What 604 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Tesla Model S 75d

Front control arm separation.

NHTSA ODI 11441355

1. MY INFORMATION DISPLAY SCREEN LEAKS LIQUID ONTO THE LOWER CPNSOLE CAUSING THE DISPLAY TO FIL INTERMITTENTLY. 2. IN HOT WEATHER MY DASHBOARD DISPLAY SHOWS SIGNS OF MELTING AND THEN FAILS TO DISPLAY ANY INFORMATIONSUCH AS SPEED, MILEAGE CAPACITY, ETC. WHEN THE WEATHER IS COOL THIS DOES NOT AHPPEN.

NHTSA ODI 11440968

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the center display inadvertently went blank and froze, causing the contact to have to restart the center display. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the manufacturer had not returned his calls for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 38,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11440246

A heater which warms the large battery which powers Tesla's EVs burned out while I was charging my vehicle at a Tesla supercharger. It appears to have been caused by a high voltage 'short' from moisture. I was able to continue driving the vehicle for over 100 miles, but did not have 'regenerative' braking. This made the stopping distance much longer - nearly causing a collision. When I stopped at another Tesla supercharger the car would not charge and had to be towed. This defect should warrant a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11439696

The right Front Lower Control Arm broke off. When I applied the break (abruptly) at the light ( driving speed ~35mph and the street was wet), the front right wheel was bouncing and making a weird noise. I managed to drive home and found out that the control arm has broken off. I did some research and realized that this is a common problem with Tesla vehicles. I am wondering if this is a recall issue. This is a safety issue and I think Tesla needs to recall and fix this problem.

NHTSA ODI 11439621

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 - 35 MPH, a loud bang noise was heard, then the front passenger’s side tire kicked back and damaged the wheel. Upon inspection, the contact saw that the front passenger’s side control arm was fractured. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

NHTSA ODI 11439518

2 problems: 1.) the eMMC chip for the screen has not yet been replaced due to supply issue? 2.) the battery heater stopped working causing driving ability issues. This should be a recall. the car lost both acceleration and braking power and made it dangerous to drive. I was unable to charge the battery, and had to have the car towed a long distance, costing me over $1,000 to have repaired.

NHTSA ODI 11438302

My Tesla is under a recall for bad memory. My Tesla constantly reboots. I often have to wait several minutes from when I get in the car until it is ready to drive with all functions. I sometimes am forced to drive with the center screen not working. This takes away my backup camera. A required safety feature. Tesla says the part is not available. I request a reliable loaner until they get the part repaired under recall.

NHTSA ODI 11437810

NHTSA has asked Tesla to recall faulty EMMC base boards, but even after repeated service requests with proof of of center console going completely blank while driving, backup camera failure from time to time, voice commands unusable and now maps going completely blank, Tesla refuses to change the board and says their system does not show signs of wear and due to limited parts availability they won't perform replacement. They have been updating firmware to delete processes to slow down 'wear' as per their definition so that they can get around NHTSA direction.

NHTSA ODI 11437426

The doors on my Tesla are electronic from the inside and outside. Sometimes the car will not let me out or in, especially in the rear drivers side door where the kids are. It will not open the door and presents a huge safety issue. My sons was trapped in the door previously and we couldn't get the door to open - it took about 5 cycles of locking and unlocking the car for the doors electronic door handle to finally allow the door to be opened Recently there was a lawsuit for a similar issue in which a man became trapped inside a Tesla and died of smoke inhalation because the doors would not open and first responders couldn't get in the car either. I contacted Tesla, who was able to diagnose my car and create a repair estimate for the malfunctioning door handles without even looking at the car because the problem is so widespread and well known. They want $700 to repair my door handles that are locking me and the kids inside the car but i don't have money to repair right now.

NHTSA ODI 11436809

I was backing out my car from the garage at home and on the driveway my wife and I heard a weird sound. After checking we found a broken metal part on the driveway and a closer look, taking a picture, I could see that the suspension arm for the front passenger side wheel was broken, very much metal fatigue,

NHTSA ODI 11436810

While backing out of a parking stall I felt a large vibration. I could tell something wasn't right. I pulled out of the parking lot and checked my tires and brakes as every time I pressed the brake pedal I felt the vibration. I couldn't tell what was going on, but the car was not driving correctly. I slowly drove to a nearby tire center when they diagnosed it as a broken control arm on the driver's side. No collisions took place before or after, nor was a pot hole or other road hazard hit before.

NHTSA ODI 11435890

Instrument cluster screen was suddenly black despite the center touchscreen being on. I can't read speed meter, winker, transmission, and tire pressure.But the car moves. I have never hard that Most of Vehicles (Toyota,GM,Ford etc')have instrument screen is Black . I'm not doing any harm, no accidents. Tesla gave the invoice is $3235.96

NHTSA ODI 11434891

The eMMC failure of Tesla Model S/X manufactured from 2012 to mid 2018 has forced Tesla to issue a recall to replace the aforementioned eMMC chip. A failure in that chip means the AC controls stop working, as well as some lightning signals and the rear camera. I experienced the failure before Tesla issued a recall, when my vehicle had ~29000mi. Since the vehicle was not safe to drive, I did the repair myself: I bought an eMMC chip, I took out the Tegra daughterboard from the vehicle and brought it to an specialized electronics shop, they replaced the eMMC chip and I copied the contents of the old memory chip into the new one. Once Tesla offered the recall, they also offered a reimbursement for those who had paid out-of-pocket for this repair through an online form. I filled the online form, uploading invoices for the eMMC chip and the electronics repair shop work, but they denied my reimbursement. Because of that, I feel that Tesla has NOT honored the recall in my case.

NHTSA ODI 11434055

I have had to bring the car in for vibration in the front drivers wheel/tire over 3 times in less than 5 years. A part of the suspension was replace once or twice and I was told that I needed several tires replace less than 10,000 miles of wear. The problem has returned again with both vibration and noise, yet I can't get an appointment for 3 weeks after I reported the issue. I can't find any of my receipts for these repairs as they don't communicate in a way that is useful to humans and there is little record of it.

NHTSA ODI 11433419

Notes from service center: AC will only work when driving found condenser fans were not turning on, found condenser fan relay melted recommend harness replacement and recheck, harness fixed and ac is working at this time, (Possible ac compressor wear/damage due to high ac pressure and high ramp up speeds. Verified Proper Operation at this time ac works on idle now.

NHTSA ODI 11432278

The car sped up automatically after slowing down (when the accelerating padel was release) due to the coming red light, I tried to apply brakes but it did not work, i immediately put the car in parking which stopped the car, I got the error similar to "Could not activate the emergency brake and move the car to the side" I was lucky that there was no one in the front of my car when i happened otherwise it could have resulted into an accident I was able to drive the car after 10 minutes.

NHTSA ODI 11431295

I was stopped at a red light, left signal on, when the car suddenly accelerated forward through the intersection in an aggressive 0-60 kind of start. I braked safely and was about to execute a U-turn a minute or two later when the car bolted forward again. There was no traffic other than the car behind me at the light, thankfully. There were no warnings or other signals and the car was not operating in AutoPilot. I reported the incident immediately to Tesla and the car is now out of state in their custody while an escalated investigation is conducted. They have, however, told us that the car is safe to drive and that it is not possible for this to have occurred. They also assert that all sudden acceleration cases to date have been related to AutoPilot and all have been driver error.

NHTSA ODI 11431049

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that the display screen had gone completely blank without warning while driving. The contact was unable to use certain electrical features. The contact then received a recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). Despite multiple appointment being made to service the recall, the contact was informed that the parts remained unavailable. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11430270

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the instrument panel inadvertently turned blank and the defroster became inoperable. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated he was able to continue to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that they could not repair the vehicle; however, the vehicle memory was reset. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer who informed the contact that they could not assist and advised him to depress an unknown button on the instrument panel to record the time of occurrence whenever the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred shortly after receiving the recall notice for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The contact stated he had not been contacted by the dealer for the recall repair as advised in the recall notification he received. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11429248

The drivers seat has a rocking issue. When braking and accelerating the seat rocks forward and backward which Tesla states they do not have a fix for and which their engineers claim is not a safety concern. I had to make a hard stop recently to avoid a collision and almost flew with my whole body into the steering wheel because the seat flung forward so far. I want to bring this to your attention before someone actually gets seriously injured because of this manufacturer turning a blind eye to something they believe is safe. I have never driven a vehicle that has had a seat fling forward when breaking and don’t believe this is safe. Tesla has refused to do any further work after 3 attempts to fix the seat and will not lemon or buyback the vehicle or replace the vehicle or seat. My final course of action would be to bring this to your attention as I believe your agency has the tools, resources, and ability to take on a car manufacturer who chooses blind negligence overt safety of their consumers. If necessary I can provide invoices / repair orders for the seat. They supposedly changed the seat to a new one (which I don’t believe happened), added an extra bolt to the frame, and finally did a test drive check and confirmed it’s a known issue and basically said too bad but another car.

NHTSA ODI 11428669

Steering became progressively stiffer over the course of a few days as the steering wheel turned to about 15 degrees. Turning the wheels became erratic, almost causing me to lose control on the highway when changing lanes and entering or exiting the freeway. It felt like there was no power steering. I felt it was unsafe to drive and putting me and others at risk of an accident. I had the car towed to the Tesla dealership and the STEERING I-SHAFT LINK LOWER (1060802-00-B) was replaced. It was completely rusted and stiff. There was no evidence of any lubricant on it. The dealership told me that this was a known issue and said they had replaced it with an improved part that would not fail again. A search for "STEERING I-SHAFT LINK" on the Tesla Motors Club forum (Teslamotorsclub.com) reveals that numerous other Model S cars have had the same problem.

NHTSA ODI 11427344

The contact owns a 2016 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument screen inadvertently went black. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled to the side of the road and then drove the vehicle to his destination. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, he was not able to schedule the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 10,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11425799

Tesla refuses to refund my repaid related to NHTSA Recall No: 21V-035. I made a repair because of this issue back in March 2021 and soon after a recall notice came out on March 22, 2021 which I received at a later date due to the pandemic. I requested a formal refund but Tesla refuses to process my claim. I am bringing this to your attention as I believe this is unfair and Tesla should be accountable for the defective part they placed in my car. Please let me know if you need additional details or information. I think you in advance for your help. Best, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11425826

Failure of L front fore link resulting in unstable wheel, contact of wheel with wheel well, difficult steering and inability to drive vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11425523