Man, that looks really bad. I wouldn’t want that car either. Hopefully it doesn’t ruin your desire to own one of the cars, because they are awesome cars. Just buy from someone other than Tesla if you’re going to buy used. The warranty isn’t worth hardly anything anyways.
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Tesla online used car purchase MAJOR ISSUES
- Thread starter Cyborg
- Start date
Two years ago in March I had a similar situation. There were 3 or 4 cosmetic issues with the car that I was not happy with. When I decided to take the car anyway they set up repairs for some of them but not all. Overall I would say I was satisfied but NOT happy. The difference with my purchase is that they sent me pictures of the car that did not show this damage so they fixed the issues based on them not being in the pictures. I did say I dont want this car and they were just like "ok see ya later". I just cannot fathom that Tesla isnt even sending pictures upon request before someone buys a used car. Tesla is not concerned at ALL with selling used car. They actually act like its a thorn in their side, and it would look bad if they just crushed up all the trade-ins so they just do it. It's actually a disgrace. If I buy another used Tesla it will probably not be through Tesla unless I get some pictures. I hope you get your money back or get it applied to another car.
Some 4 year old cars look better than others. Most of what you've shown us can be improved with a little bit of elbow grease. How much would buying this car save you over buying new? Didn't you say this one checked all your boxes? Depending on price, miles, options and the condition of the interior, I'd accept this car. A 4 year old car is going to have imperfections. Truth is, Tesla will sell this car to someone and that person will love it.
Why should Tesla refund the transportation fee? You requested them to bring the car to you and that costs money that they can't get back. I can also understand them not wanting to refund the deposit but applying it to another car would be a good compromise.
That said, Tesla service is terrible. They should have pictures of the actual cars they're selling so that the customer knows what they're paying for. Having us play Russian Roulette with $1000 or more hoping that the one we get is nice is absolutely horrible customer service.
BTW, these imperfections aren't even close to MAJOR ISSUES! If these are major issues then why are you looking at used Teslas? Mechanical and electrical are major issues, not cosmetic!
Why should Tesla refund the transportation fee? You requested them to bring the car to you and that costs money that they can't get back. I can also understand them not wanting to refund the deposit but applying it to another car would be a good compromise.
That said, Tesla service is terrible. They should have pictures of the actual cars they're selling so that the customer knows what they're paying for. Having us play Russian Roulette with $1000 or more hoping that the one we get is nice is absolutely horrible customer service.
BTW, these imperfections aren't even close to MAJOR ISSUES! If these are major issues then why are you looking at used Teslas? Mechanical and electrical are major issues, not cosmetic!
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I can see both sides of the equation here. The OP had his expectations set a bit high for a used car, and Tesla can do better on their end in properly setting expectations on each car. It would not cost THAT much to have a set process for each used car being sold to include:
- High Res pics of each car to include each body panel, seats, dash, center console, wheels.
- Verification of paint thickness on each panel using a paint thickness meter (lets you know if a panel was resprayed)
- Free Carfax history
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The above arent silver bullets but could go a long way in preventing some of these cases where expectations werent met.
- High Res pics of each car to include each body panel, seats, dash, center console, wheels.
- Verification of paint thickness on each panel using a paint thickness meter (lets you know if a panel was resprayed)
- Free Carfax history
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The above arent silver bullets but could go a long way in preventing some of these cases where expectations werent met.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
This is the typical problem of What 'Caveat Emptor' where the buyer
must take on the responsibility of thoroughly inspecting a product before finalizing the sale.
Before signing a non-refundable $1,000 contract, would it be possible to look at the car,
even if you need the time to visit another sales location?
Note: A flight from LA to NY is about $500, so making a weekend driving trip to another Californian sales location
would not be that expensive, except time consuming.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
No. Tesla doesn’t do this. Most of their used inventory is in storage lots inaccessible to the public. They will do precisely nothing to help facilitate a pre-purchase inspection of the car.
HenryT
Active Member
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
This way Tesla will always charge anyway $500 for transportation, as it would be impossible knowing if the car is local or not !!!
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
No, they tell you where it is plain as day on their website and set transportation fees accordingly. If you look at California cars, you'll note that a whole bunch of them are in "Lathrop". This is a storage facility closed to the public - not a Tesla store or gallery. Maybe you'll find a few that are actually in stores, and you can then go try to visually inspect it on your own - but as I said above, Tesla will do precisely nothing to try and facilitate this process for you.
beatle
Active Member
But Tesla specifies what you should expect in their "Mechanical and Cosmetic Standards" section:
Cosmetic Condition
Cosmetic wear and tear is typical of a used car and does not affect the functionality of the car. Your car will exhibit cosmetic wear and tear that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Painted Panels
Cosmetic wear and tear is typical of a used car and does not affect the functionality of the car. Your car will exhibit cosmetic wear and tear that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Painted Panels
- Scratches up to 1"
- Dents up to 0.5"
- Rock chips
- Scratches up to 3"
- Rock chips up to 1"
- Scratches
- Rash up to 0.5"
- Signs of usage on upholstery and interior panels such as markings, discoloration, small tears or stains up to 1"
- Signs of usage on entry and exit points
- Damage of rubber not affecting function
Looking at the OP's pictures, it looks like some of the panels have scratches in excess of the limits Tesla specifies in their standards. That's the real problem here - if Tesla fails deliver on their standards, and you call them out on it, they instead charge you $1000 and tell you to roll the dice again (with another $1000).
I think the SCs / sales departments have the screws turned down so tight on them at this point that they don't have any financial leeway / resources to cut the prospective buyer a discount for the err in the listing or to spend labor hours refurbishing, even if that just means an hour or two addressing some cosmetic issues.
Alysashley79
Active Member
the reason that pics aren’t taken anymore is because of all the complaints people had about the quality of the pictures. So now we don’t get ANY pictures. Tesla employs Mannheim to keep the vehicles secure and transport them. (Part of their contract was pictures which they took. But keep in mind what Mannheim does. They’re an auction company/secure storing company. The pictures they take are from THAT perspective. Not from a high end Tesla perspective) Honestly I’ve been in the repo business long enough and worked with Mannheim long enough to know this the damage on that car happened either in their lot or during transport or a combo of the two. Some of it may have been from the previous owner but not all of it.
flip side of that coin moist of the damage is on plastic parts. Did you ask the service center if they’d be willing to fix the cosmetic issues on the tail lights? I know it’s not something they have to do but some of the managers are willing to do it and then they can go after Mannheim.
frankly from the pictures it looks like less than $500 in cosmetic damage that could be paint corrected easily. I know you rejected the vehicle but maybe you can show the pics to a local body shop and ask them how much it would cost to paint correct.
I’m also going to play devils advocate here (and not from a fanboy perspective) Tesla doesn’t run on a true dealership model which is I think what so many of us overlook when it comes to a used car sale. If they were to truly get into the CPO business again well then when something goes wrong on our cars we’d have a really long wait for repairs and or delivery of our new cars. it would be super nice if they’d have Mannheim handle the sale of the cars for them. It would be win win for everyone involved.
Op: since you have a local service center I’d highly recommend trying to get in touch with the service manager. There are a few crap ones but many of them will be willing to help you get this resolved.
flip side of that coin moist of the damage is on plastic parts. Did you ask the service center if they’d be willing to fix the cosmetic issues on the tail lights? I know it’s not something they have to do but some of the managers are willing to do it and then they can go after Mannheim.
frankly from the pictures it looks like less than $500 in cosmetic damage that could be paint corrected easily. I know you rejected the vehicle but maybe you can show the pics to a local body shop and ask them how much it would cost to paint correct.
I’m also going to play devils advocate here (and not from a fanboy perspective) Tesla doesn’t run on a true dealership model which is I think what so many of us overlook when it comes to a used car sale. If they were to truly get into the CPO business again well then when something goes wrong on our cars we’d have a really long wait for repairs and or delivery of our new cars. it would be super nice if they’d have Mannheim handle the sale of the cars for them. It would be win win for everyone involved.
Op: since you have a local service center I’d highly recommend trying to get in touch with the service manager. There are a few crap ones but many of them will be willing to help you get this resolved.
airborne spoon
Active Member
Looking at your pics all the blemishes are acceptable with the exception of the bumper, that is excessive. If it was me i'd just ask for the bumper to be fixed or for a lower price on the car.
It does suck they don't do the CPO program anymore, i bought mine when it was still a thing, my sales person even went out and took pics of the car with his cellphone and texted them to me when i asked for them.
based on these ^^ standards i'd definitely say you have a case to tell them to f**k off and fix the car though.
It does suck they don't do the CPO program anymore, i bought mine when it was still a thing, my sales person even went out and took pics of the car with his cellphone and texted them to me when i asked for them.
This is 100% correct. There are numerous scratches in excess of these limits. I didn’t even post all the pictures. There is also an area which was very poorly fixed...one of the worst patch jobs I’ve seen/felt on a used car.
This amount of damage is not acceptable in my opinion, however if they would have offered to bring the car up to the appropriate standards maybe I would have done it.
But this was not offered...it was more a “take it or leave it” situation, despite the car obviously having more damage than their documented wear and tear standards.
Still no call or response from Tesla used car management.
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BigNick
Infamous Fat Sweaty Guy
That explains a lot, actually.
It sounds like Mannheim usually doesn't deal with cars that get sold via dealers or Tesla showrooms, but instead "units" that are sold at cut-rate prices via auctions, due to being repossessed, theft recoveries, insurance write-offs, etc. So they're not as careful with them as owners would be, and they're not handling them like a manufacturer would handle new inventory.
They want to move as many units as possible and apparently it doesn't matter to them if they get a few minor dings in the process.
You may wish to try emailing Tesla at [email protected]. However be advised, that some report never hearing back anything beyond an initial auto-generated generic reply
$1000, ouch!
This sounds like an easy thing to win. They guaranteed a minimum condition the car was in and they failed to meet that condition.
Here is where you would escalate it to find someone with the power to handle this. Too bad Tesla doesn't believe in phones anymore.
This sounds like an easy thing to win. They guaranteed a minimum condition the car was in and they failed to meet that condition.
Here is where you would escalate it to find someone with the power to handle this. Too bad Tesla doesn't believe in phones anymore.
beatle
Active Member
That's the thing, Tesla wants all the benefits of being a dealer but with none of the investment. Forget CPO, even the shady used car lots often have websites with pictures you can see, and a lot they pay for to let you browse the cars. It's okay that Tesla doesn't want to invest in lots, pictures, and more staff to keep these things up and get people the info they need to make a decision. It's their choice. But they want to enjoy the fat markups they get from paying trade-in prices for inventory and selling them at retail. Not even having the essentials covered will only lead to unhappy customers.
At this point they are REALLY banking on people valuing that one year warranty very highly. And if you really believe you're buying a durable good, is a 1 year warranty really that valuable?
