So Disappointed in Tesla! They screwed me!

[Polar993]

I was supposed to take delivery today on a Model X 75D. It was a showroom car with 900 miles, and Tesla offered me a very good lease deal....at least I thought it was a great deal until mid day today!


The deal included the buy-back of my 2015 Range Rover Sport, which is currently leased through US Bank. Tesla identified a broker to buy my Range Rover Sport for $50,000 and they confirmed that the Dealer Buy Back price from US Bank for my Range Rover was $50,250....it was basically a wash, and they told me they would take care of the difference. All was good!


Over the course of about 2 weeks I went back and forth with my OA on the final lease price and scheduling the delivery. Being a showroom car, they needed to get it detailed. I also sent my OA all the information on my Range Rover, including the current lien holder info, odometer reading, photos, etc. All was still good.



Yesterday I was put in touch with the Delivery Specialist to schedule my delivery for today at 2:30pm. I provided him with proof of insurance for the Model X and the latest odometer reading on the Range Rover.


Today at 1pm, 1.5 hours before my delivery appointment, I get an email from the Delivery Specialist saying that I need to bring a check with me for $6,366.03 in order to trade in my Range Rover! He said there is negative equity in the lease and I need to pay this amount if I want to turn in the Range Rover. WTF!


Previously, my OA never identified any negative equity in my lease and he confirmed that the bid from the purchasing broker closely matched the the dealer buy back price and he said he would make that small difference go away! I was completely surprised and taken back by this news! From the very beginning, the deal on the Tesla was always contingent on them taking my Range Rover in on a trade for no additional out of pocket expenses for me. Paying $6,366.03 was NEVER mentioned until 1.5 hrs before my delivery!


After a ton of back and forth on the phone and through email I finally received an explanation of why all of a sudden I was requested to pay $6,366.03 at signing. Apparently Tesla no longer has a financial relationship with US Bank, and they are no longer leasing cars through US Bank. My Range Rover was leased through US Bank and the payoff quote US Bank provided to Tesla for my Range Rover was based on the new Tesla also being leased through US Bank. US Bank was offering a loyalty incentive of over $6,000.



My OA was misinformed and he was unaware that Tesla no longer is leading through US Bank. All new Tesla leases are going through Tesla's own financing. Tesla was unable to get the loyalty incentive from US Bank, so they wanted to hit me with all of the extra costs! I can't believe they informed me of this 1.5hrs before delivery!



My OA was apologetic, but he was unable to get approval to improve the deal or reduce my out-of-pocket costs. I spent the entire afternoon going back-and-forth, waiting for answers from him and his manager, and by 6 PM today they could not help me! They told me I would either have to pay the extra money for the Range Rover trade, or sell it on my own! Needless to say I was extremely disappointed! Moreover, this new Tesla is for my wife and she was looking forward to having it delivered today. Now she is upset too.



Have any of you ever run into a situation like this? Are any of you aware of the financial relationship between US Bank and Tesla? I am hoping that Tesla will make an exception for me, and this lease through US Bank so I can get the loyalty discount on my Range Rover pay off.



I am so disappointed in Tesla. They really handled this one poorly!



Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[number12]

Start trying to sell the range privately. But sucks either way

 

[skilly]

I feel your pain. Ive been caught here...leases can be nothing short of predatory. I say leases though because I think you're shooting the messenger.

Cutting loose from a lease is always painful; they have all sorts of clauses for early departure that magically go away if you resign another lease with the lender. I've seen this before but can't say this is really Tesla's fault...as the Lease Owner I would probably know that I have an early departure penalty and as a matter of up front due course, the first thing I would disclose to Tesla is that situation and my requirement to resign a lease with US Bank.

It's interesting to me that US Bank provided a pay off that didn't include this penalty. I feel like should have been disclosed in the buy out letter from them and then provided a separate disclosure in that same motion that disclosed the loyalty credit. I think your best bet is going to the Lender, in this case US Bank and ask them for the relief; its not Tesla charging you. Its them. Id also see if you can't broker a lease through them for your new car. Just because Tesla doesn't leverage them doesn't mean you can't.

 

[Xtek]

Trying to get out of a lease early while not being financially punished is very difficult thing to do. Even if my OA/DS told me they could do it I'd be skeptical. It's a crappy situation to be in because even though the OA has little power they do represent the company and communicated to you (hopefully in writing) what was going to happen.

My suggestion would be to be nice to the OA, it sounds like this wasn't managed downward very well. I would then escalate up with as much documentation as possible. I wouldn't be hopeful that you'll get the full deal originally promised, they may throw in $2,000 in accessories or something but I doubt they will move on the price of the vehicle (the sale price drives a lot of metrics) or offer cash on the back end and if they do they may ask you to sign an NDA.

Crappy situation for everyone involved, sorry to hear this.

 

[Polar993]

I realize this is a situation that primarily involves US Bank, but it was my OA at Tesla that mis-communicated the deal with me.

I suppose some of the blame is mine due to my ignorance of not knowing about the loyalty pay off deal, and assuming that the payoff amount that Tesla received from US Bank was not contingent upon them resigning a new lease for the Tesla.

My OA apologized over the situation, admitting that he provided me with wrong information. He kept throwing Corporate Tesla Finance under the bus by saying he never received communication about the severed relationship between Tesla and US Bank. He said only the Managers received this communication. He may be truthful about the situation, but it's no excuse and all of the OAs should have been made aware of this. The Delivery guys should have also caught this well before the day of delivery.

I don't know how far I will get going directly to US Bank and asking them to lease me the Tesla. I don't even know if it's possible for them to lease me the car if Tesla doesn't have a relationship with them. I am hoping that Tesla will allow US Bank to lease me the car so I get the loyalty discount. If they don't, my other options are not great.

Other options include buying the Range Rover back from US Bank myself, but the buy back price is $51,000 plus tax!

Last option is to lease through Tesla but negotiate with Tesla for a better deal on the trade in price of the Range Rover and the purchase price of the Tesla.

I don't know how much leverage I have with Tesla....what do you guys think?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[K-MTG]

I guess you can negotiate with Tesla for annual services and extended warranty. Those combined should be well over $5k.

 

[richrootes]

Your lease, your diligence - don't see how this is a Tesla problem

 

[rjdoc74]

" Teslaidentified a broker to buy my Range Rover Sport for $50,000 and they confirmed that the Dealer Buy Back price from US Bank for my Range Rover was $50,250"

Do you have emails or written documentation of this? If you do, I would escalate to higher ups at tesla to make this right. If not, you may be out of luck. GL.

 

[Polar993]

" Teslaidentified a broker to buy my Range Rover Sport for $50,000 and they confirmed that the Dealer Buy Back price from US Bank for my Range Rover was $50,250"

Do you have emails or written documentation of this? If you do, I would escalate to higher ups at tesla to make this right. If not, you may be out of luck. GL.

Yes, I have emails from my OA that discuss the offer price from their broker and how I will be at net zero regarding the Range Rover.

Who do you recommend I escalate this to at Tesla?

I intend to give my OA until Monday to try to workout an equitable solution. If he doesn't seem motivated to help me, I would like to raise this up the chain.

 

[EdisonR]

Got into a similar situation except I got the bad news a week before delivery. Basically I wanted to exit my model S lease to get into a model X lease and everything was all fine according to my OA. Until I ask me to double check all the numbers and he comes back to me with a $20K negative equity, basically the same amount I would pay for the reminder of my S lease but not being able to use the car! Made no sense...

 

[777dgt]

Go to US Bank directly, you can lease from anyone you want, receive the loyalty discount, and Tesla doesn't care who pays them. Done!

 

[rjdoc74]

At this point, I would be done with this OA. Obvhsisly, uninformed and not on ball. Ask to speak to store manager. I had a bad situation (but different) myself where my inventory car took 3 months to get delivered instead of 3 weeks. Store manager helped me somewhat.

Yes, I have emails from my OA that discuss the offer price from their broker and how I will be at net zero regarding the Range Rover.

Who do you recommend I escalate this to at Tesla?

I intend to give my OA until Monday to try to workout an equitable solution. If he doesn't seem motivated to help me, I would like to raise this up the chain.

 

[Xtek]

A lease is very similar to a loan except you're renting from the lien holder. For both a loan and a lease Tesla is selling the car. At the end of the transaction the bank is paying Tesla the difference between the deposits and the price of the car. Then you work with the financial institution that paid off the rest of the car for you by either making payments or renting the car.

Therefor you can do whatever you want to get the car. As long as someone is willing to pay the rest of the price of the car to Tesla. You could go to US Bank or <insert bank name here> and ask them to lease you a car. They then pay off the rest of the price of the car, you rent it from them and at that point your financial relationship is between US Bank and yourself.

To make it easier Tesla (and other companies) work with banks to handle the transaction but you don't have to go through Tesla for financing.

 

[skilly]

Yes, I have emails from my OA that discuss the offer price from their broker and how I will be at net zero regarding the Range Rover.

Who do you recommend I escalate this to at Tesla?

I intend to give my OA until Monday to try to workout an equitable solution. If he doesn't seem motivated to help me, I would like to raise this up the chain.

I think this is barking up the wrong tree. Tesla got the buy out from US Bank - if anything I would ask them for the proof of that quote between them. From there, thats what you take to US Bank. My guess is that US Bank misquoted; Tesla communicated it to you; you said "lets do it"; Tesla went to US Bank to formalize the quote and bam - the increase shows up once it becomes official.

Again, Tesla is passing a message on via your Lease Holder. They are subject to their accuracy - and really providing a service...they aren't making money off the previous lease or your trade in. I just don't see Tesla as the problem here. Its your bank.

 

[Polar993]

Thanks everyone for your feedback and input. Greatly appreciated.

My OA at Tesla did MIS-communicate the buy back price from my previous lease. He was misinformed and he did not clarify with US Bank that they were not intending to lease the new Tesla through them. He just asked him for a dealer buy back price and pass that information along to me. It was an innocent mistake.

At this point I think my best bet is to try to lease the car through US Bank. How do you all suggest that I go about doing that? Do I ask the sales manager at Tesla to contact US Bank on my behalf, or do I contact US bank directly and provide them with the new vehicle information?

I hope the lease rates through U.S. Bank are equally as attractive as the lease rates that were quoted to me through Tesla finance.

Thanks again for all of your help! I hope this has a happy ending, and I hope to be in my new Model X very soon.

 

[rjdoc74]

I think this is barking up the wrong tree. Tesla got the buy out from US Bank - if anything I would ask them for the proof of that quote between them. From there, thats what you take to US Bank. My guess is that US Bank misquoted; Tesla communicated it to you; you said "lets do it"; Tesla went to US Bank to formalize the quote and bam - the increase shows up once it becomes official.

Again, Tesla is passing a message on via your Lease Holder. They are subject to their accuracy - and really providing a service...they aren't making money off the previous lease or your trade in. I just don't see Tesla as the problem here. Its your bank.

True, but OP is unlikely to get any concessions from US Bank at this point. Tesla on the other hand may provide some credits such as free extended warranty and maintenance.

 

[skilly]

Thanks everyone for your feedback and input. Greatly appreciated.

My OA at Tesla did MIS-communicate the buy back price from my previous lease. He was misinformed and he did not clarify with US Bank that they were not intending to lease the new Tesla through them. He just asked him for a dealer buy back price and pass that information along to me. It was an innocent mistake.

At this point I think my best bet is to try to lease the car through US Bank. How do you all suggest that I go about doing that? Do I ask the sales manager at Tesla to contact US Bank on my behalf, or do I contact US bank directly and provide them with the new vehicle information?

I hope the lease rates through U.S. Bank are equally as attractive as the lease rates that were quoted to me through Tesla finance.

Thanks again for all of your help! I hope this has a happy ending, and I hope to be in my new Model X very soon.

You are going to want to go to your local branch and get it arranged. And, you bring up a good point. Tesla money is pretty cheap at the moment, and you may not get rates equal to what they can with their purchasing power (this may be why the relationship with US Bank doesn't exist anymore). You are going to want to look at the cost of money in each case and go from there. Tell US Bank what they are competing with to see if you can get something comparable.

You may find over the life of the lease with Tesla that money is recovered...Im not sure.

 

[skilly]

True, but OP is unlikely to get any concessions from US Bank at this point. Tesla on the other hand may provide some credits such as free extended warranty and maintenance.

Perhaps, but that would be a stretch. It would be because Tesla wants the deal so bad they are willing to offer something that is really just good faith. Plus if its not cash relief, the OP may be going broke saving money with the concession (service and extended warranty may not be interesting to him - especially extended warranty on a leased vehicle).

 

[rjdoc74]

"I hope the lease rates through U.S. Bank are equally as attractive as the lease rates that were quoted to me through Tesla finance"

Hate to break it to you, but having leased over dozen luxury cars in the past, chances of this happening are zero.

 

[rjdoc74]

Perhaps, but that would be a stretch. It would be because Tesla wants the deal so bad they are willing to offer something that is really just good faith. Plus if its not cash relief, the OP may be going broke saving money with the concession (service and extended warranty may not be interesting to him - especially extended warranty on a leased vehicle).

It's not because they want the deal badly or not, but because customer is getting screwed and they are not completely fault free here. Also, getting extras is better than simply loosing 6k.