I Sold A Tesla Model 3, and Now My Customer Has Buyer’s Remorse and Wants To Return It After Owning It One Day Because of Charging Issues

The story about the charging issue is absolutely hysterical so this person buys an electric car and doesn’t realize how they are propelled yikes

regarding the person that sold a 22 Tesla and the buyer learned it needed a new battery combined with Tesla saying the car is salvage. That's not a EV or Tesla issue, that is due to someone damaging the battery pack in some sort of an accident without reporting, thus, the clean title. This happens with all types of vehicles, lotta dishonest people out there. Recommend having a used vehicle you want to purchase inspected by a third party before buying.
Regarding the young man buying a 22 Tesla, he should find the closest Tesla supercharger station, if it's convenient, plan on charging once or twice a week, that should cover most drivers. If that doesn't work for you, sell the car and move on. EVs are wonderful for most but not all. Best of luck.

How much sh1t do you have to eat to agree to publish such fake trash.

Teslas have more degradation and range issues than all other EVs combined. The only company with a department to deny owners battery degradation claims. After a couple years Tesla throttles back the charging speed so much to prevent fires and degradation you might as well live on the car.

I don't know what these guys are doing wrong, but I've only needed to spend 5-10 mins at a charger about every 3 hours. This is about how long it takes to get out and use the bathroom, stretch your legs, etc anyway. I think these guys are screwing up by not using Tesla's navigation and trip planner that tells you where to stop, and for how long. The only time I've charged more than required was if I needed to get some sleep for a bit.

This article contains some incorrect assumptions. Tesla models all have 250 to 400 miles of driving range. If the car really required multiple charging stops to get home, that would be a drive of nearly 1,000 miles. It's easy to drive 500 miles with just one charging stop in a modern EV.

The line referring to charging every hour and a half is also ridiculous. Modern EVs can drive 3-5 hours between fast charges.

It is true that an EV is a questionable purchase for apartment dwellers. But you don't even need to buy a charger. Just a plain AC outlet for level one charging using the travel charger most EVs come with.

Granted, level one is slow, but 95% of the time, you aren't filling an empty battery - you only have to replace the miles you drove that day. Even with a plain AC outlet, you can replace 40-60 miles of range overnight. Easily enough for most people.

Customer stupidity is not return worthy. Sorry, sales are final. Not every whiny Karen gets their way.

He's only 19, this is a learning opportunity. Learning how to sell a car privately and learning how to think ahead. Not being able to charge is such an obvious problem I reckon he actually knew that. So maybe he got home and suddenly found out the hard way all his friends and family detest Elon Musk and his cars and the charging issue is just a cover story to save face?

After driving only BMW for 13 years I decided to lease a Tesla Model 3 Long Range. I was told at the time that when the lease is up, I would not be able to purchase the car. I didn't question that at the time. For three years I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Tesla so much that I decided to purchase one at the end of the lease. By the way, I only had one issue with the car and it was repaired within a few days. Tesla gave me a Model S as a loaner. At the time, they were only selling the Model 3 Performance and the base model. I could not purchase the long range so I upgraded to the Performance model. Before returning the lease, I had to do a tire thread test with a quarter. All 4 tires passed easily. About 3 days after returning the leased Tesla, I received an email stating I needed to pay for 4 new tires ($1,400). After countless back-and-forth emails and phone calls with Tesla regarding the tires, they said if I refused to pay, they would sue me! They stated the tires I had on the vehicle were not speed-rated. I found out that they were selling the lease returns to Hertz. I'm sure Hertz could have cared less about the speed rating on the tires! To add insult to injury, the $7,500 rebate was not available at the time I purchased the Performance model. Within 3-5 months of my purchase, Tesla lowered the price of their cars at least twice. I was not happy about that but there was nothing I could do about it. So now I'm out of $1,400 for tires and the new car's value has plummeted more rapidly than normal due to the price reductions. I can't say anything bad about the car and the way it drives. It has not been in the shop for anything and it has been over 2.5 years. What I will say is I will never buy another one! As a customer, I feel taken advantage of. Threatened with a law suit over tires and Tesla constantly devaluing their cars by thousands of dollars due to competition does not leave a warm and fuzzy feeling. I honestly wonder if they will still be in business in the next 10 years.

Another Tesla hit piece. A 19 year old drives his car across state(s) and has to charge it "multiple times". Assuming about 250 mile range or the low end of a RWD Model 3, they have had drive over 600/700 miles.

The article isn't specific about how far the person drove, implying this would be a daily occurance charging at public stations. The average person in the US drives 37 miles so they would charge once every week not multiple times.

Stating a 19 year old has to stop every 30 mins to charge is at best false at worst liable.

Terrible journalism, politically motivated.

Most states have a cool off period for contracts and purchases. Used car salesman are used car salesman after all.

Oh wow how do some people just not read into the car they’re buying? I swear common sense isn’t common these days. I read the user manual before using an air fryer haha.

Car dealers are terrible and what a strawman: "we'll lose thousands." No. This is a used car and if he never bought it from you, it would be the same as if you took it back. Maybe change him $500 to get out after the trouble and an extended test-drive but what bs saying anything other that that.

I have a friend who lives in an apartment without a place for charging. He uses a parking garage with a 120v outlet to charge during work and is willing to park a few blocks away from destinations to use ev infrastructure. He has tracked all his charging and found that it's 53% cheaper to fuel his model 3 than the econobox he had before it.

Sounds like the kid was enjoying driving top speed on the way home. Just drove my model Y around the county for 7 hrs hitting over 12 stops without having to change. Used about 56% of the battery.

Sorry...but many states have a 72 hour period for buyers remorse.

That doesn't mean there can't be some monetary penalty, but a consumer should be able to return something and a car is no different.

My advice is never sell cars to young people, most of them don't even have a life goal yet, let alone making expensive life decisions. They are going to be flaky and don't stick to their plans.

Yep, pretty much shows the limitations of EVs, if you're poor you can't own one, effectively shutting out millions of people. Homeownership is a requirement to be able to charge it unless you can drive it to a charging station and sit for hours. So, for us poor folk, a hybrid is the only way to go if we want to electrify.

I just bought my 2022 Tesla 3. Only 21k miles. Better than my Chevy Bolt for sure. No "buyers remorse" in any way.

Honestly this story sounds fake.

You buy a Tesla out of state and neglect the charging scenario you will face in the way home?

Tesla's are incredible vehicles.

Nope......never

I’ve been driving a PHEV now for more than 10 years. They have been BMWs. Each one had greater pure electric distance than the previous. Most recent one is amazing. The 550e which has 40miles pure electric with full gas tank(18 gallon tank). Previous 12 gallon. Total range is 490 miles full charge and full tank. Truly best of both worlds! Looked at Tesla but pure EV is problematic. There will always be range anxiety. I charge every night at home. Since I purchase the car I have put a total of 4 gallons in it.

Well guess what… I do not feel sorry for this guy whatsoever. You should’ve did your research before buying this car. If you’re buying an electric car and it doesn’t fit your lifestyle and you have buyers remorse… It’s your own fault. Suck it up and deal with it. I did nine months of research before buying my Tesla and I absolutely love it. I have not had one problem at all and you couldn’t pay me to go back to a gas vehicle or a different brand.

I bought a used Tesla 3 last July it’s a2017 long range model. My commute is 60 miles each way, battery degradation from being a used vehicle with 50k miles when purchased leaves me at 20-30 percent battery if I only charge at home. Fortunately I can charge at work if a charge point is available which I usually am able to do.
I have solar panels on my house so when I purchased the car I thought I’d have enough extra power generation to offset the car charging, I was wrong! But we still have 4 months before tru-up with PGE. (California ugh) I’ve taken 2 long trips in the car for vacation using public superchargers cost about 11 cents per mile 8-20 cents less than gas in my old hybrid escape. The charge time waits don’t bother me I read a book or watch tv on my pad. Besides at my age I’d be stopping to use the facilities anyway! lol love the car and love not buying gas! Fuel bill was 550 per month before.

Since you invited comments, I'll leave this. Your 30-year experience puts you right in the sweet spot to remember when every product was expected to last forever, and would get serious criticisim if it didn't. You also surely remember the EVs of the time, as well as the type of person to own one, and the challenges they faced.

So tell me, then, because I do wonder. Are EVs only really a competetive option because everything else has been dragged to their level? Or is it simply as it's ever been, and each product is designed well enough, but the weak and defective get weeded out? Is our communication system simply so advanced that the ones who face adversity are louder and can paint the system in the color of their misery?

It's difficult for me to tell, especially when the people with your reach all have the same opinion.

Hope you and everyone at torquenews have a great week! God bless!

My Tesla model 3 has been great for me. My commute to work is 25 miles. I can charge at home and work and it cost much less than gas and I’m plugged into the sun. Fantastic I think. I’ve made four long trips since I bought my car two years ago and made it round trip without charging.
This buying probably was blinded by the initial excitement of owning a model 3 and didn’t conveniently ignored his personal circumstances. I get it, I’ve done that and made bad financial decisions.
It’s good that the dealer is trying to work with him. They could have just said ‘it’s your problem, you deal with it’.

Good on the dealership for trying to make it right despite the buyer’s remorse. But this was the perfect opportunity for the kid to learn a valuable life lesson.

I own a 2022 Model 3 and live in an apartment. Purchased it in 2023 and have had ZERO charging issues. I do not use a super charger often either.

I think the 19 year old kid told a 19 year old’s lie just to get out of the deal.

He should have educated himself before the purchase just as you do for any purchase of a vehicle, electric or not.

Typical kids these days…making deals…crying to get what they want…. crying claiming ignorance…. Then getting what they want anyway.

Wait.. why is this kid filling up outside his house in the first place. Is he going 300+ miles daily? This story seems fake af.