This is not what happened according to the article. A person bought the car with those features still existing on the car then ran an update. The update removed the features.
> The dealer bought the car on Nov 15
> Tesla removed AP on Nov 18 (according to the note in the invoice)
> Alec bought the car on Dec 20.
If that's all correct, the dealer had the car with FSD for only 3 days, and without FSD for over a month.
It would be pretty typical used car dealer behavior to buy the car for cheap, knowing the feature would be removed, and that they could get a buyer to pay for it, and then deflect the blame to Tesla.
I agree with you that it’s suspicious, but then again, it’s also easy to see how a notification for a software update would be overlooked as not important.
I'm not clear on whether the dealer did know or should have known that the feature would be removed. If yes, then the window sticker or the functionality working after the sale is irrelevant and it's the dealer that screwed the customer not Tesla.