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0 pointsrndgermandude5y ago0 comments

I read in the past that Tesla does this also to normal used cars that weren't totaled and salvaged.

Either way, you paid for it, and even it it's technically "totaled" it's still fucking yours. When Tesla disables functionality remotely, they don't say it's because the warranty ran out or because it's unsafe now, they say they are happy to re-enable it for fresh money.

That's why I wouldn't buy a Tesla (or any car of a manufacturer pulling the same crap) now, and if I did already buy one, would be looking into filing a class action against the company, because remotely disabling features like that that you already paid for is fraud.

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7 comments · 4 top-level

marcinzm5y ago· 2 in thread

>Either way, you paid for it, and even it it's technically "totaled" it's still fucking yours.

Technically, the insurance company probably owns it as they paid you for it after declaring it totaled.

octoberfranklin5y ago

... and he bought it from the insurance company at the vehicle auction.

That's what insurance companies do when they total a vehicle: they buy it from the insured and sell it to somebody else at an auction.

A sale is a sale.

bnjms5y ago

This sounds like an argument for the Insurance company being defrauded instead of the argument you intended.

ocdtrekkie5y ago· 1 in thread

I am reasonably confident a large percentage of Tesla's antics are blatantly illegal, but Tesla owners are still too few for someone to have actually gotten fed up with them enough to start suing them.

Refusing to activate a car you have the legal title to in any scenario is almost certainly illegal, whether you "salvaged" it or not, for instance. Some of the ways they restrict your car they already sold you, the way they use your cars sensors to collect data for their use, even if those sensors are disabled for the owners' use (Autopilot not purchased), etc. are probably one good lawsuit away from being thrown out.

sjg0075y ago

Yep, sounds like a class action lawsuit that sounds easy to win. It might be tangled in with right to repair lawsuits as well. Also, I think the first sale doctrine should apply. Usually the VIN itself maps to a complete list of specifications. Supercharger access seems to be a harder one to sort out.

It is amazing that ludicrous performance mode is a software upgrade. That makes for amazing margins.

busterarm5y ago

You should read into the supercharging debacle, where they charged people $10k to recertify their used/salvage Teslas for supercharging and then later changed their minds and disabled the feature (except for Model 3s) again for those who paid.

Even if you buy a used Tesla direct, it can take _months_ before they get it to you.

thdrdt5y ago

This is the reason Rich Rebuilds stopped rebuilding Teslas. It is as if you don't own the car.

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