Steering wheel falls off a new Tesla Y while driving on a highway

Good thing this has never happened to any other carmaker, right? Surely it would also have been HN front page news, especially if it affected thousands of cars!<p>&gt; Ford is recalling 1.4 million vehicles because the steering wheels can become loose and even come off while driving.<p>&gt; The automaker says it is aware of two accidents and one injury that may have been caused by the problem.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;money.cnn.com&#x2F;2018&#x2F;03&#x2F;14&#x2F;news&#x2F;companies&#x2F;ford-steering-wheel-recall&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;money.cnn.com&#x2F;2018&#x2F;03&#x2F;14&#x2F;news&#x2F;companies&#x2F;ford-steerin...</a><p>&gt; Rivian recalls all of its vehicles for steering wheel troubles<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pocnetwork.net&#x2F;technology-news&#x2F;rivian-recalls-all-of-its-vehicles-for-steering-wheel-troubles&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pocnetwork.net&#x2F;technology-news&#x2F;rivian-recalls-al...</a><p>etc...<p>Of course steering wheels shouldn&#x27;t fall off. But the comments here are already full of people under the impression that this incident proves Tesla is uniquely bad, and it&#x27;s just silly. A few seconds Googling will tell you that most carmakers have had either isolated incidents or even widespread recalls of steering wheels that can fall off, or very similar problems such as the wheel disconnecting from the steering mechanism. Just on the front page of Google results I also see Mercedes and GM and Toyota. Turns out perfection in manufacturing hasn&#x27;t been achieved yet, by anyone.

For perspective, in case the reader has never had need to pull a steering wheel, there is a special tool for the removal of every steering wheel I&#x27;ve ever removed. Because even after you remove the giant-ass nut holding it to the steering column, the steering wheel is (supposed to be) pressed on firmly enough that you will <i>not</i> be removing it by hand. Let alone have the damned thing fall off in your hands. (Exception: if I wiggle hard enough, I can get the steering wheel off our &#x27;81 VW camper without a puller.)<p>In other words, Tesla manufacturing didn&#x27;t give the nut enough torque at manufacturing time. How that&#x27;s not automated with a preset gun&#x2F;wrench&#x2F;whatever, I have no idea. Or maybe someone just spun the nut on by hand and it never got the wrench.<p>Oh. I just looked at a video on how to get the steering wheel off. There&#x27;s just a big Allen bolt holding the steering wheel on, and then the video author simply wiggled the it off the steering column. Man, I&#x27;m not so sure I like that, and this story seems to back me up. On the other hand, it could be the video author has a defective Tesla as well, and you really are supposed to need a puller. :-)

The Model Y owner stated that they were billed for the repair.<p>Two weeks ago I took my new Model 3 to Tesla and was also billed for a warranty repair. They removed the charge but only after I complained.<p>My opinion of Tesla has really declined since the purchase of my first Tesla in 2019. Probably will never buy another.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM</a><p><i>[Interviewer:] Well, if this wasn’t safe, why did it have 80,000 tonnes of oil on it?<p>[Senator Collins:] Well, I’m not saying it wasn’t safe, it’s just perhaps not quite as safe as some of the other ones.<p>[Interviewer:] Why?<p>[Senator Collins:] Well, some of them are built so the front doesn’t fall off at all.<p>[Interviewer:] Wasn’t this built so the front wouldn’t fall off?<p>[Senator Collins:] Well, obviously not.<p>[Interviewer:] “How do you know?”<p>[Senator Collins:] Well, ‘cause the front fell off, and 20,000 tons of crude oil spilled into the sea, caught fire. It’s a bit of a give-away.” I would just like to make the point that that is not normal.<p>[Interviewer:] Well, what sort of standards are these oil tankers built to?<p>[Senator Collins:] Oh, very rigorous … maritime engineering standards.<p>[Interviewer:] What sort of things?<p>[Senator Collins:] Well the front’s not supposed to fall off, for a start.</i>

I sent this to my 16 year old who is a huge Elon&#x2F;Tesla fan. He has been trying to convince me to buy a Tesla for years, and his response was too perfect:<p><pre><code> It’s self draining it doesn’t need a wheel</code></pre>

I mean come on, this is clearly driver error, if he would have purchased the full self driving package for the totally reasonable price of $15,000 then he wouldn’t have needed to use his steering wheel on the highway at all and this whole situation could have been avoided.

I was a Tesla skeptic for years, then I rented a Model 3 on Turo about a year after it was first released, and was hugely impressed. It really is a fantastic car by any standard: quiet, smooth, powerful, precise steering and good handling, etc. I thought the center screen and overall control scheme was innovative and a thoughtful way to keep costs down, and I was impressed by some of the other innovative tech (no analog fuses, etc.) I bought one and was super happy with it for three years, then sold it during the pandemic.<p>But I don&#x27;t know what has happened to Tesla since then. The Model Y is nice, but just a slightly inflated Model 3. The Model S and Model X refreshes are unimpressive and the basic design of those cars is over a decade old now.<p>The Tesla Roadster never shipped, despite them taking $50k deposits on them. They&#x27;ve only &quot;delivered&quot; a few hand-made Semis. The Cybertruck is a joke and apparently vaporware. &quot;FSD&quot; is technically impressive but nowhere near usable and probably has no path to ever get there.<p>I think Musk pulled together a really impressive team and probably managed to burn them all out or scare them all off to get the Model 3 shipped, and they&#x27;re just coasting since then.

Apparently faked: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;wk057&#x2F;status&#x2F;1620249680469954561" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;wk057&#x2F;status&#x2F;1620249680469954561</a>

I had a Renault Clio (bought new) where the steering cut out on the motorway. Not just the power steering dead but also the steering lock on. Luckily it was daytime, quiet and on a long straight stretch. I was able to disengage the clutch and the handbreak (and breaks which worked but not well). Pulled the key out + on again and it unlocked.<p>Happened twice in our journey, the second time I was driving very defensively (leaving lots of space and not changing lane) and reacted quickly.<p>It was the first and last French-made car I&#x27;ve owned.<p>Then there was the VW Polo I had whose main brakes failed coming off of the motorway. That was crazy scary, had to use a combination of the handbreak and going off-road to stop in time.

Can anyone explain why the Tesla build quality is so bad compared to established giants?<p>Cost cutting? Higher US wages? Too little technical know how?

I wonder what the job title is of the Tesla employee searching the car&#x27;s log data right now, trying to find something with which to smear the author of the tweet.

Nothing says &quot;build quality problems&quot; quite like a car rolling off the assembly line that would fit into a &quot;I Think You Should Leave&quot; skit

That response from the service centre is the chefs kiss. &quot;Why have you sent this Tesla in for service?&quot;

&gt; Payment Due: $103.96<p>Not only exceptional build quality, but such customer service to boot!<p>trash

Standard Tesla build quality, nothing to see here.

No need for a wheel, its on auto pilot anyways.

At least the front didn&#x27;t fall off.

You don&#x27;t need it anyway, it&#x27;s self-driving.

Why is this on HN?

We&#x27;re still submitting Tweets as HN stories, huh?