Question about Transfer of Ownership

[jackrabbitpun]

Hi all!

I have a question and wondered if any of you seasoned Tesla owners might have some answers. I'm buying a used 2018 Model X 100D in a private party sale on Saturday. The owner currently has Lifetime Connectivity and Lifetime Supercharging. I've heard mixed messages on whether the Supercharging confers in a private party sale (100% doesn't confer through a dealership). So, my first question is: *does anyone know FOR A FACT that it does*?

Second, the owner told me he read that if he adds me as a driver to his Tesla account rather than transferring ownership in the app, the features should stay with the vehicle since he's never technically removed it from his ownership. Has anyone heard of that working?

Third, what do I have to lose to try?

From my limited, noob perspective, I'll have a Bill of Sale and Title—so I can always prove ownership to Tesla later. We live four states away from each other and he's a urologist, so I doubt he'll take a road trip to steal the car or my loose change. If the features get removed once I register the vehicle with the DMV, then I can just claim ownership in the app.

Am I missing something? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[swaltner]

It depends upon when the vehicle was purchased on if free supercharging transfers to new owners. Mine never had it, so I didn’t commit the intricacies to memory.

Free premium connectivity was based on build date and should transfer no problem.

I would not leave my vehicle under someone else’s account. They’ll have full access to use and track your vehicle. In addition, Tesla will contact them for any kind of items related to your vehicle (service appointments, etc…)

 

[blodg1]

Hi all!

I have a question and wondered if any of you seasoned Tesla owners might have some answers. I'm buying a used 2018 Model X 100D in a private party sale on Saturday. The owner currently has Lifetime Connectivity and Lifetime Supercharging. I've heard mixed messages on whether the Supercharging confers in a private party sale (100% doesn't confer through a dealership). So, my first question is: *does anyone know FOR A FACT that it does*?

Second, the owner told me he read that if he adds me as a driver to his Tesla account rather than transferring ownership in the app, the features should stay with the vehicle since he's never technically removed it from his ownership. Has anyone heard of that working?

Third, what do I have to lose to try?

From my limited, noob perspective, I'll have a Bill of Sale and Title—so I can always prove ownership to Tesla later. We live four states away from each other and he's a urologist, so I doubt he'll take a road trip to steal the car or my loose change. If the features get removed once I register the vehicle with the DMV, then I can just claim ownership in the app.

Am I missing something? Any help would be much appreciated.

As long as the prior owner only has that one car, they can simply go in and change the email address to yours as long as you do not already have an account. If you have an account, you need another email address. The only weird item is that service would always be under the prior owners name.

 

[jackrabbitpun]

That was my plan! But I’m buying his MX. Apparently, he also has a MS, so not sure I can switch out the emails on his account. Though, that’s a great idea if anything changes down the line!

 

[blodg1]

That was my plan! But I’m buying his MX. Apparently, he also has a MS, so not sure I can switch out the emails on his account. Though, that’s a great idea if anything changes down the line!

If the MS is older and change of ownership isn't an issue, he can transfer ownership of that car to a different email address first. Then do an email address change for the MX. It sounds complicated but it's worth it for you at least.

 

[ATPMSD]

More info:

How to tell if your Tesla qualifies for free Supercharging

A detailed explanation of how Tesla's free unlimited Supercharging works and how to determine if you or your Tesla still qualify for it.

electrek.co

 

[Krash]

…I've heard mixed messages on whether the Supercharging confers in a private party sale (100% doesn't confer through a dealership)…

Free Unlimited Supercharging (FUSC) comes in a transferable and non-transferable version. They are different option codes. The cutoff is early 2017, so you will be getting the non-transferable version. Plan on Tesla ending that when they figure out the previous owners transferred it.

As for the “100% doesn't confer through a dealership”, the transferable version should still transfer unless Tesla had the car in their possession and removed it. Maybe like how FSD gets set to be removed before auction and there is a delay and it doesn’t get removed right away, so people get home from the dealer and it disappears shortly afterward. But if the dealer bought it from a private party, FUSC should stay.

 

[jjrandorin]

Second, the owner told me he read that if he adds me as a driver to his Tesla account rather than transferring ownership in the app, the features should stay with the vehicle since he's never technically removed it from his ownership. Has anyone heard of that working?

Third, what do I have to lose to try?

This is a lot like saying:

====================

"I am buying a house from someone, who is moving out of the state. I told them they could leave all the cameras they have setup around the property connected to their accounts, and that they could keep a key to the house as well. They arent going to look at the cameras, or come back to the house, right?"

===================

Like @Krash said, there are two versions of FUSC and a 2018 is going to come with the non transferrable kind. They have another car on the account so they cant just "give you the account".

Everyones trust level is different, but even the most trusting people usually would not want what sounds like a stranger to have access to everything about every trip the car ever makes, including being able to log into a third party app with the tesla credentials if they still have access to the car and track basically everything.

Where the car was, how long it was there, how long it charged, remotely starting the car, turning on the alarm, remotely unlocking the car, Starting, and stopping charging etc etc.

This isnt the kind of access someone normally leaves with a stranger, no matter how much you trust them.

 

[ATPMSD]

OK, here it the info I was looking for!

You can check for Free Supercharging in your Tesla’s option codes by going to your My Tesla User Account and selecting Manage > View Details. Using your browser tools to look at the HTML, look for the four digit codes that represent the options on your Tesla (check for text containing option_codes, OptionCodes, or something similar followed by a string of numbers).

While this might be too techy of a hack for some, it’s a more definite way to tell if your Tesla has Unlimited Free Supercharging (or some other Free Supercharging amount). Here are the codes we’ve found that are relevant to Supercharging:

SC00: No Supercharging

SC01: Unlimited Free Supercharging (no restriction)

SC04: Paid Supercharging

SC05: Unlimited Free Supercharging (but not transferable between owners)

SC06: Unlimited Free Supercharging (time-based, or time-bound)

The top tier of Unlimited Free Supercharging is a Tesla with code SC01, which has no restrictions, followed by SC05, which lasts for the current owner only.

 

[jackrabbitpun]

This is a lot like saying:

====================

"I am buying a house from someone, who is moving out of the state. I told them they could leave all the cameras they have setup around the property connected to their accounts, and that they could keep a key to the house as well. They arent going to look at the cameras, or come back to the house, right?"

===================

Like @Krash said, there are two versions of FUSC and a 2018 is going to come with the non transferrable kind. They have another car on the account so they cant just "give you the account".

Everyones trust level is different, but even the most trusting people usually would not want what sounds like a stranger to have access to everything about every trip the car ever makes, including being able to log into a third party app with the tesla credentials if they still have access to the car and track basically everything.

Where the car was, how long it was there, how long it charged, remotely starting the car, turning on the alarm, remotely unlocking the car, Starting, and stopping charging etc etc.

This isnt the kind of access someone normally leaves with a stranger, no matter how much you trust them.

That’s really fair! In 99% of scenarios, I’d agree. However, this scenario is a bit different.

He’s a doctor, living in a $2 million house 15 hours away from me. I think he has better things to do than track my trips to the grocery store and prank me by setting off my car alarm. Add to that, he’s just waiting until his Rivian come in and then he said he’d just let me take over his account with a new (unused) email address.

Like you said, everyone’s trust level is different. But in this case, kind of feels like a low bar.