Steven Cohen  |  July 29, 2019

Category: Auto News

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tesla logo on carTesla is facing a class action lawsuit filed by consumers who claim that the car company does not honor battery warranties on pre-owned vehicles.

Plaintiff Hugh Nguyen says he started looking at hybrid or all-electric vehicles after his wife was diagnosed with cancer. 

He states that he wanted one of these cars because he and his wife had to drive long distances in order for her to get treatment for her illness.

The plaintiff alleges that after his research, he decided to purchase a 2014 “certified pre-owned” (CPO) Tesla Model S 60. 

“All of the marketing materials that Plaintiff saw in the news, be it Tesla.com and/or Teslamotorsclub.com and/or other car-buying and automotive websites indicated that the used CPO vehicles sold by Tesla were given a 270-point inspection and that it was customary for Tesla to take care of repairs and issues with their vehicles,” the Tesla class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiff alleges that he depended on Tesla’s “marketing, advertisements, and representations” that his vehicle would be fully inspected and certified.

After he took the vehicle home and started to charge the battery, he reportedly found out that the battery only lasted 166 miles on a full charge.

The plaintiff claims that he brought the car to a service center and they made a correction to the Battery Management System (BMS), but that didn’t fix the problems with the battery.

The Tesla class action lawsuit alleges, “Plaintiff was told to report back to the service center after driving around with the car and after ‘cycling’ the battery, which refers to the practice of charging to 100% and discharging the battery to low levels for purposes of recalibrating the battery.”

The plaintiff claims that Tesla informed him that his vehicle suffers from “normal battery degradation.”

“Despite the fact that Tesla warrantied Plaintiff’s vehicle with a 2-year, 100,000 mile limited warranty, and the fact that it provided a 8-year, unlimited mile battery warranty, Tesla has failed its duty to Plaintiff by unlawfully, improperly, and fraudulently denying proper service and repair of Plaintiff’s vehicle,” the Tesla class action lawsuit alleges.

“Tesla focuses its efforts on allaying the fears of what some drivers of electric vehicles call ‘range anxiety’ by representing to consumers nationwide that they can rely on Tesla’s promises to take care of them no matter what happens to the batteries of Tesla’s vehicles. As it turns out for many consumers who were led on to believe Tesla’s promises, the fact is that Tesla never actually meant to keep their promises and follow through on their guarantees,” the plaintiff states.

The Tesla class action lawsuit is alleging violations of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, Federal Trade Commission Act, Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, and numerous California laws including the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Consumer’s Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law, and Violation of California’s False Advertising Law.

Putative Class Members include: “All persons or entities who purchased or will purchase a used, certified preowned Tesla Model S or X vehicle (the ‘Class Vehicles’) directly from Tesla in the United States.”

The plaintiff is represented by Edward C. Chen of the Law Offices of Edward C. Chen.

The Tesla Pre-owned Battery Class Action Lawsuit is Nguyen v. Tesla Inc. d/b/a Tesla Motors Inc., Case No. 8:19-cv-01422, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

 

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2 thoughts onTesla Class Action Says Pre-Owned Warranties Aren’t Honored

  1. Hugh Nguyen says:

    David Patterson is misinformed.
    There is no such thing as getting a replacement battery if it drops below 80% per Tesla warranty.

  2. David Patterson says:

    Sorry, Tesla’s warranty is that after 8 years the battery will still have 80% capacity. 166 miles out of 200 miles is 83% still. He still has 3 years of battery warranty, if the battery drops below 80% in the next 3 years he will get a replacement battery.

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