Tesla Model S Complaints

470 consumer complaints on file.

#11584865April 24, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, STEERING
The horn is in a difficult place to access compared to ALL other vehicles in the USA making it a safety concern and hazard will driving should an emergency arise and you can’t get to the horn quickly. This has happened to me driving the 2022 Tesla Model S and I could not get to the horn swerving violently to avoid a collision.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11584127April 19, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
There is a police report but I'm not in possession of it. Therefore I selected no below to get it passed this page. I recently sold my 2016 Tesla model S and purchased a 2023 Model S. Tesla has moved the horn on the Model S from the center where it can quickly be used in an emergency to a small icon to the right hand side of the steering wheel. This horn is impossible to use in an emergency. It is a gray icon with no physical or other attributes. The driver must take their eyes off the emergency, locate the small icon among 4 other icons on the black surface, then get your finger perfectly on it to press, otherwise you activate your wipers worsening a bad situation. I have been in several near accidents because of this. It includes an elderly couple who were t-boned directly in front of me. I was unable to use the horn which would prevented the accident. The elderly couple were injured with blood strewn in the car where her arm was gashed open. Even simple situations such as a car backing out of the space in a parking lot can't be quickly prevented. Tesla how has a steering "wheel" with the horn back in the middle where it can be safely used, but they refuse to refit the cars with the unsafe horn. I have pushed this issue with Tesla and they agree many people have complained about the the unsafe horn. Tesla states they will charge $2800 to fix the problem. This must be recalled to prevent many more accidents. It should have never been implemented.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583611April 17, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This vehicle does not have a fully functional horn. To activate the horn, you must press a tiny area located in the upper right part of the yoke. The area to activate the horn is less than 1-inch wide. The horn is virtually worthless when you need it such as when someone is running a light or changing into your lane, etc. Because you can't find the horn activation area in an emergency, you are unable to warn others about dangers as you are required to do by Texas law. This has been corrected in later made Model S and they now have the horn sound by pressing anywhere in the large area in the center of the yoke. I've brought this to Tesla's attention but they refuse to repair or replace the yoke. They will do so at a cost of $2,300. Ironically, they will replace the yoke under warranty if the yoke's cover is peeling or cracking - a known defect. Cosmetic - they fix. Safety - they refuse to fix. Please consider issuing a notice to Tesla that they fix the horns on their 2022 Model S.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583445April 17, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This vehicle has a flawed design for the horn. It has been relocated away from the center of the steering wheel to a small section (1") of a plastic panel on the "spoke" of the steering wheel. It is extremely difficult to locate this spot, particularly in an emergency (what horns are for in the first place...). A vehicle backed into me while I was stopped at a traffic signal and I was unable to alert that vehicle of my presence. They struck my vehicle and caused damage. Thankfully no one was hurt (this time) and the damage was minimal. This design is flawed and is destined to lead to unnecessary traffic accidents and injured or killed occupants. It is unbelievable that such a design has been allowed for a vehicle.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583121April 15, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This car does not have a traditional horn that is the center of the steering wheel. Instead, it is a button on the steering wheel with no tactile bump or other indication that your thumb is on the button. I have had a few instances where I need to honk the horn at a driver pulling out in front of me and was unable to activate the horn in time because I had to take my eyes off the road to find the horn button so I could press it. This is a significant safety issue because the horn is much less useful and it requires the driver to take his/her eyes off the road at a critical time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582920April 14, 2024
STEERING, SUSPENSION, SERVICE BRAKES
RECALL ISSUE FOR MY VEHICLE. HAVE BEEN HAVING ISSUES WITH THE AUTO STEER/AUTO PILOT THAT COMES IN THE CAR. THE AUTO STEER AUTOMATICALLY GOES OFF AND WHENEVER YOU MAKE A TURN, THERE'S A WEIRD SOUND.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582617April 12, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Left Turn Signal Button About 1 in 20 times, the left turn signal button on the steering wheel does not register a press. Pressing multiple times in multiple places on the left arrow icon makes no difference. If I click the right button and then the left it's fine. Or, if I try later, the left button will work again for a while This has happened many times over the past several weeks
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11580942April 3, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Passenger side headlight, daytime running light portion, is flickering, approximately 1-2 times a minute. I only noticed this as I parked in a dark garage with my lights on, seeing the light flickering against the wall. There is no warning from my car telling me this is happening. This is a safety issue because headlights are a safety feature. If my headlight is going on and off, it will affect my visibility, as well as the visibility of my car to other drivers/pedestrians on the road. I notified Tesla, they had mobile technician come to my house, he visually confirmed this issue, and he subsequently replaced the entire headlight. After the replacement, I noticed that this did not resolve the issue. I notified Tesla and they had me bring in my car to service center for inspection. Per tesla tech service summary: "identified customer concern as a known characteristic with no resolution available at this time. Please maintain regular WIFI connection to ensure timely downloads of future firmware updates. No repairs recommended at this time". I need this issue resolved, I do not feel safe driving my car. Tesla is not repairing the issue and has no clear timeframe as to when this issue will be fixed. I attached 2 photos from my video capture showing when the light is on and off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11580793April 2, 2024
SUSPENSION
Took my Tesla S Plaid in for a tire rotation and found out that my Tesla model S Plaid cannot be rotated because the tires are worn deeply on the rear left side, the vehicle only has 12,928 miles on it. The Costco representative say it’s unsafe to drive and the tires need to be replaced. The inner side wall was shredded so contacted Tesla and they stated you need an alignment and new tires. I informed them that it’s a new car and I have not done anything wrong with them, such as going off a curb or hit something to cause such a defect, the alignment specs are defective from the manufacturer, with a little more research from online sources, everyone with a Tesla model X and S are having the same issues at 10,000 miles. They state that the rear camber is not within spec and requires a camber kit to fix the issue. I strongly agree that it’s defective from the manufacturer if many others are having the same issue. If I did not get an alignment at 12k miles the tires could have blown on the freeway, thank god I got it checked. I have attached a photo of the left rear tire and a photo of the right rear tire to compare, this is at 12, 928 miles on the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11579491March 26, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Lack of blinker stalk: After driving this vehicle since September 2022, buttons in place of a blinker stalk are dangerous. In real driving conditions, there are many times I have to take my eyes off the road to look at the wheel and make sure I'm pressing the correct blinker button. Often times when I think my fingers are in the right position, I'd like to shift right but wind up pressing the left blinker button and vice versa. I always thought it was me not being aware until I saw other Tesla drivers do the same. Lack of center horn: For the Model S, the center horn is not active. Instead you need to press a tiny button to activate the horn. This is also very dangerous since you have a split second to alert other drivers but you have to take your eyes off the road to activate the horn. Tesla's solution to "mash" the right controls on the wheel will activate the horn is terrible. I usually wind up activating the wipers or voice recognition when I follow that suggestion. Rear passenger door emergency release: The location of the rear door emergency release is located behind a small cutout of the rug behind your legs. In case of emergency, time is wasted having to explain to find the cut out, open the cut out, look for a wire and pull. No trunk emergency release: That's right... There is no interior trunk release. If you get stuck in the trunk, you cannot release/open it from the inside. You will have to somehow fold down the rear seats and crawl into the back seats to exit. I'd be glad to speak with someone in more details or provide specific pictures upon request.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11579075March 23, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
I recently encountered a problem with my Tesla where the drivers door opened on its own while operating the vehicle. Tesla reported it was a faulty door handle. I am concerned that the software interlocks related to the door operation have anomalies that create a safety hazard fo car occupants.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11579072March 23, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving Southeast on [XXX] between Gallup, NM and Albuquerque, NM. I was traveling at 75 MPH on an open road, it was a sunny day. I had the adaptive cruise control engaged (ACC). Literally no traffic in front of me for as far as the eye can see. Nothing that would cause an alert or obstruction in front of the car. The Tesla was on ACC and suddenly braked, hard. I immediately disengaged the ACC and drove manually. It was a frightening incident. If there had been traffic behind me, it would have resulted in a crash, as I would have been rear ended. If the traffic had been a truck behind us, we would probably have sustained extreme injuries. 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
#11578911March 22, 2024
VISIBILITY/WIPER, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driving in a snow storm, and it requires complete visual attention to remain in lane and maintain a safe distance behind car in front. But you also need to manage wipers and defrost controls. Since this car has no console buttons and no stalk controls, adjusting anything requires looking away from the road for a significant length of time. Changing wiper setting requires using the right hand to press the correct steering wheel button (which requires looking at it) and then adjusting the settings with a scroll wheel using the left hand while watching the dashboard screen. Changing defrost setting requires invoking a menu button on the main screen, then visually locating the correct control on the screen. Again, significant time is spent looking away from the road, which in these conditions is hazardous. A second issue is with turn signals. Since there is no stalk control, turn signals are controlled using buttons on the steering wheel. When navigating a round-a-bout, the driver is required to use the turn signal to indicate the desire to exit. But the steering wheel is upside down, so the correct turn signal button cannot be located. I believe that this car is hazardous due to its lack of stalk controls and reliance on screen menus for normal operations. I am not allowed to do things on my phone screen when driving, yet this car requires me to do essentially that.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11577803March 16, 2024
STEERING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Tesla's decision to place the horn activation within a button on the steering wheel has impeded my ability to safely activate the horn in pretty much every emergency situation. It requires a glance down to find the button every time. This pulls focus off of the road and situation at-hand, posing major risk to all parties involved and increasing the chance of catastrophe. Further, the turn signals being put onto the steering wheel pose a similar risk, again drawing focus off the road to locate and activate the desired indicator direction. Worse yet, there is risk of indicating the wrong direction if attention must be focused on the road in busy intersections. Both of these items make this vehicle dangerous to drive, in comparison to a conventional vehicle, and has placed me and my family into harm's way multiple times. I strongly feel that Tesla should rectify this and retrofit these vehicles with the safety gear in the proper location.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11577236March 13, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The blinkers on the steering wheel inadvertently stop working from time to time causing a dangerous situation for myself and the drivers around me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11576318March 8, 2024
SEATS, AIR BAGS
Front safety system fault with complaints on Nov 21, 2023, Nov 27, 2033 and then on March 6, 2023 then Tesla service finally repaired and advised as follows: “Technician Notes Verified customer concern alert was not present on drop off but when moving drivers seat through range of motion found faults appeared. Inspected pin fit of harness found no pin issues. Replaced the drivers seat harness and re tested during seat movement verified faults not currently present.”
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11574385February 28, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
A car was coming towards me and I couldn’t honk because I couldn’t find the tiny horn button without taking my eyes off the road.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11573522February 23, 2024
TIRES
The tire has an excessive and extremely disproportionate amount of wear on the inner part of the tire and sidewall. It is still on the car at this time. The location of the failure is hard to visually notice. My tire losing pressure was the cue something was wrong. It was on the verge of catastrophic failure and only luck prevented this from turning into an accident. This same failure has been reproduced on a large number of Tesla Plaid vehicles equipped with 21” rims and these Michelin tires. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. I will be taking it tomorrow for warranty review from Michelin. There were no symptoms of an impending failure at all. The only warning light that ever showed was a communication error with the sensor that read tire pressure. However, I always checked the pressure manually since that particular sensor was intermittent with its reporting. These tires are rated for 30k and I’m barely over 12k.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572535February 17, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The update that you required for Auto Steer has made the car undrivable. I get a written and audible warning IMMEDIATELY when I engage Auto Steer. Literally within 2 seconds. I always keep my hands on the wheel, lightly, while I drive on the highway. Anything short of a death grip on the wheel causes the warning to go off. However, the nag feature (after the changes you required) goes off constantly. Honestly, it's very distracting. If I look at the radio to change the channel, the warning goes off. You need to undo the changes you required. It makes Auto Steer less safe, not more.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11572308February 16, 2024
LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
I have never received an audible alert for my blind spot warning. There is no light on the outside mirrors or anywhere else inside the vehicle to catch your attention. If I am looking at my display in front of my steering wheel I will see a car that is in my blindspot change from GRAY to RED when I activate my blinker; however, the car has never beeped or alerted me beyond passively changing the car color to red on my display screen. If I'm changing lanes I am not looking at my screen which is directly in front of me, I'm looking at the road and I'm looking left or right. I have almost hit many other vehicles multiple times because my car will not audibly notify me that theres a car in my blind spot or a car that is speeding up behind me which I might have missed. This is a feature which I paid for and I feel is defective in it's current state. The car is available upon request for inspection. The lack of an audible BSW alert puts myself and others on the road at an increased risk of collision. I have mentioned it to the dealer but after over two years no update has been made. I have not made a big attempt to correct this issue with the dealer since it's difficult to speak to someone at Tesla. No, the issue has not been inspected by anyone. I discussed it with a rep shortly after I purchased the vehicle but it seems like an issue that Tesla knows about if they only programed the vehicle color to change and didn't program an audible alert. No, there have not been any alerts before this issue as it appears to be a simple programing issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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