Tesla Trade-In with Lienholder

[mintthief]

so i am trying to trade in my car and on the title, it lists my sister as the lienholder. this is from awhile ago and the vehicle is already paid off. however, my sister doesn't live close to me. for the registered owners, it lists me "or" my sister.

come delivery day (literally today), the folks at tesla texted me saying my sister needs to be present at the trade-in when they told me the day before she didn't. i had them call me back to confirm and they basically said either my sister shows up or we cancel the trade-in...

question: is the lienholder supposed to be present at these tesla trade-ins? my sister already signed the portion of the title that releases interest in the vehicle. it doesn't make sense to me at all they require her present for this. it has been so frustrating how they've been giving me information only to switch stance the day after.

 

[kpanda17]

Why is she a lien holder? You took a loan from her? I have never seen this as leinholders are a usually banks, credit unions. A traditional lien holder just issues a lien satisfaction and release and you hand in a copy along with a title.
As for a personal lien holder, chat with a lawyer, for maybe it’s a quick doc that gets notarized stating satisfied and released.
Good luck

 

[SilentWarp]

It won't help you today, but you may have to wait for her paperwork to clear the state or county property appraiser before she is 100% off the title. Tesla can't take a chance on buying a car without a cleared title. They have to go by county records, not physical paperwork even with her signature.

But anyway, Tesla gives terrible trade offers, so you may just as well separate the two transactions and sell your car to a dealer, or private sale via Autotrader.com 's private seller exchange program. I highly recommend it. They handle everything, loan pay off, financing for buyer, title change, escrow of funds, all of it, for about $800. Sold my Rivian that way.

 

[mintthief]

It won't help you today, but you may have to wait for her paperwork to clear the state or county property appraiser before she is 100% off the title. Tesla can't take a chance on buying a car without a cleared title. They have to go by county records, not physical paperwork even with her signature.

But anyway, Tesla gives terrible trade offers, so you may just as well separate the two transactions and sell your car to a dealer, or private sale via Autotrader.com 's private seller exchange program. I highly recommend it. They handle everything, loan pay off, financing for buyer, title change, escrow of funds, all of it, for about $800. Sold my Rivian that way.

just contacted my local dealer and yes the valuation is already much higher than what tesla was offering. the process with the dealer already sounds more simple than what tesla was putting me through. the rep there was 100% more helpful than everyone i've spoken to at tesla so far.

it's a shame this is my first tesla purchase and already i feel so frustrated on delivery day. im hoping my pick-up experience won't be as sour as my experience has been talking with their reps so far.

appreciate the response man!

 

[kpanda17]

I did two trade ins with Tesla and both titles were old still listing the liens
I handed in the signed titles and the lien satisfaction documents
Easy

 

[mintthief]

Why is she a lien holder? You took a loan from her? I have never seen this as leinholders are a usually banks, credit unions. A traditional lien holder just issues a lien satisfaction and release and you hand in a copy along with a title.
As for a personal lien holder, chat with a lawyer, for maybe it’s a quick doc that gets notarized stating satisfied and released.
Good luck

im not sure. i was a young dumb lad when we got the car, so my sister/mom handled all the paperwork. im just more frustrated at how the tesla reps told me to get my sister to sign the title and everything is good and she won't have to be there. i texted back yesterday just to confirm if she needed to be present and they stuck by it and said no, only i need to be present.

then just this morning (delivery day), they text me out of the blue to basically say "jk yeah she needs to be there." i had them call me because i was so confused and the rep sounded like he was giving me an ultimatum or something. anyway, my delivery day isn't off to a great start so far lol

 

[jjrandorin]

But anyway, Tesla gives terrible trade offers, so you may just as well separate the two transactions and sell your car to a dealer, or private sale via Autotrader.com 's private seller exchange program.

Couple that with the fact that in CA there is no deduction for previously paid tax on a car you trade in, and the only reason to trade in a car to the dealer you are selling it to is either if you are trying to bury negative equity in the new deal (not the case here per OPs post), they are offering the highest price (probably not the case here), need the money as part of the down payment, or convenience.

No idea on the lienholder question, sounds like a personal loan situation between you and her, and I dont blame anyone looking to take title needing something filed with official record vs just documents in hand.

 

[SilentWarp]

just contacted my local dealer and yes the valuation is already much higher than what tesla was offering. the process with the dealer already sounds more simple than what tesla was putting me through. the rep there was 100% more helpful than everyone i've spoken to at tesla so far.

it's a shame this is my first tesla purchase and already i feel so frustrated on delivery day. im hoping my pick-up experience won't be as sour as my experience has been talking with their reps so far.

appreciate the response man!

Keep things in perspective. Remember that Tesla is innovating car selling (one national price, one national website, etc). When it comes to trade ins, they need to employ a different process because every used-car market is different. Don't judge Tesla too harshly because of their trade in handling, when their new car sales process is flawless and a model for all manufacturers, imho. I spent 10 minutes at the 'dealer' when I picked up my M3 last month. Unbeatable. ....Of course, I had no trade in to deal with.

 

[kpanda17]

Also tight labor market and fast growing company yields varying at times, customer handling

I’ve only had to do it twice, but get to know rhe top manager of the service center/delivery location, escalate if things get weird

 

[mintthief]

Keep things in perspective. Remember that Tesla is innovating car selling (one national price, one national website, etc). When it comes to trade ins, they need to employ a different process because every used-car market is different. Don't judge Tesla too harshly because of their trade in handling, when their new car sales process is flawless and a model for all manufacturers, imho. I spent 10 minutes at the 'dealer' when I picked up my M3 last month. Unbeatable. ....Of course, I had no trade in to deal with.

true. i think there's just so many things going through my head since this is my first tesla purchase and it's very different from the traditional car buying experience. add in that this is also my first time buying a new car strictly on my own so when this hiccup came up, i just lost it lol.

my delivery isn't until later today so hoping to hop back on these forums as a happy man.

also - just joined this site but it already seems like the community here is amazing/supportive!

 

[flai54]

just contacted my local dealer and yes the valuation is already much higher than what tesla was offering. the process with the dealer already sounds more simple than what tesla was putting me through. the rep there was 100% more helpful than everyone i've spoken to at tesla so far.

it's a shame this is my first tesla purchase and already i feel so frustrated on delivery day. im hoping my pick-up experience won't be as sour as my experience has been talking with their reps so far.

appreciate the response man!

Well to be fair it is best to make things "clean" by having all this paperwork squared away well ahead of time with having everything under your name. I am not trying to say Tesla couldn't have done a better job but the guy processing your delivery is not like some high level manager or anything. Take it as a lesson learned and just try to avoid the situation in a future trade-in purchase if you decide to pursue that route. Seems like it worked out for you at the end anyways.

 

[mintthief]

Well to be fair it is best to make things "clean" by having all this paperwork squared away well ahead of time with having everything under your name. I am not trying to say Tesla couldn't have done a better job but the guy processing your delivery is not like some high level manager or anything. Take it as a lesson learned and just try to avoid the situation in a future trade-in purchase if you decide to pursue that route. Seems like it worked out for you at the end anyways.

definitely big lesson learned here. i was never even aware of that lienholder section on the title and that my sister's name was listed as a lienholder until they told me about it. i just thought everything was good since the title had my name as a registered owner on it.

the whole thing was just a blessing in disguise.

 

[kpanda17]

You’re doing good
Knowing you need help and asking are the first steps