Sold my car - new owner can't add car to their account w/o new docs

[Michee22]

This may be the only answer. I will try it. Thank you.

This was the correct answer! Thank you! We did call the Tulsa store originally and they kept saying, "use the app" and would hang up. I called Kansas City MO and spoke with Dailyn who was AWESOME! She is having us send our registration and drivers lic copies to her and it should take 3-5 business days.

 

[Michee22]

My husband and I purchased a used Model Y from a dealership. We both have the app and are NOT able to upload anything. When we type in the VIN we receive an error: Unable to claim ownership. We entered the correct VIN. WE purchased the car it is not leased. WE have NO idea who the previous owners were. The dealership we purchased from will NOT help us. Tesla does not have a phone number for assistance, no email, no chat, NOTHING. We purchased our Model Y back on 6/10/22 and still cannot find anyone to assist. I love our car but am beyond frustrated and ready to sell it all due to TESLA telling customers to rely on an app that doesn't do what they say it should. We have issues with the vehicle and need this taken care of.

For anyone in this situation, call a Tesla Store. That is who helped us out. They sent us an email and we just had to attach the Registration or Bill of Sale with our Drivers License copies. It should take 3-5 business days.

 

[dduffey]

You were lucky and the previous owner removed their information and reset everything. In our situation we purchased from a dealership. We have no idea who owned the car prior. There is no number you can call for assistance. We tried calling as if you are ordering a car and they tell you to do it through the app. We told them we cannot. They hang up.

I was replying to the OP who is/was the seller.

I too was the seller and had no problems transferring app/account ownership.

 

[jjrandorin]

This is a bit strange to me, because simultaneously here on TMC, we have two different people talking about ownership transfer, with one saying, in effect, "its too easy" and the other, in effect saying "its too hard".

Vehicle fraudulently transferred out of account without permission

not that it makes much difference, but curious as to whether OP's signature was forged on the bill of sale or the required federal mileage statement form?

teslamotorsclub.com

Im not saying either one is wrong, but its interesting to me that two different situations show vastly different outcomes.

This isnt in relation to the OP of this thread (as that is almost 2 years ago I think), but in the experience of the recent poster, @Michee22

 

[DanDi58]

This was the correct answer! Thank you! We did call the Tulsa store originally and they kept saying, "use the app" and would hang up. I called Kansas City MO and spoke with Dailyn who was AWESOME! She is having us send our registration and drivers lic copies to her and it should take 3-5 business days.

Good deal, glad it worked out for you!

 

[Michee22]

This is a bit strange to me, because simultaneously here on TMC, we have two different people talking about ownership transfer, with one saying, in effect, "its too easy" and the other, in effect saying "its too hard".

Vehicle fraudulently transferred out of account without permission

not that it makes much difference, but curious as to whether OP's signature was forged on the bill of sale or the required federal mileage statement form?

teslamotorsclub.com

Im not saying either one is wrong, but its interesting to me that two different situations show vastly different outcomes.

This isnt in relation to the OP of this thread (as that is almost 2 years ago I think), but in the experience of the recent poster, @Michee22

The circumstances matter greatly. In our situation the previous owners never removed their information. They were still attached to the vehicle and when the dealership got the car they didn't think about this aspect and the chaos it would cause. Otherwise I believe it is very easy and quick if everything is done correctly.

 

[Ostrichsak]

The circumstances matter greatly. In our situation the previous owners never removed their information. They were still attached to the vehicle and when the dealership got the car they didn't think about this aspect and the chaos it would cause. Otherwise I believe it is very easy and quick if everything is done correctly.

I think the similarities though are in the process even if for opposite reasons.

If a car ends up with a new owner and the old owner hasn't removed it/themselves from Tesla, you can imagine how much of a pain it would be for the new rightful owner to take "ownership" through Tesla to be able to access their car from their account. What we're seeing is two examples of worst case scenarios from both sides of that same coin:

If they make it too secure, it's difficult for someone who has rightful ownership claim it and if it's not secure enough someone could potentially exploit this loophole to steal a car, items out of it, use it to access a home... the list goes on.

Having been through various versions of this process at various times in history when Tesla handled it differently each time, I can say this from my experience without a shadow of a doubt: This process sucks. Tesla needs to fix it. Until they can fix it completely they need to have the ability to call and talk with a human being who can resolve it. In the past they had a step in the process that involved emailing docs to a department that had humans that processed these items to verify them. These people could assist with this but I don't think that's even a thing anymore.

If it were me, I'd go to a local Service Center to seek resolution from the humans there. Fortunately for us, we have one local to us now after years of not having that luxury. YMMV