2013 Tesla Model S Body & Structure Problems

Front impact bumper separated from mount on one side due to rust. Noticed a noise from front of car when going over small bumps in the road. If we had been in an accident, the impact bumper would not have provided adequate protection for the passengers or vehicle components near the drivers front where the mount had separated from the bar. No other inspections have occurred. Pictures and info can also be found here: [XXX] Issue found during replacement of upper control arms. (image has an upper control arm that was removed from the same car at the same time with little/no rust) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

When parked and opening the drivers door or rear passenger doors, the front passenger door will unlatch. Something is setting off the relay to open the front door when other doors open. Does not happen 100% of the time, but 50%+

First the passenger door handle broke and Tesla fixed it, now the driver door handle broke. Seems like a safety issue and these things are just designed to break.

When driving out of parking lot I turned on to the main road and was going about 20 mph when the front hood of car ( Tesla calls this the frunk) came open and raised up to a vertical position completely blocking my view. Fortunately I was going slowly and was able to pull off to the right shoulder and stop. I then was able to close this hood and continue home. Nothing appears damaged. I have no idea how or why this happened. There is no safety catch on this hood to keep it from flying open if the latch fails for some reason or another. Further more on the screen there is a button that can be pushed to open this front hood. I have not opened this front hood for several months. Further I don't know if this button will open the front hood if the car is in motion. If this front hood had come open while the car was moving at a high speed I could have lost control and been killed. I have owned many cars and have never seen one that did not have a safety catch on the front hood to prevent it from opening if the main catch was unlocked. This is a serious safety defect and Tesla should be required to recall any of its cars that do not have a safety catch feature holding the front hood from coming up unless released by a person standing in from of car and unlatching it by hand. Further the button on the screen should not be able to release the front hood if the car is moving. Lastly if this release button is pushed there should be some kind of audible warning to the driver that the front hood is not latched properly or the car should not be able to move forward if this front hood is not properly latched.

DRIVER'S FRONT SIDE DOOR HANDLE FAILED TO PRESENT AND REQUIRED REPAIR. REPAIRED WITH LATEST GENERATION HANDLES. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME A HANDLE HAS HAD ISSUES ON MY CAR (IT IS THE 3RD TIME A HANDLE HAS BEEN REPLACED). THIS IS CONCERNING AS IT IS DIFFICULT TO GET INTO THE VEHICLE. I WAS WITHOUT A WORKING HANDLE FOR ABOUT 2 WEEKS BEFORE I COULD GET IT FIXED. IF AN ACCIDENT WERE TO OCCUR DURING THIS TIME - AND SOMEONE WAS TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR AND UNABLE TO DUE TO THIS DEFECT - THIS COULD EASILY CAUSE A DELAY IN EXTRACTION AND POTENTIALLY A LOSS OF LIFE.

TESLA MODEL S DOOR POPS OPEN WHEN YOU SELECT THE DOORS TO UNLOCK. MANY TIMES, IT DOESNT EVEN SHOW ON THE DASH BOARD, SO YOU DONT KNOW ITS OPEN UNLESS YOU NOTICE IT OR HEAR NOISE COMING FROM OUTSIDE. YOU GO CHECK AND THATS WHEN YOU REALIZE IT IS OPEN. VERY UNSAFE. SOMEONE CAN JUST ROLL OUT OF THE CAR.

THE DRIVER'S DOOR HANDLE (EXTERIOR) WILL NOT PRESENT, WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO OPEN THE DRIVER'S DOOR FROM THE OUTSIDE. THE VEHICLE IS 6 YEARS OLD WITH LESS THAN 40K MILES ON IT. THE TESLA CUSTOMER SERVICE REP SAID THIS WAS A KNOWN DEFECT, BUT THEY ARE STILL CHARGING OVER $400 TO FIX IT. THIS HAPPENED WHEN THE CAR WAS STATIONARY. I PULLED OVER ON THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY TO HELP SOMEONE, AND WHEN I TRIED TO GET BACK INTO MY CAR, THE HANDLE WOULD NOT PRESENT AND I HAD TO ENTER FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE WHICH WAS VERY DANGEROUS WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THE HANDLE HAS NOT WORKED SINCE. MANY OTHER TESLA OWNERS HAVE REPORTED THIS PROBLEM. DOOR HANDLES ARE A NECESSITY FOR ALL VEHICLES, AND SHOULD LAST A REASONABLE LIFETIME FOR A CAR. NOT BEING ABLE TO ENTER YOUR CAR IS A SAFETY ISSUE.

THE DOORS OPEN BY THEMSELVES!! THIS CAN HAPPEN AT A VARIETY OF TIMES, BUT THE MOST CONCERNING TO ME IS WHEN I OPEN THE DRIVERS DOOR, RIGHT REAR PASSENGER DOOR OPENS BY ITSELF. IF I DON'T NOTICE, I WILL BE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD W/ THAT DOOR OPEN, MULTIPLE TIMES IT HAS BEEN LITERALLY SWINGING OPEN AS I GO AROUND A CORNER!!! MY CHILDREN RIDE IN MY CAR IN THE BACK AND I AM CONCERNED THAT THEY WILL FALL OUT OF THE CAR!! NOTE, THIS ISSUE HAS AFFECTED MANY MANY MANY OF THE TESLA MODEL S OWNERS, WHICH YOU CAN SEE BY REFERENCING THE DIFFERENT FORUMS. IN FACT, IT APPEARS THAT OWNERS THAT HAVEN'T EXPERIENCE IT ARE HUGELY IN THE MINORITY.

THE FRONT PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE PRESENTS TO OPEN, BUT WILL NOT OPEN THE DOOR WHEN PULLED. THIS IS THE SECOND DOOR FOR THIS MALFUNCTION.

WHEN DOOR HANDLE PRESENTS ITSELF, IT EXTENDS TOO FAR SO THAT THE CAR THINKS SOMEONE IS TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR AND THE CAR POPS OPEN THE DOOR BY ITSELF. THIS CREATES A SAFETY HAZARD AS WELL AS A SECURITY ISSUE BECAUSE THE DOORS DO NOT LOCK WHEN ONE IS OPEN. THIS ISSUE OCCURS WHENEVER THE OWNER APPROACHES THE CAR (CAUSING THE HANDLES TO PRESENT THEMSELVES) AND WHENEVER THE DRIVER PUTS THE CAR IN PARK (ALSO CAUSING THE HANDLES TO PRESENT THEMSELVES). ONLINE RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MANY. MANY OWNERS OF EARLY TESLA MODEL S CARS ARE EXPERIENCING THIS ISSUE, WHICH SEEMS TO RELATE TO A DESIGN DEFECT IN THE FIRST GENERATION OF DOOR HANDLES. TESLA SHOULD ISSUE A RECALL FOR ALL FIRST GENERATION DOOR HANDLES. HERE IS THE YOUTUBE LINK: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=Q5XAIN-K2PU&APP=DESKTOP

SLOWLY PULLING INTO A PARKING SPOT AT A STRIP MALL, I RELEASED MY FOOT OFF OF THE GAS, LIGHTLY TAPPED BRAKE AND THE CAR "UNINTENTIONALLY ACCELERATED" INTO A PALM TREE IN FRONT OF A BRICK PILLAR AT A STRIP MALL. I BACKED OUT TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE. HUSBAND WAS WITNESS IN DRIVER'S SEAT. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME THIS HAPPENED TO ME, (LAST YEAR AT A GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT) ALTHO THE FIRST TIME NO DAMAGE WAS DONE AND NO REPORTS WERE FILED. POOR DECISION IN HINDSIGHT! SINCE NO PERSON WAS INJURED, THE POLICE DEPT WOULD NOT TAKE A REPORT. INSURANCE WAS CALLED AS WELL AS TESLA. TESLA TOOK 6 DAYS TO PULL LOGS AND ASSURED US IT WAS BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND ESCALATED TO MANAGEMENT. WE RECEIVED A CALL YESTERDAY FROM TOSHA AT TESLA, RELAYING THAT THEY DETERMINED THAT T WAS DRIVER ERROR AND LOG REPORTS SHOW THAT AS THE CAR WAS PULLING INTO THE SPOT, IT WAS ON A 3 ON A SCALE OF 100 AND THEN IT ACCELERATED 87% AND THE BRAKE WAS APPLIED. DOES NOT MAKE LOGICAL SENSE THAT THE CAR COULD ACCELERATE 87% IN A MATTER OF 2 FEET! I AM 150% SURE I DID NOT HIT THE ACCELERATOR. I AM 47, NOT A 90 YR OLD WOMAN WHO MAY HAVE PEDAL CONFUSION. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED WITH ANY OF OUR OTHER NON-TESLA CARS NOR IN MY 40+ YEARS OF DRIVING CARS OR MOTORCYCLES. THEIR RESPONSE IS SUSPECT AND WE ARE QUITE FRANKLY FEARFUL TO DRIVE THE CAR SAFELY. THIS STIP MALL HAS LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT WALK BY, ESP ELDERLY AND THE FACT THAT NO ONE OR THE PILLAR WAS HIT IS A BLESSING. AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. I WILL BE ASKING TESLA FOR A WRITTEN REPORT OF THEIR FINDINGS BUT NOT CONFIDENT IT WILL BE PROVIDED. WE PLAN TO SEEK COUNSEL AS WELL ESP SINCE THIS IS CONSIDERED AN "AT FAULT ACCIDENT".

THE VENTILATION IN THE 3RD ROW IS AWFUL IN THE MODEL S. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY PEOPLE COMPLAINING OF SICK KIDS THROWING UP BECAUSE IT'S TOO HOT. TESLA ACKNOWLEDGED IT OVER A YEAR AGO AND STILL HASN'T FIXED IT. WE HAVE TRIED CONTACTING THEM AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO GET A RESPONSE. *TR

THIS IS NOT SO MUCH A COMPLAINT AS IT IS A QUESTION. I HAD THOUGHT ABOUT PURCHASING A TESLA AND I SAW PICTURES OF THE RECENT ACCIDENT THAT SPARKED, LITERALLY, A FIRE -- APPARENTLY A FRONT END COLLISION. THE EXCUSE FROM TESLA WAS THAT A PIECE OF METAL PIERCED THE BATTERIES AND THAT WILL, AS I UNDERSTAND IT ACCORDING TO TESLA, CAUSE A FIRE. I BELIEVE THAT WHEN NHTSA CRASH TESTS THESE CARS, IT IS INTO CONCRETE. AS MOST CRASHES ARE METAL TO METAL, SHOULDN'T YOU TEST, ESPECIALLY THIS CAR, BY CRASHING IT INTO ANOTHER CAR? *TR

I REMOVED THE REAR BUMPER COVER FROM THE CAR TO INSTALL A TRAILER HITCH. THREE OF THE FOUR NUTS WERE NOT TIGHTENED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE STEEL BUMPER CROSS MEMBER. THE NUTS WERE LOOSELY STARTED ONTO THE STUDS. THE NUTS ARE LOCATED IN AN AREA THAT CANNOT BE INSPECTED WITHOUT DISASSEMBLING THE REAR OF THE CAR. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AS IT AFFECTS CRASH CRUMPLE ZONE INTEGRITY AND PROTECTION FOR THE REAR FACING JUMP SEATS IN THIS VEHICLE. THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT AND I DO NO BELIEVE THERE IS A DESIGN PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THERE IS AN ASSEMBLY QUALITY CONTROL ISSUE. *TR