2018 Tesla Model S Problems

I pulled my Tesla Model S in a parking lot, and as I turned the car into a parking spot, the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb next to the parking lot and hit a tree. The car speed when I pulled into the parking lot and then into a parking spot was very low. so I was very surprised and startled to see the car suddenly on its own accelerating and jumping the curb.

Car was in summon mode and crashed into a fence . Caused damage to frond end of the car

Our doors completely locked inside our garage. We could not get in the car at all, even after a technician came to replace the low voltage battery. Only after replacing the low voltage battery was someone able to get into the car. However, that low voltage battery did not fix the core issue the car was having. It was a current leak in the high voltage jumper harness. This issue required us to get a very expensive tow of our car out of our garage (required dollys & a winch), and then a very expensive diagnosis & repair by Tesla. These doors should have a way to open if the car's battery or other electrical system malfunctions.

On [XXX], I was driving my recently purchased 2018 Tesla Model S (VIN: [XXX], mileage approx. [30,536]). The vehicle was purchased directly through Tesla’s app in late August 2025 and delivered to me the same day of the incident. Approximately 4.5 hours after delivery, while driving with my son, white smoke began to come out of the cabin air vents. Within minutes, the smoke turned black and rapidly filled the interior of the car. I immediately pulled over and evacuated the vehicle with my son. Shortly after, the car caught fire and was completely destroyed. No modifications had been made to the vehicle, and it was sold to me as inspected and certified by Tesla. The sudden appearance of smoke from the vents and rapid escalation to a full vehicle fire posed a severe danger to me, my child, and others on the road. I am reporting this to NHTSA to document the incident and to request that the agency investigate whether Tesla Model S vehicles have underlying defects that may cause dangerous cabin fires shortly after use. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I pulled my Tesla Model S in a parking lot, and as I turned the car into a parking spot, the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb next to the parking lot and hit a tree. The car speed when I pulled into the parking lot and then into a parking spot was very low. so I was very surprised and startled to see the car suddenly on its own accelerating and jumping the curb.

I was entering my drive way waiting for the garage to open suddenly my car just accelerated and hit the wall.

Rear suspension on 2020 and older model s and x is not adjustable for alignment. Factory camber comes 2 aggressive which burns only the very inner part of the tire at a rapid pace. Upon checking tread depth with gauge you will not see this wear and tires will appear to be good. Tire wear is not visible unless you crawl under vehicle and inspect visually. Many Many reports of blow out tire due to this issue. Look it up. To top it off the vehicle does not come with a spare.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 10-15 MPH, the rear subframe assembly failed inadvertently. The contact stated that the rear driver’s side wheel appeared to be caved inward. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the rear subframe and rear wheel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000. The contact stated that the failure can be explained by poor design. The vehicle was repaired at the contact's own expense, and they are requesting a reimbursement from the manufacturer. The contact has concerns that even after the repair that the vehicle will eventually fail again.

I was entering my drive way waiting for the garage to open suddenly my car just accelerated and hit the wall.

Steering the vehicle is extremely difficult leading to major safety concerns. When making turns, right or left, where the steering wheel travels greater than 90 degrees, the steering wheel becomes hard to push past that 90 degree mark (I am 6' 200lb man). Once past 90 degrees, the wheel will stay at that turning angles without correcting to straight. A few times I have had to "muscle" the steering wheel quickly back the opposite direction to keep from running into parked cars on the right side on a right turn. I appears the lower steering column U-joint has rusted and is binding every 90 degrees making steering unpredictable, dangerous and difficult altogether.

On [XXX], I was driving my recently purchased 2018 Tesla Model S (VIN: [XXX], mileage approx. [30,536]). The vehicle was purchased directly through Tesla’s app in late August 2025 and delivered to me the same day of the incident. Approximately 4.5 hours after delivery, while driving with my son, white smoke began to come out of the cabin air vents. Within minutes, the smoke turned black and rapidly filled the interior of the car. I immediately pulled over and evacuated the vehicle with my son. Shortly after, the car caught fire and was completely destroyed. No modifications had been made to the vehicle, and it was sold to me as inspected and certified by Tesla. The sudden appearance of smoke from the vents and rapid escalation to a full vehicle fire posed a severe danger to me, my child, and others on the road. I am reporting this to NHTSA to document the incident and to request that the agency investigate whether Tesla Model S vehicles have underlying defects that may cause dangerous cabin fires shortly after use. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I own a 2018 Tesla Model S. While it was still under warranty the passenger side door handle quit working and it was no longer possible to open that door. Tesla replaced the door handle at no change with a newly designed mechanism. It was explained to me that they redesigned the mechanism which had a high failure rate, and my car handles would no longer be installed in later cars. I asked if they would change all 4 door handles for me, and was told they would not. Now several years later, another door handle has failed. This time dangerously. The door pops open spontaneously, and therefore the car is not safe to drive. I have an appointment for repair, but at full cost. Should Tesla not cover the cost, as it makes the vehicle unsafe to drive, and they clearly knew about it when they originally sold me my car?

Tesla designs a single piece headlight with no serviceable parts. This includes headlights, high beams, and namely daytime running lights. All of these components are on an LED strip that overheats and un-solders due to this high heat, which causes premature failure. Some owners have reported as little as 3 months of life before failing. The daytime running lights are essential for safety driving in low light situations. These daytime running lights are seemingly built to fail. The lights dim then eventually no longer work. Tesla's solution is to have the customer purchase a brand new headlight at $2,500. My vehicle is 2018 Tesla s with 43,400 miles and always kept in carnage. Tesla should either goodwill swap out these headlights for a non-built to fail component, or offer a repair for a quality LED strip with proper heat distribution. Without daytime running lights safety is a major concern on foggy, rainy, and low light situations. I have attached an image showing how the failure begins on top then slowly goes all the way down to the side of the headlight which fails later,.

Component that failed is daylight running lights and is available for inspection. Daylight running lights are important to be seen easier by other vehicles and pedestrians, since they don’t work my vehicles is more difficult to be seen during the day. Confirmed by service center. Unknown if inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others, most likely not. No warning lights, no messages, no symptoms, first appeared approximately sept 2022

Our doors completely locked inside our garage. We could not get in the car at all, even after a technician came to replace the low voltage battery. Only after replacing the low voltage battery was someone able to get into the car. However, that low voltage battery did not fix the core issue the car was having. It was a current leak in the high voltage jumper harness. This issue required us to get a very expensive tow of our car out of our garage (required dollys & a winch), and then a very expensive diagnosis & repair by Tesla. These doors should have a way to open if the car's battery or other electrical system malfunctions.

I own a 2018 Tesla Model S. While it was still under warranty the passenger side door handle quit working and it was no longer possible to open that door. Tesla replaced the door handle at no change with a newly designed mechanism. It was explained to me that they redesigned the mechanism which had a high failure rate, and my car handles would no longer be installed in later cars. I asked if they would change all 4 door handles for me, and was told they would not. Now several years later, another door handle has failed. This time dangerously. The door pops open spontaneously, and therefore the car is not safe to drive. I have an appointment for repair, but at full cost. Should Tesla not cover the cost, as it makes the vehicle unsafe to drive, and they clearly knew about it when they originally sold me my car?

This is very comment of tesla not responding to customer about the power reduced in the car is safe concerns is lot of people with the same problem and tesla want Pay for all the repairs of the car even with my car still Warranty

Driving the vehicle and all of a sudden all these warning lights came on. The dash flashed warning signs stating: "Power reduced - exiting and entering the vehicle may restore operation" "High voltage battery requires service - Acceleration and charging performance reduced" and a turtle sign appeared. The vehicle was almost inoperable moving at 1-2 mph. Pulled into a parking lot, parked the car, and exited the vehicle. After reentering the vehicle the error continued. Had the vehicle towed to the Tesla service center. It is currently being diagnosed. An online search showed many Tesla forums with similar issues and there were suggestions to report the incident because there no consistent resolution that has been provided by Tesla thus far - issues range from 2020 - 2023.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that whenever the rear door was opened, the window on the door rolls down approximately a half inch, and whenever the door was closed, the window automatically rolled back up. The contact stated that after the rear door was opened to place some leftover dinner in the rear seat, the contact closed the door and his finger was caught in between the window and the door frame. The contact was concerned and stated that there should be a sensor to prevent such a failure and any injury while closing the door. The contact stated that his finger was bruised and cut and was bleeding profusely. The contact removed his finger as quickly as possible, preventing even more injuries to his fingers and hand. Medical attention was not needed; however, the contact did clean and bandage the finger after arriving to the residence. The dealer was not informed of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

Tesla provided a software update, and now two of the four speeds of my windshield wipers don’t work. This is a visibility and safety issue and software updates need better QC before being pushed to the public

My 2018 Tesla Model S has a recurring safety-critical defect involving the steering system and the Chassis CAN communication network. On October 20, 2025, the vehicle had to be towed to a Tesla Service Center because it would not power on and displayed multiple safety alerts (traction control disabled, stability control disabled, ABS disabled, and reduced steering assist). Tesla documented that the steering rack was “bringing down the Chassis CAN” and stated the issue might require a new steering rack and coolant pump if it returned. The warnings have now returned, and the vehicle is again showing active alerts for disabled traction control, disabled stability control, and previously reduced steering assist. This is a repeat of the same unsafe condition that Tesla attempted to repair. The car is unsafe to drive and could cause loss of steering control. This is a recurring steering/Chassis CAN failure with major safety system disablement. I am reporting this because the defect affects vehicle control and increases the risk of a crash.

The cable harness (slip ring) connecting the steering wheel controls including the vehicle horn, steering wheel buttons, scroll wheels, and potentially the airbag (according to the service technician) failed on this vehicle in January 2025. The vehicle was inspected by Tesla’s mobile service and they acknowledged that the cable harness had indeed failed. It is available for inspection. We have been forced to drive this car without a functioning horn and airbag. There were no warning signs or messages on the vehicle computer.

Driving the vehicle and all of a sudden all these warning lights came on. The dash flashed warning signs stating: "Power reduced - exiting and entering the vehicle may restore operation" "High voltage battery requires service - Acceleration and charging performance reduced" and a turtle sign appeared. The vehicle was almost inoperable moving at 1-2 mph. Pulled into a parking lot, parked the car, and exited the vehicle. After reentering the vehicle the error continued. Had the vehicle towed to the Tesla service center. It is currently being diagnosed. An online search showed many Tesla forums with similar issues and there were suggestions to report the incident because there no consistent resolution that has been provided by Tesla thus far - issues range from 2020 - 2023.

AS I WAS TURNING RIGHT INTO A PARKING SPACE GOING AT A VERY SLOW SPEED, THE TESLA SUDDENLY ACCELERATED TO FULL SPEED. I DID NOT PRESS THE GAS OR COMMIT ANY OTHER USER ERROR. I TRIED TO APPLY THE BRAKE. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THIS SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION, I CRASHED INTO THE BUILDING IN FRONT OF ME. *TR

The car does not come with a spare. I got a flat tire and Tesla will not provide a spare or a tow for free, they charge a fee for both. This has created a safety issue that can be life threatening due to their lack of a spare tire and not towing the car.

1. SUSPENSION PROBLEM, ONGOING CONCERN. 2. EXCESSIVE TIRE WEAR OF UNKNOWN CAUSE. 3. DRIVER SCREEN FOR MANAGING VEHICLE CONTROLS IS FAULTY AND HOPEFULLY BEING FIXED VIA A WARRANTY ALERT DATED NOVEMBER 09, 2020. SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENT. MY CONCERN IS THAT TESLA IS NOT FORTHCOMING IN SOLVING THIS SUSPENSION PROBLEM. I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOUR AGENCY TO INVESTIGATE CLAIMS INTO MODEL S VEHICLES PRODUCED THROUGH 2018 AS WELL.

Driving the vehicle and all of a sudden all these warning lights came on. The dash flashed warning signs stating: "Power reduced - exiting and entering the vehicle may restore operation" "High voltage battery requires service - Acceleration and charging performance reduced" and a turtle sign appeared. The vehicle was almost inoperable moving at 1-2 mph. Pulled into a parking lot, parked the car, and exited the vehicle. After reentering the vehicle the error continued. Had the vehicle towed to the Tesla service center. It is currently being diagnosed. An online search showed many Tesla forums with similar issues and there were suggestions to report the incident because there no consistent resolution that has been provided by Tesla thus far - issues range from 2020 - 2023.