Vince Megna (above), the attorney for Robert Montgomery and lemon law expert says Montgomery’s white Tesla S clearly meets Wisconsin’s definition of a lemon. Credit: Courtesy of Vince Megna

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Robert Montgomery paid more than $95,000 to have his white Tesla S delivered to his Franklin home in March 2013.

Now, he's filed what is likely the first lemon law case against luxury electric car maker and Wall Street darling Tesla Motors, which is already facing other legal hurdles in a growing number of states where the company's direct-to-consumer sales are under attack.

Since arriving from Palo Alto, Calif., the car has had major troubles — like not starting, according to his lawsuit. Montgomery had it towed to service centers in Chicago four times. In all, it was out of service 66 days in the first year.

His attorney, Milwaukee lemon law expert Vince Megna, said that the car clearly meets Wisconsin's definition of a lemon, but that Tesla may try to settle the dispute under strict provisions in its five-page sales contract, such as that only California law will control any disputes and that those disputes must be settled in arbitration in California.

"They're the only car company in the world that has you agree to confidentiality when you buy a car, over any problems or claims," Megna said.

And it largely works because, without any dealerships, Tesla is not subject to many state regulations aimed at car dealers.

But Wisconsin's lemon law specifically provides that any waiver of rights a buyer would have under the law is void.

"We're hanging our hat on that nonwaiver provision," he said. "We're willing to test that."

Megna, who ran unsuccessfully for Supreme Court justice in response to the Legislature's tort reform efforts, has taken to making satiric videos about his causes and cases, and released one Monday about the Tesla lawsuit.

Lawsuit lists defects

Montgomery's lawsuit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, lists more than a dozen of what it calls defects and problems with the car — not starting, not going into drive, recessed door handles that do not emerge when touched, faulty battery coolant pumps, faulty steering wheel controls and several electrical problems.

By November, Montgomery had had enough and sought to return his Tesla for a refund under Wisconsin's lemon law. After the company failed to respond, he sued.

Tesla, whose founder Elon Musk also started SpaceX, has been in business 10 years but recently became a raging success. Its Model S was Motor Trend's 2013 Car of the Year, and its stock price took off as the company exceeded sales projections.

The stock was trading at $33 at the start of 2013 and by August had hit $150 and closed about $207 on Monday.

The cars became popular with the environmentally conscious and some celebrities, although the latter didn't always turn out well. Actor George Clooney very publicly criticized his Tesla experience (he owned a now-discontinued roadster model), which he said too often left him stranded on the side of the road. He later auctioned the vehicle for charity.

The company's stock price dipped temporarily late last year after some fires in the car's lithium-ion batteries. No one was injured in the incidents, attributed to drivers running over items that punctured a protective cladding on the car's undercarriage.

Federal safety regulators looked into the fires but closed an investigation after Tesla responded with improved undercarriage armor.