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Tesla’s Model X Getting Slammed By California’s ‘Lemon Laws’

REUTERS/Jason Lee

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Chris White Tech Reporter
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An owner of three Tesla vehicles filed a lawsuit against the electric automaker in May, stating his Model X’s doors malfunction and the autopilot feature was dangerous in the rain.

Barrett Lyon now owns only a Model S and an original Roadster after Tesla quietly agreed to take his Model X back and settle the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Tesla “rushed” the Model X into production before it was ready for market. Lyon is demanding the company issue a refund under California’s “Lemon Laws.”

Other customers are also clamoring for refunds.

Lyon’s lawsuit claimed the car’s doors opened and closed at random, often-times hitting his wife and damaging other cars — worse still, the lawsuit claimed, the Model X’s autopilot feature was particularly dangerous in the rain.

He shared a video demonstrating the glitches in the car’s self-parking feature.

WATCH: 

Lyon said he felt compelled to file the lawsuit after Tesla kept giving him “the runaround,” a claim confirmed by a Tesla spokesperson.

“We are committed to providing an outstanding customer experience throughout ownership. As a principle, we are always willing to buy back a car in the rare event that a customer isn’t completely happy. Today, the majority of Model X owners are loving their cars,” the spokesperson said by email.

Lyon’s claims come amid a growing cascade of problems for Tesla. Reports indicated earlier in June that the company may have forbidden Model S customers from talking to the government about problems with their cars.

Reports of suspension problems and allegations the company forced customers to sign non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them from notifying the government about defects gained traction in April on the Tesla Motors Club forum in a thread titled “Suspension Problem on Model S.”

A Tesla customer posted a thread in the forum June 8 describing problems with the suspension in his 2013 Model S, writing that his Tesla failed at a relatively low speed and that the “left front hub assembly separated from the upper control arm.”

The customer noted days after the original comment that Tesla offered to pay 50 percent of the $3,100 repair bill if they signed a “Goodwill Agreement” prohibiting them from telling anyone about the problems.

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