2013 Tesla Model S other reported problems

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

This issue appears to be related to a known MCU failure affecting early Tesla Model S vehicles. The touchscreen exhibits screen melting/discoloration and eventually goes blank or becomes inoperative. When this occurs, critical functions including occupant detection indicators, seatbelt warnings, and windshield defrost controls may become unavailable. The loss of these functions creates potential safety risks involving visibility, occupant protection, and driver awareness while operating the vehicle."

NHTSA complaint #11744090 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

This issue appears to be related to a known MCU failure affecting early Tesla Model S vehicles. The touchscreen exhibits screen melting/discoloration and eventually goes blank or becomes inoperative. When this occurs, critical functions including occupant detection indicators, seatbelt warnings, and windshield defrost controls may become unavailable. The loss of these functions creates potential safety risks involving visibility, occupant protection, and driver awareness while operating the vehicle."

NHTSA complaint #11744091 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

I have a 2013 Tesla Model-S, I have so far spent thousands on this car for door handle related problems over its lifetime. And Tesla still keeps charging for any door repairs. As of now, the driver side door doesn't open from outside and this is a serious safety hazard in case of an accident

NHTSA complaint #11718480 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

November 20, 2025 To the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation Subject: Safety Defect Complaint – Tesla Model S I am submitting this complaint regarding a serious and dangerous safety defect involving my Tesla Model S. Safety Defect Summary:    •   After the high-voltage battery failed, the vehicle would not enter Neutral.    •   I had to use Tow Mode in the middle of a street on a hill to avoid blocking traffic.    •   Once in Tow Mode, the car could not enter Park and the emergency/parking brake would not engage.    •   The car became completely free-rolling, posing danger to myself, other drivers, and pedestrians.    •   When Tesla returned the car to my home, their technicians also could not get the vehicle into Park or activate any emergency braking system.    •   The car is currently stuck in Tow Mode in my driveway with physical objects placed behind the wheels to prevent it from rolling. Why This Is a Safety Hazard: A vehicle that cannot shift into Park, cannot use its emergency brake, and remains free-moving after a failure represents a serious safety defect. This occurred without warning and left the vehicle unsafe to operate or even store. Request: I respectfully request that NHTSA investigate this as a potential safety defect affecting the Tesla Model S when the high-voltage battery fails. A car should never lose all ability to secure itself.

NHTSA complaint #11700490 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

When parked and opening the drivers door or rear passenger doors, the front passenger door will unlatch. Something is setting off the relay to open the front door when other doors open. Does not happen 100% of the time, but 50%+

NHTSA complaint #11618483 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

About 6 mo. ago, a sticky substance started leaking under the center touch screen. I went to the dealer, and was told that the screen was leaking due to high temperatures inside the car while parked. They refused to do anything about it. I went online to a Tesla forum, and learned that this is a common problem with the Model S touch screen. Ultimately, the screen will "bubble" and the go completely blank. Without this screen I cannot access navigation, climate, or entertainment features. I believe this to be a major safety issue.

NHTSA complaint #11545039 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The passenger side door opens when put in park.

NHTSA complaint #11544188 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The central display computer goes blank while driving or when the car heats up. Suddenly the car does not respond to any touch screen. AC cannot be managed, rear camera is not available and the car is undrivable. The screen comes back when the car cools down completely. This happens everytime the car heats up -whether it is parked outside for couple of hours or inside the garage on a hot day or when I am driving for over an hour. This incident has occurred multiple times and I have to take it in to be repaired

NHTSA complaint #11539534 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

When unlocking the doors, the passenger side front and rear doors pop open.

NHTSA complaint #11532769 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

In November 2020, I had my Tesla MCU replaced under the NHTSA recall (Exhibit1). Attached is the invoice of the repair (Exhibit 2). On July 3, 2023, my MCU malfunctioned again. The dashboard is frozen showing the car is at 72 MPH in drive in a parking lot (exhibit 3). This is a safety issue since I cannot tell how fast I am driving when I am going with the flow of traffic. I nearly hit a person since I could not tell what gear I was in and ended up going in reverse rather than drive. I contacted Tesla requesting repair under the recall. Their response was that my car is old and they would not cover it even though it drives fine. I drove home in the slow lane since I could not tell my speed. They sent me an estimate of $1914.13 to replace the Nvidia Tegra MCU with an Intel Tegra MCU (exhibit 4). Since the car drives fine and the battery is good, I want to continue using my car but this is a safety issue. It seems that when Tesla pushes out updates on older cars, this crashes the MCU. It seems that they are trying to force owners of older cars to buy new ones. What are my options of solving this safety issue?

NHTSA complaint #11530285 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The driver's side rear door handle stuck open and you can't get door open. This is the 3rd driver's side rear handle for this vehicle. Tesla would not cover the repair.

NHTSA complaint #11526460 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

the uncured conductive adhessive between the display and the glass. The supplier did not use a proper UV light technique (they used expired bulbs" to cure the adhesive into a solid form and over time, the liquid is now coming out of the bottom of the screen and making a mess.

NHTSA complaint #11522671 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

My Tesla 2013 model S has the exact same problems as ones in your recall notice NHTSA Campaign # 21V035 yet My VIN # does not show up in your list of recalled cars. I took my car into Tesla dealer on Dec 14 2022 and they fixed it and charged me $103.35 for the repair. I asked how long a warranty I would have and they replied "to the end of parking lot". I have had car in to Tesla twice since then as problem has gotten worse and each time they fiddled with it and it came back working for a short time each time I went in. On Feb 14, 2023 I went in again as I could drive the car but screen dark. Made an appointment to have it fixed and was told cost will be $2385.00 including a new radio as old one won't work with new screen. This is robbery as problem is the same as with the recalled vehicles. This is a safety issue and I thought manufactures were responsible for safety defects. In addition Tesla refuses to give me back the old parts unless I pay them $750.00. I asked what they did with old parts and they would not tell me. Again this is wrong.

NHTSA complaint #11507836 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

I am complaining about Tesla’s dishonest and underhanded repair center and battery. In October 2021, I was told I was receiving a new battery. When I picked up my car, I noticed it was not getting the maximum charge. Through investigation, we found a refurbished battery was given. Less than 3 months later, the refurbished battery failed. Michael Hilgado (Tesla manager) explained it was a faulty battery and that I would receive a replacement at no charge and with a new warranty because the one they placed in October was faulty. The battery was replaced. Please find below the timeline of all additional repairs and breakdowns. The Tesla App locks you out and changes prices, times, etc. without owners having access to information for verification. When paying for services, there is no review or education regarding the vehicle, warranty, etc. December 2022, ten months after the refurbished battery was replaced, the battery failed again and Tesla wants to charge another $15,000 for repairs. Please find below the timelines:

NHTSA complaint #11501685 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

1. 2nd row seat behind driver malfunction for years. (Mean can not insert) 2. On Dec. 5th, 2022, Drive off the Tesla model S off highway to local road and car just die. Tow to Tesla service station in Bellevue, WA. I was told drive unit was water damaged a day later. This drive unit was put in on June, 2018 to replace original drive unit, which broken in June, 2018 at 76k miles. 4.5 years later, and under 45k miles driving splashed water from road cause damage of drive unit. Unbelievable. If car died on the 520 bridge before I got off it really can be a serious car crash. This is really a safety issues.

NHTSA complaint #11498175 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Car completely turned off. I took it to service and they said that my battery was dying and was out of warranty $13k to fix. Second time turned off in the freeway while my son was driving it. Now the same service will be $22k. I learned that I’m not an isolated case and Tesla is not explaining what is really wrong with it. Another client found out that the air conditioner leaks in the battery. There has been people complaining in Reddit and Tesla canceled the comments

NHTSA complaint #11486674 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

My car unsafe to drive, since I got 4 recalls in total. But Tesla refused to do so. What should do next step to get them to fix these 4 recalls.

NHTSA complaint #11480763 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Telsa MCU screen has large bubble. This is apparently a common problem. Tesla informed me there is no recall or warranty and I would have to purchase a new screen or an upgraded MCU system. The screen controls various functions of the car, including safety controls like dehumidifier.

NHTSA complaint #11479653 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The recall I have on this vehicle says I am ok to drive in the app

NHTSA complaint #11473634 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The Model S door handles extend/retract. The handle mechanism involves a gear that extends the handle out and a spring of sorts that retracts the door handle. The door handle can be programmed to automatically extend when in proximity to the key fob or be programmed to extend only when the car is physically unlocked with the key fob. Over the course of ownership (9 years) I have needed at least 7-8 door handles replaced because of a failure of the door handle to extend. When the door handle does not extend, the door cannot be opened from the outside. It can be difficult to pry open the door handle if the door handle cannot extend. If the driver door handle does not function, and if the driver becomes unconscious or incapacitated, there is no easy way for an individual outside the car to open the driver door without breaking the window or climbing into the car via another door that can be opened with a functioning door handle. This represents a significant safety concern and could render the door unusable and impede the efforts of rescue personnel from intervening on behalf of the driver. These door handles seemingly have a shelf life before failure, and I have been told by Tesla that they consider door handles to be "consumables," which suggests that they, like belts, brake pads, tires, etc. simply need to be replaced after a certain time. Over 30 years of owning and driving automobiles, I have never had to replace defective door handles at all, and certainly not once every year or two. Not to mention the safety issue, but Tesla also charges for parts and labors every time a door handle needs to be replaced.

NHTSA complaint #11471518 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The car suddenly has a powertrain issue, but it is a widely known problem with some estimates of 66% of all early Teslas having a powertrain issue by 60k miles. Mine happened at 56k. There is clearly a defect with early Tesla powertrains, as they increased the warranty to 8 years or 50k miles. My car is now at 9 years, and because of the low mileage due to covid, they will not cover the powertrain issue of the car. The following are links proving significant issues of my car. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093907_tesla-model-s-drivetrain-warranty-rises-to-8-years-same-as-battery-pack https://www.vehiclehistory.com/articles/tesla-problems-3-major-issues-you-need-to-know-about https://www.autoevolution.com/news/early-tesla-model-s-powertrain-reliability-issues-come-into-question-in-low-volume-study-102773.html I not only have the powertrain issue, but my center screen is also screwed up. This is a massive issue in Teslas because I cannot access my HVAC controls, or any safety controls with this not working. I have contacted Tesla numerous times, I will be happy to provide email exchanges and they have not done anything to help me except want to charge me a lot of money, 9k to fix all of this!

NHTSA complaint #11467079 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Appointment for the Federal Recall NHTSA Recall No.: 21V-035 - 8gb embedded multimedia card (eMMC) VIN: FP24819 APPT. DATE: 24 MAY 2022 INCIDENT: Racial Profiling, Tesla customer service told the owner that he MUST PROVIDE THE 'PINK SLIP' (NOT THE REGISTRATION SLIP) FOR THE VEHICLE IN ORDER FOR ANY REPAIR OR SERVICE WOULD BE PROVIDED OR PERMITTED. This is racism, and not the first time.

NHTSA complaint #11465956 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The media control unit is again failing, even after upgrading the EMMC component. Tesla is requesting I pay for a complete upgrade of the unit at $1500.

NHTSA complaint #11464418 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

recently my car was repaired from MCU, The vehicle does not work the air conditioning in high temperatures can reach up to 110 degrees you can drive but I disable the air conditioning compressor.

NHTSA complaint #11462526 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Tesla, Please assist me in the following: 1. I have LIFE Time charging, explain the $305.00 fee for a brand new battery Tesla charged/bill me and installed. 2. Tesla has a suggested billing of $100.00 to put air into a (1) tire. Or $100.00 to bring all tires to federal standards. Basically, no tire repair just air into tires. Please explain the charge. 3. Tesla called me at 9:21 A.M. inform me that my 27 March appointment was canceled (I had no say so). Then, I was instructed to have Tesla Roadside Assistance to tow my vehicle to your kearny mesa service station for $386.00 (Aaron - 1-877-798-3752). 4. I was instructed that Tesla Roadside assistance memberships was not an option to me. 5. I have an appointment but was told parts for my vehicle might be available or might not be available for a 2021 Federal Recall, but today date is 22 March 2022. I've waited 1 year not months for Tesla to contact me when my vehicle parts were available in regards to the recall. It feels like a scam: $630.00 Tesla $386.00 Tesla Roadside Assistance. 6. Also, an Uber credit would be grant. Please explain why my vehicle that has an appointment for air in four tires, supercharged, recall and software update, is not a priority when I have an appointment. 7. In 2021, I was made to believe and instructed to purchase a 12 volt battery to repair Recall. 8. In 2022, Tesla again instructed me that my brand new battery to be replaced

NHTSA complaint #11457906 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The Tesla Center Console Display screen which controls the entire car functions has bubbles and LCD leaks developing on the screen making screen extremely reflective and dangerous to use. The lamination glue leaks often and makes hands extremely sticky to touch steering wheel or any other parts. The Glue is industrial quality and doesnt come off easily - This screen should be recalled/replaced by Tesla free of charge as its a Safety Hazard while driving and operations of cars critical functions like Lights, Door, Locks , Windows etc

NHTSA complaint #11445711 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

March 2021: Experienced center touch screen display persistently shutting off. This is a safety hazard because the center screen is the only way control much of the car's safety components and functionality. Received safety recall notice, NHTSA Recall_No.: 21V-035. Attempted to make an appointments through mobile app and phone calls to service the recall multiple times but was told they do not have the part to repair the car and to continue driving the car. August 2021: Somehow managed to successfully schedule an appointment through mobile app. Took car to service center. Was told by service advisor that the purpose of the recall was to repair my issue with center display shutting off while car was in use. Car was repaired by replacing 8GB eMMC and released back to me on the same day. September 2021: Recall issue with center display shutting off was not resolved such that not only does the center display continue to shut off while car is in use, the instrument cluster screen directly in front of the steering wheel is now shutting off as well, another clear safety hazard. The cluster screen displays information such as speedometer, battery state of charge, gears (P,N,R,D). October 2021: Scheduled another service appointment through mobile app to repair issues of both screens shutting off. Reviewed repair estimates prior to appointment which showed zero cost to me. Took car to service center. Was told by service advisor that it they will charge me $200 to inspect the car, if issues are related to recall there will be waive the $200 fee and repair at no cost, however if issues are not related to recall, they will charge me $2000. I declined the offer and drove the car home while both screens are persistently shutting off. I believe the car is dangerous to drive in its current state and Tesla refuses to repair the car and resolve these safety hazards.

NHTSA complaint #11437891 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

They were supposed to replace the eMMC board in 2020, and I have been asking for a year now(I have made at least 4 requests) and they still say that they don't have the parts to do it and to keep checking back in the future.

NHTSA complaint #11434264 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.