Tesla Model S Complaints

470 consumer complaints on file.

#11615339September 19, 2024
SUSPENSION
There is a repeated issue with my vehicle and I looked it up online and it seems all Tesla Model S vehicles have this issue. This is the 2nd time I've had this same issue. As I go over any bumps, accelerate, or decelerate there's a clicking sound coming from the front wheels. While driving there's a whistling sound. Based on websites and videos I've seen all over the internet, it's the result of a loose nut and bolt. It apparently continually occurs because of the very high amount of torque these cars have and the quality of the parts used for this torque doesn't suffice. Tesla needs to fix this on all their Model S vehicles. Instead apparently all they do at service center is apply grease to the affected area to temporarily make the noise go away but that grease melts away annually.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11615154September 18, 2024
SUSPENSION, STEERING, SERVICE BRAKES
Front suspension has a popping and creaking sound when driving and turning steering wheel. Safety issue as sounds something is loose but Tesla says no issue it’s the body flexing which is even scarier to hear the panels rattling if this is in fact true. Tesla will not do anything about it. Additionally the brakes and rotors squeal when pressed at slow speeds coming to full hard stop. Both front and back. Both brakes and rotors have 90% life and according to Tesla shouldn’t need replacing until 90k miles due to the regen braking. The braking system does not engage as it should or how it is designed and car has 40k miles. Tesla uses the excuse that that they don’t cover this as it’s a wear and tear component. Which another issue because they don’t know the reason of why it’s doing this. They want customers to pay and replace the brakes and rotors. Many owners with same car experience this issue and is a design defect that can pose safety issues
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11612498September 4, 2024
SUSPENSION
-The front suspension half shafts or CV joints produce a known vibration through the accelerator pedal, steering wheel at 25-40 mph during cold starts for the first 3-5 minutes of driving. This is a factory new vehicle. The problem is regularly addressed on Tesla owner forums, noting it is present in all new Tesla Model S vehicles 2019 through 2024. -CV joint vibration is typically caused my misalignment that can ultimately lead to premature wear and failures in the suspension system and potentially the vehicle pulling to one side unexpectedly, potentially wobbling, and ultimately leading to a failure resulting in a potential impact with another object/vehicle. -Tesla Dealership acknowledged that the vibration concern is coming from the CV half shafts but did not have a solution and described the condition as a known issue that is just "inherent to high performance vehicles." In the past, TSBs were posted guiding users to lower the vehicle to reduce the misalignment, but it ultimately did not solve the problem. However, the TSB highlights/indicates that Tesla is aware of CV misalignment, which causes vibration.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11610870August 26, 2024
STEERING
The yoke steering is not intuitive and makes it really hard to instinctively press the horn or use the directionals, without taking your eyes off the road. This presents a serious safety hazard especially in the case of an emergency, where milliseconds count to avert an accident. At a minimum the horn button should be placed on the center of the steering or be replaced with a traditional wheel. In fact, if the car were to spin out of control, the rectangular shape of the yoke would likely prevent me from regaining control of the car. When I purchased the car in 2022 a regular steering wheel was not option. Tesla is now allowing retro fits but at a significant cost to the owner. There have been several instances in the two years where i pressed the center of the yoke with no effect, which could have led to an accident. I am surprised this kind of serious hazard is still permitted to exist and I kindly ask for your immediate attention.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11610142August 22, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:HORN
See attached document for complaint
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609692August 20, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The horn is not in the correct place. The center of the steering wheel hub. In any accident scenario, your instincts fail and you wind up hitting the airbag with no result. This is. Design defect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609154August 17, 2024
TIRES
Tires wear less than 1k miles. Deflate, side wall wear, separation, tread wear etc. Have purchased around 8 tires from January 2022 - Present FRONT - 265/35/ZR21 101Y Extra Load REAR - 295/30/ZR21 102Y Extra Load Michelin honored tire failure for side wall separation then denied all other claims. And this is the only tire Tesla has on hand since there is no spare.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605696July 31, 2024
STEERING
Problem: turn signal based on buttons on the wheel (Tesla removed the stalks) After three months of ownership, I still can't signal in case of emergency, when a fast lane change is required, or when exiting from parking with the wheel turned. Issues: 1. I Can't find the buttons when the wheel is turned (buttons rotate with the wheel) 2. The buttons are located below the hand and not above it, so I need to search for them. I practically need to take my eyes off the road to find the buttons because they have no unique touch and feel. It does not work for emergencies and fast lane changes. 3. The pressure required is not unified. Extreme pressure is required toward the edges of the button and other is no feeling where the edges are.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605362July 30, 2024
SEATS
Driver seat will no adjust leaving is in a position too far from the brake and steering wheel and too low to see over dashboard adequately
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11605322July 30, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
To avoid collision on the highway with a deer crossing in front of me, I braked very hard. The left rear brake caliper mount broke as a result. I did not lose brake fluid pressure, thankfully but this could’ve been a catastrophic failure. I contacted Tesla who seemed indifferent and blaming the incident on my driving and the mileage of the car ( 48,000 ). I have never in my life heard of a caliper mount breaking on any car with any number of miles. I’m sure it happens, but it should not happen on a car with 1000 hp.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11604825July 26, 2024
STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
There is a design flaw with the horn on the steering yoke. It is not easily located especially in times of stress or eminent collision. I have been driving for 50 years and all horns in my past vehicles have horns in the center of the steering wheel. Last April, I was backing up in a parking lot and through the rear camera, I saw a car behind me backing up. I stopped my car and could not get to the horn quick enough to alert the other diver and he continued to back up and he backed into my car causing $3,500 in damage. Yesterday, I was driving, and someone made a very unsafe turn that needed a horn to alert them, and I could not find the little button on the yoke to activate the horn. Yesterday's event, a near miss caused me to file this notice, although I should have done it sooner. Not as much of an issue, but the turn indicators are buttons too, and it is confusing to use them as opposed to a strike. I find myself not using the indicators as much in situations requiring a quicker need, typically like on the freeway. NHTSA should consider making all horns to be in the center of the steering wheel and all turn indicators to be strikes.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11604435July 25, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have owned a 2023 Model S Plaid for 6 months. I like the vehicle overall but it has 2 features that are actually dangerous. 1) Horn - There is a small hepatic area on the right of the steering wheel that engages the horn. It is impossible to find and press in an emergency situation. One has to take their eyes off the road to find the area before attempting to press it. Even then it is small and can still be missed. Their have been multiple times my car was almost hit because I could not use the horn to warn people in time. Tesla has now moved the horn to the middle of the steering wheel but will not retroactively fix this for existing customers. This will 100% cause unnecessary accidents. 2) Turn signals These are also small hepatic spots on the steering wheel next to each other. You have to look down to find them and pressing the wrong side signal is a common occurrence. This is also dangerous and requires user to take their eyes off the road to find.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11603511July 20, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla changed their steering wheel on later models because they know that not having the horn in the center of the steering wheel is very dangerous. Several times I tried to honk my horn in dangerous situations and I missed the horn icon and turned on the windshield wipers instead whose icon is next to it.There should be a recall of the older style steering wheels!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11603466July 19, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
i am reporting a dangerous design of the horn button on my and many other Teslas. The horn activation has been moved from the standard "center of the steering wheel" to a small button on the right brace of the steering wheel (the brace goes from the center of the wheel to the outer periphery). It is a most unnatural spot for a horn that is mostly used in emergency situations (e.g., a car doesn't see you) where speed to activation is critical. (I have yet to hit the little button the first time when I really needed the horn.) Even worse, if you are in the process of turning when you need the horn, its location could be anywhere! It depends on how much the steering wheel is turned! I mostly love my Tesla, but this seemingly minor issue is pretty, pretty bad. I bet it is already causing accidents - I was lucky the other car saw me just in time. And the horn button was NOT an option - Tesla trashed the center horn to save $$.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11601284July 11, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The horn on my car is triggered by a small flat electric "button" on the right side of the steering wheel. There is no horn when you hit the middle of the steering wheel. It is very difficult (and unsafe) to quickly react to a situation when you have to look down to find the horn. When backing out of a parking spot, the horn moves to my left side due to the wheel being turned. Several times, I have almost been hit in a parking lot because I can not quickly find the horn, and my muscle memory is to quickly hit the middle of the steering wheel. I have never had a car where the horn was not located in the middle of the wheel, and I have owned and driven many cars. This week, I was on a highway, and the car next to me began to move into my lane. My muscle memory hit the middle of the wheel, which of course did not work, and so I had to slam my breaks hard to keep from being hit. If I could have hit the horn in a fast and easy manner, the other car would have moved back into its lane. If there had been someone behind me, I likely would have been rear-ended from breaking so abruptly. I have had the car for more than a year, so I reject the idea that I will "just get used to it". Please look into this and request that Tesla recall and replace the steering wheel for all of their vehicles that have this horn arrangement.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11600201July 8, 2024
STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Was driving on a highway when suddenly a whole bunch of error messages came on and my car became hard to steer. Wobbled off my lane which was extremely dangerous going 70mph. I reported this to Tesla and set up a service appointment. The day before my appointment they rescheduled it, pushing it out 30 days saying they don’t have the part in store. They haven’t looked at my car. They said they’re waiting for a new steering rack but don’t know when it’s coming in. Mentioned towing the vehicle and it being unsafe to operate - they must know there’s something wrong and clearly there’s a backlog of issues. They should have told me this earlier. My car is practically new. There’s absolutely no reason the steering rack would have broken.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11599199July 5, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
I was driving on the highway utilizing the full self-driving mode. There was traffic and I was behind an 18-wheeler. The 18-wheeler turned into the right lane, but because of the traffic, it couldn't completely clear the lane so the rear was slightly sticking. The Tesla stopped because it couldn't clear the lane while the 18-wheeler was sticking out. I didn't intervene because it had stopped. Then all of a sudden, it surged forward causing the Tesla's right side mirror to be hit by the 18-wheeler's back. The right side mirror's paint job was completely taken off. I didn't have time to intervene because of the sudden surge.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11599105July 5, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Horn is not in the center of the steering wheel. When turning it is impossible to reach the horn. Not able to find the horn to avoid an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11597411June 28, 2024
TIRES
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 295/30 ZR 21 102Y extra load Purchased Oct 2021, estimated 12,000 miles on vehicle and tire. Tire split along inside corner, nearly all the way around the tire. No warning, instant loss of pressure. No significant wear on the outside corner or the tread. Previously happened earlier in the year on the passenger side rear tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11597062June 26, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving west on [XXX] thru Utah at 78 mph (speed limit posted 80) the car suddenly and almost violently applied full brakes and reduced speed to 50 mph before I could override by applying added pressure to the accelerator. There were no cars in front of me for over a mile, and the following cars were well back as well. This occurred late morning on perfectly dry pavement. There were few if any clouds, the temperature was in the mid to high 90's. The highway was divided with a significant center divider. If there had been a person following me within 5 car lengths there would certainly have been a rear end collision. The location was roughly 20 miles east of Green River, Utah. 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

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