Motor suddenly failed after a required update while driving, nearly causing a crash with multiple commercial vehicles and pedestrians, leaving brake lights dangerously always on and alarm sounding, killed 12v as well.
Lights
Tesla Model S Lighting problems by year
53 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Tesla Model S's lights. Headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals and interior lighting failures.
Lighting complaints by model year
Latest Model S lighting complaints
Vehicle lights turned off while driving home with my family. Pulling over and turning off and on the car reset the problem. When lights turned off I received a warning light identifying a faulty right headlight and faulty left headlight. No accident and vehicle is currently outside manufacture warranty.
I am the current owner of a 2014 Tesla Model S equipped with MCU1. While driving, including at freeway speeds, the center touchscreen has rebooted unexpectedly, showing only the Tesla logo before recovering. During these reboots, critical vehicle functions are unavailable, including the rearview camera, HVAC/defrost controls, and other essential features. This failure matches the exact safety defect described in NHTSA Recall 21V-035 related to the MCU/eMMC failure. I reported this safety issue to Tesla Service and...
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provided photo evidence of the screen rebooting while driving. Tesla has refused to address this as a recall or safety repair. Tesla claims the recall was previously completed under a prior owner but refuses to provide any documentation proving that the recall repair was actually performed, citing prior owner privacy. Tesla has further stated that diagnosis of this active safety defect would be customer-paid due to the basic warranty being expired and has indicated that the only path forward is a paid infotainment upgrade. Tesla is effectively requiring payment to diagnose and resolve a known safety defect. As the safety defect is actively occurring while driving and Tesla has marked the recall as complete without providing proof or correcting the issue, I am requesting NHTSA review whether Tesla is improperly closing out recalls without ensuring the defect has been remedied and whether charging customers to diagnose known safety defects is appropriate. After entering my VIN into NHTSA's recall lookup, NHTSA shows Recall 21V-035 (MCU/eMMC failure) as Recall Incomplete for my vehicle. This directly contradicts Tesla's claim that the recall was previously completed. Tesla has refused to provide documentation and is requiring paid diagnosis and a paid infotainment upgrade despite the recall being listed by NHTSA as unresolved.
The reverse lights are incredibly insufficient and pose a safety risk when backing up. The lights are so dim, they are virtually ineffective to the point that they illuminate nothing that may be behind the car. This is not a bulb issue as they came from the factory, new, in this condition and the service center said there is nothing they can do. Other owners I have spoken with report the same issue.
The contact owns a 2014 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the digital screen intermittently blacked out and several safety features were inoperable. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the resort block remained at 90%, and the same EMMC ID that should have been covered under NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Passenger side headlight, daytime running light portion, is flickering, approximately 1-2 times a minute. I only noticed this as I parked in a dark garage with my lights on, seeing the light flickering against the wall. There is no warning from my car telling me this is happening. This is a safety issue because headlights are a safety feature. If my headlight is going on and off, it will affect my visibility, as well as the visibility of my car to other drivers/pedestrians on the road. I notified Tesla, they had...
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mobile technician come to my house, he visually confirmed this issue, and he subsequently replaced the entire headlight. After the replacement, I noticed that this did not resolve the issue. I notified Tesla and they had me bring in my car to service center for inspection. Per tesla tech service summary: "identified customer concern as a known characteristic with no resolution available at this time. Please maintain regular WIFI connection to ensure timely downloads of future firmware updates. No repairs recommended at this time". I need this issue resolved, I do not feel safe driving my car. Tesla is not repairing the issue and has no clear timeframe as to when this issue will be fixed. I attached 2 photos from my video capture showing when the light is on and off.
Defective brake light seal went bad, brake light is filling with water and broke red LEDs right away, family is now not safe from rear colissions and Tesla wants $1000. Thank you
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side indicator was inoperable on the yoke steering wheel. The contact stated that the failure had occurred several times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 24,500.
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.
The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The contact stated that the recall repair was performed twice however, the vehicle experienced an unknown computer failure. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the seats moved independently. The contact was unaware of a warning light being illuminated. The contact stated that the driver's side seat would revert to the seat settings of the...
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second driver independently while the vehicle was in motion. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the eMMC controller needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure occurred again and the eMMC controller was replaced a second time. The failure persisted. The failure mileage was 123,864.
My 2014 Tesla Model S is an unsafe vehicle as my dash goes black constantly and I lose control of the car safety items included in the dash panel such as speed, back up camera, visibility and power train. I have complained many times but Tesla does not respond with results that will make the car safe again.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH and attempting to switch lanes, he attempted to use the turn signals; however, the turn signals were inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 2,000.
While driving with a fully charged battery, the car dash warned "pull over to safe location. Battery cannot support all functions". We were unable to fully pull over in the time before the car experienced a critical loss of functionality, as the car shut off in less than 1 minute from flashing the warning. The car lost all functionality, including loss of its flashers, putting us at significant risk since we were unable to alert other motorists to our presence on the side of the road as it was getting dark. The...
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car is currently with the dealer and thus far they have been unable to identify the root cause of the issue but have acknowledged the existence of the problem. They've claimed the 12v battery died and the car does not have any safety redundancy built in to be able to access power from the main driving battery to power critical features such as the hazard lights. The biggest risk of safety is loss of indicators/flashers while on the side of the road. This feature in vehicles is meant to alert other drivers to the presence of a disabled vehicle. Consumer was told no physical problem was found with the car and a "firmware" problem is suspected. After repeated questioning, the Tesla dealer finally acknowledged that other 2021 Model S cars have experienced similar abrupt shut downs and the California engineers are aware of the problem. They cannot tell me when a firmware update will be available, but in the interim want to return the car to the consumer having done nothing to prevent the problem from recurring.
The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and it was confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2014 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the part to the recall repair was unavailable. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated she was unable to start the vehicle and the battery was replaced. The manufacturer had not been made aware of the failure. Parts distribution disconnect. The failure mileage was unknown.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data