Tesla sued under Wisconsin Lemon Law

[Grendal]

Tesla Model S tops Consumer Reports annual satisfaction ratings [w/video] - Autoblog

I think this trumps any flawed single car. Any buyer can also have buyers remorse which can allow them to turn small problems into much larger problems.

 

[Shumdit]

That may be the douchiest lawyer I have seen yet..

 

[Electroman]

The funny thing is, that DB says the door handles wont open and it opens

 

[neroden]

Sounds like Tesla screwed up if they didn't respond to the Lemon Law complaints. They should have known better.

That's my view too. Once someone's frustrated enough to file a Lemon Law complaint.... get your paralegal to read the state's lemon law, and ask your service teams what has happened with the car, and if it satisfies the conditions of the law, go ahead and buy the car back from him.

If the story as told is true (and I'm not sure about that, because the gag order stuff certainly doesn't seem to be true), well, failing to respond to three Lemon Law requests is just *sloppy*. Unfortunately this kind of sloppy is what I've come to expect from Tesla's legal team.

 

[Rainbow]

If within five months the car was in the shop for repairs 66 days; then it would almost certainly far exceed the qualifications to be a lemon. The car still seems to be malfunctioning.

Some of you seem to be trying to portray the claimant as being dubious for contacting Tesla via e-mail, yet hypocritically seemingly giving Tesla a free pass for seemingly not responding.

E-mail typically is better about leaving an accurate record of communications that are probably more easily accepted in court. Phone calls don't document the conversation unless the conversation is recorded, and recording phone calls legally and having them accepted as evidence is probably much more tricky and risky.

In my opinion Tesla's contract is dubious and a dealbreaker. As a customer the contract seems to be signing a lot of your rights away and putting you at the mercy of Tesla. It sounds like Tesla is trying to put a gag on its customers and is trying to prevent customers from having proper legal recourse.

It reminds me of dubious contracts that the medical community often uses. Essentially to get medical treatment you have to sign paperwork to seemingly prevent legal recourse for fraud or malpractice.

I think such clauses should be illegal.

I find the video hard to take seriously. It seems sophomoric. It seems more like a spoof and bid for frame than a serious complaint. It's hard to tell if it is a publicity stunt, or something to take seriously.

 

[Chickenlittle]

If within five months the car was in the shop for repairs 66 days; then it would almost certainly far exceed the qualifications to be a lemon. The car still seems to be malfunctioning.

Some of you seem to be trying to portray the claimant as being dubious for contacting Tesla via e-mail, yet hypocritically seemingly giving Tesla a free pass for seemingly not responding.

E-mail typically is better about leaving an accurate record of communications that are probably more easily accepted in court. Phone calls don't document the conversation unless the conversation is recorded, and recording phone calls legally and having them accepted as evidence is probably much more tricky and risky.

In my opinion Tesla's contract is dubious and a dealbreaker. As a customer the contract seems to be signing a lot of your rights away and putting you at the mercy of Tesla. It sounds like Tesla is trying to put a gag on its customers and is trying to prevent customers from having proper legal recourse.

It reminds me of dubious contracts that the medical community often uses. Essentially to get medical treatment you have to sign paperwork to seemingly prevent legal recourse for fraud or malpractice.

I think such clauses should be illegal.

I find the video hard to take seriously. It seems sophomoric. It seems more like a spoof and bid for frame than a serious complaint. It's hard to tell if it is a publicity stunt, or something to take seriously.

Your views are interesting. Your view on medical paperwork to prevent legal recourse for malpractice puts you so far out on the limb I would suggest a safety rope for you

 

[qwk]

Some of you seem to be trying to portray the claimant as being dubious for contacting Tesla via e-mail, yet hypocritically seemingly giving Tesla a free pass for seemingly not responding.



I find the video hard to take seriously. It seems sophomoric. It seems more like a spoof and bid for frame than a serious complaint. It's hard to tell if it is a publicity stunt, or something to take seriously.

How exactly did you come to know all of the facts in the case? How do you know that Tesla didn't respond? Just because some DB in a video says so? The same video you stated cannot be take seriously?

 

[yobigd20]

That may be the douchiest lawyer I have seen yet..

Especially that one, what a d-bag.

The funny thing is, that DB says the door handles wont open and it opens

hah! that was exactly my thought, this guy is such a douchebag!

That video is just bizarre. I'm still sitting here wondering if that wasn't a joke of some kind. Sadly, I know it wasn't MEANT to be. Just crazy.

in fact, so much so that I thought this was a really bad joke too.

Yeah it's interesting that he's talking about the car not starting and the doors not opening, but the they're driving the car around in the video. Which is it?

clearly somebody needs to tell this guy to read the manual. if you dont use the car for 24hrs the auto-presenting door handles get disabled and must be opened manually. if I recall thats to save power I think.

If within five months the car was in the shop for repairs 66 days; then it would almost certainly far exceed the qualifications to be a lemon. The car still seems to be malfunctioning.

yea I've gone through this process in NJ. technically if the car if in the shop 3 times for the same thing and it doesn't get fixed OR if it's in the shop for more than 30 days, even if the rest of the car works fine it still qualifies for lemon law. Honestly the minor issues this guy had sounds like some of the minor issues us other owners have had but they've all been fixed or are so insignificant but it seems this guy is just a big whiner wanting to make a quick buck by sueing Tesla.

 

[glhs272]

I believe this car is a non-tech package car. In my experience this changes the way someone experiences the car.

The car with the tech package: you walk up to it, the car unlocks, the computer screens start to boot up, the door handles present themselves, all before you even get to the car (assuming your not running).

The car without the tech package: You have to fumble for your keys, click the button twice on the key fob. Key fob gets lots of wear this way, making for accelerated failure. Door handles will then present themselves and you can open the door. Also, if you just simply leave the car unlocked, the door handles will retract after a few seconds of inactivity. The car is still unlocked, but you have to push on the door handles, which are not that sensitive, which makes for an inelegant experience. (My opinion: if the car is unlocked, door handles stay out, period. Car locked, door handles retract. Keep it simple.)

From the owner's prior posts, it appears he may have had trouble with these handles opening the door even though they were extended. So it may not be just a buyer's remorse for not getting the tech package.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

That may be the douchiest lawyer I have seen yet..

He perpetuates a certain stereotype of lawyer very, very well. ouch

is this not slander?

 

[yobigd20]

He perpetuates a certain stereotype of lawyer very, very well. ouch

is this not slander?

well at least we didn't call him a scumbag lawyer. douchey is much more appropriate. it's very painful to watch, especially when he think's he is funny. I think I'd rather go watch paint dry or mold spores grow on deer fecal matter or equally painful one of justin beiber's music videos.

 

[Lloyd]

Be careful...... Looking up the urban dictonary definition of Douchey, this thread might get a wack from Bonnie soon!! ducking......

 

[dsm363]

He perpetuates a certain stereotype of lawyer very, very well. ouch

is this not slander?

That would be libel I think
Check out
Bob and Tom Lawyer Minute - YouTube

Very funny.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

well at least we didn't call him a scumbag lawyer. douchey is much more appropriate. it's very painful to watch, especially when he think's he is funny. I think I'd rather go watch paint dry or mold spores grow on deer fecal matter or equally painful one of justin beiber's music videos.

+1
I don't WANT to watch it again, but it's just so amazingly nuts I HAVE to. I would be so embarrassed if that was my lawyer.

 

[Shumdit]

He perpetuates a certain stereotype of lawyer very, very well. ouch

is this not slander?

Then he can sue me too. Good luck with any jury looking at that video and not reaching the same conclusion I did.

 

[dsm363]

That's 3 minutes of my life I'll never have back.

 

[Shumdit]

That's 3 minutes of my life I'll never have back.

That's what my wife says on my birthday and our anniversary.

 

[Alexander]

In my opinion Tesla's contract is dubious and a dealbreaker. As a customer the contract seems to be signing a lot of your rights away and putting you at the mercy of Tesla. It sounds like Tesla is trying to put a gag on its customers and is trying to prevent customers from having proper legal recourse.

It reminds me of dubious contracts that the medical community often uses. Essentially to get medical treatment you have to sign paperwork to seemingly prevent legal recourse for fraud or malpractice.

I think such clauses should be illegal.

They are illegal, they're called exculpatory clauses and they can be overturned in court. Especially if one party has more bargaining power then the other, or if the clause attempts to eliminate liability for negligence.

If there was something in the MVPA that prevents owners from speaking out, its not in mine. My MVPA was generated in January 2014, and I don't see anything about a gag order. What I do see is that if I want to take Tesla to court I have to agree to arbitration first (which isn't a bad thing) AND Tesla will pay for it unless the arbitrator thinks they shouldn't.

In California the court system is so backed up that in most cases you have to attend mediation and/or arbitration before you can see a Judge. Although they're in another state, his attorney probably filed the law suit and made the video knowing that they have to arbitrate first. Knowing that they'll probably never see a Judge. That way when they come to an agreement in arbitration (which is probably what will happen) he can "declare victory" over Tesla and get free publicity.

That's what I think anyway...

 

[ToddRLockwood]

"The car, which was under warranty, was in the shop for more than 30 days to repair various problems, including failure to start, power up and charge at Montgomery's home, as well as inoperable door handles, malfunctioning defrost and paint defects, the lawsuit said."

These all sound like common problems on 2012 and early 2013 Model S cars, things that Tesla would dealing with on a daily basis. Failure to start, power up, and charge could all be related to a dead/defective 12V auxiliary battery. If the owner's car did not have a 3G or WIFI connection while parked in his garage, the car would not have alerted the factory to the defective 12V battery. This car also likely has first-generation door handles, which Tesla easily could have swapped out for the newer version. "Malfunctioning defrost" probably refers to the driver-side window fogging problem, indicating that his car was manufactured prior to the defroster vent upgrade—something the service centers have upgraded on many cars without charge.

It would be interesting to see the thread of communication between this owner and Tesla service. Perhaps there was just some bad luck involved, in which the service center couldn't duplicate the problems at their facility.

 

[dsm363]

That's what my wife says on my birthday and our anniversary.

Funny! Good one