Dual Tesla lawsuits pull Elon Musk into right-to-repair war Tesla is facing a fresh pair of proposed class action lawsuits, and not due to vehicle safety: this time it's all about the rights, or lack thereof, that Tesla owners have to repair their vehicles on their own terms. The dual cases, filed Tuesday [PDF] and Wednesday [PDF] of this week, both allege that Tesla is guilty of …
I find it amazing how many Americans are so brainwashed in their corporatism that they either take ages to awaken to their own plight...or simply outright swallow the greed.
Tesla's policies have always violated the Sherman and Magnuson-Moss Acts. It has been visible to anyone with a brain, a desire to understand both the law and their rights, from the beginning.
But it has taken, what, YEARS for someone to finally sue? (note you can't say "Then why didn't *you*?", as I don't own a Tesla and therefore to not have the legal standing required in U.S. courts to challenge their policies).
...
Just goes to show you how beaten-down the average American Joe has become. Corporations say "Jump!", and the average [idiot] now say "How high, Master??"
America: Land of the socialized costs and privatized profits.
Quite frankly, multiple companies could be in violation of those laws really. Think about how Apple has a lot of custom design hardware and they've literally programmed the software to detect third party parts and harass/shame the user. And not picking on Apple, because almost every laptop or AIO unit is just an amalgamation of custom hardware and the only places you can get it is either direct from the OEM or buying a unit on ebay that is broken in some way that doesn't affect what you need to replace.
"And even when they do you can go to any garage rather than being forced to go to a Toyota Dealership"
Which is exactly what this lawsuit is all about...Tesla are simply not allowing anyone else to supply OEM parts or to allow non-Tesla franchised servicing depts.
Of course, Tesla may claim they are a special case and that the EV vehicles need properly trained technicians to carry out the work or that some/most OEM parts may not be high quality. But I would suspect they will need to prove this, so the lawyers must be rubbing their hands with glee right now.
Tesla are selling 'driving as a service'. And being a bit more 'tin foil hat', by keeping all the work 'in house' they can cover up some of the more major issues with the cars.
There does seem to be a major build quality issue with EVs. Teslas are not well made, same with the Rivian pickups. The panel and interior fit is crap. Chevy has had several recalls on the bolt, Kia had a major battery issue (not sure it made it to recall) and even BMW if memory serves me.
Yes there have been some major recalls for ICE vehicles. The big Honda airbag recall for example. But these didn't usually impact day to day normal driving.
If they were selling a driving as a service with a clear the car does not belong to you and will remain the property of Tesla then they might have been able to get away with it.
The problem is that they are selling their cars rather than only leasing their cars and so the first sale doctrine applies as well as all other laws and concepts that apply to cars. The automotive industry (in america) have already gone through the whole OEM servicing and parts vs generic servicing and parts lawsuits and the oem parts lost that one.
> Just goes to show you how beaten-down the average American Joe has become. Corporations say "Jump!", and the average [idiot] now say "How high, Master??"
Well one only needs to look at American media and Hollywood. Corporate leadership is always praised and honoured like they are gods who make the sun shine, while the average worker is nothing but a parasite.
Just watch a cop show, often the victim is the rich guy and the criminal is the poor guy, the roles are rarely reversed.
"it's all about the rights, or lack thereof, that Tesla owners have to repair their vehicles on their own terms."
Even God (feel free to substitute your preferred choice of deity) allows humans to repair their body on their own terms/take the said body to a Doctor/Surgeon/Traditional Healer/Homeopathy practitioner etc. Then again, Musk is not God
There were over 4000 patents granted on the human genome until the US Supreme Court said no.
Could be a different result now since Trump tried to stuff the court with people like him.
After reading this article, I had a look to Tesla cars' reliability.... wow, these cars are shit.
The nearest service centre to me is over an hour away and stuck in the middle of an industrial estate (Almost next to the council recycling centre) that has no public transport nearby. Getting there by public transport would take 2 busses and 3 different trains. Why do I mention that? Zero loan cars for customers.
I damaged the front of my I-Pace. I took it to a local body shop that is withing walking distance and got it repaired. Getting the replacement parts took days not months. If I had needed a loan car for the time the Jag was in the shop there was one available but I chose to walk to/from the shop. I could have taken the bus if I could not be bothered to walk. The shop won't touch Tesla's because of the issues and time to get even basic body parts. The owner said that getting parts for a Lambo or Ferrari was easier than for a Tesla.
Talk about chalk and cheese.
"John Deer has changed tact, so hopefully Tesla will be forced to do so as well."
We shall see. The anti right to repair lobby is VERY powerful and very rich. Just look at what happened in NY where the bill was ready to be signed by the gov and she let the lobbyists basically re-write it for her. Similar story with previous attempts at right to repair for agricultural equipment. The group that was claiming to support farmers turned out to be in the pay of the big companies.
Back in the 90's Germany (or more accurately BMW, Merc, VAG) tried to get all after market car parts banned from the EU. The backlash was HUGE and they gave up.
"John Deer has changed tact"
I think you meant "tack", but tact sort of works too :-)
Tact: skill and sensitivity in dealing with others or with difficult issues.
Tack: When referring to a change in direction, position, or course of action, the correct phrase is to change tack.
I am a USAian, but have been skimming this publication for some years, at least for the articles I can understand. I appreciate the distinctly right-pondian flavo(u)r of this environment. Maybe I was skimming too fast, but I was half-way through the Tesla article before I realized this lawsuit was filed in the USA, not Britain. Is The Register now officially on the same continent as I? Or please make sure all the journalistic bases are covered: who, what, when why and WHERE, please.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
