The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the Forward Collision Avoidance system became inoperable. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance feature failed to activate, almost resulting in a crash with another vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated that the back over collision avoidance system was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that the front radar and bracket had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact expressed a concern that the failure posed a significant safety hazard, as the Forward Collision Avoidance was inoperable. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 66,573.
2017 Tesla Model S driver assistance complaints
Page 2 of 5: complaints 11 to 40 of 101, newest first, as owners wrote them.
While merging onto the highway an error message showed up on the dash stating "Steering Assist May be Reduced" upon immediately after the steering froze and could only be moved slightly using significant force. Approx. 75lbs. I am athletic and work out and had trouble moving the car to the side. If my wife or daughter had driven the car they would not have been able to steer and this could have caused a significant accident, injury or death. Upon pulling over, I rebooted both computers on the Tesla Model S 75 D and the problem went away. I immediately drove to the Tesla dealer in Chesterfield, MO. There they seemed unconcerned, and advised me it was likely just a firmware issue and wouldn't be able to look at the car until the next week. I was shocked. Since the systems seemed to work I drove home and parked the car. On the driveway, the same error showed up and steering seemed again to lock up. After rebooting problem went away. Looking at the Tesla forums this seems to have happened before and poses a serious danger to the driver, occupants and fellow drivers on the road. I no longer feel safe driving the car.
Software 2025.14.1, Full Self Driving 12.6.4 (FSD). Vehicle when using FSD continuously slows to 10 MPH below the speed limit. You can manually press the accelerator to speed up but FSD will not brake when doing so and warns you of the same. After a minute of being back at the speed limit, FSD again slows down. Repeat this process constantly. Very dangerous.
Using software version 2025.14.1 with FSD (Full Self Driving) version 12.6.4. About 50% of the time the vehicle attempts and fails to change lanes when using FSD. It will: 1. Turn on signal and not change lanes, confusing cars around me. Or more often 2. Swerve between lanes indefinitely. See example at [XXX] It drives like a drunk driver. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Stoped at intersection. While trying to engage signal lights, hit the stalk below that engages full self driving. Car immediately jumped into intersection .in front of another car and almost collided. Since the last update, Cars with my configuration wave been acting irradely and it is not safe to use FSD.
Car auto accelerated in parking lot structure. Hit column; air bags did not deploy so no injury to me, the driver. Dealer refuses to confirm the data to support their conclusion that driver was at fault. Vehicle inspected by dealer owned collision center and dealer related insurance company. No warning or messages prior to auto acceleration.
I used Summon on [XXX] to bring my car to me because it was parked way at the end of the parking lot at Discount tire. There was only 1 car in the whole lot, which was parked next to my Tesla. While using the “come to Me” feature in Summon – My Tesla pulled forward and then turned and drove right in to the car parked next to mine. It did quite a bit of damage to my Tesla and the Mercedes parked next to me it ran into. When I called my local Tesla Service Center in Austin to ask what I am supposed to do, they told me they needed to run diagnostics to see if they can fix the “summon” issue. After running diagnostics they blamed the issue on the wrap I have on my car. They did not test the sensors obviously though, because they work fine through the wrap. Not to mention that Tesla offers wraps from the factory now. They also stated that Summon was aborted due to collision, so it did report their was a wreck. Repair Notes: The proximity sensors on the vehicle are being obstructed by the vehicle wrap, which results in interference or compromised sensor functionality. This interference can disrupt the accurate detection of surrounding objects, impacting the vehicle’s ability to engage safety features like autopark. Data analysis reveals that the autopark function was aborted during collision, due to the seat belt not being fastened at the time of the incident. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I activated Tesla's Smart Summon feature on the 2017 Tesla Model S to autonomously drive from the parking spot to the front entrance of the restaurant where I was waiting. Pulling out of the spot (my car was back in), the vehicle prematurely turned and contacted the front bumper of the adjacent vehicle (also backed in). My vehicle proceeded for a few feet causing severe damage to my driver side and the other vehicles bumper. I entered my vehicle and pulled away from other vehicle which is still in contact with. Take document with photos, I returned my vehicle to the location where it occurred (except not in contact). See photos. I contact that evening and they spent the next week investigating. They disavow and responsibility and said I was supposed to monitor the progress. The incident took a few second and there was not time to react to avoid damage.
Computer software failure. Intermittent problem that started with a recent software update. When backing out of a parking space, car will move a few feet then go into park and set the parking brake. Putting car back into reverse allows the car to move about 2 feet then the parking brake re engages. This has repeated more than 6 times in the process of backing out of a parking space. (There was at lease 3' of clearance to the sides of the vehicle and nothing behind the vehicle.) This is very dangerous when backing out of a diagonal parking space that is along the side of a busy road. I have scheduled Tesla service for the soonest appointment which is 2 weeks from now.
While using the summon feature from my iPhone with the Tesla application my car drove into my house causing damage. I have video of this from my camera doorbell of the incident. I work in mobile application development and was told this was user error by Tesla when it first occurred.
Approaching my garage door as it was opening when the car suddenly accelerated smashing through the garage door, through the back wall of the garage, through the laundry room and finally stopped in the main bedroom with the front wheels off the ground as the car rested on top of the washing machine.
See attached document for complaint
Full Self driving did not show signs of slowing down at Everett traffic slow down from about 60 miles to a standstill. I realized the speed not slowing down (about 5 car distance from stopped distance) I tried to apply the brakes that were completely nonresponsive, instead the car sped up. I avoided backend collision with the first car be maneuvering to the shoulder, however the next car was parked halfway into the shoulder that didn't leave enough room to not hit it. The car hit two other cars before coming to a full stop. While checking for any injuries for myself and passenger, after a delay and hitting 3 cars the airbags uselessly deployed. Total failure of brakes, auto emergency braking and airbag deployment. I have requested Tesla to look into the logs but havent gotten any feedback.
I received a safety recall dated 2/8/2024, recall no 23V‑838. Tesla has failed to remedy the defect & claims a remedy is not necessary. Specifically, I took my vehicle to Tesla on 3/18/2024 to update vehicle software to incorporate additional autosteer controls. See attachment: "Repair notes: "No update necessary", despite the vehicle running a software version less than 2023.44.30 as specified in the Recall Notice.
Autopilot drove me off the road during turning right on Hwy 183 on April 4, 2023. 9:04 pm. My tesla Model S was on Autopilot and Car went off the road during right turn and about to hit the red light pole.
Tesla has failed to provide the software updates to fix the recalls on my and ALL other MCU1 cars that have FSD paid for. This is because Tesla has not delivered sent FSD to these cars, and hopes owners will pay $2,000 to upgrade to MCU2. Tesla has LIED that all cars with FSD paid for will be upgraded to the required hardware necessary to use FSD. This has now became a safety issue as recalls are not being addressed!! Tesla States vehicles should be running software version 2023.44.30 or later... We are stuck at 2022.8.10!
Recall 23V‑838; TC2023-657. Tesla not providing software update for recall from last year. I can't get an update for this recall unless I pay $2000 for MCU2.
5 times on a cross country trip, I experienced the phenomenon of "phantom braking" . As I was driving with Adaptive Cruise on, doing approximately the speed limit, the brakes were automatically applied and the car started to rapidly slow down. Luckily there was no one behind me so I was not rear ended ! I immediately took the car to the local Tesla service center thinking there was a problem with the car, but they told me this is a know issue with no solution at present. One tech told me he has a Tesla himself and has experienced the same issue ! He told me that he just punches the accelerator and keeps on driving !
The screen that shows the rear view camera turns on intermittently when engaged. It will often not turn on when shipped to reverse. The sentry system has stopped working as well as the main screen will shut off while driving from time to time, which removes the ability to turn on any heat or air, defroster etc... This was a previous recall and I am a new purchaser of the vehicle. I notified Tesla, they stated that they see where it is having issues but it was already recalled and fixed and any new fixes are no longer under the recall.
The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while reversing at 5 MPH, the back over prevention camera showed a completely black screen. The dealer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,000.
1. Previously listed Recall has been erroneously removed from Recall history for my VIN. I had tried to escalate this via Email and Twitter with no response from the federal safety agency, Sources: https://www.tesla.com/support/recall-fsd-beta-driving-operations Note: The remedy is not yet available for vehicles with NVIDIA® Tegra® and will deploy OTA once the software is available. 2. The car continues to make unsafe lane changes during left or right turns and struggles to make a smooth turn and is hazard for vehicles behind the car when making such turns as it makes suddent stops.
During a road trip (May 2023) with cruise control activated, I had at least 5 phantom braking events. The most serious was in Las Vegas on the freeway with a very severe braking event. I now no longer use cruise control in crowded traffic so that I won't get rear ended when a phantom braking event happens.
An issue with "Pahtom Breaking." My Tesla Model S has suffered from phantom breaking since I purchased the vehicle. I have repeatedly mentioned it to Tesla repair representatives and am still waiting for a fix. The risks exceed those of operating a car—a danger to me and others on the road. Vehicles following me have no idea that my truck will randomly slam on the breaks. Even if following a "safe" distance, the Tesla stops so fast that driving at highway speeds, others cannot react in time to prevent an accident. This is an undone and unknown burden for other drivers as it is for me. Tesla must step up to the plate and correct this before people die.
When using the automated cruise control or full self driving, it will unexpectedly phantom brake. Seems to happen more when there is full sun. I have the latest updates. Did much better when cloudy, but it would still phantom break a few times during a 12 hour trip. But when in full sun, it did brake 10+ times.
The car, which was equipped by Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta software v11.3.3, attempted to make a premature left lane change in preparation for a left turn at the light, which almost put me in front of a pickup truck waiting in the center turn lane. Please find the attached dash cam video on this link: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e9EMY-_AQSWXtCRe9YedeE7A
This alert is about "phantom braking", which is well known to Tesla owners, and the subject of much online discussion among owners who seem to all experience this and are furious that it continues to exist. Here's what happens, very, very often yet: with adaptive cruise control engaged (with or without "autopilot", ie 'autosteer' also engaged), the brakes are applied suddenly without any need for braking (no objects in the way of travel, etc). We just completed a trip on I-94 from Billings/Red Lodge, Montana across North Dakota, where phantom braking was experienced probably 50 times, with no other vehicles ahead of us, and on perfectly dry pavement, etc. There had also been very dangerous icy conditions (lots of even "skating rink ice") on the stretch of I-94 in Montana, from Billings into North Dakota. Had the phantom braking occurred on one of the sporadic ice patches further east, it could have easily caused a serious accident, not just been a scary nuisance. In situations with heavy traffic, phantom braking could easily result in rear-end collisions by cars that may be following too close to react before we, the Tesla drivers, override the phantom braking by hitting the accelerator--even that simple maneuver cannot be executed before the car has suddenly decelerated 10-20 mph or more. Some of the phantom braking seems to have been somewhat corrected where we'd first encountered it, on I-394 west of dntn Minneapolis--it doesn't happen as often now as it did a few years ago. There we'd suspected it may have been triggered by the shadows cast on the pavement ahead of us by overhead bridges. But this rash of events across North Dakota this week brought our worst memories and fears back with a vengeance--and with zero theories that could explain it. On a recent online discussion about this issue, there were several pleas for Tesla to give us a "dumb cruise control" option till this gets fixed. Please help foster solutions to this difficult situation! Thank you.
I have a video taken from the front camera of my Tesla S showing the entire incident that I can upload. On Dec 26, 2022 my beta FSD was engaged. The Tesla made a left hand turn onto the highway and then erratically ran off the road jumping the curb on a university sidewalk damaging wheels and tires. I suffered a right knee contusion from the impact of the hit.
On December 26, 2022 I was driving my Tesla S 2017. Full self driving was engaged. I have a video of the car footage showing the incident in full detail. The car took a left onto a 2 lane road and then without warning ran off the road hitting the curb and a metal drain. The force was so great that I suffered a contusion to my right knee from hitting the under side of the dash.
I have reported several comparable incidents that this recent article describes https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/22/tesla-crash-full-self-driving-mode-san-francisco?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other to Tesla in 2020. Our Model S doesn't have full-autonomy software, and in our case the described "braking for no reason" happen in cruise-control mode, without the (semi) auto-pilot engaged. In one of our incidents the sudden emergency-like braking caused a rear-end collision with the car behind me, it was however light enough that no visible damage was caused to either vehicle. We had paid $5,000 for the (semi) auto-pilot feature when we purchased the vehicle in 2017. I reported these incidents to Tesla (I have the emails and their responses) and after several rejections from Tesla that the issues were not reproducible I asked them to take the vehicle back (trade-in) and remove it from the streets because it was unsafe to drive. I further argued that I can't sell this vehicle to someone with good conscience without letting them know that they should not use cruise control. Tesla never acknowledged an issue and also never took ownership of the problem, we are still driving this vehicle today. I'm available to provide further detail if needed.
On 10/25/2022 at approximately 2:54pm I was traveling north on I-5 through Salem Oregon in the middle lane. Autopilot was engaged as I approached slower traffic 1 block in front of me in the middle lane. A pickup was approx 1 block behind me in the left lane. I activated the left turn signal. The vehicle initiated the transition from middle to left lane. Halfway between both lanes the vehicle applied hard braking action while continuing forward halfway between lanes. I tried to take over with application of the accelerator and force on the steering wheel to return to the middle lane. The steering wheel fought against me and the vehicle made a series of s-turns while braking. I tapped on the brake pedal and the system deactivated. The vehicle decelerated from 65-70mph to what I would guess to be 20-25mph with maximum braking (objects in the cockpit flew forward). The pickup behind me was very close when I regained control. If any vehicles had been closer or had the roadway been slick, the incident could have caused a major accident. I filed a ticked with Tesla and they advised this was known as a "phantom braking" event. There is no known fix, timeline for a fix, or mechanism to advise when there is a resolution. Tesla closed the service request. I'm a commercial pilot (former Part 135 Captain) and former flight instructor. I've been driving for 38 years with zero accidents. I have not used the Tesla autopilot since this incident. It is not safe in the current configuration. Tesla tech characterized the vehicle response as "conservative". There is no reason for maximum braking when nothing is in front of the vehicle. I would like Tesla to provide me with updates on resolving whatever is causing this. I would like Tesla to provide notification when the software patch is applied. Until such point in time when I'm notified the trouble is resolved, I will not be using the autopilot. Tesla charged several thousand dollars for this system.
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