Elon Musk's Tesla Reportedly Manipulating Odometers To Dodge Warranty Repairs

Tesla Inc. TSLA reportedly manipulated odometer readings on its electric vehicles to avoid warranty repairs.

What Happened: A lawsuit filed by Nyree Hinton says that Tesla’s odometer readings are based on factors like energy consumption and predictive algorithms rather than actual mileage, leading to premature warranty expirations.

Hinton, the plaintiff, alleges her 2020 Model Y’s odometer ran at least 15% faster than expected, causing her warranty to expire prematurely, according to a report by Reuters.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

Hinton, a Los Angeles resident, filed the lawsuit in a federal court in Los Angeles, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Tesla drivers in California, potentially affecting over a million vehicles.

The complaint argues that Tesla’s practices increase repair revenue and force consumers to buy extended warranties earlier than necessary.

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Why It Matters: This lawsuit is not the first legal challenge Tesla has faced. In September 2024, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, regarding alleged misrepresentations about the company’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) technology.

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The judge found that some of the statements were not false and others were related to future plans.

Earlier, in June 2024, Tesla faced a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of monopolizing the market for vehicle repairs and parts.

The lawsuit alleged that Tesla coerced owners into paying high prices and enduring long waits for repairs, under the threat of losing warranty coverage.

Additionally, in April last year, Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook (now Meta), compared Tesla’s situation to the infamous collapse of Enron, expressing concerns about the company’s FSD data.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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