Tesla knowingly installed defective parts, made customers pay for repairs

22 December 2023

A recent Reuters investigation exposed how Tesla knowingly installed faulty components in its electric vehicles and then charged customers for repairs, brushing off responsibility by blaming drivers for "abuse" and prior damage.

Tesla's questionable build quality, a recurring topic over the years, takes a darker turn as the investigation uncovers the automaker actively concealing defects. Despite being aware of faulty components, Tesla shifted the blame to customers, denying responsibility for parts failures, even in cases where the cars had fewer than 1,000 miles on the odometer.

The report opens with a distressing incident involving a UK customer's brand-new 2023 Tesla Model Y. A mere day after delivery, the EV experienced a catastrophic failure, losing steering control during a low-speed turn with the family on board. Astonishingly, the front-right suspension collapsed after a meager 115 miles. Rather than covering the $14,000 repair under warranty, Tesla attributed the issue to "prior" damage.

A Model 3 owner in the United States faced a similarly nightmarish scenario. With under 15,000 miles in a year of ownership, the EV's front wheel detached while driving on Autopilot at 60 mph. Although Tesla replaced upper control arms on approximately 120,000 cars globally between January 2021 and March 2022, around 31,000 owners of older cars had to foot the bill for suspension failures.

In Norway former Tesla service managers and technicians claim they were instructed to pass on the cost of frequent failures to customers, effectively cutting into warranty and goodwill repair costs since 2017. This unethical practice prompted resignations, with one service manager stating, "Now, we have to quit talking bullshit."

Tesla's issues extended beyond control arms to half shafts and steering columns, with customers sometimes paying over $4,000 for repairs despite the vehicles still being under warranty. Design problems persisted, leading Tesla to redesign the Model S front aft link multiple times. However, the revised part seemingly made its way only to EVs bound for China, where a recall was eventually forced after years of delay.

In the pursuit of trimming costs, Tesla resorted to accusing customers of "driver abuse" to offset the staggering $263 million loss in the repair business during the fourth quarter of 2018. This loss, nearly double the quarterly profit, pushed Tesla to pay almost $500 for repairs on every Tesla model in operation at the time.

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