— A Tesla yellow touchscreen lawsuit has been dismissed after owners claimed in the class action that Tesla sold them defective vehicles with touchscreen borders that turn yellow.
The Tesla touchscreen class action lawsuit includes all 2016-2020 Tesla models with 17-inch touchscreens made by Innolux Corporation.
The lawsuit also alleges Tesla owners report having problems receiving the warranties when purchasing the vehicles.
According to the class action, Tesla sold about 1.2 million of the vehicles equipped with touchscreens that can each cost $2,500 to replace if yellow borders appear around the edges.
The Tesla touchscreen lawsuit was filed by North Carolina plaintiff and business owner Chad Sasso who picked up his Tesla in December 2016. The plaintiff says he didn't receive a copy of the warranty but he was told he could get a copy of the warranty upon request or by downloading it from his online Tesla user account.
Then in June 2018, the Tesla touchscreen developed a yellow border around the edge of the screen. The plaintiff took the vehicle to Tesla and the touchscreen was replaced under warranty.
But the plaintiff alleges six months later the edge of the touchscreen turned yellow. Tesla allegedly couldn't repair the touchscreen because of equipment problems, but the plaintiff says the problem wouldn't occur in the first place if the touchscreen met industry standards.
According to the class action lawsuit, the touchscreens cannot cope with the temperatures of sunlight exposure when the vehicles are parked outside.
In addition to the yellow Tesla touchscreen, the plaintiff claims his online account included a warranty that was "constantly changing," making the warranty different each time it was changed.
Tesla Yellow Touchscreen Lawsuit Dismissed
In its motion to dismiss, Tesla argues Sasso hasn't "suffered an injury in fact" because he doesn't own the vehicle.
The plaintiff allegedly sued as the agent for his company, Challenge Printing, and Tesla argues the company fails to adequately state a breach of implied warranty claim because a car's ordinary purpose is to provide transportation and the yellow touchscreen did not render the car unfit for ordinary use.
The plaintiff does not plausibly allege the yellow band around the touchscreen made the Tesla unsafe or unreliable, and the judge says the yellow border doesn't cause a problem when driving the vehicle.
"Instead, the allegations are bare assertions that do not plausibly allege that the yellow band made the car unsafe, unreliable, or inoperable." — Judge James C. Dever, III
Regarding breach of express warranty claims, Tesla alleges the plaintiff doesn't plausibly allege the touchscreen defect existed at the time of sale and the plaintiff doesn't show misrepresentations made by Tesla employees.
According to the Tesla yellow touchscreen lawsuit, Sasso got the car from Tesla on December 15, 2016, and the yellow band appeared June 15, 2018, about a year and a half later. The judge says this shows the problem didn't exist when the vehicle was sold.
According to the judge, "buying a product that works at the time of purchase but will likely fail over a year later is not the same as buying a product that is already defective at the time of sale. Even assuming the touchscreen's failure to meet industry standards may indicate a latent defect, that indication does not suffice on its own."
Tesla Warranty
As for the Tesla warranty issue, the plaintiff argues Tesla clearly said it would make a copy of the warranty available when the vehicle was picked up, but in December 2016 when the vehicle was picked up the plaintiff didn't receive the warranty.
The plaintiff alleges when he went to his online account in February 2020, the warranty wasn't for 2016 but instead was a warranty which post-dated the purchase of the Tesla.
But the judge ruled the plaintiff fails to state a claim because not getting a copy of the warranty doesn't mean a touchscreen defect existed when the Tesla was purchased.
"Putting aside whether Tesla allegedly changed the terms of the warranty, plaintiffs do not plausibly allege that Sasso went online in 2016 to get a copy of the warranty or that the correct warranty was not available to Sasso online when Challenge Printing purchased the car." — Judge Dever
The Tesla yellow touchscreen lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina: Sasso, et al., v. Tesla, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Williams & Ray, PLLC.
