AUTO

Steering Wheel Fall Off? Tesla Will Buy It Back

February 26, 2023

Tesla quality issues are in the headlines again, but this one has a happy ending for some buyers of faulty EVs.

@elonmusk @TeslaOwnersWW @BLKMDL3 Family was excited to receive Tesla Y delivery on 1/24/2023. Was driving on highway and all the sudden steering wheel fall off, was lucky enough there was no car behind and I was able to pull on devider #SafetyFirst #Fixit #TeslaModelY #help pic.twitter.com/4UMokFA2cv
— Prerak & Neha Patel (@preneh24) January 30, 2023

Recently, Prerak Patel, who goes by the Twitter username of @preneh24 (shown, above), reported that the steering wheel on his brand-new Model Y had come off while he was driving on the highway with his family. Apparently no one was injured, but the thought process was that the issue would be covered under the warranty. It was not. Instead, Tesla charged the owner $103.96 to repair the steering wheel.

After the call-out via Twitter, Tesla did eventually refund the owner’s money. However, Patel had a bad taste in his mouth after the whole experience and decided to just return it instead.

Tesla did buy back the Model Y, although the amount the company paid for it is undisclosed. Patel has said that he will use the money to put toward a new Model Y, and Tesla has promised to prioritize the delivery of his new car.

The whole problem of the steering wheel falling off was not considered a fault or a manufacturing defect by Tesla. And while they did buy the car back, they did not officially assume liability for the issue via a letter to Patel that said the vehicle doesn’t contain any defect or other condition that would be covered by the warranty.

We can’t wait to hear how Musk fanboys try to call this a feature, not a bug.