A man who bought a Tesla car shared his disappointment after discovering that the vehicle was banned from all of the manufacturer’s fast-charging stations.
Daniel Boycott bought a used 2022 Tesla Model 3 from a dealership in the state of Illinois, United States, last month. According to him, the car was in great condition and had only a few minor issues, which had been disclosed by the dealership before the purchase.
Everything was fine until Boycott decided to take it to a Tesla fast-charging station. When he got there, he realized that none of the chargers at the station were charging his car.
First, he contacted the dealership. “They told me [the car] was clean. The Carfax said it was clean, and I trusted that,” Boycott told CBS News.
However, after contacting Tesla, he was told by a representative that his car did not have “supercharging support” and that “the warranties were voided because it was a salvaged vehicle.”
At first, the word “salvaged” didn’t make sense to Boycott. So he checked the Carfax report, which recorded a “minor accident” before the vehicle was delivered to the dealership.
The damage seemed minimal in the provided photos, but a Tesla technician told Boycott that the repair had not been done properly, so the company considered his car a “damaged vehicle.”
According to Tesla, connecting a damaged vehicle to Supercharger stations poses a safety risk, which is why his car was banned.
He added that the reason he decided to buy a Tesla instead of another electric vehicle was the company’s extensive network of Supercharger stations, which would support the car on long trips. Now, any trip has become almost impossible.
Tesla offers an inspection option for customers who want to reconnect their Teslas to the Supercharger network, but it comes with a fee of several thousand dollars.
Boycott said he tried to negotiate the fee with the dealership, but the Illinois State Police Secretary reportedly investigated the case and confirmed that the car was never officially labeled as “salvaged.”
Photo and video: Unsplash. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
