Successful Full Refund (Buy-Back / Vehicle Return) After Three Months & 636 Miles

[ChicagoP3D]

My story is long and arduous (a brief summary can be found here: Performance Model 3 Snow Tires/Rims), but suffice it to say that I was apart from my vehicle for over two months for what was supposed to be a relatively quick, one-week repair of superficial delivery defects. After waiting long enough, I decided I wanted to start over—return this one and get a new one with the exact same configuration. The process was time-consuming and stressful, and especially anxiety-ridden since there didn't appear to be anyone else on the boards who had completed the process and was willing to answer questions.

Now that I've gone through it, I'm happy to be that person for others. Let me know if you have any questions. There is actually one other person out there who I've been chatting with who is almost done with his process as well, so hopefully the two of us can be helpful for the rest of the community in the same situation.

 

[super20g]

Glad to hear you got your refund and that you are still interested in purchasing another. They are great if you can get one without too many defects.

I'll also give a summary of my issues as a cautionary tale to others that are thinking of accepting a car with defects with the promise that they will be repaired after delivery.

To sum up mine fairly quickly to give context to how wrong these 'minor' delivery defect repairs can go, the paint/body work came back worse and had to go right back after several weeks of being out of service. On top if that they were caught driving the car at 85 in a 55 (I had the speed limit mode on) coming back from the body shop with fresh paint. Service damaged the front bumper and it had to go back and be repainted, one of the few panels that was fine and didn't need refinished. The body shop damaged every piece of glass on the car with a razor blade scraping over spray off and EVERY piece of glass on the car had to be replaced... They also scratched every rim (inner lip thankfully) laying them flat on the ground and scooting them across the shop floor. The rims also have over spray on the face in areas after I asked for the inner lips to be repaired. Also scratches on the rims from strap marks from Tesla having it towed. Also lots of tool marks and scratches on interior trim when they replaced all the glass and most every piece has now been replaced other than a few pieces still waiting on delivery since November-ish.. They worked a deal out on the phone with me to keep the car and then wanted to offer me several grand less when I came to pick up the car the next day and the car was also not fully repaired with remaining items to be handled through mobile service at a later date when they already had months to line everything up. They told me they were not safety related so they could force the car back on me incomplete. Fortunately I had the call recorded regarding the deal agreed upon and offered to play it back but the service manager still acted like a dick and was offended that I recorded the call. I told him I was leaving the car there until the repair order was actually complete but he demanded the loaner keys and told me I would need to get a ride and my car would be left out on the lot unprotected for several weeks and it was on me if the car was damaged. I had to get out my phone and start dialing the sheriff and then the manager agreed to the deal he previous agreed to 24 hrs prior on the phone. I settled for the car being fixed properly and adding EAP + FSD options since the repurchase is more expensive now than when I ordered, I would lose the lifetime connectivity, and all the hassle that would be required with the buy-back, etc. I probably should have pushed for the buy-back though as the car is still not complete and was purchased in August.

I'd strongly advise against taking delivery of a car with many defects. Especially paint/body. I doubt you will go down the same rabbit hole I did, but it happens... Let Tesla fix the car to your satisfaction beforehand or present you a different car in appropriate condition before you take delivery and hand them the check...

 

[ewoodrick]

So who gets the tax credit on the car?

 

[super20g]

So who gets the tax credit on the car?

He would since he bought it without the intention of selling it... The car is now used so when they resell it it would no longer be eligible for the credit for buyer #2... Technically he can double dip and get the credit on the replacement he orders as well.

 

[ChicagoP3D]

Wow! I can't believe the drama you had to go through. That's awful. The worst that happened in my case was being continuously ignored, over, and over, and over again. I had to practically move into the service center and the auto body part time for several months in order to get my case progressed through the system, but no one ever outright lied to me or tried to pull some seriously shady nonsense on me like that. I'm very sorry to hear you had to go through that.

He would since he bought it without the intention of selling it... The car is now used so when they resell it it would no longer be eligible for the credit for buyer #2... Technically he can double dip and get the credit on the replacement he orders as well.

I concur with all of the above. I did take delivery of the second vehicle at the very end of 2018, so I intend to apply for $15,000 (2 x 7,500) of EV credits. I almost didn't, though, since the replacement that they delivered to my house was actually more damaged than the first vehicle I took delivery of several months prior. Miraculously, they found another matching vehicle a few hours later. It is currently at the auto body for scratches in the paint and a significant panel misalignment/gap, but compared to the first vehicle I took delivery of, and the second one I rejected before delivery, these defects are significantly less severe.

They stopped wrapping Model 3's before they leave Fremont (since they don't have the time to do so anymore with the ramp up to meet 5,000 deliveries per week), so all Model 3's will come with scratches from road debris... it's virtually guaranteed. It all comes down to how severely damaged, and the ease vs. complexity of repair.

 

[WarpedOne]

So, about those layoffs ...

 

[thedongh]

Man I feel you.

I got my m3 in oct 2018, returned it 2 days later because I was supposed to get a new car and was given one with 500 miles on it.

I finally got my check last week.

I literally was hounding the delivery specialists and their managers a few times a week for 3 months. They were polite but always gave wrong and conflicting information.

You had a worse experience than me though. I was supposedly covered under their happiness guarantee, and you on the other hand was given a lemon and not sure if someone was waiting a while for them to make it right.

I got to thinking that Tesla didn't want to close out 2018 with refunds, so they waited until January to send them out. Dick move!

My story is long and arduous (a brief summary can be found here: Performance Model 3 Snow Tires/Rims), but suffice it to say that I was apart from my vehicle for over two months for what was supposed to be a relatively quick, one-week repair of superficial delivery defects. After waiting long enough, I decided I wanted to start over—return this one and get a new one with the exact same configuration. The process was time-consuming and stressful, and especially anxiety-ridden since there didn't appear to be anyone else on the boards who had completed the process and was willing to answer questions.

Now that I've gone through it, I'm happy to be that person for others. Let me know if you have any questions. There is actually one other person out there who I've been chatting with who is almost done with his process as well, so hopefully the two of us can be helpful for the rest of the community in the same situation.


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[ChicagoP3D]

I got to thinking that Tesla didn't want to close out 2018 with refunds, so they waited until January to send them out.

I got the same impression at first, but supposedly the "Business Resolutions" team is like one or two guys, so they're just limited on throughput. I was amazed that they actually managed to get the $5,000 refund checks for the P3D+ price drop out in calendar 2018.

 

[lotusland]

That is a refund check. You returned the car, you got a refund. There is no way you are eligible for a tax credit on that car. You may slip it through the IRS cracks but it is not legit.

 

[thedongh]

BTW did you sign some kind of "buyback" agreement?

Things didn't go at lightning speed for me until a few things happened

1) I actually told my local congresspersons office to see what they could do. Not expecting much except pressure. Since it seemed like Tesla was being kind of unreasonable and giving me bad info multiple times. I have zero idea if they did something or not, since that office never even replied to me :|.
2) THEN they had someone come by to pickup my title where I signed off I was transferring it to tesla. They wouldn't even put in writing what they were doing, they would only "email" me a confirmation of it happening
3) THEN they sent someone else a few days later to have me sign a buyback agreement.
4) two weeks later I get a check.

Like you I'm happy to help some others out there if they got questions.

love the cars, hate their disorganization.

I got the same impression at first, but supposedly the "Business Resolutions" team is like one or two guys, so they're just limited on throughput. I was amazed that they actually managed to get the $5,000 refund checks for the P3D+ price drop out in calendar 2018.

I got the same impression at first, but supposedly the "Business Resolutions" team is like one or two guys, so they're just limited on throughput. I was amazed that they actually managed to get the $5,000 refund checks for the P3D+ price drop out in calendar 2018.

 

[TSLA Pilot]

That is a refund check. You returned the car, you got a refund. There is no way you are eligible for a tax credit on that car. You may slip it through the IRS cracks but it is not legit.

Bogus advice.

I'm nearly certain of this, but NOT a tax professional: You can keep your tax credit as your intent was 100% in alignment with the tax code.

 

[MP3Mike]

I told him I was leaving the car there until the repair order was actually complete but he demanded the loaner keys and told me I would need to get a ride and my car would be left out on the lot unprotected for several weeks and it was on me if the car was damaged. I had to get out my phone and start dialing the sheriff and then the manager agreed to the deal he previous agreed to 24 hrs prior on the phone.

@super20g I'm curious what would you have told the sheriff or asked them to do? (I can't imagine why a sheriff would get involved.)

 

[Glamisduner]

amen brother, they had mine for 5 weeks. It qualified as a lemon under our laws here, but I just figured the next car would be just as bad or worse. I sort of wished I had gone through the buyback process though... They have it again right now for the 3rd time to address issues with my door panels that were likely caused by when the body shop removed them to repaint the doors. I was told they only refund you for the car minus all tax credits which I admit, made me think twice as well.

After the 5 weeks in a loaner they had corrected the trunk spacing issue, but with the side effect that the lights no longer matched up on one side. They told me it is now within spec. I left the car there and asked them to start the refund process. What do you know, a day later they had everything lined up properly.

 

[ChicagoP3D]

That is a refund check. You returned the car, you got a refund. There is no way you are eligible for a tax credit on that car. You may slip it through the IRS cracks but it is not legit.

The transaction was not processed as a refund. By Tesla's insistence, it was executed a "repurchase". They didn't refund my purchase, they bought the vehicle back from me. That may sound like silly semantics to us, but it makes a night and day difference in the eyes of the law.

 

[ChicagoP3D]

I was told they only refund you for the car minus all tax credits which I admit, made me think twice as well.

I head read similar concerns in the forums as well, so I reached out to several lawyers in order to prepare to battle this since there was one brief comment I found where someone mentioned that the involvement of a lawyer caused Tesla to drop their insistence that a deduction be made for the $7,500 EV credit. Thankfully, that turned out to be unnecessary — they never tried to pull that on me. I got 100% of my purchase price back without having to battle any proposed deductions, except for the $2,500 order fee, since that was simply returned to my original credit card rather than included in the refund check. The $1,000 reservation fee was, however, included in the check despite having been paid by credit card.

 

[ChicagoP3D]

BTW did you sign some kind of "buyback" agreement?

Yes, it was a two page repurchase agreement, along with a separate Power of Attorney (which they made me sign two duplicate copies of... "just in case". (weird)

love the cars, hate their disorganization.

Amen to that! I'm loving my replacement vehicle... which is literally the same as the first, just with fewer defects.

 

[sonicP3D]

Yes, it was a two page repurchase agreement, along with a separate Power of Attorney (which they made me sign two duplicate copies of... "just in case". (weird)



Amen to that! I'm loving my replacement vehicle... which is literally the same as the first, just with fewer defects.

I'm in the exact same situation. How long did it take between signing the paperworks and getting the physical check? I ordered the same config again on the sales side of the service center right after signing the paperworks assuming it'll be a month or two for the delivery.

Two days later they auto assigned me a delivery date. I guess they have P3D inventory laying around these days. So I had to put my order on indefinite hold until I get my money.

 

[ChicagoP3D]

How long did it take between signing the paperworks and getting the physical check?

Documents signed on January 9, physical check arrived on January 15. The $2500 refund to the credit card occurred over the weekend in between those two dates.

 

[sonicP3D]

Documents signed on January 9, physical check arrived on January 15. The $2500 refund to the credit card occurred over the weekend in between those two dates.

Oh wow. I better follow up with the service manger then. It has been 2 weeks for mine already. Still nothing. Thanks!

 

[patrick40363]

That is a refund check. You returned the car, you got a refund. There is no way you are eligible for a tax credit on that car. You may slip it through the IRS cracks but it is not legit.

You are wrong. He is entitled to the tax credit.