Tesla has made good with an owner from New Jersey whose steering wheel fell off just a week after purchasing a Model Y by replacing the car and providing them with a loaner in the meantime.
On January 30, Prerak Patel stated his Model Y steering wheel had simply disconnected from the vehicle’s steering column after taking delivery just six days earlier on January 24. Patel said he and his family were driving on the highway when the steering wheel suddenly disconnected. They were able to safely pull off of the roadway and come to a stop.
Credit: Prerak Patel | @preneh24 on Twitter
Patel contacted Tesla Service, who stated they were looking into the vehicle. Just days later, a Tesla Showroom contacted the owner, where a new car was requested. The automaker obliged and replaced the vehicle.
In a letter to Patel, Tesla stated that it would repurchase the vehicle but denied that the Model Y contained any defect, non-conformity, or other warrantable condition, despite the wheel falling off during operation.
As 83% voted for a new car, my car was bought back by @Tesla and received a loaner Tesla Y till I get a new car.
I am grateful to all of you for continued support and extending it to media coverage, and the Springfield/Princeton Tesla Devean(GM)’s team. pic.twitter.com/91ezcoOCkp
— Tesla, Y Steering Wheel Fall Off? (@preneh24) February 7, 2023
Regardless, Tesla said it would replace the vehicle and would prioritize the build, but he has not yet received a potential delivery date.
“My main intent is really to make sure this doesn’t happen to any other family, what happened to us,” Patel said to NJ.com. “They should investigate this and make sure what they did wrong doesn’t happen again.”
Tesla has dealt with some quality control and build quality issues in the past, but overall, the company has improved upon build quality over the past few years.
Recently, we reported that Tesla was in the process of installing automated quality control systems in its Fremont Factory in Northern California. This is one of the two U.S.-based factories manufacturing Model Y vehicles, the other being Gigafactory Texas near Austin.
Tesla is just one of many companies to have occasional issues with its vehicles. In the past, Tesla has done its best to make good on instances like this. After a Service Center employee totaled a Model S Plaid late last year that was in for routine repairs, the company replaced the vehicle.
Tesla Model S Plaid totaled by Service Center employee, leaving owner without answers
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