What 459 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Tesla Model S Bev

The vehicle has suffered a catastrophic, intermittent low-voltage network crash caused by a failing Body Control Module (BCM), resulting in multiple dangerous safety-critical failure modes. On a previous occasion, the vehicle woke up with severe network faults and automatically forced itself into Neutral. When the driver stepped out to get the child and shut the door, the system crashed entirely and the exterior electronic door handles failed to present, trapping an infant child inside the running vehicle. Most recently, while driving in a rainstorm, the vehicle suffered a complete failure of the windshield wipers, a total loss of the high-beam headlights, a total loss of the horn, and a total loss of electronic communication to the electronic parking brake system. Most critically, the vehicle experienced an uncommanded propulsion hazard where it hard-locked itself in the 'Drive' gear and absolutely refused to shift into 'Park' or 'Neutral,' forcing the driver to physically maintain heavy hydraulic brake pressure to keep the vehicle from creeping forward. Because the horn failed and the parking brake was disabled, the driver was trapped in the driver's seat holding the brakes and was forced to call 911 for emergency first responders to come and physically block the wheels so the driver and infant could safely exit. Tesla Service has diagnosed the issue as a failed central Body Control Module (Part #1010906-00-D), but the cascading network failure modes present an extreme, life-threatening hazard regarding vehicle control and child entrapment.

NHTSA ODI 11746345

When driving my vehicle the rear axle snapped causing the vehicle to fishtail. When checked by insurance company for repairs they found the Air suspension and rear axle snapped. It took out the air ride suspension, and bent 2 rims. It caused damage to the front fender as well as both interior wheel wells on the driver's side. Due to the suspension issue it caused a rock to come up and cracked windshield. The issue caused my vehicle to leave the road as I could not control the vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11633551

Power steering has failed and the car is dangerous to drive unless you have Arnold Schwarteneggers strength. Tesla wants to charge an exorbitant amount to repair their failure (just as they charged me for fixing THEIR recall with the EMMC unit. They keep passing the buck on the consumer which I can not afford to fix their problems in this financial climate.

NHTSA ODI 11552752

On August 23, 2023 I was driving my 2013 Tesla Model S on the Van Wyck Expressway when suddenly the steering wheel became very stiff making the car hard to steer. I experience a loss of electronic power in steering the car. I called Tesla Road Service they dispatched a tow truck one of their tow provider and I was charged $475.00 dollars. It was towed to: Tesla Service Center @ 160 Van Brunt Street Brooklyn, NY 11231. I mentioned to Tesla Service Center per information I reviewed online this is a recall SB-22-00-014 per the year of my vehicle 2013 Tesla Model S. Tesla Service Center charged me $500.84 cents for a diagnosis they said the Electric Power Steering Gear Rack & Pinion is the issue and refused to acknowledge the recall per the model of my 2013 Model S Tesla. They quote me an amount of $4, 500.00 dollars before tax to fix the issue. When I declined the repairs per this expensive price I was informed by Tesla Service Center @ 160 Van Brunt Street to come and pickup the car. I arrived on Friday, August 25, 2023 to pickup the car with a tow truck the service department could not locate my keys. It took them 3 hours to find my key and then they put the car on service mode not allowing the car to go on park or drive only staying on neutral. They claimed that happened because the car reset itself. When I insist by a manager for them to fix that problem since the car did not come in with that issue only a stiff steering problem they refused. After several discussion with different staff and managers they had one of their mechanic to fix the issue and the car was able to go on Drive & Park again so I can have it towed to my location which took 3 tow trucks since Tesla wasn't cooperative in the beginning. I had the car towed to my location with the stiff steering the failed Electric Power Steering Gear Rack & Pinion Tesla refused to repair the problem per the Recall safety issue on this car. They want to charge me $4,500.00 plus tax out of pocket.

NHTSA ODI 11540947

At random the Steering assist reduce, traction control disabled, stability, control, disable, regenerative breaking reduced. Wipers are affected during these error messages. The car is trying to get me killed!! On different days, all those errors are gone and the car drives normal. Suspect this is a software defect and can be very dangerous. Seems like something got reset after the car is turned off. All software are up to date on the car and on the phone app. Once no more errors from the car, it would drive normal until it randomly disable traction control, stability control and wipers becomes very slow, get stuck at times.

NHTSA ODI 11500922

The power steering in the vehicle is severely reduced, making steering very difficult while driving. Error message states that " Steering assist reduced - steering may require increased effort."

NHTSA ODI 11494443

I lost power steering with 64,850 miles on the odometer. I was told the steering rack ($2750) and the front left body harness assembly ($525) needed to be replaced because of corrosion. These figures do not include labor and taxes. While I'm aware of the recall related to replacing the steering bolts to fix a corrosion problem (already fixed), this fix was not covered. I was very annoyed that this fix also included replacing the harness assembly, because the labor charge was 3 times the price of the harness assembly. This problem occurred in the morning after the car was parked in the driveway overnight and as soon as I turned the wheel, I head a slight pop and had NO power steering. The two line fault was "Steering assist reduced" "Steering may require increased effort". I'm glad this did not occur while negotiating a turn at speed because it's extremely difficult to manually steer a 4750 pound car without any power assist. I asked to keep the old parts, but I was only given the old steering rack and not the old harness assembly. The old steering rack looks slightly dirty, but other than that it appears fine and is available for inspection.

NHTSA ODI 11442371

To whom it may concern, Tesla Model S, and potentially other vehicles, have notorious issues with their front suspension fore links perhaps causing unsafe driving conditions. The topic has been brought up on Tesla forums numerous times and countless drivers are experiencing the same issue due to faulty parts provided during the manufacture of Tesla vehicles. The issue causes turning tightness, tire rubbing, and complete car driving capability failure, usually at low speeds. With the frequency of the complaint and the potential danger it could cause should the front suspension fully fail at higher speeds, this serious matter needs to be investigated on an urgent basis. As older Tesla vehicles are now aging the occurrence and increased risk is only rising to everyday, unsuspecting drivers. Just recently, my fore link and front suspension failed only minorly, and without and complete understanding of what the issue was the car was experiencing I continued to drive the vehicle. The only noticeable issue that came up for me was tire rubbing during reversing and slight misalignment when the vehicle was parked. After taking it in to Tesla I now know that this could have been a fatal error on my part of the front suspension would have failed completely during highway speeds. When these front fore links fail, most will only experience minor issues like me and avoid taking it into repair, as the average car buyer does not understand that this could be a catastrophic failure. If this issue is not resolved and a recall seriously considered, I’m concerned in the not so distant future that this may lead to serious bodily harm if full failure of the front suspension occurs during highway or roadway speeds. Again, this is not an isolated issue. Countless and thousands of Tesla owners have shared their experiences online with the same issue. I’ve attached my Tesla service quote for your review, this repair costs upwards of $3,500.

NHTSA ODI 11438759

I was approaching a stop sign at 2 mph when I heard a terrible metallic clunking sound from under the front of the car. When I went to make a right turn, I was unable to steer the car. I was able to get it into a parking lot where I saw that the front right wheel was cambered in at about 30 degrees. I took photos of the car and in the wheel well and saw that the wheel was disconnected from an upper control bar. I had it towed to the Tesla Service Center and they confirmed that the Upper suspension link had disconnected from the wheel. There is a ball and socket type of joint that connects the two and the ball had popped out of the socket causing the problem. I had them check the Right front connection and was told that that socket was also loose and needed to be replaced. I had both sides repaired. My concern is that had I been traveling on a highway at 70 mph, I would have lost control of the car causing a terrible accident. The fact that the other side also showed similar problems leads one to conclude that there is a design or material flaw in the Tesla Modal S front suspension. The car has only 83,000 miles of normal driving usage. I believe that all Model S cars from this era should be recalled and inspected for this problem. Otherwise, accidents will occur and some may be fatal. Tesla told me that they were unaware of any such problems with their cars. A quick internet search shows that this is not true. I have the parts that were removed if you need to inspect them.

NHTSA ODI 11430669

Car had a pending software update 7/21/2021, which I deferred in order to drive for the day. 45 minutes later, while taking a sharp curving exit ramp, the power assist steering cut off, and I almost left the roadway headed for the ditch. Steering manually is extremely heavy, and it took all my strength to keep it on the road. I updated the software and rebooted after returning home. The steering assist "heals" itself for about 30 seconds after you start up from a full shut down, but then the error message pops up again, and the steering assist goes out. There is a safety recall involving steering bolt corrosion.

NHTSA ODI 11425954

THE STEERING RACK MOTOR FAILED CAUSING THE STEERING TO BECOME INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT. TURNING THE WHEELS AT NO OR LOW SPEED TAKES GREAT FORCE AND TURNING THE WHEEL AT FASTER SPEEDS TAKES MODERATE FORCE. THE MOTOR DIED MID TRIP, CAUSING A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR MYSELF AND OTHER MOTORISTS. THE MOTOR WORKED PERFECTLY FINE WHILE DRIVING TO MY DESTINATION AND FAILED, THANKFULLY, WHILE I WAS STOPPED.

NHTSA ODI 11399048

POWER STEERING NOT WORKING

NHTSA ODI 11398617

BACK AND FRONT SUSPENSION ISSUES, TIRE BLOW WHILE DRIVING AND CAUSED UNSAFE OPERATION.

NHTSA ODI 11387646

WE OWN A 2013 TESLA MODEL S 85, REAR WHEEL DRIVE, NO AUTOPILOT. AS VEHICLE AGED, THE STEERING WAS NOTICEABLY VAGUE AND THE VEHICLE BECAME "DARTY" ON THE HIGHWAY, SEEMINGLY WANTING TO DRIVE OUT OF THE CURRENT LANE ON ITS OWN. THIS DARTINESS BECAME WORSE AND WORSE OVER TIME, AND ALSO WAS WORSE WHEN ACCELERATING OR DECELERATING. WE FIRST ALERTED THE DEALER OF THE PROBLEM IN AUG 2019, AND THEY REPLACED FEW COMPONENTS IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION (BOTH UPPER CONTROL ARMS AND THE RIGHT FORELINK) AND CHARGED US $1571+TAX FOR PARTS AND LABOR. THE STEERING SEEMED A LITTLE BETTER FOR A WHILE, BUT IN JAN 2020 WE BROUGHT THE CAR BACK IN WITH CONCERNS ABOUT VAGUE STEERING AND THE DEALER RECOMMENDED A WHEEL ALIGNMENT, WHICH WE PAID FOR. THE ALIGNMENT YIELDED NO IMPROVEMENT AND THE CAR BECAME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY, REQUIRING CONSTANT STEERING ADJUSTMENTS TO KEEP IN ITS LANE. WE BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER IN MAY 2020, AND BY THIS TIME THE DEALER VERBALLY AGREED THAT THE CAR WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE IN ITS CURRENT STATE. THEY REPLACED BOTH REAR LOWER CONTROL ARM ASSEMBLIES AND CHARGED US $1382+TAX, BUT THIS STILL DID NOT RESOLVE THE DARTINESS. WE RETURNED TO THE DEALER LATER IN MAY 2020, AND THEY RECOMMENDED REPLACING NEARLY EVERY OTHER SUSPENSION PART, INCLUDING BOTH REAR TOE LINKS, BOTH REAR UPPER LINKS, BOTH FRONT AFT LINKS, THE FRONT FORE LINK THAT WASN'T PREVIOUSLY REPLACED. THE COST FOR THIS WAS A $1870+TAX. FORTUNATELY, THE STEERING ISSUES DID NOT RESULT IN ANY ACCIDENTS. SINCE THIS LAST REPAIR, THE CAR NOW DRIVES RELATIVELY NORMALLY FOR A 7 1/2 YEAR OLD CAR. WE ARE REPORTING OUR EXPERIENCE AFTER WE LEARNED THAT THE NHTSA IS INVESTIGATING A SERIES OF OTHER SUSPENSION-RELATED CONCERNS WITH TESLA MODEL S CARS. WE BELIEVE IT IS UNREASONABLE FOR A CAR TO BECOME UNSAFE TO DRIVE IN 7 YEARS SUBJECTED ONLY TO NORMAL PERSONAL USE.

NHTSA ODI 11382892

I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH TESLA THROUGH THE APP AND THEY ASSIGNED ME AT A PLACE IN BERKELEY TO GET THE BOLTS IN THE STEERING RACK HOUSING REPLACED (A RECALL) ALONG WITH ANOTHER RECALL. AFTER DROPPING OFF THE CAR THEY SAID SERVICE WAS COMPLETE. I ALSO HAVE BEEN HAVING AN ISSUE WITH THE MCU AND THEY SAID THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC BUT COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. WHEN THEY SAID SERVICE WAS COMPLETE I CAME TO PICK UP MY CAR. THEY GAVE IT BACK BUT WHEN I SAW THE INVOICE I NOTICED THEY HADN'T COMPLETED THE STEERING BOLT RECALL. I ASKED WHY AND THEY STATED THAT BECAUSE THERE WAS AN AFTERMARKET STEREO AMPLIFIER IN THE FRUNK THEY COULDN'T ACCESS THE BOLTS TO REPLACE THEM. IF I HADN'T INQUIRED OR LOOKED AT THE PAPERWORK I WOULD HAVE ASSUMED THE REPAIR WAS COMPLETED. I AM THERE ASKING FOR PAPERWORK FROM MY SERVICE ADVISOR 'MATT' WHO HAS BEEN COMPLETELY UNHELPFUL IN RESOLVING THE ISSUE.

NHTSA ODI 11377515

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE STEERING WHEEL WAS DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE POWER STEERING ASSIST SYSTEM DISABLED MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TESLA INC (9850 WEST BROAD ST, GLEN ALLEN, VA 23060) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE STEERING GEAR AND MOUNTING BOLTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS LIKE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V204000 (STEERING) WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED UNDER RECALL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS SENT AN EMAIL HOWEVER, FAILED TO RESPOND. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 111,000.

NHTSA ODI 11377158

CORROSION TO THE LOWER STEERING SHAFT WITH U-JOINT CAUSED POWER STEERING TO FAIL.

NHTSA ODI 11342817

MCU (CENTER SCREEN) FAILED IN MY 2013 MODEL S. I RETURNED TO THE CAR AFTER IT WAS PARKED ALL DAY IN AN OUTDOOR PARKING LOT AT WORK AND IT WOULD NOT TURN ON. REBOOTING, OTHER TROUBLESHOOTING DID NOT REMEDY. AS A RESULT OF MCU FAILURE, TURN SIGNALS DID NOT WORK (EXTERIOR TURN SIGNALS AND AUDIBLE INDICATION OF TURN SIGNALS), AIR SUSPENSION COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, CLIMATE CONTROL COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, HEADLIGHTS COULD NOT BE MANUALLY CONTROLLED, STEERING SETTINGS COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, CHARGE LEVEL COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT COULD NOT BE USED, BACKUP CAMERA COULD NOT BE VIEWED IN ADDITION TO OTHER FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE CAR. LEADING UP TO THE COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE UNIT, THE MCU WOULD OCCASIONALLY REBOOT ITSELF DURING DRIVING CAUSING LOSS OF TURN SIGNALS AND CHANGE IN STEERING DYNAMICS.

NHTSA ODI 11338854

DURING ALL ELECTRICAL FAULT FAILURES THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY. I'VE HAD 6 SERVICE VISITS RELATED TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS CAUSING MECHANICAL FAILURES. THE STEERING RACK FAILURE WAS THE MOST RECENT PROBLEM. TESLA REPLACED THE ENTIRE STEERING RACK. THE TESLA OWNER'S FORUM AND TESLAMOTORSCLUB.COM OWNERS SAY THEY'VE REPLACED ONLY THE STEERING MOTOR AND THAT 1 PART FIXES THE POWER STEERING FAULT. THE ELECTRICAL CHARGING PORT FAILED BECAUSE OF ELECTRICAL FAULTS. THE 12-VOLT BATTERY HAS FAILED TWICE DURING THE LAST YEAR. 5 DOOR REGULATORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED IN THE FRONT 2 SEATS DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS. 3 WINDOW REGULATORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS. THE POWER STEERING FAILED DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL FAULT. I'VE PAID $6,500 FOR ELECTRICAL FAULTS DURING THE LAST YEAR. THE TIRES I BUY ARE RATED TO 55,000 MILES, BUT THEY KEEP WEARING OUT UNEVENLY, AND OFTEN BLOWING OUT, AT LESS THAN 30,000 MILES. THE SERVICE CENTER CANNOT TELL ME WHY THE TIRES ARE CONTINUALLY BLOWING OUT AND WEARING OUT UNEVENLY AFTER MINIMAL USE. I WENT TO A TESLA SERVICE CENTER FOR HELP RESETTING MY TOUCHSCREEN AND INSTALLING A FIRMWARE UPDATE WHEN I WAS THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM HOME. THE SERVICE CENTER FORCED ME TO GET NEARLY $2,000 OF NEW REGULATORS. PARTS WERE INCORRECTLY REPLACED THAT WERE NOT MALFUNCTIONING. PARTS THAT MALFUNCTIONED ONCE OR TWICE WERE REPLACED. PARTS THAT WERE REPLACED THE PREVIOUS MONTH, AND WERE COVERED UNDER THE TESLA PARTS WARRANTY, WERE REPLACED AGAIN. THE BATTERY PACK THAT POWERS THE VEHICLE INSTANTLY LOST 50-MILES OF RANGE, 16% OF TOTAL AVAILABLE RANGE AFTER VISITING A SERVICE CENTER. DURING 5.6-YEARS OF OWNERSHIP, I LOST LESS THAN 7% OF TOTAL AVAILABLE RANGE. I PAID A $10,000 UPGRADE FOR RANGE. I'M CONCERNED IT'S A FAULT OR THAT MY VEHICLE WAS DAMAGED OR THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED WITH A DEFECTIVE BATTERY WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE.

NHTSA ODI 11245490

INTERMITTENT LOSS OF ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ASSIST, LEAVING THE STEERING WHEEL ALMOST IMMOBILE, AND VERY HAZARDOUS DRIVING UNDER THE WRONG CIRCUMSTANCES. THE PROBLEM STARTED AFTER AN OVER-THE-AIR SOFTWARE UPDATE FROM TESLA. CAR HAS 33K MILES ON IT. TESLA SERVICE SAYS NOT THEIR PROBLEM, PLEASE HAVE IT TOWED HERE (90 MILES) AND PAY US TO LOOK AT IT. POWER STEERING RACK ITSELF FAILED ONE YEAR AGO AND WAS REPLACED UNDER RECALL.

NHTSA ODI 11208108

MY STEERING FAILED AT 27000 MILES AND 5 YEARS. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ONE WEEK BEFORE TESLA ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE. THE SERVICE CENTER SAYS THAT THE RECALL COVERS REPLACING THE BOLTS THAT FAIL AND NOT THE BROKEN STEERING RACK THAT OCCURS BECAUSE OF THE FAILED BOLTS, SO THEY THINK THAT I SHOULD PAY ~$3000 TO REPAIR A KNOWN DEFECT AND OBVIOUS SAFETY HAZARD. I WAS LUCKY THAT THE FAILURE HAPPENED WHEN THE CAR WAS STATIONARY.

NHTSA ODI 11084066

HERE IS A TESLA IN THE JUNKYARD. HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/19512447/PHOTOS THE AIR SUSPENSION HAS COLLAPSED AND ALL THE WHEELS HAVE GONE WHOMPY. I THINK THIS MIGHT MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10948343

THIS IS THE CAR WHICH SWERVED OVER A CLIFF AND KILLED THE DRIVER. HTTPS://WWW.EASYEXPORT.US/VEHICLE-FINDER/LOT-16405175/2013-TESLA-TESLA-NON-REPAIRABLE-CA-SAN-JOSE HTTP://WWW.PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM/NEWS/3318773-181/PD-DEFAULT-STORY-HEADLINE-XY?GALLERY=3314901&ARTSLIDE=0 I HAVE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPHS THAT SHOW NOT ONLY THAT THE STEERING KNUCKLE HAS SNAPPED BUT THE TREAD IS WORN OFF THE TIRE. THIS CAN ONLY HAVE HAPPENED WHILE THE CAR WAS DRIVING ON THE ROAD. THIS WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH. THIS SAME EFFECT OF SNAPPED SUSPENSION WITH WORN TIRE CAN BE SEEN IN MANY OTHER TESLA CRASHES.. SINCE ABOUT 2015 TESLA HAS REDESIGNED THE STEERING KNUCKLE TO A SOLID H-SECTION INSTEAD OF THE HOLLOW DIE-CAST ORIGINAL. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL TO REPLACE ALL OF THE EARLIER FRAGILE VERSIONS. MANY MORE IMAGES OF SNAPPED KNUCKLES CAN BE SEEN AT HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/136377865@N05/SETS/72157658490111523/. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10928135

HERE IS A TESLA FOR SALE AT A SALVAGE AUCTION. HTTP://WWW.COPART.COM/US/LOT/30119166?SEARCHID=695877385 THE AIR-BAGS HAVE NOT BEEN DEPLOYED AND THERE IS ONLY MINOR DAMAGE TO THE FRONT RH SIDE. THE CAR SHOWS SIGNS OF COLLAPSED SUSPENSION. THE TWO REAR WHEELS ARE SKEWED SIDEWAYS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. ALL WHEELS ARE JAMMED HIGH UP IN THE WHEEL WELLS. THIS WOULD TEND TO MAKE THAT CAR RATHER DIFFICULT TO STEER. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF THE AIR SUSPENSION FAILING AND THAT SINCE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE LIMIT STOPS ON THE SUSPENSION IT CAN LEAD TO DIRE CONSEQUENCES. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM.

NHTSA ODI 10899678

HERE IS AN AUCTION LISTING OF A TESLA THAT HAS CAUGHT FIRE. HTTP://SALVAGE-BID.COM/RESULT.PHP?VIN=[XXX] THE PJHOTOGRAPHS SHOW THAT THE LH TOP BALL-JOINT HAS PULLED OUT FROM THE STEERING KNUCKLE. THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF THE FIRE BECAUSE THOSE PARTS ARE SOLID METAL AND NEITHER THE STEERING KNUCKLE NOR THE WISHBONE HAVE MELTED. THE SUSPENSION FAILURE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PATTERN OF SIMILAR FAILURES THAT APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE OF CRASHES. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS RECURRING FAILURE INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ODI 10897285