Tesla Model S Complaints

470 consumer complaints on file.

#11533020July 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Going north on New York State highway I-87, there is a bridge which results in Tesla Autopilot erroring EVERY TIME AND EVERY DAY and results in a "Full Self Driving Error" which causes Telsa car to brake along with putting on hazard lights. Issue was reported to Tesla, but they responded that it happens to everyone under this bridge so there is nothing they can do right now. The fault occurs on a busy highway at 55mph zone, and happens 100% of time going under the bridge, every single day. The bridge is wide enough that shadow results in error and car loses all understanding of what lane it is in. Today at the Tesla service center, the employees all reported the same issue as well and that there is no idea if it will be fixed. Happens only when using FSD/AP driving support; manual driving is unaffected.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11532951July 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
There was a trash can on the edge of the road and my vehicle was in autopilot/FSD mode and for some reason it swerved over too close to the edge of the road. I intervened in time to avoid hitting the trash can head-on but it still struck the passenger side mirror and scraped across the passenger rear fender. The mirror got slammed into the passenger side door causing damage to the door and trim at the bottom of the passenger side window.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11531851July 12, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The car will rapidly break and decelerate with no obstacle in front. The care does this frequently but randomly. The car will slow by 10 -20 mps in a mater of a second or 2. The deceleration is had enough to throw unsuspecting passengers forward into locked seatbelts. It will do this with cars following behind. I wil ldo this between 3-12 or more times over a 100 mile drive. I have asked Tesla to fix this but they have said that this is a limitation of their program and that it can't be fixed. I think it is only a mater of time before the car is ended or put into a skid due to unexpected breaking.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11531626July 11, 2023
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On 10Jul2023, approximately 1:00pm, while traveling southbound on Hwy 69, south of Toll Road 49 in Lindale, Texas, while driving in the right lane and speed set at 75mph, when all of a sudden the car activates the right blinker and - without slowing - pulls into a fairly short, dedicated right turn lane that turns into a business. At the end of the turn lane is a drainage culvert. The route of travel did NOT include a turn and the car should have been continuing straight down the highway. The car enters the turn lane and never slows from 75mph. I immediately hit the turn signal button to use the camera to get a look to my left to see if a car is there and also look over my left shoulder when there was no response (no camera) to activating the left turn signal. This all occurs as my hand is grabbing the yoke and my foot moving to the brake. I see the blue "path indicating line" wavering left and right and then lock into a right turn into the business parking lot at the end of this dedicated turn lane. Again, there is a culvert at the end of the turn lane also. As soon as I see over my shoulder that the lane to my left is clear the car attempts to make a 90 degree right turn at 75mph. At that exact moment I am able to yank the yoke left and tap the brake to disengage the Full Self Driving Beta as the car is starting the right hand turn. The rear end of the car breaks loose and slides as I get the yoke steered into the right hand lane of the highway. I allow the speed to bleed off to get the rear tires behind me and continue on. My dog has been thrown around the back of the car, my wife banged her head on the passenger side window. This whole event occurred in mere seconds.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11531007July 8, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car suddenly accelerated and crushed into shop in parking lot
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530541July 5, 2023
SUSPENSION
The control arm fore links of the car failed after 6000 miles
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529676June 29, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Phantom braking continues to be a problem. I've never had it happen in the city or in traffic. I also owned a 2015 Tesla MS that NEVER had a phantom braking problem. For me PB has always occurred on a freeway with no traffic around at all. No overpass involved. Suddenly TACC thinks it must apply the brakes. Surely at least Tesla could log this kind of event and fix it. It's aggravating for me as a driver and terrifies passengers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529447June 28, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
1) Horn is hazardous. Small 1/4" area hard to locate and activate. Impossible to locate when steering. 2) Turn indicators is hazardous. Hard to locate. Impossible to locate when steering. 3) front parking sensors do not work, 4) rear parking sensors do not work, 5) active lane departure warning does not work, 6) forward collision mitigation does not work, 7) rear collision warning does not work, 8) pedestrian detection system deos not work, 9) driver attention alert does not work.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11526515June 12, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When using traffic-aware cruise control at normal highway speed, on regular, clear days — including when there is no glare — the system often brakes abruptly, despite the absence of obstacles or even shadows that could be misinterpreted as obstacles. This is extremely dangerous, and it has happened (1) when there are no other vehicles on the road, and (2) when the only other vehicle on the road is directly behind me. The latter scenario is particularly dangerous. Notably, the only cruise control available is traffic-aware cruise control. There is no ‘basic’ cruise control, which means there is no way to avoid this scary phantom braking other than by not using cruise control at all. I have tried disabling all ADAS automatic braking features, yet this phenomenon still occurs. This has been occurring with all software up to date. I am scared that my car is going to kill me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11526512June 12, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Dangerous Phantom Braking: this has occurred many times including very dangerous situations in high speed interstate hwy settings. The car will slam on the brakes for no apparent reason often with cars following closely behind. I have completely stopped using “full self driving” as it is a death trap and people will certainly die because of its use.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11526251June 9, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Third time this week I have been thrown forward into the steering wheel with no cars or objects surrounding me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522364May 16, 2023
WHEELS
On both rear tires on the inner part of the tire the tread on Michelin 295 30zr21 is literally coming apart on both tires. Both at rear , no pot holes have been hit. rims are immaculate. Car was purchased brand new and only has 9800 miles. Almost like the tires are a used retreaded tires on a truck and the tread is literally detaching from the sidewalls. Luckily issue occurred while driving 25mph. Couldn’t imaging what would happen if driving fast. Tesla does not cover michelens issue but felt this needs to be reported. Someone will die if they blew out at higher speads. Will have bill from Tesla when tires are replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521948May 14, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Another automatic phantom braking throwing us toward in the car with no objects or other cars in proximity.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521086May 9, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
My wife was driving the car through a twisty road, and she heard a clunking noise come from the front passenger door, and then the door opened. A warning came up that the emergency door release was pulled and that the door was open. My wife was the only person in the car and could not have pulled the emergency door release on the passenger side door. I took the car to Tesla, and they were able to confirm the error messages, but did not see anything wrong within the door that they felt explained the issue. They did not have an explanation other than suggesting we pulled the emergency handle, which was impossible since no one was sitting in the seat at that time. They also admitted that a recent software bug in Model S and X cars was likely the cause of previous errors about the emergency handle being pulled, since we know not to pull it. We were obviously concerned since the door opening suddenly could be quite dangerous. We have not had any symptoms before or since.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520996May 8, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
Drivers door will not latch and car thinks the door is closed/latched. This allows the driver to drive away with the door unlatched. I've had to open and close the door while moving to get it to latch which is obviously unsafe. In attached picture you can see how open the door is but the car gives no indication this is the case. Tesla has confirm the issue and has tried twice to correct the issue but it has not been corrected yet. No warning lights or error messages even with the door obviously open.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520934May 8, 2023
SEAT BELTS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Oncoming vehicle suddenly turned in front of 2021 Tesla Model S resulting in collision at 34mph. Automatic braking did not engage, collision warning system failed to sound alert. Air bags deployed however seat belt completely spooled out causing the driver to strike the windshield and break the glass by contact with the top of the head. The vehicle was a total loss and the dealer never inspected the car.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520260May 3, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When using adaptive cruise control vehicle randomly applies brakes while driving at highway speeds, for no reason. Sometimes braking is severe, sometimes moderate, sometimes light. In the instances of severe or moderate braking, a real danger exists that following vehicle will be unable to stop and will collide. This happens relatively frequently, particularly on some highways. Sometimes multiple incidents occur on one drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519675April 30, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
3 separate times the right pillar camera and 2 times for all cameras: The car's computer lost contact with the cameras and could not reconnect. In 2023, Tesla changed from radar to camera sensing technology. All driving functions relating to car positioning and cruise/speed control were lost at those times. Twice the car was under cruise control so the car interpreted this as 0 mph and initiated emergency braking from 75 mph on an interstate highway. I was able to avoid the following cars hitting me only by instantly accelerating back to posted speed. Tesla has been very difficult to convince that this is a problem. They say that remote diagnosis is inconclusive. Since they go for "at home" service first, 3 separate service times were cancelled by them, and they will not allow a service appointment at their shop for further diagnosis. Warnings came up on the instrument display, but only for 10 or 15 seconds, in words too small to read. Since I am trying to maintain control of the vehicle, I cannot stare at the screen to try and memorize, or find my phone to try and take a picture. This vehicle does not allow the owner to look at the error/trouble logs, so exact times and dates are elusive. Tesla refuses to start investigating until the exact warning, date, and times are advised. Dates are known, approximate times and driving conditions are known but aren't good enough.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519472April 28, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The tiny selection on the yoke to sound the cars horn requires me to take my eyes off the road to find it. This is unsafe. Several times I needed to sound the horn and was unable to in time. The worst instance was when I was making a U-turn in a 4-way intersection and needed to sound the horn to warn off a driver about to turn in front of me from the other direction. The yoke was inverted about 270 degrees and it was impossible to find the tiny horn symbol. There needs to be a conventional horn in the center of the yoke that can be pushed quickly without diverting eyes from the road. This has occured multiple dates that I do not specifically recall.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519299April 27, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On March 19, 2023, I put my Tesla in drive and it went into reverse . When I tried to brake the speed accelerated. We were unable to stop the vehicle, while driving in reverse the car hit two mailboxes and two ceramic flower pots. It has been over 6 weeks and Tesla will not return my calls or messages. My insurance company looked at the body of the vehicle for a repair estimate. Nothing indicated that there was a problem prior to the incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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