• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Tesla owner locked out of his car until he pays $26,000 for a new battery

Home> Technology> News

Published 12:07 24 Dec 2023 GMT

Tesla owner locked out of his car until he pays $26,000 for a new battery

The car locked him out until he paid for an extremely expensive new battery

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

The owner of a Tesla said that he ended up locked out of his car, unless he bought a new battery.

In a video posted to TikTok Mario Zelaya from Canada labelled his $140,000 Tesla a 'piece of trash'.

The video showed that the car had locked itself automatically after the battery had died. With no power for the doors, there was no getting in.

Advert

On a car with old-fashioned manual doors the situation could be resolved by simply opening the door, or calling a locksmith if you lose your keys, but that was not possible here.

And Mario was fuming after finding out that a new battery would set him back a whopping $26,000.

He captioned the video: "$26K for a new battery. Locked out of car. Recalls are needed."

Things got so bad that he decided to sell the car, as he didn't think it was worth the high price tag for a replacement.

Advert

There was just one problem. The proof of ownership papers for the vehicle were, you guessed it, inside the car.

The owner was left furious after being locked out of his car.
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Luckily, he was able to pay $30 to get a second copy of the ownership papers.

He had purchased the Tesla in 2013, but the models from that year and 2014 have an issue where fluid leaks onto the battery, which can cause huge problems.

Advert

The motorist added: "I got Transport Canada involved, and they actually did an investigation on the car. Not only did they do an investigation on this car, they're gonna be doing one that Tesla doesn't realise is coming up."

He explained that he's now been in contact with another Tesla owner who has experienced exactly the same problem.

"Tesla's trying to sweep it under the rug," he said. "They won't give them any explanation of why their battery died."

He said the pre-existing problem in the models was being exacerbated by the fact that Tesla services do not include a check of the very expensive battery.

Advert

The motorist said he had to resort to selling the car.
ent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

"I'll never buy another Tesla again," he said. "That's the long way of me saying stay the f**k away from Teslas. They're brutal cars, brutal manufacturing, and even worse, they're a 10-year-old company."

Thankfully for Zelaya, he was able to sell the unwanted car, and he revealed in another TikTok that the new owner plans to take the vehicle apart to charge it.

"That's going to be the end of my Tesla journey. It's out of my life. Keep it out of yours," he said.

Advert

As reported by Fox News, Zelaya is far from the first person to speak out against the cars, and in August, Norwegian owners desperately tried to get Elon Musk's attention about problems with their cars by going on hunger strike.

UNILAD has reached out to Tesla for comment.

Featured Image Credit: TikTok / @supermariozelaya/Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor

Topics: News, US News, Tesla

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • The ultimate TV and takeaway pairings revealed, backed by science
  • Tesla owner says he’s been locked out of his car until he pays $26,000 for a new battery
  • Tesla Cybertruck's sharp design raises major safety concerns according to experts
  • Tesla self-driving car blamed for eight vehicle pile up

Choose your content:

2 days ago
3 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    People left mind-blown after watching Hubble telescope image of a star exploding over 10,000,000 lightyears away

    One Redditor claimed the images were their 'favorites ever captured' in space

    Technology
  • 2 days ago

    Expert shares three jobs young people should start training to do now to beat AI in the future

    A new report has shown a drastic rise in the use of AI in the workforce

    Technology
  • 3 days ago

    Urgent warning issued for 86,000,000 mobile service customers to act now as hackers sell stolen data

    Cybersecurity experts have issued a warning to customers who are impacted

    Technology
  • 3 days ago

    James Webb Space Telescope's stunning image of 'Sombrero Galaxy' has people saying 'we can't be alone in the universe'

    Brace yourself for an existential crisis...

    Technology