2012 TESLA MODEL S Recalls, Complaints & Safety

In the evening of [XXX] of this year, the driver door airbag in my 2012 Tesla Model S self-deployed as I opened the car door to exit after parking in my garage. I brought the car to the Tesla dealer in Buena Park California, and they told me they could not fix it because the car’s warranty had already expired. I was not concerned about getting it fixed for free under warranty, but wanted Tesla to acknowledge that this was a serious safety hazard and what could be done to prevent this from happening again, seriously injuring me or someone else driving my car. My concern is that the dealership implied that the owner’s/driver’s safety is not Tesla’s responsibility after the warranty period ends. The dealership did not comment any further. A search on Reddit shows that airbag self-deployments during normal driving situations (non-accident) is not an isolated incident, but Tesla‘s airbag problems do not seem to have been well-publicized so that other Tesla owners or potential buyers can be made aware of this potential safety hazard. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Motor is starting to make sounds and according to teslamotorsclub.com the motor will fail eventually. Many have to had to have the motor switched out multiple times. It is quite evident that there was a design flaw which Tesla corrected in later years.

The drive unit has water damage from normal driving. The car never went through deep water or was flooded, but the tech at the service center is saying the units are sealed but still can get water in them and corrode. How can a vital sealed part of the vehicle be damaged by normal driving and claim water damage? The car operated just fine the day before. Please advise.

I tried to start the car and got the “Center Display unavailable” message. Reset the computer doesn’t help. I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the system to be on.

I charge my Model S on a 30 amp circuit with the car location amperage set to 20 amps to avoid overheating the circuit. Around Sept 12 while plugged in to the 30 amp, the car pulled in 50 amps off the line causing a melting of the wires and a near fire based on the damages later found. The car is supposed to send charging error alerts or problems via the Tesla app. Instead it continued to try to pull power out of the burnt line for 11 days all the while further depleting the battery. I discovered my car a 0% battery range with a dead 12 volt as well just as it had depleted and discovered the burnt up wires. I charged the 12 volt and got the car to take a charge. The 20 amp charge setting upon starting the car had changed itself to 50 amps. I lowered the setting and began charging the car. I was then able to move my car to a faster 50 amp circuit because the 120 v 10 amp circuit was going to take 3-4 days to charge the car or longer. I plugged the car into the 50 amp circuit set at 40 amps and let the car charge. An update was then pushed to the car. After the update completed. I got a charging error message via the app. I went to the screen and checked my charger. My Gen 2 wall charger indicated an overvoltage error and my car screen showed it tried to pull 80 amps off my 50 amp circuit. I lowered the amps back down and reset my wall charger. It appears after updates or at random, the car is changing the charge amps and sometimes exceeding the amperage the outlets and wires can provide. If the in house breaker or circuit in the wall charger doesn't trip, the car will pull in more amps than the circuit can handle and may cause a fire. This is a dangerous potential problem that I luckily narrowly avoided. I contacted Tesla about this issue. The car is set for evaluation at my expense since it is out of warranty. I have burnt wires, almost lost my high voltage battery to zero'ing its charge, and could have lost my shop or life.

Both the 12 volt system and High voltage battery system or a component communicating between the two failed. I received a warning message that my vehicle may not restart and within 30 seconds it completely shutdown while driving in the middle of the road. The vehicle was essentially dead weight at this point. None of its features worked, the ability to unlock it, the ability to use electronic doors and windows functions could not be performed. it could not even be jumped to start the computer enabling it to be towed or put in neutral to even remove the vehicle from the roadway. The manufacturer has confirmed an inner fault within the High Voltage battery pack. I have since purchased and replaced this entire battery pack as it was said to be unserviceable.

I appears that Tesla had capped my battery. I have lost significant range for no reason and they have no explanation.

The vehicle was not experiencing display or review view camera display issues but was out of caution serviced nuder Manufacturer Recall Number SB2121001 (NHTSA Recall Number 21V035) for no charge. The vehicle is not under warranty. There was no charge for the initial "repair". When the vehicle was returned, the rear view camera did not function (black screen and/or serious flicker when video was partially displayed). Also bubbles were introduced into the front display panel. On questioning the repair, I was strongly encouraged by technician and then by manager to get an updated "infotainment with an upgraded MCU" (which is unclear but perhaps a superset of the VCM and display components that are under recall), for a cost of $2000 and $500 for it to include FM radio (that I already have and always worked fine). The manager offered a deal for $1000 + $500 to include FM radio. An appointment was set up and the estimate for approval was $1500 for "infotainment upgrade" and $500 for "Radio upgrade", and $120 taxes for a total of $2120.00 I will cancel the upgrade and inquire again if the recall work is able to return the vehicle in working order without it needing a $2000 upgrade to resolve an issue related to loss of viability and backup camera (cited under the recall) and to charge me $500 for an FM radio I already have that works fine.

MCU failure after 12 months replacement that I paid for at time of replacement. Service center cannot schedule a service for 2 weeks.

As the car drains the battery pretty quickly, I have turned on energy saving mode. In this mode the car enters a deeper sleep, consuming less power. Sometimes in this mode when starting the vehicle, the turn signals will not work (this appears to happen when the car sits for a while and the miles left on the battery is under 120 or so). After a quick stop (2 minutes out of the car), the turn signals will start working, and the driver display will show the blinking turn signal when they work, but it will not display when they do not work. Another issue is that after entering the car and "turning it on", by pressing the break, sometimes the driver display (which shows speed and current drive mode, PRND indicator) will be blank, not showing any information, despite the ability to operate the car, etc.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The contact stated that the center display screen failed to operate as needed. The dealer had been notified about the recall; however, the contact was informed that he did not qualify for the recall despite having received a letter for the recall. The manufacturer had not been notified of the issue. The contact stated that recently the center display screen started to operate as needed. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle independently shifted to neutral. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that they could not duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure recurred daily while driving whenever he depressed the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer. The dealer informed the contact that the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The contact stated that the center display screen failed to operate as needed. The dealer had been notified about the recall; however, the contact was informed that he did not qualify for the recall despite having received a letter for the recall. The manufacturer had not been notified of the issue. The contact stated that recently the center display screen started to operate as needed. The failure mileage was approximately 51,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle independently shifted to neutral. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that they could not duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure recurred daily while driving whenever he depressed the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer. The dealer informed the contact that the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.

This is related to NHTSA recall 21V-035. Tesla replaced the 8Gb memory card with a 64Gb memory card (so I'm told) but the main car display screen still does not function most of the time. This results in; -unavailability of the rearview camera display -defrost/defog control settings unavailable for purposes of ensuring visibility -and exterior turn signal lighting may increase the risk of a crash I've had this to Tesla twice now but it has not been fixed.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle made an abnormal grinding noise without warning. The contact had taken the vehicle to a service center where they replaced the drive unit under warranty. Recently, the contact had taken the vehicle to a service center for the recall repair for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting). The day after the recall repair was performed, several unknown warning lights appeared on the EMMC while driving at various speeds. One of the messages that appeared on the EMMC was for the "loss of power voltage to the system, take the vehicle to a nearest service center". Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed back to the service center where he was informed that his drive unit needed to be replaced again. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 110,380.

I recently had my Tesla Model S serviced due to the touchscreen going blank (losing functionality of defrosting, temperature, sunroof, and a list of other issues). Driving with a fogged up window is dangerous. Thank you to the NHTSA for forcing Tesla to replace it free of charge. Unfortunately, it appears that Tesla is not replacing it with a new unit. Instead it is a refurbished unit. Just days after servicing I got in the car to drive and the following error comes up on the touchscreen: "Center display memory storage device is degraded. Without repair, center display may enter limited functionality mode and only display rear view camera. When in limited functionality mode, it may be required to press brake for 30 seconds or press key fob unlock to authorize drive. Please use the Tesla Mobile App to schedule service." I find this quite troublesome and felt it worthy to apprise the NHTSA that Tesla is clearly not abiding by its requests.

The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal humming sound detected coming from the drive unit. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed that the drive unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.

Tesla has rejected my claim for repayment for the emmc repair that I paid for that was performed by their Toledo, OH Service Center prior to the recall. I've tried contacting them as outlined in their recall correspondence but haven't received an explanation as to why I don't qualify. The repair was performed on 8/28/2020 on repair order#3000s0001353764.

In December 2018 our 2012 Tesla Model S experienced a failure that was later identified as part of a recall. Tesla Service replaced the MCU at our expense - a bill that ran to more than $2400. When the recall was announced it was claimed that owners would be reimbursed for expenses related to the recall, but we have been unable to get Tesla to acknowledge the claim. Their automated site claims we have no covered repairs, and all attempts to contact Tesla support are rebuffed with form letters directing us to the same automated service.

eMMU seem to have caused "Console display not available error"

I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY OVER THE HILL THE VEHICLE SHUT DOWN ON ME AND IT WAS 43% ON THE BATTERY AND IT KEEPS SHOWING THE YELLOW ON THE DASH SAYING THAT BATTERY IS OVERHEATING

I REACHED OUT TO TESLA ABOUT THE EMMC RECALL. I BOOKED AN APPOINTMENT, PROVIDED PHOTOS OF VARIOUS BLACKOUT, SCREEN FREEZING AND LOSS OF CONNECTIVITY ISSUES. TESLA INSTRUCTED ME TO UPDATE THE FIRMWARE (WHICH I DID) AND CANCELLED MY APPOINTMENT AND TOLD ME I DID NOT TO BRING IN THE CAR. THEY ALSO SAID THEY WOULD CONTACT ME IF MY EMMC NEEDED REPLACEMENT. HOWEVER, I CONTINUED TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND LEFT A MESSAGE IN THE TESLA AND DID NOT GET A RESPONSE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS A STICKY SUBSTANCE COMING OUT OF THE CENTER DISPLAY WHETHER THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED ON OR OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER TESLA (135 US-22, SPRINGFIELD, NJ 07081, (973)921-0925) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEEDING THE CENTER DISPLAY TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT ASSOCIATED THE FAILURE WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V035000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, VISIBILITY, EXTERIOR LIGHTING) HOWEVER THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 32,000.

ON NOVEMBER 23RD 2020 I TOOK MY MODEL S ([XXX]) TO TESLA SERVICE CENTER LANCASTER, PA FOR THE TESLA WARRANTY ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED ON NOVEMBER 9TH AND RELATED TO MALFUNCTIONING TOUCHSCREEN DUE TO A MALFUNCTIONING EMMC. THIS IS THE RESULT OF THE SERVICE VISIT; 1) TESLA LANCASTER, PA SERVICE CENTER TOLD ME MY VEHICLE IS NOT IN THE WARRANTY PARAMETERS (THE TESLA WARRANTY ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM STATED 8YEARS/100K MILES. MY CAR HAS LESS THAN 100K MILES AND INITIAL DELIVERY WAS NOVEMBER 24TH 2012 - SO TESLA LANCASTER, PA WAS WRONG ABOUT THIS AS SERVICE DATE WAS NOVEMBER 23RD, 2020) 2) TESLA LANCASTER, PA SERVICE CENTER STATED "THE VEHICLE IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH THE EMMC" (A 2012 MODEL S HAS TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF MEMORY DEVICE IN IT - I WOULD EXPECT IT TO BE AN EMMC OF SOME SORT. THE NOVEMBER "WARRANTY ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM" STATED NO-COST REPAIRS FOR MALFUNCTIONING EMMC BUT LANCASTER, PA SERVICE CENTER DID NOT REPAIR MY CAR.) SO IN SHORT WHEN I TOOK MY CAR IN FOR NOVEMBER WARRANTY ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM RELATED TO SCREEN GOING BLANK INTERMITTENTLY TESLA WOULD NOT FIX IT. MY SCREEN IS STILL BLANK INTERMITTENTLY BECAUSE TESLA WOULD NOT REPAIR IT AND NOW WITH THE FEBRUARY 2021 NHTSA RECALL 21V035 RELEASED I WOULD LIKE THIS SCREEN ISSUE FIXED PROPERLY AND PERMANENTLY. REGARDLESS OF WHAT EMMC OR MEMORY DEVICE IS IN THE CAR THE NHTSA SAFETY CONCERNS STILL APPLY (UNAVAILABILITY OF THE REARVIEW CAMERA DISPLAY, DEFROST/DEFOG CONTROL SETTINGS FOR PURPOSES OF ENSURING VISIBILITY, AND EXTERIOR TURN SIGNAL LIGHTING MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH). I AM REQUESTING THE MCU BE REPLACED WITH MCU V2 FREE OF CHARGE BECAUSE TESLA STATED MY 2012 MODEL S DOES NOT HAVE THE 8GB EMMC AND BECAUSE OF SAFETY CONCERNS WITH THE CURRENT STATE OF THE MCU. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT WAS INOPERABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER TESLA SERVICE CENTER (11163 SANTA MONICA BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90025, (310) 473-8337) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEEDING THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT AND MOTHERBOARD TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT ASSOCIATED THE FAILURE WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V035000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING, VISIBILITY, BACK OVER PREVENTION) HOWEVER, THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE AND REFERRED THE TO AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER FOR ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 40,000.*DT*JB

THERE IS A KNOW PROBLEM WITH THE TESLA INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM FAILING SO I HAD MINE UPGRADED. NOW THE REAR CAMERA IS NEARLY USELESS. IT IS SO DARK IT IS A SAFETY HAZARD. I HAVE CONTACTED TESLA AND THEY ARE AWARE AND HAVE NO PLANS TO FIX.

THE HEATER AND DEFROSTER STOPPED WORKING IN THIS COLD WEATHER AS WE WERE DRIVING HOME WITH MY SONS. THEY WERE FREEZING AND COLD. I WAS NOT ABLE TO SEE CLEARLY RATHER VERY FOGGY WINDSHIELD DUE TO NON-WORKING CABIN HEATER AND DEFROSTER. THIS ISSUE HAD HAPPENED TO MANY MANY TESLA OWNERS, INFACT MODEL S LIKE MINE AND EVEN THE BRAND NEW TESLA MODEL 3 AND MODEL Y WITH JUST LESS THAN 10O MILES. THIS CLEARLY IS A HUGE NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF TESLA NOT WANTING TO FIX THE ISSUE. HOWEVER, NOW RIGHT AFTER GETTING THE CONTROL TOUCH SCREEN ISSUE ADDRESSED, THE SAME DAY TESLA TOLD ME THE CAR IS READY AND THAT I CAN PICK IT UP. THIS WAS VERY NEGLIGENT ON TESLA AUGORAHILLS SERVICE CENTER PART. THE HEATER WAS NOT WORKING ONCE I STARTED DRIVING THE CAR BACK HOME. TESLA SHOULD HAVE UNDER SAFETY PROTOCOL FIXED THE VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY TOOL SUCH AS THE CLIMATE CONTROL AND NEVER SHOULD HAVE RELEASED THE CAR TO ME TO DRIVE LAST NIGHT 12/28/2020. ONCE I PICKED UP THE CAR AND DRIVING BACK HOME WITH MY SONS WE WERE VERY COLD, TO NOTICE THE HEATER IS NOT WORKING/OPERABLE. THIS BECAME MORE CHALLENGING ONCE THE VISIBILITY WAS HINDERED WITH FOGGING EFFECT AND THE SAME NIGHT IT WAS RAINING HERE IN AUGORAHILLS AREA CA AND IN SANTA CLARITA AREA CA. IN MANY CASES WHERE THE FOLKS ONLINE HAVE DISCOVERED THE CIRCUIT BOARD FOR THE HEATER CORE ITSELF WHICH IS CALLED THE PTC IS NOT PROPERLY SEALED WHICH ALLOWS IN MOISTURE AND SHORTS CIRCUITS THE DC-DC CONTROL JUNCTION BOX WHICH HOLDS 3 - FUSES. ONE FUSE FOR A/C , ANOTHER FUSE FOR HEATER, THIRD FUSE FOR BATTERY HEATER. PLEASE PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE. TESLA TELLS ME THE FUSES BLOW IN THE DC-DC CONVERTER CAUSING THIS. THEY ARE AWARE.

YOU ARE INVESTIGATING TESLA FRONT SUSPENSION FAILURES. YOU SHOULD ALSO INVESTIGATE TESLA REAR SUSPENSION FAILURES. HERE IS JUST ONE RECENT EXAMPLE.HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/38453571?ROWNUMBER=39 THE SUSPENSION LINK HAS SNAPPED LIKE A PRETZEL CAUSING THE SUSPENSION TO FLOP DOWN LIKE A BAD CASE OF BREWER'S DROOP. PHOTO IS ATTACHED WITH THIS SUBMISSION. DESPITE TESLA ISSUING TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS ABOUT THIS AND HAVING FITTED A SLIGHTLY IMPROVED LINK TO LATER MODELS THESE LETHAL WEAK LINKS ARE STILL FITTED ON THOUSANDS OF CARS AROUND THE WORLD AND POSE A DANGER TO TESLA OCCUPANTS AND OTHER ROAD USERS. FOR MANY MORE EXAMPLES PLEASE VISIT THE WHOMPY WHEELS ALBUM HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/38453571?ROWNUMBER=39 THANK YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BAN THESE CONTRAPTIONS FROM THE ROADS OF THE WORLD. YOUR FRIEND KEEF

HERE IS A TERDSLA IN THE JUNKYARD HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/38424109?ROWNUMBER=4 FRONT SUSPENSION HAS COLLOLOPSED. TIRE HAS RUBBED AGAINST THE INSIDE OF THE FENDER AND WORN A HOLE THROUGH IT. LUCKILY FOR THE OWNER HE WAS NOT DRIVING NEAR A CLIFF AT THE TIME OR HE WOULD HAVE BEEN BRANDED A SUICIDE LIKE THE OTHER CASES WERE. PLEASE GET THESE CONTRAPTIONS RECALLED IMMEDIATELY. THANKS KEEF

THE MCU - MEDIA CONTROL UNIT IS SLOW TO RESPOND TO INPUTS AND SLOW TO STARTUP WHEN ENTERING THE VEHICLE. THE SCREEN HAS LOCKED UP SEVERAL TIMES WHILE DRIVING WHICH LEAVES THE TURN INDICATORS UNUSABLE AND THE DEFROSTER DEACTIVATED UNTIL THE MCU RESETS. THE HAZARD INDICATORS ARE INACTIVE WHEN THE MCU TURNS OFF. THE FRONT SUSPENSION LINKS WEAR OUT PREMATURELY DUE TO A POOR DESIGN AND THE WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE. REPAIRS ARE COSTLY DUE THE MAIN HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY NEEDING TO BE REMOVED IN ORDER TO REMOVE THE SUSPENSION LINK BOLTS.

MCU FAILURE. VEHICLE NOT SAFELY DRIVEABLE