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Tesla Model 3 Owner Discovers His Car With Aftermarket Parts After Renting It Out on Turo

The owner of a Tesla Model 3 who rented out his car on Turo has started to receive puzzling messages from his car. Determined to learn what was happening, he followed the car’s location and discovered it was in a body shop with strange aftermarket parts attached to its body.
Tesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on Turo 6 photos
Photo: frankvidz via TikTok
Tesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on TuroTesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on TuroTesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on TuroTesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on TuroTesla Model 3 owner discovers his car with aftermarket parts after renting it out on Turo
One of the reasons it’s hard to find a new electric vehicle these days is that renting them out on platforms like Turo is a very lucrative business. For the person who rents the car, the guest in the Turo language, this means immediate access to the car that they want. For people renting out their cars (hosts), it’s an easy way to make money.

But things aren’t always going according to plan, as one Turo user discovered. Frank Valdez rented out his Tesla Model 3 on the platform. At one time, he started receiving various notifications from his Tesla app. Thanks to Tesla’s clever Sentry Mode, he was able to watch his car remotely and was baffled by what he saw. So he decided it was time to locate the car and see what was happening.

He located the car via the Tesla app and headed to the place where it was parked, which happened to be a body shop. There he discovered that the original bumper of his Tesla Model 3 had been replaced with an aftermarket one. He confronted the body shop staff and they told him they were testing aftermarket body parts on his car. He felt like the body shop workers were trying to steal his car parts, but it was later revealed that they were just testing and calibrating their aftermarket products.

Either way, it was certainly unethically and even legally wrong to use his car for that purpose without the owner’s consent. Turo Public Affairs department has opened an investigation of the matter and, according to Teslaoracle.com, they acknowledged the guest has violated the platform’s terms. For that, they banned them from the platform and are investigating to see if damages are due in this case.

@frankvidz Good thing it has GPS and live camera footage… #Turo #tesla #carparts ? original sound - Frank Valdez
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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