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'''[[Wikipedia:Tesla, Inc.|Tesla, Inc.]]''' (formerly '''Tesla Motors''') is a company founded by [[Martin Eberhard]] and [[Marc Tarpenning]] in 2003. In 2008, it was funded and taken over by [[Elon Musk]], when both original founders left their positions.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/money/Tesla-Motors</ref><ref>https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2022/09/29/tesla-a-history-of-innovation-and-headaches/?sh=279647518735</ref> Elon Musk has taken the company in radical directions since and started on a foot of trying to follow in Apple's, from a consumer protection standpoint, controversial steps with things like requiring subscriptions or just flat-out being a Tesla technician to fix 2012's Model S<ref>https://www.slotcar-today.com/problems/tesla/model-s/2012</ref>, and then going beyond that and truly waging war on consumers, whether it's the continued denial of adding [[Apple Carplay]] or [[Android Auto]] to their vehicles, putting an expiry date on their cars and leaving people woefully at the whims of Elon Musk choosing what can and can't be done with their vehicles; or making a $100,000 "utility" vehicle whose warranty is void by a simple carwash.


=== Controversies ===
{{InfoboxCompany
Tesla was early in holding functionality hostage that the car owner had already bought and paid for, when Tesla decided to "offer an acceleration boost" that made the car accelerate faster once the "acceleration boost" software change was bought.<ref>https://www.autoevolution.com/news/refreshed-tesla-model-3-gets-acceleration-boost-in-certain-markets-us-still-waiting-243025.html</ref><ref>https://www.teslaoracle.com/2024/11/22/tesla-starts-offering-acceleration-boost-for-the-model-3-highland-long-range-variant/</ref>
| Name = Tesla
| Type = Public
| Founded = 2003
| Industry = Automotive
| Official Website = https://tesla.com/
| Logo = Tesla.png
}}


Tesla advertised how good and useful it was that their Tesla Model 3 cars had a hardware radar installed. A few years later Tesla decided to no longer include the radar hardware in their Tesla Model 3 cars they build from then on. But Tesla kept including the radar hardware in their more expensive Model S (and maybe also Model X?) cars. Shortly thereafter Tesla released a forced software OTA update that disabled the radar hardware in all older Tesla Model 3 cars too.<ref>https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/01/teslas-relationship-with-radar/</ref><ref>https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-disables-radar-model-3-model-y-service-visits/</ref><ref>https://insideevs.com/news/658439/elon-musk-overruled-tesla-autopilot-engineers-radar-removal/</ref> One consequence of disabling the already bought radar was that the older cars now also had a forced TACC ('''Traffic-Aware Cruise Control''') following distance interval reduced from 1-7 to 2-7. Another consequence was that those cars now also had a lot worse ability to be aware of traffic around them which made their autopilot decisions much worse, such as panic braking for no apparent good reason.<ref>https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/unfortunate-new-panic-braking-behavior-from-tacc.331045/</ref>
'''[[Wikipedia:Tesla, Inc.|Tesla, Inc.]]''' (formerly '''Tesla Motors''') is a company founded by [[Martin Eberhard]] and [[Marc Tarpenning]] in 2003. In 2008, it was funded and taken over by [[Elon Musk]], when both original founders left their positions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schreiber |first=Barbara A. |last2=Gregersen |first2=Erik |last3=Ashburn |first3=Doug |date=21 Mar 2025 |title=Tesla, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Tesla-Motors |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Qai group |date=29 Sep 2022 |title=Tesla: A History Of Innovation (and Headaches) |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/qai/2022/09/29/tesla-a-history-of-innovation-and-headaches/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Forbes}}</ref>  


Tesla regularly removes car features that everyone takes for granted nowadays eg. their Ultrasonic Sensors (parking sensors) presumably to save Tesla money<ref>https://www.tesla.com/support/transitioning-tesla-vision</ref>, most of these changes are done silently with no public or media announcements.Tesla also has removed their hardware rain sensors for similar reasons and similar consequences.<ref>https://www.torquenews.com/14335/are-softening-tesla-model-y-sales-europe-really-due-119-sensor-removal</ref>
==Controversies==
After the company was bought by Elon Musk it has been involved in a number of controversies such as requiring subscriptions or requiring a Tesla technician to fix 2012's Model S,<ref>{{Cite web |title=2012 Tesla Model s problems |url=https://www.slotcar-today.com/problems/tesla/model-s/2012 |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=SlotCar Today}}</ref> With cases such as the continued denial of adding [[Apple Carplay]] or [[Android Auto]] to their vehicles, putting an expiry date on their cars, and making a $100,000 utility vehicle whose warranty is void by a car wash.


This is a list of all consumer protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:Tesla|Tesla category]].


Tesla once sent a legal threat to a Swedish car repair company called "[[Grufman Bil AB]]" to take down a Youtube video that they had posted that showed them smashing a car component that was supposed to hold up a wheel, with a big hammer, showing how that component was made of metal that was a lot weaker than one could reasonably expect. Grufman Bil said in the video something like "Fix your shit, Tesla" at the end of that very short video. Grufman Bil decided to quickly take down that video and when someone asked them why, Grufman Bil said "because it's not worth getting sued over". Which indicates that Tesla was possibly threatening to sue people who show important car defects and post video proof of it on Youtube.
===Artificially disabling functionality===
Tesla was early in holding functionality hostage that the car owner had already bought and paid for, when Tesla decided to "offer an acceleration boost" that made the car accelerate faster once the "acceleration boost" software change was bought.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Agatie |first=Cristian |date=20 Nov 2024 |title=Refreshed Tesla Model 3 Gets Acceleration Boost in Certain Markets, US Still Waiting |url=https://www.autoevolution.com/news/refreshed-tesla-model-3-gets-acceleration-boost-in-certain-markets-us-still-waiting-243025.html |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=autoevolution}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Iqtidar |date=22 November 2024 |title=Tesla starts offering Acceleration Boost for the Model 3 Highland Long Range variant |url=https://www.teslaoracle.com/2024/11/22/tesla-starts-offering-acceleration-boost-for-the-model-3-highland-long-range-variant/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Tesla Oracle}}</ref>


Someone who remembers this incident in greater detail and can give sources and proof etc, should modify this paragraph I've written so it's much more clear and trustworthy etc. Someone who has the skills of being a reporter should ask Grufman Bil AB about this and try to find the original Youtube video as evidence of my claim etc. I understand that the legal fight would not be worth it to a small car repair company but it's important to the overall society to be aware of that Tesla does things like this. Tesla's argument for why Grufman Bil must take down that video was that "It hurts Tesla as a company financially if people can see that video" IIRC. But the counter argument would be that a car part that uses too weak metal is a danger to Tesla car owners and that they can be hurt physically if such weaknesses are hidden by Tesla. So someone please improve this paragraph because I think it's important that big companies should not get away with bullying smaller companies like this, and succeeding in hiding important weaknesses in their cars from their buyers.
Tesla advertised how good and useful it was that their Tesla Model 3 cars had a hardware radar installed. A few years later Tesla would no longer include the radar hardware in their Tesla Model 3 cars they build from then on. However Tesla kept including the radar hardware in their more expensive Model S (and maybe also Model X?) cars. Shortly thereafter Tesla released a forced Over The Air (OTA) software update that disabled the radar hardware in all older Tesla Model 3 cars as well.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 Jan 2024 |title=Tesla’s Relationship With Radar |url=https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/01/teslas-relationship-with-radar/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Edge AI and Vision Alliance}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Klender |first=Joey |date=10 Jun 2023 |title=Tesla owners claim their radar was disabled during service visits |url=https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-disables-radar-model-3-model-y-service-visits/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Teslarati}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dnistran |first=Iulian |date=22 Mar 2023 |title=Elon Musk Overruled Tesla Engineers Who Said Removing Radar Would Be Problematic: Report |url=https://insideevs.com/news/658439/elon-musk-overruled-tesla-autopilot-engineers-radar-removal/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=InsideEVs}}</ref> One consequence of disabling the already bought radar was that the older cars now also had a forced Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) following distance interval reduced from 1-7 to 2-7. Another consequence was that those cars now also had a lot worse ability to be aware of traffic around them which made their autopilot decisions much worse, such as panic braking for no apparent reason.<ref>{{Cite web |last=rwiegand |date=22 Jul 2024 |title=Unfortunate new panic braking behavior from TACC |url=https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/unfortunate-new-panic-braking-behavior-from-tacc.331045/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |via=Tesla Motors Club}}</ref>


== References ==
Tesla regularly removes car features that everyone takes for granted nowadays eg. their Ultrasonic Sensors (parking sensors) presumably to save Tesla money,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tesla Vision Update: Replacing Ultrasonic Sensors with Tesla Vision |url=https://www.tesla.com/support/transitioning-tesla-vision |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Tesla}}</ref> most of these changes are done silently with no public or media announcements.Tesla also has removed their hardware rain sensors for similar reasons and similar consequences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Jeremy |date=8 Dec 2023 |title=Are Softening Tesla Model Y Sales In Europe Really Due to $119 Worth of Sensors Removal? |url=https://www.torquenews.com/14335/are-softening-tesla-model-y-sales-europe-really-due-119-sensor-removal |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Torque News}}</ref>
 
===Wrongful legal threats===
Tesla once sent a legal threat to a Swedish car repair company called "[[Grufman Bil AB]]" to take down a YouTube video that they had posted that showed them smashing a car component that was supposed to hold up a wheel with a big hammer, showing how that component was made of metal that was a lot weaker than one could reasonably expect. Grufman Bil decided to quickly take down that video and when someone asked them why, Grufman Bil said "because it's not worth getting sued over," which indicates that Tesla was possibly threatening to sue people who show important car defects. 
<!---'''Note:''' Someone who remembers this incident in greater detail and can give sources and proof etc, should modify this paragraph I've written so it's much more clear and trustworthy etc. Someone who has the skills of being a reporter should ask Grufman Bil AB about this and try to find the original YouTube video as evidence of my claim etc. I understand that the legal fight would not be worth it to a small car repair company but it's important to the overall society to be aware of that Tesla does things like this. Tesla's argument for why Grufman Bil must take down that video was that "It hurts Tesla as a company financially if people can see that video" IIRC. But the counter argument would be that a car part that uses too weak metal is a danger to Tesla car owners and that they can be hurt physically if such weaknesses are hidden by Tesla. So someone please improve this paragraph because I think it's important that big companies should not get away with bullying smaller companies like this, and succeeding in hiding important weaknesses in their cars from their buyers. --->
 
==Resale restrictions==
Tesla has recently started prohibiting the resale of its vehicles within one year of purchase, imposing fines of up to $50,000 on owners who violate the policy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hood |first=Bryan |date=4 June 2024 |title=A Man Says Tesla Won’t Let Him Sell His Cybertruck—Even Though It’s Too Big for His Parking Spot |url=https://robbreport.com/motors/cars/tesla-cybertruck-owner-cannot-sell-ev-parking-space-1235638981/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Robb Report}}</ref> This is done without regard for situations that may necessitate a resale, and appears to align with practices adopted by other companies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foote |first=Brett |date=7 Jan 2022 |title=2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Will Come With One Year No-Sale Provision |url=https://fordauthority.com/2022/01/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-will-come-with-one-year-no-sale-provision/ |access-date=22 Mar 2025 |website=Ford Authority}}</ref>
 
==References==
<references />
<references />
[[Category:Companies]]
[[Category:Tesla]]
[[Category:Car Companies]]
[[Category:Consumer Products Companies]]
[[Category:Articles in need of additional work]]
Retrieved from "https://consumerrights.wiki/wiki/Tesla,_Inc."