Anyone used Lemon Law?

[_Travis_]

Hi everyone,

I'm sad to say that after four months of ownership I am now going to return my Model 3 using the my state's Lemon Law. My car has had major computer problems since the day it was delivered and after four months and two service center appointments Tesla Service has admitted many times that the car is not performing as expected and they have no idea if or when these problems might be resolved . So I wanted to ask, has anyone else here returned their Model 3? I know the requirements of my state's Lemon Law, but I wanted to ask what response other people have gotten from Tesla. Is there a particular department I should talk to at Tesla before I file in court?

Thanks

 

[MelindaV]

Hi everyone,

I'm sad to say that after four months of ownership I am now going to return my to Model 3 using the my state's Lemon Law. My car has had major computer problems since the day it was delivered and after four months and two service center appointments Tesla Service has admitted many times that the car is not performing as expected and they have no idea if or when these problems might be resolved . So I wanted to ask, has anyone else here returned their Model 3? I know the requirements of my state's Lemon Law, but I wanted to ask what response other people have gotten from Tesla. Is there a particular department I should talk to at Tesla before I file in court?

Thanks

have you let your service center's manager know this is your intention?

 

[Jay Jay]

That's unfortunate. But I hope you don't give up on Tesla. So many of us aren't having these kind of deal ending issues and I know your next one will be a better experience. Law of averages and all.

 

[_Travis_]

have you let your service center's manager know this is your intention?

I did. At the service center and on the phone it was "Oh, okay." I sent a message in through online support about a month ago informing them that I was going to return the car if we couldn't fix it, I checked the "elevate for executive review" box, no response at all. I'm wondering if there's a different office I should be talking to. It seems like just replacing the computers would cost less than what they've already spent on rental cars for me. I don't know why they can't fix this since the vast majority of cars are not having the problems I'm having.

 

[mrpetrov]

Please do keep us posted on how this goes and what teachings we might benefit from in the event that any of us go through the same thing. Thank you very much!

 

[Karl Sun]

I have exercised a Lemon Law return in Arizona - it varies by state. Also there are programs [with most car mfgrs] providing the ability for the mfgr [via a dealer] to reacqujire the bad vehicle and either provide $$ or put you into a new car. Some states have specific rules on compensation depending on milkes, age, etc - from the FIRST service date/mileage the issue(s) were first reported.

Feel free to PM me if yu want more details or have questions.

I'd suggest first that you decide if you want $$ back or want a different, NEW car to replace the existing one . Loans complicate things.

 

[SoFlaModel3]

I am/was close — 5 services for the same issue though it appears my issues are behind me.

Step 1, talk to the Service Manager and see about a buy back. That can be a win-win, if not Lemon Law is the path. You’ll have to follow the directions closely for your state: https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/ownersrightsnotification.pdf

That should still afford Tesla one more chance to get it right before it progresses further.

 

[_Travis_]

Update:

I finally got an emailed response from Tesla. One Line.

"Thank you for the information."

I asked if there were any other service options, I asked if there was someone within Tesla I should talk to about returning the car, no responses of any kind to those questions. No apology, no mention of buy-back, no information about who to talk to concerning the return.

 

[JasonF]

Lemon Law compliance is a really thorny legal issue - so odds are none of the people you had contact with so far have the authority to do anything about it. They can probably only pass you on to someone else.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Update:

I finally got an emailed response from Tesla. One Line.

"Thank you for the information."

I asked if there were any other service options, I asked if there was someone within Tesla I should talk to about returning the car, no responses of any kind to those questions. No apology, no mention of buy-back, no information about who to talk to concerning the return.

Use chat vs email. Way better.

Search google for “customer service road side assistance”, thensitenit takes you to will have a chat icon on the bottom right. Click that during normal business hours and chat away. Try and hold back emotion so they provide a better response. It’s easy to get pissed off, I often get back spasms before venoms takes over and goes nuts lol

 

[RocketRay]

A guy at my work had to Lemon Law his LR RWD Model 3. It took awhile but he did get the check. He then ordered a LR AWD Model 3. This one has had no problems.

 

[_Travis_]

So I spoke to Customer Support on the phone again and they told me that they have given my information to the local buy-back office, and I should expect a call from the buy-back team. It's been a few weeks and I haven't received a call from anyone, but I believe my problem has been fixed so I might not have to return the car after all. I took my car in for a third service appointment and the service center loaded a not-yet-released firmware that fixes my car's problems. My car has been working perfectly for a week now. Hooray.

 

[iChris93]

took my car in for a third service appointment and the service center loaded a not-yet-released firmware that fixes my car's problems. My car has been working perfectly for a week now. Hooray.

I am happy to hear that. What issue were you experiencing?

 

[_Travis_]

I am happy to hear that. What issue were you experiencing?

Sleep issues. My car's computer would crash whenever it tried to go into sleep mode. A full 10% of the time I spent in the car was spent sitting idle, waiting for the car to start.

But it's fixed now. It's sleeping normally, it takes anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds to turn on, and I haven't had a single problem in the past week. Hopefully it stays that way. I had to talk rudely to a lot of people in order to get it fixed, which I hate doing and I wish had not been the case.

 

[iChris93]

Sleep issues. My car's computer would crash whenever it tried to go into sleep mode. A full 10% of the time I spent in the car was spent sitting idle, waiting for the car to start.

But it's fixed now. It's sleeping normally, it takes anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds to turn on, and I haven't had a single problem in the past week. Hopefully it stays that way. I had to talk rudely to a lot of people in order to get it fixed, which I hate doing and I wish had not been the case.

Is the symptom of the crash a black screen when you enter the car and you have to wait for the Tesla T to show up and the screen to boot up? If so, my car is suffering from that and I hope a future release fixes it too.

 

[_Travis_]

Is the symptom of the crash a black screen when you enter the car and you have to wait for the Tesla T to show up and the screen to boot up? If so, my car is suffering from that and I hope a future release fixes it too.

Yes, apparently it's very common. In my case, the car wouldn't start at all until I pressed the brake pedal, and from there it was 30-180 seconds to boot. My car appears to be fixed, so I would guess the fix will be rolled out to everyone fairly soon.

 

[TheHairyOne]

I wonder if they swapped in a new sd card too...

 

[Burnchar]

I am happy to hear that the problems have been resolved.
I do feel a little uncomfortable about a software update fixing the problem. Because a small percentage of people have the same problem, I have to wonder if it is a hardware flaw that is being masked with software.

 

[_Travis_]

I am happy to hear that the problems have been resolved.
I do feel a little uncomfortable about a software update fixing the problem. Because a small percentage of people have the same problem, I have to wonder if it is a hardware flaw that is being masked with software.

Yeah, I've heard several different explanations, which might all be different facets of the same problem. The service center told me it has something to do with voltage rails being latched on startup, other people here said it was caused by a part supplied by Intel where two different versions had the same part number and behaved differently when installed. Clearly the problem comes from hardware, but if they know exactly what the cause is, it might be entirely possible to fix it with software, good as new. Not knowing any details, it's hard to say.

 

[iChris93]

other people here said it was caused by a part supplied by Intel where two different versions had the same part number and behaved differently when installed.

I heard that from Mobile Service.