[dylan604]

Was the recall a voluntary recall by the company or something the company was told to do by a regulator? To me, recall means much more than just having to have the company replace something. It means they have to do it at their expense. So in this case, it's not as bad for Tesla's bottom line if it is just an OTA update. A recall is something that the car industry is used to doing whenever they have to fix a mistake. I would not be surprised if the industry doesn't have ways of writing those expenses off in taxes or something, so need to be able to specifically itemize the recall work.

[Animats]

> Was the recall a voluntary recall by the company or something the company was told to do by a regulator?

"Voluntary recall" in this case means that Tesla did not choose to take the hard route where there's a court order for a mandatory recall. Few manufacturers fight that, because customers then get letters from the Government telling them their product is defective and that it should be returned for repair or replacement.

Somebody in the swallowable magnet toy business fought this all the way years ago.[1] They lost. It's still a problem.

[1] https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Education-Cente...

[londons_explore]

Nearly all recalls are voluntary. But the NHTSA advises the company that if they don't do a voluntary recall, the NHTSA will do a compulsory recall.

A voluntary recall is easier and cheaper for all involved.

[mike_d]

Almost all car recalls are voluntary because once it becomes a mandatory recall the government can require them to provide a buyback option to the vehicle owner.

[dylan604]

oh, that would be amazeballs to have Tesla reimburse the cost of the FSD purchase. i never drank the Tesla kool-aid, so it would be good karma to see them get dinged for the snake-oil they've sold as FSD

[mike_d]

Oh no, it wouldn't be a FSD buyback, it would be a car buyback at damn near purchase price... which is why manufactures avoid it at all costs.

§ 30120(a)(1)(A)(iii) by refunding the purchase price, less a reasonable allowance for depreciation.