Yes. I’m not registered as owner on Tesla account. When I try to add vehicle via app then it says to contact previous owner to get the ownership transfer to me.
Um. Bad news. The previous owner was
supposed to transfer ownership of the car, from Tesla's point of view, to the dealer when the previous owner sold the car. There's clear procedures on how to do this all over Tesla's web site; the dealer
should have insisted upon this up front.
Now, things get complicated. Did you get a title for the car? Or is the dealer, "Waiting for paperwork to process." or some such?
One of the reasons that this has to be done carefully on Tesla's part is to make sure that this isn't some kind of theft. So, they'll want to see certified paperwork.
Did the dealer get a title from the previous owner?
Even if, so far, all this is on the up-and-up, the previous owner has the money, may have transferred the title, but hasn't, from Tesla's point of view, transferred ownership to
anybody. Um. If the previous owner is nice and would like to help things along, there's no particular incentive for them to do so, outside of a lawsuit. Tesla can clean up this mess, but they're not going to do that with solid-as-a-rock confirmation that that car belongs to
you; casual conversations with a salescritter isn't going to do it, but a signed, sealed, and delivered title will. My experience with New Jersey over the decades is that, once the DMV has been handed the old title with all the appropriate paperwork (application form, bill of sale, the old signed title, etc.), it takes them a bit to deliver the new title. Unless one does it totally in person (most dealerships hate that - it means they can't charge you for the paperwork), in which case they might just print the thing right then and there.
If you have the title in hand, you should be able to go to a Service Center and get the account straightened out.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings.
In a way, all this craziness is sort of related to the ways cell phones are managed. Some thief pickpockets a cell phone from a member of the public. Attempting to use that cell phone in any way, because the cell phone's ID is with the cell phone manufacturer as well as the cellular provider results in such phone becoming a brick. Which is kind of why people aren't being mugged for their cell phones any more. One
can sell a cell phone; but one must first go through a process over at Apple, Motorola, Samsung, or whoever to unregister the phone first.
You'll get your car back, but it sounds like you've got some heavy lifting to do. Good luck!
