I took an exit form the highway on [XXX] towards Bothell. As Soon as I did and ended up coasting towards the first red light, all the warning signs came on on the car and my steering wheel locked up. And my braking also got reduced. Only thing that worked was the Acceleration pedal. I struggled to get the car towards any safety. There was a message on the dashboard saying that assisted steering is reduced will require more power. however it was locked. I tried with all my might to steer the car in any direction but it would not budge. I was super scared I was going to be in an accident. With the limited braking as well I had to find a curb in the road to be able to safely park the car or a slope where the car could slow to a halt. Luckily I was able to do that and slowed down. on a curb like area and then I was able to turn on the parking brake. On contacting support they told me to reset the car and in doing so it should bring back functions. However, it did not. This was extremely dangerous and I was very lucky to get out of this alive without harming anyone else as well. Had this happened on the highway I was a sure goner. They had to finally get the car towed from there. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
2023 Tesla Model X steering complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 46, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The horn button on the steering wheel is extremely dangerous. It is too hard to find it with my thumb in time, and has almost caused me to get into multiple accidents. When others cannot see me while yielding to traffic, I tried to honk and because there was no center haptic horn, I had to slam on the breaks. The horn should be in the center of the steering wheel. It is extremely unsafe as a tiny button because you cannot find it in time during an urgent traffic incident.
The horn button on the steering wheel is not mechanical and is located outside of the center steering wheel location. This poses a serious risk to driving as the horn button is very difficult to reach when turning the steering wheel.
After messaging Tesla due to noise and vibration, they reviewed the videos sent and preliminarily diagnosed the issue a control arm problem. They then stated that instead of having it assessed to determine the extent of the problem, that it was ok to drive and to wait 39 days in order for the problem to be assessed. I attempted to call Tesla they continually put me on hold for extended times up to 1 hour long without speaking to anyone. They state the manager call but none has called to follow up. I do not feel like driving with control arm issues is safe without having the car formally assessed. It is unclear why Tesla is pushing back on this. Waiting 39 days for this is unacceptable.
The steering wheel horn is a small button on the side rather than on the middle of the steering wheel. Because of this, in an emergency where I was about to be hit in a T-bone vehicle accident, I tried to hit the horn to alert the other driver but was not successful in doing so. I find it dangerous to not have the horn available on the middle of the steering wheel, or at minimum a more easily accessible button.
The horn placement on the steering wheel is on the side as a haptic touch button and not in the center of the steering wheel as an airbag horn switch, probably the only car and model with such button. It puts everyones safety at risk. If somebody is trying to make a bad merge into my lane and i have to honk in emergency , the hand by intuition goes to the center of steering wheel. Even if the hand goes to the side, because of emergency maneauver several buttons get pressed resulting in loss of precious time for me or the other driver to maneuver out of the lane, This happened with me today and i narrowly escaped the accident. This needs to be fixed ASAP before any bad thing happens with someone.
My Tesla vehicle is equipped with a yoke (instead of a steering wheel), and a small button for the horn on it. Last week while making a (legal) u-turn, another vehicle suddenly entered my lane. I tried to honk the horn to alert the driver, but given the awkward position of the yoke (in the middle of the u-turn) and off-center placement of the horn button, my hands could not find the horn button and I was unable to honk the horn in time. I came a few inches away from hitting the vehicle and sustaining thousands of dollars in damages. The placement of the horn button on the yoke is a serious safety issue, especially in such situations. I would like Tesla to replace it with a standard steering wheel with a horn in the middle.
In dense rush hour traffic at approximately 7:20pm EST [XXX], a bus started merging in my lane just on my side on [XXX] . The horn in the 2023 Tesla Model X is a tiny button located in proximity of the right hand scroll button on the wheel right spoke. It’s difficult to hit in an emergency and in attempt to signal the bus I probably hit the scroll wheel several times instead. Pressing the scroll wheel once activates the autopilot (“full self driving” in my case). The car shook and lurched likely due to the conflicting inputs of activating autopilot and braking (my guess) or for some other reason. The location of the horn as a tiny button on the steering wheel close to other buttons affecting the car steering response is extremely dangerous. I failed to signal the bus and I almost crashed my vehicle in confusion of the wheel shaking response. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Hello, this is a complain for the placement of the horn on the 2023 Tesla Model X. The horn is a button on the side of the steering wheel and it is very hard to use especially when the wheel is turned. I almost got into an accident because I couldn't honk and alert the other driver in time.
Safety hazard / concern over Horn Button on steering wheel as well as Turn Signal buttons. Not having a center horn has been challenging and dangerous as instinct is to press the center of the wheel and not look for the horn button in quick road hazard situations, merging traffic, etc.
The horn is a small button on the steering wheel vs a large horn in the middle of the steering wheel. In an emergency situation the horn requires thought to press. Time is not something you have in an emergency.
The horn is not mechanical and is not located in the center of the steering wheel. It is dangerous that it is a switch on the right side of the wheel. The horn is located next to the wiper switch and I have had multiple incidents where I could not initiate the horn and used the wipers. Tesla has a retrofit where they can put the horn in the middle and the newer models have it in the center of the wheel like traditional vehicles but are charging 2400+ for owners to get it corrected.
2023 Model X Plaid. All stalks and physical horns have been removed. They are now capacitive buttons on the steering wheel that move with the wheel, are not raised to find easier, and are difficult to find in emergencies. I was nearly in a head-on collision and couldn't find the horn fast enough so I had to swerve excessively to avoid getting hit. The other driver didn't even know I was there. The 2024 model now has a physical horn, but Tesla refuses to swap out mine citing "upgrade paths" I have less than 2000km on this car.
Horn button is not in center of steering wheel. This makes sounding of the horn by a driver less accessible in an emergency or urgent situation to avoid a collision, accident, or pedestrian. Please request a recall for a standard center horn location I'm the steering wheel.
Honk as a button instead of at the center. Came close calls a few times where accident could have been avoided if I am able to honk within split second. I kept pressing center of the steering wheel. Safety Recall should be made. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
While driving on interstate, a semi trailer began merging into my lane. I attempted to hit the horn and no response was produced by the car. The stoke steering wheel does not have a push horn, and requires a button. The hand mash is supposed to work per Elon Musk on X. I was unable to perform potentially impactful sound response to other vehicles. The horn should not be allowed to be a button as emergency situations do not allow a refocus.
I have driven this model x a few months now and there are many time I wasn’t able to put on turn signal and honk the horn due to design . The turn signal is activated by turn buttons in a very small area right next to each other. When needed , the button would cause a lot of confusion , for instance , if I want to put on left blinker I would accidentally put on right, it is especially true when trying to put on signal when the steering wheel is already turned, the only way to avoid false input is to physically looking at the turn signal buttons before put on the blinker , but it is very dangerous for you driving because you are taking your view from the road. Also the horn activation is also very dangerous , I have encountered some situation when the horn is required to gain attention from other drivers or even pedestrians, but when needed , I am either missed the horn button completely or would activated the windshield wipers instead due to its design. Just like turn signal I would have to take my eyes off the road to make sure the correct button was pushed . I think it is very dangerous. I hope there’s some recall available to retrofit traditional horn button in the center of the steering and a physical turn stalk . Thank you for reading this and I hope it’s a valid complaint and would result in some positive outcomes to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians.
The Model X steering wheel has a haptic horn button instead of the standard mechanical horn that every other car uses. This presents a huge safety issue because of the size and location of the haptic horn button and the fact that it's not a physical or mechanical button. On several occasions the horn has gone off unintentionally causing a road hazard and when an emergency situation arises, you must take your eyes off the road to look for the horn light. This puts my family and others drivers at extreme risk. Tesla appears to have acknowledged the problem because they have since switched back to a mechanical horn, however they refuse to replace our group of drivers horns under warranty. I am submitting this safety because I believe it is a danger to all drivers that the emergency horn is unable to be accessed when needed. Thank you
The horn's position on the steering wheel is not fixed, leading to instances where it fails to alert other vehicles or passengers in potentially dangerous situations. For example, there was one occasion where a vehicle approached from the opposite direction, necessitating the use of the horn, but I struggled to locate it as the steering wheel was turned at a 90-degree angle. Additionally, the horn button itself is quite small. The turn signal indicators have caused issues in multiple scenarios due to difficulty in locating the switch. This often occurs when needing to signal a quick left-right or right-left maneuver, especially when the steering wheel is already turned in the opposite direction
The horn on the Model X is a tiny button on the steering wheel. This is a safety issue and not instinctual in the event of an emergency.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to address this issue. As you may already be aware, the honk button is not centrally located on the steering wheels of Model X or S vehicles. This has led to several instances where cars backing up in parking lots have nearly collided with my vehicle because I instinctively honk to alert them. Tesla has recently redesigned the honk button, moving it to the center instead of the touch thumb button on the right side. I strongly urge Tesla to consider replacing the steering wheel to place the honk button at the center for improved safety. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.
Issue is with Tesla Full Self Driving subscription for $199/month and is available for inspection. No warnings or symptoms were indicated. The vehicle recommended I re-enable the service every time the vehicle restarted after it was shut off. Tesla's phone support stated the following is normal expected behavior, so an inspection isn't needed: 1. Automatically changed lanes on interstate into the space occupied by another vehicle multiple times. Thankfully, crashes were avoided by attentive drivers of involved vehicles. 2. Confused "40 MPH Minimum Speed" signs for speed limit, resulting in over 30 instances were speed was drastically and suddenly reduced, without warning, every time the sign appeared. 3. Automatically changed lanes on interstate from rightmost lane to center lane despite no traffic present. This seems to be a default behavior that cannot be adjusted. 4. Disabled cruise control and lane keeping assist when driver overrode automated systems (accelerated, braked, manually adjusted steering) to avoid a crash. Kept these systems disabled as a punishment until driver parked car and restarted.
The yoke steering wheel had multiple issues ranging from cosmetic to skipping sometimes while turning. To the best of my knowledge, based on talking to Tesla Service professionals, Tesla is aware of this problem and has internally created a document to change these yokes, but it is not doing as regularly as it should. The service staff refuses to clarify the conditions of warranty repair for this faulty part, and I suspect a major incident can happen with these Yokes failing.
My steering wheel doesn't have a usable horn functionality. There is a subtle button on the side of the wheel, which isn't even a physical button, and it's very small in size. My wife and I had a few situation already where we couldn't do a horn signal quickly enough and we barely escaped an accident in those cases. The existing horn button is very hard to use, it's placed non-intuitively, it's impossible to find without looking at the steering wheel, and it's very hard to use when the steering wheel isn't positioned straight. All other cars I driven over my lifetime had a horn right in the center of the steering wheel, which is the most obvious and usable placement, given the urgency of the situation when drivers are supposed to use it.
Steering wheel does not have a center horn button which is a defacto standard on every car. Sounding horn is by a small button on the side of the steering wheel. It would be difficult or slower to sound the horn in an emergency without a central button.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while accelerating up an incline, an abnormal grinding sound was coming from the steering wheel while making right turns. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla Service Center where the mechanic informed the contact there was no issue with the vehicle and the noise was normal. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 300.
The touch sensitive horn button on the right side of the steering wheel is dangerous. It cannot be located and used in time to avoid a collision, and may cause an accident by requiring the driver to take eyes off road in order to look down and locate the small half inch area to press in order to engage horn. This is a DANGEROUS design defect I cannot safely operate vehicle without a Center push horn on the wheel. I have asked Tesla for a replacement to a safer steering wheel and they refuse.
I find the horn button on the side of the steering to be dangerous. When in an emergency I find it very difficult to locate the horn button when the steering is not at it's regular position. I think the horn should be at the center. The manufacturer should replace the steering with another that has a horn in the center of the steering.
The electronic horn fitted to my steering wheel is dangerous and needs to be recalled. I was driving and a car was heading towards me from the side and was not slowing down. I went to use the horn to tell the driver I was there, but because it's not a mechanical horn (it's a slippery plastic, not even a button), I could not find it in time. The car nearly hit me and I had to swerve. A horn should be able to be reached instinctively to warn another driver in a critical safety situation. The driver should not have to look down to the steering wheel, find a shiny piece of plastic, and 'rub' it to hope it works. Those milliseconds are crucial. Tesla are now sending newer versions of my car WITH a mechanical horn, so they clearly have realized the mistake. This steering wheel needs a recall and free replacement.
I have been in situations where braking and steering isn’t really an option but honking is to let the other driver know where i am at. A button horn on steering wheel, is unintuitive and difficult to use and difficult to find in situations of emergency when every second matters. Happened to me when i was entering a parking lot while the other driver was backing up from his parking without looking behind. i was unable to alert the driver via honking as I didn’t want to waste precious time finding horn button, so the only option for me was to speed up to get out of his way. That i felt was a dangerous manoeuver given the small space. Having a standard car horn in the middle of the steering wheel is safe and easy to use. I hope my complaint is taken into consideration.
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