What 129 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model S 60

Component that failed is daylight running lights and is available for inspection. Daylight running lights are important to be seen easier by other vehicles and pedestrians, since they don’t work my vehicles is more difficult to be seen during the day. Confirmed by service center. Unknown if inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others, most likely not. No warning lights, no messages, no symptoms, first appeared approximately sept 2022

NHTSA ODI 11499558

Tesla designs a single piece headlight with no serviceable parts. This includes headlights, high beams, and namely daytime running lights. All of these components are on an LED strip that overheats and un-solders due to this high heat, which causes premature failure. Some owners have reported as little as 3 months of life before failing. The daytime running lights are essential for safety driving in low light situations. These daytime running lights are seemingly built to fail. The lights dim then eventually no longer work. Tesla's solution is to have the customer purchase a brand new headlight at $1500. My vehicle is 4 years old and has been through 3 pairs of headlights already, when the last set burnt out I just left them as is. Tesla should either goodwill swap out these headlights for a non-built to fail component, or offer a repair for a quality LED strip with proper heat distribution. Without daytime running lights safety is a major concern on foggy, rainy, and low light situations. I have attached an image showing how the failure begins on top then slowly goes all the way down to the side of the headlight which fails later.

NHTSA ODI 11491487

The daytime running lights on both front headlights have stopped working with 45k on the odometer. Tesla service center has refused to cover the safety issue because the car warranty is 5k over warranty mileage. The vehicle no longer has working day time running lights. After doing some research this is a common problem with 2016 to 2020 model s and x and Tesla motor company is refusing to repair the DRL lights.

NHTSA ODI 11482529

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V035000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, VISIBILITY, EXTERIOR LIGHTING) HOWEVER, THE PART TO DO THE RECALL REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAD EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PART WAS NOT YET AVAILABLE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.

NHTSA ODI 11406887

THE MAIN CONSOLE CENTER SCREEN IN MY WOULD STOP RESPONDING AND WILL BASICALLY FREEZE UP. THE INDICATOR CLICKER SOUND WOULD STOP WORKING. THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM WOULD REMAIN STUCK. THE AIR CONDITIONER WOULD STOP WORKING. ALL THESE ARE HAPPENING WHILE THE DRIVING. I HAVE TO REBOOT THE SCREEN BY HOLDING THE 2 SCROLL BUTTONS DOWN AND THEN THE SCREEN WOULD GO DARK FOR 10 MIN BEFORE IT STARTS WORKING. I HAVE BOUGHT THIS TO SERVICE FEW TIMES AND THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING SAYING EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE.

NHTSA ODI 11389517

TWICE RECENTLY WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY AT NIGHT, THE CAR COMPUTER STARTED FAILING. LIGHTS WENT OUT, TURN SIGNALS DIDN'T WORK, EVENTUALLY THE WHOLE SCREEN AND DASHBOARD THAT LET YOU DRIVE TURNED BLANK. I HAD TO FIND A WAY TO QUICKLY PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESET THE CAR BY PRESSING AND HOLDING THE TWO BUTTONS ON STEERING WHEEL. THIS IS A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION.

NHTSA ODI 11282952

BACKUP LIGHTS ARE INADEQUATELY BRIGHT AT NIGHT, IN DARK SITUATIONS ALLOWING NO ABILITY TO MAKE OUT GROUND FEATURES WHEN BACKING UP. TESLA HAS UPDATED FIRMWARE AND REPLACED CAMERA WITH NO IMPROVEMENT. SAFETY DEFECT OF BEING UNABLE TO SEE BEHIND CAR WHEN BACKING UP AT NIGHT NOT FIXED, SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN PROBLEM WITH THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11282440