Tesla is being sued over allegations it alters the odometers of customers’ cars. According to the lawsuit, the automaker does this to increase the money it makes on repairs, avoid warranty obligations, and force customers to purchase warranty extensions early.
Nyree Hinton brought the suit after he bought a 2020 Tesla Model Y in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock, which meant it was still covered under the 50,000-mile warranty.
The California financial analyst says he had to visit a repair shop five times over several months soon after buying the EV to have work done on a recurring problem related to the suspension.
After his fifth visit to the shop in June, Hinton noticed that the car seemed to be recording more miles for the same trips. He says that from December 14, 2022, to February 6, 2023, he averaged 55.54 miles per day, but between March 26, 2023, and June 28, 2023, the odometer was recording the exact same journey as 72.53 miles.
Hinton adds that his previous vehicles averaged 6,086 miles over six months, but the Model Y reported 13,228 miles over the same period, a 117 percent increase.
By July 2023, the odometer showed that he had traveled more than 50,000 miles. Hinton then found that Tesla had issued a recall for the suspension problem that had been affecting his car. When he went to the shop for a sixth time in January 2024, he was told he would have to pay for the work, as the warranty had expired and the recall did not apply.
Hinton didn’t proceed with the repairs. The suspension finally detached from the vehicle in October and it had to be towed to a Tesla store, which said fixing the vehicle would cost $10,000. A representative also told him that all Tesla repairs are covered by warranty for a year, so the suspension could have been fixed for free in January 2024.
Hinton’s lawsuit against Tesla argues that the rather than using mechanical or electronic systems to measure distance, its EVs rely on “predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers that manipulate and misrepresent the actual mileage traveled by Tesla vehicles.” All of which means the mileage-based warranties end sooner than they should.
Hinton is requesting class-action status for his suit so other Tesla owners can join.
Hinton isn’t the only Tesla owner questioning the car’s odometer readings. This Reddit user writes that one 70-mile trip was showing as 90 miles. Another person on Tesla’s forum claims a 122-mile journey showed as 188 miles.
Source: TechSpot / Digpu NewsTex