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I was under the impression that Tesla sold direct and not through dealerships?

alistairSH 7y ago
This car was a lemon, sent back to Tesla, sold via auction to a normal brick-mortar dealer, who then sold to the end consumer. The original Monroney sticker had FSD listed as an included option (just like upgrade wheels, or a tow package on a truck). The car delivered with it installed. The car made it through several changes in ownership (orig buyer -> Tesla -> dealer -> final consumer) with it enabled, as indicated on the original spec list. Nobody other than Tesla ever had any reason to believe the option was not included - because, IN FACT, it was included. Until Tesla decided they wanted to repossess it after the fact. This would be akin to Chevy deciding after sale that the upgrade wheels weren't actually supposed to be installed, and coming to your house in the middle of the day to remove them.
- mmcwilliams 7y ago
  This is a much clearer timeline than I got from the article and it goes against what the GP seems to be claiming. It's very dubious that a fresh account would be in both threads about this event claiming they have the "inside scoop" and implying that the feature was added "illegally". Very shady.
- greglindahl 7y ago
  Can you point to the auction paperwork to confirm that Tesla's sales contract with the auction buyer said the car had FSD? It seems to be a critical missing link in the story. To go along with your narrative, it's not hard to imagine that a car sold used might not have the original upgrade wheels, or might have had the tow package removed.
  - alistairSH 7y ago
    That's possible, but according to both the dealer and the eventual owner, both were able to use the features... assuming that's true, the contract is irrelevant - the car was sold with the options included, Tesla doesn't get to disable them after the fact because they screwed up. As noted in other comments, the Monroney only applies to new car sales, so it's not part of this sale other than serving as a piece of information about the original build. A buyer who saw the sticker would reasonably think "oh, this car came with FSD," [tries FSD to confirm], "Yup, has FSD! Cool, it's worth $4000 more to me now."

This car was a lemon, sent back to Tesla, sold via auction to a normal brick-mortar dealer, who then sold to the end consumer. The original Monroney sticker had FSD listed as an included option (just like upgrade wheels, or a tow package on a truck). The car delivered with it installed. The car made it through several changes in ownership (orig buyer -> Tesla -> dealer -> final consumer) with it enabled, as indicated on the original spec list. Nobody other than Tesla ever had any reason to believe the option was not included - because, IN FACT, it was included. Until Tesla decided they wanted to repossess it after the fact. This would be akin to Chevy deciding after sale that the upgrade wheels weren't actually supposed to be installed, and coming to your house in the middle of the day to remove them.

mmcwilliams 7y ago
This is a much clearer timeline than I got from the article and it goes against what the GP seems to be claiming. It's very dubious that a fresh account would be in both threads about this event claiming they have the "inside scoop" and implying that the feature was added "illegally". Very shady.
greglindahl 7y ago
Can you point to the auction paperwork to confirm that Tesla's sales contract with the auction buyer said the car had FSD? It seems to be a critical missing link in the story. To go along with your narrative, it's not hard to imagine that a car sold used might not have the original upgrade wheels, or might have had the tow package removed.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  That's possible, but according to both the dealer and the eventual owner, both were able to use the features... assuming that's true, the contract is irrelevant - the car was sold with the options included, Tesla doesn't get to disable them after the fact because they screwed up. As noted in other comments, the Monroney only applies to new car sales, so it's not part of this sale other than serving as a piece of information about the original build. A buyer who saw the sticker would reasonably think "oh, this car came with FSD," [tries FSD to confirm], "Yup, has FSD! Cool, it's worth $4000 more to me now."