Tesla Tries To Put Suspension Failure Story In Context, Swipes Reporter

Tesla is on the defense about a report its cars are under investigation for suspension failures.

In a Thursday post titled, “A Grain of Salt,” Tesla tried to rein in coverage over the parts of the suspension on Model S cars failing and claims it told customers not to talk about the problems in exchange for repairs.

The initial story was published Wednesday by Edward Niedermeyer on the site Daily Kanban. Niedermeyer cited reports on Tesla forums, including one owner’s story of a 70,000-mile Model S in which a front hub assembly separated from a control arm. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is studying the failure now.

In exchange for covering half of the fix on the out-of-warranty Model S, according to Niedermeyer, the company issued a “Goodwill Agreement,” which it said was to, “ensure that Tesla doesn’t do a good deed, only to have that used against us in court for further gain.” It sounds like a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for repair costs, but Tesla insists preclude the owner from speaking about the case with the NHTSA or other agencies. But possibly just reporters and forum members.

The NHTSA said Thursday other Model S owners had to sign a similar agreement after suspension failures, according to The New York Times, of which 33 complaints have been filed since October. At this time, however, there is no formal investigation into the suspension components and Tesla said in its post it is actively bringing possible issues to the agency’s attention.

But Tesla’s response to Niedermeyer’s story went some way towards taking swipes at his longstanding critical coverage of the company and its vehicles, suggesting he may have something to gain if the company’s stock price falls.

“This is the same gentle soul who previously wrote a blog titled “Tesla Death Watch,” which starting on May 19, 2008 was counting the days until Tesla’s death. It has now been 2,944 days. We just checked our pulse and, much to his chagrin, appear to be alive. It is probably wise to take Mr. Niedermayer’s [sic] words with at least a small grain of salt.”

That’s an unusually stinging official response. But in short, the story isn’t that a relatively new, complex car has issues. It’s in how this relatively new car company is handling the situations as they unfold.