Australian woman's Tesla horror story: 'The bottom line is it's a lemon'

An Australian Tesla owner has shared her struggles with owning the electric vehicle, but insists she still loves the technology behind the car.

Anne Bishop purchased a second-hand 2015 Model S from Tesla for $93,000 in 2018.

But over the following years, Ms Bishop had to tow her car on four occasions, each time covering up to 500 kilometres.

In one incident, while seven months pregnant, she had to climb out of the Tesla's window because the door handles had malfunctioned.

Additional issues, including a malfunctioning rear motor and media control unit, led Ms Bishop to file a case with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal last month, seeking a partial refund from Tesla.

'The bottom line is it's a lemon,' she told News.com.au.

Her claim to the tribunal accuses Tesla of repeatedly misrepresenting Australian Consumer Law through inadequate fault logs, refusing to put statements in writing, and failing to provide documentation about the car's maintenance.

'My last car was a $13,800 Toyota Echo,' she said. 'It went for 13 years utterly flawlessly, never had so much as an unexpected repair. I expected much better from Tesla.'

But despite the legal battle with Tesla, she said she wouldn't want to drive anything else'.

'It is the best car I will ever own, but it has also been the most terrifyingly unreliable,' Ms Bishop said.

Her claims drew the attention of Aussie car expert John Cadgoan, who said the brand was among the least reliable in the world.

'They've changed the future of transportation. We agree on this point only, I would argue not for the better,' he said in a video posted to Youtube.

The car expert slammed Ms Bishop for her support of the company despite going through 'unreliability hell'. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted Tesla for comment.