What 459 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Tesla Model S P90d

The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the media control unit turned off and was unable to operate the windows or the Air Conditioner in the vehicle. The contact stated that the temperature inside the vehicle began to rise and had to park the vehicle for 30 minutes. The contact stated she was able to restart the vehicle and was able to access the windows and the Air Conditioner and some other features. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing to replace the old hardware to access the new updates. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated she had experienced the failure on multiple occasions. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11445134

When driving out of parking lot I turned on to the main road and was going about 20 mph when the front hood of car ( Tesla calls this the frunk) came open and raised up to a vertical position completely blocking my view. Fortunately I was going slowly and was able to pull off to the right shoulder and stop. I then was able to close this hood and continue home. Nothing appears damaged. I have no idea how or why this happened. There is no safety catch on this hood to keep it from flying open if the latch fails for some reason or another. Further more on the screen there is a button that can be pushed to open this front hood. I have not opened this front hood for several months. Further I don't know if this button will open the front hood if the car is in motion. If this front hood had come open while the car was moving at a high speed I could have lost control and been killed. I have owned many cars and have never seen one that did not have a safety catch on the front hood to prevent it from opening if the main catch was unlocked. This is a serious safety defect and Tesla should be required to recall any of its cars that do not have a safety catch feature holding the front hood from coming up unless released by a person standing in from of car and unlatching it by hand. Further the button on the screen should not be able to release the front hood if the car is moving. Lastly if this release button is pushed there should be some kind of audible warning to the driver that the front hood is not latched properly or the car should not be able to move forward if this front hood is not properly latched.

NHTSA ODI 11444068

The rear view camera did not deploy when I was backing out of a driveway and I was struck by another vehicle. The police determined it was a no-fault accident. My insurance company deemed me primarily responsible. I was unable to see any oncoming traffic because the camera was not working and there were obstacles to seeing oncoming traffic. The car was deemed totaled by the mechanic and my insurance company. The car battery died soon after the accident and the vehicle remains in my garage and is immovable. I sustained minor head, neck and back injuries.

NHTSA ODI 11443631

Screen behind steering wheel that displays Speedometer goes black from time to time. Am told by a Tesla tech that this issue is related to outdated MCU1 hardware and that a 1500 upgrade to MCU2 hardware will resolve the issue. The current software that runs on 9 year old hardware (same chips are used from 2012-early 2018) is too bloated and causes usability issues that create unsafe driving conditions. It is imperative that speed, climate control and other functions that MCU handles have 100% uptime, especially when the vehicle is in motion. This is only possible by a hardware upgrade that can run Tesla’s latest software (which is automatically pushed several times per year). Right now, Tesla will sell customers an upgraded MCU for $1500-2000, depending on vehicle. This MCU can handle the latest software that inevitably finds its way to every Tesla vehicle through automatic updates. Customers should not have to pay $2000 to maintain basic features, such as timely vehicle power up, reliable speedometer and climate controls, and consistently performing music playing. I have had dozens of issues with MCU performance over the 5year ownership period. NHTSA should do a performance and reliability evaluation of a model S or X with MCU 1 vs MCU 2 and use this data as evidence to demand Tesla recall for all 2018 and earlier vehicles with MCU 1. Common issues include: 1. Waiting 30-90 seconds for vehicle to power up and become drivable. This is especially concerning when driver needs to move vehicle in a timely fashion (think of scenario with impending danger). 2. Either of 2 screens going blank for 2-30 minutes, including while driving. This creates anxiety and distraction for a driver loosing gauges and loss of vehicle controls 3. Inability to change climate control, especially in dangerous conditions Think of the vehicles core functions and controls relying on iPhone 4 hardware !

NHTSA ODI 11442375

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

Car was charging in the garage on Dec 30, 2020 when at 5:25 AM a message was sent to my phone that the charging had been interrupted but not completed. 12 minutes later at 5:37 AM a message was sent that the Alarm on the vehicle had been activated. 2 minutes later the second Tesla in the garage sent a message that the alarm had been activated. None of these messages were seen at the time since we were asleep in the back of the house, but the car alarm did wake us up. Hearing the alarm woke us and soon after we heard smoke alarms from teh garage and throughout the house. When we walked to the front of the house, we could see flames from the garage to the top of the second story. We immediately exited the house. The attached article and video describes the situation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/04/tesla-fire/ Both Tesla cars and half the house was destroyed by the fire. Tesla never came to the house to inspect the car that started the fire. To date it has not been examined and Tesla takes no responsibility for the damage. They advertise that the battery is warranted and that they will cover any damage caused by a faulty battery, but have refused to do anything.

NHTSA ODI 11440932

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

March 2021: Experienced center touch screen display persistently shutting off. This is a safety hazard because the center screen is the only way control much of the car's safety components and functionality. Received safety recall notice, NHTSA Recall_No.: 21V-035. Attempted to make an appointments through mobile app and phone calls to service the recall multiple times but was told they do not have the part to repair the car and to continue driving the car. August 2021: Somehow managed to successfully schedule an appointment through mobile app. Took car to service center. Was told by service advisor that the purpose of the recall was to repair my issue with center display shutting off while car was in use. Car was repaired by replacing 8GB eMMC and released back to me on the same day. September 2021: Recall issue with center display shutting off was not resolved such that not only does the center display continue to shut off while car is in use, the instrument cluster screen directly in front of the steering wheel is now shutting off as well, another clear safety hazard. The cluster screen displays information such as speedometer, battery state of charge, gears (P,N,R,D). October 2021: Scheduled another service appointment through mobile app to repair issues of both screens shutting off. Reviewed repair estimates prior to appointment which showed zero cost to me. Took car to service center. Was told by service advisor that it they will charge me $200 to inspect the car, if issues are related to recall there will be waive the $200 fee and repair at no cost, however if issues are not related to recall, they will charge me $2000. I declined the offer and drove the car home while both screens are persistently shutting off. I believe the car is dangerous to drive in its current state and Tesla refuses to repair the car and resolve these safety hazards.

NHTSA ODI 11437891

They were supposed to replace the eMMC board in 2020, and I have been asking for a year now(I have made at least 4 requests) and they still say that they don't have the parts to do it and to keep checking back in the future.

NHTSA ODI 11434264

i was driving over 100mph, let off the accelerator and the car kept going that fast. Then all of warning lights came on, traction turned off, anti skid turned off. etc etc. I immediately applied brakes to NO affect. I called the Tesla Road Side Assistance. Lady was on the phone looking at my warnings. She could see the same warnings i was seeing. Applying brakes as hard as possible got the car to eventually slow down. It acted like the Cruise Control was stuck on 100mph. BUT, i never turned it on. EVER. This happened around first of May. Well two weeks later it happened again. This time Help Desk referred it to Jacksonville Service Center. The mechanic said he referred it to the "engineering" team at Tesla on 6/10/21. Have not heard back, I have been there several times, NO help at all. Refuse to discuss it.

NHTSA ODI 11433965

I had a failure on my main computer. The MCU failed and the screen would not turn on. Tesla replaced a chip in my MCU but it did not fix all of my issues. I have to reboot my computer 95% of the time I am driving. Here are the issues: 1) 3g/GPS not activating. Leads to not being able to use GPS navigation. 2) Computer freezes. Usually while sleeping, computer does not wake up or the central screen does not respond leading to failures in many systems including: blinker, AC, radio, rear view for backing up, garage control, creep mode, etc. One time I left my computer in 'camp mode' so that it would keep cool on a hot day. While I was away from car, I checked on my mobile app to see the status of the car. The app could not connect to my car. When I came back, the computer had frozen up which meant that the AC was no longer working. This caused a unsafe level of temperature in my car of 100 degrees +. Luckily there was no dog or child in the car but I hate to think if there was. When I leave the car in 'dog mode' or 'camp mode', I expect it to do what it states it is going to do and keep my car cool. This could be very dangerous, especially on a hot day. In conclusion, even though Tesla did the fix for my MCU and my screen does turn on, it is not fixed 100% leading to constant reboots due to 3g failures and computer freezes. This happens almost every day.

NHTSA ODI 11433266

The vehicle's main center console doesn't work, even after a recall notice from Tesla. Tesla tried to see what was going on with my car, but they could not find it, but 5-10% of the time my car still has a center console screen not working. There is a defect and these times it is very dangerous to drive the car.

NHTSA ODI 11432706

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

2012/2013 MODEL S. HAD WINDING NOISE PRIOR TO WARRANTY EXPIRATION. TESLA VAN NUYS SERVICE CENTER STATED ALL NORMAL. AFTER WARRANTY EXPIRATION REAR DRIVE UNIT FAILS ON FREEWAY, SHUTTING VEHICLE DOWN, NEARLY CAUSING CATASTROPHIC ACCIDENT. TESLA REFUSED TO REPLACE UNTIL WE PAID OVER $7000 TO FIX. REAR DRIVE UNIT FAILED PREVIOUSLY UNDER WARRANTY. THIS IS TYPICAL PROBLEM WITH TESLAS. NOW 8 YEAR WARRANTY EXPIRES FROM ORIGINAL PURCHASERS AND NHTSA SHOULD START TO SEE (ALREADY SEEING) NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS IN THIS REGARD. OBVIOUSLY NHTSA TESLA HAS A DEFECTIVE DESIGN WITH REAR DRIVE UNIT. TRANSPORTATION SAFETY ACT PROTECTS CONSUMER FROM MANUFACTURER DESIGN DEFECTS. TESLA RELYING ON WARRANTY EXPIRATION AND CONSUMER IGNORANCE TO NOW CHARGE FOR THIS NEVER ENDING FIX. NHTSA MUST START INVESTIGATION OF TESLA REAR DRIVE UNIT FAILURES. NO THOUSANDS OF REPORTS UNTIL NOW BECAUSE COVERED BY WARRANTY BUT TESLAS NOW OVER 8 YEARS OLD AND WARRANTY'S ARE EXPIRING. PLEASE INVESTIGATE.

NHTSA ODI 11429257

RE: NHTSA Action Number: DP19005 - INVESTIGATION Subject : Battery Management Software Updates Dear sirs, my 2013 Tesla Model S p85 is a victim of this battery management software update that has reduced my driving range and time to takes to recharge the battery. this is a safety concern because I cannot drive as far (the range) as the manufacturer promised and I cannot recharge as fast as the manfuacuterer promised. I was forced to program this software update in my car, it was claimed as a must have safety update and the affect was reduced range and usability of this car. For example, if I had a medical emercengy while driving the car and needed to get to the hospital, and the car had this range reduction software, I might have a dead battery before I can get to the hospital. this is crazy! and when I try to recharge it take twice as long to recharge as the manufacturer claims, this is crazy too. Please help.

NHTSA ODI 11429368

Navigation and speedometer display went blank while driving , on 7/30/2021 at Palo Alto, CA. I pulled off the road, reset computer three times or so. Eventually, speedometer display came back, navigation was slow. I had to use Google map for a while. Service Center tested saying a chip update will be needed, and an upgrade, for $219.0. Set up service appointment for 8/10/2021at Tesla service center in Fresno, CA. I reside in Clovis , CA, zip 93619. Two days in service center, since 8/10-8/13/2021, I was told MCU board is in need of replacement, for a cost of $1500.0 extra. Tesla will not fix the condition on older model, 2013 S85!.?. OEM refusing to correct problem on older models. Driver confusion, and the car mechanism misbehaving, felt confusion while driving on three lane busy streets. Thank You, Bava

NHTSA ODI 11429185

The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 30 mph, there was a loud knocking sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle started losing motive power. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road. The contact called the roadside assistance and the vehicle was towed to a local dealer. The local dealer inspected the vehicle and diagnosed the failure as a rear drive unit malfunction. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost of the repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,523.

NHTSA ODI 11428105

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

A loud whining noise from the rear drive unit of my Tesla. The car is a 2013 and has 98,000 miles. The rear drive unit was previously replaced in 2015 at 45,000 miles, and has now been replaced again in 2021. The latest replacement was at cost to me of over $5000. I believe this price may prevent many owners from having this component replaced until it fails completely, leading to unsafe conditions. The car is no longer under warranty. The Tesla dealer accompanied me on a test drive to observe the whining noise, and recommended replacing the drive unit without delay to avoid the possibility of it letting me down and leaving me at the side of the road. I would hate to be in a car on the highway when a drive unit fails. It would be a danger to me, and other road users. These drive units should last more than 50,000 miles, and I believe the units now being installed have better longevity, but the units still installed in cars should be recalled and replaced with the ungraded units.

NHTSA ODI 11424468

In June, began hearing noise from the front suspension area while turning at speeds from 0-45 mph. I created a service appointment and I was initially told the front control arms and shock needed to be replaced due to wear and tear and would not be covered under warranty. Was informed the shock was leaking and it was required to be replaced in conjunction with the control arms repair. Was told “I won’t say its safe to drive, because at some point it can fail ”by the service advisor on 7/6/21 on a recorded line (recording available but not able to be uploaded here). To me, this indicates a safety concern; however, I was told it is a wear item that commonly needs to be replaced on older cars due to mileage/age of car and is not checked on the annual service unless there is noise or problem. However, suspension items are not listed anywhere on the website, manual, or 2013 esa, or original warranty as being wear items needing replacement/checks after a set mileage or vehicle age. Having an annual service that does not check a wear item that appears to have turned into a safety item – makes no sense. Additionally, the front suspension was checked on 2021.2.11 @ 82,562 miles as evident by the uploaded service invoice. At the time, there was a difference of 6,146 miles and less than 5 months since the suspension check. I pointed the above concerns out and how I knew there was a pending NHTSA investigation into control arm failures, and it was then determined that the control arms could be replaced under warranty and the in conjunction and required spring would be customer pay per the ESA contract.

NHTSA ODI 11423922

The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) unit became inoperable causing the vehicle to stall. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with the VCM unit needing to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact then stated 18 months later, he received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 21V035000 (Back over prevention, Visibility, Exterior lighting). The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

NHTSA ODI 11423549

Hi, Tesla has a recall from the NHTSA regarding the MCU chip that powers the main center console screen. It can fail over time. My vehicle is under the recall, and they did the MCU chip recall but it did not help the screen. It is still failing. Without the screen working, the vehicle controls are not usable since 95% of the functions are through the screen. I contacted Tesla and they have ignored me and declined to fix the vehicle, even though the purpose of the recall was to fix the center screen.

NHTSA ODI 11423662

The Tesla's main central LCD screen, in which many major car functions operate, leaks liquid (what Tesla refers to as glue or adhesive), which causes the level to decrease behind the screen and which, Tesla, says, will lead to the screen becoming in operable. Safety features like back up cameras, unlocking doors, window de-fog and de-frost, charging limits, and others, are operated through this screen. As you can see from the pics attached, the level has decreased and is leaking out near the passenger side front seat. Yes, NHTSA can come inspect if they'd like. I showed the dealer this problem, they said they were aware of it, that it happens to other Teslas, and will result in the screen becoming inoperable. There were no warning lamps or messages prior to or during this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11422618

While driving , and all at a sudden i heard a boom knock coming from the back near the rear drive unit area, brought it to Tesla service center. They diagnosed it as a cracked subframe which let the drive unit attachment loose from one it's anchor point. The cost of repair is $3,447.95. Upon further review, i've seen numerous reports about the same incidents specially for Tesla Model S between 2013 and 2014. In numerous incidents, Tesla has replaced the subframe at will while out of warranty. Requested the same but it was denied. This happened all at a sudden and without any warning. Upon further review, I've noticed that Tesla have upgraded the subframe part number from REAR SUBFRAME ASSY(6007012-00-E) to REAR SUBFRAME ASSY(6007012-00-L). Reference is Tesla online part catalog search by model / year Possibly to address that issue.

NHTSA ODI 11421995

Tesla has had a mandatory recall for the MCU and the screen. I went to get my car repaired, and they only fixed the MCU. They said my screen was not under the recall, but the whole point of the recall was to fix it. Now, with the screen not working, I am unable to control 95% of the functions of the car, including safety features like seeing the rear camera. They wish to charge me 800$ to replace the screen, which is not right when the original recall was the fix the screen issue.

NHTSA ODI 11421736