459 owner complaints filed with the United States safety regulator · top issue: Electrical System · verdict AVOID 9/100
“This issue appears to be related to a known MCU failure affecting early Tesla Model S vehicles. The touchscreen exhibits screen melting/discoloration and eventually goes blank or becomes inoperative. When this occurs, critical functions including occupant detection indicators, seatbelt warnings, and windshield defrost controls may become unavailable. The loss of these functions creates potential safety risks involvin”NHTSA complaint, 2013 Tesla Model S owner
“This issue appears to be related to a known MCU failure affecting early Tesla Model S vehicles. The touchscreen exhibits screen melting/discoloration and eventually goes blank or becomes inoperative. When this occurs, critical functions including occupant detection indicators, seatbelt warnings, and windshield defrost controls may become unavailable. The loss of these functions creates potential safety risks involvin”NHTSA complaint, 2013 Tesla Model S owner
“Vehicle lights turned off while driving home with my family. Pulling over and turning off and on the car reset the problem. When lights turned off I received a warning light identifying a faulty right headlight and faulty left headlight. No accident and vehicle is currently outside manufacture warranty.”NHTSA complaint, 2013 Tesla Model S owner
| Reported | Component | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 19/04/2017 | Parking Brake SAFETY | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2016 Model S and Model X vehicles. The electric parking brake calipers have an internal gear that may be improperly manufactured, possibly resulting in the gear fracturing during |
| 09/01/2018 | Air Bags:Frontal:Passenger Side:Inflator Module SAFETY | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling all 2013 Model S vehicles equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the e |
| 29/03/2018 | Steering:Electric Power Assist System SAFETY | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with Bosch steering racks. The aluminum bolts that attach the power steering gear assist motor to the gear housing may corrode and fract |
| 23/11/2015 | Seat Belts:Front SAFETY | Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain model year 2012-2015 Model S vehicles manufactured May 31, 2012, to November 12, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with driver or front passenger seat belts that ma |
| 13/01/2014 | Equipment:Electrical SAFETY | Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain model year 2013 Model S vehicles equipped for, and delivered with, certain NEMA 14-50 (240 volt) Universal Mobile Connector (UMC) adapters. During charging, the adapter, c |
| 14/06/2013 | Seats | Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain model year 2013 Model S electric vehicles manufactured May 10, 2013, through June 8, 2013. An improper method for aligning the left hand seat back striker to the bracket m |
| 29/01/2021 | Back Over Prevention:Software | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Tesla Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles with a center display equipped with a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and an 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device. When the 8GB eMMC |
| 12/12/2023 | Electrical System:Adas:Autonomous/Self Driving:Software SAFETY | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2023 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles equipped with all versions of Autosteer leading up to the version(s) that contains the recall remed |
| 30/01/2024 | Electrical System: Instrument Cluster/Panel SAFETY | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, 2019-2024 Model Y, and 2024 Cybertruck vehicles. An incorrect font size is displayed on the instrument panel for the Brak |
| 27/02/2024 | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings:External/Pedestrian Alert | Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2013, 2018-2021 Model S, 2020-2021 Model X, 2018-2022 Model 3, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles. A factory reset muted the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) sounds. As such, these v |
On the federal record it scores 9/100: 459 owner complaints (35.31 per year on the road) and 11 recall campaigns, 8 touching safety-critical systems.
The most-reported component in NHTSA complaints is Electrical System, with 195 of 497 categorised reports.
The 2013 Tesla Model S scored 9/100 on the federal record.