In May, Nizar Kamel discovered the first cracks in the Tesla Model Y and posted his discovery on social media. He said he discovered the cracks when, after complaints from other Model Y owners, he checked to see if the cap was properly attached to the brake fluid reservoir (the latter was not a problem in this case).
Cracks appeared on Tesla’s front casting, more precisely around the suspension subframe, which is the only element of this type made of aluminum. This doesn’t shed any good light on Tesla’s new manufacturing process, in which the ominous part is not made by welding several elements together, but as a single piece, in a casting. This has the advantage of being easier and even cheaper to produce.
Hello @Tesla My 2023 Model Y has cracks on the front end cast metal, is this normal? @elonmusk Any thoughts on this build quality? #Tesla #model #teslahelp pic.twitter.com/arfr2QRmkr
— Nizar Kamel (@Nizzysaurus) August 24, 2023
Previously, a similar problem occurred in Berlin, Germany, which otherwise could have failed the entire subframe. Kamel told Autoevolution about the phenomenon, which doesn’t affect a large number of Texas-built Y models, but admits that even after months of searching, he didn’t expect such a fundamental mistake.
However, he turned to Tesla in vain, and despite a service request filed in May, the Model Y has not been repaired since. The car was inspected by a service technician in July, but the owner doesn’t think his problem is being taken seriously enough. “The service center manager repeatedly said that “the machine can be safely driven,” and the engineers also assured me that it was “safe”.” Kamel waved it off. Moreover, this was not given to him in writing, at least he did not receive any official document from Tesla that would confirm that it was really safe for him to drive.
Judging by the photos posted on social networks, the cracks are not small. Carscoops contacted Tesla about the incident but has not received any response since.