Tesla Model S Complaints

470 consumer complaints on file.

#11493857November 16, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Recurring uncommanded FIRM phantom braking for no apparent reason. At risk of being hit from the rear. Driver & passengers frightened & panicked. It has occurred a number of times but cannot be reproduced at will. Vehicle inspection has not been performed. Dealer says it's a software issue. No warning lamps, messages or any other symptom prior to event. Event has recurred multiple times.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493763November 16, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When in autopilot, at highway speeds, the car suddenly will brake. There is nothing that instigates this and it seems to be a safety hazard.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493538November 14, 2022
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Distortion within windshield. Appears to be manufactured this way. Employee within service center is a typical problem. Upon check-in the service writer even noticed it. I got a message from service later advising vehicle is ready to be picked up and the windshield is within Tesla specs. How can something that distracts a driver within the windshield be within specs and how is Tesla not liable if it causes driver distraction or even a collision and they refuse to fix?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493532November 14, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY/WIPER
On November 1, I terminated my 3 year lease on a 2019 Tesla S for a new lease on a 2022 Tesla Model S. I was very happy with my original lease. During this week of driving I learned of the many changes that were made for this new model. So far most of them are only a matter of adjusting to these new/modified features. But some of them are definitely a safety hazard. This is the deletion of the left stalk on the steering wheel to indicate a planned change of direction and blink the appropriate turn signals. It is replaced by two “touch” buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, one for a left turn indicated by a left arrow and one below it for a right turn. Possibly one may memorize their location but until they are memorized the driver will have to take his/her eyes off the road for the few seconds to it takes to find the button. Neither of these buttons feel different by touch compared to the nearby surface. They can only be selected by looking at them. Of course if the steering wheel is not in its default position such as when the driver is making a turn, he/she has to take the eyes off the road for a few seconds. At 60 mph the car travels about 440 feet in 5 seconds. I looked up the Massachusetts Drivers Manual, on the web, about the use of the directional signals. I copied those sections below. After each section, if appropriate, I made a comment on how this affects the driving of the new Tesla https://www.mass.gov/doc/drivers-manual Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sharing the Road A User’s Manual for Public Ways p. 30 Signal properly before changing lanes p.98 Rotary Traffic Rules Traffic travels counter-clockwise in a rotary. Always yield the right-of-way to vehicles already in the rotary (unless told differently by signs or police officers) and to pedestrians. Use your turn signals in the same way as any other intersection. Travel through the rotary and, when you are ready to exit, use your right turn signal. (Comment) A few times a week I dri
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493174November 11, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving midday on interstate 90 at 78 mph. The car was in cruise control. Four passengers. No other cars in front of me. Luckily there were no cars directly behind me. The car violently slammed on the brakes. My passengers thought I had hit a dog. Very scary. I am glad no one was hurt. But it is dangerous. I think the car had a recent software update. I have heard that the phantom braking issue can be worse right after a software update.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493164November 11, 2022
VISIBILITY/WIPER
Distortion within windshield glass. Appears as if looking through magnifying glass. Causes driver distraction. Appears to be manufactured this way.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492901November 9, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I was unable to locate the horn capacitive button on my steering yoke to alert a biker who strayed into my lane. finding this small button has been a repeated problem when in dangerous situations
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492442November 5, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The car requires swiping the touchscreen to place it in drive or reverse. The touchscreen does not always register the intended change of direction, leading to unexpected, unsafe motion of the car. The area of the touchscreen that one must swipe is also often occluded by the steering yoke. This has happened multiple times, where the lack of strong enough feedback (or a mechanism that allows for less error-prone input) as to D vs R allows for an unsafe movement in the opposite direction of what was intended. In one case, there was traffic approaching, and the car ended up further in the path of that traffic. In another case The car should provide instantaneous tactile, visual, and/or audio output to clearly indicate that the car has shifted from D->R or R->D. A mechanical stalk or button, as was present in previous model years, would certainly be adequate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492305November 4, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
In August 2022 I was driving my Tesla S. I was traveling 25 miles an hour or less. I unfortunately lost consciousness for a very short time. My tesla then crashed into a parked car. There was snow emergency braking nor any emergency alarms. In theory describes shouldn’t of happened with an emergency braking system.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11491103October 27, 2022
TIRES:TREAD/BELT
Inner tire tread only wears significantly to the point of failure. This may be a factory alignment issue or other but is noted in many forums. I was losing air quickly and based on research saw this was a common issue with these specific cars. The tread appears fine at 8000 miles but when removing the wheel from the car you can notice the inner surface only is worn to the point of failure with the inner belt showing is parts. I was able to remove the wheel and see the issue before experiencing a blowout while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11491043October 26, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Today was at least the 3rd time "phantom braking" has occurred. While traveling on I-64 in Virginia, my speed was about 75mph with adaptive cruise control on. Suddenly, the car braked hard, slowing to about 40mph. I thought the car was going to stop. Fortunately, there were no vehicles behind me or there could have been a rear end collision. I did not use the automatic feature again for the rest of that drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11490108October 20, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
We took our first major road trip in our new 2022 Tesla Model S on Friday 10/14, leaving at 10:00 am for a 9 hour trip. During the trip the car experienced multiple severe incidents of the car braking hard while at highway speeds and two of the incidents almost caused an accident. The car drops 10 to 15 mph instantly for no reason. We drove the car home on Monday 10/17 without AEB, Auto Steer, FSD Beta, Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance and Obstacle-Aware Acceleration and used TACC occasionally and still had the issue but wasn't as severe. Even on the day we purchased the car (Sept 30) and drove it home (a short drive on highway 95) we had a similar incident but it was so new we weren't sure if it was us or the car but now we know it is a fault of the car and creates a very dangerous driving situation which could result in an accident or death to a passenger in our car or in the car behind us when our car decides to slam on the brakes for no apparent reason. There were no warning lamps, messages or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. We turned in a service request to Tesla and their response was to drive the car and have it happen again and create a Bug report. So basically Tesla is asking us to put our lives on the line to help them diagnose the problem because they don't want to take the time to review the diagnostic data that is readily available to them. In our opinion, this is a very serious and dangerous problem and the car needs to be taken off the road until Tesla resolves the problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489894October 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While ADAS is engaged, vehicle occasionally suddenly breaks and disengages while the road is clear and obstruction free. This happens frequently.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489874October 18, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have had at least 2 panic situations where I needed to use the horn to warn another vehicle that didn't see me that it was going to collide with me (lane change without checking, or crossing in front of me). The horn on my vehicle is a small force-press button with no raised markings, just an icon picture, just to the right of the large center pad that is the steering wheel (actually called a steering yolk) air bag. Decades of muscle memory has me pressing/slamming the largest thing at the center of the steering wheel in a panic situation. The time it takes to look down at the wheel to find the force-press button that is the horn is a major safety issue. All Tesla Model Ss and Xs from 2021 on have a steering yolk instead of a round wheel with this particular design/implementation for the horn. I have twice asked Tesla service to make the steering center airbag pad activate the horn. The 1st request was ignored. The 2nd request (Oct 18'2022) was responded to with "We do not offer a retrofit for that at this time. I will mark this [request] as feedback and remove it from your service ticket."
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489439October 16, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In emergency situations I have trouble finding the horn button resulting in not able to warn other drivers of a dangerous situation. Other vehicles are set up so you can press the center airbag but the Tesla has a small button on the right spoke. The button is flush so you can not find it by feel but must look for it. The button is especially troublesome to find if the steering wheel/yoke is in anything other than the straight ahead position.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489392October 15, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Car repeatedly, randomly slams in brakes while cruise control engaged for no apparent reason. Not speeding, no other cars or blockages around, open highway on a bright, clear day.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489325October 14, 2022
SUSPENSION: ADJUSTMENT:MANUAL
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model S equipped with Michelin tires, Tire Line: Pilot Sport 4S Tires, Tire Size: 295/30/ZR21, DOT Number: 4M5203DX4321. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, TPMS warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that the tread inside both rear tires had severely worn to the extent that the wires inside both tires were exposed. The contact was informed that the failure could have led to a severe tire blowout. The mechanic also informed him that the failure was caused by a vehicle misalignment. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that a diagnostic test was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The tires were not replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488756October 11, 2022
TIRES
The OEM Michelin rear tire used on the 2021 and 2022+ Tesla Model S has a serious safety defect which results in extreme wear/tread separation at the inner sidewall/tread junction. Numerous defective tires are shown on this thread, among others: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/plaid-21%E2%80%9Drear-tire-woes-factory-defect.269394/ Both Tesla and Michelin report the tires are nationwide backorder (likely due to the number of tire failures in the field). Thus far, Tesla and Michelin have taken NO action on proactive tire replacements, despite repeated requests. (Perhaps they are awaiting accidents with fatalities first?) Please take action to secure a recall as this defect is extremely difficult to note as the tire tread separation occurs most often at the inner sidewall of the rear tires, a nearly impossible area to inspect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488440October 7, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Left side trim to the left of the glass roof I have protruding dents popping outward in metal. I had 3 dents and 1 of 3 was pushed down flush but the other two are still present. I have worked with Tesla service center and they have ignored my issue by not addressing the two additional protruding dents. Normal dents are known to go inward and these are going upward or outward. Tesla service drove to meet me with a same year model S as mine and both the left and right sides were observed to have many protruding dents potentially from the underlying frame. Several visits were made to service center as they continued to ignore my issue but after walking the parking lot they were surprised that other model S long range and plaids have dents protruding out of the metal which is not normal. As I have been told my issue isn't covered under warranty, not sure why. But my perspective something underneath the metal is causing it push upward or outward that should be addressed. I opened a BBB case 18002067 and the Tesla service center never addressed the concern to completion.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#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

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