Shreyansh Jain, a former Tesla owner, experienced a nightmarish ordeal with his brand-new Model Y, receiving a staggering $14,000 repair bill less than 24 hours after taking delivery. Jain’s unsettling encounter occurred when part of the electric vehicle’s suspension malfunctioned during a family drive, causing sections of the car to make contact with the road and resulting in a loss of steering control. The incident unfolded with only 115 miles on the odometer.A Reuters investigation, based on interviews with over 20 customers, 9 Tesla workers, and scrutiny of thousands of internal documents, revealed that Jain’s case was not isolated. Over the past six years, thousands of Tesla owners have faced suspension or steering issues, contrary to public denials and attempts by the company to attribute blame to owners.
Despite disbanding its press department, Tesla has yet to respond to the recent developments. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has previously acknowledged quality issues during production ramps, asserting that rapid scaling inevitably reveals unforeseen problems.
Jain, who paid approximately $55,000 for the Model Y, expressed the stark shift in emotions from being “over the moon” to “absolutely petrified” when the vehicle broke down. Initially informed that Tesla would cover repair costs, Jain was later presented with a $14,000 bill, citing the issue as “prior” damage.
In the end, the former Tesla owner had to pay a $1,250 insurance deductible and faced increases in premiums. After the car was fixed over three months, Jain lost almost $10,000 on the resale. This incident heightens worries about Tesla’s quality control, which have been raised by a number of other incidents, such as regulatory scrutiny over Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies and NHTSA investigations into steering wheel malfunctions.
As Tesla owners and regulators continue to highlight quality-control issues, the automotive industry watches closely to see how the electric car giant addresses these challenges and whether they impact its reputation and market standing.