The owner of a brand-new Tesla that cost him $90,000 has expressed his outrage on social media after learning that his expensive car came with a broken airbag that fell out of it just moments after he bought it.
According to a report in The Daily Mail, schoolteacher Ricco Kimbrough documented his experience of buying his Tesla Model S in a series of videos posted to TikTok. However, during the process, he discovered a faulty airbag that had disconnected, putting the driver in extreme danger in the event of a crash.
Airbag Not Attached
At first, the videos show Kimbrough alongside his two parakeets checking out all the vehicle’s features, showing off the car’s popular center console. But in the fifth video, he notices that the airbag is not properly attached to the steering wheel. He tells his TikTok followers: “My airbag just came out.” He tells his followers this is unacceptable and calls it “some cheap baloney.”
In some videos, Kimbrough claimed that the airbag was dangling from the steering wheel. Eventually, he filmed himself returning to the dealership to discuss the issue, and the dealership said they would fix it. He said this reminds people to look at the vehicle they buy to ensure it has no defects.
This is not the first time Tesla has faced scrutiny for shoddy manufacturing. In 2017, a Tesla owner posted a YouTube video detailing every issue in his new Model S. This included a driver-side mirror that could only partially unfold, a door trim that did not line up correctly, and a crooked steering wheel when driving straight. He also reported a rattle from the rear passenger-side door, a defective windshield with horizontal streaks, and a strange yellow line through the display.
The cars have also faced increased scrutiny over its Autopilot driver-assist feature, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) releasing a list of 30 investigations into Tesla crashes, including ten fatal crashes.
Responsibilities of Automakers
We count on automakers to manufacture safe vehicles that can protect us in a crash. In this instance, improper attachment of the airbag during the manufacturing process renders it incapable of protecting vehicle occupants in the event of a crash. As Kimbrough says in his videos, this is unacceptable for any vehicle, let alone a luxury vehicle with a price tag of $90,000, that claims to be safe. Contact an airbag defect attorney to hold the responsible parties accountable if you suffer injuries due to a vehicle fault.
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9721329/New-Tesla-owner-outraged-airbag-90-000-car-falls-hands.html
