2016 Tesla Model S
Complaints about this year name please far more often than the model's other years — 24% of them, about 5× the usual rate of 5.1%.
Generation 1 of the Tesla Model S, which began in 2012. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
| Complaints filed | 6,040 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 136 |
| Involving a crash | 890 |
| Involving a fire | 120 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| EPA combined | 99.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- link — 12.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.7% across the model's other years (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: link, fore, broke, fore link.
- mcu — 11.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the model's other years (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: mcu, control unit, media control, rebooting.
- arm — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: arm, control arm, lower control.
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.
Also unusual this year
- com — 24% of complaints, 4× usual
- https — 24% of complaints, 3× usual
- mcu — 10% of complaints, 23× usual
What owners wrote
MODEL S FRESHLY ARRIVED IN THE JUNKYARD: HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLE?ITEMID=26126022&ROWNUMBER=91&LOADRECENT=TRUE SUSPENSION COLLAPSED. ALL WHEELS WHOMPY. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. VERY CONCERNED CITIZEN ETC.
ANOTHER TESLA IN THE JUNKYARD: HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/24093828 SAME OLD THING. SUSPENSION COLLOLLOPSED. FRONT SUSPENSION SNAPPED OFF LIKE A SPARROWS LEG. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. (SIGH) PEEVED CITIZEN. ETC. ETC.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V002000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V204000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V260000 PARKING BRAKE Fixed free of charge.
- 22V037000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 21V035000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 21V00B000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 23V085000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V838000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2016 Tesla Model S? What happened to yours?
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