Here is a burned out tesla in the junkyard https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=24822571&rownumber=3&loadrecent=true the front lh wheel is jammed back into the battery. The tread on the tire is worn away which indicates that the wheel was jammed back against the battery while the car was still rolling forward. It is highly probable that suspension failure was the cause of the fire. Despite assurances to the contrary fires are still happening all too frequently in the tesla. A recent crash in china resulted in the tesla exploding in flames and the back seat passengers only narrowly escaped incineration.: https://electrek.co/2017/04/23/tesla-model-x-fire-crash-falcon-wing-doors-stuck/ I am filing these reports in the public interest. Owners believe the tesla is the safest car in the world. Judging by the hundreds of teslas that have been involved in serious accidents this appears to be a myth. Please investigate.
2015 Tesla Model S suspension complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 150, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Here is another tesla in the junkyard: https://www.salvagereseller.com/cars-for-sale/24795207-2015-tesla-model-s-85-sun-valley-ca all four wheels have gone totally whompy. This is not just a joke. Lives are at risk. Please take action. Thank you. Concerned citizen.
Here is a burned out tesla in the junkyard: https://www.salvagereseller.com/cars-for-sale/22669817-2015-tesla-model-s-85-vallejo-ca I have no knowledge of the circumstances of the incident but I believe that it is significant that the photographs show a broken ball joint in the front lh suspension. This is a steel component that does not appear to have popped apart due to fire damage but is more likely to be one of the regular cases of suspension failure that afflicts the tesla. Please investigate. Concerned citizen etc.
Here is further evidence that indicates tesla suspensions are ridiculously fragile. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/ball-joint-failure-on-2015-ms70d-at-11k-miles-tesla-wont-cover.88051/ snip: I turned the wheel to back out of my garage at 6:30am, and heard a thump. Called roadside assistance, sent a tow truck, they said the right front ball joint was brokenthey towed the car to the certified bodyshop and the rep laughed and laughed and said this is all he ever sees. A ball joint sheer the driver doesn't detect and then boom. Owners are failing to report these problems to the federal safety agency due to peer pressure from fellow tesla owners and because most of them are tesla shareholders. Tesla does not appear to have proper quality control that would allow information about these failures to be passed up the line so that the problem can be corrected. Please investigate these failures ball joints should not be snapping on late model cars just as a result of a small pothole. Thank you. Concerned citizen.
Here is another tesla freshly arrived in the junkyard. Https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=24528296&rownumber=52&loadrecent=true&isnext=true it has been having a very bad day. The front wheel has fallen off and the back wheel has gone all whompy. Please investigate. Not an owner, just a concerned citizen banging his head against a wall. Thank you for your time.
Here is a tesla in the junkyard. Https://www.copart.com/lot/18211677/photos both wheels on the left hand side have fallen off. The top ball joint on front lh wheel has popped apart. The right hand back wheel has gone all whompy. That would make the car rather difficult to drive. Please investigate the reason why the tesla loses its wheels so often. Thank you.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=24331835&rownumber=24&loadrecent=true it has not been in a crash. The front rh suspension has fallen to bits and the wheel has gone extremely whompy. This is becoming ridiculous. Please open an investigation into this tesla suspension problem.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=23943967&rownumber=20&loadrecent=true the attached photograph shows that the top ball joint on the front rh wheel has separated causing gouging of the tire tread. The wheel is displaced towards the rear of the wheel well which is most likely the cause of the fire. The fire has been hot enough to melt metal so it is almost certain that the lithium batteries were the source of the fire. Please investigate the problems with tesla suspensions and also the issue of battery fires. Lithium battery fires burn burn extremely hot, emit toxic fumes, and are difficult to extinguish. I request that you investigate the circumstances of this incident. I am not the owner, just a very concerned citizen. Date of incident is an approximation.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=24298768&rownumber=22&loadrecent=true it is listed as having suspension damage and has been written off by the insurer. There is no damage to the bodywork and the airbags have not deployed. The suspension appears to have collapsed in the usual tesla fashion. It seems extraordinary that the suspension does not have bump stops to prevent this repeating failure. It is also extraordinary that the car needs to be written off rather than repaired to a safe condition. Please investigate. Note: I am not the owner, just a concerned citizen. Date of incident is an approximation.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://www.iaai.com/vehicle?itemid=24164989&rownumber=17&loadrecent=true it has been having a very bad day! The lh side has suffered major impact damage. The rh side is relatively undamaged but the back wheel has gone all whompy. Bearing in mind the large number of other incidents in which tesla suspensions have failed it seems possible that the skewed rh back wheel is what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Please investigate this problem. Note: I am not the owner, just a concerned citizen. Dates and mileage are approximations.
Another tesla in the junkyard https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=24196330&rowid=21&pagesource=vehicleresults# it does appear to show the characteristic signs of suspension collapse. Whilst it is possible that this is the result of a collision it is also quite possible that it was the cause of the collision. For an expensive car that is mainly driven by older and more conservative owners than the average car it is showing up as insurance write off in an excessive percentage of cases. Please investigate the circumstances of this incident.
Here is another tesla in the junkyard. Https://www.copart.com/lot/43916706/photos it has major front end damage, the suspension appears to have collapsed. The back rh wheel which has not suffered any impact damage has gone extremely whompy. Given the many other examples of teslas with snapped suspensions it seems highly probable that suspension failure caused this crash. Please investigate.
Here is a tesla in the junkyard. Https://www.copart.com/lot/22155996/photos the back suspension has completely ripped off. It looks highly unlikely that this failure was caused by a collision and it seems far more likely that this the long is yet another case of these suspensions failing under the strain of acceleration or braking due to to alloy components being too weak for the job. Had this happened at high speed multiple fatalities could have occurred. Please investigate. (I am not the owner, date of crash and circumstances are estimates based upon the photographs.)
Here is a 2015 tesla in the salvage yard. It does not appear to have been in a collision but the front lh ball joint has popped apart causing the wheel to skew over at an angle. This failure could easily have caused multiple fatalities. There have been over a hundred reports of tesla suspensions failing. Please take action to prevent further death and injury.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=22126555&itemid=23722036&rowid=11&pagesource=vehicleresults the photographs show that one of the lower suspensiopn arms has snapped. The worn tire proves that this occurred while the vehicle was in motion and this was not caused by impact damage. There have been about 100 similar failures. Please investigate this urgently. Lives are at risk.
Here is a model s in the salvage yard. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=23494189&rowid=6&pagesource=vehicleresults# as you can see from the attached photograph the top ball joint of the steering knuckle has popped apart. The rim of the wheel is gouged on the inside and the tire is peeled off. This can not possibly have occurred after a collision. The wheel was still rolling when the suspension failed. The ball joint should be much stronger than the top arms and should never fail like that. This is the clearest evidence yet of a tesla suspension failure causing suspension collapse. Please take action.
I was driving my car to work and accidentally scraped the front right wheel on a curb near a roundabout on an old/narrow seattle street (there was oncoming traffic and parked cars so I had very little room on my right and mis-judged). The paint on the wheel was pretty badly scraped up but otherwise the car was fine (no body damage) and the wheel had no visual structural damage (the car's alignment was not affected). I continued driving to work without issue, including 5-6 miles on the highway at 60mph. When parking in the underground garage at my office 20 minutes after the curb incident, I turned the wheel to the left to adjust my car in the parking spot and heard/felt a rubbing sound, followed by a loud clunk. The front right of the car dropped and the wheel fell off the suspension and was wedged under the front of the car. The car was disabled and had to be towed to tesla. Given the amount of force applied to the wheel by the curb and the lack of other symptoms, it seems unlikely that any normal, stock suspension should fail as it did with this car. It appears a bolt on the lower control arm sheared off completely when I was parking (and had probably been fatigued by the curbing incident).
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard http://www.copart.com/us/lot/34215386?searchid=1942545060 the ball joint has pulled out from the steering knuckle causing the wheel to slew back into the wheel well. The wheel liner is shredded. There is no impact damage forward of the wheel that would account for the damage. Tesla suspensions are failing in a variety of ways which suggests that the design, manufacture, and testing are inadequate and present a hazard to the public. Please investigate.
Another model s in the salvage yard with a collapsed front suspension. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=22996029&rowid=6&pagesource=vehicleresults# airbags not deployed. No sign of collision damage but both front wheels are jammed up in the wheel wells and have tangled up in the liner. The number of similar incidents is alarming. Please investigate.
Here is another crashed tesla in the salvage yard. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=22938755&rowid=3&pagesource=vehicleresults# the back lh suspension is ripped away. The air suspension appears to have failed which might account for the damage around all the wheels. No sign of a major impact to the car. The number of wrecked teslas is extremely high in relation to the relatively small number of cars on the road particularly considering the owners are mostly mature and conservative drivers. I am only playing amateur crash investigator because I believe that most of these crashes would not attract the attention of official investigators but would be handled as routine traffic incidents by local police who might not notice the pattern of failures. I believe that the tesla situation is unique. There is a culture of denial and cover up by the company and by owners.there are no independent dealerships that could report problems. Ex-employees report a dictatorial work environment that discourages reporting of problems. Even on the tesla internet forums owners that speak about defects are abused and intimidated and accused of making false reports in order to drive down the share price. Please inspect some of these crashed cars and also some random samples of the fleet for problems in the suspension and for seized brake calipers as previously reported. Example being the cpo car delivered with seized calipers. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/4-bent-wheels.75765/ cubldr97, aug 18, 2016 I purchased a cpo 2013 model s85 in feb of this year. Here is what I got in an email... The technician also noticed all 4 caliper pistons are seized and the sway bar link has excessive play."
My tesla model s - 2015 - had the left front suspension malfunction. Tesla claims it was damaged - although the car has only been driven 12000 miles - and only on city streets and highways. There has been no off roading and hazardous road conditions. The car was left unable to be driven. The tesla dealer refuses to discuss the matter - simply saying that this is not covered under warranty and insisting I file an insurance claim. I have asked to speak to a supervisor - and can not get a reply from them. I have called tesla head office - and they referred me back to the local deal - and assured me they would follow up and they have not. Further more - the replacement parts have been on order and are taking an excessive amount of time. I am concerned - after researching this - that the tesla air suspension may be faulty - and my in fact be hazardous when driving.
Here is another tesla in the salvage yard. Http://www.copart.com/us/lot/30997056?searchid=1887217407 there is little sign of collision damage but the front suspension has fallen apart and the wheel has been torn into pieces whilst it was still rotating. The steel bumper bar forward of the wheel is completely undamaged which makes it unlikely that the wheel was struck from the front. It is quite possible that all of the damage caused to the front end is simply the result of the suspension failure. There are far too many of these failures in proportion to the small number of teslas that have been sold. Image searches on other brands of car do not show up any other instances of wheels getting sliced into pieces similar to what is happening repeatedly on the teslas. Please investigate this problem. Note: date of incident is an approximation.
Here is a tesla that has been in a major collision. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=22773780&rowid=7&pagesource=vehicleresults the rh tire is partially peeled off the rim. I would be unusual for a tire to be peeled off the rim as a result of a direct frontal impact, especially if the wheel itself is not damaged. Given the fact that many photographs of crashed teslas show broken suspension parts and peeled off tires I think you should investigate this crash to determine whether the tire damage was the cause of the crash. I am filing these reports as a concerned citizen who shares the roads with these vehicles. The date of the incident is just an approximation. The number of injuries is just a guess based on the severity of the damage. If you do not wish me to submit any further reports you can contact me via email and ask me to desist.
Here is a report of a fatal crash in hawaii. Http://www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/maui-woman-dies-in-head-on-crash-in-paia/ here is the wrecked tesla for sale as a salvage wreck. Http://www.copart.com/us/lot/26810486?searchid=935758582 the front rh side is badly damaged and the wheel is missing. This may be have been caused by the collision with the nissan. The rear lh wheel is bent over at an extreme angle which is typical of rear suspension breakage on the tesla. There is no impact damage to the lh rear of the car that would account for the wheel being slanted over. Can you please investigate the possibility that the problem with the rear wheel was a contributing cause to the crash.
Here is a tesla model s in the wrecking yard. The front tire is wrenched off the rim and this appears to have happened while the car was still rolling forward. Even though there has been a major collision the air-bags have not deployed. I have put together a collection of photographs of steering and suspension components from tesla cars. Http://teslabears.club/t/no-wonder-the-wheels-snap-off/68 the standard of construction is in my opinion absolutely appalling. Tesla has gained the reputation of being the safest car in the world. I am convinced that reputation is merely the result of tesla pr hype and the myth is perpetuated by tesla enthusiasts and investors. The number of crashed teslas showing up in the salvage yards is out of all proportion to the number of vehicles on the roads. Please start an investigation into the causes of all these crashes.
Another tesla in the junkyard. Http://www.copart.com/us/lot/22864206?searchid=1540816254 there is no collision damage to the car bur the entire front suspension has snapped off. This is an awd model and should be expected to have a stronger suspension to cope with the added weight and power. This is clearly not the case because the suspension components have snapped off please look at this car as part of your investigation into potential defects in the tesla suspension
Here is a tesla in the wrecking yard https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=22383879&rowid=5&pagesource=vehicleresults# the front tire has been wrenched off the rim and has the tread gouged away. This looks like another case of collapsed suspension with broken suspension arm peeling off the tire before the collision.
I was driving the 2015 tesla model s , west bound on I-80 approaching the bay bridge in san francisco from oakland , I heard s trance squeaky noise coming from the rear of my car & I pulled over that saw the left rear tire & wheel looked tilted , it appeared the wheels & suspension of the car had failed suspension failed . I called tesla roadside assistance at 2:30 pm asking for help , the answering service instead of trying to help the tesla was arguing with me over the phone that this issue may not be covered by the warranty and I may need to pay for the towing cost & repair cost. They refused to help me in anyway to bring the car to their service . I called a towing service & had the car towed at my own expense after the long never ending waiting & terrible traffic of friday afternoon . I got the car towed to the tesla service in dublin california . They took my car in friday evening. The next monday they called and said the left rear axle & wheel are broken . The cost to repair $13,000. They denied that this is warranty issue . My insurance paid for this outrageous repair cost . It took 3 weeks for them to fix the axle & the wheel . I am not confident that this car is safe to drive . The tesla costumer service is terrible , they are unhelpful , cheap & leave the costumer high & dry in a crisis . They do not take responsibility for the car parts failure & warranty issues . I had never experienced broken wheels or axles in my 20 years of driving .
Here is a photograph of the tesla that recently crashed in germany. Http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-s-accident-survivors-germany/ tesla claims that this crash demonstrates the remarkable safety of the car because the teenage occupants escaped with their lives. Close examination of the photograph shows that the tread of the rh tire has been worn away whilst the wheel was still rotating and that this can only have occurred whilst the car was still driving on a bitumen highway and not after going off road. I believe this is another example of suspension failures causing crashes.
Here is a model s in the junkyard. The air suspension has collapsed and the body has slumped so low that the wheels are jammed up in the wheel wells. The front rh tire and rim have been damaged. Owners have reported that the model s does not have bump stops on the suspension so that loss of air pressure can have disastrous consequences. "the right front air strut failed due to a leak which caused the whole front of the car to drop so much that the wheels were rubbing against the inside of the wheel well, and the front of the car was rubbing on the ground. The car became absolutely not drivable. Luckily I was parked when this happened. The tow truck driver could only do inch-by-inch turns to orient the car to face the tow truck, and then had to move it up again inch-by-inch using wooden blocks just so the wheel well and the bottom would not get damaged. Why doesn't tesla air-suspension design incorporate some sort of a stopper to stop the car from going lower than the lowest functional air-suspension setting? The service center tech had the same idea!!!! At least it would be drivable when the system failed. I am very concerned how the car would handle if this air suspension failure occurred while driving 70 MPH" https://forums.teslamotors.com/en_au/forum/forums/air-suspension-failure-very-unpleasant-results this is not good!
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