A Quebec Superior Court judge has refused Tesla Canada's bid to undo a default judgment over a Model X that burned in Montreal, leaving the company on the hook for the C$161,700 insurer Intact Assurance paid the owner. Justice Ian Demers's ruling, reported Oct. 9 and picked up more widely on Monday, Oct. 12, turns on a thin defense: a Tesla employee told the court that car fires are "generally" caused by misuse or vandalism, without bringing data to back it up.

What burned, and when

Owner Sacha De Santis was driving a 2020 Model X through Montreal's Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough around 1 a.m. on March 5, 2023, with his partner beside him, according to contemporaneous local reporting cited by Electrek and Drive Tesla Canada. Shortly after they turned on the heat, smoke filled the cabin. They stopped, got out with their belongings, and within about five minutes the SUV was engulfed and written off as a total loss. Montreal police concluded in 2023 that the fire was not criminal.

Intact paid De Santis C$161,700 and sued Tesla Canada for reimbursement, arguing the vehicle was still under Tesla's basic vehicle limited warranty in Canada (4 years or 80,000 km). The fire came roughly three years after the Model X entered service. An expert report filed with the court traced the fire to the passenger side of the dashboard and called a premature electrical failure "probable."

Default judgment, then a weak attempt to undo it

Intact won a default judgment against Tesla in June 2026 after Tesla failed to respond in time. Tesla then asked the court to retract that judgment. That is when the employee's misuse-or-vandalism explanation entered the record. Justice Demers rejected the request, writing that Tesla had not raised "the slightest serious" defense and had made the claim without relying on any data, Charge News and Electrek report (translations from the French ruling).

The decision refuses to set aside the default judgment; it is not a full trial that independently proves what caused the fire. Tesla Canada did not comment to the Journal de Montréal, per Electrek. Intact declined to comment and noted the appeal deadline had not yet expired when the Canadian outlets published on Oct. 9.

What it does and doesn't mean

One warranty fight over one burned Model X does not make the model a fire hazard. Tesla's own Vehicle Fire Safety Report still claims far fewer fires per mile than the average U.S. vehicle, and Electrek notes Tesla tracks those numbers closely. The point of this case is narrower: when Intact put an expert report and a warranty argument on the table, Tesla answered with an unsupported generalization instead of a counter-expert or its own fire data.

For owners: Canadian basic warranty remains 4 years / 80,000 km. If a car under warranty is totaled by a fire and police rule out crime, document everything and expect the insurer, not you, to fight Tesla if Tesla disputes the claim. Tesla can still appeal this ruling. We'll note any appeal if it lands.