Tesla has quietly brought back the anti-flipping clause to its Cybertruck Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement after removing it in mid-November in the wake of significant blowback from customers and fans. Once again, if a Cybertruck owner plans to resell their vehicle early, they could face a $50,000 penalty.Â
Reservation holders who received invites last week to configure and order their Foundation Series Tesla Cybertruck discovered upon ordering their electric pickup truck that the no-resale clause had once again made its way to the order agreement.
Tesla utilizes the exact same language as it did last month, according to screenshots shared online by Greggertruck and Drive Tesla Canada. Essentially, buyers are informed that they are not allowed to sell their Cybertruck within the first year of ownership without Tesla’s written permission.
If an owner doesn’t get Tesla’s permission and still tries to sell it, the automaker “may seek injunctive relief to prevent the transfer of title of the vehicle” or even sue that person for $50,000 or more. Interestingly, this applies even if “Tesla has reasonable belief that you are about to breach this provision”—in other words, if the company merely believes you are trying to sell it.
It remains to be seen if the no resale policy is for the Foundation Series Tesla Cybertruck only or regular retail orders as well. For now, there’s no way of telling that.
Tesla has probably made this decision to prevent Tesla Cybertruck owners from flipping their vehicles for profit, but it remains to be seen if it will be successful in doing so. People seem to have already found a way around this clause and are still selling reservations online, as seen on eBay and shared on X by Greggertruck.
While the Tesla accounts are non-transferable, the people selling their reservations may have made new accounts when pre-ordering their Cybertruck and are selling those. Of course, these ads can also be scams, as the prices asked for these reservations on eBay range from several hundred dollars to $350,000—and no, that is not a typo.
Now, flipping a car for profit may not be the most ethical thing to do, especially when taking advantage of someone (seller or buyer), but it’s not illegal. Do you agree Tesla has the right to intervene in what is basically a free market, and tell people who bought a vehicle when and if they can sell it?
