Seeing as some users may not read the 150+ page CPO thread, I thought I would break out some recent experiences into its own thread. Overall, I have hit some bumps in the process of getting my CPO car and while not any individual item screamed from the top of the mountain "Danger Will Robinson", as a whole, it has caused me to question my purchase and ultimately, in hindsight, I wouldn't have gone through with it if I knew then what I have learned till now. Instead, I would have waited for Tesla Motors to grow some more as a company to have some of these (IMO) missteps addressed before I ever experienced them.
So let's simply start from the top and go from there eh? Let me start this off by saying I truly do hope I am just an isolated case and nobody else goes through the trouble I have. In everything there are going to be outliers and perhaps this is the case of me being the "lucky one" (why couldn't this thread be about buying a lottery ticket?!?). I was enamored by the Tesla Model S and Tesla Motors. I joined this forum just a few months ago and have been soaking up all the Tesla knowledge I can. Made some amazing new friends, both in person and online only. I could tell that even if I was going to be an unofficial "beta tester", I would be ok with it as long as Tesla Motors also made a good faith effort on its part.
I had been searching (and saving up for the purchase) for the right car. A new S85 was a stretch compared to any car I've previously bought and was not only more than 3x the cost my next most expensive car, but it would be more than half what my house cost! The numbers didn't make the most financial sense, but altogether it wasn't crazy given how I've managed everything else in my life and provided the benefit of being "the right direction" for the future as I've long felt our polluting ways need to stop (or at least majorly scaled back). So I was saving up for the right inventory model when the CPO website went live. I was fortunate to have a neighbor as an owner and he knew I was very interested in the cars. He was the one who called me up that Friday night to tell me about the website.
April 24th, 2015
I found my car, texted the Owner Advisor who I took a test drive with, and confirm with him the car, the specs, no delivery fee, no add on fees (except whatever is required by my local government), and hit purchase. I was in heaven. Then a week later, the car didn't budge. Turns out Tesla HQ was still determining the logistics of transporting the vehicles and ultimately decided that even though I was told there would be no delivery fee (I have that in email and text writing), there would be a $500 delivery fee. Still, my car was in DC and I lived in Charlotte, so that wasn't unreasonable. As some may have seen in my Road Trip to Buy a Tesla? thread, I was ready to pay the fee, but the car wouldn't be delivered for a couple weeks. So I arranged to fly up and they were gracious enough to pick me up from the airport.
Now this is where Tesla Service is doing great. I had a small disappointment in the purchasing process, but they were doing whatever they could to make this a great experience. My local store confirmed that if anything didn't pass muster when I saw the car, DC could notate it and Charlotte would fix it.
During this time, I had also applied to finance my CPO through Tesla. I secured outside financing, but was willing to go with Tesla itself if the terms were right. Up until a few nights before I flew up to DC for my car, everyone I spoke with kept saying they saw my application in the system and I would hear from Tesla Financing. Finally I got someone to provide me the right email address to reach out to and the Financing department said they saw I was doing an application, but something went wrong and it never went through. Another break there were no less than four people confirmed my app was in the system, then only to find out it was lost. Thankfully, I had already secured outside financing and had them overnight me a check. Never hurts to be prepared!
May 14th, 2015
So when I picked up the car, most things were great. I did have one scratch on the back passenger quarter panel and bumper that needed to be repainted and a shallow scratch on the hood. The cargo net wasn't in stock, but Charlotte had them to provide. Additionally, I noticed the mirrors would not manually fold in no matter how hard I or the Delivery Specialist there tried. They noted these items and said Charlotte would take care of it. So off I went for a great drive home.
May 19th, 2015
I go into my local store, they get me the cargo net and I purchase a front trunk all weather floor mat. My older VIN has the 2" deeper front trunk than other RWD cars, I either lucked out that they had one such mat in stock, or when I mentioned it to the DC store that I would want something like this, they said they can make sure Charlotte had one since DC didn't. So perhaps they phoned ahead and got it drop-shipped to the Charlotte store. Anyway, I buy that and the interior all weather floor mats. They set me up with an appointment for June 1st to bring my car (expected for a week) to get the hood repainted, the rear repainted, and the mirrors fixed. I had also noticed that my trunk was making a knocking sound (Knocking sound from power lift gate) and had that noted. I also mentioned my disappointment that the brake rotors were covered in rust, but I was told this was only cosmetic and I would need to live with it. A disappointment for sure on a car that is marketed as "like new", but oh well.
June 2nd, 2015
So a day after I dropped off my vehicle and got a loaner (S85 Classic vs. P85 Autopilot Comparison), I get a call that the body shop is backed up and we need to reschedule the repaint in the back. They managed to buff out (rather than repaint) the scratch on the hood. This meant the rock chips that had been there (and service through silver touch up paint was applied to instead of gray) weren't removed from the repainting, it still was a bad job and a 2013 having three rock chips on the edge wasn't the end of the world. The Service Center also performed the following repairs:
- (TSB) Replaced 12v postive jump post
- Replaced the mirrors
- Verified the A/C TSB was previously applied (strong vibrations from a/c when sitting out in the sun)
- Pano stops replaced, "rubber" replaced (butyl -> urethane), cleaned up, and "trimmed tabs for improved pano roof clearance". This stopped the pano smearing black goo on the top of the rear passenger glass when opening
- taillights had insects in them and were cleaned out
- reverse lights had water ingress and the seals, washers, and rear appliqué were replaced
- motor whine (the milling noise others noticed) was recorded and sent to engineering
- the strut on the life gate replaced
- brakes verified to confirm rust was not impacting performance
June 3rd (yes, the next day)
I had to take the car back to service because the mirrors now no longer tilted when in reverse nor changed position between profiles. SC found they had installed the wrong model mirrors (the non-TP version essentially). Replaced mirrors again and all was well.
June 15th-18th, 2015
The car goes in for the rear paintwork and I get another loaner. Looks great and I'm happy. Now to finally get the next steps of a new owner done.
July 8th, 2015
I've babied the car over the past month waiting on the rear paint to cure. The body shop told me that I should wait 60 days to get the car XPEL wrapped and cQuartz coated, but I can begin washing it after 30 days. This was closest to that time and I take the car in, go over what has happened, and speak with the detailer to make it clear not to do the rear of the car since it was repainted and I would come back in August for the rear. Sadly, when clay barring the car and applying Acrysol in cleaning it, the clear coat comes off from the front passenger fender when the detailer is wiping everything off with a microfiber towel. He notes that it appears the car has previously been poorly painted here as you can see the car clearly has sanding underneath and there appears to be a dot of bondo. He says this can only be from a poor paint job previously. Tesla takes a look at it and feels the detailer must have applied the wrong chemical to it. They look through their records in case they see anything about a previous repaint. They state that if the previous owner got it repainted without going through a Tesla certified shop, Tesla would NOT cover the fix. They ultimately find no record of any repainting in the area. They did ask me to take the car to the two certified shops around me and see if the body shop felt this was a factory paint failure, which they would then cover. Neither shop felt it was a factory failure.
July 27th, 2015
Tesla has agreed to provide me a loaner while the car is getting repainted. As unhappy as I am that Tesla is not going to help me with the repaint cost, I am happy that the Service Center is trying their best to make this as painless as possible for me. I drop off my car with Tesla, they give me a loaner, and they coordinate getting the car to and from the body shop. Additionally, HQ has instructed my VIN to get the proactive contractor replacement. So we run into a couple of issues over the past month and the Service Center makes the following repairs prior to shuffling my car out to the body shop:
- battery failed testing due to corrosion on one section and exhaust vent is clogged. Loaner battery installed while my battery goes to Freemont for rebuilding.
- drive unit is making the subtle clunk between power and region. Additionally, I reiterate the motor whine that was recorded and sent to HQ before. A remanufactured drive unit is installed in my car
- Under the same line-item as the drive unit, they replaced both rear rotor hats. No clue as to why, but now these rotor hats are rust-free. No change to the calipers (not a problem) nor replacement of the front rotor hats (odd).
- my left scroll wheel sometimes would ignore small scrolls. They confirm and replace both scroll wheels (comes as a set)
- my driver door doesn't always open from the interior latch. They find the cable is connected to the handle, but the mount has broken pins. They replace the mount so the cable is no longer strained.
- At my request and expense, they retrofit power folding mirrors. My garage doors are tight (I have two separate one-car doors to a two-car garage) and it was a matter of when, not if, I hit a mirror. Now I can fold in the mirrors as I park.
- the front trunk had water ingress by the latch. They replaced the seal where the hood meets the front trunk cavity.
Three months since purchasing
Tesla reiterates that they feel the detailer did a poor job in their work and my failure was a direct result of his work. The detailer continues to state that this was because of a poor prior paint job. Other owners who have seen my car are inclined to agree with the dealer and are surprised to learn that the CPO warranty does not cover prior paint jobs. As one person pointed out (#1616)...
In another 6-8 weeks, I get to go in again to swap back to my own battery. Hopefully I do not have any other repairs needed at that time. Meanwhile, around that time, the detail has agreed to at least put on these two panels that were repainted at no charge. I still will have to pay out of pocket for the XPEL on the rear of the vehicle (I paid for the front 3/4s already).
Now, I love my car and it is a joy to drive. It is just frustrating that I drank the kool-aid that CPO cars are reconditioned like-new and would be just as good as new car except for small wear and tear. I am NOT trying to get my Service Center in trouble (I'm looking at you Tesla who has twice already told the SvC about posts I've made on here). I am disappointed really in HQ's policies that the SvC must follow. I have never before been a luxury buyer. I've had a Mazda 626, two Toyota 4Runners, and a VW EOS prior to this purchase. I wasn't expecting a picture-perfect car, but I honestly expected more than I received, both in Tesla's policies and handling of a new customer and in what constitutes acceptable for a CPO. I will continue to be a proponent for what Tesla Motors is trying to do, but I'm tempering my love for the company based on real-life experiences.
And yes, at the end of the day, I really would have NOT bought my Model S right now and waited a couple more months or a year and bought once Tesla was focused more on "mainstream" buyers like myself. Either Tesla would have updated some of their ways of doing things, or I wouldn't have gotten the glowy expectation of how Tesla will go the extra mile to fix any problems and make sure I have the best possible experience. Comparing notes with my family members, their experience from their Lexus dealer is miles ahead of Tesla on getting things done right up front. They may ultimately be stinky ICEs and have enormous charges for routine service that the Model S won't need, but they provide a much more consistent experience and frankly, have done much better with my mother's CPO IS than Tesla did with my CPO Model S. Not to mention my still outstanding gripe (though I recognized this upfront and still hope Tesla Motors changes its tune on it someday while I own my car) -- you cannot get an extended warranty on a CPO Tesla like you can on other makes' CPOs. Hopefully the next four years of ownership under warranty do not mean continue to report the experience of the past 3 months.
Time to get off my soapbox. If you have scroll this far along, thank you for reading!
So let's simply start from the top and go from there eh? Let me start this off by saying I truly do hope I am just an isolated case and nobody else goes through the trouble I have. In everything there are going to be outliers and perhaps this is the case of me being the "lucky one" (why couldn't this thread be about buying a lottery ticket?!?). I was enamored by the Tesla Model S and Tesla Motors. I joined this forum just a few months ago and have been soaking up all the Tesla knowledge I can. Made some amazing new friends, both in person and online only. I could tell that even if I was going to be an unofficial "beta tester", I would be ok with it as long as Tesla Motors also made a good faith effort on its part.
I had been searching (and saving up for the purchase) for the right car. A new S85 was a stretch compared to any car I've previously bought and was not only more than 3x the cost my next most expensive car, but it would be more than half what my house cost! The numbers didn't make the most financial sense, but altogether it wasn't crazy given how I've managed everything else in my life and provided the benefit of being "the right direction" for the future as I've long felt our polluting ways need to stop (or at least majorly scaled back). So I was saving up for the right inventory model when the CPO website went live. I was fortunate to have a neighbor as an owner and he knew I was very interested in the cars. He was the one who called me up that Friday night to tell me about the website.
April 24th, 2015
I found my car, texted the Owner Advisor who I took a test drive with, and confirm with him the car, the specs, no delivery fee, no add on fees (except whatever is required by my local government), and hit purchase. I was in heaven. Then a week later, the car didn't budge. Turns out Tesla HQ was still determining the logistics of transporting the vehicles and ultimately decided that even though I was told there would be no delivery fee (I have that in email and text writing), there would be a $500 delivery fee. Still, my car was in DC and I lived in Charlotte, so that wasn't unreasonable. As some may have seen in my Road Trip to Buy a Tesla? thread, I was ready to pay the fee, but the car wouldn't be delivered for a couple weeks. So I arranged to fly up and they were gracious enough to pick me up from the airport.
Now this is where Tesla Service is doing great. I had a small disappointment in the purchasing process, but they were doing whatever they could to make this a great experience. My local store confirmed that if anything didn't pass muster when I saw the car, DC could notate it and Charlotte would fix it.
During this time, I had also applied to finance my CPO through Tesla. I secured outside financing, but was willing to go with Tesla itself if the terms were right. Up until a few nights before I flew up to DC for my car, everyone I spoke with kept saying they saw my application in the system and I would hear from Tesla Financing. Finally I got someone to provide me the right email address to reach out to and the Financing department said they saw I was doing an application, but something went wrong and it never went through. Another break there were no less than four people confirmed my app was in the system, then only to find out it was lost. Thankfully, I had already secured outside financing and had them overnight me a check. Never hurts to be prepared!
May 14th, 2015
So when I picked up the car, most things were great. I did have one scratch on the back passenger quarter panel and bumper that needed to be repainted and a shallow scratch on the hood. The cargo net wasn't in stock, but Charlotte had them to provide. Additionally, I noticed the mirrors would not manually fold in no matter how hard I or the Delivery Specialist there tried. They noted these items and said Charlotte would take care of it. So off I went for a great drive home.
May 19th, 2015
I go into my local store, they get me the cargo net and I purchase a front trunk all weather floor mat. My older VIN has the 2" deeper front trunk than other RWD cars, I either lucked out that they had one such mat in stock, or when I mentioned it to the DC store that I would want something like this, they said they can make sure Charlotte had one since DC didn't. So perhaps they phoned ahead and got it drop-shipped to the Charlotte store. Anyway, I buy that and the interior all weather floor mats. They set me up with an appointment for June 1st to bring my car (expected for a week) to get the hood repainted, the rear repainted, and the mirrors fixed. I had also noticed that my trunk was making a knocking sound (Knocking sound from power lift gate) and had that noted. I also mentioned my disappointment that the brake rotors were covered in rust, but I was told this was only cosmetic and I would need to live with it. A disappointment for sure on a car that is marketed as "like new", but oh well.
June 2nd, 2015
So a day after I dropped off my vehicle and got a loaner (S85 Classic vs. P85 Autopilot Comparison), I get a call that the body shop is backed up and we need to reschedule the repaint in the back. They managed to buff out (rather than repaint) the scratch on the hood. This meant the rock chips that had been there (and service through silver touch up paint was applied to instead of gray) weren't removed from the repainting, it still was a bad job and a 2013 having three rock chips on the edge wasn't the end of the world. The Service Center also performed the following repairs:
- (TSB) Replaced 12v postive jump post
- Replaced the mirrors
- Verified the A/C TSB was previously applied (strong vibrations from a/c when sitting out in the sun)
- Pano stops replaced, "rubber" replaced (butyl -> urethane), cleaned up, and "trimmed tabs for improved pano roof clearance". This stopped the pano smearing black goo on the top of the rear passenger glass when opening
- taillights had insects in them and were cleaned out
- reverse lights had water ingress and the seals, washers, and rear appliqué were replaced
- motor whine (the milling noise others noticed) was recorded and sent to engineering
- the strut on the life gate replaced
- brakes verified to confirm rust was not impacting performance
June 3rd (yes, the next day)
I had to take the car back to service because the mirrors now no longer tilted when in reverse nor changed position between profiles. SC found they had installed the wrong model mirrors (the non-TP version essentially). Replaced mirrors again and all was well.
June 15th-18th, 2015
The car goes in for the rear paintwork and I get another loaner. Looks great and I'm happy. Now to finally get the next steps of a new owner done.
July 8th, 2015
I've babied the car over the past month waiting on the rear paint to cure. The body shop told me that I should wait 60 days to get the car XPEL wrapped and cQuartz coated, but I can begin washing it after 30 days. This was closest to that time and I take the car in, go over what has happened, and speak with the detailer to make it clear not to do the rear of the car since it was repainted and I would come back in August for the rear. Sadly, when clay barring the car and applying Acrysol in cleaning it, the clear coat comes off from the front passenger fender when the detailer is wiping everything off with a microfiber towel. He notes that it appears the car has previously been poorly painted here as you can see the car clearly has sanding underneath and there appears to be a dot of bondo. He says this can only be from a poor paint job previously. Tesla takes a look at it and feels the detailer must have applied the wrong chemical to it. They look through their records in case they see anything about a previous repaint. They state that if the previous owner got it repainted without going through a Tesla certified shop, Tesla would NOT cover the fix. They ultimately find no record of any repainting in the area. They did ask me to take the car to the two certified shops around me and see if the body shop felt this was a factory paint failure, which they would then cover. Neither shop felt it was a factory failure.
July 27th, 2015
Tesla has agreed to provide me a loaner while the car is getting repainted. As unhappy as I am that Tesla is not going to help me with the repaint cost, I am happy that the Service Center is trying their best to make this as painless as possible for me. I drop off my car with Tesla, they give me a loaner, and they coordinate getting the car to and from the body shop. Additionally, HQ has instructed my VIN to get the proactive contractor replacement. So we run into a couple of issues over the past month and the Service Center makes the following repairs prior to shuffling my car out to the body shop:
- battery failed testing due to corrosion on one section and exhaust vent is clogged. Loaner battery installed while my battery goes to Freemont for rebuilding.
- drive unit is making the subtle clunk between power and region. Additionally, I reiterate the motor whine that was recorded and sent to HQ before. A remanufactured drive unit is installed in my car
- Under the same line-item as the drive unit, they replaced both rear rotor hats. No clue as to why, but now these rotor hats are rust-free. No change to the calipers (not a problem) nor replacement of the front rotor hats (odd).
- my left scroll wheel sometimes would ignore small scrolls. They confirm and replace both scroll wheels (comes as a set)
- my driver door doesn't always open from the interior latch. They find the cable is connected to the handle, but the mount has broken pins. They replace the mount so the cable is no longer strained.
- At my request and expense, they retrofit power folding mirrors. My garage doors are tight (I have two separate one-car doors to a two-car garage) and it was a matter of when, not if, I hit a mirror. Now I can fold in the mirrors as I park.
- the front trunk had water ingress by the latch. They replaced the seal where the hood meets the front trunk cavity.
Three months since purchasing
Tesla reiterates that they feel the detailer did a poor job in their work and my failure was a direct result of his work. The detailer continues to state that this was because of a poor prior paint job. Other owners who have seen my car are inclined to agree with the dealer and are surprised to learn that the CPO warranty does not cover prior paint jobs. As one person pointed out (#1616)...
That is so much work, maybe when it's done they should reset the odometer to zero. Seriously, I am so sorry this has happened to you. Tesla should have done what Mercedes and others that have a CPO program do. If Mercedes (and others) take a car in on trade, and inspection reveals too many issues, they take it to auction rather than harm the reputation of their CPO program. Not doing the full inspection and prep BEFORE posting the vehicle online and selling it really puts Tesla Motors at risk. Tesla Motors should seriously reconsider the way this program is managed -> prep and inspect car first - maybe use it in the "service loaner" fleet for a little while and get feedback from owners about the car - then put it up on the website if everything is OK or can be made OK.
In another 6-8 weeks, I get to go in again to swap back to my own battery. Hopefully I do not have any other repairs needed at that time. Meanwhile, around that time, the detail has agreed to at least put on these two panels that were repainted at no charge. I still will have to pay out of pocket for the XPEL on the rear of the vehicle (I paid for the front 3/4s already).
Now, I love my car and it is a joy to drive. It is just frustrating that I drank the kool-aid that CPO cars are reconditioned like-new and would be just as good as new car except for small wear and tear. I am NOT trying to get my Service Center in trouble (I'm looking at you Tesla who has twice already told the SvC about posts I've made on here). I am disappointed really in HQ's policies that the SvC must follow. I have never before been a luxury buyer. I've had a Mazda 626, two Toyota 4Runners, and a VW EOS prior to this purchase. I wasn't expecting a picture-perfect car, but I honestly expected more than I received, both in Tesla's policies and handling of a new customer and in what constitutes acceptable for a CPO. I will continue to be a proponent for what Tesla Motors is trying to do, but I'm tempering my love for the company based on real-life experiences.
And yes, at the end of the day, I really would have NOT bought my Model S right now and waited a couple more months or a year and bought once Tesla was focused more on "mainstream" buyers like myself. Either Tesla would have updated some of their ways of doing things, or I wouldn't have gotten the glowy expectation of how Tesla will go the extra mile to fix any problems and make sure I have the best possible experience. Comparing notes with my family members, their experience from their Lexus dealer is miles ahead of Tesla on getting things done right up front. They may ultimately be stinky ICEs and have enormous charges for routine service that the Model S won't need, but they provide a much more consistent experience and frankly, have done much better with my mother's CPO IS than Tesla did with my CPO Model S. Not to mention my still outstanding gripe (though I recognized this upfront and still hope Tesla Motors changes its tune on it someday while I own my car) -- you cannot get an extended warranty on a CPO Tesla like you can on other makes' CPOs. Hopefully the next four years of ownership under warranty do not mean continue to report the experience of the past 3 months.
Time to get off my soapbox. If you have scroll this far along, thank you for reading!