Tesla Informed Lease Customers That Their Vehicles Were Intended for Robotaxis, Then Sold Them for Profit | Carscoops

      This strategic business decision is causing frustration among customers and critics alike.

      21 hours ago

      by Stephen Rivers

      Tesla restricted lease buyouts to allocate vehicles for a robotaxi fleet, subsequently selling them.

      Software enhancements increased their resale values, benefiting Tesla while disappointing lessees.

      With a decline in demand for used Teslas, the company has reversed its lease buyout policy.

      Until recently, Tesla lease customers had no option to purchase their vehicles at the conclusion of their lease. Why? Because Elon Musk believed these cars were merely waiting to be converted into autonomous robotaxis.

      Fast forward a few years, and the anticipated robotaxi future has not come to fruition. Instead of integrating these cars into a high-tech fleet, Tesla opted to sell them for greater profit, much to the dismay of customers.

      In a 2019 earnings call, Musk remarked, “You don’t have the option of buying. We want them back,” referring to the cars. He confidently predicted that by the following year, Tesla would have “over 1 million robotaxis on the road,” with the expectation that the hundreds of thousands of leased Teslas would eventually join this progressive fleet. Tesla even informed its lease customers that this was the reason they could not purchase the car they had been using.

      A recent report from Reuters indicates that those same vehicles from 2019 to 2024 received software upgrades. After that, Tesla either put them back on the market or sold them at auction. From a business standpoint, it’s a clever maneuver since it essentially costs Tesla nothing to upgrade these cars through software and subsequently “inflate the price,” according to an anonymous source who spoke to the publication.

      In some instances, this included a performance boost valued at approximately $2,000. In others, it involved the integration of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology, which has previously cost customers as much as $15,000, although it has now decreased to $8,000.

      On the used market, these vehicles commanded much higher prices than if Tesla had simply allowed the lessees to buy them at the end of their term, especially during the price surge caused by Covid. Understandably, customers were unhappy to discover their car had been sold without their awareness. One particularly disgruntled owner publicly criticized the brand.

      "Wow, so returning a @tesla lease is a poor experience. Poor customer service, outrageous charges, false claims about not being able to buy my lease, and then the car gets sold at auction instead of being converted into a robo taxi as I was told. Slow clap @elonmusk. Also canceled my cybertruck order." — PixelsandPeeps (@PixelsandPeeps) May 4, 2024

      A Change in Policy

      However, things shifted in late 2024. On November 27, Tesla announced that lessees could now purchase their cars at the end of their lease term. What prompted this change, particularly if the automaker claims to be closer to achieving Level 5 autonomy? Vehicle values are declining rapidly, competition is improving, and Tesla's public perception is currently suffering.

      Allowing lessees to buy their vehicle is considered a logical choice by most of the auto industry, as they are already familiar with and connected to the car in question. However, this is contingent upon the buyout price, which, in many cases, remains elevated. For example, the buyout price for a standard Model Y AWD is a significant $33,251 before taxes, exceeding current market prices for three-year-old models.

      Nevertheless, the damage Tesla has inflicted on its customer base may be somewhat irreversible. One customer told Reuters, “I love the car, I just don’t like what is happening at the top with the CEO. I don’t want to be associated with that anymore.” At least Tesla’s new strategy seems to focus on creating its own Robotaxi fleet. Whether it will even be able to label it as such is still up for discussion.