So Tesla sold me a New Inventory car but didn't disclose that it had had a prior accident

[obvnotlupus]

I think the title says it all. Tesla (who seems hell bent on screwing me over) sold me a new inventory Model S that had had an accident and repair (that is visible on CarFax). Obviously, since I was buying the car new, I had never thought of checking its CarFax. But now that I did (this happened last year...) I see that the front bumper had been damaged, and was repaired.

This was never disclosed to me at any point whatsoever. I looked up some laws and apparently if the damage is less than 5% of the car's MSRP, they don't have to disclose it to me unless asked. Which I DID and never got an answer.

(I asked this over email before I bought the car, and did not get an answer. Later, however, I asked the same question over the phone talking to them before I took delivery, and was told that the car had no problems and was clean. I believe I also asked a third time when I went to take delivery. Unfortunately, the latter two were verbal and I have no proof of it.)

It's just ridiculous that a 200 billion dollar company would resort to hiding damages to their cars before they sell them. Even though, I guess, they are "legally allowed" to do it (unless asked, which I did... I did!!!). This is the kind of *sugar* I would maybe expect from a shady used car dealership. At this point I don't even know what the extent of the damage was to my car, but I know for a fact that it will very badly affect resale.

Since Tesla makes it utterly impossible to reach them by any means, I was wondering if you guys had any idea of recourse. What can I do? I am so upset and utterly frustrated over this.

 

[Tam]

...I looked up some laws and apparently if the damage is less than 5% of the car's MSRP, they don't have to disclose it to me unless asked. Which I DID and never got an answer...

Most likely Tesla would comply with a state law that varies from state to state. Some set the value at 6% others at 5%.

Some are required to disclose if asked, some are not if the threshold has not reached.

Some don't either way if the damaged parts are: glass, tires, or bumpers ...

What is the remedy that you seeking? Apology, monetary/service compensation?

You might want to spend some money on a lawyer to see whether you have any case to see whether Tesla has complied with the law requirement by not disclosing the repairs.

 

[obvnotlupus]

Yeah, that seems to be the case. I am selling my car and merely want to be compensated on the hit I am taking due to selling a car with an accident report on it.

 

[Tdriver]

Find out what the damage was before proceeding.

 

[obvnotlupus]

Find out what the damage was before proceeding.

That is what I am trying to do but literally no one from Tesla will respond back to me...

 

[Fortune]

That is what I am trying to do but literally no one from Tesla will respond back to me...

Run a CarFax on the VIN?

 

[jmaddr]

What’s strange is that car fax knows about it.
If Tesla truly sold that as new, I wouldn’t think they would report that to insurance or similar to get fixed, they would just repair it. So something is fishy. How many miles were on it when you bought it? Could it have been an untitled demo (hence being able to be sold as new)? If so, perhaps it was damaged in demo and the responsible driver’s insurance reported it. I wouldn’t think (but don’t know) that that law would apply with the car fax report. At the very least, you should have a diminished value claim.

You will get nowhere with Tesla. I hate to say this, but I would contact a lawyer that specializes in diminished value claims to ask them if they have ever encountered such a situation.

 

[Tam]

Yeah, that seems to be the case. I am selling my car and merely want to be compensated on the hit I am taking due to selling a car with an accident report on it.

In that case, you might want to file in small claims court because the money amount is too small to be worthy of Tesla's time to show up.

 

[Ostrichsak]

CarFax is NEVER 100%. I keep trying to tell people that and usually it's for NO damage being reported. Keep in mind that the damage MUST be reported to reflect on CarFax. You should always inspect every single car assuming it's damaged and looking for the damage. A CarFax will just tell you were to look closer to assure it was repaired properly. Too many people rely on CarFax as the final word and the fact is that it's just another tool to use.

In your case, that's an odd one. It's the opposite side of that were damage has been reported when it may not be damaged. The odd thing about that is if it was truly a new car that Tesla is the only party that's owned it... Tesla would have had to report the damage. That doesn't make much sense to me. What's more likely the case is that another car with transposed VIN was reported for repairs or some sort of transgression on the VIN recording occurred. Knowing how terrible Tesla is at details I'm honestly surprised this hasn't happened sooner. If you found where the damage is though and you're 100% sure then it was the right car and why it was reported is a mystery.

Sadly, if you didn't get it in writing (at least email or text) that someone from Tesla told you that it didn't have any damage or repair history you're kind of screwed in terms of proving it. Tesla is the absolute KING of saying one thing and then going back on their word later and if you didn't get it in writing they will just claim they never said that.

This is a crazy situation though and I don't have anything other than that loosely related info to add. Best of luck in your future Tesla dealings as it's likely to be looooong and bumpy ride.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

When did you buy the car? What date does CarFax show the damage was repaired? What date does the VIN show as the manufactured date? When did you find out about the repair? Are you sure you entered the VIN correctly into CarFax's search engine? Is it possible that whoever entered the car into the database made a typo when typing the VIN?

 

[joebel]

My mcu 1 touch screen went out on my 2015 model s. It is in the Dublin ca service center. I cannot purchase a mcu2 upgrade at this time because of my vin # .being forced to purchase a mcu1..

 

[obvnotlupus]

When did you buy the car? What date does CarFax show the damage was repaired? What date does the VIN show as the manufactured date? When did you find out about the repair? Are you sure you entered the VIN correctly into CarFax's search engine? Is it possible that whoever entered the car into the database made a typo when typing the VIN?

I bought it on August 2019, the CarFax shows an accident in February 2019 and a repair in May 2019. I just found it out. And yes, I definitely entered the correct VIN, I'm not even sure if it's practically possible to enter in the wrong VIN and get a match

 

[AMPd]

CarFax is NEVER 100%. I keep trying to tell people that and usually it's for NO damage being reported. Keep in mind that the damage MUST be reported to reflect on CarFax. You should always inspect every single car assuming it's damaged and looking for the damage. A CarFax will just tell you were to look closer to assure it was repaired properly. Too many people rely on CarFax as the final word and the fact is that it's just another tool to use.

In your case, that's an odd one. It's the opposite side of that were damage has been reported when it may not be damaged. The odd thing about that is if it was truly a new car that Tesla is the only party that's owned it... Tesla would have had to report the damage. That doesn't make much sense to me. What's more likely the case is that another car with transposed VIN was reported for repairs or some sort of transgression on the VIN recording occurred. Knowing how terrible Tesla is at details I'm honestly surprised this hasn't happened sooner. If you found where the damage is though and you're 100% sure then it was the right car and why it was reported is a mystery.

Sadly, if you didn't get it in writing (at least email or text) that someone from Tesla told you that it didn't have any damage or repair history you're kind of screwed in terms of proving it. Tesla is the absolute KING of saying one thing and then going back on their word later and if you didn't get it in writing they will just claim they never said that.

This is a crazy situation though and I don't have anything other than that loosely related info to add. Best of luck in your future Tesla dealings as it's likely to be looooong and bumpy ride.

Wouldn’t the shop that repaired the vehicle also be able to report it?

 

[obvnotlupus]

Wouldn’t the shop that repaired the vehicle also be able to report it?

There's an item about an accident on the report, and another item about the repair. I am guessing the first one is related to an insurance claim, the second one might be from the shop. Tesla repaired the car, but maybe because of the insurance claim the "accident" was already on the report, so they saw fit to add the "repair" one there as well.

 

[AMPd]

There's an item about an accident on the report, and another item about the repair. I am guessing the first one is related to an insurance claim, the second one might be from the shop. Tesla repaired the car, but maybe because of the insurance claim the "accident" was already on the report, so they saw fit to add the "repair" one there as well.

It could be an error but most likely the vehicle was damaged while on a test drive and Tesla had a 3rd party shop repair it and hope no one finds out. Also the fact that they said it wasn’t in an accident verbally but did not reply in writing backs up my opinion that they hoped you won’t find out.

 

[mbhforum]

I bought an inventory 2019 that was used as a demo as well and when I took delivery I noticed it had damage to the tire and rim. I made them swap it out. It had like 1,000 miles on it, so I knew it was driven somewhat. Ironically, I did run a carfax report before delivery and Carfax told me this and refunded me for their charges:


Because this is a new vehicle a CARFAXReport would not be generated due to no history for it yet. I did review the Report and see we have received a record showing the state inspection was completed. You will now see content within the Report.

 

[Alysashley79]

Have you taken the car to an independent shop to confirm if it has been repaired? That’s where I’d start. Carfax didn’t report an accident when I bought a Toyota (was a demo) and it had a bumper replaced. Turns out it was damaged in transport when it was coming off the truck. Not a true “accident”

it could have been damaged on transport and Tesla just sent it to a 3rd party repair shop to have it fixed.

I could be wrong here but I think ostrichsak was saying that TESLA transposed the vins of an actual repaired vehicle vs you doing it.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Have you taken the car to an independent shop to confirm if it has been repaired? That’s where I’d start. Carfax didn’t report an accident when I bought a Toyota (was a demo) and it had a bumper replaced. Turns out it was damaged in transport when it was coming off the truck. Not a true “accident”

it could have been damaged on transport and Tesla just sent it to a 3rd party repair shop to have it fixed.

I could be wrong here but I think ostrichsak was saying that TESLA transposed the vins of an actual repaired vehicle vs you doing it.

That is what I was saying but I believe their response was towards someone else who suggested maybe they transposed a number when pulling the history.

 

[obvnotlupus]

Tesla reached out to me (through a third party I know who is well connected... there's no way I'd have gotten a response otherwise) and shared info about the accident (pics and repair order). They then proceeded to act as if sharing this info was a huge favor for me, and when I tried to protest them never having disclosed this to me before selling me the car, they let me know that they are "legally allowed" to do this so they couldn't possibly imagine why they wouldn't.

Amazing. I can't imagine ever coming back to this company after I sell this car. What a joke.

 

[MP3Mike]

shared info about the accident (pics and repair order). They

So what was the actual damage?