Local NewsMan buys used Tesla only to discover it's banned from Supercharger network

CBS ^ | October 3, 2025 | Megan de Mar

[xxqqzz]

Used electric vehicles have become the fastest-selling cars in the country, but one buyer said his Tesla came with a hidden surprise that left him stranded at a charger.

Daniel Boycott was absolutely loving the 2022 Tesla Model 3 he bought from a used car dealership in September, until he pulled up to a Tesla Supercharger, and his car wouldn't charge.

"That's when I found out it didn't work. I tried multiple stations. It's just not working," he said.

A Tesla representative told him on the phone and later in an email that "the car is currently unsupported for supercharging and warranties are voided due to salvaged vehicle."

"I was told it was clean. The CARFAX said it was clean, and I trusted that," he said.

The term "salvage" was a complete shock, but a deeper dive into the CARFAX vehicle history report, which he didn't pull until after the sale, uncovered a "minor accident."

Photos of the damage made it look more than minor, and a Tesla technician told him the repair work as shoddy.

"It was bad enough where they flagged it," he said.

Tesla said it's a safety issue connecting a damaged vehicle to the powerful superchargers.

"It's insanely frustrating," Boycott said.

Boycott said the network of 70,000 Tesla Superchargers across the country was one of the main reasons he bought the car. Without it, he said long distance trips are nearly impossible.

Fred Lambert, the editor-in-chief of Electrek, a news magazine about electric vehicles, said he's heard of at least one other case where a car with a clean title was labeled "salvage" in Tesla's system and blocked from supercharging.

Now Tesla is offering an inspection option for drivers trying to get back on the charging network.

[smokingfrog]

In 28 years, we will all be traveling in hydrogen powered, self-flying cars.

[Vaduz]

Inspection option moved car dealer dirty neck Jim winks.

[Secret Agent Man]

Perhaps it hinges on the fact they are “cars”. Not comparing to minivans, vans, suvs, trucks,...which most people buy much more of than cars today.

[iamgalt]

I did a little digging and the claim is wrong of course. I suppose it may be they are playing games with the stats as you describe.

[GenXPolymath]

“NOTHING wrong with a twin turbo, 60 deg, V-6 these days.

NOTHING.”

My Ford Expedition twin turbo just cost $5200 in coolant tubes that suddenly started leaking a gallon of coolant a day. Turns out the turbos have EIGHT coolant lines that run to and from the bearings and casings with a special electric pump that runs well after you turn the vehicle off so the bearings don’t coke up due to the oil being heated past 500F. Those housings run so hot that the stainless steel lines which have silicon inner linings eventually melt it’s WHEN not if they fail. They had to take the top part of the motor off to get at the turbos then remove the turbos themselves and out whole new turbo kits which include to oil lines that four of them that will also fail in the exact same way. So if you are doing the coolant lines you best do the oil ones too in fact Ford doesn’t sell them separately they come as a two turbine kit with 8 coolant and four oil lines Ford knows this is a design flaw so they sell the kits to extend the life till they fail AGAIN. They estimate every 100,000 miles you will need that turbo kit.

So yeah there is something very very wrong with twin turbo V6. That Expedition and the F250 diesel only exist in the vehicle pool because they can go where the Model 3 and Model Y cannot, off road doing truck things or to a rig site in West Texas that you need 9”+ of ground clearance to even get too. Never had a single issue with either Tesla they are both under warranty and will be sold or returned on the lease before that warranty ends. Couldn’t be happier with those Teslas.