2015 TESLA MODEL S Complaints

IN 2018 TESLA NOTIFIED ME OF NEEDING TO INSPECT AND REPLACE 5 BOLTS SECURING MY STEERING BOX AND POWER STEERING UNITS. THEY DID THAT AND LEFT. I HAD SERIOUS MEDICAL ISSUES, SO MY TESLA MODEL S HAD ONLY 7,590 MILES. IN 2020 WITHIN JUST A FEW MILES BUT NEARLY 2 YEARS FROM THAT 5-BOLT REPLACEMENT, I WAS DRIVING ON I89 TOWARDS A TESLA SUPERCHARGER, I FELT THE CAR WAS WANDERING EVER SO SLIGHTLY WITHIN MY LANE, SO I WAS UNEASY, BUT ATTRIBUTED IT TO MY 4 STUDDED SWEDISH SNOW TIRES. ARRIVING AT THE SUPERCHARGER, NOTICED MUCH STEERING EFFORT TO BACK INTO CHARGING POSITION. WHEN LEAVING, IT HAD MORE EFFORT TO STEER, AND IT DIDN'T BOTHER ME MUCH ONCE I WAS ROLLING ALONG. SAME WANDERING PROBLEM ON THE INTERSTATE. LOOKED ON THE INTERNET AND FOUND THE 38 PAGE SERVICE BULLETIN FROM TESLA. #SB-18-32-002 R1 SEVERAL TIMES IN IT TESLA WARNED THAT IF AT ANY POINT MORE THAN 1 BOLT IS REMOVED AT A TIME, THE STEERING BOX MUST BE REPLACED. THEY DID NOT ELABORATE AS TO WHY. IT SEEMS NOW WE KNOW. ANOTHER ISSUE I MENTIONED TO ELECTRIFIED GARAGE IN SEABROOK, NH IS THE REAR OF THE CAR SETTLES DOWN TO NEARLY TOUCHING THE REAR WHEELS OVERNIGHT. I SUSPECTED AN AIR LEAK AND THEY REPORTED THAT I NEEDED TWO REAR AIR SHOCK ASSEMBLIES AND A NEW STEERING BOX. THEY SAID TESLA OFFERED NO REAR SHOCK REBUILD KIT CONTAINING NEW IMPROVED SEALS. I AM IN SHOCK OVER BOTH THESE PROBLEMS AT 7,600 MILES AND SENT 2 EMAIL LETTERS OFF TO TESLA, AND NO REPLY FROM EITHER LETTER. PERHAPS THE NHTSA SEES THIS AS A REPEATING ISSUE ON LOW MILEAGE 2015 TESLA MODEL S P85D ELECTRIC CARS? MY 2015 TESLA IS STILL SITTING AT THE ELECTRIFIED GARAGE 10 DOWS LANE - SEABROOK, NH 03847 AFTER ALMOST 7 WEEKS. I LOVE THE SAFETY ASPECTS OF THE MODEL S, BUT AFTER STRUGGLING OVER THE PAIN OF POOR ENGINEERING & SUPPLIER PROBLEMS, I AM LOOKING ELSEWHERE UNTIL THEY WORK OUT THE BUGS. SB-18-32-002 R1 ATTACHED.

ON APRIL 16, 2019, I ATTEMPTED TO DRIVE MY VEHICLE AND PULL OUT IN REVERSE FROM MY GARAGE, HOWEVER, THE TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY UNIT (MCU) WOULD NOT TURN ON RESULTING IN AN INABILITY TO VIEW THE REAR VIEW CAMERA. IT IS VERY RISKY TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE WITHOUT THE MCU. IT IS ALSO WHAT DISPLAYS IF THERE ARE FAILURES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE VEHICLE. TESLA SERVICE TOWED IT TO THEIR FACILITY AND THEY ULTIMATELY CONCLUDED THAT THE UNIT WOULD STILL POWER ON BUT IT ULTIMATELY WAS STUCK IN A BOOT LOOP. EVEN THOUGH I HAD THE VEHICLE FOR LESS THAN 4 YEARS, IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY BECAUSE OF MILEAGE OVERAGE, RATHER THAN TIME. TESLA REFUSED TO COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY AND FORCED ME TO PAY FOR IT OUT OF POCKET FOR OVER $2500. THIS FAILURE IS WIDELY KNOWN IN THE TESLA COMMUNITY AND BY TESLA ITSELF AS SERVICE EMPLOYEES ACKNOWLEDGED THE DEFECT. IT IS A RESULT OF THE EMMC NAND FLASH MEMORY FAILURE THAT DEGRADED QUICKER THAN TESLA PLANNED AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF AUTO-PILOT. WHEN I PURCHASED AND TOOK DELIVERY OF THE VEHICLE, IT DID NOT HAVE AUTOPILOT. THE FACT THAT THEY DID NOT FIX THIS PUT MYSELF AND MY FAMILY AT RISK. *TR

NOTICED THAT THE DISPLAY ON MY TESLA MODEL S NOT WORKING AS I PULLED MY CAR OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY. TRIED REBOOTING BUT SCREEN DID NOT COME UP. WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE TO TESLA SERVICE CENTER THOUGH IT FELT A LITTLE UNSAFE AS MANY OF THE CONTROLS ARE ON THE DISPLAY. AFTER DIAGNOSIS, TESLA SERVICE ADVISOR TOLD ME THAT THE MCU FOR MY MODEL S HAS FAILED AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. I PAID ~$2000 FOR A NEW MCU. AFTER READING RECENT ARTICLE ON SIMILAR FAILURES REPORTED BY OTHER TESLA MODEL S OWNERS, DECIDED TO REPORT THIS AS FAILURE OF THE DISPLAY UNIT WHILE DRIVING CAN BE A SAFETY RISK. *TR

MAIN CONTROL SCREEN (MCU1) WENT BLACK, DISABLING ACCESS TO MOST CONTROLS INCLUDING DEFROSTER. HAD REPAIR DONE (OUT OF WARRANTY) AT A COST OF $1800. PROBLEM IS POORLY DESIGNED ELECTRONICS CAUSING FAILURE OF MEMORY CHIP IN UNIT BECAUSE OF TOO MANY READ/WRITE CYCLES. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THOUSANDS OF 2014-2016 CARS HAVE SUFFERED THIS PROBLEM IN THE LAST YEAR.

THE TOUCHSCREEN ON MY CAR HAS PERMANENTLY TURNED BLACK THEREFORE I HAVE LOST THE REAR CAMERA IMAGE DISPLAY WHEN REVERSE GEAR IS SELECTED. AS A RESULT, I ALMOST RAN INTO A SHOPPING CART WHILE I WAS BACKING UP YESTERDAY. WHAT IS FRIGHTENING IS THAT NEXT TIME, IT COULD BE A SMALL CHILD THAT I DON'T SEE AND RUN OVER. THE FAILED TOUCHSCREEN ALSO MEANS I NO LONGER HAVE FAN OR AIR CONDITIONING WHICH MEANS I HAVE TO DRIVE WITH MY WINDOWS DOWN, EVEN WHEN ON A HIGHWAY. IN THIS TIME OF COVID, I WAS TERRIFIED WHEN A HOMELESS MAN PUT HIS HEAD THROUGH MY WINDOW TO ASK FOR MONEY WHILE POSSIBLY CONTAMINATING ME WITH A VIRUS YESTERDAY. IT JUST IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE AROUND WITH THE WINDOWS DOWN IN SOME NEIGHBORHOODS. ALSO THERE ARE DAYS IN THE BAY AREA WHEN THERE IS A HIGH POLLUTION INDEX, I DO NOT WISH TO BREATHE UNFILTERED AIR BECAUSE I HAVE TO OPEN THE WINDOW BECAUSE THE FAN CANNOT BE TURNED ON. ACCORDING TO THE TESLA REPAIR SHOP, THE FAILED TOUCHSCREEN IS A COMMON PROBLEM ON THE OLDER MODEL S THAT REQUIRES OWNERS TO SHELL OUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO REPLACE AN MCU THAT HAS FAILED PREMATURELY. I DO NOT FEEL I SHOULD BE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MCU REPLACEMENT AND THAT THERE SHOULD BE A PRODUCT RECALL.

MY 2015 TESLA MODEL S WITH 33,270 MILES HAS A NON WORKING TOUCH SCREEN OR MCU1 THAT CONTROLS THE CAR. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS A BIT ONLINE IT SEEMS ITS A MUCH TOO COMMON PROBLEM AND MORE OF A DEFECTIVE PART OF THE CAR. IT IS VERY HARD FOR THE OPERATOR TO US E THE CAR WITHOUT IT SINCE IT CONTROLS MOST OF THE CAR. REPAIR TIMES ARE THROUGH THE ROOF CAUSING QUITE A BIT FRUSTRATION FOR THE CAR OWNER. THE UNIT FAILED WHILE DRIVING NORMAL ON A BACK ROAD AT A NORMAL SPEED. *TR

MAIN DISPLAY STOPPED WORKING TODAY (JUNE 30TH 2020). NOW HVAC, RADIO, SUNROOF, REAR CAMERA, INDICATOR LIGHT NOISE, AND A FEW OTHER FUNCTIONS DON'T WORK. THIS SEEMS TO BE THE EMMC MEMORY WRITE FAILURE ISSUE. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY WHEN I NOTICED THE ISSUES, SINCE I JUST GOT INTO THE CAR AND IMMEDIATELY NOTICED MAIN DISPLAY WAS DEAD. *TR

CENTER CONSUL SCREEN TURN OFF AND WON'T COME BACK ON CAN'T USE NAVIGATION BACKUP CAMERA NO TURN SIGNAL SOUND OR RADIO SOUND OR ANY SOUND INVOLVE THE CENTER COUNSEL

THE INFOTAINMENT COMPUTER MCU1 IS KNOWN TO FAIL PREMATURELY DUE TO SOFTWARE ISSUES CAUSED AND NOT FIXED IN A TIMELY MANNER BY TESLA. BASICALLY THE LIMITED WRITE CYCLES OF FLASH MEMORY ARE EXHAUSTED DUE TO EXCESSIVE LOGGING UP TO A CERTAIN SOFTWARE VERSION. MY CAR SHOWS THE EARLY WARNING SIGNS INCLUDING BLACK SCREENS ON ENTERING (CAR IS NOT MOVABLE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES) AND REBOOTS DURING DRIVING. FULL MCU FAILURE IS KNOWN TO CAUSE INDICATOR LIGHTS TO FAIL, AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING TO NOT ENGAGE, DISABLED FAST CHARGING AND NO ACCURATE CHARGE INDICATOR (SO RISK OF GETTING STRANDED), HEATING/VENTILATION STUCK TO MOST RECENT SETTING (NO DEFROST), AUDIO FRAGMENTS BEING STUCK ON ARBITRARY VOLUME, AIR SUSPENSION IS STUCK TO POSSIBLY UNSUITABLE SETTINGS AND THE SPEEDOMETER IS REVERTING TO MPH INSTEAD OF KM/H WITHOUT NOTIFICATION. IF PIN TO DRIVE IS USED, THE CAR CAN NO LONGER BE UNLOCKED AND MOVED. TESLA DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PROBLEM AND CHARGES FOR FULL REPAIR COST OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY / DRAGS CASES OF IMPENDING MCU FAILURE UNTIL THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. MCU1 CAN BE REPLACED WITH MCU2 ACCORDING TO A TESLA INFOTAINMENT WEBSITE; HOWEVER ONLY MCU1 REPLACEMENTS FOR THE OLDEST CARS (AP1 SENSOR LEVEL) ARE AVAILABLE TO DATE DESPITE ANNOUNCEMENT THESE WOULD BE READY IN APRIL 2020. NEWER CARS WITH LONGER REMAINING LIFE CAN BE UPGRADED UPON INVITATION BY TESLA.

THE MCU ON MY 2015 TESLA IS STARTING TO SHOW EARLY SIGNS OF FAILURE. IT SOMETIMES REBOOTS AND TAKES SEVERAL MINUTES TO COME BACK, THE BLUETOOTH CONNECTION TO MY PHONE FAILS OFTEN, AND THE SCREEN IS STARTING TO FLICKER. THIS MCU FAILURE IS DUE TO A MANUFACTURING ERROR CAUSING MULTIPLE REPLACEMENTS. AS THIS PROBLEM GETS WORSE IT WILL RENDER THE CAR INOPERABLE AS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WILL FAIL.