A man who was having issues with a brand new Tesla Model S touchscreen called out the brand for selling him a “$90k” car that he says had problems for him from the get-go.
Ty (@18lexus) posted a TikTok showing off the issue that has accrued over 14,000 views, but some commenters thought he was unfairly maligning the electric car manufacturer.
“Our new Tesla even has PROBLEMS rear screen refuses to work. $90k car, that we’ve only had 2 weeks,” Ty wrote in a text overlay of his viral TikTok video.
The beginning of the clip shows him tapping away on the screen which appears to be stuck on the air conditioning control setting. The car enthusiast taps on the bottom control panel of the screen in what looks like an attempt to interact with other menu options, but the screen is unresponsive and is stuck on the air conditioning setting.
He continues tapping away at the screen. Some say he’s still tapping the screen to this very day.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he adds in a caption for the video, venting his frustrations with the $90,000 electric vehicle he purchased.
He’s not the only Tesla owner who’s purchased their vehicle and aired out the problems they’ve had with them from the get-go online. One man posted a YouTube video about a Tesla Model 3 he picked up only for the whip to break down on day one, necessitating a flatbed tow back in 2021.
In 2019, another Tesla customer shared that after driving their brand-new Tesla about 85 miles, the thing crapped on them as well. Then there was the infamous and terrifying case of a man who, while driving his Tesla, had the car’s steering wheel fall off—NJ.com reported that the car manufacturer issued a recall after this incident.
The fit and finish of Tesla vehicles have long been called into question by gear heads who’ve pointed out that the brand’s cars, when coming straight from the factory, had noticeable panel gaps, leading to speculation of quality control issues along with a desire to hastily churn out the vehicles, even though pieces of the car weren’t fitted together as tightly as they could.
Numerous commenters remarked that the screen Ty was fiddling around with was actually the rear screen for the car and that he must’ve inadvertently “triggered” a setting on it that locked the screen so that kids (or tap-happy adults) sitting in the back didn’t play around with it to much.
However, Ty said that this wasn’t the case, adding: “Screen isn’t disabled, reset only works for 5 minutes & it’ll freeze on climate.”
@18lexus You have got to be kidding me. #cars #foryoupage #carsoftiktok #tesla #explore #viral #carlover #carhubcomunity #carshub #carsontiktok #teslaproblems ♬ original sound – TooTurntSprite
Some folks suggested fixes for the issue. “If a restart fails to fix your issue try power cycling. Open Controls > Safety > Turn Off. Then wait 2 minutes without touching doors, windows, or displays. Then press the brake. Hope this helps!” one user wrote.
In the comments section, a debate brewed.
“Y’all need to leave to leave Tesla ALONE,” one viewer defended, but Ty insisted that the manufacturer is “the only brand [he] has issue[s] with.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Tesla via email and Ty via TikTok comment for further information.
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