U.S. safety regulators received two complaints in which 2023 Model Ys were delivered to customers with a missing bolt that holds the wheel to the steering column.
that holds the wheel to the steering column. A friction fit held the steering wheels on, but they separated when force was exerted while the SUVs were being driven. The agency says in documents posted on its website Wednesday that both incidents happened while the SUVs had low mileage on them.
In one complaint filed with NHTSA, an owner said he was driving with his family on Route 1 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, when the steering wheel suddenly came off on Jan. 29, five days after the vehicle was purchased. The owner wrote that there were no cars behind him, and he was able to pull toward the road divider. There were no injuries. It was a “horrible experience,” the car’s owner, Prerak Patel, told The Associated Press. He said he was in the freeway’s left lane when the steering wheel came off and was lucky the road was straight and he was able to stop the car at the divider. Messages were left seeking comment from Tesla, which is based in Austin, Texas, and has disbanded its media relations department. At first, a Tesla service center gave Patel a cost estimate of $103.96 to repair the problem. The service center apologized in what appeared to be text messages posted on Twitter.When Patel wrote that he had lost faith in Tesla and asked for a refund, the service center removed the charge. Patel was later given the option of keeping the car or getting it replaced with a new one. Patel said he chose to get a replacement. Patel said he’s a fan of Tesla CEO Elon Musk and has invested a large chunk of his savings in the company’s stock, which fell almost 4% Wednesday. “My kids were a little scared to ride in a loaner Tesla and, as a parent, we are able to restore their confidence,” Patel said. He said he hopes Tesla will investigate and improve its quality control “so no other family experiences what we experienced.” Detached steering wheels are rare in the auto industry, but not unprecedented. In February, Nissan recalled about 1,000 Ariya electric vehicles because the wheels could come off of the steering column due to a loose bolt. In addition to the Autopilot investigation, NHTSA has opened investigations during the past three years into Teslas braking suddenly for no reason, suspension problems and other issues. In February, NHTSA pressured Tesla into recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles with “Full Self-Driving” software because the system can break traffic laws. The system is being tested on public roads by as many as 400,000 Tesla owners. But NHTSA said in documents that it can make unsafe actions such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, going through a yellow traffic light without proper caution or failing to respond to changes in posted speed limits. The U.S. Justice Department also has asked Tesla for documents from Tesla about “Full Self-Driving” and Autopilot.
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