What 32 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Tesla Model S 60d

Experienced rattling while driving. Brought car in and was told this is a known problem. Obtained copy of the bulletin from Tesla saying this was a “fix upon notification” rather than a recall. Then was forced to pay for the repairs. Upon investigation, this has been reported consistently since 2016. This seems fraudulent as it should cross the threshold of a recall. I would like Tesla to cover the costs of my repair as they would do under a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11638835

Vehicle suddenly stopped on highway luckily there were no drivers behind me. The vehicle all of a sudden started beeping even though there was a clear path and no obstructions. Then stopped. I was panicked and in awe at what was happening. I couldn’t get the vehicle to drive I was just stuck for 10-15 seconds. I was finally able to get the car moving again but the problem hasn’t happened since. Any information as to what may have gone wrong may help other Tesla owners who may or may have not experienced this… yet

NHTSA ODI 11613861

On [XXX] at approximately 1230 pm my husband loaded my [XXX] child into the car. He shut the door then tried to open the driver site door. At that time the inside the car was 93 degrees. The car shut off. Telsa customer support was contacted multiple times. My husband expressed the urgency multiple times that there was a child under [XXX] who was stuck. There was no urgency with Telsa. We were told to contact 911 if we wanted to get our child out. There is no way to manually open the tesla model S door from the outside. At approximately 1300 911 was dispatched and the window was broken at 1330. The internal temperature of the car was approximately 110 F. She was assessed by the firefighers and determined that she did not need to go to the hospital for observation as my husband is a medical professional and her temperature was not severe enough to warrant observation. The sent a tow truck that arrived at approximately 1345. Tesla did expedite the tow truck. We were told multiple times there is absolutely no way to open an model S door manually from the outside. And given no options. We informed them we were at our house and had multiple tools. However we were unable to break the window on our own and had to call 911. My car was at the dealership [XXX] and shut down had not occurred prior to this, nor was this noted as a finding after the maintenance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11592780

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to complete a turn, the contact heard an abnormal sound emanating from the front end of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the front-end suspension and informed the contact that they observed normal wear and tear. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not assist. The failure mileage was 58,000.

NHTSA ODI 11574485

On[XXX], at approximately 6:30 PM while I was driving my 2019 Tesla Model S in Fort Lee, NJ. While navigating through congested traffic and executing a right turn from [XXX] on a green light, the auto-pilot system was not using, my vehicle unexpectedly experienced sudden acceleration. Despite my immediate attempts to pump the brakes, the car failed to decelerate, resulting in a collision with a small bus at its rear side. Subsequently, the car continued at full speed, colliding with three additional vehicles before finally coming to a stop. Under such impact, no air bags opened. I would greatly appreciate further investigation and assistance in understanding the cause behind this sudden acceleration, as it not only endangered my safety but also resulted in damage to multiple vehicles. I do have a Police Report but cannot upload to this report, please let me know how to submit the report (Fort Lee Police Dept. Incident # [XXX] ). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11564407

The intermittent wipers do not work at all. I created a service ticket with Tesla and they informed me that this is a known bug affecting Model S & X vehicles and that there is currently no known date for a fix to be released.

NHTSA ODI 11561188

Sept 9th, 2023 while driving on the interstate the vehicle lost all propulsion power, red lights shown in "gear, P N D" indicator area. I was in left lane and had to get to the side of the road, 4 lanes over, where putting the car in park and back in drive allowed for it to move forward again. I proceeded to a charging station to inspect the car and during this I hear a thump in the trunk area when going over bumps. Upon inspection under the car the rear access cover was hanging down but it was dark. The following morning a closer look revealed the rear subframe where the engine mounts had broken and a large piece of the frame was missing from the inside down. Mounting tab and hardware were still in place but pulled from the structure itself. The car was not handling correctly as if it had a low tire but tire pressure was correct. At drop off I noticed the rear camber seemed quite cambered. As a structural engineer I can see where the mounting tab weld to the aluminum frame failed. The frame appears to be cast and extruded tubing welded together and the failure is what would be considered a weak point at a weld. Car is currently at Tesla Norfolk Virginia for an evaluation and when I showed them the issue the staff did not want to document the issue and requested I perform a drive along with a tech. I asked why as the pics were evidence enough as to my complaint and issue. Cursory investigation online yielded this is not an isolated occurrence and with others having very serious failures I felt it important that perhaps it is severe enough for a modified part replacement. For reference no crash damage or any other like issues have occurred prior with the car.

NHTSA ODI 11549422

DRIVING ON AUTOPILOT ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR SUDDENLY BRAKES WITH NOT APPARENT REASON.

NHTSA ODI 11534216

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 76 MPH with the adaptive cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and decelerated to 45 MPH. The contact stated that the cruise control function then activated and operated as designed and the vehicle then regained speed and accelerated to the desired speed. The failure occurred twice within 20 miles. The contact stated that during the first failure, there was no other vehicles nearby; however, the contact had passed another vehicle the second time the failure was experienced. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 24,500.

NHTSA ODI 11521008

Front drive shafts (half shafts) have been replaced 2x within 6 months and 2-3k miles. They won’t explain why this keeps happening. I believe this is a wide spread issue after some research.

NHTSA ODI 11499718

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00B000 (Latches, Locks, Linkages) however, the failure of the latch had occurred a year prior to receiving the recall notification. The contact stated while driving approximately 60 MPH, the hood unlatched and opened. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that there was damage on the latch and on the driver’s and passenger’s side edges of the hood. The contact pulled over safely and closed the hood. The contact drove the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed and determined that the latch had been tampered with. The dealer refused to repair the hood. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 30,958. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ODI 11498463

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 day

NHTSA ODI 11491539

WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY IN RECENT WEEKS, MY TESLA BRAKES WITHOUT WARNING. IT SEEMS TO OCCUR WHILE UNDER ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL. AT TIMES THE CAR IS APPROACHING A ROAD SIGN. AT OTHER TIMES THERE IS NO REASON APPARENT TO ME. THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL WORKS WELL OTHERWISE.

NHTSA ODI 11491033

while driving on a highway, car made warning sounds and displayed a message "steering assist is reduced, drive with care" the car was not drivable. I almost crashed as it happened on a curve. after i stopped, i soft reset the computer but that did not help. During the incident the steering wheel was set to comfort mode. i changed it to standard but i am not sure if that did anything. I completely shut down the car, waited about 5min and started it again. this time the message went away and the car started driving properly. I reported this to tesla. Despite this being a safety issue they scheduled to look at it in 2 weeks which sounds very dismissive of the issue. I researched the problem and there are many others reporting the same issues. there are videos on youtube how to "fix" it by resetting the car.

NHTSA ODI 11488930

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at 70 MPH on autopilot, the vehicle independently activated the brakes. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal in order for the vehicle to deactivate the brakes. The contact stated the failure reoccurred without autopilot on the vehicle. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 59,000.

NHTSA ODI 11477605

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that after he received an over-the-air (OTA) software update for his vehicle; the horn stopped working without warning. The contact had spoken to the service center where he was informed that they were awaiting the parts to service the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

NHTSA ODI 11456104

When driving with AutoPilot enabled, I am experiencing the same issues as many others. Without any warning or reason, the car will sometimes slam on the brakes which puts the occupants in my vehicle and the cars behind me in danger. I have had to punch the throttle quickly to correct the situation but often the car has slowed 20 MPH by that point. My estimate is that it happens ~5 times per hundred miles travelled on freeways.

NHTSA ODI 11454507

driving down the road on a 25 degree day. i turned on the front defroster and the entire windshield cracked across the entire windshield. i've heard of other tesla owners having the same problem. cheap untested glass. all teslas need new glass. two weeks later i was driving on a 20 degree day, turned on the rear defrost and the entire rear glass cracked. zero chance that either of these problems were cause by external issues. both occured on sunny days with no other traffic anywhere near me. purely poor material and poor engineering and/or inadequate testing.

NHTSA ODI 11446265

I have a Tesla with Full Self Driving software. On Oct 15, around 1:15 PM Central, in Austin, we had finished lunch. Testa was parked around 100 ft away and I pressed Summon to have the car come to where we were. Completely line of sights. The car while pulling out hit the car parked next to it and sustained body damage. No one was in the car. While I realize that the Summons software is in Beta, the car should not have hit the car safely parked next to it. I feel it is a big safety hazard to release software in a car which can cause damage including human. I feel Tesla should be marketing and selling FDS software while claiming it is in Beta and perhaps buyer should not use it. This is false advertising and can put human lives in danger. I can afford to fix the damage but I would like for Tesla to stop releasing untested software and refund buyers for FSD who are uncomfortable using it. Tesla has been making a lot of promises including how cool Summon works and I know from my own experience it does not and can cause damage. I will be happy support the investigation. I have saved the USB drive where Tesla might have captured information. In addition, Tesla has been collecting driving data and can share the data with the investigators.

NHTSA ODI 11437021

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the display screen malfunctioned and would not operate. During the failure, the vehicle speed would not display, the turn signals, brake lights and hazard lights were also inoperable. The contact indicated that the failure was intermittent. The local dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that a firmware update was needed to resolve the failure however, the update was not yet available. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 500.

NHTSA ODI 11424376

CRACKED RIM. UNACCEPTABLE I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE ABOUT 6 TIRES ON MY CAR THAT HAS 17,600 MILES. I DID NOT NOTICE ANYTHING OTHER THAN MY TIRES KEEP GOING FLAT. TESLA KEEPS TELLING ME TO REPLACE MY TIRES TO MAKE MONEY OFF ME BUT ITS THE RIMS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM.

NHTSA ODI 11413078

AT ~5,000 TOTAL VEHICLE MILES, OUR 2019 MODEL S PERFORMANCE HAD SUDDEN AND COMPLETE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, POSSIBLY CONCURRENT WITH AUTOPILOT (AUTOSTEER) FAILURE. EITHER I, OR THE AUTOPILOT SYSTEM, TURNED OFF THE AUTOPILOT FEATURE AT OR NEAR A SLIGHT CURVE ON AN INTERSTATE FREEWAY. IMMEDIATE "STARTLE" REACTION WAS THAT THE AUTOPILOT FEATURE WAS "FIGHTING" ME FOR CONTROL AS I TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL TO KEEP THE CAR ON THE FREEWAY, WITH EXTREME EFFORT. THE REALITY IS MOST LIKELY THAT THIS "FIGHTING" WAS ONLY THE IMMEDIATE IMPRESSION CAUSED BY THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL, DESPITE BEING AT SPEEDS IN THE 60-70 MPH RANGE. SOON NOTED A SCROLLING SERIES OF WARNING MESSAGES: A. "STEERING ASSIST REDUCED: STEERING MAY REQUIRE INCREASED EFFORT." [WHICH IS A GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT.] B. "AUTOPILOT SAFETY/CONVENIENCE FEATURES UNAVAILABLE: FEATURES MAY BE RESTORED ON NEXT DRIVE." [WHICH, AFTER THE CAR HAD SAT PARKED FOR ~30 MINUTES, WERE RESTORED.] USER-VISIBLE MCU-DISPLAY FAILURE LOG REVEALED THE FOLLOWING SUPPLEMENTAL FAILURE CODES (WITH THE PROBABLE TIMES OF FAILURE):: 1. 17:26/APP_W207: AUTOSTEER TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE 2. 17:20/APP_W264 AUTOPILOT SAFETY/CONVENIENCE FEATURES UNAVAILABLE: FEATURES MAY BE RESTORED ON NEXT DRIVE I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT THIS SORT OF POWER STEERING FAILURE WOULD LIKELY HAVE RESULTED IN A LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVER SUSPECTING THE STEERING HAD "LOCKED UP" AND BE CAUSAL TO A MAJOR ACCIDENT. GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE FAILURE MODE, AND AT THESE SPEEDS, FATALITIES COULD BE LIKELY. OF NOTE, THIS IS AT LEAST THE FOURTH TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED TO US, BUT THE FIRST WITH THIS CAR; ALL OTHER EVENTS WERE IN A 2017 MODEL S PERFORMANCE, ALSO AT VERY LOW TOTAL MILEAGE. AFTER A FAILED REPAIR ATTEMPT, THAT MODEL S WAS TRADED IN TO TESLA FOR THIS MODEL S . . . .

NHTSA ODI 11407482

NHTS COMPLAINT ENTRY 2020-08-07 NARRATIVE SECTION: ON TWO SEPARATE DAYS WHILE DRIVING MID-MORNING OR MID-DAY IN A STRAIGHT TRAJECTORY ON SMOOTH AND LEVEL ROAD SURFACE AND NOT BRAKING BOTH THE DRIVER'S AND THE CENTER CONSOLE'S DISPLAY AND TOUCH PANEL, RESPECTIVELY, SIMULTANEOUSLY TURNED COMPLETELY BLACK SO AS TO DISPLAY NOTHING, JUST A COMPLETELY BLANK, BLACK PANEL. THE FIRST OCCASION WAS ON A HIGHWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH SPEED. THE SECOND OCCASION WAS ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH SPEED. THE DISPLAYS RETURNED IN THE SAME MANNER AS FROM A SYSTEM REBOOT. HOWEVER, THE SYSTEM REBOOT APPEARED TO OCCUR INDEPENDENT OF MY EFFORTS TO INDUCE A SYSTEM REBOOT. I WAS HOLDING DOWN THE TWO OPPOSITE SIDE STEERING WHEEL BUTTONS IN THE USUAL WAY FOR A SYSTEM REBOOT, BUT THERE WAS NO RESPONSE WITHIN THE EXPECTED INTERVAL OF PERHAPS 10 TO 20 SECONDS. THE SYSTEM REBOOTED WITHIN A MINUTE, SEEMINGLY ON ITS OWN, AND ALL TOUCH PANEL AND DISPLAY FEATURES APPEARED TO RETURN TO NORMAL. THERE WAS NO CORRESPONDING AUDITORY SIGNAL NOR VISUAL GRAPHIC BEFORE OR AFTER THE INCIDENT. AS IMMEDIATELY STOPPING WAS NOT PRACTICAL DURING EITHER INCIDENT I CONTINUED DRIVING WITHOUT LOSS OF STEERING, ACCELERATOR OR BRAKING FUNCTIONS. MY RECOLLECTION IS THAT THE TWO INCIDENTS OCCURRED A FEW DAYS APART. THE DATE PROVIDED IS AN ESTIMATE OF THE FIRST OCCASION.

NHTSA ODI 11343922

2019 TESLA MODEL S IN JUNKYARD HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/36985305?ROWNUMBER=5 AND GUESS WHAT..... THE BACK WHEEL FELL OFF! THAT'S IT...BACK WHEEL FELL OFF. PHOTOS SHOW THAT ALL THE GIBLETS ARE STRETCHED AND SNAPPED. DO YOU REALLY THINK IT IS ACCEPTABLE THAT THESE HEAVY HIGH POWERED CARS HAVE SUSPENSION COMPONENTS WITH THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SWISS CHEESE?? YOURS WHOMPILY KEEF WIVANEFF

NHTSA ODI 11343060

AT LOW SPEEDS (10-30 MPH) THERE IS A RATTLE THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS COMING FROM UNDER THE FRONT LEFT SIDE OF THE CAR. IT IS TRIGGERED BY EVEN THE SLIGHTEST OF BUMPS IN THE ROAD. IN 2018, TESLA ADMITTED TO THE PROBLEM AND WAS REPLACING STRUTS (OR EVEN BUYING BACK CARS), BUT EVER SINCE 2019, THEY SAY IT'S A "NORMAL" NOISE. I'M SORRY, BUT ANY NOISE THAT MAKES ME WONDER IF MY WHEELS OR SUSPENSION ARE GOING TO FALL OFF SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A NORMAL NOISE. TESLA EVEN RELEASED A SERVICE BULLETIN ON 10/9/18 THAT SAID ONE WAY TO POSSIBLY GET RID OF THE RATTLE IS TO REMOVE THE BOLTS THAT HOLD THE STRUT BRACES TO THE CAR BODY AND PUT A FOLDED UP "SHOP TOWEL" BETWEEN THE BRACES AND THE BODY! THE ODD THING IS THAT THE TOWEL SOLUTION ACTUALLY TAKES AWAY 75% OF THE RATTLE. YET, TESLA STILL REFUSE TO DIG DEEPER TO ACTUALLY SOLVE THE ISSUE. IF A COMPANY CAN SEND A ROCKET INTO OUTER SPACE (AND LAND IT BACK ON EARTH ON AN EXACT TARGET AT 5 MPH) I WOULD THINK THEY COULD DO WHATEVER IS NEEDED TO MAKE THEIR $100G CARS NOT RATTLE. IN ANY CASE, I WILL ATTACH THE SERVICE BULLETIN FROM 10/8/2018. THE INSTRUCTION ABOUT USING "SHOP TOWELS" IS STEP 3E. I REALIZE THE SERVICE BULLETIN WAS RELEASED FOR THE 2018 CARS, BUT THE STRUTS AND STRUT BRACES ARE THE SAME FOR THE 2018 AND 2019 MODELS. P.S. - THE NOISE STARTED WHEN THE CAR HAD AROUND 100 MILES ON IT, AND IT HAS ONLY WORSENED SINCE THEN. THE CAR NOW HAS 9200 MILES ON IT. P.P.S. - I'VE DRIVEN SEVERAL TESLA MODEL S LOANER CARS AND THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME RATTLE.

NHTSA ODI 11340472