The Court of Appeal in Antwerp has decided that Tesla must repay a Belgian customer his Model S P100D, worth 158 600 euros. According to experts, there were severe shortcomings in driving comfort and safety. On top of that, the company has obstructed the investigation, the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws writes.

Four years ago, the man bought the vehicle, but the car showed one defect after another from day one. Due to malfunctioning sensors, the automatic parking function did not work. The tailgate was poorly locked, and the car ‘phantom braked’ – for no apparent reason. The display sometimes cut out, and the charging port wouldn’t open.

Limited and filtered log data

According to the newspaper, the court is concerned that Tesla did not cooperate properly with the investigation. The company did not share data about the car with the appointed expert. Only after repeated insistence did Tesla provide some limited and self-filtered log data.

And the log files the company sent from the US were incomplete and contained other information, indicating that Tesla was trying to cover up mistakes or incriminating details, the court said.

Court of Appeal in Antwerp

So now, after a four-year struggle, the Court of Appeal in Antwerp agrees with the man and obliges Tesla to take back the car at the purchase price of 158 600 euros. Tesla is appealing in cassation.