A lawsuit filed in California accuses Tesla of intentionally tampering with vehicle odometers to prematurely void warranties.
According to Ars Technica, the plaintiff, U.S. resident Nyree Hinton purchased a used 2020 Tesla Model Y with less than 37,000 miles on the odometer. Surprisingly, Hinton claims the mileage surpassed 50,000 miles within six months, causing the warranty to expire.
Hinton reported noticing unusual patterns in the mileage records while the vehicle experienced persistent suspension problems. Given his typical daily driving of about 20 miles, Hinton argued that the recorded mileage seemed excessively high.
The lawsuit claims that Tesla manipulated predictive algorithms, energy consumption data, and driver behavior information to inflate the displayed mileage beyond the actual distances driven. Hinton criticizes this as a deliberate strategy to hasten warranty expiration.
Other Tesla owners have shared similar stories online, reporting abnormally rapid vehicle mileage increases followed by sharp drops after warranty expiration. These accounts suggest a potential systemic issue across Tesla’s fleet, rather than an isolated incident.
