Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full
Data refreshed
Our database holds 43 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2019 Tesla Model S. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Showing 1–25 of 43 · page 1 of 2
Received error message on screen that a left front seat belt error occurred with an error code of rcm2_a564. Indications are that this error then disables the airbag deployment and the seat belt reaction to an accident. Since this is a safety issue, it should be subject to recall.
Two of the rims cracked, right rear and left front, both on the interior edge.
After a recent Tesla firmware update, the backup camera (FMVSS 111 rear visibility function) stopped working. When shifting into reverse, the display shows a black/blank screen instead of the required rearview image. However, the rear camera preview feed still functions, indicating the camera hardware is intact and the failure is likely in the MCU/deserializer routing or software handling of the reverse camera mode. Tesla Service refused to investigate the firmware or signal-routing path and instead recommended a full MCU replacement at my expense without providing diagnostic logs or evidence that the update was not the cause. They closed the case and declined further review while the federally required safety feature remains inoperative. This appears to be a software- or firmware-triggered failure of a federally mandated safety system following a Tesla-pushed update, and I request NHTSA review.
Tesla’s software updates have rendered systems useless the vehicle wants to hug and sometimes cross the left double yellow lines. It cannot hold a constant speed and since their implementation of “supervised” full self driving, have made my vehicle unsafe
My Tesla supervised FSD is a safety hazard. Promised programming updates have not improved the erratic, UNSAFE “assistance. I try it after each update, but I’m afraid to rely on it other than 5-10mph bumper to bumper road conditions. I don’t have one specific occurrence to report and thank goodness no fatality!
Experienced rattling while driving. Brought car in and was told this is a known problem. Obtained copy of the bulletin from Tesla saying this was a “fix upon notification” rather than a recall. Then was forced to pay for the repairs. Upon investigation, this has been reported consistently since 2016. This seems fraudulent as it should cross the threshold of a recall. I would like Tesla to cover the costs of my repair as they would do under a recall.
Rear trunk power lift gate would not open. There is an emergency release on rear lift gate if someone is stuck in the car. Emergency release doesn't work, pulled on it multiple times and it is jammed doesn't move. So in an emergency you are stuck. Appeared today for first time. I have called Tesla to fix this issue. There are three beeps when the system malfunctions but a lot of good that does you if emergency release to open the lift gate doesn't work. Seems to be a common problem reviewing complaints on the internet... not matter what it should release.
Vehicle suddenly stopped on highway luckily there were no drivers behind me. The vehicle all of a sudden started beeping even though there was a clear path and no obstructions. Then stopped. I was panicked and in awe at what was happening. I couldn’t get the vehicle to drive I was just stuck for 10-15 seconds. I was finally able to get the car moving again but the problem hasn’t happened since. Any information as to what may have gone wrong may help other Tesla owners who may or may have not experienced this… yet
On [XXX] at approximately 1230 pm my husband loaded my [XXX] child into the car. He shut the door then tried to open the driver site door. At that time the inside the car was 93 degrees. The car shut off. Telsa customer support was contacted multiple times. My husband expressed the urgency multiple times that there was a child under [XXX] who was stuck. There was no urgency with Telsa. We were told to contact 911 if we wanted to get our child out. There is no way to manually open the tesla model S door from the outside. At approximately 1300 911 was dispatched and the window was broken at 1330. The internal temperature of the car was approximately 110 F. She was assessed by the firefighers and determined that she did not need to go to the hospital for observation as my husband is a medical professional and her temperature was not severe enough to warrant observation. The sent a tow truck that arrived at approximately 1345. Tesla did expedite the tow truck. We were told multiple times there is absolutely no way to open an model S door manually from the outside. And given no options. We informed them we were at our house and had multiple tools. However we were unable to break the window on our own and had to call 911. My car was at the dealership [XXX] and shut down had not occurred prior to this, nor was this noted as a finding after the maintenance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to complete a turn, the contact heard an abnormal sound emanating from the front end of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the front-end suspension and informed the contact that they observed normal wear and tear. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not assist. The failure mileage was 58,000.
On[XXX], at approximately 6:30 PM while I was driving my 2019 Tesla Model S in Fort Lee, NJ. While navigating through congested traffic and executing a right turn from [XXX] on a green light, the auto-pilot system was not using, my vehicle unexpectedly experienced sudden acceleration. Despite my immediate attempts to pump the brakes, the car failed to decelerate, resulting in a collision with a small bus at its rear side. Subsequently, the car continued at full speed, colliding with three additional vehicles before finally coming to a stop. Under such impact, no air bags opened. I would greatly appreciate further investigation and assistance in understanding the cause behind this sudden acceleration, as it not only endangered my safety but also resulted in damage to multiple vehicles. I do have a Police Report but cannot upload to this report, please let me know how to submit the report (Fort Lee Police Dept. Incident # [XXX] ). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The intermittent wipers do not work at all. I created a service ticket with Tesla and they informed me that this is a known bug affecting Model S & X vehicles and that there is currently no known date for a fix to be released.
Sept 9th, 2023 while driving on the interstate the vehicle lost all propulsion power, red lights shown in "gear, P N D" indicator area. I was in left lane and had to get to the side of the road, 4 lanes over, where putting the car in park and back in drive allowed for it to move forward again. I proceeded to a charging station to inspect the car and during this I hear a thump in the trunk area when going over bumps. Upon inspection under the car the rear access cover was hanging down but it was dark. The following morning a closer look revealed the rear subframe where the engine mounts had broken and a large piece of the frame was missing from the inside down. Mounting tab and hardware were still in place but pulled from the structure itself. The car was not handling correctly as if it had a low tire but tire pressure was correct. At drop off I noticed the rear camber seemed quite cambered. As a structural engineer I can see where the mounting tab weld to the aluminum frame failed. The frame appears to be cast and extruded tubing welded together and the failure is what would be considered a weak point at a weld. Car is currently at Tesla Norfolk Virginia for an evaluation and when I showed them the issue the staff did not want to document the issue and requested I perform a drive along with a tech. I asked why as the pics were evidence enough as to my complaint and issue. Cursory investigation online yielded this is not an isolated occurrence and with others having very serious failures I felt it important that perhaps it is severe enough for a modified part replacement. For reference no crash damage or any other like issues have occurred prior with the car.
DRIVING ON AUTOPILOT ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR SUDDENLY BRAKES WITH NOT APPARENT REASON.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 76 MPH with the adaptive cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and decelerated to 45 MPH. The contact stated that the cruise control function then activated and operated as designed and the vehicle then regained speed and accelerated to the desired speed. The failure occurred twice within 20 miles. The contact stated that during the first failure, there was no other vehicles nearby; however, the contact had passed another vehicle the second time the failure was experienced. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 24,500.
driving on the HOV lane, no traffic at all, and the tesla applied the brakes x 2. It happened today at 4:03 pm.
Front drive shafts (half shafts) have been replaced 2x within 6 months and 2-3k miles. They won’t explain why this keeps happening. I believe this is a wide spread issue after some research.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00B000 (Latches, Locks, Linkages) however, the failure of the latch had occurred a year prior to receiving the recall notification. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the hood unlatched and opened. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that there was damage on the latch and on the driver’s and passenger’s side edges of the hood. The contact pulled over safely and closed the hood. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed and determined that the latch had been tampered with. The dealer refused to repair the hood. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 30,958. Parts distribution disconnect.
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 day
WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY IN RECENT WEEKS, MY TESLA BRAKES WITHOUT WARNING. IT SEEMS TO OCCUR WHILE UNDER ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL. AT TIMES THE CAR IS APPROACHING A ROAD SIGN. AT OTHER TIMES THERE IS NO REASON APPARENT TO ME. THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL WORKS WELL OTHERWISE.
while driving on a highway, car made warning sounds and displayed a message "steering assist is reduced, drive with care" the car was not drivable. I almost crashed as it happened on a curve. after i stopped, i soft reset the computer but that did not help. During the incident the steering wheel was set to comfort mode. i changed it to standard but i am not sure if that did anything. I completely shut down the car, waited about 5min and started it again. this time the message went away and the car started driving properly. I reported this to tesla. Despite this being a safety issue they scheduled to look at it in 2 weeks which sounds very dismissive of the issue. I researched the problem and there are many others reporting the same issues. there are videos on youtube how to "fix" it by resetting the car.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH on autopilot, the vehicle independently activated the brakes. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal in order for the vehicle to deactivate the brakes. The contact stated the failure reoccurred without autopilot on the vehicle. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 59,000.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that after he received an over-the-air (OTA) software update for his vehicle; the horn stopped working without warning. The contact had spoken to the service center where he was informed that they were awaiting the parts to service the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
When driving with AutoPilot enabled, I am experiencing the same issues as many others. Without any warning or reason, the car will sometimes slam on the brakes which puts the occupants in my vehicle and the cars behind me in danger. I have had to punch the throttle quickly to correct the situation but often the car has slowed 20 MPH by that point. My estimate is that it happens ~5 times per hundred miles travelled on freeways.
Repeated unexpected emergency braking incidents, similar to those described in the recent Washington Post article. The first one happened on the day that I bought the car, and has never improved. One scenario is the same as described in the article - oncoming car/truck on a two-lane road. But it also happens on freeways. If cruise control is on, it's likely that there will be at least one event during a 30 minute or longer session. As others have mentioned, these are often in congested traffic. When a car is following closely, they have to react very quickly. In several cases they have gotten angry because they think I'm slamming on the brakes to discourage them from tailgating. The very first incident, on the day I bought the car, was hair-raising. The car slammed on the brakes in the middle of an interchange where a semi was close behind and there was dense traffic all around both of us. Fortunately the driver was very alert and avoided me without endangering anybody else. But things could have gone the other way. I've mentioned it to local Tesla service people who (at the beginning) said that the car was in the learning period, calibrating the sensors. The user documentation mentions this and suggests that the training interval could be as much as 100 miles. It gets worse and better as Tesla fiddles with the software. It did indeed get quite a bit worse with the release of the Full Self Driving beta -- which I have qualified for but never actually used because... heck, if they can't get cruise control right, I sure don't want them to take on any more responsibilities.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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