A German Tesla customer has taken the company to court for the company’s alleged effort to literally gloss over a structural defect in their vehicle.
Germany’s Bild reports that, when changing the tires on their Model 3, a customer discovered cracks on the vehicle’s underbody. Tesla allegedly tried to solve the issue by simply painting over the crack.
The owner brought the case to the Regional Court of Munich, which sought expert testimony to examine the car. They found that, in its current state, the Model 3 would not pass its next TUV inspection.
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Where were the signs?
Well, here is a Tesla with a structural-looking crack in the A-pillar that seems to have been "repaired" with paint… so I guess the signs go back to at least 2017? https://t.co/QpO20uCNyf pic.twitter.com/6rthlX2gIM
— E.W. Niedermeyer (@Tweetermeyer) July 20, 2022
This is not the first example of Tesla allegedly attempting to paint over a structural crack. In 2017 a Tesla Model S owner posted photos of the cracks in their vehicle’s A-Pillar to the Tesla Motors Club forum. According to their post, the vehicle hadn’t been in an accident, but “the aluminium [sic] was actually cracked and there is a gaping hole to the inside!” the person wrote. Worse still, they reported that there was evidence of the crack having been painted over.
This latest quality control issue, meanwhile, isn’t even the only case the Munich court is judging right now. Bild reports that another Model 3 owner is suing Tesla after they discovered scratched, deformed, and torn jack locations on a brand-new vehicle. Once again, expert testimony questioned whether or not the car would pass its next TUV inspection.
A verdict on neither of the more recent Model 3 cases has been handed down. If the court agrees with the plaintiffs, Tesla could be forced to redeliver the vehicles and could be open to a wave of other lawsuits.
