2015 TESLA MODEL S Complaints

April 21, 2023 me and my daughter was driving from Jacksonville Beach to Fernandina Beach around 6pm. Exiting from 295 to i95, I removed my autopilot to reduce speed, I was very focus driving, not on my cellphone and even sleepy. Then I saw the car in front of me suddenly stopped, i know i have enough distance and confidently press the break hard enough to make it stop. But the tesla, while started beeping loud as it sensored the sudden stop of the car , seems to just slowed down and not stopping even with the full hard press of the break, the Tesla just keep on moving slow until it just hit the car and we just heard a loud bang from the airbags that blew up, gas fumes all over inside the car, shocked with what happened, I immediately opened the car door due to the gas fumes. It was traumatizing. I have been driving for almost 20 years, a lot of experience from high way to city driving, years of experience with crazy Manila traffic and highways, using different kind of cars, SUV, family van, even U-Haul, I am very familiar with how breaks work and how breaks could save life and save from accidents even with a split seconds, but the experience with Tesla’s break system is different. With this crash with Tesla, I remember this was not the first time the break didn’t work as expected. Had the same instance happened before with Tesla, though we didn’t hit any car but almost – me and my daughter together with her classmate was driving to school. Suddenly the car in front stopped due to the traffic light turned red. Again the car started beeping loud, I know we have enough distance and confidently press the break, but to my surprise, and the kids started getting scared when the Tesla seemingly not stopping and seemingly gonna hit the car as it continuous to drive and the break not helping to stop quickly even when the break was fully pressed.I believe this is a serious issue.My car now assessed Total Loss and just paid for market value, lost $20k in a year span

The issue began during the week of April 10, 2023. I started to experience significant steering wheel resistance in 90 degree intervals. My initial assumption was the power steering was starting to fail. The amount of force required to turn became progressively worse towards the latter half of the week. However, there were no warning lamps or messages indicating there were issues with the car. On the morning of Friday, April 14th after dropping my kids off at school, I was using the vehicle's Autopilot function while turning on an eastbound interstate on-ramp and noticed the car began to veer off course towards the concrete ramp barrier, forcing my to immediately grab the wheel to prevent a collision. It felt as if the wheel was stuck again at one of the 90 degree intervals mentioned above. I've driven this route countless times utilizing the feature and have never had an issue. It's worth noting that the resistance was felt regardless of whether or not the Autopilot feature was turned on. That afternoon I took my vehicle to the local Tesla service center and the representative immediately said it sounded as if the u-joint was going bad. They took the car in and had the part replaced within 24-hours. That evening I browsed numerous forums and learned this is a common issue due to the u-joint's lack of protection and exposure to the elements. I have never submitted a safety complaint before but the fear I experienced that morning combined with the lack of any warning lamps or notifications from the vehicle compelled me to share. I do believe this is a broader issue that needs to be reviewed.

The control arm that holds my tire in place completely broke apart. It looks like the ball joint severed from the rest of the unit. I didn’t hit anything - not even a pot hole. I was driving in a residential area going 25 mph. I thought my tire went flat so I checked the car and didn’t see anything. I continued to drive the car and turned on the main road and my car almost veered me into oncoming traffic almost causing a crash. Luckily with sheer strength I was able to pull the car barely over to the side. Had I not been driving where I was, this could have been a scary situation. Tesla admitted to me this is a known safety issue but then said because my car isn’t under warranty, I was responsible. I asked for the defective part and have it in my possession.

My 2015 Tesla Model S was driving with autopilot on 3-17-2023 at 5:45 pm PST near the intersection of Lafayette St and Memorex Dr. in San Jose California when I noticed it panicked and slammed on the brakes while traffic was flowing at about 40 mph. The day was clear no rain, fog, or obstructions. There was a Jeep approaching faster from my rear left in the next lane but it wasn't in front of me. No other cars were in front of me either. There was traffic directly behind me and the car suddenly braked nearly causing an accident from the rear. The car showed an icon of a person in red (An indication of what it was braking for). However, there was no person in the area. I immediately hit the acceleration pedal to avoid the accident from the rear and to keep the car moving. The car never showed a "person" indicator before in the 4 years I have owned it. I know the newer models show it but not this year. I immediately requested service through Tesla as the car has phantom braked for ghost cars in the past but never a ghost person and it almost caused a serious accident. I was told by Tesla that there is nothing they can do and that I needed to press the "Push to talk" button in the car and say "Report a bug". I told them in a moment like that I am more focused on preventing an accident and that is not a good solution. I did provide the time, day and conditions to them.

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while adjusting the temperature in the vehicle, the infotainment screen froze. The contact stated that several minutes later the screen started operating normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that the screen and the console needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 168,000.

Dear National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, I am writing to bring to your attention a serious safety issue that I experienced while driving my Tesla Model S 2015 on Freeway 680 in [insert location]. On 2/27/2023], the left rear wheel of my car suddenly dropped, causing a dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation. Fortunately, the incident occurred at night with less traffic, or it could have been catastrophic for myself, my children, and other road users. I have learned that Tesla has issued a recall in China for the same suspension issue that I experienced. However, I am deeply concerned that there has been no such recall or acknowledgment of this issue in the USA. It is alarming that such a dangerous fault could occur on a car that is marketed as a high-tech and safe vehicle. I believe that it is crucial to investigate and take immediate action to rectify this potentially fatal flaw in Tesla Model S 2015's suspension system. I urge you to look into this matter and work with Tesla to issue a recall for affected vehicles and implement a fix to prevent any further accidents. As a concerned citizen and a victim of this unsafe suspension issue, I implore you to prioritize the safety of Tesla owners and ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I hope that you will take swift action to address this serious safety issue.

The retracting door handle mechanism is defective. The motor that activates the door handles breaks and I cannot open my passenger doors from the outside. I have to deactivate the child safety locks and open the door from the inside. This creates a hazard in emergency situations. I have two young children that are still in car seats. They need assistance in and out of the vehicle. Tesla has replaced both the rear passenger door handle mechanism at cost. The tech says this is a known problem for early models of this car.

I had the eMMC replaced under recall in December of 2021. The board failed again in December of 2022 resulting in all controls of the car being inaccessible, the center screen was black. I had no control of lights or HVAC and all the traction control, ABS, and emergency avoidance features were not working. Tesla told me there was no fix except to upgrade to the MCU2 computer which cost me $1,872. This was related to the original recall that didn't really fix the problem. The MCU just went dead, no waring.

Driver door of vehicle will unexpectedly and randomly unlatch and open whenever the vehicle is unlocked. While moving, as well as parked and when vehicle is unattended.

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH with the autonomous self-driving feature activated, the contact attempted to use the turn signal while changing lanes and almost struck another vehicle. The contact was able to control the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the mechanic made the contact aware that the failure was a known issue however, no cause for the failure was found. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 35,000.