Table 1 shows one common exterior lighting related problems of the 2023 Tesla Model X.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Exterior Lighting problems |
Placing the turn signal 'buttons' on the steering wheel makes them impossible to use when the wheel is not centered. While driving parking lots and roads with immediate left/right turns and or intersections it is impossible properly signal while driving this vehicle in it's current condition. By not being able to signal, it increases the likelihood of a collision.
Touch capacitive buttons on the steering wheel and doors are major safety hazard. The touch buttons on the steering wheel for critical functions like blinkers, headlights, wipers and the horn are all moving with the steering wheel (so you have to look down to locate these critical functions while still moving, especially if you are turning at all), and worse, these buttons sometimes fail to activate even when you do push them. I have several times tried to turn on my blinker for a sudden lane change due to a hazard ahead, and the blinker does not respond / activate. My wife was driving and someone started to run a stop sign in front of us - I yelled "hit the horn!" and she replied with "I can't find it!!!" (we were driving on a bend in the road, the steering wheel was not in the neutral position, and the horn is a tiny touch capacitive button). The button on the driver door to get out is the same or very similar, and I have a 30 second video I can forward you of how this button can fail to respond. In the video, you can see the tip of my finger bend when I first touch the button, I move my finger all over and around the button, and nearly 15 seconds later, the button finally responds and opens the door. The driver door also pops out about 10 degrees when it does open, then becomes very stiff and you have to push hard to get the door to open the rest of the way. The button for the headlights is also a safety issue - if you push and hold the headlight button for too long, it locks the high beams on, instead of just flashing them (or a long duration flash). When you push the headlight button, a menu pops up on the bottom center portion of the center screen, that will allow you to toggle automatic high beams on and off, but when moving, it is only there for 2-3 seconds, and the buttons are extremely small, making it hard to change settings for the headlights safely (must look away from the road, and try to hit the small buttons while moving / bouncing around).
Interior rear light constantly blinks spontaneously while driving. There is no control to turn this light on or off. I have scheduled repair with Tesla and they have not fixed the issue. When I drive at light I get distracted by the strob light effect effect of this blinking slight. It’s on land off for no reason whether I’m driving or parked with the car powered off and all doors locked.
The headlight high beams do not properly light upward and the service center refuses to replace the headlight. They also had another new car the same way. Both defective which is a manufacturing problem and safety risk.