Schwarzenegger reportedly trying to return his Tesla Roadster
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Tesla Roadster
Since becoming governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has foresaken his old Hummer-loving ways in favor of a decidedly greener taste for transportation. Like any smart politician, Schwarzenegger is eager to publicly support businesses based in his state and is a prominent promoter of alternative fuel vehicles (sometimes with controversy), he has been a booster of Tesla Motors. He even put his money where his mouth was and bought a Roadster. However, as we said when we first drove the Roadster early last year, the Roadster is a great sports car, but as such it is not a car for everyone. Apparently that appropriate demographic group does not include Schwarzenegger if Gawker is to be believed.
Tesla declined to comment on anything related to its customers, and we're still waiting for a comment from the governor's office on this, but the governor has apparently been trying to return his Roadster for several months. According to the Gawker report, the governor just finds the little machine to tight to get his aging body builder body in and out of.
Frankly the whole story sounds a bit fishy though. Schwarzenegger surely had the opportunity to try the car out before taking delivery and even if he didn't like it, why send it back to the factory? He could easily sell it privately. It's unlikely that he is strapped for cash and needs to unload it.
Gallery: Jason Calacanis' Tesla Roadster
[Source: Gawker]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MFD 12:11PM (3/26/2009)
A reputable company would refund the customer......
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polo 12:46PM (3/26/2009)
What car company lets you return a car?? Especially one thats bought and paid for??
Derek Jones 12:20PM (3/26/2009)
Actually a very close friend of mine was in LA last week was telling me how about his test drive of the Tesla. He loved it but the one thing major problem he had was he couldn't get out of it. He's six feet and in good shape. I've driven a Lotus in the UK and those cars are extremely tight so if the Tesla is in the same vicinity I'd have to agree with the Governator.
Maybe Tesla could get him to switch to the new S series when that comes out?
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Throwback 1:29PM (3/26/2009)
I drove a freind's Elise and ingress/egress is awful. I am average height, and fit, but getting out was a struggle. I can understand a big man not being very comfortable.
Tim 12:38PM (3/26/2009)
Arnold, the NeoCon-Fascist and his wife Maria, the Democrat-Socialist (both Statists) prefer H2 over EV because the big oil backed H2 lobby has a fatter expense account and can afford more campaign contributions.
Statists such as Arnold & CARB are the prostitutes for the Corporatist Johns who buy them to limit competition and "entitled" losers who vote to redistribute to themselves the hard work and successes of others without work or risk to themselves.
Let Arnold give back the Tesla to show his true politician prostitute roots which is bankrupting California and almost every other State in the Union who can’t print their own unlimited currency.
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paulwesterberg 2:53PM (3/26/2009)
I actually agree with tim for once. Arnold has been touting the magical hydrogen hypeway and I imagine that his powerful friends are loath to see him driving around in an electric car.
It is probably hard for him to stand up in the middle of a budget crisis and lobby for pork barrel spending on hydrogen filling stations and other expensive infrastructure so that in the future we can drive a zero emissions car when he is driving such a car that was "fueled" in his garage.
JDred 4:52PM (3/26/2009)
I agree with Tim as well.
Except the part of Arnold being a "Neo-Con Fascist" that is. I consider Arnold a "RINO" or Republican In Name Only. As a politician, he's no different than a liberal Democrat.
I completely understand his reason(I'm 6'04" and had to give up an MGB because of a back problem) there is something else to his story that doesn't add up.
Stevie 12:44PM (3/26/2009)
Really? You're actually posting something from Valleywag?
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Max 2:11PM (3/26/2009)
Why would any car company refund a car after several months, just because 'it's too tight' ?
The small interior is not a defect since he was able to test drive it! He could just sell it and make a profit from it since he owned it!
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fnc 3:11PM (3/26/2009)
I'm with Max. Something doesn't add up in this story. Why wouldn't he just sell it through normal channels?
"Do these look like Arnie's teeth marks on this pencil?"
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Noz 4:22PM (3/26/2009)
Someone on lab has one...I'm going to try and test drive it and see what it's all about.
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Brn 6:29PM (3/26/2009)
Wasn't there an article not too long ago about how hot the market is for used Tesla Roadsters? If he simply wanted to get rid of it, he'd sell it. My money says there's something wrong with the car.
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Chris M 12:02AM (3/27/2009)
Good point, there have been at least 2 Roadsters sold as used already, though one of those was for a charity auction.
Richard 9:14PM (3/26/2009)
This is GOSSIP. There's got to be more than this fluff reporting by a non-respected fluff journalist. Can we get real articles?
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