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2012 Tesla Model S Lighting problems

Owners have filed 5 complaints about the 2012 Tesla Model S's lights with NHTSA - 8% of all its complaints, most recently on November 29, 2022. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.

Complaints
5
Recalls
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0

Lighting complaints

Electrical systemLightsVisibility & wipers

I tried to start the car and got the "Center Display unavailable" message. Reset the computer doesn't help. I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the system to be on.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Exterior lighting · Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11495377
Electrical systemLights

As the car drains the battery pretty quickly, I have turned on energy saving mode. In this mode the car enters a deeper sleep, consuming less power. Sometimes in this mode when starting the vehicle, the turn signals will not work (this appears to happen when the car sits for a while and the miles left on the battery is under 120 or so). After a quick stop (2 minutes out of the car), the turn signals will start working, and the driver display will show the blinking turn signal when they work, but it will not...

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display when they do not work. Another issue is that after entering the car and "turning it on", by pressing the break, sometimes the driver display (which shows speed and current drive mode, PRND indicator) will be blank, not showing any information, despite the ability to operate the car, etc.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Exterior lightingNHTSA 11435793
LightsVisibility & wipersDriver assistance

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The contact stated that the center display screen failed to operate as needed. The dealer had been notified about the recall; however, the contact was informed that he did not qualify for the recall despite having received a letter for the recall. The manufacturer had not been notified of the issue. The contact stated that recently the center display screen started to operate as needed. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

Filed Incident Exterior lighting · Visibility · Back over preventionNHTSA 11434130
Electrical systemLightsVisibility & wipers

This is related to NHTSA recall 21V-035. Tesla replaced the 8Gb memory card with a 64Gb memory card (so I'm told) but the main car display screen still does not function most of the time. This results in; -unavailability of the rearview camera display -defrost/defog control settings unavailable for purposes of ensuring visibility -and exterior turn signal lighting may increase the risk of a crash I've had this to Tesla twice now but it has not been fixed.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Exterior lighting · Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11432144
Electrical systemLights

I recently had my Tesla Model S serviced due to the touchscreen going blank (losing functionality of defrosting, temperature, sunroof, and a list of other issues). Driving with a fogged up window is dangerous. Thank you to the NHTSA for forcing Tesla to replace it free of charge. Unfortunately, it appears that Tesla is not replacing it with a new unit. Instead it is a refurbished unit. Just days after servicing I got in the car to drive and the following error comes up on the touchscreen: "Center display memory...

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storage device is degraded. Without repair, center display may enter limited functionality mode and only display rear view camera. When in limited functionality mode, it may be required to press brake for 30 seconds or press key fob unlock to authorize drive. Please use the Tesla Mobile App to schedule service." I find this quite troublesome and felt it worthy to apprise the NHTSA that Tesla is clearly not abiding by its requests.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Exterior lightingNHTSA 11426091

Tesla Model S lighting complaints by year

Model S lighting problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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