2018 TESLA MODEL X Complaints

The Model X has doors that are electromechanically opened. The "door pop actuator" appears to be malfunctioning and the door can no longer be opened from the inside or the outside, creating a serious hazard for the driver in case of emergency. The only way to get into or out of the car is by crawling through the passenger door. I found others who had the same problem: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The passenger side middle row seat stopped locking in place. We drove out of our driveway with my 3 year old in his car seat when this happened, and he went flying into the back of the front passenger seat. Had we been driving any faster, he would have been seriously injured. Tesla sent a technician to our home for a mobile service visit. He wasn’t able to fix the problem and said ‘If it were me, I wouldn’t put my child on this seat.’ We then took it to the Long Beach service center, where we were told the seat locking mechanism ‘works’ but it eroding. They wanted to send us home, and I said no. I wanted it repaired. They said that we have to replace the entire seat for $750. I said absolutely not, this is a manufacturer’s defect and a huge safety issue and should not be failing. They did not care. A child is going to get injured.

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

Driving into a car wash, I placed the car in NEUTRAL. The instrument cluster confirmed as much with an 'N' symbol, while I was stopped, in the single-track for the car wash to push/pull the car through the apparatus. The car was pulled into the car wash about half-way (roughly 25-35 seconds of N). Then, the car spontaneously shifted to PARK, and indicated as much with a 'P' in the instrument cluster. No cars were behind me in the car wash, this time. And I was able to re-engage NEUTRAL for the remainder of the wash (about another 35-40 seconds). It is unknown if the car would revert to parking by itself, if I had not activated DRIVE to exit the wash. If it makes a difference, I was in the driver's seat the entire time -- as is the usual custom at this self-serve tracked car wash. This has happened 3 or 4 times before -- usually in connection with the car wash. It is very unclear if this is poor software or a sensor that is to blame. In my other Tesla, it tends to go to PARK without conscious user input when a body lifts out of the driver's seat. So this could be a simple sensor that is a bit touchy in this Model X that is the subject of this report.

When I purchased the car back in 2018, I had extended warranty that was never added to my account. Went in for repairs and they were going to charge me $3000. I kept asking for my extend warranty. I found the emails from Tesla from 2018 and forward to Tesla. They finally added that I have extended warranty but they refuse to send me a copy of my agreement to see exactly what is covered. Thank you.

My front trunk has been opening without any warning. It happened to open while i was driving (luckily not on a freeway) on 6/1/2023 around 415p. It did not open fully but my instrument panel warning light came on to warn me of this issue. I then pulled into a parking lot and closed the front trunk without any further issues that evening. I did not depress any buttons on my key fob and I was not using the touchscreen at the time of this incident which really concerned me. I have also noticed that the front trunk is opening when parked as well without any reason. I understand this has been an issue with other Tesla models so I am concerned that this may be a problem with my vehicle as well.

Feb 2022 while driving horn engaged and would not go off , had to pull over , steering wheel then locked up and car would not start again but horn continued to go off and had weird smell until it died out. Took vehicle to Tesla service center, was told multiple fuses were blown , mother board and several other electrical/computer issues. May 2023 while parked in driveway horn engaged wound not stop, steering wheel once again locked up and unable to use any features in the car, while looking for fuse to pull to stop horn, noticed smoke coming from under frunk and smelled like something was burning , pulled main front end fuse which stopped the horn and burning. Called Tesla emergency services, advised not to drive it and have it towed to Tesla service center . Tesla repair shop once again said horns were fried along with other electrical problems, the smell of something burning was still present , same as event in 2022. Rear safety belt malfunction alert pops on and off for past 2 years .

Initially I noticed an issue with notchy steering, which is typically caused by faulty u-joints in the steering column. I took the vehicle in for service on 2/14/23, and the service center confirmed the issue and replaced the lower steering column. Almost immediately after picking up the vehicle from service, I noticed a loud creaking sound coming from the suspension when the steering wheel was turned. I brought the vehicle back to the service center on 3/29/23, where it was found that both upper control arms were "frozen" and required replacement, the lower aft links had play in them, and the lower fore links had cracked bushings. All front control arms were replaced. Luckily all work was covered for me under warranty, but the vehicle is less than 5 years old and has been driven less than 60,000 miles.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that the second-row passenger's side seat belt had fully retracted and could not be pulled out. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla Service Center, where it was diagnosed that the seat belt was twisted internally. The Tesla Service Center untwisted the seat belt internally. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.

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.