BE CAREFUL…TESLA MISLED ME

TRYING TO GET ME TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $70,000 OVER THE $97,480 ALREADY PAID FOR A FEATURE THAT I WAS MISLED INTO BELIEVING WOULD MAKE THE CAR SELF-DRIVING WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE.

DON’T BUY WITHOUT SPENDING MORE TIME

Everyone knows the reputation of car sales people however there are some limits to how far they should go in embellishing the car features or benefits of the cars they sell.  Do not get caught up in the impulse and emotion of buying a TESLA.  The exact reasons you might have for purchasing a TESLA are those possibly exploited by the sales person.  Check the other upscale cars which are in some cases more advanced than the TESLA “spin”.  Would they really take advantage of a senior with disabilities?

WHEN THEY REPRESENT SOMETHING….DISREGARD UNTIL PROOF IS AVAILABLE

Before you commit you must first look at the other cars in similar price ranges and then should you be drawn to the TESLA appeal make sure you have solid proof what they represented is accurate and dependable.  Because they tell you doesn’t make it true.

SHOULD I BE FORCED TO PURCHASE A 3RD TESLA TO GET WHAT WAS PROMISED ON THE 1ST?

Having some mobility issues in 2014 and having the TESLA represent to me that the Model S would be self-driving/autonomous at some point and my new car would only need software updates.  Did I think that would happen in the coming weeks?  Nope I did not.  Did I expect that in a reasonable period of time it would?  Yup, I did.  There was NEVER any indication or discussion that new hardware would be required, quite the contrary most all upgrades would be accomplished with software.

WHY DID I PURCHASE A 2ND TESLA MODEL S WITHIN MONTHS OF THE 1ST ONE?

After a few month a representative informed me that my car wasn’t equipped with the necessary hardware to accommodate self-driving and in order to be ready for that feature I needed to upgrade to another car that did have the necessary hardware.  So I forked over an additional $30,000 to upgrade to the car that would have the hardware necessary.  The first car had only several hundred miles.  The car I upgraded to was identical to the first except for the self-driving hardware.  Oh by the way the first one was $97,480.  So despite thinking that was unfair I was content knowing that should my mobility issues be exacerbated I was ready with a self-driving car when the software was available and approved by the state.

THE STORY GETS REALLY GOOD IN 2018

After taking in the car for a minor recall I was contacted by a TESLA rep making sure I was happy.  During that discussion I was inquiring about the autonomous feature and whether there were any updates with regard to timing.  He said that my car didn’t possess the necessary hardware to accommodate the autonomous or self-driving feature.  Hmmm, that sounded familiar and assumed he knew not what he was talking about and asked to have a more senior representative contact me.

Eventually someone reached out to me and confirmed what the first representative had said….my 2nd car was ill equipped to be self-driving without changing the hardware.

CLEARLY MY 2ND CAR COULD BE RETROFITTED WITH THE NEW HARDWARE

Well that turned out to be wishful thinking.  After weeks went by I received a call indicating that there was no way to upgrade or retrofit the necessary hardware onto my 2nd car.  It would be necessary for me to upgrade to a 3rd TESLA MODEL S.

PLEASE TELL ME HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST TO UPGRADE TO CAR #3

They said that they were accepting trade-ins and would give me about $45,000 for car number 2 and I could get car #3 for an additional $40,000.  Oh, again so you know my present TESLA MODEL S has 450 miles and still has the new car smell.  It was purchased and I was waiting for the upgraded software allowing me to take advantage of the self-driving feature.  As you probably realize I was patiently waiting.  And in case you have limited math skills this would mean that I now would have spent $97,480 for car #1, $30,000 for car #2, and $40,000 for car #3 for a total spent of $167,480.  There would be NO difference in any features and the total mileage for the first two cars in total is under 1,000 miles.

THE TESLA LIE

When asked whether it wouldn’t be a reasonable course of action to simply exchange the second car for one with the features obviously expected they said “it doesn’t rise to the level of doing that”  Here is the bottom line other than the extensive misrepresentation and potential fraud…..they have NO ANSWER FOR WHAT WOULD CAUSE SOMEONE TO SPEND AN ADDITIONAL $30,000 AND UPGRADE TO THE SECOND CAR WITH THE EXACT SAME FEATURES AS CAR #1 KNOWING THE FIRST CAR ONLY HAD HUNDREDS OF MILES ON IT.

WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT WITH YOUR HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR

As a kid when you have cookie crumbs on your lips and mom is watching you reach for another cookie and you deny cookie #1 or #2…..YOU ARE BUSTED.

TESLA IS BUSTED…THE QUESTION IS WHY NOT DO THE RIGHT THING?  THEY AREN’T KIDS WITH A COOKIE JAR….THEY ARE A BIG COMPANY TRYING TO DEFRAUD ME OUT OF $70,000 FOR CAR #2 AND #3.  SADLY THE QUESTION IS ARE THEY DOING IT BECAUSE I’M A SENIOR WITH DISABILITIES AND THEY THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT?

DO YOU HAVE A SIMILAR STORY? SHARE IT WITH US.