One of the administrators of Australia’s largest Tesla The ownership group on Facebook started a GoFundMe following his death Model 3 With over 417,000 km on the clock, the car broke down.
On Friday, January 30, Nathan Merritt’s high mileage 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range+ completely shut down while charging in Brisbane.
Since he didn’t have access to his vehicle, he called Tesla Roadside, who were there in about 45 minutes and replaced the low-voltage battery, only to find problems with the high-voltage package. The vehicle then had to be towed away for repairs.
“Throughout all of my posts, several community members have indicated that they would be willing to spend some money on the repairs to make this vehicle well past the 500,000 km mileage mark. I also fully believe that this will be possible,” his GoFundMe states.
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Mr. Merritt has been a rideshare driver for over 10 years and purchased his first Tesla in December 2020. His grandfather loaned him $20,000 to help him make the purchase.
He is one of four listed admins Tesla owner Australia He is an active poster, regularly updating owners not only on the ride of their own vehicle, but also on general Tesla news, including updates on the company and the local Supercharger network.
To date (Monday, February 2), Mr. Merritt has raised $1,427 toward his $1,800 goal thanks to a total of 24 donations ranging from $5 to $500. The two largest donations – $417 and $500, respectively – come from anonymous donors.
GoFundMe pages are often created for people who are suffering from illnesses or have recently lost a loved one. It is not uncommon for a fund to be created to finance costly car repairs, although many of the funds currently listed on the crowdfunding site were created on behalf of someone else.
Mr Merritt’s original post on Facebook on Saturday, January 31, received 571 comments, with the top comment receiving 436 follow-up comments and reading: “As it is a business expense, Gofundme is personally in poor taste in my opinion.”
Comments have since been disabled and users of other Tesla Facebook groups have reported being banned from posting.
Mr. Merritt posted yesterday on Tesla owner Australia Addressing users’ concerns, it claimed that a “large” portion of the comments came from new members of the public Facebook group.
“During my posts, many different community members commented and suggested that I create a GoFundMe. To ‘assist’ with the overall repairs, I decided to create one and see what community members thought,” he said in his post.
“I never mentioned that individuals were ‘obliged’ to contribute, it was an option for those who wanted it, nothing more. I sincerely appreciate everyone who contributed any amount to it.”
“I also need to express some false information I was recently informed of regarding our ‘Tesla Powerwalls’ on our property. These units were ‘paid for’ not ‘gifted’. Anyone spreading this false information needs to get their facts straight.”
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As of February 2, 2026, the ownership group has over 116,100 members, significantly more than any other Australian Tesla group.
According to Mr. Merritt’s GoFundMe, the group he moderated had over 117,000 members, suggesting that several hundred have left the group since the crowdfunding site went live.
While there are several voices supporting Mr. Merritt in his original post, there are also a number of criticisms – comprising hundreds of comments – with many pointing to the high mileage of the moderator’s Tesla, that repairs could be at least partially claimed as a business expense, and that when he started the crowdfunding page, he did not yet have an estimated cost of the repairs.
“Take some equity out of your house to pay for it. Obviously you’ve owned it for several years with all your electrical walls. Every house in Brisbane has fetched hundreds of thousands in the last five years,” says one user.
“Take out 15 grand, you won’t notice, and you’ll be back online and running your business, and it’s just a hiccup.
“Asking your group for money, even when it’s obviously optional, is in bad taste and is currently getting the reaction it deserves.”
“Dude, just record it and say you got that wrong. Because in the nicest way possible – you did,” said another commenter.
“What did you think when you saw people starting to pay for their vacation? That’s the door you’re knocking on right now.
“We all make mistakes and that’s okay. Just own it, apologize and move on. Certainly banning people for disagreeing doesn’t help.”
“Mate, you lost me! This is so inappropriate. You talked about the savings you’ve made over combustion engine vehicles and then when a potentially important component fails, you want others to fund it? Please don’t do that,” read another comment.
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Mr. Merritt says he will keep the community updated on the repair work on his Model 3.
