Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2023 Tesla Model S submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 21 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
My car had a software update last night. This morning, there is now a forced "feedback" prompt that comes on the information screen whenever I disengage the autopilot. This prompt grays out the rest of the screen and does not disappear until I manually select a feedback option. This forced prompt is very distracting, requiring manual user input to get rid of, which makes driving distracting and dangerous.
Auto emergency braking is occurring when vehicle recognizes leaves as people. This has happened on three occasions. It is startling to say the least and a matter of time that I am rear ended due to this. Service center acknowledged these events but said they can't do anything about it.
While operating my 2023 Tesla Model S Long range using Full Self Driving Supervised and software version 14.2.1.25, the speed control no longer is available and has been replaced by speed profiles. When operating the vehicle on Interstate 77 Southbound around Statesville, NC and on or about December 22, 2025, I set the speed profiles to standard in a 55 mph zone in which the Tesla recognized and displayed that it was operating in a 55 mph zone in Standard profile mode, the car varied in speed (with no traffic ahead) from about 57 mph to over 76 mph. This is highly unsafe and I had to repeatedly move back to Chill or Sloth mode at which time the vehicle strongly and unsafely braked causing cars behind me to close on me quickly and have to make strong and unplanned braking maneuvers to avoid hitting me. This was not the case when I bought the car and FSD when operating under 13.2.9. The removal of max speed control is extremely unpredictable and unsafe for me and those around me.
Without prior incident or warning all ADAS systems stopped working, including adaptive cruise control, AP, FSD, automatic emergency breaking, blind spot warning, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, parking collision warning. There were no alerts displayed on either driver’s display (other than ‘park assist unavailable’). Also there was no visualization of surrounding traffic, roads etc that is normally visible. The cameras were clean. Rebooting the MCU did not resolve the issues.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse the vehicle, the Collision Avoidance Assist system failed to operate as designed while reversing from the garage. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by a dealer or independent mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that a representative would be sent to the residence to inspect the vehicle. The failure mileage was 16,000.
As I approached a red light with a car in front of me, I took my foot off the accelerator to use Tesla's regenerative braking, but instead the car rapidly accelerated and crashed into the car in front of me. It seemed like unintended acceleration.
Experienced severe phantom breaking on [XXX] in route to Las Vegas at 70mph September 2024. In heavy rain, while windshield wipers set to auto...........wipers have stopped momentarily blinding the driver, a problem Tesla hasn't fixed on my neighbors 2019 Model 3. The stalkless design prevents safe use of turn signals, horn and gear shifts. Wife who only drives an ICE car can not safely operate turn signals, horn and gear shifts in my 2023 Tesla Model S. Camera system constantly renders 'Blinded' error messages halting Autopilot features. Tesla's resolution is to clean camera's before initiating Autopilot. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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.
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)
Driving on straight section of highway at dusk. No autopilot or other features on. Road slightly damp from earlier rain. Driving approximately 60mph. Without me moving my hands or feet then car suddenly slammed on the brakes and speed decreased to approximately 20mph. I pulled over and reset the car computer by pressing the two buttons on the wheel and no further problems but had someone been behind me there would have been a terrible crash and my daughter was in the backseat. Looking online it seems Tesla "phantom braking" is not uncommon. I am frightened to drive my car ever again but have a 7 hour drive home tomorrow.
I received a letter from Tesla in Jan 2024 detailing recall 24V-035 for my Model S 2023 vehicle. This recall indicates the vehicle is not in compliance with FMVSS No. 111, S5.5.3. and promised an over-the-air software update to remedy the issue. However, it is now June 2024 and my vehicle continues to show no updates are available to fix this safety issue. My vehicle continues to run software version 2023.44.30.6 while the fix is only available in version 2023.44.30.7 and later. I am concerned the Tesla is either incapable of fixing the problem via software updates and is dragging its feet, or lacks the expertise to fix the problem via said software update.
I had a software update on my Tesla Model S for minor fixes (s/w version # 2024.14.9) and when I came to start the car the following systems are now working; 1/ All camera's are not working including review view camera. 2/ All ADAS systems are not working 3/ Windscreen wipers are not working 4/ Navigation is not working The biggest concern is the camera system and all the safety system associated with this are now not active on the car.
This complaint is about difficulties with the horn sensor on the steering yoke under emergency situations. After 14 months of driving the car, I have these safety issues: 1) The horn sensor is difficult to find in emergency situations. It is a single, small area located farthest away from the right-hand rest position and touching it requires a long stretch with the thumb. When turning, it is easy to lose the orientation of the yoke and nearly impossible to find the horn sensor. (See #5 in the attached image). 2) The horn sensor is near the cruise-control button ("right scroll button"). The cruise-control button is raised and I have accidentally engaged the cruise-control on multiple occasions when trying to reach for the horn sensor. I would lift off the accelerator, expecting to slow down, but imagine my panic when the car speeds-up due to the accidentally engaged cruise-control. (See #8 in the attached image). 3) The horn sensor does not work when wearing regular gloves. None of the steering yoke sensors with gloves. You have to wear special touch-senstive gloves. 4) The steering yoke airbag is NOT a horn button. All of my previous cars since 2000 had airbag horns. This is a hard habit to break. I urge the NHTSA to recall the steering yoke and make the airbag a physical horn button. This would alleviate the four safety issues above. Thank you.
nhtsa recall 23V-838; TC2023-657 has made my car less safe to drive. The constant nagging and nannying requires me to take attention off the road. Please stop.
There are several safety related issues with the 2023 Tesla Model S 1) The horn is a tiny raised marking on the steering wheel (right side), and not like in "normal" car where pushing/hitting the center of the steering wheel will activate the horn. This is unsafe, since in emergency the driver automatically hits the center, and does not have time to look for the time horn "button" 2) The turn signals are also "buttons" on the steering wheel. It's OK when the car drives straight, but if you turn the wheel to either side, the driver must LOOK at the wheel, find the turn signal and then press it. 3) The parking warning system works intermittently. I already have three big scratches on my car which I bought in June 2023, when the system was silence when I was getting out of a parking space, and I hit the car next to me. 4) The Auto wipers don't always work. I was driving at 60MPH in heavy rain. The wipers were working fine when all of a sudden they stopped and my field of vision was totally obstructed.
Phantom breaking. I picked up my new Model S on Sept 7th. While on the thruway on AutoPilot, the car will suddenly brake. I am not near to anyone. This is a hazard.
At least 6 times on two different trips, while driving with Adaptive Cruise control engaged, the car randomly and aggressively applied the breaks. It was so aggressive that if there had been a car behind us, they would definitely have rear ended us going 60+ miles per hour. It was difficult to hold the car in the lane when the breaks were applied so aggressively. We did some research and found that there were over 700 comments on this problem and it was being labeled as "fantom breaking". The breaking is very aggressive and very unsafe. The representatives at the dealership simply acknowledged the problem and said that Tesla will continue to try to correct it with a software download.
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.
Car suddenly accelerated and crushed into shop in parking lot
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.
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.
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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