Tesla cripple model S stranding family

[mspohr]

Based on my delivery experience and the pages of repairs being performed to a “new” car less than a month into ownership (currently at the sc for a week now), lack of support for people that DIY and this mess will for sure make this my first and only Tesla purchase.

Tesla needs to change bigtime as there is such a complete mess. Countless people waiting months for collision repair parts, terrible QC , bullshit “within spec” claims. They need to understand the car belongs to the owner , not Tesla.

If they don’t want to work on it that’s fine . But sell people parts like any other mfg , this blacklisting is bullshit.

FYI I don’t care what you fanboys have to say.

Tesla did sell him parts. Door and fender. He's only blacklisted from Supercharger probably because of battery damage.

 

[NewTMSMan]

They need to understand the car belongs to the owner , not Tesla.

They do, they will not perform warranty repair on a salvage car, every car manufacturer has this policy, it is not Tesla specific. In addition they also do not let you use the Supercharger network with a salvage car due to safety concerns, which seems valid. Other than that, it's your car do what you want with it.

No with respect to parts availability, I agree, this needs to improve and they should provide parts availability in the open market more easily.

 

[Jpballer88]

This leads me to believe that we are not getting the full story. I doubt the car was declared salvage for just a door and fender. Probably more serious problems.

My Tesla was salvaged out for a front end collision that did not even touch the frame... you know why? Because insurance gets repair estimates and body shops cannot even get the damn parts in a timely manner plus they are crazy expensive. Body shops cannot just call Tesla up and pick up a fender or bumper. Those parts are very expensive and Tesla may not even sell parts to non-certified body shops. Certified body shops without a doubt charge pretty pennies to fix this stuff.

It's all screwed. If and when my Tesla gets blacklisted, I will be talking to a lawyer.

 

[dhanson865]

Dealers can do as they wish.

But if it's salvage the manufacturer warranty is dead and the manufacturer can choose not to provide any support.

Tesla has an inspection process for rebuilt vehicles to say whether they will _support_ the vehicle. _Support_ means that they will service/repair it, but it does not reinstate the warranty.

Dealers get authorization from Corporate for warranty repairs. If corporate says don't do it the dealer won't because then they don't get paid.

He's giving you examples of other corporations that honor the warranty regardless of the title type.

 

[NewTMSMan]

My Tesla was salvaged out for a front end collision that did not even touch the frame... you know why? Because insurance gets repair estimates and body shops cannot even get the damn parts in a timely manner plus they are crazy expensive. Body shops cannot just call Tesla up and pick up a fender or bumper. Those parts are very expensive and Tesla may not even sell parts to non-certified body shops. Certified body shops without a doubt charge pretty pennies to fix this stuff.

It's all screwed. If and when my Tesla gets blacklisted, I will be talking to a lawyer.

Hard to tell, but are you saying your car was totaled after an accident you had, by your insurance company, or you bought a car that was a salvage vehicle?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Dealers get authorization from Corporate for warranty repairs. If corporate says don't do it the dealer won't because then they don't get paid.

He's giving you examples of other corporations that honor the warranty regardless of the title type.

He didn't write anything about warranty repairs.

 

[demundus]

My Tesla was salvaged out for a front end collision that did not even touch the frame... you know why? Because insurance gets repair estimates and body shops cannot even get the damn parts in a timely manner plus they are crazy expensive. Body shops cannot just call Tesla up and pick up a fender or bumper. Those parts are very expensive and Tesla may not even sell parts to non-certified body shops. Certified body shops without a doubt charge pretty pennies to fix this stuff.

It's all screwed. If and when my Tesla gets blacklisted, I will be talking to a lawyer.

Thats confusing, they totaled a car you still owned? Or you BOUGHT a Tesla that was salvaged?

If your Tesla gets blacklisted from their network I wish you luck with a lawsuit, but remember its THEIR infrastructure that they allow you to use. Asking you to recertify the car with them is definitely within their right before allowing you to potentially drive a bomb into a parking lot and plug it in... the recertification fees are a little pricey, but obviously they are not thrilled about repaired vehicles hitting the road (they are a business after all)

 

[mspohr]

He didn't write anything about warranty repairs.

He does say that he took it to Tesla to have Warranty work done (1:30 in the video). Tesla did the work and didn't charge him.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

This looks like a simple case of misscommunication.

Guys, who didn't expect supercharging, was given for free because tesla didn't know or was an oversight. He brings it in for service and now they know. It is regular policy to blacklist unsupported car which is what the service guys did. The service guy should've told the owner, just incase he is unaware, he will lose supercharging. Moreover the owner should've known unsupported vehicles will lose supercharging. I am sure it is somewhere in the agreement.

All in all, It is either both sides are at fault or no one is at fault.

If both at fault, then owner should've read the agreement. And tesla should've pointed it out for them to know.

If no one is at fault then owner got exactly what he asked for, hoping tesla had another oversight by not registering his car as unsupported.

Case close to me.

 

[bro1999]

Meh, not buying it. I know some Tesla owners that rarely Supercharge. If you do not travel long distance by car, it's not a primary feature.

They didn't cripple the car. The car functions perfectly with charging off of their HPWC at home and not exceeding the 200 mi range.

I would consider my Bolt crippled if one day fast charging was disabled. Even more so for a Tesla owner. Tesla ownership and Supercharging go hand in hand.

 

[The Duke]

Other thoughts to consider. My brother bought a '98 Camaro IROC in Washington. He drove it for a while in California and decided to get California plates. The Camaro did not pass smog, wrong motor, not all smog components present, etc. Now he has a car he cannot drive although it runs fine. He has to tow it back to Washington where they don't care as much about pollution and get Washington plates. IF he can, he no longer has a Washington address. Such are the risks taken by buying "cheap".

I have a few problems with this guy wanting a "cheap" Tesla. He wants Tesla warranty, Supercharging and support but will not pay for it. IMHO he was given a LOT by Tesla because they did not charge him for warranty maintenance. He got some free supercharging. As far as "had to tow" the car, either this guy is an idiot or lying, there are compatible chargers all over the place. If he plans his trips and charges at home he may have a nice car for cheap. Tesla did not stop the car from charging altogether which they maybe should have done pending an full safety inspection.

 

[McRat]

It's a great way to make 'free' money. Kudos to Tesla's accountants.

Theft recovery Tesla with Supercharging gets stolen and quickly stripped in a concrete commercial building or outside cellular range.
Insurance puts up for auction as salvage since the doors, hood, glass, stereo, steering wheel, seats, hatch, wheels and tires are missing.
Void all parts warrantees a given, even new replacement parts.
But you also get to drop the costs of the Supercharger network that were paid for even though they were not affected at all.

Or any damages that don't affect the DCFC hardware or battery. Free money.

Understand the cost of Supercharging is built into the car, but the Superchargers are not.

If Tesla decides to change a policy concerning SC to cars that are not salvage title? Ditto.
"We are going to disable your AP for awhile. If you do not accept the update, we will shut off your Supercharger access."

That is what is so cool about OTA. The Lord Giveth and the Lord hath Taketh Away.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Most OEM Factory authorized dealerships have restrictions on the work they can do for Salvage title vehicles.

In this case, all those details have not been sorted out, and this is not a common occurance for Tesla.

OP tried to buy a cheap, salvage title, repaired Tesla. Did not understand all the details, and is just now learning what he has purchased.

Most likely OP will try some work arounds. Will learn what he can and cannot do.

Many insurance companies will not cover salvage title, and many financial institutions will not loan or lease on marked titled vehicles.

Lots of grey areas, but to try to gain support and sympathy by posting misleading titles, and only posting part of the story seems uncalled for.

 

[princeofhouse]

Most OEM Factory authorized dealerships have restrictions on the work they can do for Salvage title vehicles.

In this case, all those details have not been sorted out, and this is not a common occurance for Tesla.

OP tried to buy a cheap, salvage title, repaired Tesla. Did not understand all the details, and is just now learning what he has purchased.

Most likely OP will try some work arounds. Will learn what he can and cannot do.

Many insurance companies will not cover salvage title, and many financial institutions will not loan or lease on marked titled vehicles.

Lots of grey areas, but to try to gain support and sympathy by posting misleading titles, and only posting part of the story seems uncalled for.

Nothing in the title is misleading. both factors are true, the car was crippled and it resulted in a situation which left the family effectively stranded and having to seek alternative arrangements.

 

[mspohr]

Nothing in the title is misleading. both factors are true, the car was crippled and it resulted in a situation which left the family effectively stranded and having to seek alternative arrangements.

He was only stranded because it was too stupid to find an electric outlet.

 

[princeofhouse]

He was only stranded because it was too stupid to find an electric outlet.

the issue was not about finding a alternative charging point, the issue was while midtrip with his wife and small children the charging times provided by lvl 2 or lvl 1 were a major issue to time and pressure constraints.

 

[Chaserr]

He has to tow it back to Washington where they don't care as much about pollution and get Washington plates. IF he can, he no longer has a Washington address.

He's not plating the car in Washington without a local address unles she still has a valid WA ID and can use someone else's. Have him set up a corporation in some car friendly state and register it to the corp, then it will never pull his name up if he moves elsewhere.

 

[Yaro]

Bought a salvage car. Tesla is clear about not supporting salvage vehicles. Owner should have done due diligence. Imagine if there was something wrong with the battery system, a high power source (supercharger) could cause serious injury. Then guess who'd be suing Tesla for their battery lighting on fire

If there was remotely anything wrong with the battery or any of it's components, you would instantly get an error on the screen. You also would not be able to user the supercharger or even a regular charger.

 

[Yaro]

I have had a similar issue to this. I purchased a 2014 MS 60 that had a rebuilt/salvage title because that's the only route I could afford. It was recertified by Tesla and updates/supercharging were enabled. It showed as having the full warranty and the SC even put a brand new DU in it under warranty LOL. They fixed tons of stuff under warranty that should have not been.

As a first time Tesla owner, I thought, based off this experience, that once a Tesla has been recertified -- warranty reinstates.

So I sold my MS 60 and bought a 2013 P85, also a rebuilt/salvage title. The owner called into Tesla and they confirmed on 2 occasions it had warranty and that everything was good to go. The SC even did mobile 12V battery service to the salvage title Tesla a week before I bought it. They clearly worked on the car, even though it had a REBUILT title. So any argument that they do it for the safety of their employees is BS. If they cared that much about being safe, they should have worked on this P85......

So I bought the P85, which I thought had warranty, BECAUSE TESLA TOLD ME 3 TIMES IT WAS COVERED! I get home and over a month notice a wheel bearing noise. I call SC and try to schedule an appt for service. They say the car is blacklisted and that they will not touch it. I called executive escalation folks and explained them how bad Tesla is misinforming their customers and the level of disorganization with REBUILT/SALVAGE title Tesla's. He agrees with what happened was a big mistake but can not do anything about it.

As of now, SUPERCHARGING and UPDATES still work. I am scared to take it far because I DONT KNOW if Tesla will shut off SUPERCHARING halfway through my trip.

It is so disappointing and I know as more and more M3's get into accidents and people figure out how bad Tesla's support on rebuilt/salvage title vehicles is, there will be an uproar. Thanks to Rich Rebuilds, for using his platform to show Tesla what they are doing is not right.

If you ever get disabled, it's possible to reenable supercharging and just remove the car from Tesla's network and you'll be fine.

 

[Yaro]

It's a great way to make 'free' money. Kudos to Tesla's accountants.

Theft recovery Tesla with Supercharging gets stolen and quickly stripped in a concrete commercial building or outside cellular range.
Insurance puts up for auction as salvage since the doors, hood, glass, stereo, steering wheel, seats, hatch, wheels and tires are missing.
Void all parts warrantees a given, even new replacement parts.
But you also get to drop the costs of the Supercharger network that were paid for even though they were not affected at all.

Or any damages that don't affect the DCFC hardware or battery. Free money.

Understand the cost of Supercharging is built into the car, but the Superchargers are not.

If Tesla decides to change a policy concerning SC to cars that are not salvage title? Ditto.
"We are going to disable your AP for awhile. If you do not accept the update, we will shut off your Supercharger access."

That is what is so cool about OTA. The Lord Giveth and the Lord hath Taketh Away.

Cool?

Most OEM Factory authorized dealerships have restrictions on the work they can do for Salvage title vehicles.

In this case, all those details have not been sorted out, and this is not a common occurance for Tesla.

OP tried to buy a cheap, salvage title, repaired Tesla. Did not understand all the details, and is just now learning what he has purchased.

Most likely OP will try some work arounds. Will learn what he can and cannot do.

Many insurance companies will not cover salvage title, and many financial institutions will not loan or lease on marked titled vehicles.

Lots of grey areas, but to try to gain support and sympathy by posting misleading titles, and only posting part of the story seems uncalled for.

You're wrong on a few points. I've never had a problem insuring a rebuilt/salvage title car. Most dealerships provide support for salvage/rebuilt title cars. You can literally buy car parts from any manufacturer without a problem. Some dealerships won't do maintenance(oil change) on cars but will service them if you need to program a new part, key or anything similar. Tesla won't do any of that, and that's just dumb.