2018 Tesla Model X Driver assistance Problems

While driving on FSD (Full Self Driving) the vehicle was turning off the road into a parking lot and sped up and hit a vehicle while I was pressing the brake to the floor! I had to brace for impact when I hit the vehicle. I have requested the data and telemetry logs from Tesla. Everything was fine before the crash. Husband had a similar incident a few weeks ago where he was turning with FSD engaged and the vehicle stopped in the middle of the turn with a vehicle coming right at him, he had the gas floored to get out of the way but was completely stopped, could not move for 15 seconds or so.

NHTSA ID

11754460

Incident

Aug 2, 2026

During a recent incident where a tire issue caused damage to the wiring harness for the parking brake, resulting in a Parking Brake Failure notification on the screen, the vehicle would not stop or turn off. The vehicle displayed N for neutral on the dash, but the vehicle would drive forward unless the brake was depressed. In addition, we were unable to place the vehicle in Park, which meant that we were unable to shut it off. The only way to stop the vehicle from driving on its own and crashing into something was to place concrete blocks under the tires! Unplugging the 12v battery also had no effect! The vehicle kept driving as if it was in drive, and there as no way to stop it without placing the foot on the brake pedal the entire time or placing the blocks I referenced. The only way I was able to shut it off, was to pull what's known as the Fireman's Loop, which I'm guessing firemen pull in the case of an accident. I wasn't aware of this mechanism, and only learned of it after posting on numerous social media apps regarding this issue. This is a Major issue, as we are talking about a moving and unstoppable car! Tesla needs to build some mechanism that allows the car to be shut off by the driver or to override the screen and place the car in park. Pulling this firemans loop and unplugging the 12v battery, required me being in front of the vehicle, risking my life, as the vehicle could've easily moved if the concrete barriers didn't stop it, and also required me taking 30+ minutes to remove components from the Frunk, just to access these components!!

NHTSA ID

11715473

Incident

Feb 4, 2026

Tesla X in full self driving mode failed to lower speed and detect stopped in-lane vehicle on a very sharp turn, crashing into the back of the vehicle at significant speed.

NHTSA ID

11670550

Incident

Jun 30, 2025

I was driving down the road and my car started shaking, I was about 5 or 6 miles from an exit so continued and within 1 mile a rod broke and fell on top of my tire causing me to catastrophically have to stop n swerve off the road in 5 o'clock traffic. I just purchased this car 3 months ago, no issues just happend all of sudden. There are reports of weak suspension parts for tesla specifically the model x and y. The suspension parts need to be recalled. I was VERY lucky to not have collided with another car and potentially causing a fatality.

NHTSA ID

11670369

Incident

Jun 30, 2025

Our Tesla Model X is failing recently with several issues as listed below: 1. 'Autiopilot disabled' - Autopilot was not available to use since 09/2024 after upgraded to 12.x FSD upgrade. Tesla service diagnosed in 11/2024 with some error connected to evaporator fan, advised me to replace the kit at an estimated $580 2. 'Unable to start' - HV battery failed on 03/06/2025 with series of failures that was reported to NHTSA (VOQ#11651899). Tesla replaced the battery, and service delivered vehicle on 03/24/2025 3. 'Hood unlatch' failure - while driving home from Service center on the same day at 70 mph on I-95 freeway, the 'hood' popped up blocking the front view, and had to pull vehicle to shoulder to safety. There was NO warning message on the screen at all. Took the vehicle to service immediately, and service team pointed that they forgot to turn on 'auto-latch' resulting hood failure. They offered the 'free' repair of hood. 4. 'ECU Autopilot failure' - while taking the delivery of 'hood' fix on 04/22/2025, I noticed the 'autopilot' was still NOT working. Serviced diagnosed with 'failed autopilot ECU' at an estimated cost of $1791.55. Currenlty the vehicle is with Tesla Service team. My vehicle is with service team since 03/06/2025, and has been identified with series of issues/failures. It has caused severe safety failure putting our lives at risk with 'unlatched' hood while driving on a freeway. Also with HV battery failure its completely unreliable on when it might fail during driving. Now with failed autopilot ECU, we are unsure of the vehicles ability to navigate, drive function and safety concerns. Service team is unable to provide precise root causes or fixes, or restore it to a functioning vehicle. Every visit with service team there is a new issue with vehicle. Our family is greatly concern with the quality of the vehicle, persisting issues, safety concerns and overall reliability of the vehicle. Please find enclosed all service records.

NHTSA ID

11659042

Incident

Apr 22, 2025

Based on thousands of posts, replies, etc, this seems to be a well known issue with this model/year Tesla as well as other years/models. It seems that the Wheel Sensor Cable is not fastened properly, and over time, the cable runs against the tire, causing the internal wires to be exposed, this in turn causes numerous faults to occur, which includes causing ABS, lane departure avoidance, traction control, stability control, ABS, and regenerative braking to stop working. This happens while driving resulting in an immediate change in how the vehicle functions which could easily lead to a major accident While there are numerous forums where this issue is noted, below is one that details the issue with photos [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11650036

Incident

Mar 23, 2025

‘safety restraint system issue’ error pops up when ever car is turned on was told that can cause airbag to not be deployed when needed.

NHTSA ID

11638080

Incident

Jan 21, 2025

While driving on highway with autopilot on . I received the message "Steering Assist reduced .Vehicle will require additional force to steer". I believe I hit a rough patch on the highway and my steering lost power and became very hard to steer the vehicle. Somehow I managed to drive for 20 miles to safety. When I recached home I did power reset few times and the issue went away. I noticed similar issues with model x but not for year 2018 Model x. I have opened a service request with Tesla .Tesla send me an invoice of $5500 for repair.

NHTSA ID

11622588

Incident

Oct 27, 2024

I was driving on [XXX] from Carson City to Reno in Washoe Valley while on autopilot, the car suddenly alerted with very loud alarms, showed 1. steering assist reduced, 2. Automatic Emergency Braking is unavailable 3. Traction Control disabled 4. Stability control disabled 5. Park Assist unavailable. I pulled over to a safe parking area. Then the car locked out for 75 mins, in Neutral gear, can't shut off, can't park, can't reset the car at all even after talking to Tesla support. While waiting for the tow truck, I turned it into Tow mode, was able to change into Park mode finally, and hard reset the car. I took it in and Tesla told me the steering system was the problem and I was out of warranty so I had to pay A LOT OF money to repair/replace it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11579414

Incident

Feb 7, 2024

The vehicle was in cruise control and had a phantom braking event. The vehicle was going at 70 mph and suddenly braked even though there was significant distance between the car in front and nothing on the road. The sun was glaring on the road and possibly the car detected the shadow on the road as an object and braked because of it.

NHTSA ID

11574320

Incident

Nov 28, 2023

The Tesla recall under NHTSA Recall No: 23V-838 has not been completed by Tesla. The upgraded computer I purchased from Tesla and had installed in December 2021 cannot accept the OTA update. Tesla is requesting that I replace the computer again for 2 thousand dollars for the recall OTA. Telsa said my current computer has an internal bug and needs to be replaced. I should not have to spend 2K for another computer that barely lasted 2 years.

NHTSA ID

11573662

Incident

Jan 22, 2024

Auto pilot

NHTSA ID

11571991

Incident

Jan 2, 2024

The Full Self Driving System failed to operate correctly. This caused my car to hit another car. I have asked Tesla for the data they use to tell what the driver was doing when the system was on but the Tesla staff who respond to my requests plead ignorance of what data I am referring to. I am not ready to spend the money it would cost to hire a lawyer to force Tesla to hand over the data from their system. I have video from the Tesla camera showing what happens. I will try to upload it. Here is a quick run through of what happened: I entered the freeway and got into the left lane. Once I was safely in the left lane and up to speed I turned on the FSD keeping my hands on the steering wheel. After a few moments the car veered to the right, I tugged against the pull of the FSD and got it back in the lane when all of a sudden it turned my wheel hard right into a minivan. It happened so fast that the wheel turned even with my hands on it. I have been trying to talk to someone at Tesla but it is difficult to break through the front lines as they deflect contacts away from anyone who might be able to answer my questions about getting the FSD incident data. The video is .mp4 so it is not allowing me to upload. Please let me know how to send you the video.

NHTSA ID

11554607

Incident

Nov 7, 2023

On Oct. 26 at approximately 5:45 p.m. on HWY 26 near Sandy, OR the autopilot system failed by abruptly turning the car into the upcoming turn lain (marked with solid white line) and towards oncoming traffic. I had to immediately take significant corrective action to move the car back into the lane I was traveling. I firmly believe that the car could have cross into the lane going the opposite direction. I definitely was very unsettled by this event. This type of spontaneous autopilot error has occurred numerous times in the past to me (have driven a Model X Tesla since 2016) and I now very seldom use the feature while driving. I have taking no further action regarding this event or others because while under warranty Tesla always come up with rationale that they couldn't find a problem because of loss of connectivity, could not detect a problem, etc. I thought that through the years with their hype and over-the-air updates things would get better but they have not! Thank you for your time. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11552254

Incident

Oct 26, 2023

Suddenly getting harder to turn the steering wheel to either direction. The problem happens randomly and also looses the power steering, needing to forcibly bring the steering back and making the driving difficult. When this happens many alerts pop on the dash including traction alert, break alert, and line alert.

NHTSA ID

11546498

Incident

Aug 1, 2023

I was driving on the highway on Tesla enhanced auto pilot when traffic came to a stop I’d notice my Tesla model X was not about to stop nor slow down for the stopped traffic so at the last minute I had to slam on my brakes and swerved to the right lane where I was hit by a truck pulling a trailer which subsequently rammed me into the truck I was trying to avoid rear ending after Teslas forward collision warning failed to notify me or stop the car from crashing in the first place

NHTSA ID

11534683

Incident

Jul 16, 2023

On a recent 2000 mile trip, we experienced several (10-20) incidents of unnecessary, very strong braking. There were no apparent reasons for the very strong braking episodes. In some instances, there were no cars in front of us and no cars behind us for many miles (I-40, New Mexico). Braking was so severe that it likely would have caused a collision if cars had been closely following us. We have traveled this route several times in past years with no similar emergency braking incidents.

NHTSA ID

11514962

Incident

Mar 29, 2023

Starting especially so on this date, and on occasion before this time, The vehicle would abruptly brake very aggressively when I was passing a semi truck with his emergency lights on or when perhaps passing a shadow or for no reason at all. I would have to slam on the gas to avoid a collision or being rear ended.

NHTSA ID

11501094

Incident

Jan 7, 2021

After I started an update as requested on Tesla app, the car was giving error messages. I was able to drive but the errors were - 1. reduced steering assist 2. Autopilot and cruise control not available

NHTSA ID

11493620

Incident

Oct 27, 2022

About 224 miles N. of Los Angeles, on I-5, Southbound, the car aggressively braked while using traffic aware cruise control. Speed was around 75 when braking started. Speed dropped to 55 MPH at the end. There was a couple additional brakes on this southbound journey. I can't believe that Tesla thinks they can implement full self driving when they can't manage to maintain a constant and not jarring speed. This is a recipe for disaster.

NHTSA ID

11489055

Incident

Oct 12, 2022

https://youtu.be/yRdzIs4FJJg "Autopilot is set to shut down 1 second before any impact. Makes the driver 100% in control before an accident. Makes the driver 100% responsible. Tesla has killed two motorcyclists in the past 4 months. At night the ai can't tell the difference between a motorcyclist up close and a car far away. So, it assumes car and runs right into it. Another interesting issue with teslas autopilot. They claim its 10x safer than a person. That not true. The claim is based on sheer accidents per mile. Autopilot is only really used on the highway, eating up miles quickly and in an environment where, although consequences of crashes can be more severe, they happen less often. When adjusted to compare highway driving autopilot to highway driving people, it's really only about as safe as a person, if that. In their 2022 cars tesla has done away with radar. So all new teslas have no idea the true distance something is from them. They are 100% cameras, while every other autonomous driving company is utilizing LiDAR. LiDAR is expensive and ugly. That's why tesla isn't using it. And taking radar out of their cars was just another cost savings measure. They were having a problem with the video and radar being at odds as to what's in front of the car. So instead of spending the money to fix it and fuze the sensors into a more robust solution. They just ditched radar and make the assumption that the video analysis is correct."

NHTSA ID

11483069

Incident

Sep 6, 2022

My wife was driving the car in was turning left on to a major road, she apparently hit another car trying to turn right on to the major road from opposite side. Both cars must have started from a stop sign and neither of them knew the speed. My wife does not remember the details of the incident, she was shaken up, initially declined to seek medical care but soon after could not recognize people, so had to be taken to ER. The car with all the technology failed to alert the impending crash, did not apply emergency brakes, nor did not record the event which it was supposed to have.

NHTSA ID

11478960

Incident

Aug 9, 2022

While driving on an interstate freeway on 8-14-2021, using the vehicle Autopilot driver assistance mode (which I had been using for the previous 18 months without incident), the vehicle failed to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of me. This collision resulted in no passenger injury, but resulted in both driver and passenger airbags to engage and resulted in total vehicle loss of the Tesla Model X. No other vehicles involved had airbag engagement. Tesla may have actual information on the functioning of the vehicle and the Autopilot software that may explain why the collision avoidance system failed, but refused to supply me with this information.

NHTSA ID

11468429

Incident

Aug 14, 2021

While on cruise control (autopilot) on the highway, the vehicle occasionally violently slows down. The majority of the time, this happens near or just before an exit/entrance ramp and if the car is in the rightmost lane. It happens regardless of traffic conditions and even if there are zero cars around, it will still "hiccup" and hit the brakes. I've noticed that the cruise control system sometimes automatically changes the maximum speed for the cruise control to 35-45 MPH which explains the sudden braking. It is semi-replicable by setting the cruise control to a comfortable highway speed (say 65 MPH) while the car is in the rightmost lane, then driving past a (normally) heavily trafficked entry/exit merging area. If requested, I can probably find a safe time and area to replicate this and send in my dashcam footage of the incident.

NHTSA ID

11467346

Incident

Jun 1, 2022

On May 15. 2022 at 4:25PM while traveling north on highway 395 about 14 miles south of Bishop Californa. While traveling with little to no traffic, using adaptive cruise control (NOT SELF DRIVING) the vehicle suddenly stopped for no apparent reason in the middle of the highway. Fortunately, there were no cars behind us otherwise I probably would not be writing this. I have registered a similar complaint back in March for the same issue. We have had a total of 4 “phantom braking” incidents since buying the car in October 2021

NHTSA ID

11464907

Incident

May 15, 2022