Might have been scammed by Tesla
I bought my wife a 2021 model 3 about a year ago (bought from a Volkswagen dealer) and have been itching to replace my Chevy Bolt with one as well since I like all of the technology features and the way the car drives. I finally pulled the trigger on a used 2021 model 3 LR dual motor that I found on the Tesla used inventory. Tesla also offered me the highest amount for my trade in by over $1000. The car needed to be transported just 2 states away, which I happily agreed to pay the transport fee since it still came out to a good deal with the trade in value factored in. Here comes the frustration. I used 3rd party financing since the interest rates through Tesla are horrible. Getting them to work with my lender was the biggest headache I’ve ever experienced while buying a car. Every text, every phone call to ask a question for my lender resulted in talking to a different person, and also conflicting answers. The day before my scheduled delivery date (12/24/25) I finally get my financing finalized and am issued the check. I leave the house on the morning of my delivery appointment (which I had to request off of work for on top of an additional day off to finalize my financing) and I get a message from Tesla saying my car has been delayed in shipment and my new delivery date is scheduled for 2pm on the 29th, which was not going to work for me because I couldn’t request off of work with such little notice. I called and told them my frustration of taking off of work to get everything set up and already being on the way to the location (I live over 2hrs away from my closest Tesla showroom) and after some back and forth they agreed to wave my transportation fee as compensation. They also told me that scheduling a delivery day before the car arrives on site is against policy and never should have happened. We agreed to not set a delivery date until the car arrives and is ready for delivery. On the 29th I get a message saying the car has arrived and I need to schedule, but I was forced to take delivery before the new year. I was forced to set an appointment for 7:30pm on the 31st as that was the earliest that I could be there after leaving work. Fine, whatever, I’ll be there and we can get this frustration over with. Not sure why I was forced to take delivery on the 31st instead of waiting until I could come during the day the following week as I had no incentives or any time sensitive agreements to my knowledge. Now the potential scam. I get there and check in, verify everything, sign the DMV agreements, hand over the check, and head out to find the car. After looking it over I found 2 almost bald t1res (down to the wear bar) and the car has the wrong door panels. Confused by this I didn’t accept my agreement yet and go inside to talk to the woman who checked me in. She tells me that it should be ready for delivery since it passed the used car teams inspection, so I made her go out and look at the car herself to show her my concerns. She agreed that it wasn’t right but the service center was closed so there wasn’t anything we could do before I take delivery. She told me my only option was to take delivery and she would put in a request with the used car department to have it fixed. I had her take pictures of the concerns and email it to them and was assured that someone would reach out to me as soon as the used team and service department open back up. Again, she said “the only option is to take delivery of the car.” I take delivery of the car, set everything up. On the way home the first thing I noticed was the wind noise from the drivers side window. Not a little whistle, but a sound like the window was open. I had to yell over it to talk to my passenger. Decided I needed to make a service appointment to have that fixed under warranty. It was also cold out so when I remembered I had a heated steering wheel I went to turn it on and boom, no heated steering wheel. Already livid I start looking through everything and found I also didn’t have the active beam headlights that supposedly came standard in the long range dual motor of this model year. The EQ settings for the sub don’t say BOOM when turned all the way up, which made me think it probably doesn’t have the updated sound system either. I decide to look the car over when it’s light out to see what else is wrong with this car. This morning I go out and see the front bumper had been repainted and it is BAD. In the sun the pearl white paint was super splotchy. Also, comparing it to my wife’s car, sure enough the headlights that were installed are the old style headlights without the projector section that actively dims pixels. I’m furious at this point. I wouldn’t have bought this car if it wasn’t supposed to have these features. The car is worth significantly less without them, so I feel like I overpaid for this car by a few thousand dollars at least. It is basically a 2020 with a different console and a heat pump. Had this been a standard dealership and I had been given a chance to test drive the car I would have passed on it and kept looking. I just need to know if there is anything that I can do to have Tesla remedy this, or if I’m screwed since I already took delivery. This has been the absolute worst car buying experience I have ever had, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I’m not even sure if Tesla is actually going to issue me that refund for the transportation fee like I was promised, because my delivery advisor didn’t know how I would be issued that. TLDR Tesla scammed me into buying a 2021 LR with a bunch of missing features, 2 almost bald t1res, a window that doesn’t seal, and light body damag. Am I screwed since I took delivery even though I was promised it would be looked at by the used car team when they open after the holiday Edit 1/7/25: Still fighting with Tesla on this. They have mentioned offering a “Due Bill” for the tires but absolutely nothing has been finalized. Getting Tesla to talk to me is impossible, and my texts to my advisor are going days without a response.