Bought a model Y that I thought had clean title and found out it was salvage

[Hormold]

Hi guys.

I just moved into the US and decided to buy a Model Y 2021 from a used car dealer in lease.
It was a great day before I finally got car on my account. I previously own a Model 3 in my home country, so I have a lot of tesla driving experience.

Model Y was great, minor dent on rear trunk which been fixed by dealer (I saw a photo, just a small accident).
But later at home I found that car loses all Tesla warranty. And when I called to support, they said the car should soon lose access to a Supercharger.
They said - our records show - salvage title. I realized that I was in a bad situation...

Car has clean title. I bought reports from Auto Check, CARFAX before. All reports say is CLEAN. I have seen a set of photos with dent.
And now i don't know what to do. Car is still charging on SC (but person on phone said is listed to be disabled in near future), i know it can be restored after battery test.
But car warranty is fully disappeared... I'm new here in US and i thought i can trust reports. But looks like Tesla has another opinion.
I sent a report to Tesla Customer Support (they said to do this on phone). But i don't have ideas what to do now. Just wait or start looking for lawyer to found solution with a dealer.

Thanks for any advices. I'm located in CA, Orange County.

 

[jason29252]

That picture is from IAAi, which is an auction company for salvage cars. Where did you purchase the car from and where did you get that picture? Parts of story is not adding up.

 

[E90alex]

Google your VIN. You might find photos of more damage which caused it to be totaled and salvaged. That trunk damage wouldn’t have been enough to total the car.

 

[Hormold]

That picture is from IAAi, which is an auction company for salvage cars. Where did you purchase the car from and where did you get that picture? Parts of story is not adding up.

Photo i found at Google using VIN. All photos should be accessible here: https://bid.cars/en/lot/0-36386562/...8702bb021d22d1f7ec1d185c301e0e15d528997b3add3
I bought this car at a local used car dealer near me.

 

[araxara]

Your car's title should reflect if the car is salvaged. You may be able to look up the title online at the DMV website, if you haven't received a physical one.

Aside from you looking up the VIN number, you should also be clear as to what the dealer had stated in regards to the salvage status. Most states require the dealer to disclose the state of the title.

 

[yblaser]

Carfax has a buy back guarantee. You might want to look into it.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

The thing about Carfax is that they can only list what gets reported to them, so if someone 'fixed' something in their back garden and never told anyone then it would never get onto a Carfax report

Having said that, that's not the way they position themselves. I see their advertising campaign as a suggestion that their reports are accurate and will stop you from buying something that has some history that you wouldn't want to be involved with

Like yblaser said - your first step is to look into their buy back guarantee

Then of course they start to weasel out of it

Here's the guarantee

Here's a link to to buyback details

The CARFAX® Buyback Guarantee: Terms & Conditions for Consumers


Good luck

Let us know how you get on

 

[cpaull]

Your car's title should reflect if the car is salvaged. You may be able to look up the title online at the DMV website, if you haven't received a physical one.

Aside from you looking up the VIN number, you should also be clear as to what the dealer had stated in regards to the salvage status. Most states require the dealer to disclose the state of the title.

As @araxara says, the title itself should specify salvage.
Maybe this site would have helpful info: Branded Titles - California DMV

 

[Rocky_H]

There are three parties that may say something about the state of the title, but I think we've only heard from two of them:
You said the car seller said the title was clean. Tesla says the title is salvage. We haven't heard what the DMV thinks, and that is the most important, because that is the official record of data for it, and THAT is what the possible Carfax buyback guarantee is based on.

If DMV says the title is salvage, then the car sales place misrepresented information to you, and that's fraud, so you can go after them.

If the DMV says the title is clean, then Tesla is wrong, and you can go after them.

 

[mjwojtukiewicz]

Hi guys.

I just moved into the US and decided to buy a Model Y 2021 from a used car dealer in lease.
It was a great day before I finally got car on my account. I previously own a Model 3 in my home country, so I have a lot of tesla driving experience.

Model Y was great, minor dent on rear trunk which been fixed by dealer (I saw a photo, just a small accident).
But later at home I found that car loses all Tesla warranty. And when I called to support, they said the car should soon lose access to a Supercharger.
They said - our records show - salvage title. I realized that I was in a bad situation...

Car has clean title. I bought reports from Auto Check, CARFAX before. All reports say is CLEAN. I have seen a set of photos with dent.
And now i don't know what to do. Car is still charging on SC (but person on phone said is listed to be disabled in near future), i know it can be restored after battery test.
But car warranty is fully disappeared... I'm new here in US and i thought i can trust reports. But looks like Tesla has another opinion.
I sent a report to Tesla Customer Support (they said to do this on phone). But i don't have ideas what to do now. Just wait or start looking for lawyer to found solution with a dealer.

Thanks for any advices. I'm located in CA, Orange County.

From what I've read California has some real good consumer protection laws. Don't know who they are (I;m in NY). I''m sure this website has some good info
if you do a search. Where did you come from if yot don't mind me asking

 

[mjwojtukiewicz]

Hi guys.

I just moved into the US and decided to buy a Model Y 2021 from a used car dealer in lease.
It was a great day before I finally got car on my account. I previously own a Model 3 in my home country, so I have a lot of tesla driving experience.

Model Y was great, minor dent on rear trunk which been fixed by dealer (I saw a photo, just a small accident).
But later at home I found that car loses all Tesla warranty. And when I called to support, they said the car should soon lose access to a Supercharger.
They said - our records show - salvage title. I realized that I was in a bad situation...

Car has clean title. I bought reports from Auto Check, CARFAX before. All reports say is CLEAN. I have seen a set of photos with dent.
And now i don't know what to do. Car is still charging on SC (but person on phone said is listed to be disabled in near future), i know it can be restored after battery test.
But car warranty is fully disappeared... I'm new here in US and i thought i can trust reports. But looks like Tesla has another opinion.
I sent a report to Tesla Customer Support (they said to do this on phone). But i don't have ideas what to do now. Just wait or start looking for lawyer to found solution with a dealer.

Thanks for any advices. I'm located in CA, Orange County.

Most Americans probably (or should know) DO NOT buy a used car from a used car dealer. They are low on the list of dirtbags

 

[brkaus]

The web page says the title is “ok”

 

[Rocky_H]

The web page says the title is “ok”

"the" web page? The web is a big place. Whose web page? Tesla's? The used car dealer? The DMV?

 

[Electric700]

I would say that Tesla needs to update their records if everything else shows as good. They can inspect the vehicle also. I hope it works out well for you!

 

[advocate8]

Your car's title should reflect if the car is salvaged. You may be able to look up the title online at the DMV website, if you haven't received a physical one.

Aside from you looking up the VIN number, you should also be clear as to what the dealer had stated in regards to the salvage status. Most states require the dealer to disclose the state of the title.

Lawsuit.

 

[innos]

In this post, the author was able to get a similar problem fixed:

Clean Title, 10k Damage Accident, but Tesla Claims Salvaged Title

Hello all, I have an issue. We had an accident where we hit the curb and caused the lower A-Arm to break (front left), as well as messing up the rims (front left and rear left), tires and scrapes on the lower body panel. The total repair was 10k (5k parts, 5k labor), while the car (2019 Model...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Hormold]

Thank you for advices. Sadly, but wait for DMV is a not short story, because they need to do some paperwork when they get documents from dealer.

And i attach a dealer website screenshot with car information. just fyi.

Now i'm waiting for response from Tesla and for a meet up with a dealer to discuss any way of resolution.

 

[brkaus]

"the" web page? The web is a big place. Whose web page? Tesla's? The used car dealer? The DMV?

The auction house. At least they were representing it as good. Who knows the truth, of course.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

The auction house. At least they were representing it as good. Who knows the truth, of course.

Title is good reads to me more as in possession and legal, not clean.

 

[jjrandorin]

Without anything else to go on, this sound like one of those cases of title washing. I dont have access to carfax or any of those vin lookup services, but if they show the car being moved between a couple different states in a fairly short period of time, that is another big indication of title washing.

OP, check the carfax for vehicle registration / location information.