Tesla has just recalled over 475,000 cars in the United States over camera and trunk issues. Basically, if you use your Model 3 trunk a little too much, the backup camera can stop working. Up front in the Model S, the “frunk” can pop open. Not ideal!
Tesla is planning to recall all Model 3 vehicles made between 2017 and 2020, Bloomberg reports, a total of 356,309 cars. Those are the ones impacted by that rear trunk issue. Open and close the trunk too much, and you can damage the cable harness for the rear-view camera, which means you won’t have the backup camera displayed on your infotainment screen.
The company is also recalling as many as 119,009 Model S models assembled from 2014. Why? The front-trunk’s latch can fail, causing the hood (or frunklid?) to open unexpectedly while driving.
There are 475,318 total vehicles involved in this recall, which is just shy of the 499,550 vehicles that Tesla delivered in 2020.
Tesla has said that it will fix both issues for free, which is what automakers are supposed to do in the event of a recall. Unfortunately, Tesla has a storied history of slow repairs, with some customers waiting months to get into Tesla’s handful of repair shops. On San Francisco Gate article describes six-month waits to have repairs taken care of at Tesla-operated repair centers, which can be the only shops that will service a Tesla in the event of an insurance claim. Similar issues have been described in The Guardian and Business Insider.
Long waits for repairs aren’t everyone’s experience — some buyers have had repairs in mere days — but a sudden influx of cars needing repairs due to a massive recall could cause a long backup.