Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.
Sheikh Qassem: The government’s latest decision [on the disarmament of the Resistance] is non-charter-based, and if the government continues down this path, it is not faithful to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Musk promised robotaxis with returned leases, Tesla sold them instead

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Reuters
  • 16 May 2025 10:22
5 Min Read

Tesla prohibited US customers from buying leased vehicles, claiming they would serve in its robotaxi fleet. Instead, Tesla resold upgraded used cars for profit, raising questions about transparency and Elon Musk’s long-standing promises.

Listen
  • x
  • A Tesla logo is shown on February 27, 2024, in Charlotte, NC (AP/Chris Carlson)
    A Tesla logo is shown on February 27, 2024, in Charlotte, NC. (AP/Chris Carlson)

Tesla's long-standing lease policy, which denied US customers the ability to purchase their vehicles at the end of lease terms, has now come under fire.

According to Reuters, the company originally justified the restriction by claiming that returned vehicles were earmarked for its future robotaxi fleet.

The policy, implemented in 2019 alongside the launch of the Model 3 leasing program, was introduced with bold promises from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, according to Reuters. Speaking at an investor event in California, Musk declared, “You don’t have the option of buying. We want them back,” and predicted that “next year, for sure, we’ll have over 1 million robotaxis on the road.”

That promise never materialized.

Despite repeated assurances about autonomous fleets, Tesla never deployed robotaxis. Instead, according to Reuters, which cited four individuals familiar with Tesla’s retail operations, the company quietly resold many of the returned cars, often at elevated prices after applying software upgrades.

'Jacking up prices'

Rather than allowing lessees to buy their vehicles, a standard industry option, Tesla added features like Full Self-Driving (sold separately for up to $15,000) and an acceleration boost ($2,000), before reselling the vehicles, according to Reuters. These add-ons allowed the company to increase resale value significantly beyond what lease customers would have paid at buyout.

Robotaxi & Robovan pic.twitter.com/pI2neyJBSL

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 11, 2024

Related News

Tesla ordered to pay $243 million in Florida autopilot crash verdict

Musk’s AfD endorsement fuels Tesla backlash in German factory town

One source described the practice as an easy way to “jack up the price” of a depreciating asset without the storage risks associated with used inventory.

Software upgrades pushed resale prices higher

Tesla’s approach ran counter to both its public statements and the vehicle lease terms published on its own website, yet it remained legally permissible. However, for lessees who believed their cars would serve in an autonomous fleet, the shift felt misleading, said Reuters.

Former lessee Joe Mendenhall shared his experience online, stating that Tesla staff had informed him the vehicle would be kept for the robotaxi program, only to discover later that it was auctioned. “Lies about not being able to buy out my lease,” he wrote on Musk’s platform X. “The car gets sold at auction, not turned into a robotaxi like I was told.”

The backlash highlights growing concerns among customers who believed they were contributing to Tesla's transformative mobility initiative, only to learn their returned vehicles were part of a Tesla resale strategy.

Investor myths and the robotaxi narrative

Tesla’s story about reserving off-lease vehicles for robotaxis aligned with a larger narrative that helped increase investor confidence in its long-term ambitions, according to Reuters. Since 2016, Musk has repeatedly promised that Tesla’s vehicles would be fully autonomous “next year.” Analysts from Ark Investment Management, long bullish on Tesla stock, even cited the off-lease inventory as a potential base fleet for a future ride-hailing service.

But skepticism has persisted, according to Reuters. At the time of Tesla’s 2019 robotaxi announcement, analysts at Evercore ISI responded with incredulity, writing in a research note: “uhmmm, what??” They cautioned that the plan was far from viable within the stated timeline.

Tesla reverses policy amid falling used car demand

The lease buyout ban, initially suited to a pandemic-era market with tight inventories and high prices, became less sustainable as Tesla's resale value declined. Used Tesla prices have dropped significantly; the Model Y alone lost 14.1% of its value in the past year, while the Cybertruck saw a 46% plunge, according to CarGurus data. In comparison, the average price decline across all brands was just 0.8%, reported Reuters.

Faced with mounting depreciation and weakening demand, partly due to backlash over Musk’s political positioning, Tesla reversed course. On November 27, the company posted a statement on X announcing, “Lease buyout now available.” Its website now confirms that some leased vehicles “may be eligible for purchase.”

Industry analysts say the reversal likely reflects an effort to avoid “being caught holding the bag,” according to Reuters. Tesla's CFO Vaibhav Taneja recently cited “lower profit from used car business” as a factor contributing to declining margins.

Disillusioned customers push back

For many former lessees, the abrupt turn came too late. Marshall Distel, who leased a Model 3 in 2023, said he understood that buyouts were not allowed, and he initially accepted that. But now, citing Musk’s public stances and political ties, he says he would no longer support the company, “I love the car, I just don’t like what has been going on at the top with the CEO. I don’t want to be associated with that anymore.”

As Tesla faces growing competition in the electric vehicle sector and rising consumer skepticism, the gap between its ambitious narratives and operational realities continues to draw criticism, with the Tesla lease buyout scandal now serving as a symbol of that disconnect.

  • Tesla
  • Lease buyout scandal
  • Elon Musk
  • Robotaxi

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS