Tesla Model S Complaints (2021)

176 consumer complaints on file.

#11488122October 6, 2022
STEERING
I was recently nearly involved in a traffic accident when I wasn't able to blow the horn on the Tesla steering wheel. I was backing up out of a parking stall in a parking lot and at the same time another car in the stall next to me was also backing up. I tried went to blow the horn on the steeling wheel and I was not able to find it quickly enough because it is very difficult to find the button in an emergency. Fortunately, the other driver in the car saw me just in the nick of time and was able to stop. The problem in my opinion, and many others on social media, is that Telsa chose to not put a horn in the normal place on the steering wheel where most other car manufactures place their horns. Another area of concern about this Yoke steering wheel are the turn signals. Unlike most cars, the directional signals on this model Tesla are located in a small area on the steeling wheel. These buttons are hard to find and use when attempting to turn at a street corner or to change lanes on the roadways. Consequently, sometimes it's just easier not to use the turn signal. I personally believe that this is also a safety concern for this car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487383October 1, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The vehicle intermittently brakes for no reason with the cruise control enabled. This is going to cause an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11486856September 28, 2022
TIRES
Michelin manufactures this tire specific for the Tesla Model S plaid vehicle. This tire wears pre maturely from the 300 rating most times under 10,000 miles causing tread separation on the inner wall. This specific wear can only be seen once the tire is removed from the vehicle. This is a well know issue on tesla forum boards and Michelin is not only not assisting with the issue, they are on back order for this tire that is specific for the Tesla Model S plaid. Not only did Michelin design a tire for this vehicle that wears well short of the rating, they are also not making enough to replace the worn out\defective tires. The tread separation is on the inside of the tire not visible to the driver that could potentially lead to a catastrophic accident if the tread separates at a high speed. The tire size is 295/30/21.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11486650September 27, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I have had multiple phantom forward collision warnings while driving and phantom braking while in autopilot. It happened twice today on a short 10 mile drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11486503September 26, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 70-75 MPH with the Autonomous Self-Driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking on numerous occasions. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle performed as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta 10.69.2.2 software update. The failure mileage was 17,102.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11486229September 24, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
On at least nine occasions the car has very suddenly and with no input from driver braked hard during passing another vehicle, when assuming the original lane after passing a vehicle, and, on one occasion when no other vehicle was close by. I have brought all incidents to Tesla's attention. They tell me the problem resides in the software of the car and that they "are working on it". This is a very serious problem, which has been going on for over a year in my case. A totally unacceptable and extremely dangerous situation! Occurred in December 21, 2020; Several times during the summer of 2021, other sporadic times, and most recently on September 6 and 8, 2022
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485963September 23, 2022
ENGINE
left rear motor malfunctioned yes available for inspection The computer said that the motor had malfunctioned but is safe to drive but dont exceed 65 mph. I drove some 2 miles and the car stopped and the motor caught fire. The vehicle has not been inspected.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484698September 15, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 72 MPH with the autonomous self-driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,292.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11484540September 14, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While using wildly falsely marketed $10k "full self driving" add-on across multiple software revisions and after reporting each and every bug to company I have experienced potentially fatal phantom breaking while at highway speeds and could have been killed by rear ending on at least 4 occasions. Have experienced 20+ erroneous forward collision errors with automatic breaking or lane assist corrections for obstacles such as hills, mailboxes, trees, absolutely nothing at all, etc. When driving around mildly banking left turn corners with 45mph speed limits whenever approaching a left turn lane within median the car will violently lurch into the turn lane causing panic for passengers and nearly causing a collision within resuming concrete median. While using autopilot the car failed to stop, correct or warn when a vehicle entered my lane and caused an accident with several thousand in damages. Car does not properly break for turns on highways requesting driver take over for what should be an easily navigable turn. Doesn't take apex or break early and will drift lanes making other surrounding drivers nervous. Moving the horn from muscle memory location to awkwardly placed touch button has prevented timely use of horn on multiple occasions which could easily result in fatal accidents. Overall this car is a literal death trap not at all even remotely ready for production use on public roads and neither I nor any of my passengers feel safe using the feature that was over priced, over promised and under-delivered. Tesla service center employees too worried about retaliation from management to inquirer about problems because of previous reparations from corporate offices. List of problems is shockingly egregious and should not be legally permitted on roads.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483706September 9, 2022
SUSPENSION
Severe wear on rear tires, as the camber is off. Tire failure exposing cords. Potential to be a catastrophic failure. Many with this car experiencing same issue with 21” tire option. Car has poor suspension stance and or tires are incorrect for the load being carried
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11483181September 6, 2022
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Spontaneous explosion of front passenger door window while driving
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481572August 27, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My safety concern is with the 17 inch screen. Originally in the information about the car before it was purchased, the manufacturer said that the screen would tilt left or right to give the drive better a better view and access to the touch screen. I have talked to service about this issue and they have said they do not plan to retrofit our cars with the motors to make the screen move. This is now working on the same car that is one year newer. We were promised this and I believe this issue with the screen not moving is a serious concern. You cannot see the screen as well or touch it as well because it does not tilt towards the driver. Please investigate this problem, it is dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481303August 25, 2022
SUSPENSION
My vehicle had a total rear tire failure where the inside corner of tread separated from the sidewall. There appears to be abnormal wear on the very edge of the inside line of tread. The vehicle was just aligned and nothing was out of spec. Something about the tire design, weight of the vehicle, recommended tire pressure or suspension geometry is causing this failure. My tires were always kept at the recommended pressures. There was no indication of a problem until the tire went completely flat suddenly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481264August 25, 2022
SUSPENSION, WHEELS
The inner edge of rear tires wear out very quickly leading to loss air pressure. Many other owner of Tesla 2021+ on 21 inch wheels and Michelin stock tires have exact same issue. Very dangerous if the tire bursts on highway, can lead to serious accidents.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478950August 12, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My safety concern is with the 17 inch screen. Originally in the information about the car before it was purchased, said that the screen would tilt left or right to give the drive better a better view and access to the touch screen. I have talked to service about this and they have said they do not plan to retrofit our cars with the motors to make the screen move. This is now working on the same car that is one year newer. We were promised this and I believe this issue with the screen not moving is a serious concern. You cannot see the screen as well or touch it as well because it does not tilt towards the driver. Please investigate this problem, it is dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478879August 11, 2022
STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The position of the horn button on the steering yoke is problematic. The horn button on the 2021 Tesla model S is operated by the right thumb. This position causes activation problems in various situations. One example is where quick horn use is required, the natural muscle memory is to push the center of the yoke , (where the horn button is located on all manufactured vehicles). The initial reaction to push the center of the wheel, causes an UNSAFE delay in horn activation, as the user then struggles to find the small horn button with the right thumb. Most of the time, the horn button is missed and the windshield wipers are activated, which causes more confusion in a stressful situation. Another problem with the position of the horn button is that when making a tight turn and the wheel is spun 180 degrees, the horn button is impossible to find or activate in a timely manner. It is surprising to me that the horn button placement was allowed to be installed on a production vehicle. While driving the vehicle there have been numerous events where quick horn activation was needed. One of the events happened recently while exiting a public garage. While the yoke was turned 180 degrees to make a right turn, another vehicle almost hit our vehicle and when my wife tried to hit the horn, it was impossible to find the button since the wheel was upside down, ( spun 180 degrees). Only luck prevented an accident. Another event happened two days ago. While driving on a 4 lane highway, a vehicle aggressively changed lanes toward our car. The action of the other vehicle caused a startle response, when my wife tried to hit the horn, muscle memory caused her to push the center of the wheel, instead of the small button that is activated by the thumb. By the time she found the button, it was too late to prevent the other vehicle from swerving into our lane. Also, the windshield wipers were activated instead of the horn. The horn position needs to be changed to the center of the wheel.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478343August 9, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On 4 Aug 2022, at 10:24am (CST), while traveling northbound on Hwy 287 just south of Henrietta, Texas with the Tesla Autopilot speed set at 80mph with a posted speed limit of 75mph, the car was in the left lane of a two-lane, high-speed highway, when the car suddenly and unexpectedly slammed on the brakes, gave a "TAKE CONTROL IMMEDIATELY" warning and rapidly shifted its lane position, almost causing a wreck with the car behind me. There were no vehicles beside me and nothing to the front or sides to cause concern or indicate that there was any reason for the sudden and abrupt braking maneuver.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11477216August 2, 2022
VISIBILITY
The contact's wife owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that after his wife entered the vehicle and closed the driver's side front door, the driver's side front window exploded. There was no impact on the window that could have caused it to explode. The contact's wife did not sustain any injuries. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a claim with the insurance company. The failure mileage was approximately 10,700.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11472761July 7, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle approached another vehicle that had slowed for a traffic light and did not automatically start braking. The contact manually applied the brakes, but the vehicle crashed into the rear end of the vehicle in front. The contact stated he noticed no warning lights illuminated nor warning chimes sounded advising of a vehicle ahead. The contact said both air bags deployed. The vehicle had crashed and damaged the entire front end which crumpled to the front tires. The police were on the scene and filed a report. The contact and the occupant of the other vehicle were not injured. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11471255June 27, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes are not strong enough to brake tires loose or cause anti lock. My Chevrolet Colorado out stops my Tesla. Hit an animal that my truck would not have. Helpless feeling.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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