needed to honk the horn to alert another driver of impending collision but the small button, now located to the right of the center of the steering wheels, is too hard to locate in a quick emergency situation. you look away , miss the button and set off wipers instead.,... shd be put back as pushable center
2023 Tesla Model S: windshield wiper failure
12 of the 115 complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model S describe windshield wiper failure.
- owner complaints
- 12
- of this car's complaints
- 10%
- recalls
- 0
Is there a fix? 1 service bulletin covers this area of the car. See below
Windshield wiper failure by model year
What owners say
On May 3, 2025, at approximately 2:00 PM EDT, while driving a 2023 Tesla Model S on a busy highway in a high-density retail area, a vehicle suddenly pulled out from a driveway into the vehicle’s path, requiring an immediate honk to alert the driver. Due to muscle memory, the center airbag cover of the standard steering wheel was pressed, expecting the horn to sound, as is typical in most vehicles. However, the Model S uses a small capacitive horn button on the right side of the steering wheel, which could not be located quickly. The failure to honk in this critical moment necessitated a swerve to the left to avoid a collision, nearly causing an accident with another vehicle in the adjacent lane, which was fortunately a few feet behind. The capacitive horn button’s design is counterintuitive and hazardous, requiring precise pressing that often distracts from driving. This incident nearly resulted in a serious collision due to the delayed response caused by the horn’s placement. Previous experiences include accidentally activating windshield wipers when attempting to honk, increasing distraction. A prior complaint was filed with the federal safety agency about this issue, noting Tesla’s 2022 statement that vehicles built after November 2021 would receive a software update to enable a center horn. This vehicle, built in December 2022, lacks the necessary hardware, and Tesla has offered only a costly retrofit as a solution. This design flaw poses a significant safety risk by violating intuitive driving habits. the federal safety agency is urged to investigate the Tesla Model S steering wheel’s horn design and mandate a recall or free retrofit to install a mechanical center horn, aligning with standard vehicle safety expectations.
Experienced severe phantom breaking on [XXX] in route to Las Vegas at 70mph September 2024. In heavy rain, while windshield wipers set to auto...........wipers have stopped momentarily blinding the driver, a problem Tesla hasn't fixed on my neighbors 2019 Model 3. The stalkless design prevents safe use of turn signals, horn and gear shifts. Wife who only drives an ICE car can not safely operate turn signals, horn and gear shifts in my 2023 Tesla Model S. Camera system constantly renders 'Blinded' error messages halting Autopilot features. Tesla's resolution is to clean camera's before initiating Autopilot. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
There is a design flaw in the functionality of the windshield wipers. Instead of the functionality being on a stalk like every other car, Tesla decided to make it a 2 step process. To operate the windshield wipers, you first have to press a capacitive button on the steering wheel and then you have to scroll a wheel on the steering wheel. The first problem is that the button to turn on the windshield wipers is a capacitive button that is not raised on the steering wheel - so the button moves as you turn the steering wheel and thus it is not in the same place all the time. This makes it very difficult and practically impossible to find the button without taking your eyes off the road to find the button on the steering wheel. The second problem is that once you find that button, you then have to find the scroll wheel on the other side of the steering wheel to then adjust the speed. So picture you are driving into a downpour. You instantly can't see because of the rain. Because you are turning slightly on the highway, you have to take your eyes off the road to find the button on the steering wheel. That will activate the wipers but only in intermittent mode. You then have to use the scroll wheel on the other side of the steering wheel to adjust the speed so it is continuous. And while the car does have an "auto" mode, I've owned 3 different Teslas over 9 years and it has never worked properly - often turning on the wipers on a day that is 100% sunny. The auto mode also doesn't work well when it is raining because it often doesn't sense the correct speed (so staying in auto mode is not a great solution). The correct solution would be to return the wiper functionality to a stalk on the steering column and most definitely not require 2 separate buttons/functions to use it. It is very dangerous having to take your eyes off the road when you enter a downpour or when you are in a drizzle situation and then it starts pouring because you need to do 2 things.
Tesla changed their steering wheel on later models because they know that not having the horn in the center of the steering wheel is very dangerous. Several times I tried to honk my horn in dangerous situations and I missed the horn icon and turned on the windshield wipers instead whose icon is next to it.There should be a recall of the older style steering wheels!
The horn on this car is a small button next to the windshield wiper button. I had a truck cut me off and tried to honk the horn and I pushed the windshield wiper button by mistake. The horn requires you to use your thumb and is very difficult to use in an emergency situation. My car is a 2023 with the steering wheel horn set up and now the 2024 Tesla model S has fixed this problem with a regular horn. I would like my steering wheel replaced with the 2024 steering wheel that has fixed this problem. Thank you.
I had a software update on my Tesla Model S for minor fixes (s/w version # 2024.14.9) and when I came to start the car the following systems are now working; 1/ All camera's are not working including review view camera. 2/ All ADAS systems are not working 3/ Windscreen wipers are not working 4/ Navigation is not working The biggest concern is the camera system and all the safety system associated with this are now not active on the car.
The Tesla has a very tiny horn button that is not in the center of the steering wheel. The button is off to the right with other buttons for the wipers and auto cruise. It is extremely hard to find in normal situations, but impossible to find in emergency situations because the button moves with the steering wheel. Someone tried to change lanes into me. I could not both honk and avoid him. Very scary and dangerous. I thought you should know.
There is a police report but I'm not in possession of it. Therefore I selected no below to get it passed this page. I recently sold my 2016 Tesla model S and purchased a 2023 Model S. Tesla has moved the horn on the Model S from the center where it can quickly be used in an emergency to a small icon to the right hand side of the steering wheel. This horn is impossible to use in an emergency. It is a gray icon with no physical or other attributes. The driver must take their eyes off the emergency, locate the small icon among 4 other icons on the black surface, then get your finger perfectly on it to press, otherwise you activate your wipers worsening a bad situation. I have been in several near accidents because of this. It includes an elderly couple who were t-boned directly in front of me. I was unable to use the horn which would prevented the accident. The elderly couple were injured with blood strewn in the car where her arm was gashed open. Even simple situations such as a car backing out of the space in a parking lot can't be quickly prevented. Tesla how has a steering "wheel" with the horn back in the middle where it can be safely used, but they refuse to refit the cars with the unsafe horn. I have pushed this issue with Tesla and they agree many people have complained about the the unsafe horn. Tesla states they will charge $2800 to fix the problem. This must be recalled to prevent many more accidents. It should have never been implemented.
Driving in a snow storm, and it requires complete visual attention to remain in lane and maintain a safe distance behind car in front. But you also need to manage wipers and defrost controls. Since this car has no console buttons and no stalk controls, adjusting anything requires looking away from the road for a significant length of time. Changing wiper setting requires using the right hand to press the correct steering wheel button (which requires looking at it) and then adjusting the settings with a scroll wheel using the left hand while watching the dashboard screen. Changing defrost setting requires invoking a menu button on the main screen, then visually locating the correct control on the screen. Again, significant time is spent looking away from the road, which in these conditions is hazardous. A second issue is with turn signals. Since there is no stalk control, turn signals are controlled using buttons on the steering wheel. When navigating a round-a-bout, the driver is required to use the turn signal to indicate the desire to exit. But the steering wheel is upside down, so the correct turn signal button cannot be located. I believe that this car is hazardous due to its lack of stalk controls and reliance on screen menus for normal operations. I am not allowed to do things on my phone screen when driving, yet this car requires me to do essentially that.
The activation of the horn using a small capacitive button on the right side of the steering wheel is a serious safety problem. I have had numerous near miss incidents that were closer than they should have been because I was unable to quickly locate and activate the tiny horn button. I've tried using the "whole palm" method described by the manufacturer, but my palm is so large, that it doesn't easily fit in the space between the air-bag cover and the wheel, and I just end up activating the windshield wipers (which makes things even worse!!) The CEO comment in 2021 that every vehicle manufactured after November 2021 had the necessary hardware to activate the horn by pressing on the air-bag cover (like most normal cars) and that only a firmware update was needed to make it available. However, it's now more than two years later, and the problem still has not been corrected.
There are several safety related issues with the 2023 Tesla Model S 1) The horn is a tiny raised marking on the steering wheel (right side), and not like in "normal" car where pushing/hitting the center of the steering wheel will activate the horn. This is unsafe, since in emergency the driver automatically hits the center, and does not have time to look for the time horn "button" 2) The turn signals are also "buttons" on the steering wheel. It's OK when the car drives straight, but if you turn the wheel to either side, the driver must LOOK at the wheel, find the turn signal and then press it. 3) The parking warning system works intermittently. I already have three big scratches on my car which I bought in June 2023, when the system was silence when I was getting out of a parking space, and I hit the car next to me. 4) The Auto wipers don't always work. I was driving at 60MPH in heavy rain. The wipers were working fine when all of a sudden they stopped and my field of vision was totally obstructed.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2023 Tesla Model S wipers
Is windshield wiper failure a common problem on the 2023 Tesla Model S?
12 of 115 owner complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model S (10%) mention windshield wiper failure. The model year with the most reports is 2023.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2023 Tesla Model S?
There are 0 recalls and 1 service bulletin for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
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