931's Back Story?

I bought 931 around this time last year from Mercedes-Benz of Ft. Pierce, where the previous owner had traded it in. I believe it was serviced by Tesla at West Palm Beach (Riviera Beach) service center. The previous owner didn't release the service records -- or the dealer I bought it from didn't actually bother to ask, which is unfortunate, but not really a big deal.

I was curious if anyone here knew anything about my the back story of my car?

A few other random details. It sterling silver metallic, 2.0 body, with cast wheels in all black. In addition to the normal US SMC and UMC it came with a UK type (IEC Type G) SMC (Euro Low Power Mobile Connector, TSN 0010EJ0003275, APN 06-002577-00 REV AC), which is a bit odd.

Also despite having an April 2010 build date and being listed as a 2010 on the proforma invoice, Tesla's service system consistently calls it a 2011...

TEG said:

I think your car was originally owned by Tesla Leasing. The first Roadsters were only sold directly to buyers, but they eventually offered some cars for lease.
So, I am guessing that the first driver leased the car. Not sure if they exercised a buy option before trading it in, or it got returned to Tesla leasing and resold.

Tesla Offers Leasing Option for Iconic Roadster | Tesla Motors

I don't think the cast wheels were ever offered in solid black like that. I think someone had them painted aftermarket.

Carfax says your VIN has 15 records associated with it. That is on the high side from what I have seen. Some kind of history there. You could order a report from them to see what events they got notified about.

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TEG, thank you for the insight. What makes you think it was leased?

At the moment I can't get to my CARFAX account, though I did pull the report for it when I bought it. Autocheck only shows 16 records, it being titled twice, once in FL and once here in NY. Most of the records are just service reports of the odometer reading and registration renewals. Autocheck also thinks it only had two owners (though clearly it was transferred to the Dealer for sale last year, do I'd have expected 3) and that it wasn't a lease/fleet vehicle.

Once I get my Carfax account sorted out, I'll pull that one to compare.

Panicopticon said:

What makes you think it was leased?

Once I get my Carfax account sorted out, I'll pull that one to compare.

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Carfax account got fixed this afternoon, clearly the part that made you think it was leased was the line that said personal lease. Feel silly for asking. It interesting, in that it didn't say that when I looked at it before purchasing the car (dug out the copy), but its CARFAX so who knows... I also don't see a title transfer record from the leasing company to the owner. Ultimately it doesn't really matter, but it does make me curious.

Thanks again for the help...

TEG said:

I recall when doing some Roadster research years back I used a Florida title search web site and found the title for that car owned by Tesla Leasing. I can't find that site now. Maybe it doesn't exist anymore.

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Thank you again for the dedication