There are 6 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2018 Tesla Model Xin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owned a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at approximately 17 MPH, the vehicle suddenly made a right turn and crashed into a bridge. No warning lights illuminated. The contact's wife did seek medical attention; however, she sustained minor whiplash. A police report was not filed, but a Police Department did report on scene. Upon further inspection, the contact arrived on scene and noticed that the Rear passenger-side tire had detached, possibly due to the axle. The vehicle was towed to a local Collision shop, where it was deemed a total loss. In addition, prior to the accident, the vehicle was taken to a local independent tire shop, where the front two Tire and Brake pads were replaced. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,726.
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.
While driving on highway with autopilot on . I received the message "Steering Assist reduced .Vehicle will require additional force to steer". I believe I hit a rough patch on the highway and my steering lost power and became very hard to steer the vehicle. Somehow I managed to drive for 20 miles to safety. When I recached home I did power reset few times and the issue went away. I noticed similar issues with model x but not for year 2018 Model x. I have opened a service request with Tesla .Tesla send me an invoice of $5500 for repair.
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.
Driving into a car wash, I placed the car in NEUTRAL. The instrument cluster confirmed as much with an 'N' symbol, while I was stopped, in the single-track for the car wash to push/pull the car through the apparatus. The car was pulled into the car wash about half-way (roughly 25-35 seconds of N). Then, the car spontaneously shifted to PARK, and indicated as much with a 'P' in the instrument cluster. No cars were behind me in the car wash, this time. And I was able to re-engage NEUTRAL for the remainder of the wash (about another 35-40 seconds). It is unknown if the car would revert to parking by itself, if I had not activated DRIVE to exit the wash. If it makes a difference, I was in the driver's seat the entire time -- as is the usual custom at this self-serve tracked car wash. This has happened 3 or 4 times before -- usually in connection with the car wash. It is very unclear if this is poor software or a sensor that is to blame. In my other Tesla, it tends to go to PARK without conscious user input when a body lifts out of the driver's seat. So this could be a simple sensor that is a bit touchy in this Model X that is the subject of this report.
Service Center refuses to perform TSB SB-21-39-001, stating that because of 2 prior repairs it is the same and not needed, even though the parts listed are different. Carlsbad Service Center, courtesy of Roger the service advisor.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026