There are 9 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2020 Tesla Model Xin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Tesla updated my vehicle with FSD 12.5.2.1 and it is dangerous and should be recalled. The software is too much for my vehicles processor, it frequently freezes for as long as 10 seconds. This loses my speedometer, my signal information, and happened while merging and nearly caused me an accident. The lane keep assist has retrograded significantly, it often goes outside of the painted lines and is in danger of hitting curbs. The processor feels like it struggles to keep up, and the auto steer is unsettled and jerky as it changes its mind. Previous software worked great, Tesla is pushing the software beyond the hardwares capabilities and it’s going to cause accidents. Please stop them.
Many hard braking incidents Ignores posted speed limits Been close to being rear ended by following cars
Recurring Phantom braking every drive
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
Around 1:50 P.M May 27, 2021, I left my house driving my Tesla 2020 Model X with my son in the front passenger seat to his school. We returned to our home around 2:19 P.M. At our front gate, I slowed down to a close stop as I turned the vehicle into my driveway. Once descending the driveway, my Tesla vehicle suddenly accelerated to an extremely high speed. While I attempted to brake; however, none of the speed controls seemed to work. The vehicle hit my 2009 Toyota Camry parked on the left side of my driveway first, then took out the heavy duty wrought iron fence post and gate door located about 100 ft from my front gate. My Tesla vehicle kept moving at a very high speed and knocked down and damaged all trees, plants, and garden arbors along the vehicle’s path and, then, crashed through the rear wrought iron fences about 200 ft from my front gate. Finally, the vehicle stopped after crashing into two large trees and stop there. My son got injured and was taken to an urgent care facility after the crash. Two of my vehicles including 2020 Tesla Model X and 2009 Camry LE were totaled and a large portion of my backyard, fence and gate were destroyed due to this Tesla crash. This Tesla vehicle suddenly accelerated for no reason, indicating that there must have been something seriously wrong with this vehicle at that time. The resulting skid marks on my driveway discovered after the incident demonstrates that braking was applied even though the vehicle accelerated. I had reported this crash to Tesla on May 27 and followed up on May 29, June 1 and June 3 and have not received a response from Tesla at this time. The investigation shall be performed to find why this Tesla vehicle suddenly accelerated to prevent other Tesla vehicle drivers from similar dangerous incidents caused by the vehicle’s sudden accelerations. I have the videos and photos from the crash. Please let me know should you need this information for the investigation.
ON THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER 11, MY REVERSE CAMERA STOPS FUNCTIONING. AT NIGHT, WHEN I PARK MY CAR IN THE GARAGE, MY FRONT SCREEN (BEHIND STEERING WHEEL) WAS BLANK. SHORTLY AFTER, MY CAR SUDDENLY SELF-ACCELERATED WHILE I WAS PARKED. THIS RESULTED IN THE CAR SMASHING THROUGH MY GARAGE WALL, CAUSING LOADS OF DAMAGE IN THE ROOM OPPOSITE OF THE WALL. SOME DAMAGE INCLUDED: A BROKEN WOODEN BAR, SHATTERED GLASSES & LIQUOR BOTTLES, AND DAMAGES TO THE FRONT OF MY TESLA. THIS CAR WAS NEWLY PURCHASED, WITH A MILAGE OF SIMPLY 40 MILES.
I WAS THE FOURTH VEHICLE IN LINE AT A BANK DRIVE THRU AND WHEN THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME MOVED UP IN LINE, I PLACED THE VEHICLE IN DRIVE AND SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL AND HIT TWO VEHICLES AND THEN WENT OVER A CURB INTO A PARKING LOT AND CRASHED INTO TWO OTHER VEHICLES, WHICH RESULTED IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT INVOLVING FOUR OTHER VEHICLES. FORTUNATELY, NO ONE WAS SERIOUSLY HURT. MY VEHICLE WAS A TOTAL LOSS.
AT APPROXIMATELY 6:18 PM ON 3/21/2020, I WAS DRIVING MY BRAND NEW 2020 TESLA MODEL X (7 MILES STARTING ODOMETER) HOME FROM TAKING DELIVERY OF IT (!), AND AFTER 20 MILES OF MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING, I WAS NEARING HOME AND STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT (WITH SEVERAL CARS STOPPED AHEAD OF ME). AFTER ABOUT 30 SECONDS OF SITTING DEAD-STOPPED, THE CAR VIGOROUSLY ACCELERATED WITH NO ACTION ON MY PART, AND I HAD TO TURN THE CAR HARD TO THE RIGHT TO AVOID A FULL-ON COLLISION WITH THE STOPPED CAR IN FRONT OF ME. FORTUNATELY, TO MY RIGHT THERE WAS A CURB AND THEN AN EMPTY PARKING LOT AND SO I WAS ABLE TO AVOID ANY SERIOUS PROPERTY DAMAGE OR INJURY. BOTH OF THE PASSENGER SIDE TIRES ON MY VEHICLE WERE FLATTENED, AND THERE WAS SOME VERY MINOR DAMAGE TO THE FRONT DRIVERS SIDE BUMPER, AND TO THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE FENDER OF THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. (I HAD LEFT ENOUGH DISTANCE WHEN STOPPING AT THE LIGHT IN BETWEEN MY CAR AND THEIRS AND I ALSO SOMEHOW REACTED VERY QUICKLY GIVEN HOW IN SHOCK I WAS.) THE CAR WAS NOT DRIVE-ABLE BECAUSE OF THE FLAT TIRES, AND SO I CONTACTED TESLA ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE. THEY TOWED THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE TESLA FACILITY FROM WHERE I HAD JUST ORIGINATED. AFTER THE INCIDENT, I IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED THE SALES PERSON BECAUSE -- YOU KNOW -- I HAD LITERALLY JUST PURCHASED THE CAR. SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SALES TEAM ANSWERED THE PHONE. MY SALES PERSON CALLED ME BACK SHORTLY THEREAFTER, AND I EVENTUALLY SPOKE WITH THE SALES MANAGER AROUND 7:45PM. ALL FOUR OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS (3 SALES, 1 ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE REP) SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT OF: "WE'VE NEVER HEARD OF A VEHICLE DOING THIS BEFORE." THANKFULLY I THOUGHT TO GOOGLE THE ISSUE, AND AN ARTICLE IN CAR & DRIVER ABOUT YOUR PENDING INVESTIGATION POPPED UP. SO I FEEL LIKE THEY WERE PROBABLY GASLIGHTING ME PER SOME SCRIPT FROM LEGAL, WHICH IS A REALLY GREAT FEELING AFTER YOU SPEND $103,000 ON A CAR.
THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED TO FULL SPEED WHEN PARKING THE CAR IN A MALL PARKING LOT. I TRIED TO PARK THE CAR, IT DID NOT FIT SO I WENT REVERSE A COUPLE OF FEET AND WHEN I PUT THE CAR IN DRIVE, IT ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN AND THE STEERING WHEEL TURNED ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT. THE CAR WENT OVER THE TIRE STOPPERS AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP WHEN IT CRASHED AGAINST A POST. THIS WAS 100% THE CAR'S FAULT, I AM SURE I DID NOT PRESS THE ACCELERATOR. I HAVE SUBMITTED THE CLAIM WITH TESLA AND THEY ARE REVIEWING THE DATA. I SAW THE NEWS THAT OTHER CARS HAD SIMILAR PROBLEM AND I WANTED TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE AS WELL. THIS IS VERY SERIOUS AND NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED
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