[Resolved]Tesla won't let me keep charger, claiming restricted

[Max*]

So... My car wouldn't supercharge. I was stranded on a road trip. I spend over an hour on hold with Tesla (which is a problem of its own). They told me my charger for the supercharger is broken. I can still "slow" charge if I find an outlet.

I plugged in, got a rental car, and continued my trip. Pissed off, but continued. Came back 4 days later, and drove it home.

2015, 70D, 77k miles

Now I'm at Tesla Tyson's Corner, VA -- they said the repair is $2,500 and there is no core charge (only the MCU has a core charge), but I can't keep the charger as it's restricted.

I told them, I'm not asking them to sell me a new restricted part, but to keep my old broken part.

Isn't there a federal or state law against this?

 

[Max*]

Found it
Automobile Repair Facilities Act

59.1-207.4. Offer to return replaced parts required; customer's right to inspect parts.

An automobile repair facility shall offer at the time the repair work is authorized to return to the customer any parts which are removed from the motor vehicle and replaced during the process of repair; provided that any part which is required to be returned to a manufacturer or distributor under a warranty agreement, trade-in agreement or core charge agreement for a reconditioned part need not be returned to the customer. If the customer wishes the return of replaced parts subject to core charge or other trade-in agreements, customer agrees to pay the facility the additional core charge or other trade-in fee. The customer retains the right to inspect requested returned parts even if custody is refused.

 

[ash9.58]

"An automobile repair facility shall offer at the time the repair work is authorized to return to the customer any parts which are removed from the motor vehicle and replaced during the process of repair; provided that any part which is required to be returned to a manufacturer or distributor under a warranty agreement, trade-in agreement or core charge agreement for a reconditioned part need not be returned to the customer."

 

[Max*]

They also said something about installing the "new" gen-2 charger. From Googling around, it seems that from the age of my car -- it has a separate HVJB and separate L1/L2 charger. On the newer ones (gen-2?) they're integrated, hence the higher repair costs.

So... once they give me my parts back, I should get back a broken HVJB and a working "regular" charger? Did I get that right?

 

[Chaserr]

there is no core charge (only the MCU has a core charge), but I can't keep the charger as it's restricted.

Isn't there a federal or state law against this?

You're correct this is illegal. If they aren't buying the old hardware back from you, they have to give it back when you ask. It's yours, you already own it. You'll get back a working car and a broken charger probably just wrapped in a bag lying in the trunk.

 

[Rockster]

Darn. I should have demanded my dead charger when they replaced it last August. Maybe I could have fixed it and had a spare.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Believe you are right, but that Tesla is doing a good thing by trying to keep these items out of the hands of DIY hacks that may do damage experimenting with them for various purposes.

Maybe there is some technology inside that they wish to not get into the hands of competitors etc.

They may also want that part back to examine it and determine what made it fail. Would give them additional information to build better parts in the future.

What are you planning to do with that used part that makes you hesitant to return it to Tesla?

 

[MP3Mike]

They may also want that part back to examine it and determine what made it fail. Would give them additional information to build better parts in the future.

They already know exactly why these fail from all of the failed ones they replaced under warranty. (Where there is no obligation to return the failed one to the customer.) Which is why they have gen 2, and newer, chargers/HVJB that don't fail in the same way.

 

[Max*]

Believe you are right, but that Tesla is doing a good thing by trying to keep these items out of the hands of DIY hacks that may do damage experimenting with them for various purposes.

Maybe there is some technology inside that they wish to not get into the hands of competitors etc.

They may also want that part back to examine it and determine what made it fail. Would give them additional information to build better parts in the future.

What are you planning to do with that used part that makes you hesitant to return it to Tesla?

I can take apart ***my*** car today and look at any proprietary component I want. That's not a reason or excuse to try to do what they're doing.

I plan on selling it on eBay/this site and recoup part of my $2,500. I'll gladly sell it back to Tesla for a reasonable amount, but instead they told me I can't have it. Also considering the regular charger works, and they're replacing it too, I can easily sell that without any DIY hacks.

Waiting on a call from the service manager, I'm not letting this one go.

 

[sandpiper]

So... My car wouldn't supercharge. I was stranded on a road trip. I spend over an hour on hold with Tesla (which is a problem of its own). They told me my charger for the supercharger is broken. I can still "slow" charge if I find an outlet.

I plugged in, got a rental car, and continued my trip. Pissed off, but continued. Came back 4 days later, and drove it home.

2015, 70D, 77k miles

Now I'm at Tesla Tyson's Corner, VA -- they said the repair is $2,500 and there is no core charge (only the MCU has a core charge), but I can't keep the charger as it's restricted.

I told them, I'm not asking them to sell me a new restricted part, but to keep my old broken part.

Isn't there a federal or state law against this?

Huh? There's no "charger" for enabling supercharging in the car. If I understand correctly, the supercharger connects directly to the battery DC bus through a fairly simple set of contactors. I'm not sure what it is that would have failed... maybe one of the contactors? Or maybe the circuit that provides the supercharger with the pilot signal?

 

[MP3Mike]

Waiting on a call from the service manager, I'm not letting this one go.

As you shouldn't. Normally just pointing them to the law is enough to get them to do the right thing. (Though one person was told that they would open it and remove some component to disable it, and they had to push more to get them to not do that.)

 

[ACA Man]

I can take apart ***my*** car today and look at any proprietary component I want. That's not a reason or excuse to try to do what they're doing.

I plan on selling it on eBay/this site and recoup part of my $2,500. I'll gladly sell it back to Tesla for a reasonable amount, but instead they told me I can't have it. Also considering the regular charger works, and they're replacing it too, I can easily sell that without any DIY hacks.

Waiting on a call from the service manager, I'm not letting this one go.

I’d have done the same if it were me.

The law is the law.

 

[cucubits]

Good! You shouldn't let it go. I'm thinking what options you have if they insist they won't give you the part back. Surely getting lawyers involved may be too expensive for a repair like this but I wonder if you can find out how to get to the broken part, remove it yourself and then take the car to Tesla to replace the now missing part.

 

[MP3Mike]

Huh? There's no "charger" for enabling supercharging in the car. If I understand correctly, the supercharger connects directly to the battery DC bus through a fairly simple set of contactors. I'm not sure what it is that would have failed... maybe one of the contactors? Or maybe the circuit that provides the supercharger with the pilot signal?

Well the charger in the car doesn't do the charging but it is involved in Supercharging. Both in controlling the Supercharger and that the DC bus is bridged to the inlet port/AC input of the charger. So if something in the AC side of the charger fails isolation testing when exposed to ~400v DC then you can no longer Supercharge.

 

[MP3Mike]

Good! You shouldn't let it go. I'm thinking what options you have if they insist they won't give you the part back. Surely getting lawyers involved may be too expensive for a repair like this but I wonder if you can find out how to get to the broken part, remove it yourself and then take the car to Tesla to replace the now missing part.

I would think a small claims court suit would be cheap enough and you could set the claim at anything reasonable. I think Tesla charges ~$2,500 for a working gen 1 charger, so that could cover his entire repair bill.

 

[ucmndd]

It sounds like they try this all the time. It’s flagrantly illegal. Hold them accountable.

 

[Mark_T]

They already sold the car and all its parts to you, it is too late for them to claim that they have any rights to retain any parts, or modify any parts without your permission before returning them to you...

If they are that bothered by it I don't know why they don't simply use the 'trade-in' route to establish a value for the old part so the 'repair' becomes $4,000 less $1,500 trade-in...

 

[MP3Mike]

They already sold the car and all its parts to you, it is too late for them to claim that they have any rights to retain any parts, or modify any parts without your permission before returning them to you...

If they are that bothered by it I don't know why they don't simply use the 'trade-in' route to establish a value for the old part so the 'repair' becomes $4,000 less $1,500 trade-in...

The issue is that out of warranty repairs are fairly new to Tesla, and they don't seem to have looked at how traditional dealers/manufacturers handled things, so they are having to learn themselves. One service center at a time...

 

[KG M3]

It sounds like they try this all the time. It’s flagrantly illegal. Hold them accountable.

You may wish to read the statement below again:

59.1-207.4. Offer to return replaced parts required; customer's right to inspect parts.

An automobile repair facility shall offer at the time the repair work is authorized to return to the customer any parts which are removed from the motor vehicle and replaced during the process of repair; provided that any part which is required to be returned to a manufacturer or distributor under a warranty agreement, trade-in agreement or core charge agreement for a reconditioned part need not be returned to the customer. If the customer wishes the return of replaced parts subject to core charge or other trade-in agreements, customer agrees to pay the facility the additional core charge or other trade-in fee. The customer retains the right to inspect requested returned parts even if custody is refused.​

A manufacturer or distributor of automotive parts can require the repair facility to return the original failed part to them as part of a warranty agreement, trade-in agreement or core charge agreement. This is a deal between the part maker or distributor and the repair facility independent of any agreement between car maker and the customer. As long as the part newly installed in the car can be considered a "reconditioned part" then the return is not required.

In this case, Tesla as the distributor of the repair parts can require the service center (also owned by Tesla) to return the parts to Tesla.

 

[Max*]

As you shouldn't. Normally just pointing them to the law is enough to get them to do the right thing. (Though one person was told that they would open it and remove some component to disable it, and they had to push more to get them to not do that.)

I read about that, also wanted to remove the serial number. He pushed back, they agreed to let him have it as is.