Tesla deactivates the Autopilot of a used Model S because you have to buy the option

Tesla deactivated the Autopilot option of a Model S that had just been bought second-hand. However, the seller offered the vehicle with the options Autopilot improved and Fully Autonomous driving, but after an independent audit, Tesla deactivated the two remote options on the pretext that they did not appear in the purchase history of the new owner.

Tesla has been allowing customers to buy their vehicle options through the Android / iOS app for some time now. Options that give the vehicle new features, such as improved autopilot or fully autonomous driving. Once the customer pays for the options, Tesla updates the vehicle remotely. And then the driver can enjoy it almost immediately.

However, according to Jalopnik’s story, it may happen that Tesla also withdraws these options. Especially in case of second-hand resale. An American dealer bought a Model S with the improved Autopilot and fully autonomous driving during an auction, before selling it to a new owner. The problem is that in the meantime Tesla has decided to conduct an audit which concluded that the vehicle should not have the two options mentioned above. Shortly after the sale, the new owner upgrades his vehicle and then notices that the options have disappeared.

He then contacted The company who replied: ‘Tesla has recent identified instances of customers being incorrectly configured for Autopilot versions that they did not pay for. Since, there was an audit done to correct these instances. Your vehicle is one of the vehicles that was incorrectly configured for Autopilot. We looked back at your purchase history and unfortunately Full-Self Driving was not a feature that you had paid for. We apologize for the confusion.” explains the firm.

And to add: ‘if you are still interested in these additional functionalities we can start the purchase process for these updates’. The problem is that the dealer’s invoice mentions both black and white options. And it would have to pay the trifle of 8000 dollars to redeem them. Ironically, the unfortunate owner, Alec, later contacted the Tesla dealership, claiming that he was going to buy a used car. When choosing a vehicle, the dealer is asked to remove the fully autonomous driving option.‘to save money’.

Answer: “…if it’s added and it’s a used car they just simply will not remove it.”

The case raises many questions about the true nature of these software updates: are they truly irrevocable features that are part of the vehicle or is it a form of right of use that Tesla can withdraw at any time?

Source : Jalopnik