Tesla Model S owners have reported 204 problems related to adaptive cruise control (under the forward collision avoidance category). The most recently reported issues are listed below. Also please check out the statistics and reliability analysis of Tesla Model S based on all problems reported for the Model S.
Tesla's full self driving does not allow the operator to choose a maximum, never-exceed speed. If the perceived speed limit is wrong, which happens often, the adas becomes very dangerous driving much too fast.
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all problems of the 2017 Tesla Model S
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Vehicle was driving on "supervised full self driving" mode westbound on braddock rd at 3:50pm near willow springs elementary school. Posted speed limit on braddock rd is 45mph but there was an active 25mph school zone limitation at that time, indicated via flashing speed limit sign. Vehicle ignored the sign and traveled at 38mph through the entire school zone.
The new defects with audible chimes and safety alerts are a direct consequence of the 8gb emmc safety recall service performed by Tesla my car is now not warning me with any chimes or sounds related with safety features of the car. Tesla are attempting to charge me to correct safety defects introduced by Tesla's own recall repair. ?confirmation that Tesla refuses to repair the new, service-induced safety defects at no cost. My concern is that I brought the vehicle to Tesla fully functional and drivable, and immediately following the 8gb emmc recall service, the vehicle became undrivable due to the infotainment computer failure. ?since this occurred immediately following a Tesla-performed recall procedure, I am asking that Tesla take responsibility for resolving the issue rather than having me incur the cost of replacing the computer.
Tesla removed speed control from their "full self-driving" product. They have removed the ability to conveniently switch to normal cruise control (have to pull over on freeway or get off freeway to park first) and speed profiles use outdated map data and frequently suddenly change speeds. Sometimes they go away faster than the speed limit and sometimes the car suddenly drops 20mp less in the middle of freeway traffic.
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all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model S
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Full self driving mode floored the accelerator on our vehicle and after a few seconds immediately cut off the self driving feature display a fault code.
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all problems of the 2018 Tesla Model S
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Tesla has taken away the ability to set maximum speed when using their full self driving. This should be illegal!!!! now, the car can and will do 85 on a 60mph freeway! sometimes you can't even tell you're speeding that fast until it's too late. Incredibly dangerous! they used to have that feature and they've taken it away. For the greed of collecting more data. . . At the expense of every driver's safety.
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all problems of the 2021 Tesla Model S
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This happens about 30%to 40% of the time when using full self driving supervised on hw3, fsd version 12. 6. 4, software version 2026. 14. 6. When changing marked lanes to the right, either initiated by fsd or the driver asking fsd to move to the right by engaging the right turn signals, it will do one of 2 things: 1. Change lanes properly about 70% of the time 2. Start and abort the lane. Hange swerving back and forth between the 2 lanes, ot 3. Does nothing and drives straight without changing lanes, all the while with the turn signals on. #2 is particularly dangerous.
Since a xxx Tesla software update, full self-driving on VIN [xxx] applies the brakes suddenly with no visible obstacle. This phantom braking occurs at least 5–6 times every day. Vehicles behind me have slammed on their brakes and I have had near rear-end collisions. I purchased fsd outright. I have taken the car to Tesla service in mount kisco, NY and white plains, NY. Neither location restored the feature or issued a software fix. Customer support said they cannot reach engineering. This is an ongoing safety hazard to following traffic. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
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all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model S
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Supervised fsd does not have a remedy if it assigns an incorrect speed limit to the current roadway. The only action available is to disengage fsd. This incorrect speed limit happens quite often, especially in construction zones with temporary speed limit changes. Tesla used to have a ‘max speed’ setting that the driver could use to override an incorrect speed limit, but they removed that capability.
My car had a software update last night. This morning, there is now a forced "feedback" prompt that comes on the information screen whenever I disengage the autopilot. This prompt grays out the rest of the screen and does not disappear until I manually select a feedback option. This forced prompt is very distracting, requiring manual user input to get rid of, which makes driving distracting and dangerous.
I was in full self driving mode and was travelling north bound 110 freeway transitioning to 405 freeway northbound. In the right lane. Transition curved left. Looked at my speed for a split second and as I looked up we were a split second from hitting freeway barrier head-on. We crashed through the barrier and ended on the embankment of the freeway. My car front end was totally demolished, front airbags went off. I was ok, but my wife suffered a l1 vertebrae fracture and was taken to harbor ucla hospital for treatment. She was released 9 hours later with a back brace and pain meds. The accident occured at 8:34 am Sunday April 5th, easter Sunday while on our way to church. Its been over a month and my wife is still in a back brace, but healing slowly. Usb drive taken out of the glove box showed that all cameras cut off about 10 seconds before the crash. Not sure if the whole system turned off.
Multitude of electrical problems: fuel/propulsion system, lighting, and body controls along with all adas: adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance systems are impacted by random intermittent glitching as computer screen bubbling progressed with goo leaking out of the bottom of the main computer. Most recent symptom was disabling of all adas systems along with automatic high beam headlight switching. Long ago as screen began to bubble and express fluid the low windshield washer alert came on and remains even when the tank is full. Then the charge port responsiveness degraded and stopped automatically functioning requiring user to bypass by clicking the "open charge port", then waiting 3 seconds, then tapping "unlock charge port". User must perform this as remote manual operation from a nacs charging handle button push will fail. Long ago the computer controlled 'home link' module would have excessive time delays on the order of hours or days from when the user would program and or operate the function. I even had a "phanthom" car appear by the computer calculations with e-braking before the adas system failed fully, a 1. 0 Tesla system should not have that. . . Windows have randomly rolled down and the driver side rear door will unlock and open on its own as the door handles present themselves. The safety risk class is unknown unknown; if the root problem is the screen filling leaking on electronics any number of unknown, unplanned, unstudied risk failure modes exist that can not be predicted. Schematically the homelink is on connector x429 sharing canbus connections impacting safety: driver "instrument cluster", das systems connected to "power steering ecu", "ibooster ecu", "abs / stability ecu", "passive restraints controller". . . See can network - chassis drawing page 11 , "energy system - charger logic connections" "instrument cluster / lin" pg35.
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all problems of the 2016 Tesla Model S
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Tesla Model S has a notorious back hatch latching failure. It’s a flawed design that every replacement is a “when” and not “if for failure. As an owner its failed be about 4-5 times in 5+ years of ownership. The hatch back latching issue causes cruise control as well as their autopilot steering navigation feature to be disabled when latch starts acting up or failing to fully close, which are helpful safety components to keep your car on the road going at proper speeds and staying in lane. Reporting this in hopes someone pushes Tesla to do something about this flaw that should be a manufacturers defect.
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all problems of the 2015 Tesla Model S
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Recently right side blind spot monitor camera stopped working. As result, majority of safety features in vehicle has been disabled to include forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, and many other safety features of the vehicle.
While operating my 2023 Tesla Model S long range using full self driving supervised and software version 14. 2. 1. 25, the speed control no longer is available and has been replaced by speed profiles. When operating the vehicle on interstate 77 southbound around statesville, nc and on or about December 22, 2025, I set the speed profiles to standard in a 55 mph zone in which the Tesla recognized and displayed that it was operating in a 55 mph zone in standard profile mode, the car varied in speed (with no traffic ahead) from about 57 mph to over 76 mph. This is highly unsafe and I had to repeatedly move back to chill or sloth mode at which time the vehicle strongly and unsafely braked causing cars behind me to close on me quickly and have to make strong and unplanned braking maneuvers to avoid hitting me. This was not the case when I bought the car and fsd when operating under 13. 2. 9. The removal of max speed control is extremely unpredictable and unsafe for me and those around me.
Critical safety failure: loss of driver override and extreme hmi/signaling latency. 1. Loss of override & unintended acceleration: while operating fsd (supervised), the vehicle ignored a 65 mph set-point and accelerated to 80 mph. I attempted to reduce speed by pulling down on the steering stalk 4-5 times, but the vehicle ignored all manual inputs, requiring a hard disengagement. 2. Lane departure / path failure: the vehicle failed to maintain lane centering, specifically crossing over the centerline into opposing traffic. This occured without warning or system-initiated steering alerts 3. False signaling / path failure: I’ve seen at least two occurrences where system exhibits dangerous signaling conflicts, such as activating a right-turn signal while simultaneously executing a left-turn maneuver. One time it was on a 45–55 mph rural corridor where trailing drivers frequently overtake slower vehicles. A false right-turn signal acts as a dangerous "all-clear" for a trailing driver to pass on the left, creating a high- probability broadside collision scenario when the Tesla physically executes its left turn. I have no idea if this has occurred more than these two times as I don’t check this. The other time I caught on video, by chance, as I was trying to capture the surging behavior to show the Tesla service center 4. Audio & visual hmi latency: audible instructions arrive 100+ feet after turns, and the map ui auto-zooms away from the driver’s focus, requiring constant manual screen contact to view street names. This forces significant visual-manual distraction. 5. Confirmed inadequacy: Tesla service invoice #[xxx] (Jan 27, 2025) documents: 'the current computer is a little too slow for full self driving function. . . ' confirming the hardware is unfit for safety-critical processing. This incident is directly relevant to NHTSA investigation pe25012. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Vehicle: 2022 Tesla Model S (hw 3. 0) system in question: full self-driving (fsd) capability, initially purchased (level 1 equivalent) for $6,000, and then upgraded (level 2 equivalent) for an additional $3,000 (total $9,000). I. Initial fsd purchase and unsafe performance (level 1) upon initial purchase of the fsd package, the system (what Tesla later called fsd beta, or its precursor) consistently demonstrated unsafe and aggressive behavior that necessitated immediate driver intervention to prevent a crash. Specific safety concern: the system would often execute turns, both in city and highway off-ramp scenarios, with excessive speed and aggressive lateral acceleration. This erratic behavior felt uncontrolled and risky, frequently causing the driver to feel unsafe and to rapidly override the system by taking manual control of the steering wheel. Resulting risk: the system was virtually unusable for anything beyond basic highway cruising (a feature standard on many vehicles), yet its aggressive behavior posed a safety risk on the highway when attempting lane changes or taking exits. Ii. Upgrade and deterioration of practical safety (level 2) I upgraded to the top-tier fsd package with the hope of receiving a safer, more functional system that matched the "full self-driving" name. Instead, the system introduced new safety and usability defects: forced disengagement/driver monitoring defect: the system's driver monitoring is overly aggressive and interferes with safe, necessary driving actions. It delivers constant "nag" warnings and requires disengagement when the driver performs a brief but necessary safety check, such as looking at a side mirror, checking over the shoulder for a lane change, or briefly glancing at the car's screen to adjust climate/radio. Safety implication: this defect forces the driver to prematurely disengage fsd in complex traffic situations to avoid a warning/lockout, which is counter-productive to safety. I am effectively penalized for.
Car will just brake on the highway with out warning. Cruise control will just randomly change speeds. I was traveling on an overpass and speed dropped to 35 then jumped to 60mph.
On October 17, 2025, while using full self-driving (fsd) mode on my 2021 Tesla Model S plaid, the car failed to stop at two red lights within a three-hour period. In each case, the car attempted to drive through the intersection even though the signal was solid red. I intervened manually and applied the brakes to prevent a potential collision. There were no prior warnings or alerts, and I have not modified the vehicle. This behavior endangers my safety and the safety of others. I am willing to provide the vehicle and any available data logs for inspection if requested.
My car is equipped with full self driving. When I use that mode the car drives over , on, or dangerously close to the middle yellow line. Basically it drives you into oncoming traffic every single time I use it. It also has erratic fluctuations in throttle control that would confuse other drivers and possibly cause an accident. It’s constantly increasing and decreasing the throttle and feels jerky going down the road. I took the car to the Tesla service center yesterday and they confirmed the issue and checked the hardware associated with the system. They indicated that the hardware was all working and adjusted properly and that the issue is a software issue. They told me to not use it and that eventually maybe Tesla will put out an update that may fix the problem. Tesla has sold thousands of cars with fsd and continues to call the system in beta. They have since moved on to 2 more versions of the software and not offered an upgrade to the thousands of early adopters with the original hardware and software. The system is dangerous to drivers and everyone on or near the roadways when these are activated. Tesla said that can upgrade these “older” 2015 and newer models but haven’t because it will cost too much for them. They charged over $8000 for the system and it has yet to work. They need to be forced recall the system and fix these cars for everyone’s safety. The service manager told me he has a similar issue with car and he just opts to not use it. So even the employees at Tesla know of the issue.
Software version 2025. 32. 3. 1. Using Tesla’s auto-steer / enhanced autopilot (not fsd) causes many “phantom braking” events when going through several intersections on my commute. It’ll say a message “curve assist active”, however I’ll be on a very straight and flat road with no curves. It’s 65 mph road and it will brake / slow down the car very hard and fast, if I don’t catch it in time it’ll get down to ~45 mph within a second. Even when traffic is going slow already, like 40 mph, it’ll still bring up the message and try to brake and slow down, though not as hard. Typically to about 25-30 mph. I usually can catch it and use the accelerator to prevent it, but sometimes it’ll happen so sudden and I worry about getting rear-ended by someone behind me. Very repeatable. Very startling and concerning when it happens when I don’t expect it to. I believe it’s a mapping issue as it has not been fixed in over a year and after several software updates.
Tesla’s software updates have rendered systems useless the vehicle wants to hug and sometimes cross the left double yellow lines. It cannot hold a constant speed and since their implementation of “supervised” full self driving, have made my vehicle unsafe.
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all problems of the 2019 Tesla Model S
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Both vehicle displays have stopped functioning, therefore there is no indication of speed, remaining charge, blind spot protection, or back up camera. Also, turn signals are non-functional. This is a safety concern to yourself and other drivers.
Getting warning ondash that says "adaptive ride control unavailable. Vehicle speed limited - proceed with caution". On the internet many reports are noted of the same problem w Tesla vehicles, especially Model S cars. These have occurred soon after to taking delivery of after 20-30 k miles. Mine occurred at about 31,000 miles in my Model S 2021. Tesla says the need "diagnostics done first " at $275 and then the fix for another $300. This does not seem right.
Software 2025. 14. 1, full self driving 12. 6. 4 (fsd). Vehicle when using fsd continuously slows to 10 mph below the speed limit. You can manually press the accelerator to speed up but fsd will not brake when doing so and warns you of the same. After a minute of being back at the speed limit, fsd again slows down. Repeat this process constantly. Very dangerous.
Stoped at intersection. While trying to engage signal lights, hit the stalk below that engages full self driving. Car immediately jumped into intersection . In front of another car and almost collided. Since the last update, cars with my configuration wave been acting irradely and it is not safe to use fsd.
My Tesla supervised fsd is a safety hazard. Promised programming updates have not improved the erratic, unsafe “assistance. I try it after each update, but I’m afraid to rely on it other than 5-10mph bumper to bumper road conditions. I don’t have one specific occurrence to report and thank goodness no fatality!.
I was driving my car on the freeway on cruise control, when there was a sudden/automatic violent break of 65 mph to 0 mph. There was no car in front of me, and there was nothing above my car (no direction sign, no bridge, no fastrak billboard, nothing). This was a "phantom break" and it was violent and sudden. Tesla needs to fix this!.
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all problems of the 2014 Tesla Model S
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Speed offset is set to 10% but it keeps setting the max speed 40% higher, and then furthermore exceeds this max speed.
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all problems of the 2024 Tesla Model S
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“full self driving” was sitting at a red light at 5:07 pm and observed a light a block ahead of us turn green and accelerated through the red light with no warning or time to react.
While driving both north (in the evening) and also south (in the morning) on [xxx] between washington, DC and richmond, va I have experienced an issue with Tesla’s auto pilot that can be very dangerous and scary. While using the navigation system and with auto pilot on while in the left most line on this divided highway, the car made multiple attempts to steer into the express lanes even when the large gates are closed and the red lights are on to indicate that the express lanes are closed in the direction of traffic. To counteract this, it is necessary to quickly take control of the steering wheel and to get it to cancel auto pilot, otherwise the car would go into the gates and cause an accident. This has happened to me several times when I was traveling in the left most lane and when the gates were closed. This happened in November, December and in January. The system has not learned to handle this situation and to avoid steering into the barriers. I reported these incidents to Tesla’s support team by phone and after several weeks I received a phone call whereby the local service center (rockville, MD) called me. Josh, the person that called me read a lengthy text to me that essentially reviewed the driver’s responsibilities when using auto pilot. I asked if there was any indication that they will work on fixing this issue and I was told that the explanation I got (which was no explanation at all, just a reminder of driver responsibilities) was the entire response. I informed him that I would report the incident to NHTSA. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
My car slams on the brakes consistently at green lights when fsd is activated. This is version 12. 5. 4. 2 of fsd. Tesla is not responding to my inquiries.
Approaching my garage door as it was opening when the car suddenly accelerated smashing through the garage door, through the back wall of the garage, through the laundry room and finally stopped in the main bedroom with the front wheels off the ground as the car rested on top of the washing machine.
While driving in autopilot mode, approx 70 mph in light rain the vhicle began to drift side to side almost crossing over the lane dividing line. Upon grabbing the wheel to take control the vehicle entered multiple 360 degree spins crashing into "k" rail. In the past I have noticed when taking control of the vehicle from autopilot the wheel jerks.
The car veered suddenly to the left (out of the left lane of a highway) while supervised in auto steer. The driver could not move the steering wheel to avoid a collision with the guardrail as the steering wheel had locked up. The collision warning didn’t sound and emergency brakes did not activate upon impact. The airbags were deployed and the car was totaled.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Adaptive Cruise Control problems | |
| Automatic Emergency Braking problems | |
| Warnings problems | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance problems | |
| Software Pedestrian/cyclist/object/obstacle/ Recognition problems | |
| Adaptive Cruise Control Software problems |