Tesla's $100,000 EV refund due to defects

author: FutureCar Staff    

The Tesla Model 3 was once the most popular new EV in New Zealand, but it was surpassed by its Model Y counterpart last year.

A Tesla owner based in Waikato has recently won a legal battle with Tesla New Zealand. The Motor Vehicles Disputes Tribunal ruled that the owner should receive a full refund for a mechanically defective vehicle.

The vehicle in question was a new Tesla Model 3 Performance, which cost $104,643. Over a period of nine months, the owner had to bring the car in for six wheel alignment assessments due to a recurring issue. One visit even required repairs to the car's subframe.

Initially, Tesla New Zealand denied that the vehicle had any underlying faults. However, the tribunal adjudicator, Brett Carter, determined that the car did not meet the threshold of "acceptable quality." As a result, Tesla must take back the vehicle, assume the customer's obligations with their finance company, and reimburse the customer's deposit and finance repayments, totaling $22,112.82.

Shaun Baker, the owner of the Tesla Model 3, purchased the vehicle in August 2022 for $104,643. On the day of collection, Baker noticed that the car tended to "pull right" while driving.

He immediately returned the car to Tesla, who assessed and serviced the vehicle at their Auckland service center. The assessors found that the car indeed pulled to the right and performed a wheel alignment to address the issue.

However, according to tribunal documents, Baker reported that the problem persisted. In November 2022, he returned to Tesla for another assessment.

Once again, Tesla staff adjusted the wheel alignment of the Model 3. The report stated that the cross camber on both axles, the toe on both left wheels, and the camber on the right front wheel were out of specification.

The problem reappeared later that month, prompting Baker to bring the car back to Tesla. Although the wheel alignment measurements were within specification, the service center noted that there were still "further improvements to be made."

This led to a more significant repair, involving an adjustment to the car's front subframe to make the wheelbase left/right identical and bring the adjustments closer to the median specification. Tesla believed that this fix resolved the issue.

However, Baker continued to experience the problem. In February of this year, a Tesla mobile mechanic confirmed the issue, stating that the car's rear toe was outside of specification.

Despite another attempted fix, Baker decided to have the car assessed by a third-party group, Beaurepairs. They found that the car drifted to the right, even though the steering wheel was level. Constant pressure had to be applied to the left side of the steering wheel to keep the car in a straight line.

Based on this assessment, Baker emailed Tesla New Zealand to reject the vehicle, stating that the problem had not been resolved.

Tesla denied the rejection claims, asserting that they found no faults with the vehicle. They suggested that Baker's issues might be due to the vehicle's steering compensation system, which adjusts the steering based on driving style and road conditions. According to Tesla, the car would turn to the right if driven on a road cambered to the left.

After an independent test drive and another vehicle alignment report, it was determined that the car still steered to the right on flat road surfaces. The tribunal's assessor also found no evidence of a chronic or abnormal wheel alignment problem.

FutureCar Staff