Tesla Model X owners have reported 37 seat belt related problems since 1996. Table 1 shows the 1 most common seat belt problems. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's seat belt (37 problems). For details of each of the problem category, use the links in the table.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Seat Belt problems |
My 2023 Tesla Model X suffers from severe, intermittent safety system failures. Specifically, the automatic emergency braking and steering assist randomly become unavailable while driving. Tesla service refuses to repair this, claiming they are "unable to replicate" the intermittent alerts. However, the vehicle's history proves severe safety flaws: Tesla previously had to replace the entire steering wheel assembly and the driver's seat belt lap pretensioner due to failures, and had to recalibrate the forward adas camera because it went out of spec causing autopilot failures. These unresolved, randomly occurring defects pose a severe crash hazard that Tesla is ignoring.
My 2022 Tesla Model X has two recurring safety-critical defects that remain unresolved despite multiple repair attempts. 1. Airbag / restraint system failure (rcm2 / OCS defect): the vehicle frequently misclassifies the front passenger seat. It shows a passenger when the seat is empty and activates passenger seatbelt warnings incorrectly. Recently the vehicle displayed: “front passenger safety restraint system issue: service required (rcm2_a064). ” Tesla attempted to repair an electrical harness in the seat, but the problem returned. A Tesla technician documented that the seat may still need a new occupancy sensor. Because this affects the occupant classification system and airbag deployment logic, it raises potential fmvss 208 compliance concerns. 2. Fsd / gps safety hazard (5 unsuccessful repair attempts): across five service visits, Tesla attempted to fix gps drift and unsafe fsd routing. The vehicle still attempts incorrect turns, performs premature lane changes, and misinterprets intersections. One recent incident involved fsd attempting a left turn one intersection early, nearly causing a collision. Tesla replaced the gps antenna, recalibrated cameras, and replaced the computer, but the unsafe behavior continues. These two defects—incorrect airbag/OCS behavior and hazardous automated-driving/navigation behavior—create a significant safety risk to occupants and other drivers. Both defects persist after repair attempts. I can provide service records, videos, and documentation upon request.
Reat seatbelts become twisted and are not safe. Tesla claims this is a maintenance issue and not a defect in the mechanism. I disagree and this should be investigated by the government as it is a safety issue.
The vehicle has start throwing a safety restraint error. We got into the service mode and it shows there is electrical problems with the driver side airbag system and that it may not deploy in the event of an accident. Tesla is delaying the appointment to review this for 12 days. Their app advised to not drive the car due to a safety issue as all safety measures may not work appropriately. Seems to be a safety level recall.
There is an error alert on my car that says front left safety restraint issue service is required. So seems to me the airbags or seat belt may not be working properly and its clearly labeled as a safety issue. We have to drive this vehicle nearly daily and Tesla is refusing to fix for a minimum of 10 days even though this fault could threaten our lives. Make them fix ASAP.
The second-row seatbelt in my 2017 Tesla Model X does not retract, preventing proper restraint of a passenger. Tesla acknowledged the issue but refused to repair it, stating the vehicle is out of warranty. This is a failure of a federally mandated safety system and a clear safety hazard under fmvss 209. I’m transporting children in this vehicle and cannot rely on this seatbelt to function.
I own a Tesla Model X 6-seater. The second-row seatbelt repeatedly becomes twisted and fails to retract or lay flat after only a few days of normal use. I have brought the vehicle to the Tesla service center in austin, TX (2323 ridgepoint dr) multiple times — five separate repair visits so far — for the same issue. Each time, the technicians temporarily correct the twist or adjust the belt path, but the issue returns within days. I have attached screenshots of all five repair records, including Tesla’s technician notes describing the repeated attempts to resolve the problem. The problem appears to be caused by misalignment of the seatbelt retractor or seat design, not by user misuse. When the belt twists, it cannot retract properly or lay flat across the passenger, which may reduce its effectiveness during a collision. Tesla service has not offered a permanent fix or design correction, and the defect continues to recur. This appears to be a systemic issue in the second-row seatbelt system of the Model X six-seat configuration. Because the defect involves a federally required safety restraint that may not function as intended, I am reporting this as a potential safety defect for further investigation.
‘safety restraint system issue’ error pops up when ever car is turned on was told that can cause airbag to not be deployed when needed.
System warning for the rear left safety restraint. Took it into Tesla and they charged me.
1. Passenger (next to driver) side no-belt warning is not working. Seat belt warning is not shown even when the passenger (adult) does not wear belt. It is consistently reproducible even when the vehicle is at highway speeds. 2. Passenger side airbag is always off even when there is a passenger seated with their seat belt on. I purchased this vehicle in April'2024 and have been consistently having sensor issues. I took the vehicle to a Tesla service center but they did not do repairs. The seat belt and passenger side airbag issue has started very recently. We noticed it 2-3 days back and have reported it to Tesla customer service center via chat message in Tesla app but they have not responded. I called Tesla emergency road number and reported the same but they were not able to help. Hence I am reporting to NHTSA as a last resort to see if the major security issue can be fixed.
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I have received hundreds of intermittent safety faults which state: “ssfety restraint system fault - service is required. ” these messages pop up randomly and I have taken the vehicle in several times and no faults are seen during the service appointment. Tesla tells me there are at least 9 possible reasons for such a fault but they never provide me a checklist showing all 9 items were investigated. The last appointment they never gave me any feedback from the initial service center but transferred my car to another service center not stating why and then saying nothing found no precise timestamp was determined although I gave them a photo of the message and the date/time of the photo. Tesla says nothing is found but they want me to pick up the vehicle and wait for the next fault to occur. I stated that these faults occur intermittently and disappear by the time I get an appointment. They don’t offer to keep the vehicle for longer term monitoring or what is the impact of possible safety restraint malfunctions should I decide to retrieve and drive the vehicle. There is general lack of clarity on what other things could be checked given more time or resources, does this fault occur regularly on other Model X vehicles and what if any safety problems have been identified in any of those vehicles that may have been fixed. Tesla provides diagnosis for 1 hour only at $278 to vehicles not under warranty and they said repairs would be in addition to this. Since no other non-Tesla automotive service center can possibly troubleshoot such a complex electronics and software system I am effectively being charged almost $300 whenever the fault is detected so effectively there is no incentive for Tesla to ever fix my car. They have been sending me emails to trade in my vehicle and purchase a new one so there is many reasons to keep this 7 year vehicle broken!.
Problem #1: the components that failed are the front wheel fenders, they blew off while driving down the highway, they have since been repaired. The repairman said that these blow off all the time due to how they are installed with plastic clips and glue. My families safety was put at risk because the moment that this happened the sensor was showing something that was about to hit us. Had the auto drive been enabled at this time the car could have taken measures to avoid what it thought was an object. We were also put at risk as well as others driving behind us by the parts blowing off onto a highway while driving at high speeds. The component was inspected by the service tech that worked for Tesla. I took the car into Tesla to have the car serviced before driving to California, they cleared the car and said that everything looked great, no warnings or symptoms. Problem #2: on the same drive to California, we had a error that showed as "safety restraint system fault". This error seems to come and go so it may be available upon request depending on the day it is. The safety of my children are put at risk because we will not know when they are taking off their seatbelt due to this error. The error has been inspected by Tesla on multiple occasions and they cannot seem to find how to fix this. I have another appointment with them on [xxx] to try again to fix it. There is a warning, but it is very vague and does not let you know where the problem is. Problem #3: Tesla's front suspension arms lose all grease and start to make a grinding noise while going over minor bumps. This puts people at risk because at any moment the cars suspension could fail while driving due to the ware on the suspension. The component has been inspected by Tesla and they said that I should wait until the other arm starts to fail to replace them both at the same time. No warnings or anything has been shown due to this. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Seat belt buckle is always stuck at second row right seat. Tesla did not fix it during last service appointment. My child has to climb underneath the seat belt.
I just had a forth occurence of the "safety restraint system error" message on my Tesla. I say forth, because the three times previous, I had to go into Tesla to have them "fix" the issue, only for it now, to happen again for the 4th time. I don't think this is a small issue, and you guys need to know about it. Not sure, this is just faulty service teams, or inexperience, or. They are just failing to fix it properly. But given that the messaging has to do with seatbelts and/or air bags, I think this is pretty important.
I have encountered what seems to be a very common issue in 2018ish Tesla vehicles. Seatbelt sensor issues. While I believe it is due to wiring below the seat, Tesla claims the only fix is an entire seat replacement. Researching this it seems to be a widespread issue, especially as the cars age.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that when the vehicle was turned on, and the right and left second-row captain seat belts were applied, a seat belt restraint error message appeared. Additionally, the contact also stated that when the seat belts were extended right and left sets wouldn't retract. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the seat belt assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was unknown.
Seat belts in rear seats are not installed correctly. The tongue of the seatbelt does not fit into the buckle properly/ correctly. The service center was notified of this issue. A service apportionment was set up. The service technician identified that they see the problem. The car was left to be serviced and the problem to be corrected. However when we were notified that the service of complete and the car was ready to picked up, upon picking up the car there was no change. The seatbelts are the exact same way as when we dropped it off. We were told that seatbelts function as expected. Our children carseats are in those seats and we are concerned for their safety. These factors, coupled with the volume of recall notices we’ve received on the vehicle so far, give us significant pause and raise major concerns about the composition, fidelity, and safety of this Tesla Model X.
The vehicle consistently displays the message "rear right safety restraint system fault" on the dashboard since its delivery in January 2024. This indicates a potential malfunction in the airbag or seatbelt system, posing a safety risk to passengers occupying the rear right seat while the vehicle is in operation. Despite multiple inspections and diagnoses by Tesla, the dealership has attributed the issue to a firmware or software glitch without providing a definitive solution. Consequently, the warning message persists on a daily basis, necessitating urgent resolution to ensure the safety and functionality of the vehicle's safety systems.
On November 29, 2023, my car indicated there was a "rear left safety restraint system fault", code rcm2_a160. I've taken it in for service 3 times and Tesla has been unable to identify the issue or correct the issue. I have since sent them documentation under the texas law and they have not responded. The technician advised me that if someone were to be sitting in the left rear passenger seat and I stopped quickly the seat belt pretension would not engage and the passenger would not be properly restrained. Obviously I can not have anyone sit in that seat safely.
Middle row center seat seatbelt won’t retract.
In the middle row of a six seat Tesla Model X, if one installs a forward facing car seat the latch which connects to the backside anchor of the seat has no integrity. The belt slides from over the seat of the car killing the purpose of the tether.
Seatbelt sometimes will not auto retract and gets stuck with lots of slack. Car is very clean, no blockages and seatbelt doesn’t have any tears or frays.
The second row center seat has a seatbelt that has failed. The seatbelt will not retract and is completely inoperative. I contacted Tesla about this issue and they said that it is not covered under warranty and they want to charge me $1,133. 00 to repair it. I cannot afford this, and I believe the manufacturer should repair this defect free of charge since this vehicle is only 5 years old.
Tesla mentioned the seat alga’s a sensor malfunction. It is a 2019. The sensor malfunction impacts the airbag deployment. They will not fix and requires $4100 replacement of the seat.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that the second-row passenger's side seat belt had fully retracted and could not be pulled out. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla service center, where it was diagnosed that the seat belt was twisted internally. The Tesla service center untwisted the seat belt internally. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.
Seatbelt anchor broken/came off.
Trying to secure a backless child safety booster seat which has latch tether devices. The Tesla Model X 2022 3rd row does not have the latch tether bars. I believe the brand of seat is gofit chicco. My 7 year old granddaughter was only restrained with the shoulder lap belt. During a forced rapid deceleration emergency stop she was choked by the seatbelt when the booster seat slid off the seat during rapid deceleration. She was not injured other than a red mark, sorry no photos, and was significantly traumatized from the incident. This booster seat has a clear warning stating the latch system is required and does not have a built in seatbelt channel since it’s backless. The 2nd row seats were in use with two other child safety seats using the latch system which provided ample protection.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the driver’s side rear passenger’s seat belt failed to release the child occupying the seat. The contact stated that after five minutes the seat belt released. The contact then stated that while driving at approximately 20 mph, with the front passenger and the driver’s side rear seats occupied, the restraint system fault for each passenger was displayed. Additionally, the contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the messages appeared intermittently while both seats were unoccupied. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that a seat belt module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
I was a passenger in the vehicle. The car was moving forward at 10-15 mph and the auto braking system was activated appropriately when a large truck parked on the side of the street driver's door opened unexpectedly and was in the path of our vehicle. With the sudden deceleration, my upper body flung forward and the force of my weight caused the seat belt anchor on the lower seat to detach completely.
I have experienced several issues with my car: it brakes suddenly for no reason in the middle of the freeway it displayed an error message that said the right rear seat safety system has failed and needs service it displayed an error message that said the ultrasonic sensors are not communicating with each other (I believe these are used for the driver safety systems). I reached out to Tesla asking to look into these issues. Each time Tesla denied service and asked me to note down the exact time that these issues happened to help them investigate (they specified the format with an example 06/20/2022 5:22pm pst). If I’m driving the car, how is it safe for me to note down time with this precision? also, the car has functionality to record all of these alerts but Tesla’s software updates wipe them out (instead of retaining them). Further, Tesla asks to schedule service through their app but in my case, my app doesn’t allow me to schedule service for unknown reasons. I have contacted Tesla about this issue and so far there is no resolution. I feel very unsafe driving my car after receiving these alerts and not getting any help from Tesla to investigate and fix them. I feel they are placing an undue burden on me to record the time. Please help me get my car looked at and fix the issues mentioned above.
I ordered a new Tesla x on 01/10/2021 and I just received it on 06/03/2022. I can’t believe that the car passed quality inspection (I found that the passenger falcon door can’t close unless I override the door to close from the driver seat and non of the closing bottoms works in addition to safety seat built is not even attached to it seat!! these issues should be fixed on the spot (actually I should not receive $110000 car in with a safety issues and I should get it serviced on the spot but they kept telling me that I have to make an appointment through the Tesla app and I have to wait weeks before the fix the safety issues. This is my second Tesla and I found that the Tesla x quality is much worse than the Tesla y. The Tesla x (VIN number is 7saxcae57nf344114).
Car is displaying a warning reading “rear right safety restraint system fault. Service is required. ” same for the left side. I took the vehicle for service and was told that this is a “known characteristic of current firmware”. Tesla sent me a message stating that “all the hardware components are ok and the alert is caused by a firmware bug at the moment which will be resolved in a future update”. They did not provide any estimates of when this update will be available. They returned me the car without making any statement on whether it is safe to drive, and whether rear passengers would be safe.
Since the purchase of this vehicle the safety restraint system fault alert intermittently pops up while I am driving the vehicle. Tesla has owners make service appointment in an app which I have done multiple times in the past few years but each time the alert has gone away and the service appointments have been canceled. Turns out now, 4 years later, we have been driving with a faulty restraint system and there is a disconnect between the system and the wiring. Essentially this is a safety issue in that the notification system is faulty and incorrectly and only intermittently warns of possible failure as well as a possibility of the restraint system actually failing in a driving scenario. This problem is particularly concerning because they are unable to correctly diagnose which seats are affected and that includes seats that may have car seats attached.
The seatbelt has stopped retracting fully and became twisted. Although Tesla repair personnel have repeatedly untwisted the belt, it immediately becomes twisted again and stops retracting.
My 4 year old daughter climbed into the 3rd row of our Tesla Model X while it was parked. She wanted to sit in the back seat and use a "big girl" seat belt, instead of her car seat. She attempted to put the seat belt on and even clicked it into place with the strap over her lap. However, she somehow got the chest/shoulder strap wrapped around her neck. My daughter & wife thought that letting the belt retract a little would allow the remove the tension and allow the belt to be fully extended. That didn't happen. Luckily, one of my child's arms was in a raised position and prevented the seat belt (now in a loop around her neck) from literally strangling her. My wife called me in a panic and hurried home. My daughter sat in the back seat crying and in a panic. I met them in the street when she arrived. The car was still on when I jumped in the back seat. I initially thought I could let the seat belt retract a bit and then the tension would release so that I could remove her. The problem is the belt never allowed me to extend it. Instead, the seat belt continued to remain tight and engaged even as it was retracted. In the end, I had to hold the seat belt in place so it wouldn't get any tighter and my wife ran into the house and grabbed scissors. Once I had secured the seat belt and had scissors in hand, I asked my wife to take a cell phone video of it. I can share that video with you if you like. Ultimately, we had to cut the seat belt. We have not alerted Tesla of this issue and we have not yet had the car repaired. I'm not familiar with seat belt safety requirements, and I realize my daughter is very young and having the seat belt wrap around her neck is likely an uncommon situation, but it seemed odd to me that the belt performed in this manner. I'm alerting the NHTSA in case this is a product safety issue that warrants action.
Here is a discussion about the dangers of the rear seats in the Model X: https://forums. Tesla. Com/forum/forums/concern-about-head-injury-third-row-seating snip* third row seats are clearly exceedingly dangerous for medium-tall passengers. It is just a matter of time (if it has not happened already) that someone is killed or suffers devastating neck injuries from this seating/roof design. The problem is that someone can sit 'comfortably' in that seat and think they are safe, but in even a minor frontal crash their forehead would strike the rear hatch-window-frame cross member, violently rotating the head backwards, breaking the person's neck. Tesla 'cleverly' used the glass hatch roof to allow more headroom with a lower aerodynamic roof, but this just means people might sit in this seat who are too tall to survive there in even a minor frontal impact accident. Tesla should have a disclaimer (height restriction?) about this issue. ** the thread also discusses the danger to children in a booster seat. It appears that the authorities are permitting Tesla to self regulate in these matters of safety. Owners have the belief that Tesla is the safest car in the world and that Tesla can be trusted to do the right thing. I am of the opinion that such faith is not justified. Please investigate to prevent someone being killed or rendered quadriplegic. Thank you. Concerned citizen.