2019 Tesla Model S
This year drew an ordinary 96 complaints for a Tesla Model S — the model's median is 176. What they were about is the unusual part: 18.8% of them mention brakes, against 4.3% across the model's other years.
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 | 96 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 176 |
| Involving a crash | 12 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| EPA combined | 103.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- brakes — 18.8% of this year's complaints, against 4.3% across the model's other years (4.4×).
- others — 9.4% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the model's other years (5.3×).
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
When driving with AutoPilot enabled, I am experiencing the same issues as many others. Without any warning or reason, the car will sometimes slam on the brakes which puts the occupants in my vehicle and the cars behind me in danger. I have had to punch the thr…
DRIVING ON AUTOPILOT ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR SUDDENLY BRAKES WITH NOT APPARENT REASON.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V037000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 21V00B000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 21V846000 FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE Fixed free of charge.
- 22V169000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 22V818000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V085000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V838000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 24V051000 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 2019 Tesla Model S? What happened to yours?
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