2018 Tesla Model S Steering Problems

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

NHTSA ID

11717637

Incident

Jan 30, 2026

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.

NHTSA ID

11717138

Incident

Feb 10, 2026

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.

NHTSA ID

11704380

Incident

Feb 13, 2025

On 9/27/2025 while driving my Tesla Model S, I received the error EPAS_w001 – “Steering assist reduced”. Immediately afterward, the steering became extremely heavy and nearly impossible to control, even at low speeds.

NHTSA ID

11690149

Incident

Sep 27, 2025

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.

NHTSA ID

11644246

Incident

Jan 14, 2025

My car was left on the driveway for a weekend where I was out of town. Upon returning, as I got into the vehicle and started reversing to get out of my driveway; several alerts popped up on my car. The alerts included "Steering assist reduced", "Stability control disabled", "Automatic emergency braking unavailable" and lastly, "Parking brake Fault." Immediately the power steering was gone and it took several pounds of force to turn the steering wheel even a little bit. Then, the parking brake engaged. No matter how many times I put the car into Drive, it would engage the brake again. My vehicle was halfway out of the driveway and into the road and I was causing my neighbors angst. After several reboots, it still was not working. I was unable to even get the car into neutral to push the car back on to my property and out of the street. After nearly 20 minutes of trying and almost giving up; the parking brake disengaged for a few minutes and allowed me to get back to the driveway. However, when driving the brakes were extremely loud when the car was in motion. The car was completely fine with no signs of wear and tear or issues prior to the out of town weekend. The car was also fully charged so to not run into any batter issues upon my return. After some internet sleuthing, this issue is decently common and is caused by faulty housing in the steering rack. The nuts/bolts that were used by the manufacturer could not withstand more than a few years of wear and tear. I believe there was a recall on the previous years for this exact situation. I am afraid I will have to take it to Tesla service and pay several thousand dollars as the warranty expired last year.

NHTSA ID

11607935

Incident

Jul 26, 2024

Received and error message, Lane Departure Avoidance features unavailable and steering assist reduced simultaneously while driving between 65-75 mph. Steering will required extreme effort to turn. I was about 5 minutes from home exited the highway and took the backroads. Steering did require extreme effort. The following morning, car worked fine.

NHTSA ID

11586895

Incident

May 2, 2024

I was driving on the [XXX] to for a work meeting on Monday [XXX], 2024, at about [XXX] (central). My 2018 Tesla Model S shut down while driving on the freeway. The power steering went off and so did the hazard lights. I pulled over to the shoulder. Unfortunately, the shoulder is not too wide on [XXX]. I was driving at 70 mph or so when this happened. The only warning that popped on the Tesla Screen was “Vehicle Shutting Down Pull Over Safely”. The battery still had about 175 miles left to empty. So, this was an unusually unsafe incident that could have been life threatening. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11584857

Incident

Apr 22, 2024

My vehicle did an update and after update I have received an error message “steering assist reduced”. I am unable to drive my vehicle and the wheel feels locked. I have reached out to Tesla and their soonest appt is over a week from now to even look at it.

NHTSA ID

11582946

Incident

Apr 14, 2024

My vehicle suddenly displayed an alert saying, “steering assist reduced” and the steering wheel became extremely difficult to turn. I became very concerned about my safety and the safety of other drivers, so I took the car to Tesla for service. It is currently being repaired.

NHTSA ID

11580302

Incident

Mar 29, 2024

Maryland State Police Report [XXX] says: On [XXX], [XXX] was driving his 2018 Tesla Model S in Maryland on what is known in the DMV as the important highway, "The Beltway". According to Police Report [XXX], "Unit 1 was traveling southbound in Lane 1 on [XXX]. The Autopilot feature on the Tesla was engaged. The Autopilot malfunctioned causing the Tesla to lose control and leave the highway on the Left Side. The Driver was Transported by ambulance to the hospital ...." "Equipment Failure, Ran Off Road Left" INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11528444

Incident

Mar 14, 2023

HERE IS A 2018 TERDSLA MODEL S IN THE JUNKYARD. HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/39010278?ROWNUMBER=13 THE FRONT WHEEL HAS NOT JUST GONE WHOMPY IT HAS SNAPPED OFF ENTIRELY. THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF CRASH DAMAGE. THERE IS HARDLY A MARK ON THE CAR AND NO AIR-BAGS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED. THE STEERING ARM HAS SNAPPED OFF. THE STEERING KNUCKLE HAS CRACKED IN HALF. THIS IS A CASTING FAILURE. BAD DESIGN BAD MANUFACTURE AND BAD QUALITY CONTROL. WHY NO RECALL FOR THESE DEADLY DEFECTIVE TENT BUILT CLOWN CARS? YOURS IN TOTAL DISGUST. KEEF

NHTSA ID

11395822

Incident

Jan 1, 2021

Mileage

31,000 mi

THE CAR SOFTWARE HAS BEEN MODIFIED AND APPEARS TO BE COMPROMISED. SETTINGS RELATED TO SAFETY AND AUTOPILOT HAVE BEEN UNSTABLE. DRIVER PROFILE DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY. FACTORY RESET PERFORMED BY TESLA PARAMUS AND BY SWITCHING EMAIL ACCOUNT DOESN'T NOT REMOVE THE MALWARE. PERSONAL DATA AND MALFUNCTIONING OF THE CAR CONTINUE DESPITE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS TO TESLA.

NHTSA ID

11322359

Incident

Apr 27, 2020

Mileage

9,385 mi

I HAD A 2018 TESLA S. I WAS DRIVING NORTH ON US 395 IN LANE 2 OF A 4 LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAY AT 0030 ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF LONE PINE, CA. IT WAS PITCH BLACK OUT. I WAS THE DRIVER OF A TESLA S IN SEMIAUTONOMOUS DRIVER-ASSIST MODE. THE ROAD WAS GOING UP HILL AND I CLICKED MY TURN SIGNAL TO PASS A SEMI TRAILER AND MY CAR WENT INTO THE LEFT LANE AND PASSED THE TRUCK. AFTER GOING A SIGNIFICANT DISTANCE IN FRONT OF THE TRUCK AND STARTING DOWN HILL AND I CLICKED MY TURN SIGNAL TO RETURN TO THE RIGHT LANE. THE CAR WENT INTO THE RIGHT LANE AND CONTINUED ONTO THE RIGHT LANE BUT CONTINUED ABRUPTLY ONTO THE SHOULDER. IT FELT LIKE THE STEERING WHEEL TURN TO THE RIGHT AND WE WENT OFF THE ROAD INTO A DITCH 15-20 FEET BELOW. MY HANDS WERE ON THE STEERING WEAL, A FACT I CAN PROVE BECAUSE I SUFFERED A FRACTURE OF THE THIRD METACARPAL HEAD OF MY LEFT HAND, A FRACTURE AN ORTHOPEDIST CALLED AN "AIRBAG FRACTURE". ALSO THERE WAS BUSING OF MY DISTAL DIGITS OF THE FINGERS OF MY LEFT HAND. THE CAR WAS A TOTAL LOSS. MY WIFE WHO WAS SLEEPING AT THE TIME WAS IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND SUFFERED SIGNIFICANT TRAUMA FROM HER SEAT BELT, A FRACTURE OF THE LATERAL SPINE OF C-7, BILATERAL FIRST RIB FRACTURES, STERNUM FRACTURE AND A T-12 BLOWOUT FRACTURE. I HAVE COPIES OF MY X-RAY OF MY HAND FRACTURE AND A PICTURE OF THE ECHYMOSIS OF MY FINGERS. I REPORTED THE ACCIDENT TO TESLA WITH THE DATE AND TIME OF THE ACCIDENT AND WAS TOLD THEY WOULD GET BACK TO ME AFTER INVESTIGATING, BUT THEY HAVEN'T.

NHTSA ID

11312175

Incident

Nov 17, 2019

Mileage

27,899 mi

TWICE RECENTLY WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AT NIGHT, THE CAR COMPUTER STARTED FAILING. LIGHTS WENT OUT, TURN SIGNALS DIDN'T WORK, EVENTUALLY THE WHOLE SCREEN AND DASHBOARD THAT LET YOU DRIVE TURNED BLANK. I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO QUICKLY PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESET THE CAR BY PRESSING AND HOLDING THE TWO BUTTONS ON STEERING WHEEL. THIS IS A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION.

NHTSA ID

11282952

Incident

Oct 30, 2019

Mileage

12,000 mi