Worst car shopping experience ever

[bananacube]

Tesla makes great cars. But their service on vehicle sales is the worst on this planet. I’m talking about CPO. The 1st car I picked finally arrived, but comes with extensive damages on the paint, which were never presented in the pictures my sales advisor send me and never mentioned. Picture - reality inconsistency. I asked if they can fix the paint, answer was no.

Alright, move onto next car. The day before delivery, my sales advisor just stopped responding to my calls and emails, which is obnoxious. Worst thing is nobody ever let me know the guy no longer works for the company until I go to the store and talk to the manager. 12 hours before delivery, still no answer from Tesla if they have assigned a new delivery advisor for me. That’s even before delivery, it’s like they don’t want to sell the fking car. Just can’t imagine how their service would be like after you paid for it.

I mean Tesla if you want to save money on hiring people and achieve smooth and humanless transactions, just make things right. Post real pictures for every CPO, improve picture quality, make it transparent, put descriptions and CARFAX on website, just to save the time emailing back and forth with humans and avoid misinformation. But Tesla is just out of talent to achieve that at this point then please hire qualified people. I doubt if the recent layoff is a right move for the company in the long run.

Tesla cars may be years ahead of others. But service, light years behind, period.

 

[buttershrimp]

Welcome to the forum

 

[PhilDavid]

I am sorry you've had this experience but they have delivered CPO cars in decent shape to others so unfortunately right now it is difficult to know whether the vehicle you buy is in decent shape or not until you see it. I wish they would only sell vehicles that are in respectable condition.

The current CPO program is a mess. They've unfortunately come up with a used car buying experience that is horrible as you don't know what you are buying and what condition the car is in. As you have found out, low resolution photos don't really tell you much.

Until they fix their CPO program, your best option is to unfortunately keep trying until you find a car that is in respectable condition. Just don't pay until you see the car in person and are satisfied with the condition of the car.

And you are right, Tesla cars are light years ahead of others and when you eventually buy a Tesla in good condition it will make you happy to wake up every day. You are doing the right thing in not compromising until you find a car in decent shape so you are truly happy with your purchase -- as you should be.

We too have been looking for a CPO vehicle and frustrated with the current situation. I wrote the following out of frustration with the current state of the CPO program as we decided to delay purchasing a car until they make the CPO program more reasonable.

If you don't want to read something a bit sarcastic, please stop reading now

• Communication: If they feel like communicating with you, they will communicate with you. If they are busy or don't feel like communicating with you, you should just be grateful of the possibility that they may communicate with you some time in the future. So what if it takes weeks to hear back, it will be that much more special and meaningful when you hear from them.
  
• Damaged paint: If the condition is good enough for Tesla, what's your problem? So the paint is bad. Are you going to look at the paint all day or get in the car and drive it? Just be glad there is any paint at all. If there are paint issues, buy a few dozen paint touch up kits and voila! Now you have a car and a new hobby painting your car. While you are at it, why not paint the entire car in a new color so your car is truly unique?
• Damage to the car: Again, this makes your car extra special and unique. If you come back to the parking lot and there are two other Tesla vehicles of the same color next to you, how would you know which car is yours? Easy! Yours is the one that is damaged.
• Real photos? How is this supposed to help sell cars if they have to post photos of what the car they are selling actually looks like. It is much nicer to display photos of a stock car instead. Besides, this way you know what the car would have looked like when it was undamaged. Why turn away customers turned off by a damaged car when they can instead show photos of a pristine car?
• The picture quality is fine thank you very much. You know, people still got on quite fine with their lives in the 1990s with low resolution photos. If it was good enough back then, it sure is good enough now. Also don't forget that lower picture quality increases (temporarily, unfortunately) your happiness by not being able to notice any damage to the car. You can be happy and giddy that you are purchasing a Tesla in wonderful condition and as you fall asleep you can dream of driving your Tesla across mountains and meadows with rainbows. Why would you possibly want to ruin such nice dreams by being able to see the damage to the car?!
• Transparency is overrated. The car's service records are a category above top secret and you need proper security clearance to view this information. Surely you are not suggesting they share such sensitive information with just anybody who wants to buy (or own) the car? What's the point in displaying the CarFax with every car that s listed? You already have the stock photos of the car and now you want to know the history of the car? And what good will the CarFax information do if you find out that the car was traded in 6 months ago and has been absolutely pampered and well-loved as a service loaner for 6 months?

 

[buttershrimp]

I have to say that you are being really ungrateful here.

Of all the people in the world, Tesla was open to the possibility of selling a car to YOU but what do they get in return? Nothing but complaints. Seriously, please consider the following facts to see how unreasonable you are being.

• Communication: If they feel like communicating with you, they will communicate with you. If they are busy or don't feel like communicating with you, you should just be grateful of the possibility that they may communicate with you some time in the future. So what if it takes weeks to hear back, it will be that much more special and meaningful when you hear from them. Ever heard of "Absense makes the heart grow fonder?"
  
• Damaged paint: If the condition is good enough for Tesla, what's your problem? So the paint is bad. Are you going to look at the paint all day or get in the car and drive it? Just be glad there is any paint at all. If there are paint issues, buy a few dozen paint touch up kits and voila! Now you have a car and a new hobby painting your car. While you are at it, why not paint the entire car in a new color so your car is truly unique?
• Damage to the car: Again, this makes your car extra special and unique. If you come back to the parking lot and there are two other Tesla vehicles of the same color next to you, how would you know which car is yours? Easy! Yours is the one that is damaged.
• Real photos? How is this supposed to help sell cars if they have to post photos of what the car they are selling actually looks like. It is much nicer to display photos of a stock car instead. Besides, this way you know what the car would have looked like when it was undamaged. Why turn away customers turned off by a damaged car when they can instead show photos of a pristine car?
• The picture quality is fine thank you very much. You know, people still got on quite fine with their lives in the 1990s with low resolution photos. If it was good enough back then, it sure is good enough now. Also don't forget that lower picture quality increases (temporarily, unfortunately) your happiness by not being able to notice any damage to the car. You can be happy and giddy that you are purchasing a Tesla in wonderful condition and as you fall asleep you can dream of driving your Tesla across mountains and meadows with rainbows. Why would you possibly want to ruin such nice dreams by being able to see the damage to the car?!
• Transparency is overrated. The car's service records are a category above top secret and you need proper security clearance to view this information. Surely you are not suggesting they share such sensitive information with just anybody who wants to buy (or own) the car? What's the point in displaying the CarFax with every car that s listed? You already have the stock photos of the car and now you want to know the history of the car? And what good will the CarFax information do if you find out that the car was traded in 6 months ago and has been absolutely pampered and well-loved as a service loaner for 6 months?

I obviously agree that the current CPO program is a complete mess. They've worked really hard to come up with the most horrible used car buying experience imaginable. Until they fix this awful CPO program, rinse and repeat until they sell you a car that is in respectable condition. Whatever you do, just don't pay until you see the car in person and are satisfied with the condition of the car.

Good luck and welcome to the forum. Of all your previous car buying experiences, this will be the most special And you are right, Tesla cars are light years ahead of others and when you eventually buy a Tesla in good condition it will make you happy to wake up every day. You are doing the right thing in not compromising until you find a car in decent shape. It is a testament to how great Tesla vehicles are that they could even think of selling cars in such an awful manner but I really don't see this mess continuing for too long as they disappoint and turn off more customers.

They should simply have standards.

Also, there's always a career in being negative, provocative, sarcastic and disingenuous while subtly poisoning threads if you get bored. I always love how when Tesla does well, a steady stream of vomitous fluid threads emerge.... negativity , nitpicking, if it ain't Putin, big oil or Bub Lutz, then it's Debbie Downer TMC. Pathetic.

 

[bananacube]

I am sorry you've had this experience but they have delivered CPO cars in decent shape to others so unfortunately right now it is difficult to know whether the vehicle you buy is in decent shape or not until you see it. I wish they would only sell vehicles that are in respectable condition.

The current CPO program is a mess. They've unfortunately come up with a used car buying experience that is horrible as you don't know what you are buying and what condition the car is in. As you have found out, low resolution photos don't really tell you much.

Until they fix their CPO program, your best option is to unfortunately keep trying until you find a car that is in respectable condition. Just don't pay until you see the car in person and are satisfied with the condition of the car.

And you are right, Tesla cars are light years ahead of others and when you eventually buy a Tesla in good condition it will make you happy to wake up every day. You are doing the right thing in not compromising until you find a car in decent shape so you are truly happy with your purchase -- as you should be.

We too have been looking for a CPO vehicle and frustrated with the current situation. I wrote the following out of frustration with the current state of the CPO program as we decided to delay purchasing a car until they make the CPO program more reasonable.

If you don't want to read something a bit sarcastic, please stop reading now

• Communication: If they feel like communicating with you, they will communicate with you. If they are busy or don't feel like communicating with you, you should just be grateful of the possibility that they may communicate with you some time in the future. So what if it takes weeks to hear back, it will be that much more special and meaningful when you hear from them.
  
• Damaged paint: If the condition is good enough for Tesla, what's your problem? So the paint is bad. Are you going to look at the paint all day or get in the car and drive it? Just be glad there is any paint at all. If there are paint issues, buy a few dozen paint touch up kits and voila! Now you have a car and a new hobby painting your car. While you are at it, why not paint the entire car in a new color so your car is truly unique?
• Damage to the car: Again, this makes your car extra special and unique. If you come back to the parking lot and there are two other Tesla vehicles of the same color next to you, how would you know which car is yours? Easy! Yours is the one that is damaged.
• Real photos? How is this supposed to help sell cars if they have to post photos of what the car they are selling actually looks like. It is much nicer to display photos of a stock car instead. Besides, this way you know what the car would have looked like when it was undamaged. Why turn away customers turned off by a damaged car when they can instead show photos of a pristine car?
• The picture quality is fine thank you very much. You know, people still got on quite fine with their lives in the 1990s with low resolution photos. If it was good enough back then, it sure is good enough now. Also don't forget that lower picture quality increases (temporarily, unfortunately) your happiness by not being able to notice any damage to the car. You can be happy and giddy that you are purchasing a Tesla in wonderful condition and as you fall asleep you can dream of driving your Tesla across mountains and meadows with rainbows. Why would you possibly want to ruin such nice dreams by being able to see the damage to the car?!
• Transparency is overrated. The car's service records are a category above top secret and you need proper security clearance to view this information. Surely you are not suggesting they share such sensitive information with just anybody who wants to buy (or own) the car? What's the point in displaying the CarFax with every car that s listed? You already have the stock photos of the car and now you want to know the history of the car? And what good will the CarFax information do if you find out that the car was traded in 6 months ago and has been absolutely pampered and well-loved as a service loaner for 6 months?

Doesn’t sound like you need a better CPO program. Just go buy the car now and good luck

 

[trm2]

Is it true they changed the CPO program because they got tired of waiting for parts?

 

[harry]

I was told that the cost of rehabbing the CPOs was getting out of hand and it was an economic decision. All the problems about failure to disclose, etc. are another matter -- perhaps staffing issues, as a previous poster said.

 

[bananacube]

I was told that the cost of rehabbing the CPOs was getting out of hand and it was an economic decision. All the problems about failure to disclose, etc. are another matter -- perhaps staffing issues, as a previous poster said.

Reducing the cost is their primary goal at this point, nobody cares what kinda car you get. At the end of the day, if you are really picky, just buy a new car. If you are fine dealing with these headaches and have time to spare, it's probably worth it to do some serious research (better than randomly picking some).

 

[xyeahtony]

This is exactly why I only buy new cars lol. In all seriousness though, buying a Tesla is not going to be like the hand-holding butt smooching experience you'll get at a car dealership.

 

[PhilDavid]

I was told that the cost of rehabbing the CPOs was getting out of hand and it was an economic decision. All the problems about failure to disclose, etc. are another matter -- perhaps staffing issues, as a previous poster said.

Think about what you said for a minute.

So you are talking about instances where a car is in such horrible and poor shape with so much damage that they can't afford to make that car look respectable before selling. Realize that such cars are even beneath the dignity of Toyota and people who buy Toyotas because such cars are not sold by a Toyota dealer and instead auctioned off because they don't want to offer a poor product to their customers.

Shouldn't someone buying a $60K Tesla have the same peace of mind as someone buying a used Toyota and be treated at least as well?

 

[xyeahtony]

Think about what you said for a minute.

So you are talking about instances where a car is in such horrible and poor shape with so much damage that they can't afford to make that car look respectable before selling. Realize that such cars are even beneath the dignity of Toyota and people who buy Toyotas because such cars are not sold by a Toyota dealer and instead auctioned off because they don't want to offer a poor product to their customers.

Shouldn't someone buying a $60K Tesla have the same peace of mind as someone buying a used Toyota and be treated at least as well?

im pretty sure these stories of horrible condition "used" teslas are the exception and not the common experience. Most people who buy a car and have a happy experience expect as such, and thus are not going to go online and report "hey guys just to let u know I bought a car and nothing went wrong. okay see ya."

I'm willing to wager if we went to any other car enthusiast forum, we'd see similar horror stories of people buying used cars as well. But that in itself does not represent a systematic problem. People are buying used teslas nonstop. Just go to any of those used-teslas tracking websites, that number goes down everyday.

 

[PhilDavid]

im pretty sure these stories of horrible condition "used" teslas are the exception and not the common experience. Most people who buy a car and have a happy experience expect as such, and thus are not going to go online and report "hey guys just to let u know I bought a car and nothing went wrong. okay see ya."

I'm willing to wager if we went to any other car enthusiast forum, we'd see similar horror stories of people buying used cars as well. But that in itself does not represent a systematic problem. People are buying used teslas nonstop. Just go to any of those used-teslas tracking websites, that number goes down everyday.

You are making excuses for them treating customers like the OP poorly.

We have had plenty of threads with people reporting they are happy with their CPO process and we have also had plenty of reports of people claiming how they have had to reject deliveries because the car was presented in such bad condition. The problem is they don't clearly disclose the condition of the car and you have no clue what you are buying because they don't have standards any more.

If Toyota can sell econoboxes with standards I don't see why Tesla can't sell $60K used cars with standards.

Let me ask you this, if you were buying a used car with your own money, would you consider it reasonable to be treated the way they are now treating customers where the car you get could be in great shape or have the living daylights beaten out of it. Surely it can't be that unreasonable to know what you are buying and expect some peace of mind.

 

[TaoJones]

I’m in for the meadows with rainbows.

Besides, everyone has said *polite cough* that if you look closely enough at those meadows, you’ll see Bob Putz and his NADA buddies out there picking flowers and yodeling.

Well, it’s either yodeling or kvetching. Something about losing the infrastructure race before it began.

Meanwhile, yes, it would be nice if Tesla was more transparent about both the condition and the provenance of all cars that they choose to resell (or, in the case of inventory cars, sell).

The condition being obvious, and the provenance also important for those cars that will have shorter warranty periods.

You think the $4750 ($4250 if you realize that you should purchase the ESA within the first six months of new car ownership) is pricey? Check out the cost of the top 10 suspension or charging-related parts and pieces, let alone door handles and the dreaded MCU replacement which, with labor, approaches $5,000.

And so it goes.

 

[freeewilly]

Posting anything here is useless, if you want to get things fixed, post on twitter.

 

[logan]

im pretty sure these stories of horrible condition "used" teslas are the exception and not the common experience. Most people who buy a car and have a happy experience expect as such, and thus are not going to go online and report "hey guys just to let u know I bought a car and nothing went wrong. okay see ya."

I'm willing to wager if we went to any other car enthusiast forum, we'd see similar horror stories of people buying used cars as well. But that in itself does not represent a systematic problem. People are buying used teslas nonstop. Just go to any of those used-teslas tracking websites, that number goes down everyday.

Quite frankly it doesn’t matter if these are exceptions. This entire forum is LITERRED with awful stories about CPO. Absolutely indefensible.

 

[xyeahtony]

Quite frankly it doesn’t matter if these are exceptions. This entire forum is LITERRED with awful stories about CPO. Absolutely indefensible.

Because people who have bad experiences are more likely to talk about it then people who have normal/good experiences. confirmation bias. That's like going to a domestic violence shelter and polling women to see what they think about men. You'd assume all men are terrible with that kind of sample size. If there was a systematic issue with Tesla used vehicles then nobody would be buying them, but they clearly are.

 

[logan]

Because people who have bad experiences are more likely to talk about it then people who have normal/good experiences. confirmation bias. That's like going to a domestic violence shelter and polling women to see what they think about men. You'd assume all men are terrible with that kind of sample size. If there was a systematic issue with Tesla used vehicles then nobody would be buying them, but they clearly are.

Funny, MBworld and Bimmertalk don’t seem have an entire forum filled with similar posts. This is some serious Tesla Kool-Aid. Tesla isn’t perfect and has some serious stuff they need to work out.

 

[TomServo]

I have a question re the new CPO program, they say the cars go through a "70 point inspection process", when I bought my CPO Cadillac I was provided a copy of the CPO Check List prior to me agreeing to buy the car. Does Tesla do the same thing?

We know they don't provide CarFax, Service History and won't disclose if SC'ing has been throttled due SC abuse by the previous owner but I hope they at least provide a prospective buyer a copy of the CPO checklist. Would be nice to see the condition of the brake pads/tires etc before buying.

 

[electracity]

Funny, MBworld and Bimmertalk don’t seem have an entire forum filled with similar posts. This is some serious Tesla Kool-Aid. Tesla isn’t perfect and has some serious stuff they need to work out.

There is perhaps a quality control advantage to a conventional dealer being the wholesale customer of the manufacturer. They don't have to accept a really bad car. Fixing problems before sale to the end user is a profit center.

 

[Skeeboe]

Since Tesla is obviously losing their a$$ on CPO, I have an idea.....

If Tesla isn’t going to rehab/recondition CPO to any degree beyond road worthiness, why not post high res photos of the car as-is leaving any reconditioning/cleaning/fixing to the buyer. The photos would have to at least be standardized with respect to lighting, angle, sufficient number, etc. At least this is up front and honest. With this system, perhaps instead of the reverse auction sales system (where Tesla drops the price a little each night until someone bites) they start them off at a bare minimum price and have a 10 day “bidding” period where highest bidder takes the car as is.

If the cars a little rough and someone’s willing to put some elbow grease in, you pay a little less. Don’t mind those rock chips and curb rash, save $4-5k over the pristine one... If you want that low mile cream puff, get ready to open your wallet!!!!