Cybertruck Owner Shares The Alleged Consequences For Breaking Tesla's Resale Contract
There is no denying that the Tesla Cybertruck is one of the most popular EVs around. So popular, in fact, that people are ready to shell out insane amounts of money to own one. Tesla foresaw such a demand for the Cybertruck and, in 2023, added several clauses to its preorder and sales agreement, which effectively barred people from flipping new Cybertrucks within a year of purchase.
Aiming to prevent people from profiteering, it appears as though Tesla has already begun using this clause against what it contends to be Cybertruck owners who may be on the verge of violating this contract. A member of the Cybertruck Owners Club — a discussion forum for Cybertruck owners — has revealed that he received official communication from Tesla about canceling two of his pending orders shortly after he listed his Cybertruck for sale online.
According to the user, he received an email from Tesla's Loss and Prevention team, which not only informed him about the cancellation of two of his orders but also went on to add that his future orders would allegedly be canceled without a refund of the $100 reservation and $250 order fees. While Tesla is yet to confirm this development, if true, this could be a concrete example of the company effectively blacklisting a Cybertruck owner for violating the terms of the sale agreement.
What is Tesla's no resale clause?
In November 2023, shortly before the first deliveries of the vehicle commenced, Tesla introduced a new ordering process for the Cybertruck. The new process upped the deposit amount to $250 — significantly higher than the original $100 deposit when the first wave of preorders started back in 2019. What had also changed this time was an addendum to the pre-order clause, which stated that Tesla reserves the right to cancel any orders that were found to have been made with the intention of resale.
After the launch of the Cybertruck, Tesla was in the news again after one of the clauses in the order agreement stated that owners of the Cybertruck shall not attempt to sell their vehicles within the first year of its delivery date. This no-resale clause had a stricter section, which essentially warned prospective flippers of a $50,000 lawsuit if they attempted a resale.
Additionally, such sellers also risked future blacklisting — barring them from buying future Tesla cars — and also risked the forfeiture of any future booking deposits. While Tesla redacted the lawsuit clause following media reports, as of March 2024, the clause against reselling the EV is still in the Cybertruck's terms of sale document. It is this exact clause that Tesla appears to be using to cancel two other orders for the buyer and blacklisting the person from buying future Tesla vehicles.
So far, it seems Tesla has only initiated the process of canceling the orders and blacklisting the buyer. It remains to be seen whether Tesla also initiates legal proceedings to protect against the resale of the Cybertruck.