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NHTSA Scolds Tesla About Customer Non-Disclosure Forms
Tesla Motors Inc. has been warned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about asking customers to sign nondisclosure agreements involving certain repairs.
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Tesla Motors Inc. has been warned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about asking customers to sign nondisclosure agreements involving certain repairs.
The EV maker calls them “goodwill agreements.” But NHTSA says the pacts appear to encourage customers not to report possible safety defects. The agency warns Tesla the practice is “unacceptable.”
In one case, the front suspension of a Model S EV failed after 70,000 miles, apparently because of excessive rust to a ball joint. Tesla offered to pay half the $3,100 repair cost—if the owner promised not reveal the offer.
NHTSA says it has opened an initial investigation into the possibility of more widespread suspension failures. News of the suspension issue and Tesla’s nondisclosure pact was first reported by the Daily Kanban. The blog notes that the company issued a service bulletin a year ago for excessive wear of control arm ball joints, a problem it described as a “non-safety-relation condition.”
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