2023 Tesla Model S Reliability Report

Nearly every report here describes sudden unintended acceleration at low speed. Drivers say the car surges while parking, pulling into a garage, inching up to a parking-gate ticket machine or lifting off the pedal to use regenerative braking, and the brakes often seem not to respond. Cars hit walls, garage interiors, parked cars and, in one case, a pedestrian. Most accounts say no warning lights came on beforehand. Some events happen in the first weeks of ownership, at 1,800 miles or less. Most filings name a Model Y.

Unintended acceleration leads this group too. Drivers describe the car lunging from a stop or during a turn while the brake is pressed, then hitting parked cars, trees or barriers. Other reports cover sudden power loss with hard braking at highway speed, parking sensors that show the wrong distance and auto-park backing into poles. Two filings involve fire, one after rain soaked the interior through an open window. Of 96 complaints, 21 involve a crash, with 12 injuries reported.

The main complaint is brakes that feel weak or unresponsive in a hard stop. Drivers say they pressed the pedal fully while the car kept creeping or rolling into the vehicle ahead, sometimes together with unintended acceleration. Phantom braking also appears, including events that spun a car into a barrier or left it stuck in traffic. A few reports say car wash mode stopped the car abruptly. Of 75 filings, 13 involve a crash. Most excerpts name a Model Y or Model X.

The clearest pattern is front lower control arm bolts working loose, usually reported between 19,200 and 49,000 miles. Clunking, creaking or popping over bumps and in turns comes first, along with steering that feels loose. In worse cases the arm detaches, the wheel jams and steering is lost. Most of these bolt reports name a Model Y. Separately, severe wear on the inner edge of the tires shows up at 12,928 and 23,506 miles, and owners blame factory camber. This wear includes Model S Plaid reports and one freeway tread separation.

Most injuries here come from powered doors and liftgates that close without sensing a person. Reports describe liftgates dropping onto heads and fingers, including one fatal skull fracture, and Model X falcon wing doors hitting children and adults. Other complaints cover liftgate water leaks, wind whistle from the windshield above 80 mph, wheel trim and the underbody shield falling off in rain, and roof glass cracking from small road debris. The 29 filings include 9 injuries.

The dominant complaint is airbags that fail to deploy in serious crashes. Owners describe frontal, head-on and T-bone impacts with no deployment, sometimes with the driver's head hitting the steering wheel or the car being totaled. One report mentions white powder and a burning smell with no visible airbag. Many other filings here actually describe unintended acceleration, phantom braking or loss of control on wet roads, and mention airbags only in passing. Crashes appear in 17 of 29 filings, with 11 injuries.

The clearest pattern is rear motor inverter or rear drive unit failure that cuts power at highway speed. Warnings appear for reduced power and disabled emergency braking. The car slows sharply, then refuses to shift, sometimes within the first 130 miles. Other reports describe sudden total shutdowns in traffic with no hazard lights or door releases, a parking brake that locked up, unintended acceleration crashes, and an interior fire after rain. Five of 23 filings involve a crash.