Tesla Model S Complaints (2021)

176 consumer complaints on file.

#11452331February 16, 2022
STEERING
In several potentially dangerous situations I was unable to locate the unusually positioned horn signal in time to reduce the potential for an accident. In these situations an accident did not occur but the situation could have been made much safer if the horn switch was located in the center of the steering wheel (yoke). This also applies to a lesser extent to the unusual position of the headlight high beam switch.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452149February 15, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla Sudden Acceleration Accident: I ordered a Tesla Model S on June 21, 2021 and received a Tesla Model S on November 10, 2021. On Monday, February 7th, 2022, at approximately 5pm EST, my Tesla Model S failed to stop in a parking lot. I was pulling into a parking lot at Fawcett Hospital in Port Charlotte, Florida. As I was turning into the parking spot, my Tesla accelerated and drove over the parking stop, crashed into a chain-link fence, and grazed the Honda SUV of a colleague. I tried to brake, but the Tesla did not respond. When the car finally came to a stop, I looked down and saw my foot on the brake pedal. The police reviewed the situation but did not issue any citations because, luckily, no one was injured, and the Honda SUV suffered almost no damages. I had the Tesla towed to the Tesla Service Department in Fort Myers, Florida, on the following day, Tuesday, February 8th, 2022, to check the vehicle. The Tesla Service Department charged me $175 for the service. It noted that "100% acceleration was recorded at approximately 4:55pm ET on February 7, 2022 and brakes were applied within three seconds: "Time stamp Monday 2/7 between 4:30-5:00pm Customer would like inspection he statedthe car wouldn't stop after he ran over a parking block and went through a fence. Requested vehicle log data for time stamp provided by customer to investigate collision event. Uponreviewing data, on February 7 2022, @ 16:55:59 / 100% acceleration recorded and on February 72022 @ 16:56:02 Brakes applied recorded. Upon reviewing of recorded data, 100% acceleration iscause of unwanted collision." The report does not indicate why the acceleration occurred.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451788February 13, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I was driving on I39 north of Madison WI this afternoon, it was a clear day with light traffic and early afternoon on adaptive cruise control when the car on two occasions braked hard for no apparent reason. This braking would be a serious safety concern if a car had been behind me, as they would not have anticipated me braking so severely for no reason. From my reading this is a known problem with this car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450921February 8, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The emergency flashers are a capacitive touch button. It does not reliably activate. I have tried on multiple occasions with a cold cabin, warm cabin, clean and dry fingers, warm and cold fingers and I rarely get the flashers to turn on within 5 tries.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450100February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
My 2021 Tesla S has on multiple occasions hard braked when in cruise control when there were no vehicles in view. All occurrences were on four lane interstate highways with no surrounding vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450079February 3, 2022
STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Beta Autopilot was engaged, driver had hand on steering wheel, vehicle was traveling less than 35MPH (speed limit) and coming around a corner when it misjudged the road curve. The road curved to the left and as the car took the turn it took too wide of a turn and veered slightly off the road. Unfort the front right side of car went up and over the begining of a rock incline. The front right tire blew out and ONLY the side AIrBags deployed (both sides). The car traveled about 500 yards along the road and then turned itself off. I could not get the horn to work, nor put it in neutral. There were no warning signs before incident. In fact the I belong to a beta driving scoring rating and for that day Tesla rated me a 91/100. I called Tesla roadside assistance and they said they would not provide any help as it was viewed as an accident and not a self-driving issue. It was reported to Tesla and I have called several times to try and understand why the car didn't stay in the lane and why only the side airbags deployed. I reported this to Tesla Customer support and was now told they would not provide any information based upon their analysis, although initially I was told that it would take 5 weeks for engineering to review and get back to me. Vehicle is at repair facility and was told damage to car will be almost $28-30K. Car previously had issues with Forward Collision Warning system going off, although I was not aware there was a recall regarding this exact problem, back in October 2021
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449218January 28, 2022
WHEELS
I had a tire that kept loosing pressure so I took it in to see way. With only a little over 12,000 miles have I have a tire that is splitting between the tread and side wall. Its one the inside of the back drivers side tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449097January 27, 2022
SEATS
Drivers seat creaks during even moderate acceleration suggesting that it is not properly bolted to the frame and/or that the bolts are not properly torqued.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449096January 27, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The start up chime that dings when the car starts plays CONTINUOUSLY while the car is driven. This is not only distracting, but it prevents the driver from hearing the other dings that are associated with the safety systems (collision warning, lane departure, etc.). I have videos available but am unable to upload a video via this online complaint system.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449048January 26, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
HVAC system malfunction. On January 15, 2022 this brand new car, on its first day of ownership with 750 miles, suffered a malfunction with the heating and cooling system such that it no longer works and displayed the following warning: "VCFRONT_a447 - Cabin climate control system requires service - Cabin heating / cooling limited or unavailable." As a result, the car becomes unbearably hot during the day in the South Florida heat and unbearably cold on nights when the temperatures dip. This is a safety issue that should be investigated by the NHTSA.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449046January 26, 2022
AIR BAGS
Safety restraint system malfunction. On January 18, 2022 this brand new car, only 3 days old with 1,000 miles, suffered a malfunction with the safety restraint system and displayed the following warning: "Safety restraint system fault - Service is required." This is a safety issue that should be investigated by the NHTSA.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449045January 26, 2022
STEERING
Power steering malfunction. On January 26, 2022 this brand new car, only 11 days old with 1,656 miles, suffered a malfunction with the steering mechanism and displayed the following warning: "GTW_w074 - Steering assist reduced - Steering may require increased effort." This is a safety issue that should be investigated by the NHTSA.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11448871January 25, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On several occasions when I have needed to use the horn to alert another vehicle to prevent a collision, I instinctively hit the center of the steering wheel. Unfortunately for my Tesla, this does nothing. To activate the horn, you must look down and find the tiny horn button on the right side of the steering wheel. Supposedly covering all the tiny buttons with your hand also activates the horn. On the few occasions that I have had time to remember to not hit the center of the steering wheel, rather cover my hand over the buttons….the horn never activated. Interestingly the wipers activate as the car in front of me almost hits me because I can’t alert him that I am there. The windshield wiper button is next to the tiny horn button. Tesla needs to recall this car and install a horn button in the center of the steering wheel. This is a huge safety issue and has almost caused a few accidents, as I have no way to honk the horn in an emergency situation. You always hit the center of the steering wheel instinctively.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11447508January 14, 2022
SUSPENSION, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The rear passenger side Adaptive Suspension wiring harness was either installed improperly or routed improperly and rubbed against the inside of the tire. After many miles, this harness was worn down to the point of breaking electrical contact, which puts the vehicle into a fallback state. When the dampers are disabled, the car becomes floaty and disconnected and is dangerous to drive. There were warnings in the system immediately when this broke. It is available for inspection, as Tesla has stated they cannot fix it for 6 weeks. The problem has been confirmed by their service dept via remote diagnostics. There has been no inspection by anyone other than myself, however I have extensive photographic evidence. The issue is very obvious when you know to look.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446874January 10, 2022
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Autopilot cut off while driving on curved highway exit ramp, leading to driver's side of car grazing guard rail and rims of wheels grazing curb. Mostly paint damage. Repair estimate: $7,000.00 Car sustained minor damage, but I was told by collision center that other similar incidents had occurred, including one in which car had gone off the road into a ditch. I have confirmed this is a consistent software problem, cutting off on all highway exit ramps. Problem reported to local Tesla service, and they uploaded data from the car remotely. There were three dings as an alert, and a warning appeared on driver's display "autopilot guidance complete" and beneath it, in very small letters difficult to read, "Tap accelerator to continue." I consider this a software design flaw. Default on a curve should be to switch from autopilot guidance to lane keeping, not shut off altogether. Also, warning should be more visually an audibly prominent. For example, when guidance is not available on a city street, there is a distinctive alarm and obvious flashing on dashboard display. There should be a similar warning when autopilot is about to shut off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11446567January 7, 2022
STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
During afternoon commute in a residential area, driving at 19 mph, a cat running after some type of lizard run in front of my car. I have been driving for the last 40 years, safe driver designation on my license, and have more than 1,000,000 miles on my back without major accident. I instinctively went for the horn in the center of the steering and tried to catch the top of the steering wheel (absent in my car) to change course. Finding a little button among other little buttons to sound the horn is impossible when the driver is under stress and needs to use the horn. The consequence, sadly, was a severely injured animal that did not survive. Without diminishing the importance of an animal life, if that was a child the consequence would be catastrophic. The steering yoke and horn control pauses a serious danger.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
1
#11446374January 5, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
On Nov 14 at 09:01 AM while driving on the freeway with clear weather and autopilot is on for at least 15 min and and i am fully attentive and no traffic the tesla auto pilot decided to turn left and hit the cement barrier of the freeway damaging my left rear wheel then it tried to correct it fault by turning right to the right lane abruptly luckily there was no traffic coming on my right side too otherwise it would have been fatal I have the incident recorded by the sentry mode cameras and exact time and sec and the logs of the car black box proves that the tesla auto pilot was engaged at that time when it hit the cement barrier I reported this to tesla so they would take responsibility of their risky autopilot software but they dont care and told me i can report it to NHTSA it doesnt matter to them even with all the documented proof i have
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11444925December 24, 2021
STEERING, WHEELS
I’ve reported a continually present rack and pinion issue.. FOUR times. Tesla techs claim they don’t experience it or that it is ‘normal’ for this car. The car emits an audible grinding sound plus a visible wheel skipping when turned hard left or right. Today, the right front wheel began to emit a loud whirring sound in addition to the steering issue. Tesla refuses to investigate the issue beyond test drives. The situation could deteriorate quickly resulting in my inability to control the car while driving. It is a very SERIOUS matter.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11443851December 15, 2021
LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Right and left door pillar cameras accumulate condensation, leaving door pillar cameras “blocked or blinded.” This affects collision avoidance. While the owners manual mentions that condensation can accumulate in these cameras, the stated remedy does not resolve the condensation. If you live in a wet or cold climate, these cameras are blocked or blinded most of the time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11443479December 11, 2021
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
This was a Autodrive malfunction event on a brand new Tesla Model S. I was in standstill traffic when my car, which had been engaged in Autodrive, lurched forward and suddenly accelerated at a high rate of speed into the car in front of us, without any driver prompts. The problem was immediately reported to Tesla who has been delaying in providing the data logs and engineering analysis for over two months. Tesla did what they called a "safety inspection" after the crash and says the car is fine. They have refused to try and replicate the malfunction because they maintain the car is fine. Luckily, no one was injured, and there was only property damage to my car and the car in front of me, but there is something wrong with the software, the cameras, and/or the front end sensors and their calibration for the car to have done that.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

← Back to Tesla Model S