Tesla Lemon Model S owner Rebuttal to Tesla's Blog Post

[scaesare]

If not an allegation then surely an insinuation.

Indeed it isn't an allegation on Tesla's part. It may be insinuation, or as I said in that very post: "​Now you may feel this makes some implications..."

The distinction is an important one, and for being on an legal professional's blog, another indication that clarity, accuracy, and professionalism are not something that seems to be paramount to their activity...

 

[purplewalt]

I read Montgom626's rebuttal.

If Montgom626 were a street sweeper, the president of a major corporation, a Nobel Prize laureate, a retired colonel of the US Army or a Medical Doctor has no bearing on the Merits of the case.
His occupation is of no consequence.
Neither does any service in theaters of conflict by Montgom626.
None of those statements have ANY bearing on the case: In My View they are presented to gain (false) sympathy or empathy.


What has bearing on this case is the Truth.

Items that DO have Merit are the facts of the actual condition of Montgom626's car as it was presented from the manufacturer (Tesla), and any reasonable attempts by the manufacturer (Tesla) to correct any defects that the User (Montgom626) of the manufacturer's product encountered.
Any thinking to the contrary is counter-productive, short-sighted and flawed.


My personal experience with Tesla: I have been to the local Service Center several times, mostly for things I have caused/encountered (nicked tire sidewall, front nose pulled loose by rebar @ a parking bumper, rear trim torn by wood parking block).
The staff there have ALWAYS been professional, conscientious and fair, and the car got repaired.


I smell something very fishy in the manner which Montgom626's attorney is grand-standing for attention and permitting his client to be so vocal.
Smart attorneys put a leash on their clients and do their work in the courtroom, not on Youtube.

 

[howardc64]

I like to suggest to the OP... doing all this on internet is a bad bad idea. Neither side is calm enough to understand the other side's view. People have a tendency to continue to polarize their cause and distort the issues away from the facts. When both sides stop listening... war of words escalates and it doesn't get back to reality until BOTH sides have some serious risks.

You may have a lemon law claim and I doubt Tesla can't find some reasonable resolution with you. But do it in private will actually get some results. Doing in public on a high profile product you and you get into a public relationship thermonuclear war. It will be a lot more effort to get to a amicable result.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I like to suggest to the OP... doing all this on internet is a bad bad idea. Neither side is calm enough to understand the other side's view. People have a tendency to continue to polarize their cause and distort the issues away from the facts. When both sides stop listening... war of words escalates and it doesn't get back to reality until BOTH sides have some serious risks.

You may have a lemon law claim and I doubt Tesla can't find some reasonable resolution with you. But do it in private will actually get some results. Doing in public on a high profile product you and you get into a public relationship thermonuclear war. It will be a lot more effort to get to a amicable result.

But then his lawyer wouldn't be getting all of this free publicity. It's unfortunate, but OP's case is being torpedoed by a self-involved attorney who only took this case to further his own self promotion. OP - the best thing you can do at this point is to dump your "king of lemons" attorney... I am curious as to whether OP or his attorney hold any short interest in Tesla stock. That would be an interesting twist, wouldn't it?

 

[qwk]

I am curious as to whether OP or his attorney hold any short interest in Tesla stock. That would be an interesting twist, wouldn't it?

That would be securities fraud. I really doubt that these two would seek this kind of attention while committing fraud. But then again, Montgomery did post all kinds of self incriminating posts on various internet car forums. It looks like Karma will be a biotch in this case for both of these geniuses.

 

[howardc64]

But then his lawyer wouldn't be getting all of this free publicity. It's unfortunate, but OP's case is being torpedoed by a self-involved attorney who only took this case to further his own self promotion. OP - the best thing you can do at this point is to dump your "king of lemons" attorney... I am curious as to whether OP or his attorney hold any short interest in Tesla stock. That would be an interesting twist, wouldn't it?

I suppose this is likely a successful lemon law strategy by this lawyer in the past: make bad PR for the manufacturer and drive up the pressure to settle for more.

But given Tesla is a revolutionary product. It gets a bit religious... from both supporters and detractors. The manufacturer itself has shown willingness to strongly support their product publicly. And most of the owners (whether on internet boards or not) of these cars will be strongly supportive.

I think the lawyer is finding out his traditional strategy isn't working as he had hoped with all this public backlash against him and his client. So as everyone suggested, best if OP work with a lawyer that isn't using a viral strategy that doesn't work in this particular case.

By the way, I came across this lady's effort to get her car repaired awhile back... a bit of humor was definitely helpful for her cause. Take some of that combative edge off

RusmackedVolvo | Freya Svensson Volvo North America

 

[rage_777]

But then his lawyer wouldn't be getting all of this free publicity. It's unfortunate, but OP's case is being torpedoed by a self-involved attorney who only took this case to further his own self promotion. OP - the best thing you can do at this point is to dump your "king of lemons" attorney... I am curious as to whether OP or his attorney hold any short interest in Tesla stock. That would be an interesting twist, wouldn't it?

Exactly. That is like hiring Gloria Allred an not expecting her to go on TV and proclaiming how wronged her client was.

 

[MikeC]

MikeC,
Your suggestion to buy this guy out is the expedient path but it sets a precedent that you can buy the car, drive it for a while, intentionally create fud (damaging to Tesla's reputation) then force Tesla to buy back the product. This rewards behavior that is bad in way too many ways. It may be harder and more painful to deal with this first attempt at "Lemmon Law Scamming" but I think it will pay dividends in the long run. It is a trick you learn when you have been run around the block a few times in that what appears to be the easiest and best cost based decision turns out to be a bad long term business decision.

Put differently, I think our Doc poked the wrong hornet's nest

Yes, I do agree that he should be made an example of to prevent future cases like this. I was just thinking the ultimate punishment would be never being allowed to drive a Tesla again, after being lucky enough to experience a Model S for a year (door handle problems notwithstanding).

 

[Dan5]

I do think they are corrupting the intent of the law here.

Lemon laws should be used if the car is "unworkable"; i.e. it leaves you stranded on the highway without any reason.

If the biggest gripe is the door handles, that is a situation that is not worthy of a lemon law suit in my opinion.

If the motor was blowing up, if the transmission was failing, if the windows would not go up and caused damage to the interior, if the sunroof malfunctions and caught the car in a rain storm, if the screen blanked out and left you stranded at work.

Those are things that the lemon law is meant to address.

A door handle having to be played with for a few seconds- not a lemon law
Heck, I have an 2010 Corolla the drivers side key needs to be jiggled to turn... should I sue Toyota and make them replace it? I would say no simple because the time it takes me to fiddle with it is much, much less than the time it'll take to sue Toyota. 1-3 minutes a day vs hiring a lawyer sending out letters, etc, etc. If I keep the Toyota for 12 years, it'll take me 60 extra hours. Not really worth the time and effort to even worry about it vs the amount of time for all the lawyer, court hearings, etc, etc.

 

[mknox]

Heck, I have an 2010 Corolla the drivers side key needs to be jiggled to turn... should I sue Toyota and make them replace it?

Ummm... GM has sure got into a lot of hot water for a similar ignition switch issue...

 

[KenN]

Door key that is only used when car is stopped vs. Ignition key that kills the engine and airbags when in motion. Apples and oranges.

 

[Electric700]

Could it be this was all concocted to make Tesla look bad? After reading the below quote about the fuse and non-tamper tape, it gives the impression that some, if not all of the problems were purposely created by the owner.

No rebuttal to this rather large paragraph in Tesla's blog post:

"Another issue was that the car's fuse blew on numerous occasions. Each time, our engineers explored all possible explanations and were never able to find anything wrong with the car. Still, just to be sure, we replaced several parts that could have been related to the alleged problem – all at no expense to the customer. When the fuse kept blowing despite the new parts, and faced with no diagnosis showing anything wrong with the car, the engineers were moved to consider the possibility that the fuse had been tampered with. After investigating, they determined that the car's front trunk had been opened immediately before the fuse failure on each of these occasions. (The fuse is accessed through the front trunk.) Ultimately, Tesla service applied non-tamper tape to the fuse switch. From that point on, the fuse performed flawlessly."

How come?

 

[hockeythug]

Per a previous post on this forum, the original poster says he was assaulted because the door wouldn't open and he couldn't get into his car fast enough. The plot thickens.

Do you have a link to that post or did he delete it?

 

[bonnie]

Per a previous post on this forum, the original poster says he was assaulted because the door wouldn't open and he couldn't get into his car fast enough. The plot thickens.

Timely police report or it didn't happen.

 

[lolachampcar]

if first they doubt you, double down!

 

[Electric700]

Even with the link, given my post immediately before yours (requoting brianstorms and Tesla) I wonder if this was part of a Tesla defamation attempt. Perhaps there were one or two minor things with the car that needed to be fixed, but then the owner for some reason decided to try making things worse. I think others here are starting to arrive at similar conclusions.

Do you have a link to that post or did he delete it?

 

[Kraken]

Do you have a link to that post or did he delete it?

I had that experience in Chicago last June. The delay in getting into my Model S (door would not open) resulted in a hooligan assaulting me. I even have a picture of the fellow who assaulted me. Filed a report with the Chicago Police. The Chicago PD have done nothing (expected). Until the door handle works as designed, I am not heading back to Chicago.

MS P85 Tesla Door Wont open DEC 18 2013 - Page 2

 

[AmpedRealtor]

OMG, now he is saying that he was assaulted due to the door handles? And to think that his assailant had time to pose for a photo yet the police wouldn't do anything... makes you go hmmm...

 

[MassX1317]

MS P85 Tesla Door Wont open DEC 18 2013 - Page 2

...

Tesla has not yet addressed the door not opening on Dec 18, 2013. They tell me next week.
Wish me luck!

- - - Updated - - -



I had that experience in Chicago last June. The delay in getting into my Model S (door would not open) resulted in a hooligan assaulting me. I even have a picture of the fellow who assaulted me. Filed a report with the Chicago Police. The Chicago PD have done nothing (expected). Until the door handle works as designed, I am not heading back to Chicago.

 

[dsm363]

Also note that date (12/18) was same date as his last letter to Tesla.