Adaptive Cruise Control Problems of Tesla Model S - part 1

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.

See all problems of the 2016 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2015 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2018 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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).

See all problems of the 2017 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2021 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2019 Tesla Model S 🔎.

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!.

See all problems of the 2014 Tesla Model S 🔎.

Speed offset is set to 10% but it keeps setting the max speed 40% higher, and then furthermore exceeds this max speed.

See all problems of the 2024 Tesla Model S 🔎.

“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.

I engaged Tesla's autopark to park my car in my usual spot. The car kept going after reaching the back of the parking space, crashing into a pole located around one foot behind the parking spot. The time between when it should have braked and the post was of such short duration that I had no time to apply the brakes and prevent the accident. The car lacks both radar and lidar, either of which would have detected the post. Instead it relies on a single video camera. What made this parking different from previous safe parking attempt in the same space was that the car was perfectly lined up. That meant that the camera could not make use of parallax to enable the ai to notice that the post was moving against the background and must, therefore by close behind instead of 40 feet away. For Tesla autopark to function safely, it needs to "know" how far back possible obstructions are. It could do so by never backing up with perfect alignment. Instead, the car should move enough from side to side to generate enough parallax effect for it to be able to determine if it is about the crash. The service manager who called to tell me that Tesla decided the accident was my fault absolutely refused to even hear my opinion on what Tesla could do to prevent such accidents in the future. He told me he had be instructed to deliver Tesla's disclaimer and to not listen to anything I might have to say. As an engineer who has patents in the area of both aviation and automotive safety, I have an opinion that might have been worthy of Tesla's hearing. I now suggest you folks warn people that autopark should not be used to complete the parking procedure unless and until Tesla decides to address this problem. In the meantime, drivers should be cautioned to either not use the feature or to tap the brakes lightly to disengage the feature several feet before reaching the back of a parking space. The driver can then complete the maneuver manually.

In all assisted driving modes except full self driving (fsd), the car properly displays the speed limit it has determined either by map data or visual confirmation. In fsd, apparently only on pre-2021+ Model S cars, the determined speed limit is not displayed. In my town we have a us60 route. The car sees these signs and determines the speed limit is 60, even though it is only 35. The driver notices a rapid acceleration and may observe the set fsd speed has changed to 60. There is no speed limit displayed in this mode. Very dangerous to go this fast on a 35 mph road. When not using fsd, the car does show this error in the speed limit as being 60, even though the car determined speed limit itself is in error.

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model S 🔎.

Since the installation of software version 2024. 27. 25, which includes fsd version 12. 5. 4, on sept 26, 2024, any driving which occurs on fsd results in emergency braking events for green lights, unprotected/unsignaled crosswalks without pedestrians present, parallel parked cars not encroaching on the lane of travel, vehicles traveling the same direction and similar speed (+/- 5mph), not encroaching on my lane. These frequently reoccurring events were not remedied by any of the subsequent updates received: v2024. 32. 10 (fsd v12. 5. 4. 1) on oct 8, 2024 v2024. 33. 5 (fsd v12. 5. 4. 2) on Nov 2, 2024 2024. 44. 25. 2 (fsd v12. 5. 4. 2) on Dec 10, 2024 while not all events occurred with surrounding traffic, those that did posed a hazard to not just occupants of my vehicle, but those in and around other vehicles, including pedestrians. Most other drivers do not expect and are unprepared for a vehicle to apply panic-level emergency braking and come to full stop at green lights, before unprotected crosswalks with no pedestrians present, or along well-traveled streets without significant errant other drivers. No warning lights, chimes, or other indications ever appeared on any of the displays or instrument clusters within the vehicle during any of the events. The fsd traffic display did not indicate or highlight any features of the surrounding area that were causing it to slow or stop. The problem has been regularly experienced by many other drivers, as evidenced by the large number of similar reports across the various Tesla driver communities online. I and my vehicle are available for inspection and I'm additionally willing to take an inspector on a ride-along to demonstrate the issue.

In July 2024 all the cameras on the Tesla Model S except the rear stopped working after a failed software update. This meant that all of the driver assistance systems as well as gps, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, forward collision warning etc stopped working. The lack of availability of this system meant that the car no longer had any advanced safety features that came with the car. It took many months for Tesla service to diagnose and fix the problem, which they identified as a failure of the auto pilot computer. After I was finally able to get an appointment with the service center, they replaced the autopilot computer at a cost of over $1500. The failure first appeared in July 2024. The symptom was gps location being stuck and autopilot and all safety features being not available.

While driving west on I 70 thru utah at 78 mph (speed limit posted 80) the car suddenly and almost violently applied full brakes and reduced speed to 50 mph before I could override by applying added pressure to the accelerator. There were no cars in front of me for over a mile, and the following cars were well back as well. This occurred late morning on perfectly dry pavement. There were few if any clouds, the temperature was in the mid to high 90's. The highway was divided with a significant center divider. If there had been a person following me within 5 car lengths there would certainly have been a rear end collision. The location was roughly 20 miles east of green river, utah.

Was driving on a highway when suddenly a whole bunch of error messages came on and my car became hard to steer. Wobbled off my lane which was extremely dangerous going 70mph. I reported this to Tesla and set up a service appointment. The day before my appointment they rescheduled it, pushing it out 30 days saying they don’t have the part in store. They haven’t looked at my car. They said they’re waiting for a new steering rack but don’t know when it’s coming in. Mentioned towing the vehicle and it being unsafe to operate - they must know there’s something wrong and clearly there’s a backlog of issues. They should have told me this earlier. My car is practically new. There’s absolutely no reason the steering rack would have broken.

I had a software update on my Tesla Model S for minor fixes (s/w version # 2024. 14. 9) and when I came to start the car the following systems are now working; 1/ all camera's are not working including review view camera. 2/ all adas systems are not working 3/ windscreen wipers are not working 4/ navigation is not working the biggest concern is the camera system and all the safety system associated with this are now not active on the car.

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.

I received a safety recall dated 2/8/2024, recall no 23v-838. Tesla has failed to remedy the defect & claims a remedy is not necessary. Specifically, I took my vehicle to Tesla on 3/18/2024 to update vehicle software to incorporate additional autosteer controls. See attachment: "repair notes: "no update necessary", despite the vehicle running a software version less than 2023. 44. 30 as specified in the recall notice.

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.

Driving southeast on route 40 between gallup, nm and albuquerque, nm. I was traveling at 75 mph on an open road, it was a sunny day. I had the adaptive cruise control engaged (acc). Literally no traffic in front of me for as far as the eye can see. Nothing that would cause an alert or obstruction in front of the car. The Tesla was on acc and suddenly braked, hard. I immediately disengaged the acc and drove manually. It was a frightening incident. If there had been traffic behind me, it would have resulted in a crash, as I would have been rear ended. If the traffic had been a truck behind us, we would probably have sustained extreme injuries.