2012 Tesla Model S
This year drew an ordinary 59 complaints for a Tesla Model S — the model's median is 176. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.8% of them mention infotainment, against 0.2% across the model's other years.
First year of a new generation. The Tesla Model S was redesigned for 2012. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 59 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 176 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 89 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- infotainment — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 0.2% across the model's other years (31.1×).
- freezing — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 0.3% across the model's other years (25.7×).
- each — 8.5% of this year's complaints, against 2.2% across the model's other years (3.9×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM IS FREEZING WHICH DOESN'T ALLOW YOU TO USE ANY FEATURES OF THE CAR EXCEPT BASIC DRIVING FUNCTIONS. THIS HAS BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO A CHIP FAILURE IN THE MCU.
I REACHED OUT TO TESLA ABOUT THE EMMC RECALL. I BOOKED AN APPOINTMENT, PROVIDED PHOTOS OF VARIOUS BLACKOUT, SCREEN FREEZING AND LOSS OF CONNECTIVITY ISSUES. TESLA INSTRUCTED ME TO UPDATE THE FIRMWARE (WHICH I DID) AND CANCELLED MY APPOINTMENT AND TOLD ME I DID…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V260000 PARKING BRAKE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V023000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V204000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 15V780000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V035000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 23V838000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 24V051000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 24V376000 SEAT BELTS
How this was worked out
Every year of the Tesla Model S was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 Tesla Model S? What happened to yours?
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