Daimler dismantled a rental Model X for R&D

[twitchyzero]

Daimler rented the Model X for seven weeks in July and August from Sixt, the story says. The 100-kWh Model X belonged to Bavarian couple Mo$ni$ka Kind$lein and Man$fred van Rins$um, who own three Teslas they put up for rent—usually to wedding parties and other events directly as an additional source of income. The agency reached out to them to arrange the rental.

However, the couple didn’t know who rented out their Model X until it was returned heavily damaged, with a note in the glove box which read “you parked incorrectly” from the Mercedes-Benz Technology Center in Sindelfingen, Germany, near the marque’s Stuttgart corporate headquarters.

the Sixt representative asked many more technical questions about things like software versions and autonomous capabilities than most buyers ever ask before arranging the rental. The Sixt representative had “Automotive Industry Relations” as part of his email signature as well.

Shortly after handing over the keys the Model X, Van Rinsum received a notification on his phone that it was being charged near Barcelona—much farther away than the rental agreement allowed. He then became suspicious and started tracking the car’s movements more often.

Onboard GPS systems showed that the car went on test tracks near Barcelona and Sindelfingen

A Daimler representative declined to comment on this particular rented Tesla when Jalopnik reached out to the company for comment on this story, and also reiterated that renting test cars is a standard practice in the industry

your worst Turo nightmare...and the corporation is basically admitting it

for those of you unware, SIXT is a major rental company in Europe...but it looks like the vehicle in question was from a personal fleet...they had the nerve to reassemble it and return it.

https://jalopnik.com/mercedes-parent...tes-1820961392

[yray]

still cheaper than buying one

[prudz]

And you don't have to wait years

[underscore]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

your worst Turo nightmare...and the corporation is basically admitting it

I'm not seeing where Daimler is admitting anything, they just said that renting vehicles is standard practice.

[twitchyzero]

sure but

We kindly ask for your understanding that we do not comment on individual vehicle rentals.

is quite telling

would also be surprised if this couple fabricated this story out of thin air...