Tesla Reportedly Reaches Settlement To Buy Back Customer’s Nightmarish, Bug-Riddled Model X EV

The Falcon Wing doors have been problematic, often malfunctioning or not operating at all. Despite the fact that the Model X was delayed multiple times — in part due to the issues with the rear doors — Barret Lyon filed a lawsuit against Tesla for allegedly rushing the vehicle into production with known faults. Surprisingly enough, Lyon won his case and Tesla has agreed to buy back the vehicle.

Lyon paid $161,970 for Model X and in the lawsuit claimed that the vehicle has been fraught with problems since day one. He leveled the harshest criticism against the doors, saying that they would open on their own with no regard for objects in the general vicinity. According to Lyon, the doors not only have unexpectedly opened and crashed into his wife’s car (causing damage to both), but they have flung open in public damaging other peoples’ cars.

More troubling is the fact that the doors have been slammed shut on his wife’s legs while she was trying to enter the vehicle. "If you get in and slide sideways and accidentally tap the brake, the driver's side door slams shut on your leg,” explains Lyon. “That's not a very nice thing to have happen to you."

But the Falcon Wing doors weren’t his only problem with the vehicle. Autopilot (which is still in beta) has been problematic. He claims that engaging Autopilot in the rain is treacherous, causing the vehicle to “swerve into different lanes”; the automatic parking featuring fails more often than not; and the touch screen has repeatedly frozen (among other maladies).

To make matter worse, Lyon says that Tesla hasn’t exactly been on top of things when it comes to responding to customer complaints. “It's become clear to me that the car wasn't ready for consumers. The service center is completely unprepared for the kind of problems they're having.”

For its part, Tesla responded to the positive outcome [for Lyon] in the case, writing in an emailed statement, “We are committed to providing an outstanding customer experience throughout ownership. As a principle, we are always willing to buy back a car in the rare event that a customer isn’t completely happy. Today, the majority of Model X owners are loving their cars.”

While Mr. Lyon is saying farewell to his problematic Model X, he still has two other electric vehicles in his garage: a Tesla Model S and a Tesla Roadster.