Pay the Elon Tax: Tesla Owner Claims He Is Locked Out of His Car Until He Pays $26,000 for New Battery

A Canadian Tesla owner claims that after the battery on his $140,000 car died, the automaker told him a replacement would cost $26,000 and locked him out of the vehicle until he pays for a new one.

Fox Business reports that Mario Zelaya, a Canadian Tesla owner, posted a video to TikTok recently stating that his “piece of trash” car died and that the car is locked, stopping him from even entering the vehicle. The caption on the video states: “$26K for a new battery. Locked out of car. Recalls are needed.”

The Tesla owner alleges that the battery on his $140,000 vehicle died and that the electric automaker told him a replacement one would cost $26,000.

Zelaya said that he purchased the car in 2o13 but that models from that year and 2014 had issues with fluid from the air conditioning system leaking into the battery. Zelaya said: “I got Transport Canada involved, and they actually did an investigation on the car. Not only did they do an investigation on this car, they’re gonna be doing one that Tesla doesn’t realize is coming up.”

Zelaya said that he reached out to another Tesla owner who had the same issue with the car battery. Zelaya stated that Tesla canceled that owner’s Uber credits while the vehicle was undergoing service. “Tesla’s trying to sweep it under the rug,” he said. “They won’t give them any explanation of why their battery died.”

He further alleged that when Tesla owners get their vehicles serviced, the battery is not checked, saying Tesla has no incentive to do so. Zelaya said that he is one year outside his warranty period and wants to sell the car but that he can’t as his ownership papers are in the car, which he cannot access as the vehicle is locked. He says that he was instead forced to pay $30 to receive new papers.

“I’ll never buy another Tesla again,” he said. “That’s the long way of me saying stay the (expletive) away from Teslas. They’re brutal cars, brutal manufacturing, and even worse, they’re a 10-year-old company.”

In another video, Zelaya said that he sold the car and that someone would be picking it up from his driveway. The apparent buyer was then recorded taking the car apart from the front bumper and charging it.

“That’s going to be the end of my Tesla journey. It’s out of my life. Keep it out of yours,” Zelaya said.

Read more at Fox Business here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan