What 141 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model X P90d

I was driving down the road and my car started shaking, I was about 5 or 6 miles from an exit so continued and within 1 mile a rod broke and fell on top of my tire causing me to catastrophically have to stop n swerve off the road in 5 o'clock traffic. I just purchased this car 3 months ago, no issues just happend all of sudden. There are reports of weak suspension parts for tesla specifically the model x and y. The suspension parts need to be recalled. I was VERY lucky to not have collided with another car and potentially causing a fatality.

NHTSA ODI 11670369

My 2018 Tesla model X front suspension is making cranking noise and seems like it’s unsafe to drive. This is a known issue to Tesla and NHTSA but recall was never announced so Tesla service center is not fixing this issue. Could you please look into this.

NHTSA ODI 11659397

Our Tesla Model X is failing recently with several issues as listed below: 1. 'Autiopilot disabled' - Autopilot was not available to use since 09/2024 after upgraded to 12.x FSD upgrade. Tesla service diagnosed in 11/2024 with some error connected to evaporator fan, advised me to replace the kit at an estimated $580 2. 'Unable to start' - HV battery failed on 03/06/2025 with series of failures that was reported to NHTSA (VOQ#11651899). Tesla replaced the battery, and service delivered vehicle on 03/24/2025 3. 'Hood unlatch' failure - while driving home from Service center on the same day at 70 mph on I-95 freeway, the 'hood' popped up blocking the front view, and had to pull vehicle to shoulder to safety. There was NO warning message on the screen at all. Took the vehicle to service immediately, and service team pointed that they forgot to turn on 'auto-latch' resulting hood failure. They offered the 'free' repair of hood. 4. 'ECU Autopilot failure' - while taking the delivery of 'hood' fix on 04/22/2025, I noticed the 'autopilot' was still NOT working. Serviced diagnosed with 'failed autopilot ECU' at an estimated cost of $1791.55. Currenlty the vehicle is with Tesla Service team. My vehicle is with service team since 03/06/2025, and has been identified with series of issues/failures. It has caused severe safety failure putting our lives at risk with 'unlatched' hood while driving on a freeway. Also with HV battery failure its completely unreliable on when it might fail during driving. Now with failed autopilot ECU, we are unsure of the vehicles ability to navigate, drive function and safety concerns. Service team is unable to provide precise root causes or fixes, or restore it to a functioning vehicle. Every visit with service team there is a new issue with vehicle. Our family is greatly concern with the quality of the vehicle, persisting issues, safety concerns and overall reliability of the vehicle. Please find enclosed all service records.

NHTSA ODI 11659042

One fine morning Car would not start and shows some errors. tried using a AAA service and Had the car towed into Tesla SC. After diagnosis they mentioned that a HV x099 connector is corroded. To me this cannot be a vehicle owner fault. This seems to be a failure of an integral part associated with the Battery pack. Tesla has charged me a total of $2891.46 including taxes out of which $85 was for the part replacement and $2626.80 for labor costs. This seems like a major issue with a connector so deeply protected if corrodes this should be a Tesla design/manufacturing fault. ------------- Notes from tech: Repair Notes: towed vehicle into service center and utilized maintainer to power on. Once vehicle was online attempted to pull logs. While logs uploaded verified Hvil alerts present on UI. Began investigation checking hvil circuit from x099 to x098. Removed hv battery pack and found corrosion on connector x099. Inspected battery pack and also found corrosion on pack side connector. Will require removing ancillary tray in order to investigate corrosion further into the pack. after removing ancillary tray i found the corrosion had not gone past the low voltage rapid mate connector. Removed and replaced rapid mate and verified proper operation after reassembly. Test drove and verified no alerts present and vehicle functionality restored Total Parts Amount 85.00 Total Labor Amount 2,296.80 Labor Hours 10.44 ----------------------- Concern: corrosion found on connector X099 Repair Notes: performed wire repair on connector x099-11/12. Removed all corrosion from connector and reinstalled. Verified wire repair performed to tesla specification Correction: Wire - Electrical Harness (Does Not Include Access Labor) (Repair) Labor Hours Price Adjustment Subtotal 1.50 330.00 0.00 330.00 Pay Type: Customer Pay Total Parts Amount 0.00 Total Labor Amount 330.00 Labor Hours 1.50 Should these parts connecting to the battery be covered under the Battery warranty? Please help..

NHTSA ODI 11655006

I have had to replace my axles/have had cv joint failure 3 times and have another service scheduled for a fourth CV/axle service. This is a known problem and Tesla has acknowledged it and done nothing about it. See Tesla service bulletin SB-20-39-001about premature axle/CV joint failures.

NHTSA ODI 11654640

While driving on the freeway at 60 mph, the car's hood suddenly opened and struck the windshield, obstructing the driver's view completely. The car had just left a Tesla service center a few minutes earlier, and the incident occurred while driving on [XXX] North freeway near Dedham, MA. Incident occurred on [XXX] at [XXX]. Tesla service at Dedham, MA, accepted the vehicle for hood repair and mentioned its a service mistake. They did not mention any issues related to recall or software. Vehicle is still at Tesla service center at Dedham, MA, under repair. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11651899

Based on thousands of posts, replies, etc, this seems to be a well known issue with this model/year Tesla as well as other years/models. It seems that the Wheel Sensor Cable is not fastened properly, and over time, the cable runs against the tire, causing the internal wires to be exposed, this in turn causes numerous faults to occur, which includes causing ABS, lane departure avoidance, traction control, stability control, ABS, and regenerative braking to stop working. This happens while driving resulting in an immediate change in how the vehicle functions which could easily lead to a major accident While there are numerous forums where this issue is noted, below is one that details the issue with photos [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11650036

‘safety restraint system issue’ error pops up when ever car is turned on was told that can cause airbag to not be deployed when needed.

NHTSA ODI 11638080

System warning for the rear left safety restraint. Took it into Tesla and they charged me.

NHTSA ODI 11636400

Jumped in neutral while at at a stop light. Would not go back in gear.

NHTSA ODI 11633947

The horn on the steering wheel stopped working recently. Horns are important safety features on any vehicle, and electric vehicles are especially quiet so the horn is essential. The other buttons and scrollers on the steering wheel also stopped working. It's unclear if the airbag still functions.

NHTSA ODI 11633471

AC compressor failed within 1000 miles of High Voltage battery being replaced. This is the second AC compressor failure, the first failure occured at approx 70k miles, Nov 2022. The AC is used to cool the battery during high voltage charging and driving. Upon failure speed can be reduced, determined by multiple factors and charging rate is reduced as well. I was told it was an internal failure of the compressor and when pressed further tesla was unable to explain why it failed, again.

NHTSA ODI 11604311

INCIDENT REPORT: automated driver seat attempted to crush me when vehicle placed into drive Date: 15 June 2024 4:10 ET firmware version: v12 ⁦(2024.14.9 0b82f700aebe)⁩ steps to produce incident: 1. vehicle to park 2. seat auto changes to easy entry 3. opened the frunk 4. exit vehicle, closed door 5. re-entered vehicle to move it a little forward 6. press brake, put into drive, entered PIN 7. DRIVER SEAT BACK BEGINS TO TILT FORWARD TO ABNORMAL EXTREME FORWARD ANGLE, SEAT STARTS TO MOVE FORWARD (from easy entry mode), CRUSHING DRIVER AGAINST STEERING WHEEL 8. manual press of profile to user profile does not stop moving seat, does not retrace seat back from abnormal extreme forward angle, seat continues to move forward, crushing driver against steering wheel. 9. manual shift to PARK stops seat forward movement, does not return seat back from abnormal extreme forward angle. 10. opened door and exited vehicle, snapped photo of abnormal seat extreme forward angle ##

NHTSA ODI 11594506

I have encountered what seems to be a very common issue in 2018ish tesla vehicles. Seatbelt sensor issues. While I believe it is due to wiring below the seat, tesla claims the only fix is an entire seat replacement. Researching this it seems to be a widespread issue, especially as the cars age.

NHTSA ODI 11590693

on 4/17/2024 while exiting bank drive up lane in parking garage car suddenly accelerated from 5mph to maximum, both feet on brake had no effect, drive lever did not engage neutral or reverse. Car exited garage and was able to be steered onto median into a tree to stop car. Air bags deployed. Thankfully no one injured, if there had been a pedestrian or another car there would have been a bad outcome. Attempted to contact Tesla but unsuccessful locating telephone number or online contact to report, was able to send text to 24 hour tech assistance line, no response as of now.

NHTSA ODI 11583760

The car starts developing very loud squeaking noise when the suspension is at work, when turning, and when accelerating/decelerating

NHTSA ODI 11582137

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the driver and passenger side second-row captain seat belts were engaged, and the seat belt restraint error message was displayed. Additionally, the contact stated that when the seat belts were extended right, and seat belts failed to retract. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11580699

I was driving on [XXX] from Carson City to Reno in Washoe Valley while on autopilot, the car suddenly alerted with very loud alarms, showed 1. steering assist reduced, 2. Automatic Emergency Braking is unavailable 3. Traction Control disabled 4. Stability control disabled 5. Park Assist unavailable. I pulled over to a safe parking area. Then the car locked out for 75 mins, in Neutral gear, can't shut off, can't park, can't reset the car at all even after talking to Tesla support. While waiting for the tow truck, I turned it into Tow mode, was able to change into Park mode finally, and hard reset the car. I took it in and Tesla told me the steering system was the problem and I was out of warranty so I had to pay A LOT OF money to repair/replace it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11579414

As proactive and responsible car owners, we experienced an alert on our Tesla X stating it needed service, vehicle may not restart. We also recorded a concerning noise that clearly showed a problem ...And brought the car into the Tesla Blue Ash service center. It was estimated 3/4 hours to repair. After a day or so, we inquired and we were informed of "difficulty" performing diagnosis. We once again patiently waited for a diagnosis that was not received until we inquired again, days later. The car was held for a week and deemed acceptable as noted in the invoice. We drove this vehicle for less than a total of 1-2 hours over Saturday to Sunday to discover it unresponsive in our garage. It was stuck on the charger. HV battery fully charged. Tesla remote came out to remotely help us. They attempted replacement of the 12v and then stated it wasn't safe and that he couldn't put it into tow mode due to the voltage leak concern. We had two AAA tow truck drivers refuse attempt to tow the vehicle due to the impossible location. We were informed by Tesla that based on their algorithm at the first appointment nothing alerted them despite our video of the concern. They were not able to locate the problem and that led them to release an unsafe vehicle to us. We took our car to a trusted Tesla service center immediately and as experts of the vehicle they were not able to accurately and proactively diagnose a problem until the ac compressor was completely dead. We then were stuck to tow the vehicle back to them despite bringing it in with an early concern.

NHTSA ODI 11576105

The vehicle was in cruise control and had a phantom braking event. The vehicle was going at 70 mph and suddenly braked even though there was significant distance between the car in front and nothing on the road. The sun was glaring on the road and possibly the car detected the shadow on the road as an object and braked because of it.

NHTSA ODI 11574320

The Tesla recall under NHTSA Recall No: 23V-838 has not been completed by Tesla. The upgraded computer I purchased from Tesla and had installed in December 2021 cannot accept the OTA update. Tesla is requesting that I replace the computer again for 2 thousand dollars for the recall OTA. Telsa said my current computer has an internal bug and needs to be replaced. I should not have to spend 2K for another computer that barely lasted 2 years.

NHTSA ODI 11573662

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated while attempting to park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward independently. As a result, the vehicle careened through an outdoor dining area, causing extensive property damage. The air bags did not deploy. A Police report was not filed, and injuries were not reported. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed from the scene directly to a body shop for the repair. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V838000 (Electrical System) and the VIN was included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 40,000.

NHTSA ODI 11571989

Auto pilot

NHTSA ODI 11571991

Took my car to a tesla service center to repair the suspension front upper arm in feb2023 for $300 Today the front suspension lower arm/forelink/aft failed and they are making the repair now. Repair costs is $1600. After doing some research, it seems the suspension issue on the model x is a widespread and faulty design issue. They fail with the car being just 5 years old.

NHTSA ODI 11570083

I am writing to you once again to emphasize and provide additional details regarding the critical safety issue I previously addressed concerning the Tesla Model X vehicles, which is similarly affecting Tesla Model S models. My personal experience underscores the severity of this problem: I have had to replace five tires due to accelerated inner wall wear. This specific wear pattern is a direct result of improper camber alignment, an issue that Tesla has continuously refused to rectify. This problem is not isolated to my vehicle alone. A growing number of Tesla Model X and Model S owners have reported similar experiences, indicating a widespread and systemic issue. The accelerated inner wall tire wear poses significant safety risks, as it can lead to unexpected and dangerous tire failures on the road. Despite the clear evidence and numerous complaints from Tesla owners, Tesla has consistently declined to address this issue adequately. It appears that the company’s reluctance is rooted in the fact that proper repair or recall to fix the camber alignment is not cost-effective from their perspective. However, this cost-cutting measure is putting drivers and passengers at risk. Given the scale and gravity of this issue, I urge the National Highway Safety Institute to take immediate action. It is essential to investigate these recurring problems with both the Tesla Model X and Model S models. The safety of Tesla drivers, passengers, and the general public is at stake, and a thorough investigation could compel Tesla to take the necessary corrective actions. Thank you for your attention to this urgent safety matter. I trust that the National Highway Safety Institute will act promptly to ensure automotive safety and hold manufacturers accountable for their vehicles’ reliability and safety.

NHTSA ODI 11561686