— A Tesla pre-owned warranty class action lawsuit is over after a plaintiff sued in 2019 by alleging used Model S and Model X warranties are practically worthless.
Lead plaintiff Hugh Nguyen says he believed the used Model S car he purchased would get about 200 miles per full charge at 100% battery capacity, but the battery could take the car only 165 miles on a full charge.
He brought the Model S to Tesla technicians multiple times but Tesla allegedly could not repair the battery.
According to the Tesla pre-owned warranty class action lawsuit, Tesla was supposed to perform a comprehensive certified pre-owned inspection of the car before it was sold. But the plaintiff complained he never received any report regarding the conclusions of the inspection.
The lawsuit says used vehicle buyers are stuck with not knowing if the batteries are defective or how far a battery will take a vehicle on a single full charge. In addition, the pre-owned warranty allegedly doesn't mean much when Tesla fails to provide used vehicle buyers with results of certified pre-owned inspections.
Included in the Tesla used car lawsuit are these vehicles.
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 60
- 2012-present Tesla Model S P85+
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 60D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 85
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 90D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 75
- 2012-present Tesla Model S P85
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 85D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 70
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 90D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S P90D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 75D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 90
- 2012-present Tesla Model S P85D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 70D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S P100D
- 2012-present Tesla Model S 100D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X 60D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X 70D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X 75D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X 90D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X P90D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X 100D
- 2012-present Tesla Model X P100D
Tesla Pre-Owned Warranty Lawsuit (Arbitration)
Due to terms of the purchase agreement, the lead plaintiff argued his case in arbitration with Tesla and lost the case. According to the plaintiff, Tesla lied to the arbitrator regarding the battery capacity, so the plaintiff filed the class action lawsuit.
But the judge ruled the four plaintiffs who sued all agreed to arbitrate their claims when they ordered the used Tesla vehicles.
While the plaintiffs argued Tesla should buy back all the 2012-present vehicles, the judge ruled Tesla clearly provided every pre-owned vehicle buyer with the order agreement which contained the arbitration section that says claims must be arbitrated on an individual basis.
The district court ruling caused the plaintiffs to appeal to the Ninth Circuit which dismissed the case.
In the most recent court documents, the plaintiffs have finally dropped their claims regarding the pre-owned vehicles. However, the documents don't hint if the claims were dropped due to an individual settlement, a result of arbitration or possibly something else.
The Tesla pre-owned warranty class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California - Hugh Nguyen, et al., v. Tesla Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by the Law Offices of Edward C. Chen.
