2021 Tesla Model S — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 179 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Tesla Model S — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
366 complaints
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179 complaints
0 complaints
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What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
Went to a Tesla dealership to get my car aligned. 4 days later they told me that my car couldn’t be aligned because my fron lower control arm was bent or broken. I purchased the car from Tesla with 5700 miles. The cad had about 19k miles when it went in for alignment. Seen owning the vehicle I never had an accident or damage to vehicle that would cause such damage. Like always…
Driving on divided highway at night, the car slowed dramatically at each exit from the highway.
I’ve reported a continually present rack and pinion issue.. FOUR times. Tesla techs claim they don’t experience it or that it is ‘normal’ for this car. The car emits an audible grinding sound plus a visible wheel skipping when turned hard left or right. Today, the right front wheel began to emit a loud whirring sound in addition to the steering issue. Tesla refuses to inve…
7/30/2025 The vehicle experienced a confirmed TOTAL loss of function to include steering, restraint, and braking functionality at approximately 60 to 65 miles per hour. This catastrophic failure placed myself and and others at severe risk. Although Tesla’s service notes confirm the event occurred, no corrective repair was performed. The vehicle was completely inoperative with …
All 2021 Tesla Model S and/or X do not have horns in the center of the steering wheel. Instead, they have a button, which is impossible to find during an emergency situation, especially after many decades of muscle memory has been developed. Keep in mind that many, if not most, who can afford one of these cars do have decades of driving experience. I would really appreciate i…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 Tesla Model S, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.