2021 Tesla Model S Complaint Log

Vehicle braked without warning with cruise control engaged. Luckily there were no other vehicles near us when this phantom braking occurred.

The horn is a small button in a very small area of the steering wheel. The center of the steering wheel which acts as a horn on almost all other vehicles, does not work. In the event of an emergency, and the horn needs to be activated, it is difficult to find and press the small button, and the instinct would be to press the center of the steering wheel, which would not work and the horn would not activate.

Adaptive Cruise Control. The vehicle in this mode suddenly brakes for no apparent reason which under the right circumstances could cause a collision. Tesla Service Center looked at it but could not reproduce. This has happened many times on various dates not just once. Sometimes it happens more than once on a trip, sometimes it does not happen. This happens with no warning. Tesla knows about this problem for years but has failed to correct.

The adaptive cruise control has had phantom braking issues from day 1 of ownership (and through every software release from Tesla as I always update when a new one is available). Most of the time it's not possible to identify exactly what triggers the event. However, on July 27th 2023 I drove from Phoenix to Sacramento via I10, I210, I5 and had 6 phantom braking events. 5 were directly correlated with passing a semi with me in the #1 lane and the semi in #2. I had the car in adaptive cruise control mode, but I maintained steering control. The car approached the semis normally, but as soon as the car was completely alongside the truck it began braking aggressively. More than just allowing regenerative braking to slow the car, the brakes were applied. This did not happen with every passed truck, maybe 1 in 10. One of the 6 phantom events could not be correlated with any clearly identifiable cause. There is no warning when the car begins decelerating so it is a surprise to the driver. Further it is an extreme hazard to following vehicles who WILL be forced to react. I have not directly reported my specific events to Tesla. For one thing they have no reasonable way to do this (online access, phone access. The number they give to report problems hits an automated phone tree where there is no option for reporting issues). Clearly Tesla is well aware of their phantom braking issues. I'm reporting this to you now in order to apply more pressure to Tesla to finally resolve this. In general, considering some of the other phantom braking episode beyond this one specific trip, I have occasionally noticed the car displays a yellow signal light on the driver's display but only while phantom braking has already begun. I believe this is case where the car believed it saw a caution sign or signal light in it's cameras and was reacting to that. There were no signal lights, but the sun was either coming in that direction or reflected off of other vehicles or buildings.

The horn is a tiny button on the steering wheel. Several times when someone inadvertently started entering my lane I couldn't find the horn fast enough to warn them so had to veer away and brake suddenly to avoid them as I couldn't warn them.

I was in the middle of a turn when someone veered into my lane. I tried to honk my horn to warn the other driver, but I couldn’t find it. The button was on the other side of the steering because the yoke was turned. I couldn’t find the horn button in time to avert a collision. Fortunately I was able to steer away in time.

Front axle half shafts have failed two times requiring replacement (on 3rd set now). During acceleration the steering wheel vibrates violently. Tesla service center diagnosed both times that front half shafts needed to be replaced. There seems to be some design or manufacturing problem - these items keep failing. The cost to fix is ~$1,650 so I delayed as long as possible until vibration became unbarable. First replacement was done under warranty, second replacement was required ~16,000 later and I was forced to pay for it. There is a Tesla service bulletin about this which I saw online.

Going north on New York State highway I-87, there is a bridge which results in Tesla Autopilot erroring EVERY TIME AND EVERY DAY and results in a "Full Self Driving Error" which causes Telsa car to brake along with putting on hazard lights. Issue was reported to Tesla, but they responded that it happens to everyone under this bridge so there is nothing they can do right now. The fault occurs on a busy highway at 55mph zone, and happens 100% of time going under the bridge, every single day. The bridge is wide enough that shadow results in error and car loses all understanding of what lane it is in. Today at the Tesla service center, the employees all reported the same issue as well and that there is no idea if it will be fixed. Happens only when using FSD/AP driving support; manual driving is unaffected.

There was a trash can on the edge of the road and my vehicle was in autopilot/FSD mode and for some reason it swerved over too close to the edge of the road. I intervened in time to avoid hitting the trash can head-on but it still struck the passenger side mirror and scraped across the passenger rear fender. The mirror got slammed into the passenger side door causing damage to the door and trim at the bottom of the passenger side window.

On 10Jul2023, approximately 1:00pm, while traveling southbound on Hwy 69, south of Toll Road 49 in Lindale, Texas, while driving in the right lane and speed set at 75mph, when all of a sudden the car activates the right blinker and - without slowing - pulls into a fairly short, dedicated right turn lane that turns into a business. At the end of the turn lane is a drainage culvert. The route of travel did NOT include a turn and the car should have been continuing straight down the highway. The car enters the turn lane and never slows from 75mph. I immediately hit the turn signal button to use the camera to get a look to my left to see if a car is there and also look over my left shoulder when there was no response (no camera) to activating the left turn signal. This all occurs as my hand is grabbing the yoke and my foot moving to the brake. I see the blue "path indicating line" wavering left and right and then lock into a right turn into the business parking lot at the end of this dedicated turn lane. Again, there is a culvert at the end of the turn lane also. As soon as I see over my shoulder that the lane to my left is clear the car attempts to make a 90 degree right turn at 75mph. At that exact moment I am able to yank the yoke left and tap the brake to disengage the Full Self Driving Beta as the car is starting the right hand turn. The rear end of the car breaks loose and slides as I get the yoke steered into the right hand lane of the highway. I allow the speed to bleed off to get the rear tires behind me and continue on. My dog has been thrown around the back of the car, my wife banged her head on the passenger side window. This whole event occurred in mere seconds.

The control arm fore links of the car failed after 6000 miles

Third time this week I have been thrown forward into the steering wheel with no cars or objects surrounding me.

On both rear tires on the inner part of the tire the tread on Michelin 295 30zr21 is literally coming apart on both tires. Both at rear , no pot holes have been hit. rims are immaculate. Car was purchased brand new and only has 9800 miles. Almost like the tires are a used retreaded tires on a truck and the tread is literally detaching from the sidewalls. Luckily issue occurred while driving 25mph. Couldn’t imaging what would happen if driving fast. Tesla does not cover michelens issue but felt this needs to be reported. Someone will die if they blew out at higher speads. Will have bill from Tesla when tires are replaced.

Another automatic phantom braking throwing us toward in the car with no objects or other cars in proximity.

When using adaptive cruise control vehicle randomly applies brakes while driving at highway speeds, for no reason. Sometimes braking is severe, sometimes moderate, sometimes light. In the instances of severe or moderate braking, a real danger exists that following vehicle will be unable to stop and will collide. This happens relatively frequently, particularly on some highways. Sometimes multiple incidents occur on one drive.

The tiny selection on the yoke to sound the cars horn requires me to take my eyes off the road to find it. This is unsafe. Several times I needed to sound the horn and was unable to in time. The worst instance was when I was making a U-turn in a 4-way intersection and needed to sound the horn to warn off a driver about to turn in front of me from the other direction. The yoke was inverted about 270 degrees and it was impossible to find the tiny horn symbol. There needs to be a conventional horn in the center of the yoke that can be pushed quickly without diverting eyes from the road. This has occured multiple dates that I do not specifically recall.

Drivers door will not latch and car thinks the door is closed/latched. This allows the driver to drive away with the door unlatched. I've had to open and close the door while moving to get it to latch which is obviously unsafe. In attached picture you can see how open the door is but the car gives no indication this is the case. Tesla has confirm the issue and has tried twice to correct the issue but it has not been corrected yet. No warning lights or error messages even with the door obviously open.

I purchased my Tesla in September 2021. At 12000 miles, I had to replace both rear tires due to severe inside wear. I replaced them and continued driving, but at 22000 miles, the same issue occurred. Each time, I performed service exclusively at Tesla, where they checked the alignment and assured me everything was fine. At 39,000 miles, the issue repeated. Tesla performed another alignment and TOE adjustment, assuring me it was resolved. However, after another 10,000 miles, the same problem occurred, with the inner tread worn down to the cords, while the rest of the tire had adequate tread. The car is currently at the dealership again, and I’ve been advised to do another alignment and replace the tires, with an estimated cost of $3,300. Despite repeated services and assurances, the underlying issue remains unresolved, and I’m unsure how to proceed.

Vehicle is typically operated in FSD Beta mode. I have had approximately a thousand driver initiated disengagements due to unsafe or potentially unsafe operation in Beta mode. At times there have been indirect indications of unintended vehicle operation potentially due to anomalies with system hardware and communications between modules and control systems. The refreshed S and Y models feature a vehicle display behind the yoke steering wheel. When at stop signs, stop lights, or when turning, the yoke (in an upright or near upright position) blocks safety related displays indicating intended vehicle path, bollards and critical safety-related driver annotations. Visibility of these safety critical displays is further degraded when stopped making unprotected turns with the yoke erratically moving. The ability of the driver to safely takeover control of the vehicle is further degraded by the chaos associated with the yoke whipping back and forth on unprotected turns, and drivers and passengers being unable to see critical displays. When the vehicle, driver and passengers all have a reduced capability to ensure safe operation the chaos further degrades safe vehicle operation. At a minimum an over the air recall is required to add safety critical displays/annotations to the large rectangular display between the driver and front passenger similar to Y and 3 models. As noted above I also have hardware related concerns on my vehicle which at times appear to be masked/accommodated by the firmware but are more evident on secondary systems independent of safe vehicle operations.

All of a sudden my 2 driver side windows wouldn't fully close yesterday. I reported it to Tesla via the app and they thought it was their existing safety recall due to software issue, but service rep said it wasn't. Instead the window trim off the vehicle is very fragile and typically they noticed it needs to be fixed within 12 months of ownership. This is an obvious defect that can cause many issues with flooding, theft, and more if left as is. Getting a service appointment typically takes a week currently but I stressed the issue and that I don't have covered parking so they moved up my appointment. Regardless this needs to be addressed ASAP and customers shouldn't have to lose a work day or pay for resolving the defect... which I did reluctantly.

On March 19, 2023, I put my Tesla in drive and it went into reverse . When I tried to brake the speed accelerated. We were unable to stop the vehicle, while driving in reverse the car hit two mailboxes and two ceramic flower pots. It has been over 6 weeks and Tesla will not return my calls or messages. My insurance company looked at the body of the vehicle for a repair estimate. Nothing indicated that there was a problem prior to the incident.

The Traffic-Aware Cruise Control has been braking unexpectedly and for no valid reason. The most recent example was when we were driving along US Hwy 24 between Wilkerson Pass and Fairplay, CO. The car suddenly braked even though there was no hazard. This has been happening regularly on this drive, in both directions, multiple times per drive. When this happens, the road is generally straight, with little, if any, elevation change. This is a safety issue because if this happens when a car is driving closely behind us, the unexpected braking could result in a rear-end collision. I have not reported this to Tesla because I understand this is a widespread issue that many people encounter, so I believe Tesla is fully aware of the issue. This problem seems to have gotten significantly worse after Tesla deactivated RADAR in the vehicle (without my consent). My understanding is that they are now using only cameras to manage Traffic Aware Cruise Control. Regardless of the reason, this issue has been happening with much greater frequency since around December, 2022 or January, 2023.

Im having total braking loss around freezing temps The issue occurs around freezing temps, after a car wash or if the roads are wet after driving on the highway for 20-30min without using the brakes. (Using one pedal driving) Last year I had the same issue and Tesla’s position was something to do with detergent in the car washes I use. Now they’re saying it’s because I put the “wrong” size rear tires on the car. They were sold to me and installed by Tesla as the factory recommended winter tires and rim package. They’re saying that the abs sensor is detecting the error and automatically applying ABS brakes because of the mismatch tire size. However, the issue is not an intermittent braking loss, it’s a complete braking loss. I’m also seeing abnormal front rotor wear. Tesla said this was an issue that was occurring on some other vehicles and they had a high level engineering team trying to figure it out. At the time mine was one of the first P2 refresh vehicles in Canada so I was guessing there weren’t that many being used in below freezing temps since they weren’t exporting to Europe at the time.

Oncoming vehicle suddenly turned in front of 2021 Tesla Model S resulting in collision at 34mph. Automatic braking did not engage, collision warning system failed to sound alert. Air bags deployed however seat belt completely spooled out causing the driver to strike the windshield and break the glass by contact with the top of the head. The vehicle was a total loss and the dealer never inspected the car.

15,000 miles and 22/32 (70%) tire tread evenly worn available. The tire tread completely separated from the sidewall of the tire. This is a common and known problem with this tire. Many cases are presented on various online forums with photos and documentation.

Consistent with what is being reported on social media sites, my 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid is supposed to get 390 miles of range but in fact only gets approx 225-240 actual miles on a fully charged battery. This is wildly short of claimed mileage. Seems to be a common issue with Tesla Model S & Model X Plaid cars. Don't know if it's limited to the Plaid version of these cars or not

The horn placement on the yoke steering is dangerous and problematic. It is illogical and useless in the prevention of accident avoidance. I have had several scenarios where I have needed to use the horn and could not find it because I was in a turn, or I intuitively slammed the palm of my hand on the center of the yoke, where the horn should be located. Also, when holding the yoke in the proper position my thumb is not long enough to reach the horn button. Just by luck and quick action I was able to avoid being hit in multiple scenarios. It is DISTRESSING and UNNERVING to be driving a vehicle where you CANNOT find the horn when needed! I cannot stress enough how important it is to recall these vehicles and place the horn in the center of the yoke/steering. How this design ever passed safety regulations and put into production is mind boggling!

I had surgery on my right hand and had very limited use. I was completely unable to engage the horn as it is a very small button on the yoke rather than the standard pressing of the center. Allegedly this was supposed to be addressed with a software update last year and this has yet to happen

The instrument panel (screen) goes blank for approximately 5 seconds while driving. This issue happens at random. It has happened while on city streets, the highway, and in parking lots. Because of this issue, I cannot see my speed, the visualization of the car and surroundings (blind spot or pedestrians), any warnings that may pop up (such as an issue with the Autopilot or Full Self Driving Beta), nor any lighting or wiper information (for auto high beams and auto wipers). Tesla says it is a known issue, and it is software related, but there is no timetable for a fix. They do not believe a replacement screen/components will have any effect, so they are not offering any type of fix.

All 2021 Tesla Model S and/or X do not have horns in the center of the steering wheel. Instead, they have a button, which is impossible to find during an emergency situation, especially after many decades of muscle memory has been developed. Keep in mind that many, if not most, who can afford one of these cars do have decades of driving experience. I would really appreciate if these cars were recalled and Tesla were forced to replace the steering wheels with one that has a horn in the center of the wheel.

I lost the use of my right hand and am unable to activate the horn as it is a tiny button on the right side of the yoke rather than simply pressing the center of the yoke.

When in autopilot, at highway speeds, the car suddenly will brake. There is nothing that instigates this and it seems to be a safety hazard.

Our Tesla, in the "Full Self Drive" mode, has on more than one occasion applied the brakes suddenly without warning while traveling on the freeways. The date I indicate below was the last occurrence. I see that others have indicated this malady and I wanted to add our voice to this conversation. Thank you

I was unable to locate the horn capacitive button on my steering yoke to alert a biker who strayed into my lane. finding this small button has been a repeated problem when in dangerous situations

Today was at least the 3rd time "phantom braking" has occurred. While traveling on I-64 in Virginia, my speed was about 75mph with adaptive cruise control on. Suddenly, the car braked hard, slowing to about 40mph. I thought the car was going to stop. Fortunately, there were no vehicles behind me or there could have been a rear end collision. I did not use the automatic feature again for the rest of that drive.

Car repeatedly, randomly slams in brakes while cruise control engaged for no apparent reason. Not speeding, no other cars or blockages around, open highway on a bright, clear day.

In emergency situations I have trouble finding the horn button resulting in not able to warn other drivers of a dangerous situation. Other vehicles are set up so you can press the center airbag but the Tesla has a small button on the right spoke. The button is flush so you can not find it by feel but must look for it. The button is especially troublesome to find if the steering wheel/yoke is in anything other than the straight ahead position.

I was recently nearly involved in a traffic accident when I wasn't able to blow the horn on the Tesla steering wheel. I was backing up out of a parking stall in a parking lot and at the same time another car in the stall next to me was also backing up. I tried went to blow the horn on the steeling wheel and I was not able to find it quickly enough because it is very difficult to find the button in an emergency. Fortunately, the other driver in the car saw me just in the nick of time and was able to stop. The problem in my opinion, and many others on social media, is that Telsa chose to not put a horn in the normal place on the steering wheel where most other car manufactures place their horns. Another area of concern about this Yoke steering wheel are the turn signals. Unlike most cars, the directional signals on this model Tesla are located in a small area on the steeling wheel. These buttons are hard to find and use when attempting to turn at a street corner or to change lanes on the roadways. Consequently, sometimes it's just easier not to use the turn signal. I personally believe that this is also a safety concern for this car.

The vehicle intermittently brakes for no reason with the cruise control enabled. This is going to cause an accident.

I have had multiple phantom forward collision warnings while driving and phantom braking while in autopilot. It happened twice today on a short 10 mile drive.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 70-75 MPH with the Autonomous Self-Driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking on numerous occasions. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle performed as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta 10.69.2.2 software update. The failure mileage was 17,102.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 72 MPH with the autonomous self-driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,292.

Michelin manufactures this tire specific for the Tesla Model S plaid vehicle. This tire wears pre maturely from the 300 rating most times under 10,000 miles causing tread separation on the inner wall. This specific wear can only be seen once the tire is removed from the vehicle. This is a well know issue on tesla forum boards and Michelin is not only not assisting with the issue, they are on back order for this tire that is specific for the Tesla Model S plaid. Not only did Michelin design a tire for this vehicle that wears well short of the rating, they are also not making enough to replace the worn out\defective tires. The tread separation is on the inside of the tire not visible to the driver that could potentially lead to a catastrophic accident if the tread separates at a high speed. The tire size is 295/30/21.

Severe wear on rear tires, as the camber is off. Tire failure exposing cords. Potential to be a catastrophic failure. Many with this car experiencing same issue with 21” tire option. Car has poor suspension stance and or tires are incorrect for the load being carried

I have had at least 2 panic situations where I needed to use the horn to warn another vehicle that didn't see me that it was going to collide with me (lane change without checking, or crossing in front of me). The horn on my vehicle is a small force-press button with no raised markings, just an icon picture, just to the right of the large center pad that is the steering wheel (actually called a steering yolk) air bag. Decades of muscle memory has me pressing/slamming the largest thing at the center of the steering wheel in a panic situation. The time it takes to look down at the wheel to find the force-press button that is the horn is a major safety issue. All Tesla Model Ss and Xs from 2021 on have a steering yolk instead of a round wheel with this particular design/implementation for the horn. I have twice asked Tesla service to make the steering center airbag pad activate the horn. The 1st request was ignored. The 2nd request (Oct 18'2022) was responded to with "We do not offer a retrofit for that at this time. I will mark this [request] as feedback and remove it from your service ticket."

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

My safety concern is with the 17 inch screen. Originally in the information about the car before it was purchased, the manufacturer said that the screen would tilt left or right to give the drive better a better view and access to the touch screen. I have talked to service about this issue and they have said they do not plan to retrofit our cars with the motors to make the screen move. This is now working on the same car that is one year newer. We were promised this and I believe this issue with the screen not moving is a serious concern. You cannot see the screen as well or touch it as well because it does not tilt towards the driver. Please investigate this problem, it is dangerous.

Spontaneous explosion of front passenger door window while driving

My safety concern is with the 17 inch screen. Originally in the information about the car before it was purchased, said that the screen would tilt left or right to give the drive better a better view and access to the touch screen. I have talked to service about this and they have said they do not plan to retrofit our cars with the motors to make the screen move. This is now working on the same car that is one year newer. We were promised this and I believe this issue with the screen not moving is a serious concern. You cannot see the screen as well or touch it as well because it does not tilt towards the driver. Please investigate this problem, it is dangerous.

The position of the horn button on the steering yoke is problematic. The horn button on the 2021 Tesla model S is operated by the right thumb. This position causes activation problems in various situations. One example is where quick horn use is required, the natural muscle memory is to push the center of the yoke , (where the horn button is located on all manufactured vehicles). The initial reaction to push the center of the wheel, causes an UNSAFE delay in horn activation, as the user then struggles to find the small horn button with the right thumb. Most of the time, the horn button is missed and the windshield wipers are activated, which causes more confusion in a stressful situation. Another problem with the position of the horn button is that when making a tight turn and the wheel is spun 180 degrees, the horn button is impossible to find or activate in a timely manner. It is surprising to me that the horn button placement was allowed to be installed on a production vehicle. While driving the vehicle there have been numerous events where quick horn activation was needed. One of the events happened recently while exiting a public garage. While the yoke was turned 180 degrees to make a right turn, another vehicle almost hit our vehicle and when my wife tried to hit the horn, it was impossible to find the button since the wheel was upside down, ( spun 180 degrees). Only luck prevented an accident. Another event happened two days ago. While driving on a 4 lane highway, a vehicle aggressively changed lanes toward our car. The action of the other vehicle caused a startle response, when my wife tried to hit the horn, muscle memory caused her to push the center of the wheel, instead of the small button that is activated by the thumb. By the time she found the button, it was too late to prevent the other vehicle from swerving into our lane. Also, the windshield wipers were activated instead of the horn. The horn position needs to be changed to the center of the wheel.