Tesla may be going after Cybertruck flippers. A user on a forum devoted to the funkiest truck on the road alleges that the company has taken action to stop him from reselling his truck at a profit.
Anti-Flipping Clause
The debut of Tesla’s angry hauling pentagon was the automotive story of 2023.
As hype built toward the truck’s arrival, the company publicly debated whether to enact an anti-flipping clause to prevent early buyers from quickly selling their trucks for a profit. Language preventing resale appeared, then disappeared, and later reappeared on the company’s website.
In the end, Tesla kept the policy in place.
Telsa publishes the text of its standard sales contract online. A clause limited to the Cybertruck currently states that owners can only resell the truck in the first year of ownership with Tesla’s permission. Tesla reserves the right to buy back the truck at a price it sets or sue the owner for the profit of any third-party sale.
Owner Reports Purchase Ban
A handful of Cybertruck models have appeared for resale on various websites, all fetching well over their original sale prices. Now, an owner tells the Cybertruck Owner’s Club forum that Tesla may be cracking down.
The user claims to have listed his truck for sale and quickly heard from Tesla representatives. The company didn’t claim a financial penalty or forcibly repurchase the truck, however. Instead, he says, Tesla canceled his reservations for several other cars. He’s now effectively banned, he says, as the company “said if I ever try to place an order again, it will not be refunded.”
We can’t verify the story. However, we should note that anti-flipping rules for rare cars are not unusual.
When a heavily promoted new model appears in limited numbers, inevitably, flippers try to buy it for one price and sell it immediately for a higher one.
The problem can hurt an automaker’s reputation even if the automaker has no real control over the resale of its cars. So, automakers have tried several tactics to prevent flipping.
General Motors in 2022 stripped warranties from some popular models if owners resold them within a year. The company later limited the move to the first six months of ownership. Last year, Porsche required those interested in its 911 S/T to lease the car for a year before they were allowed to buy it. Ferrari, famously, has prevented resellers from ever purchasing another Ferrari.
