There’s no shortage of scary car stories on social media. Whether its brand new Chevy Traverse transmissions failing on family vacations, or Teslas locking drivers inside a single-person greenhouse during a software update: drivers are being burnt by new tech.
And recently, Yazmeen Lea (@yazmeenlea) recently went viral after undergoing a harrowing experience test driving one of the trendy electric vehicles. Lea documented in a viral TikTok how her and her husband’s 10-month-old daughter was stuck in a Model X.
In the video, which garnered over 447,000 views, the couple records the measures that needed to be taken to get their baby out.
How did their baby get stuck inside a Tesla?
The video begins with footage of emergency service personnel arriving at the scene to inquire as to what’s going on.
They soon learn the impetus of the call: there’s a baby locked inside of the Tesla. The parents reveal their 10-month-old was locked inside of the vehicle accidentally.
Before you wonder just how in the world that happened: the couple was taking a Tesla Model X on a test drive. Ironically, in a caption for the video, Lea says that they had every intention of buying it.
However, they soon encountered a problem after shutting their doors. It appears that the Model X locked itself before they could open the back door to take their 10-month-old daughter out.
Since it was a test drive vehicle, the Tesla wasn’t connected to a driver’s app: just the key card. And since the key card was left inside of the vehicle, opening the door wasn’t possible.
To make matters worse, Lea says, no one at Tesla was answering the phone. Furthermore, the manufacturer’s roadside assistance branch wasn’t much help either.
Tesla X surprise shut down
During their video, the couple can be heard explaining the situation to EMS workers. “It’s a demo, yeah, they let you take it home for a day to see if you like it. We don’t like it,” Lea tells one of the EMS workers.
Next, the video transitions to footage of their baby sitting in her car seat in the back of the Tesla. “Lana girl, it’s OK,” she can be heard saying to her baby.
The video then quickly cuts to EMS workers lightly tapping the driver’s side window. They begin to pry at the piece of glass which cracks and is then extricated from the vehicle.
EMS workers exclaim that they’re happy it was able to come out in one piece as the couple’s baby shrieks in the background. “F*ck you Elon,” the father can be heard saying off camera.
“Thank you guys,” he adds, giving props to the EMS workers for their swift action.
One of the workers then reaches into the car, grabs the key card and taps it against the door jamb. They’re able to open the vehicle before the video ultimately cuts out.
@yazmeenlea Beware of Teslas!!!! We took this brand new tesla x home before planning to buy it the next day & our worst nightmare surfaced. The car locked & shut off with the key card inside & our 10 month old in the back seat. Demos do not have the app, Tesla roadside was unable to help & tesla dealerships were not answering the phone!! Luckily it was around 6pm & the temperature was no longer 90+ but needless to say i will NEVER put my babies in a tesla. 🤬 #tesla #teslamodelx #florida #beware ♬ original sound – yazmeenlea
Tesla was “apologetic”
In a follow-up video, Lea says that they phoned the Tesla dealership several times and still didn’t receive a response. They wanted to return the vehicle that very night but had to wait until the morning to do so.
@yazmeenlea Replying to @Gabriel ♬ original sound – yazmeenlea
It ended up storming that night. But because they had gone through “enough trauma” over the incident, they didn’t bother to cover the window. Lea believes the damage sustained to the vehicle was probably greater than just the window being broken due to the storm. Although she told her husband to demand Tesla come and pick up the vehicle, he ended up dropping it off there.
Answering another user on the application who was curious as to what Tesla’s response was, Lea said the dealership was apologetic. She added that they expressed regret over what happened and didn’t make any remarks as to the condition of the Model X.
TikTokers chime in
While comments were disabled on Lea’s original video, viewers had a lot to say on her follow-up video.
One person seemed worried about the condition of the Model X. “Just cause you had a bad experience doesn’t give you the right to destroy a vehicle,” they said.
Someone else wanted to know why the baby was left inside of the car in the first place. “I’m curious why was the baby left inside the vehicle with the doors closed? I always leave a door cracked open when I go around my car to get my baby off his car seat,” they wrote.
Lea also penned a written response in the comments section of the clip to a viewer curious about window liability. Namely, if she was expected to foot the bill for it. She clarified, again, that they weren’t: “No we weren’t. They felt awful about the situation and could care less about the car or the window.”
Others said that Tesla’s lack of care towards their vehicle is indicative of its quality. “Lol they don’t care their loaner cars are all trash so they can just toss the car get another one,” one user wrote.
Another commenter echoed the sentiment: “They didn’t care bc they know these cars ain’t shxt.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Lea via TikTok comment and Tesla via email for further information.
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