A tesla has just crashed into a garage and then caught fire: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/25/tesla-slams-into-lake-forest-garage-severely-damaging-it-and-sparking-a-fire/ pictures (attached) show that a complete wheel and suspension snapped off the car before it charged into the garage. Please investigate.
2016 Tesla Model S steering complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 87, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Here is a report of a tesla crash in germany: http://www.nachrichten.at/oberoesterreich/tesla-krachte-in-linzer-fruehverkehr-gegen-strassenlaterne;art4,2601196 and a youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0e5ob5x9ak the driver reports that the steering suddenly locked up. The video shows that the lh front wheel is pushed up and back in the wheel well and that the suspension has collapsed. This side of the car did not hit the pole and is undamaged apart from the collapsed suspension. There have been dozens of similar incidents in which the tesla suspension has collapsed. There are no bump stops on the tesla suspension and a simple air leak can cause a disaster. This incident could easily have caused a fatality. Please investigate this incident. Thank you. I am not a tesla owner just a concerned citizen.
We were driving tesla s northbound on highway 101 going from novato to petaluma, we were on auto steering when the driver (my son) saw the car merging strait on us, he tried to avoid the accident and swung to the left, but because it was on auto steering the steering wheel was blocked/stiff and at first he was not able to move it. It took him couple of seconds to realize it. In order to override the auto steering he had to use force to swing left but ones the auto steering was overridden we swung to the left suddenly almost hitting the divider/wall between highway's bounds, then he swung to the right to avoid the wall, so we found ourselves swinging through 2 lanes and shoulder left and right, good other cars slowed down witnessing the accident so we did not hit any other car, cannot drive the car due to some rear wheel damage. I believe that the auto steering was malfunctioning at this point because it was supposed to be the safest way of driving and it caused us to be unable to escape the other car merging to us and eventually be involved in the accident. To avoid others from same problem or even worse I demand to preserve the evidence and take my car back and redo it so it will not malfunction again, also the insurance replaced only the damaged tire, so now we have 3 old tires and one higher one, I have to have 4 same size tires.
This is another complaint about the tesla autopilot. Here is a video of an owner using autopilot hands free at high speed on a freeway and inches away from many oncoming cars on an undivided road. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piqyoop5pyc rather than keeping her hands on the wheel she instead gives the wheel a regular tweak every about once a minute but the remainder of the time her hands are nowhere near the wheel. This is just one of many videos showing owners driving in dangerous ways. I believe that these owners have been duped into having misplaced confidence in the autopilot and that the situation has been made worse by tesla using the federal safety agency apparent endorsement of the autopilot. The federal safety agency has stated that tesla autopilot is 40% safer than a human driver based on the number of incidents which resulted in air-bag deployment according to data supplied by tesla. The publication of this finding has caused owners to have high confidence in the autopilot. Might I politely ask - what is the sample size? If the sample size was for example 100 air-bag deployments then that is a rather large number of crashes in proportion to the number of cars on the road. It is also far too low a sample to provide statistically reliable results. Whenever a crash occurs tesla claims that the autopilot was not engaged at the time. This is probably true because the autopilot will disengage if the owner touches the wheel or the brake in the instant before impact. At 3:20 in the video you can see the owner grab the wheel after the autopilot crosses double lines. Please take action to prevent further loss of life.
I had my wheel turned and I put the car in park, then I swiped my card to get into my parking garage. After I put the car back into drive my power steering assist failed and it was extremely difficult to turn the steering wheel. There have been multiple reports on power steering assist failures on the tesla forum while making turns.
Another complaint to draw attention to the dangers of autopilot. Here is a video of a driver in europe driving with autopilot hands free on narrow winding roads with pedestrians cyclists and oncoming traffic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chihrwjddyc none of these road users deserve to have their lives placed at risk. People have already been killed. Please stop this irresponsible experiment.
This is another complaint about the tesla autopilot. Here is a recently posted video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dplw8y6ajg the owner merges on to a busy freeway at 70 MPH while performing the hand jive and turning to face the camera. Owners have misplaced confidence in autopilot and regard the instruction to keep hands on the wheel as mere legal boilerplate. Repeated claims that autopilot is 40% safer than a human driver make matters even worse. When a crash does occur tesla will claim that the car was not on autopilot. This is technically correct since the autopilot will disconnect moments before impact if the brake or steering wheel is touched. Please halt this reckless experiment.
This is a complaint about the power assisted steering in the tesla model s and it also applies to the model x. There have been multiple reports on the tesla forums of owners having a failure pf the power assistance caused by a broken wire or loose connection. Tesla seems to be aware of the problem but is waiting for failures to occur rather than fixing the problem. This failure is even more dangerous if the car is on autopilot. The steering becomes extremely stiff and requires brute force. If the user has just one hand loosely on the wheel as is often the case then it is easy to lose control completely. Here are links to threads discussing the problem and also clips of the relevant sections are attached as files. Please investigate. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/steering-assist-reduced.91280/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/steering-assist-reduced.78242/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/steering-assist-reduced.78242/page-2
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot. Here is a thread in which the original poster and many other drivers complain that the autopilot is extremely dangerous: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/autopilot-2-0-is-dangerous.89985/ the owner states - 1) when I turn on ap 2.0 while driving on a highway the car swerves like a bloody drunk person sometimes veering so close to the vehicles in adjacent lanes that I have no option but to take over. Its just friggin dangerous? 2) at other instances the car chooses to slam on the brakes while going on curves at highway speeds. Like without any rhyme or reason it'll literally brake so hard for a second that it's enough to make an un-belted passenger fly out of the windscreen. 3) at certain occasions I have experienced that going under bridges and overpasses it momentarily again slams the brakes. Like what the heck tesla? What the heck!? *** it seems bizarre that the owner would not file a complaint and that posters are defending this crazy experiment. Please investigate
I would like to report another example of the tesla autopilot causing a near accident that could easily have claimed many lives. Here is a new thread on a tesla forum: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/scary-experience-with-ap2-0-autosteer-on-the-highway.89874/ the owner will almost certainly not be reporting this to the federal safety agency himself because tesla have assured him that all is well. Other forum posters are telling him that autopilot just needs more time to learn. Please act now before lives are lost due to this reckless experiment. Snip: hello, I have a 60d with ap2- I tried using autosteer on the highway last monday (3 days after the update was released to my car), and had one of the worst/scariest experiences I've ever had while driving. I was driving on a major highway at ~75mph. Turned on autosteer and was driving along (with my hands on the steering wheel) when I noticed it wasn't taking a left curve/turn on the road and drifting into the adjacent lane. So I engaged the steering wheel to deactivate autosteer and to make the turn myself. As soon as I did this, all hell broke loose. Basically the steering wheel jerked all the way to the left, veering me inches from the barrier- and then as I tried to straighten the wheel it jerked me all the way to the right, across 3 lanes of traffic...and then back let to the barrier, back across traffic, and again 5 or 6 times. Of course I called tesla immediately and this is what I was told: 1) the car is not able to make that turn (a pretty mild curve) at 80mph- known issue with ap2. 2) the car functioned normally after that- any/all events following disengagement of the autosteer were due to "driver input/error"
Here is a discussion thread in which several owners report a broken ground connection causing a loss of power assisted steering and power assisted braking. Https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/alert-loss-steering-and-braking-while-driving also a youtube video of an owner reporting the same problem. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm5z0dw60ke another discussion thread of a broken ground stud. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/ground-stud-nut-over-torqued.86688/ loss of power assistance on such a heavy car is extremely dangerous. Many drivers would not have sufficient strength or skill to steer the car and apply the brakes hard enough. Once again the fanatical devotion of tesla owners is the reason that they fail to report these faults to the federal safety agency. Please investigate.
This is another complaint about the tesla autopilot. Forum members have been discussing how easy it is to defeat the autopilot "nags" by hanging a weight on the steering wheel. This video shows someone doing just that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ypldhvwuy in the first 4 minutes of the clip the driver gets a nag every 3 minutes approx. Then the owner's son takes over and he has clipped a pink weight to the center spoke of the steering wheel. The car is then driven for about 20 minutes on narrow winding roads whilst the driver fools around paying zero attention to the road. When he enters a long stretch of straight road he need to nudge the wheel because the inertia of the weight has little effect. Owners are lead to believe that the autopilot is 40% safer than a human because the federal safety agency has published this as a fact (based on data supplied by tesla) owners now feel justified in defeating the nags with a strategically placed weight and feel confident that it is entirely safe to do so. Can you see a problem here? Concerned citizen shaking his head in disbelief. Thank you.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot. Here is a video that was just uploaded to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ypldhvwuy the video shows drivers using the autopilot hands free for long periods in totally unsafe situations. The driver is cleaning his glasses and sprawling sideways in his seat whilst passing oncoming cars and motorbikes only inches away. How is this even possible? Owners are being duped into believing that the autopilot is capable of full autonomous operation. Please terminate this reckless experiment before more innocent lives are lost. Thank you. Concerned citizen.
Here is a model s in the junkyard. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=24209294&rowid=12&pagesource=vehicleresults# the front suspension has collapsed causing both wheels to jam up into the wheel arches. This is a near new car and yet it is being sold as an insurance write-off because it is either uneconomic or unsafe to be repaired. This failure has occurred at low speed and the air-bags have not deployed. If that had happened at highway speeds it would have caused a major crash. This car does not have bump stops on the air suspension so that a simple air leak can cause disaster. This situation has been going on for far too long. Please take action to prevent loss of life. Note that I am not the owner, just a concerned citizen. Date of incident is an approximation.
Here is a tesla exhibiting "truck lust" and veering towards large vehicles. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt67bqdrw-k this has been reported on the forums by many drivers who have had near misses. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/truck-lust-is-a-real-thing.84359/ please stop this irresponsible experiment before more people die. Please note that I am not the owner but I am a concerned citizen who shares the roads with these cars. Fictitious us address used to comply with your website requirements. My genuine contact details are supplied with this submission.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot. Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_ttkkki0o8 the car is veering all over the road and randomly slowing and accelerating creating a huge hazard to other drivers. This was filmed in uk but this car and autopilot is sold all over the world. It is only a matter of time before this crazy experiment claims another life. Please stop this madness right now.
Though I indicated today's date for the event, has happened multiple times (at least 15) since I took delivery of the car in september. I would say on average it occurs approx 1x per week, when many systems fail and I get multiple warnings scrolling across the dash, followed by "car needs service." these include "ABS needs service", "tire pressure system disabled", "stability control disabled" "traction control disabled" "park assist disabled" "regenerative braking disabled" "automatic emergency braking disabled" "contact tesla service." in addition the steering is less responsive. Furthermore, today for the first time the "drive selector stick" that selects drive, park, reverse, neutral was unresponsive when starting. Then went in to neutral. Finally after several attempts it went in to reverse. This most frequently happens when starting the car, but sometimes occurs when in motion driving, at unpredictable times. They have had the car in to service a couple times. Most recently they had the car from november 26th until january 2nd, and assured me that they corrected the problem 100%. Which they did not.
Here is a tesla in the salvage yard. Https://m.iaai.com/vehicledetenc.aspx?auctionid=0&itemid=23919966&rowid=7&pagesource=vehicleresults# the front lh wheel is skewed inwards and over at an angle whilst the rh wheel is pointing straight forward. This indicates a broken steering or suspension component. There is no damage to the wheel and tire and no evidence of an impact hard enough to have broken the suspension. There have been many other cases where tesla suspensions have snapped. Please investigate. Please note: I am not the owner, merely a concerned citizen. Date reported is an estimation. Exact date of incident is unknown to me.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_clftjzj2y shows an owner driving on autopilot with his arms crossed over his chest. Also texting on his phone and fiddling with the display screen of the car. Also using autopilot on narrow undivided roads. He could have killed himself and otherroad users at any instant. Tesla owners have come to believe that the autopilot is safe and the warnings are just there for legal reasons. Many official tesla videos show the car in hands free operation. This is a dangerous experiment. Please halt it before more people die.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot. Please watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyrwnxzrnai the driver starts off cautiously keeping his hands near the wheel. By about 7 minutes into the video he has become so trusting in the autopilot that he drives past oncoming traffic in a road tunnel completely hands free. There is nowhere to escape if the car takes a sudden leap to the left. This is the reality of how drivers are putting other road users lives in danger. Please stop this reckless experimentaion.
Here is a report of a crash in germany. Http://bnn.de/lokales/bruchsal/tesla-schlaegt-in-sperrwand-ein the front tire is peeled off the rim. That could only have happened before the collision and is almost certainly caused by failure of the suspension. It would be almost impossible for the wheel to have turned a full revolution and peeled off the tire after the collision. The driver was seriously injured. Please take immediate action.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot. The following video has been released by tesla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puw_dmaq264 it shows the operator using the autopilot in unsuitable locations and in violation of road safety laws. This video is now all over the web with descriptions such as autonomous and self driving. Along with the claims by elon musk that autopilot is safer than a human driver this is encouraging reckless dangerous experimantation on the roads and putting lives at risk. Users are already using this video to justify their own use of the autopilot on undivided roads and with bicycle and pedestrian traffic because the video gives the impression that this is perfectly ok. Please halt this dangerous experiment before more lives are lost.
The tesla autopilot is not only a feature that does not work, it is seriously dangerous. The new version 8 software is actually more dangerous than version 7. The car regularly steers out of its lane and does not detect cars to either side that are less than 2 car lengths in front of the vehicle. The same defect applies to cars on its rear wings. I have had several instances where cars have either cut in front of my vehicle or have come very close to the side of the vehicle without the car adjusting or braking at all. I have given the feature many opportunities (>100) and can say for certain that it would have caused an accident on a significant percentage of occasions, if I had not intervened in time. The emergency braking feature is also ineffective, and only works in very limited circumstances. I can compare this to the audi system, which is excellent and fully functional. The issues are hardware related which tesla have just understood, announcing that future cars will have hardware that works. Existing vehicles will only get software upgrades that will not correct the issues. I have videos that show cars are not detected, so can prove it is impossible to fix with software. This must be considered a recall on the vehicle so that the feature can be corrected and the safety improved to acceptable levels. I have owned the vehicle since august, 2016 and the issues I have described have occurred between august and november., 2016. I am filing this complaint now as the system is labeled 'beta' so I was aware that improvements were needed. This week tesla announced that all new vehicles will have hardware that addresses the problems, but that this will not be replaced on existing vehicles.
This is how people are using the autopilot: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/unhappy-v8-reduced-autopilot-capabilities unhappy with v.8 reduced autopilot capabilities submitted by adam.smith on november 14, 2016 I understand why they have done it but by dumbing down autopilot and reducing its capabilities you might just as well buy a car you have to drive yourself for far less money! @adam.smith - there is a solution. 14 ounces of weight on the left or right side of the steering wheel will eliminate the nag entirely. You can do this any number of ways. I experimented with fishing weights and a velcro wrap to determine that 14 ounces does the trick,12 ounces mostly clears the nag, but 14 kills it entirely. The weight must be placed on the spoke at the outer end, near the rim. I then progressed to using 14 ounces of stick-on wheel weights. However, they are bigger than necessary and have issues sticking on the back of the steering wheel. My next experimental solution was to cut two layers of 1/8" thick sheet lead to fit tightly on the back of the steering wheel spoke, wrapped slightly to catch the top and bottom of the spoke. It is finished with plasti-dip so the lead doesn't spoil anything. The weight is easily removed when not in use. Products for switching off the nag here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b00is5eez6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s... Https://www.amazon.com/performix-11203-multi-purpose-coating-aerosol/dp/... Please stop this madness.
How much more evidence do you need to prove that the tesla autopilot is unsafe? Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/autopilot-failed-to-notice-a-bus-today.78833/ autopilot failed to notice a bus today location:sacramento, ca stopped at an intersection behind a bus today at a red light. Decided to look for some new music so I turned autopilot on, seeing as how I couldn't see the red/green light and that'd tell me when to pay attention (car starts moving... Don't tell me you guys never use it for this, either!). Was at a complete stop about two car lengths from the bus. Engaged ap. Car immediately lurched forward. Hit brakes fast, which fortunately my foot was already over the pedal as I'd been previously stopped. Sat for a second confused. I'm now about a car length from the bus. Verified my ap was set to 4 car lengths. Engaged again. Car immediately shot forward, hit brakes. Car displayed the warning that an object was in front of me. I am pretty confident that either the car would have emergency braked or I would have hit the bus had I left it engaged. It definitely pulled forward full-power like it does if the person in front of you changes lanes and the lane is otherwise clear. It definitely made me think of all those people who accidentally drove into buildings and such and the little reaction time they must have had to figure out what was going on. I'm quite aware of how close ap will take you when stopped. The behavior was abnormal -- not only did this not seem to care that I was already quite close, it accelerated immediately and rapidly when engaging and gave no indication it would quit. Typically engaging it while stopped or behind someone will move forward very slightly if at all once you're already close.
Tesla autopilot vesion 8 is still placing lives at risk. Just read the owners comments on the forums. Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/8-0-lost-or-degraded-capabilities.77927/page-9 [xxx], wednesday at 5:10 am new autopilot is definitely more dangerous in 8.0 than it was in 7.1. I have had several close-calls where if I had not taking over, I would have veered off the road, into another vehicle, or slammed into the back of a slow-moving vehicle in my lane in front of me. [xxx], today at 5:03 am I was driving yesterday with autopilot at about 80 MPH approaching stopped traffic (separation setting 7). As usual the car didn't start stopping in time and then when it did begin to stop it didn't apply the brakes hard enough to actually stop in time. Even the collision warning went off just as I began manually hitting the brakes. I don't know how we pass this info to tesla but that surely was not optimal. Ap is definitely smoother in terms of acceleration and deceleration, but I can't use it as I seriously fear for my life. Not good. [xxx], tuesday at 5:17 am well - finally updated and took a 200 mi trip. Aesthetically pleasing to me but functionality took a couple of steps back. Running ap I had 3 occasions where ap swerved another direction. I am confident that had I not been holding the wheel there was great potential for an accident. Several occasions when the car quickly slowed down and came back up to speed with nothing nearby. Navigation was all messed up. Had me doing loops and cutbacks adding many miles had I blindly followed it. Not even going to mention the audio and lack of waypoints, etc....and the new frequency of the nag is annoying. The car remains awesome, but this stuff is going to bite them in the [xxx] if they can't get their act together. Please can you ensure that tesla has some adult supervision. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Tesla has created a monster in the form of autopilot. The following quote from an owner explains it perfectly. -- green1, today at 4:19 am new mdmgso47 said: ↑ so you can put the top of one thigh under the steering wheel to keep the wheel from turning and you are good?--- that's actually more likely to work than using your hands. If I use my hands one of 2 things happens: 1) it doesn't detect my hands because I'm either gripping the wheel lightly, or am making the same corrections the car is to stay in the lane, or 2) I grip the wheel firmly and steer against the autosteer and it disengages autosteer, and usually swerves out of the centre of the lane. 1) will cause me to lose the ability to use autosteer after the nags put me in the penalty box 2) is dangerous, and will cause me to lose the ability to use autosteer after I disengage it trying to satisfy the nag I chose option 3) don't add nags to a system that worked perfectly well before them, and which I own so tesla has no right to remove features from.--- https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/red-hands-of-shame.77954/page-2 --- please ban this experimental autopilot before more lives are lost.
This is another complaint about the autopilot version 8.0 here is a new video that has just been uploaded to youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3lurr6loq tesla 8.0 software autopilot radar change review the owner has just downloaded the new software. He complains that he is disappointed he now might have to keep hands on the wheel because then what is the point of having autopilot? He tests it out on local roads with no solid barrier against oncoming traffic. He passes oncoming cars and a line of trees whilst driving hands and feet off for 90% of the time. He expresses a belief that the radar now makes the system safer. Elon musk has stated that the use of radar in version 8.0 means that the fatal crash under a truck would probably not have happened with the new version 8.0. Many owners are going to continue to drive hands free for 90% of the time. This is a giant step backwards for road safety. Please act quickly to prevent people being killed.
This is a complaint about the tesla autopilot upgraded version 8.0 it is clear from the many youtube videos already posted that owners are now placing even more trust in the autopilot because they believe that the radar and other enhancements make it safer than before. Also the message to hold steering wheel is still being ignored and owners are operating hands free for more than 3 minutes at a time while fiddling with the display screen and taking their eyes off the roads. I will give you links to videos that have already been posted and I am sure that there is even worse behavior happening off the camera. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isz3fsbe_pg owner testing how long he can drive hands free before autopilot is disabled https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g42wdku11k8 using autopilot on local roads rather than freeways with a solid barrier against oncoming traffic, much of the time hands free. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7jnhfwz3ec hands free, overconfident and using autopilot in inappropriate circumstances. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrm0e5zo4kq using autopilot on freeway but with a lot of hands free time and fiddling with touch screen. There are also comments on the videos that the autopilot braking is left until the last moment and that owners fear it will not stop in time. Then they say that they learn to trust it after a while this leaves little time to react if the system fails. I believe that the inquiry into autopilot should not only look at the performance of the hardware and software but more importantly at the human factor. I believe that this deceptively titled autopilot is causing drivers to behave in extremely dangerous ways and that this will certainly lead to more deaths.
This is another complaint about the tesla autopilot to try and bring attention to the danger posed to all road users. Here is a forum post discussing how to avoid the nag. Pedriscoll, today at 2:51 pm gavin.belson said: ↑ I have this exact same experience. I have always assumed that it's like this for everyone, but from some of the other posts in this thread, maybe I'm wrong. Do others find that simply resting their hands comfortably on the bottom of the wheel is sufficient to avoid the "hold steering wheel" prompt or to dismiss it when it appears? Https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/7-1-8-0-seems-like-an-update-for-teslas-legal-team-and-a-net-loss-for-customers.77702/page-6 "for me, even though I'm always holding the wheel, I still get the prompt on every curve, and I have to "jiggle" the wheel to make it go away. I keep one hand comfortably resting on the bottom of the wheel and never get a nag. This has been the same since ap was originally released for me. Interesting that others have a different experience" driving with one hand loosely gripping the bottom of the steering wheel is intrinsically unsafe. Coupled with the false sense of security created by autopilot, distraction, and sleepiness it means that the reaction time need to regain control in an emergency is dangerously increased. Please look at the overall picture of how autopilot is being used by owners, it cannot possibly be twice as safe as a human driver as elon musk has claimed.
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