2019 Tesla Model S Reliability Report

Power steering assist can drop out at highway speed. Drivers see a "steering assist is reduced" warning and need heavy effort to stay in the lane. A Model S Performance had this happen at about 5,000 miles. Other owners hear a loud squeak when turning, and quoted repairs reach $3,000 for that and $5,600 for a steering column. Autopilot swerves out of merging lanes or aborts lane changes. One crash-related filing is really a suspension complaint about a salvaged Model X.

Phantom braking on Autopilot or cruise control dominates this group. The car brakes hard on open highway, sometimes almost to a skid, then beeps and stops with nothing ahead. Drivers have to press the accelerator to cancel it. Some say it happens repeatedly in the same spot, such as before a bridge. A Model S owner saw it at 70 mph, at 59,000 miles, even with Autopilot off. One Model X crash report says the brakes failed to stop the car at 30 mph.

The car brakes hard at highway speed with no obstacle ahead, sometimes dropping from 75 mph to 25 mph in seconds. False forward collision warnings come with it. Owners name large trucks, bridges, and oncoming traffic as triggers, and some say it happens several times every hundred freeway miles. Following traffic has to swerve or brake hard to avoid the car. Dealers often cannot reproduce it. A few filings say the system braked too late for stopped cars.

Phantom braking under cruise control or Autopilot sheds 40 mph or more with no hazard ahead. One Model S was rear-ended at freeway speed this way, and the occupants were left with whiplash. Owners also report near-miss rear-end collisions. Some cars accelerate on their own instead, in a parking lot, in reverse, or after an "acceleration and top speed reduced" warning. Two Model X crashes came from unintended acceleration at low speed. One owner says Tesla called the braking behavior beta software.

Body and trim complaints are a mixed group. Bumpers stay loose even after five or six repair attempts, and a wheel arch liner tore loose from a water splash at 20 mph. Two crashes involve low-speed maneuvers. In one, Summon hit a parked car. In the other, the backup camera view switched off when the climate control was touched. The remaining reports involve Model X falcon wing doors that won't open in heat or that strike people while closing.

Most of these reports are crashes from sudden acceleration while parking or turning. Airbags deployed in some of them and stayed off in others, including one multi-car collision. One injury report describes facial lacerations, cracked ribs, and eye damage. A separate complaint involves a faulty seat sensor that affects airbag deployment. In that case Tesla quoted a $4100 seat replacement instead of a repair.

Front half shafts wear out and come back. Owners hear ticking and feel vibration at various speeds, and some shafts have been replaced twice within a few thousand miles. One Model X needed a second replacement at about 23,000 miles. Separately, a car lost all power at 65 mph on a busy freeway within 5 minutes of the first warning light and had to be towed.