http://www.forbes.com/sites/lian ... blems/#5568c53c3096

Is Tesla using non-disclosure agreements to cover up safety defects in its vehicles? That’s one interpretation of the “Goodwill Agreement” an owner was asked to sign in exchange for the company partially covering the cost of the repair of a broken suspension, according to an article in The Daily Kanban, which investigated this issue. A Model S owner reported on the Tesla Motors TSLA -4.60%Club (TMC) forum that the suspension of his 2013 Model S broke as he traveled at low speed down a bumpy road. The problem wasn’t caused by rallying, abuse, or careless driving — the owner wrote that Tesla service technicians told him that the ”ball joint bolt was loose and caused the wear.”
The problem is easy enough to resolve, but expensive to fix. Because it was out of warranty, the owner was on the hook for the $3,100 repair bill. However, the broken suspension was caused by a defective part, so the owner escalated the issue to Tesla management to plead his case and ask to have it replaced for free. Tesla eventually agreed to split the cost of the repair, but before they would do that, the owner had to sign away his right to discuss the defect, which could preclude him from reporting it to the National Highway Safety and Transportation Administration (NHTSA).
You only need to look at General Motors GM -1.02% to learnhow bad of an idea covering up a safety issue is. It’s more than just time and money at stake. If the suspension were to break while traveling at high speed, it could make a car uncontrollable, and potentially deadly. Posters on the TMC brought up two fatalities involving the Model S, both of which reportedly occurred when the vehicles left the roadway while driving around the curve. Although there is no evidence to prove this, some TMC members posited that broken control arms could be the cause of the two fatal road departure accidents, rather than the suspected suicide or driver error. |