Tesla blamed drivers for failures of parts it long knew were defective

[MiguelAznar]

I’m eagerly awaiting my Cybertruck, but am glad there are 460,000 ahead of me so I can see quality issues before ordering. This investigative report concerns me because it shows systematic avoidance of fixing defects over years. I’m sure many of us will have thoughts:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-musk-steering-suspension/

 

[REM]

That entire article is a smear campaign hit piece. Utter garbage.

Jain was ecstatic in March when he picked up his first electric vehicle, a brand-new 2023 Tesla Model Y. He used a sizable chunk of family savings to buy it with cash.

“We were over the moon!” said Jain, an electronics engineer in Cambridge, England.

His exuberance came to a “grinding halt” one day later, with 115 miles on the odometer, Jain told Reuters. As he drove with his wife and three-year-old daughter, he suddenly lost steering control as he made a slow turn into their neighborhood. The vehicle’s front-right suspension had collapsed, and parts of the car loudly scraped the road as it came to a stop.

“They were absolutely petrified,” Jain said of his wife and daughter. “If we were on a 70-mile-per-hour highway, and this would have happened, that would have been catastrophic.”

The complex repair required nearly 40 hours of labor to rebuild the suspension and replace the steering column, among other fixes, according to a detailed repair estimate. The cost: more than $14,000. Tesla refused to cover the repairs, blaming the accident on “prior” suspension damage.

^ if anyone believes that to be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... whew...

 

[MiguelAznar]

That entire article is a smear campaign hit piece. Utter garbage.




^ if anyone believes that to be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... whew...

Could you be more specific in your critique of the article? You said it’s garbage, and the one passage is not the whole truth. No article is the whole truth because it’s been condensed into a few paragraphs. The whole truth would require an exact replica of the entire environment, clearly impossible. What part of that passage is untrue, so we can evaluate whether that suggested lapse is important or irrelevant?

It would serve my self interest of wanting a quality Cybertruck if you could site evidence that Tesla was not communicating internally about these problems for years while blaming customers. Thanks.

 

[Huntsman]

I’m eagerly awaiting my Cybertruck, but am glad there are 460,000 ahead of me so I can see quality issues before ordering. This investigative report concerns me because it shows systematic avoidance of fixing defects over years. I’m sure many of us will have thoughts:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-musk-steering-suspension/

I think there might be some data out of context but the idea of an internal cover up Is certainly suggested. What say ye Tesla owners here, have you been ignored regarding your warranty work or ever told it was your fault due to abuse or misuse which you were not guilty?
I had a Toyota sunroof explode on a new 2021 and was told it was my fault. Toyota refused to repair it insisting it was my fault. If you do an internet search of exploding sunroofs, you’ll find it happens on all cars. All dealerships stand behind the same claim - drivers fault. Drivers all insist, it just blew. I’m curious what Tesla owners in this membership have experienced.

 

[REM]

Could you be more specific in your critique of the article? You said it’s garbage, and the one passage is not the whole truth. No article is the whole truth because it’s been condensed into a few paragraphs. The whole truth would require an exact replica of the entire environment, clearly impossible. What part of that passage is untrue, so we can evaluate whether that suggested lapse is important or irrelevant?

It would serve my self interest of wanting a quality Cybertruck if you could site evidence that Tesla was not communicating internally about these problems for years while blaming customers. Thanks.

Sure. One of the first things to take note of is the lack of reference materials for the article. That immediately leads me to do my own research and see if there I can piece together a more complete picture.

A simple google search of "Shreyansh Jain tesla" reveals the first several pages of regurgitated hit pieces from the usual suspects, and none of them offer any real investigative source material. Just their opinion presented as fact.

They go on to explain that a brand new car suffered a catastrophic failure, but at the end of the day the dude went through his insurance and then "sold the car for a $10,000 loss".

This guys comment really nails it. I bet my next year's salary on this scenario:

The guys wife (or one of his buddies) borrows the car. The smack a curb really hard. They got lucky, and there wasn't any outward damage, so they keep their mouth shut. They take it on a rollback to their Tesla shop, where a tech takes one look at it and says, "yep. they smacked a curb". This gets confirmed by other techs, then the manager before they deny the repair and call the owner.

[little secret that hardly anyone knows about? Telsa has the most comprehensive black box available in the world. The car records EVERYTHING; especially any high gforce event. I bet the techs could recall exactly when and where the event happened.]

Whether or not Telsa revealed that info directly, I'm not sure of. I do have first hand knowledge of the insane amount of data they capture though. When I first got my M3, I hit standing water on a highway going near 70 mph. That force of water broke a fiberglass undercarriage cover, and the tech cited the exact details without me having to explain anything. I'm sure in cases like this, the manager probably pulls them aside and gives them the whole "look, here is a printout of the telemetry of your car when the impact occurred that damaged your vehicle. If I were you, I would file this under your insurance and tell them that you don't know what happened".

From the article:

"onboard diagnostic data"

translation: dude, we have the data of your car slamming into an object at a high rate of speed. Warranty claim denied.

---

Let's also take a look at another hit piece, this time for SpaceX:

One windy night at Elon Musk’s SpaceX facility in McGregor, Texas, Lonnie LeBlanc and his co-workers realized they had a problem.

They needed to transport foam insulation to the rocket company’s main hangar but had no straps to secure the cargo. LeBlanc, a relatively new employee, offered a solution to hold down the load: He sat on it.

"He sat on it."

I'm actually going to stop the quote there. No further context or comment is required.

And this is the caliber of "journalism" we are dealing with here. I could honestly break down this topic for hours, but it's just too much to type out lol.

TL;DR: Telsa has the receipts to show anyone who shows up to their shops with warranty claims.

 

[REM]

Staffer at Reuters to injured worker:

Here, sit in this chair and hold onto this walking cane that we brought for you...

 

[Kahpernicus]

Sure. One of the first things to take note of is the lack of reference materials for the article. That immediately leads me to do my own research and see if there I can piece together a more complete picture.

A simple google search of "Shreyansh Jain tesla" reveals the first several pages of regurgitated hit pieces from the usual suspects, and none of them offer any real investigative source material. Just their opinion presented as fact.

You do realize Reuters did the investigation. They are the source, from contacting owners.

They are the source.

The other articles you're talking about are sourcing Reuters.

 

[REM]

You do realize Reuters did the investigation. They are the source, from contacting owners.

They are the source.

The other articles you're talking about are sourcing Reuters.

yes, I realize that. I expect a reputable journalist to provide something better than the word of one side. Surely the guy with the wrecked car had correspondence between him and Tesla? No?

Screenshots? Detailed photos? Video? Mentions of the guy taking it to a 3rd party shop for a 2nd opinion? The paperwork that came from the repair process when he filed a claim through his insurance?

Fishy. And maybe I should be an investigative journalist lol

 

[steezymcfresh]

Reuters comes out with a Tesla/SpaceX/Elon hit piece every other week.

 

[scottyah]

I’m eagerly awaiting my Cybertruck, but am glad there are 460,000 ahead of me so I can see quality issues before ordering. This investigative report concerns me because it shows systematic avoidance of fixing defects over years. I’m sure many of us will have thoughts:

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-musk-steering-suspension/

I'm excited for the WhislinDiesel review, won't consider buying one until it beats the G-Wagon in durability test

 

[Tanquen]

That entire article is a smear campaign hit piece. Utter garbage.




^ if anyone believes that to be the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... whew...

Happened to my MS with a few thousand miles on it. Was making noise and they said I had to bring it in to them. It was a 50 mile drive. Luckily it failed as I started to back out of a parking space. Then the tow truck guy backed into the back of the car with the bed too high and service marked the car also. Tesla did nothing to help with the added marks and scrapes. Just glad I was not on the freeway doing 60MPH when it failed.

 

[REM]

I'm excited for the WhislinDiesel review, won't consider buying one until it beats the G-Wagon in durability test

He's an absolute mad-lad

 

[REM]

Happened to my MS with a few thousand miles on it. Was making noise and they said I had to bring it in to them. It was a 50 mile drive. Luckily it failed as I started to back out of a parking space. Then the tow truck guy backed into the back of the car with the bed too high and service marked the car also. Tesla did nothing to help with the added marks and scrapes. Just glad I was not on the freeway doing 60MPH when it failed.

I'm not fully understanding your situation, can you edit for clarity? You asked Tesla to warranty repair scratches made by a tow-truck company?

 

[Tanquen]

I'm not fully understanding your situation, can you edit for clarity? You asked Tesla to warranty repair scratches made by a tow-truck company?

" and service marked the car also " Both the tow truck guy and Tesla service. The manager even added more damage (after asking me how I knew they did the spots I was showing them) to the car while showing what they and the tow truck guy had already done.

They did the airbag recall, made a mess of the inside with black hand prints and added marks and scratches .

Added this while I watched as they had put the piece in wrong and added a dent into the interior door.

 

[REM]

" and service marked the car also " Both the tow truck guy and Tesla service. The manager even added more damage (after asking me how I knew they did the spots I was showing them) to the car while showing what they and the tow truck guy had already done.

They did the airbag recall, made a mess of the inside with black hand prints and added marks and scratches .

Added this while I watched as they had put the piece in wrong and added a dent into the interior door.

I'm aware that Tesla's service reputation has been a bit on thin ice, especially a few years ago. They aren't a perfect company by no means... but you surely don't think this type of stuff has happened to " Tens of thousands of customers", do you?

I mean, if I had clear evidence of a business damaging my property then I would go after them if they didn't own up to it. Simple enough to file a claim with their business insurance if you can't get a reasonable resolution with them.