received one phone call earlier this week saying they had sent it, but I said it has never come in. They said they would look into it again.

 

[Qbenjamin]

My latest experience with Tesla had the same run-around for 4 months. Picked up in GA, but lived in FL. There was an odometer reporting issue that Tesla sat on for 2 months until I reached out asking about my registration. I had to be issued temp tags twice. My communication with them was pretty good after I notified them about the problem (not something I should've had to do).

 

[maximizese]

I bought our used Model S exactly one year ago out of state in Arizona. After waiting 3 weeks for the license plates and title, I called the Delivery Center in Az to get an update and estimate of when I should expect the plates. They realized my forms were not in the right stack and said they would expedite it. 10 days later I received the license plate from Buena Park Service Center and a day later I received the title from Fremont, Ca.

I've read earlier stories of delays due to Fremont agents literally having to find the physical title in their office. I can't imagine it's terribly difficult to improve this process. I don't think they need to invest any more money into it but smooth out the process with the existing resources.

 

[Geek190]

I bought mine in May and still don't have the title. I did get the sales office to give me my plates and registration, but no title. I've emailed a few times and just keep getting told that it takes a few months and I should get them soon.
Is eight months still technically a few?

 

[rooter]

(They have doctors in Kentucky?)

 

[MS-Alec]

I recently (12/10/2019) bought a pre-owned Model S from Tesla. I live in Kentucky but drove to Sanford/Orlando to take delivery and drop-off my trade-in. It's one-month later and I still can't Title/register my car. When I took delivery, I was given a packet of information that the Tesla store stated contained all the information needed to title and register the car in Kentucky. On my first trip to the DMV, they said "Where's the Title???" (the physical title is needed for registration in Kentucky, even when bought from a dealer) and I was sent on my way. Phone calls to Tesla said "you should be receiving a FedEx with additional documents". One month later, no FedEx, no documents, no Title and no registration. More phone calls to Tesla last week and I received a second temporary tag, but nobody seems to be able to help actually locate the title or move things forward in any way. The most frustrating thing is that nobody seems to be able to tell me who's job it is to handle this.

Does anyone have contact information for someone at Tesla that has more seniority than a telephone support-tech or a desk-worker at the dealership? While the people I talk to are nice, they haven't been helpful in resolving my issue.

Hi fellow Kentuckian! Congrats on your purchase!
I have purchased all my cars out of state since our local dealers are too greedy. Anyway, Here is my experience with out of state purchases - If the car is brand new, the dealer will provide you an MSO (this a pre-title doc from manufactory), or actual title, BUT if you have paid sales taxes to dealer they will send the title to DMV's downtown branch (was Louisville in my case) since it has a clear check, which must be filled out by DMV clerk. The situation is different from state to state (NY requires dealers collect sales taxes at the time of sale, AL did not care if you tell them it is out of state purchase, as well as AR.) I think it is the same requirement for FL, but I would request a Fedex tracking # from Tesla while checking the central DMV branch. It took me 35 days and 5 calls to NY dealer to get the FedEx packet into DVM hands, and 14 days and 1 call to do the same for Miami dealer.
Good luck!