2024 Tesla Model S Reliability Report

The backup camera goes black, usually because every camera on the car fails at once. Owners tie this to a failed AP4 computer that appears within the first months, often between 1,000 and 2,015 miles. Part shortages push service dates back, and loaners are rarely offered. Parking sensors, blind-spot warnings and navigation drop out too, and the mirrors may stay dark. Separately, the rear view disappears from the screen when the driver adjusts climate or other controls while reversing, and some drivers then hit cars behind them.

Locking, jerking or unresponsive wheels show up in these reports, sometimes at highway speed. Drivers describe the wheel locking during turns, sharp corrections on wet roads that spin the car, and uncommanded swerves under Full Self-Driving or Autopilot. Several reports end in crashes with injuries, including a rollover and a tree strike. Others report lane-departure steering input with the feature turned off, lost power assist, and an off-center wheel. Service sometimes declines repair because no fault code is stored.

Sudden surges forward happen mostly while parking or creeping up a driveway, and the car hits garage doors, walls or stone columns. One report describes a crash followed by a fire and a door that would not open. Phantom braking from highway speed also appears. Full Self-Driving updates draw complaints about removed manual speed adjustment and misread speed limits that leave the car too slow or too fast. The AP4 computer failure shows up here as well, disabling cruise control and cameras while owners wait for parts.

A failed AP4 computer is the main reason lane keeping and lane departure warnings stop working, and it takes all cameras, GPS and the backup camera with it. This hits nearly new cars, from 56 miles up to around 4,000, and some owners say it started after a software update. Back-ordered computers mean weeks of waiting, usually without a loaner. Separately, Autopilot or Full Self-Driving steers across lanes or a double yellow line, and one injury crash followed a sudden pull across three lanes. Pillar cameras also report being blinded on dark roads.

Hard automatic braking with nothing ahead is the main pattern, sometimes to a full stop from highway speed, with or without cruise control. Drivers describe being thrown forward and near rear-end collisions, and service often finds nothing wrong. A smaller set of reports says the brakes failed to stop the car during unintended acceleration or on wet roads, ending in spins and crashes. Other complaints cite a stiff pedal with weak regenerative braking, a front motor shutdown that cut power steering and ABS, and a confusing parking-brake indicator.

Some crashes end with no deployment, including frontal impacts after reported unintended acceleration and a side impact where only the passenger-side bags fired. Other reports describe safety restraint fault messages for specific seats that come back after service. Some owners also see a passenger airbag that reads off with an adult belted in, or a seat-belt warning that never triggers. Service has blamed software or a low-voltage pin, and owners report repeat faults and month-long waits for appointments.

Automatic wipers misfire. They stay off in rain or switch on with a dry windshield and smear the glass, and owners say service visits and updates have not fixed it. Manual wiper controls sit in the touchscreen, which pulls eyes off the road. When the AP4 computer fails, wipers and automatic high beams stop working along with the cameras. Distorted windshield and rear glass also cause headaches, which service has called within specifications. One owner is on a third windshield.