Assist problems of the 2017 Tesla Model S

I have documented examples of 3 total incidents now where a Tesla ota "update" on my vehicle caused a safety issue. Event 1: Nov 27, 2025. Tesla ota update renders my left turn light non-functional for ~24 hours. Resolution per forums only was to not touch the card for 24 hours to allow it to shift into "sleep" mode which would resolve the issue. Instructions were that only a service center could resolve the issue. Event 2: sept 3, 2025. Tesla ota update renders my car unable to charge. The issue is resolved following a ~24 hour "sleep" cycle which allows my car to somehow resume charging. Telsa advised the only resolution was to come in for service and to replace a $3000 part. Event 3: sept 23, 2025. Tesla ota update once again renders my car unable to use it's left turn light. Power cycling the vehicle was able to resolve the issue but once again the instructions was only that service could resolve the issue. Each "update" risks sigificant "safety" related issues and Tesla's only resolution is to pay hundreds of dollars for someone to "troubleshoot" that which shouldn't be a problem.

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).

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.

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.

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 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 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.

I was driving north on I-5 in san diego, in the right hand lane at 11:37pm, at 70mph with the fsd autopilot engaged. Approaching a gentle left hand bend in the road I spotted a disabled vehicle in the right shoulder with its hazard lights on and the driver door open. The car was fully off the road and was not a hazard. My car suddenly applied the brakes and did a weird “shimmy” as if it was trying to decide to make a turn. The autopilot did not disengage. My hands were on the wheel the whole time so I immediately took control and disconnected the autopilot by pulling up on the bottom-left control column stalk. The autopilot relinquished control as expected. I have not experienced any previous incidents of random autopilot braking on the freeway. This particular incident did not create an unsafe situation but the sudden braking did startle me. I tried to use the vehicle’s voice recognition system to file a “bug report” right after but it didn’t work.

Since Tesla has disabled the radar, and went to vision only, my car is a nightmare to drive on autopilot or fsd on two lane roads at night. Phantom braking, numerous times it has went onto the shoulder thinking an oncoming car a 1/4 away was in our lane, twice it even went into the oncoming traffic lane. Never did this when radar was enabled. My car has radar but they turned it off in software update.

Brought the car in for service at the macadam service center in portland, oregon on October 29th due to mcu issues; this was before any notice had gone out! I was not even aware of the issue at this time. It was rebooting, very sluggish, gets 'lost' ie keeps outdated information etc. This is obviously the 8gb memory device issue. After a 40 year career as an engineer and venture capitalist in the it industry I know what memory failure looks like! I was told there was no issue and that it was safe for me to drive to sf the next week. I had major issues on the trip. The system rebooted a number of times, was extremely sluggish and had data update issues. Specifically: -depart lake oswego at 5:30am on 11/23. Soon thereafter the left front fender camera informs me it is not working. It does so repeatedly every minute or so for a long time. Then all cameras inform me they are not working. I stop, twice, clean all the cameras and it does not resolve anything. I give up on the cameras working and stop using cruise control -at 12:31pm in the shasta area streaming fails and then the whole mcu shuts down. While driving in the rain I am forced to react and open windows to keep the windows from fogging up while driving at 70mph. Othis is a serious safety concern. I have updated my NHTSA complaint to include these serious safety concerns. -7:48pm 11/23, while supercharging in emeryville the mcu completely froze. I was had to force a reboot. 2nd reboot in one day -5:28pm 11/24 mcu crashes while driving again! how do you not understand the safety implications of this?! this is the 3rd crash in 2 days!. I will make an appointment and expect you to fix this issue. I will continue to update my NHTSA complaint regarding these safety issues until Tesla resolves them. Scott scott darling president | dell technologies capital.

The 2017 Tesla Model S we purchased has a known issue with the mcu. The mcu rewrites information in a log chip repeatedly and has been known to burn itself out after short periods of time. Tesla has agreed to replace the mcu owners when it malfunctions, but they will only do so when the chip has completely destroyed itself and will no longer boot. Ours was malfunctioning every ~40 mins. . . All of our screens would black out while driving. Tesla refused to replace it. Additionally, we purchased full self driving from Tesla with a contract that stated "all needed equipment and software included. " this was not a true statement. Those of us with the malfunctioning mcu1 were not included in the fsd program and were forced to bribe Tesla with $2500 to update our mcus even when they were under warranty and should have been included under the fsd contract.