NHTSA Complaint #11607733 — 2017 TESLA MODEL X

April 2024: Tesla Model X repeatedly failed to download firmware updates, although offered via the car’s UI. The car uses the connected WiFi to download several gigabytes of data every month, but ultimately does not apply any updates. This is a serious safety issue, since it prevents all future software update recalls from being available to this vehicle. May 15, 2024: Tesla failed to fix this issue through remote diagnosis, and requested a service center visit. Tesla engineers diagnosed the vehicle at the Burlingame CA Service Center, and spoke to me on the phone that the root cause was a recent firmware upgrade that has permanently bricked the ECU unit, which now needs to be replaced. Since this ECU unit is not user-accessible or user-serviceable, there is no way for this to have been caused by the customer. Tesla quoted $2048 to fix it, out of pocket, even though this damage was not caused by the customer, or related to regular wear-and-tear, but (as acknowledged by Tesla) caused due to a faulty firmware update issued by Tesla themselves. May 17, 2024: After pointing this out to them, Tesla managers called me, offering to discount the repair by 25%. Many similar complaints about the exact same part (ECU unit) and the same mode of failure (bricked after buggy firmware update) can be found shared online by others. This is a systemic issue, and not a one-off failure for my car alone. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] All I am requesting is that Tesla fix this issue at their own cost and make my purchase whole, but Tesla has not honored that request so far. Thank you! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)