Purchased Tesla 2017 Model S 90D, Received 60D

[sjdaniels]

I purchased a used 2017 Tesla Model S 90D from Mercedes-Benz. Ran the VIN through Tesla VIN Checker and it responded with 2017 Tesla Model S 90D. Received Good Car Report and stated 2017 Tesla Model S 90D. Received CarFax Report and it also states... 2017 Tesla Model S 90D.

I received the vehicle and the instrament panel states "Model S 60D". I asked the sales rep and was told it's a software update. I linked the car to my WiFi and it ran updates all night. Morning, Model S 60D.

My assumption was that it had something to do with the previous owner not releasing the vehicle from his Tesla account. I found the previous owners credit card in the storage area under the large monitor. So, I contacted him. Both about releasing the vehicle and his gold card. Today 8/31/23 the car was released and Tesla application now shows the vehicle as mine.

I setup everything and noticed that the vehicle specs and model are listed as 60D in the Tesla application. WTF?

Did I just get screwed? Is there a contact for Tesla that doesn't end with a "Was this helpful?". A phone number or email... anything to figure this out. I'm going to head out now for my first charge. Anything I should look for?

Even if you don't have an answer, Thank You for reading.

 

[sjdaniels]

I purchased a used 2017 Tesla Model S 90D from Mercedes-Benz. Ran the VIN through Tesla VIN Checker and it responded with 2017 Tesla Model S 90D. Received Good Car Report and stated 2017 Tesla Model S 90D. Received CarFax Report and it also states... 2017 Tesla Model S 90D.

I received the vehicle and the instrament panel states "Model S 60D". I asked the sales rep and was told it's a software update. I linked the car to my WiFi and it ran updates all night. Morning, Model S 60D.

My assumption was that it had something to do with the previous owner not releasing the vehicle from his Tesla account. I found the previous owners credit card in the storage area under the large monitor. So, I contacted him. Both about releasing the vehicle and his gold card. Today 8/31/23 the car was released and Tesla application now shows the vehicle as mine.

I setup everything and noticed that the vehicle specs and model are listed as 60D in the Tesla application. WTF?

Did I just get screwed? Is there a contact for Tesla that doesn't end with a "Was this helpful?". A phone number or email... anything to figure this out. I'm going to head out now for my first charge. Anything I should look for?

Even if you don't have an answer, Thank You for reading.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Sounds like someone replaced the 90kWh pack with a 60kWh which means no amount of software updates will make it a 90 again. Easy way is to check the battery pack label by laying on the ground next to the passenger side front wheel & then looking behind the tire into the wheel well towards the front corner of the HV pack.

Most likely scenario is the battery pack failed & was replaced w/ a 60 pack due to cost and then passed off as a 90. This doesn't make a lot of sense though since it should have been under warranty unless it was a salvage title or the pack was physically damaged, voiding the warranty. You can open a service ticket through the app and they can confirm this (possibly even remotely) but this would also likely void any balance of the 8yr HV battery pack warranty if someone that wasn't Tesla replaced it.

Summary: yes, you got screwed. Your beef isn't with Tesla or even the previous owner though. The dealership sold you a Model S 90D so they need to provide you with a 90D.

 

[ucmndd]

1) check the battery sticker in the passenger side front wheel well.

2) How many range miles does the car show at 100%? Before checking make sure the range display is set to “rated” and not “ideal” under Controls -> Display.

Looks like a software-locked 75kwh battery. I’ve found third-party Tesla VIN records to be very unreliable.

But yeah, if you bought a car advertised as a “90D”, that’s what the dealer owes you.

 

[GWord]

You have a 60D. Not much we can do to help you here. I suspect the selling dealership will unwind the transaction for you when presented with this.

 

[brainhouston]

Battery sticker might be helpful if its there or true... sometimes packs get refurbished with labels left behind...
True test is how many miles ur actually showing (rated) or getting, or scan my tesla app to see Nominal kWh.
I've heard that u can actually have difference between pack n display (not sure how true tho) if pack was swapped...

 

[PCMc]

The VIN contains no information to tell you what the battery capacity is on the vehicle. So any site that claims to be able to tell you that information from the VIN is actually getting from something other than what's actually encoded in the VIN. They may be using the VIN to cross-reference with other database such as registration records, etc., but not from the VIN itself.

There are a few sites I trust which will give you a full detail on what each of the characters in the VIN represent, but beyond that, I'd avoid any claims about vehicle configurations based simply from the VIN.

Sorry, this will do nothing for you in helping to resolve your situation, but maybe it might help someone in the future to avoid getting into an unfortunate situation.

 

[gaswalla]

It was always a 60. Even if someone swapped a battery, it wouldn’t be listed as a 60 unless Tesla reprogrammed it that way (the battery doesn’t change the cars label automatically ). Did the dealer actually state it was a 90D? If so, you have an excellent case against them.
Why didn’t you ask the old owner about this issue?

 

[Ostrichsak]

It was always a 60. Even if someone swapped a battery, it wouldn’t be listed as a 60 unless Tesla reprogrammed it that way (the battery doesn’t change the cars label automatically ). Did the dealer actually state it was a 90D? If so, you have an excellent case against them.
Why didn’t you ask the old owner about this issue?

Not in 2017 it wasn't.

 

[jpk195]

The “60 kW” you are showing in the screen capture is the charge rate, not the battery capacity. Once you charge and check how the capacity maps to range (switch between range and percent in your settings) you’ll know pretty quickly what you have.

 

[Ostrichsak]

The “60 kW” you are showing in the screen capture is the charge rate, not the battery capacity. Once you charge and check how the capacity maps to range (switch between range and percent in your settings) you’ll know pretty quickly what you have.

No, the car thinks it's a 60kWh battery pack and dual motor, hence the 60D indicated at the bottom of the app and top of the instrument cluster. This has nothing to do with the charge rate.

 

[ucmndd]

Not in 2017 it wasn't.

You could certainly buy a brand new 60D in 2017.

 

[gaswalla]

Model S 60D was produced from June 2016 — April 2017.

 

[gaswalla]

Vin search reveals some interesting info:
The car was recently listed as as 90D by a car dealer in MA
Most interestingly, the car was listed for sale by Toyota of Watertown, MA in 2019 as a 60D - asking price was $53k and it had 16k. The car was badged as a 60D (see pic)...

 

[brainhouston]

6 or 9 could be confusing to some unless they're together

 

[Gadget-X]

Seems if the battery was changed the CarFax would have listed that. Hell it list more insignificant things than a battery change.

Was it fraud or mistake is the most important thing. Gaswalla has the research which makes me lean to fraud. IMHO.

M

 

[Ostrichsak]

You could certainly buy a brand new 60D in 2017.

Model S 60D was produced from June 2016 — April 2017.

Not physically. They were software locked 75's. as Tesla hadn't been manufacturing 60 packs for a couple of years by this point.

The odds that this car began life as a 90D and got a battery pack replacement from an entity other than Tesla (during warranty period, no less) of a 75kWh pack that was then software locked to 60kWh retroactively is about as close to zero as you can get.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Seems if the battery was changed the CarFax would have listed that. Hell it list more insignificant things than a battery change.

Was it fraud or mistake is the most important thing. Gaswalla has the research which makes me lean to fraud. IMHO.

M

People put way, way, WAY too much faith in Carfax being an accurate and useful historical record keeper for cars. Their marketing was worked well over the years.

 

[ucmndd]

Not physically. They were software locked 75's. as Tesla hadn't been manufacturing 60 packs for a couple of years by this point.

Yes, obviously, as I mentioned in my first post in the thread.

The odds that this car began life as a 90D and got a battery pack replacement from an entity other than Tesla (during warranty period, no less) of a 75kWh pack that was then software locked to 60kWh retroactively is about as close to zero as you can get.

Yes, also obviously.

The post I responded to was clear as mud, but to me and others appeared to be suggesting that a 60D didn’t exist in 2017.

 

[brainhouston]

Seems if the battery was changed the CarFax would have listed that. Hell it list more insignificant things than a battery change.

Was it fraud or mistake is the most important thing. Gaswalla has the research which makes me lean to fraud. IMHO.

M

CarFax only knows whats being reported to whatever database they pulling it from...
If some independent shop swapped it or DIYer, how would CarFax know that?..

Its NOT fraud if dash says 60D, miss-advertising - sure... I see this all the time for any car so don't buy without looking.
Buyer has the right to inspect the car before purchase...