Tesla announced on Monday that it would be voluntarily recalling a portion of its Model X crossover vehicles over concerns that the third-row seat could fold forward during a crash.
The recall isn’t massive—it accounts for about 2,700 vehicles in total, produced prior to March 26—but presents enough of a concern that the manufacturer has decided to take action. Most of the affected vehicles have already been sold, and all are marked for sale in the United States.
According to the company, the car seat successfully passed 15 tests but failed on a 16th and different test before starting deliveries to European customers.
Tesla explained that the company produces the second-row seats for the vehicles internally but has the third-row seat manufactured by an outside supplier. The issue seems to stem from the recliner used in the third-row seats, and Tesla said that the supplier will cover the costs associated with the issue—information that means more to investors in the company than the drivers of the cars.
Getting the 2,700 vehicles fixed will take about five weeks according to Tesla, with each repair requiring a two-hour service appointment to complete. Tesla claims its customers “may make full use” of the crossover until the fix has been applied, but also advised its customers to not use the third-row seat for transporting people, which is basically the very definition of not full use.
This issue isn’t the first recall for Tesla, which was riding high on huge presales of its upcoming Model 3; the company previously had a recall for an issue with the seatbelt in the Model S. It has also has issued several patches for major software issues, which luckily were fixed with over-the-air updates instead of trips to the garage.
H/T The Verge
