In recent days you have probably heard some vaguely disturbing news featuring a brand new Tesla Model Y, collected just a week ago by its owner, Prerak Patel; The car was merrily cruising along a highway when the Model Y's steering wheel suddenly came off and the owner was fortunately able to stop the car in a safe area without further damage.
After the accident, the car was taken to a Tesla workshop where the technicians reattached the steering wheel at a cost of $103.96. Understandably, the car owner made his complaints to Tesla, who promptly refunded the amount spent, a move deemed insufficient by the owner who asked to be able to return the car, receiving a full refund of the purchase price in return.
In a few days, the company offered Patel two solutions: the first is to keep the car as it is with additional insurance coverage offered by Tesla, or receive a new Model Y from the factory. Patel's Twitter followers voted heavily for a new Model Y and so now Patel is waiting to receive a new car – in the meantime, however, he drives the "borrowed" one that provided him with the house.
Thank you you all for continue support. Also, like to extend my thanks to Woodbridge Police for safeguarding family during this incident. Tesla dealership called and apologized for the incident. I got below 2 options, I greatly appreciate your vote.
— Prerak & Neha Patel (@preneh24) January 31, 2023
“Although Tesla has determined that the vehicle has no non-compliance defects or other problems that could arise in the future, as a gesture of good faith towards a Tesla customer, the company has decided to purchase your vehicle .” These are the words reported in the letter that Tesla delivered to Patel.
Unfortunately for Tesla, stories of concerns related to the quality of the assemblies and this example of the Model Y having the steering wheel come off is just the latest in a long series – already in 2020 some Model 3s had already suffered from this same problem.
The statistics reported by the Initial Quality Study, a study conducted by J.D. Power, which evaluates the quality of the cars that leave the factory, are not particularly favorable to Tesla despite the vaunted efforts to improve its cars: if in 2020 Tesla was last in the standings with 250 problems found for every 100 vehicles produced, in 2022 the situation is only slightly improved and the figure reads 230 problems per 100 vehicles produced.