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Model X Owner Files Lemon Law Suit Against Tesla, Claims Car Is Unsafe To Drive (bgr.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from BGR: When designing the Model X, Tesla went more than a little bit overboard in trying to trick out its crossover SUV with as many bells and whistles as possible. Not only did Tesla's overly ambitious development delay the launch of the Model X, it has arguably resulted in a noticeably higher number of quality control issues than we're accustomed to seeing. Hardly a controversial point, even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has conceded that the company was far too zealous when developing the Model X. While some customers with frustrating Model X issues have noted that Tesla has been quick to fix any problems, one Model X owner from California has had enough. According to the Courthouse News Service, via Teslarati, Barrett Lyon recently filed a Lemon Law claim against Tesla, arguing that the car's problems are unfixable and that it's ultimately unsafe to drive. In addition to finding that the front door would often slam shut on his leg, Lyon's suit details a slew of other problems, including Auto Pilot problems, touch screen freezes and more. A Tesla Model S owner, on the other hand, reported that his vehicle went rogue causing an accident all by itself.

6 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Translation by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't know about the Model X, but we've had our Model S for several years and there is no screen freezing problem for me to complain about. Doors, windows and seats also are well engineered and work fine so far. Ironically I think the two cupholders in the console isn't enough; Tesla didn't go out of their way at all to add lots of cupholders IMHO.

    I must have low standards though - my first car was a lime green Pinto and I thought it was a great car...

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  2. Re:I would like a simpler electric car by Harlequin80 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Thousands? You could build the entire vehicle if your part count was thousands... 4 pistons, 8 rings, 4 conrods, 1 crank shaft, a couple of bearings and you have a 4 cylinder 2 stroke engine. If you then want to add in 1 slide, 1 butterfly valve, a pulley, cam, cable and float valve and you have your carb. For ignition, none of those parts move so those don't count. Cassette gearbox, lets assume your counting each gear independently - lets say 20 parts.

  3. Re:I would like a simpler electric car by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

    How long does the battery pack in a Tesla last, though?

    Teslas have not been available long enough to wear out many batteries. But some Priuses have more than 600k miles on their original battery pack, and 200k+ is common. Battery life actually does not depend much on "miles", and more with how you treat it. If you charge it to 100%, or run it down to near 0%, and then let it sit in the hot sun in that state, that is much harder on the battery than normal use. Tesla recommends charging it to about 80% for daily use, and not running below 20%. My wife has a Tesla Model-S, and she only boosts the battery up to 100% when she is going on a long trip, and even then only an hour or so before she leaves.

  4. Re:I would like a simpler electric car by KingMotley · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually according to NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association), modern cars has more than 10,000 moving parts. We aren't talking about your model car.

  5. Re:I would like a simpler electric car by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was responding to a comment that you can't just simply plug it in overnight...

    Except that you can "just simply plug it in". My wife's car is preprogrammed to start charging at 2am (when electricity is cheapest), and preprogrammed to charge to 80% (200 of 240 mile range). She pulls into the garage, plugs it in, and she is done.

    The only time you need to do anything special is when you are preparing for a long trip. Then you tap on the screen and slide the power to max. That gives you an extra 40 miles before you need to recharge.

    Oh, and you never need to go to a gas station, there is no oil to change, no radiator fluid to check, and the brake pads don't wear out. The only maintenance is to rotate the tires every 10,000 miles. Overall, that is a lot less "pampering" than an ICE.

  6. Re:I would like a simpler electric car by jaymemaurice · · Score: 4, Informative

    Seems we have gone to great lengths to make sure odometer readings aren't tampered with, emissions parameters aren't modified and vehicles aren't "hot wired" - all problems which are unique to ICE and the reason your worried about failed electronics... you can't simply replace a cluster module anymore... or maybe even your light control module...

    Well that and your "gas pedal" is controlled by electronics and just actually tells the DME your requested torque demand and it figures out how much it should advance the ignition timing, modify the injected fuel and how much air should be let in... and if you have a turbo the charge pressure... really the engine does nothing without the electronics now....

    Even your automatic transmission now days is useless without it's module sanely telling it what to do...

    In an electric car though, emissions isn't an issue and there is no complex computing of optimal air/fuel mixture/fuel pressure/temperature control/torque demand through multiple analog and digital inputs while constantly modifying the same outputs in some awkward feedback loop. There is not even a shitty fuel pump. Required electronics could be reduced to be torque demand + current speed -> motor control

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