Australian woman’s Tesla horror story: ‘The bottom line is it’s a lemon’
An Australian Tesla owner opens up about her struggles with owning an electric car, but insists she still loves the technology behind the car.
Anne Bishop purchased a used 2015 Model S from Tesla in 2018 for $93,000.
But over the next few years, Mrs. Bishop had her car towed four times, each time covering about 300 miles.
In one incident, when she was seven months pregnant, she had to climb out the window of her Tesla because the door handles weren’t working properly.
Other problems, including a faulty rear motor and media control unit, led Ms Bishop to file a case in the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal last month, seeking a partial refund from Tesla.
“The bottom line is it’s a bad buy,” she said. News.com.au.
In her court filing, she accuses Tesla of repeatedly misrepresenting the Australian Consumer Law by failing to keep adequate fault logs, refusing to provide written explanations and failing to provide documentation of the car’s maintenance.
“My last car was a $13,800 Toyota Echo,” she said. “It ran flawlessly for 13 years, never had an unexpected repair. I expected much better from Tesla.”
Anne Bishop bought a used 2015 Model S from Tesla for $93,000 in 2018
But over the next few years, Mrs. Bishop had to have her car towed four times, each time covering a distance of 500 kilometres
But despite the legal battle with Tesla, she said she wouldn’t drive anything else.
“It’s the best car I’ll ever own, but it’s also the most terrifyingly unreliable,” Bishop said.
Her claims caught the attention of Australian car expert John Cadgoan, who said the brand was among the least reliable in the world.
“They changed the future of transportation. We only agree on this point, I would say not for the better,” he said in a video posted on Youtube Channel.
The car expert criticised Ms Bishop for her support for the company despite its “unreliability disaster”.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Tesla for comment.