What 123 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Tesla Model X (all Variants 5-seat)

On multiple occasions (between 6 and 10) while driving east and west on interstate highway 80 between Reno and Salt Lake City the vehicle executed a phantom braking maneuver while autopilot was engaged. I was east bound on 2/2/23 and 2/24/23 and west bound on 2/7/23 and 3/5/23, i.e., these events occurred on multiple days in multiple locations. On no occasion was there any danger of collision with another vehicle or other obstacle. In fact, the braking was most likely to occur as my vehicle topped a rise in the highway followed by a gental downgrade with no other vehicle or turn in the road for at least a mile ahead. The braking was very hard and caused my vehicle to slow by at least 10 mph before I could react. On one occasion, I immediately accelerated to return to the posted highway speed of 80 mph and the vehicle twice more braked hard after I accelerated back to highway speed. Had there been a vehicle behind me, it's likely I would have been rear-ended on multiple occasions. The problem has not been independently verified (though I understand the NHTSA has received many similar reports). The vehicle has not been inspected. There was no warning that the vehicle was going to brake hard though I recognized the circumstances in which it was likely to occur and was prepared to accelerate to counteract the effect. The section of I-80 in which these events occurred is lightly traveled and if Tesla autopilot should be flawless, it should be flawless there! Another source of autopilot phantom braking is flashing lights next to the road warning of animal crossing or prison zones. However, in this case, the braking is gentle and not a hazard. In contrast, 2022 when driving the same section of I-80, phantom braking, as described above, was much less of a problem but flashing lights prompted the vehicle to brake hard. It appears Tesla has fixed flashing light-related problem.

NHTSA ODI 11512898

The contact's wife owns a 2020 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that the vehicle had been experiencing electrical failures. The contact stated while his wife was starting the vehicle, a message indicating a low-battery voltage was displayed. The vehicle was taken to an unknown Tesla Service Center, where it was diagnosed that an electrical malfunction was causing a constant drain on the battery while the vehicle was turned off. The battery was replaced twice within two years. Additionally, the contact stated that while his wife was driving 25-30 MPH, messages indicating that the ABS, the Automatic Brake Hold, the regenerative brake, and the power steering was inoperable were displayed. Additionally, the vehicle jerked, causing the contact's wife to lose control of the vehicle. The contact's wife depressed the brake pedal and veered to the side of the road. The contact's wife notified the manufacturer of the failure and was instructed to reboot the vehicle. The contact's wife was able to drive to her nearby destination. Upon performing a diagnostic test remotely, the manufacturer informed the contact's wife that she could drive to the nearest Tesla Service Center located 60 miles away through the braking features had failed. The contact stated that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 24,000.

NHTSA ODI 11511527

Sudden acceleration

NHTSA ODI 11507642

Tesla Suspensions system squeaking problems is well known among the Tesla owners community and Tesla wouldn’t do anything about it. I bought my vehicle in 12/2019 and have brought it in at least 4 times to get the squeaky noise fix and at least 2 more times complaining about it. That’s 6 times in the span of 2 years. Tesla is well aware of the issue but couldn’t find a solution. When schedule for service thru Tesla App, it even have an option for squeaking/noise. Many owners ended up paying so much money after the warranty expired to get the suspension repair.

NHTSA ODI 11501332

The rear back doors will not open. The car's computer says an obstacle is detected however there is no obstacle in the way of the doors. (I have a video to prove my claim) the safety of my passengers in the rear seat are at risk as they can not exit the car through the rear door. I have had the vehicle inspected by the dealer (Tesla) however they said they can not recreate what has happened. The warning light "obstacle detected" appeared however there was no obstacle in the way. After rebooting the car's computer it still happened. I was able to drive the vehicle to another location and try the back doors and then they finally opened. I feel the back doors should open any time and any place when the car is in park.

NHTSA ODI 11495060

Was pulling out of the Starbucks drive thru when the car accelerated quickly on it's own. The brakes also failed. The vehicle only stopped after hitting a tree and a light pole. Very dangerous situation as this occurred in the morning when Starbucks is busy. State Farm insurance is in possession of the car currently. We are awaiting their findings. Police report is also pending. I did not see a warning indicator on the car or any indications of any problems. However, the car had been serviced frequently for different issues with Tesla. After the accident, Tesla offered no assistance regarding finding out if there was a safety issue and said we were on our own.

NHTSA ODI 11484959

On 8/16/2022 Tuesday, I went to work at about 10:24 and parked by the road next to mcDonalds to call my husband. I wanted him to take the car to park elsewhere as that spot had no parking starting at 10:30. My husband was not available so I was about to move the car and had my feet slightly touching the brake. At that point the car suddenly accelerated and jumped forward without any control and hit a car that was coming out of mcDonalds driveway. That car was about 15/20 feet away from my car and I hit on the driver’s side. My car was in such speed that it pushed the other car 6 feet on the other side which in turn hit a pedestrian crossing the road. I am 100% sure that I did not press the accelerator and the car moved by itself in such force that I had no chance of controlling it. I’ve asked Tesla to investigate as well

NHTSA ODI 11482661

Both rear tires (original tires) on the vehicle had broken belts at about the same time. My understanding is that broken belts can lead to tire failure which can pose a significant safety risk. Our local Tesla dealer diagnosed the problem, and the tires have been sent to the tire manufacturer for their own inspection. There were no warnings. Tire size: 275/45 R20.

NHTSA ODI 11482475

Tesla model X is infamous for its acceleration shudder. they have replaced the drive shafts twice already. when you accelerate the wheel vibrates only between 15-35 mph. When you brake hard it does the same thing.

NHTSA ODI 11481860

I have experienced several issues with my car: It brakes suddenly for no reason in the middle of the freeway It displayed an error message that said the right rear seat safety system has failed and needs service It displayed an error message that said the ultrasonic sensors are not communicating with each other (I believe these are used for the driver safety systems). I reached out to Tesla asking to look into these issues. Each time Tesla denied service and asked me to note down the exact time that these issues happened to help them investigate (they specified the format with an example 06/20/2022 5:22PM PST). If I’m driving the car, how is it safe for me to note down time with this precision? Also, the car has functionality to record all of these alerts but Tesla’s software updates wipe them out (instead of retaining them). Further, Tesla asks to schedule service through their app but in my case, my app doesn’t allow me to schedule service for unknown reasons. I have contacted Tesla about this issue and so far there is no resolution. I feel very unsafe driving my car after receiving these alerts and not getting any help from Tesla to investigate and fix them. I feel they are placing an undue burden on me to record the time. Please help me get my car looked at and fix the issues mentioned above.

NHTSA ODI 11478914

My Model X vibrates at low speeds. I took it to service center multiple times. They couldn’t fix the issue. Looks like the suspension issue as it makes noise when the car goes up or down using air suspension.

NHTSA ODI 11477500

I got two issues with seats: Driver seat issue: I parked my car to charge at a supercharger. I reclined all the way back to relax. After completing the charging, I tried to move the driver seat back to its position, the seat wouldn’t move. I tried moving forward and back, it doesn’t move. I complained to Tesla twice, they couldn’t fix the issue. Rear seat issue: I got rear seat restraints at fault error thrice. I took it to service center, they mentioned that they are investigating the error for the past two years. The don’t have fix for this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11477499

Recurring Phantom braking every drive

NHTSA ODI 11473752

When I'm using the driving assistance on the highway, and I'm doing like 60 or 70 mph, all of a sudden the car brakes to 45mph if it (falsely) thinks we are in a construction zone I believe. I have almost gotten in 3 accidents because the car suddenly brakes hard on its own, without me braking.

NHTSA ODI 11467935

When using any driver assistance function (autopilot, adaptive cruise control, or autopilot with navigation), phantom breaking is common and terrifying. I am scared to use the systems now because of how unpredictable phantom breaking can be and how jarring (and unsafe it could be) when it happens.

NHTSA ODI 11467357

Had failure of leaking coolant fluid in my Model X. First time occurred November 2021. Second time April 2022. Both times the 3&4 way values failed and started leaking fluid which disabled my vehicle. This is the 3rd time in 1 year that I’ve gotten the low Coolant leak warning. This is a real problem and I’m concerned since my warranty is running out soon. The 3&4 way value shouldn’t last less then 6 months.

NHTSA ODI 11464239

There is an abnormally loud squeaking noise when driving, turning, and going over any surface at all speeds. The noise sounds like metal is being stretched and is about to break. After carefully listening to the vehicle, it is found that the noise is coming from the control arms. Although unbearable, the problem has not put my passengers and me in danger. The issue has been reproduced and confirmed by the Tesla Service Center in Burlingame, California. The Tesla dealer has inspected the vehicle or component, and a re-inspection is scheduled for May 11, 2022. The problem appeared suddenly while driving last Thursday, April 28, without any prior symptoms or warning. The vehicle and parts are available for inspection upon request.

NHTSA ODI 11463331

I noticed a metal-sounding noise while driving that got louder when running over the road markers. After careful observation and visual inspection, I saw the left rear tire slowly deflating. I also noticed that the tread on the rear tires is excessively uneven. The outer thread measured 7/32nds while the inner tire was down to the steel belt. The problem could have caused a safety risk to me, and others had it happened on the freeway.

NHTSA ODI 11463337

Tires wear out only inside All 4

NHTSA ODI 11463345

Coolant leak in less then 5 months. Had this same problem in November 2021. Tesla replaced Value no.3. In April 2022 Tesla replaced Value no. 3&4. Very concerned since my warranty is running out soon.

NHTSA ODI 11462392

While idling in drive having applied my foot to the break, the dash displayed H for holding the break. My car accelerated by itself forcefully into the vehicle in front. My seat belt did not lock up, air bags did not deploy, emergency braking didn’t work, the Tesla box report does not match the dash cam timeline. This was sudden unintended acceleration and I pray it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

NHTSA ODI 11459836

On Sunday, March 27 at approximately 3:00pm PST, while the vehicle was traveling on the freeway at approximately 70mph, the driver seat moved towards the steering wheel unprovoked. My wife was driving at the time and screamed so everyone in the car could hear how dangerous the situation was. The driver seat continued to move forward by itself unprovoked and stopped as my wife was uncomfortably close to the steering wheel. She was able to keep control of the car until we pulled over safely to our destination. Once at our destination while parked, the driver seat again moved towards the steering wheel while my wife was sitting in it unprovoked. Within a span of 15 minutes, the Tesla somehow automatically triggered the driver seat to move towards the steering wheel (once while in motion, once while parked). We brought the car to the Tesla dealership on Tuesday, 3/29. They kept the car 7 business days and was not able to diagnose the issue and I was given the car back. I would like to point out that my wife's "saved" seat profile setting is the closest to the steering wheel. I am a taller gentlemen so my profile of the seat is set farther back. This is key because my wife was driving on her profile, so they wasn't a chance that we hit a different seat setting while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11459779

As I was slowly backing into a supercharging parking space watching the rear view video on the car's LCD screen, unbeknownst to me the image from the rear view camera froze. To me it appeared that the car had stopped moving so I applied a little more juice and promptly ran into the protective bollard at the back of the parking space, at which point the rear view camera started working again. If there had been someone behind me, I would have hit them. As it was, I only damaged the car's rear hatch. I tried backing up again and had the image freeze again. I then re-booted the car's system and the problem was not experienced again on that trip. Since then I have had the problem occur one other time and re-booting the system again seemed to fix it. The problem appears to be due to a failure in the car's software as it relates to the rear view camera. I have not taken the car to a dealer yet to see if they can fix the problem and the car has not been inspected by another party. There were no warnings or messages when the problem occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11459330

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model X. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH with the Self Driving feature activated, the contact was unable to disengage the feature by tapping on the brake pedal. Approximately 5 to 10 minutes later, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled without warning. The contact scheduled an upcoming appointment with the dealer for the vehicle to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacture was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

NHTSA ODI 11457244

1) Cruise control randomly resets itself to different speeds. Happens several times daily. I can set it to 55 and 5 seconds later it will reset itself to 80 and accelerate suddenly, or vice-versa. It can change to any speed-either higher or lower than what I've set. Happened yesterday afternoon (3-17). First noted it being a problem 2-28 at about 6 pm MST while driving on 4 lane highway in Colorado, with multiple episodes of randomly resetting speeds itself. Given the rapid acceleration/deceleration of a Tesla, when the cruise control resets itself, the acceleration/braking can be abrupt and significant. 2)Ghost braking has been and remains a problem with this car. It was serviced by Tesla 2-18 and a "chip" was replaced per Tesla. I reported about a dozen incidents of ghost braking to Tesla shortly after picking it up but don't have exact times/days. There are 3 episodes of ghost braking that were truly dangerous. I was driving on the Interstate at 70-75 mph and the car slammed on the brakes for no reason, and it seemed it would have stopped completely in the middle of the Interstate if I hadn't accelerated manually. Speed went from 75 to 50 within 1-2 seconds before I was able to react and accelerate. Twice this happened at about 1-2 am on a completely empty interstate in Nebraska with no one around me at all, but the 3rd time was on a busy highway (I-55) near Chicago. I was nearly rear-ended by another car when this braking occurred. He was able to swerve around me, but was unhappy and made his displeasure known. Even if it didn't directly cause an accident it certainly triggered road rage, which is probably more dangerous than actually having an accident these days. Have told Tesla about it before but they always tell me it's just "software" and will get better with updates I have notified Tesla of these incidents (with written record) but haven't heard back from them. I have a service appointment 3-21-22 to get them to try and address these issues

NHTSA ODI 11457253