Tesla Model X Complaints (2021)

40 consumer complaints on file.

#11760103August 27, 2026
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Please see attached letter to Tesla outlining issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11741161May 31, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY
Both Garnish - Fender - Front - LH Right side and Left side come loose when driving in rain. The force of wheels pushing rain water on the fender garnish causes both the left and right fender garnish 4 push clips to come loose. When this fender garnish breaks and flies off it could hit a pedestrian, another car on the road or the car it is installed on causing an accident
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11695485October 24, 2025
STEERING
Steering got stuck on the road while driving. I couldnt move or change lanes. It was really scary. Then I slowed down and then I had tp pull out of the road to the shoulder. Then I waited for 20-30 mins and restarted the car. Then it worked. I was able to go home. I contacted Tesla and they said they need to look into the issue. At the service center, now they are saying they need to replace entire steering system and the cost is 5000. This is not fair and unprofessional. And it is very scary experience.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11694883October 21, 2025
STEERING
Heavy steering warning. Steering gear left hand drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683268August 26, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH
While driving our screen shut down, autopilot and GPS stopped working and the doors would not open. My kids were stuck on multiple occasions and had to climb through the front seats. Tesla has already confirmed that the Driver Assistance System ECU (Turbo A and Turbo B processors) is a known issue. Over 1600 cases reported. This defect disables safety-critical driver-assist functions without warning, which meets the federal definition of a safety defect under 49 U.S.C. § 30102. Provide a free remedy to owners — including replacement at no cost — as required by 49 U.S.C. § 30120. Telsa denied coverage because we are out of warranty. I asked whether the known issue has been reported and why it is not being covered as a known safety defect. Because the problem involves loss of a safety system, it should not be treated as routine maintenance or wear and tear. It is a known safety defect and therefore must be reported and remedied at Tesla’s expense. Tesla refuse to address my concern and would only let me talk to store manager. They told me I had to email business resolutions to get more information. I have not heard back. I was forced to spend $2k to get my car fixed
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11674412July 17, 2025
STEERING
After completing a 17.5-hour, ~1,000-mile non-stop road trip from Florida to Texas using Autopilot with no interventions or issues, the following week this vehicle experienced a sudden and total steering failure while slowly turning through my residential neighborhood. The steering locked up without warning and caused the car to drift partially into the opposing lane. No power steering warning was shown prior to the failure. Tesla Service diagnosed and replaced both the Front Body Controller (Part #1585663-00-C) and the Steering Gear Assembly (Part #1070801-00-F) under warranty. This is an extremely dangerous failure scenario — had it occurred at high speed, the outcome could have been catastrophic. I am reporting this to ensure it’s documented and investigated, as it appears consistent with similar steering failure complaints in 2021+ Model X vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11672170July 9, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driving speed limit of 50 miles an hour on a two lane road and went to push the accelerator pedal and the entire assembly snapped completely off and was unable to continue driving the car
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11668235June 20, 2025
SUSPENSION
Summary: The front suspension defect on my 2021 Model X, confirmed by St. Petersburg Service Center (Invoice #3000S0013156326), presents a serious safety hazard. Timeline & Concern: Reported Dec 4, 2024, under ESA. Example of Tesla’s delay tactics—service was scheduled only after warranty lapsed. Issue diagnosed in May 2025 as a faulty front upper control arm. Safety risk: Failure could lead to loss of control. I request a safety investigation to prevent similar unsafe compromises.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11668225June 20, 2025
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
My car has 50,000 miles on it and is just over 4 years old. The steering column has failed causing it to not be able to steer. The service for this is a new steering column at a cost of over $5,000.00. The Y models and 3 models had a recall on this issue. Now it looks like the X models are having the issue as well. The consumer should not be responsible for this. It is dangerous. It is expensive to fix. A steering column should not fail at 50,000 miles. I am not the only person who has been faced with this issue. Tesla service even confirmed that they are seeing this on the X models. I think an investigation should be done. How many $5,000.00 repairs for safety has the consumer been saddled with?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11664453June 2, 2025
STEERING
Steering assist error code. Car has less than 25,000 miles and Tesla is reporting this is common and the steering rack needs to be replaced and the steering gear left hand drive. Tesla Temecula also said there was a system malfunction that caused it but they do not dig into that they just do the service for $5100. Looking online this is common.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11659206May 6, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
My 2021 Tesla Model X has a serious safety issue with the driver’s door. When opened, the door swings freely with no support or soft-close resistance and can slam shut or fling wide open unexpectedly. This poses a danger to passengers and nearby people or property. I believe this issue may relate to a latch or hinge mechanism malfunction, and I am concerned about the lack of a safety interlock. I have reported this to Tesla, and they have not acknowledged it as a warranty or safety concern. I am submitting this complaint in the interest of safety for myself and other drivers of this model. I have videos and more detail but this site only allows static photos.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11640531February 3, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Windshield cracked due to defrosting; yes available for inspection upon request. If the windshield shatters due to defrosting this is serious safety risk and what can happen while driving is limited less. Vehicle was inspected by Tesla located in Peabody, Massachusetts and the representative stated they are aware, and this is why they tell customers to warm the vehicle up before turning on defrosting, in all the vehicles I've owned windshield cracking from defroster being on has never happened or been an issue. Also through research I found other Tesla owners have experienced similar. No there were no warnings of this happening outside of reading other Tesla owners experiencing this similar situation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635046January 9, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
This complain is regarding the recent recall regarding FSD tesla Smart Summon failures. Incident date June 02, 2024 Car was parked in a parking lot outside a movie theater. I was less than 20 feet away from car with clear visibility, and tried smart summon. Car pulled out of the parking making an acute turn damaging driver side door, and front bumper of car parked next to it. Tesla was contacted immediately regarding this malfunction of smart summon and requested them to stop offering this service to owners as it is dangerous. They took 3 months to conduct an internal investigation but refused to share written results. Instead read a generic statement from their website. Still not received a copy of the investigation. Tesla also refused to take take financial responsibility for the damage and their false claim. Smart Summon is dangerous and Tesla should not be allowed to advertise.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11629420December 7, 2024
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HOOD:LATCH
Unintended, unexpected opening of front frunk hood while driving slowly in a parking lot into a strong wind gust. I did not deploy frunk switch and Secondary latch apparently inoperative
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11620318October 17, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
12v Battery is keep discharging in every two to three months. Tesla service can't find issues or not telling me what is the reason. I have got 5 replacements of 12v battery in last one year. So I think there is a issue in car or bug they are not able to fix it because of limitation. Please let me know how to handle this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11616404September 25, 2024
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Alerts: UI_a020 - Steering Assist Reduced APP_w264 - Lane Departure features unavailable This incident happened suddenly during a normal commute from work to home. It caused the steering of the vehicle to be very heavy and difficult to control which could have potentially led to an unwanted accident on the road. There root cause seems to be a failure in the steering rack component of the car. It is a very common and prevalent issue with Tesla vehicles, and complaints on various Tesla forums and Reddit threads about this same issue. There also has been NHTSA investigations in the past regarding this. The failure caused the loss of safety functionality such as Lane Keeping Assistance, Lane Departure Assistance, Autopilot and FSD. Tesla Service Center diagnosed the alerts as a steering rack hardware failure and is charging almost $5000 to replace the part. Given that this is such a prevalent issue among so many Tesla vehicles, it needs to be addressed by the manufacturer and should be a safety recall and not on the customer to pay out of pocket.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11612318September 3, 2024
STEERING
Steering rack failure: replacement needed for Model X 2021 at approximately 55K miles. From Tesla Service Center: Concern: Customer states: Alerts - Steering assist reduced/Steering may require increased effort. Repair Notes: Performed vehicle data review found alerts for steering rack assembly, inspected steering rack harness connections found good connections, inspected for any outside influence found none. Found steering rack has non-serviceable internal fault. Recommend steering rack assembly replacement and alignment check. Correction: Steering Rack (Remove & Replace) - Remove and Replace Part Quantity and Labor Hours $4,641.46 + taxes
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11595384June 19, 2024
STEERING
I was driving and the car started changing lanes. The steering became heavy and I was barely able to move it and required extreme force. Tesla screen displayed ( steering assist reduced ). I almost died. I was facing cars on both directions and was barely able to get my self to a safe spot. There was no warning before this happened. The car is currently with dealer The steering became acutely extremely heavy and unresponsive and locked on a busy road
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11591867June 1, 2024
STEERING
The steering locked up and it would not move. This happened as I was driving on a road at about 35 miles per hour. I could not steer until I dropped the car speed under 10 miles an hour and using great force was able to navigate the car to safety. I had the car towed to Tesla for repair. They kept it about 4 days and returned it. Within 40 miles of driving the car gave a notification that the steering was "reduced". I was in the car with my [XXX] daughter and about to get on the freeway. I immediately pulled over and had the car towed again to Tesla for repair. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11585512April 26, 2024
STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, SERVICE BRAKES
[XXX] I was driving southbound on [XXX] in Dallas, TX (near [XXX] exit) in Tesla ModelX, with 2 kids in the back seat. It is raining. My speed is around 60-65mph and I am in the rightmost lane. Suddenly the vehicle skids a little, and my steering wheel and brakes are not working anymore. It seemed that the car took complete control and does a full 360 rotation, crossing 4 lanes on the highway. I recall the 10 seconds when I am facing the incoming cars and the only thought I had "this is the end". For whatever reason, the incoming cars slowdown and my tesla makes a full circle, crosses 4 lanes again and gets positioned correctly in the flow of the traffic and in the rightmost lane. my speed now is around 20-30 mph and I suddenly regain control of the brakes and the steering wheel. My kids are crying in the backseat. I still am trying to figure out how and what happened, I cant believe I am alive and I did cry thinking that anything could have happened to my kids. We could have all died on the spot given the rain and how fast the highway traffic goes. I am [XXX] and have been driving for about 30 years. I know how to control minor skidding in rain. I go skiing frequently and can drive on ice (but this was no ice, just water). The only explanation is the malfunction of the Tesla mirrors/cameras (perhaps due to rain water), and taking the wrong decision to swerve the car completely across 4 lanes back and forth. I wish nobody has to go through such life-altering experiences due to a car malfunction, I will never forgive Tesla for the nightmares I still get and the trauma I and my kids had to go through due to the error of a machine. There were no issues before or after with the car, no damage, our tires were relatively new, no police was called. Tesla of course must record incidences like this and they did call me and escalated this to their highest level. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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