- A Tesla owner went viral on TikTok after posting a series of videos about his Model S problems.
- Mario Zelaya claims he was locked out of his car after the battery died and repairs cost more than $20,000.
- Last year, a Finnish Tesla owner blew up his electric car to protest similar issues.
One Tesla owner said he was locked out of his Model S after the battery died — a problem he said the automaker told him would cost more than $20,000 to fix.
Last week, Mario Zelaya posted a TikTok video Ask the question and it garnered over 15 million views. In TikTok, Zelaya said the battery on his Model S was completely dead, leaving him unable to get into the car or even to access the ownership documents in the car to sell it. The car will also not respond to the allegations, he said.
“That’s why you should never buy a Tesla,” Zelaya said in the video, calling the car “rubbish.” He said he bought the brand-new car in 2013 for $140,000.
Zelaya and a Tesla spokesman did not respond to Insider’s request for comment before publication.
Tesla owners may have Enter the vehicle manually By removing the front bumper or going through a tire well, but he said he “has no time”.
in a older video, the Toronto-based Tesla owner posted a picture of Tesla’s March 14 service estimate. Estimates show that replacing batteries in an electric vehicle will cost more than $28,000 or more than $21,000.
The car needed to be replaced after more than 77,000 miles, according to documents the owner shared on TikTok. Tesla batteries are designed to run 300,000 to 500,000 miles or about 21 to 25 years before needing replacement, Elon Musk said it. last year, Electrek reports Tesla owners receive battery pack replacements estimated at $20,000 to $30,000
Zelaya says separate video He drove to Tesla after receiving one “High Voltage Battery” Warning Message – Problems that could cause EV battery failure on fire. He said he was told the issue would not be Warranty.
Later, when he took the Model S into his home country’s regulator, Transport Canada, the technician told him the battery was rusted because the car’s air-conditioning unit’s drain hose was above the battery compartment and kept leaking water into the battery unit, Zelaya said. Say.
in a video Starting last week, Zelaya said he was finally able to sell the car after paying $30 for new ownership documents. TikTok appears to show the new owner prying open the front bumper to gain access to the car’s interior.
“This will be the end of my Tesla journey,” Zelaya said in the video. “It’s out of my life. Don’t let it into yours.”
This isn’t the first time Tesla owners have expressed concerns about quality control issues.Last year, a Finn took a video He blew up his 2013 Tesla Model S himself after he found out that it would cost $22,600 to replace the battery. The man also allegedly had a water-damaged battery.
In August, Vox reported that owners had filed thousands of complaints against Tesla’s service centers. Last year, Insider reported that drivers were reporting problems with their brand-new Teslas on social media, including poor paint jobs and misplaced car panels.
Do you work for Tesla or drive one of its electric cars?Contact reporters via non-work email at gkay@insider.com
