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2015 Tesla Model S problems & recalls

NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2015 Tesla Model S and owners have filed 646 complaints. The most-reported area is electrical system (256 complaints). 11 complaints describe a fire and 69 complaints describe a crash.

Recalls
0
Complaints
646
Crash reports
69
Fire reports
11
Injuries
29

Recalls (0)

NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2015 Model S.

Owner complaints (646)

What owners reported to NHTSA, by component. One complaint can name several components.

  • Electrical system256
  • Unknown or other184
  • Suspension147
  • Steering51
  • Exterior lighting44
  • Vehicle speed control39
  • Fuel/propulsion system30
  • Power train29
  • Structure29
  • Visibility/wiper29
  • Forward collision avoidance26
  • Air bags21

Complaints over time

Sep 2015: 1 complaintOct 2015: 6 complaintsNov 2015: 0 complaintsDec 2015: 1 complaintJan 2016: 0 complaintsFeb 2016: 3 complaintsMar 2016: 2 complaintsApr 2016: 6 complaintsMay 2016: 3 complaintsJun 2016: 13 complaintsJul 2016: 3 complaintsAug 2016: 6 complaintsSep 2016: 8 complaintsOct 2016: 3 complaintsNov 2016: 3 complaintsDec 2016: 2 complaintsJan 2017: 1 complaintFeb 2017: 7 complaintsMar 2017: 4 complaintsApr 2017: 4 complaintsMay 2017: 4 complaintsJun 2017: 3 complaintsJul 2017: 0 complaintsAug 2017: 3 complaintsSep 2017: 0 complaintsOct 2017: 3 complaintsNov 2017: 3 complaintsDec 2017: 4 complaintsJan 2018: 3 complaintsFeb 2018: 1 complaintMar 2018: 4 complaintsApr 2018: 4 complaintsMay 2018: 1 complaintJun 2018: 1 complaintJul 2018: 0 complaintsAug 2018: 1 complaintSep 2018: 3 complaintsOct 2018: 2 complaintsNov 2018: 1 complaintDec 2018: 0 complaintsJan 2019: 1 complaintFeb 2019: 1 complaintMar 2019: 2 complaintsApr 2019: 3 complaintsMay 2019: 1 complaintJun 2019: 1 complaintJul 2019: 1 complaintAug 2019: 6 complaintsSep 2019: 3 complaintsOct 2019: 9 complaintsNov 2019: 14 complaintsDec 2019: 4 complaintsJan 2020: 9 complaintsFeb 2020: 5 complaintsMar 2020: 5 complaintsApr 2020: 1 complaintMay 2020: 5 complaintsJun 2020: 55 complaintsJul 2020: 96 complaintsAug 2020: 52 complaintsSep 2020: 11 complaintsOct 2020: 12 complaintsNov 2020: 23 complaintsDec 2020: 10 complaintsJan 2021: 16 complaintsFeb 2021: 7 complaintsMar 2021: 6 complaintsApr 2021: 7 complaintsMay 2021: 4 complaintsJun 2021: 9 complaintsJul 2021: 11 complaintsAug 2021: 3 complaintsSep 2021: 5 complaintsOct 2021: 4 complaintsNov 2021: 6 complaintsDec 2021: 2 complaintsJan 2022: 2 complaintsFeb 2022: 6 complaintsMar 2022: 1 complaintApr 2022: 4 complaintsMay 2022: 2 complaintsJun 2022: 4 complaintsJul 2022: 3 complaintsAug 2022: 5 complaintsSep 2022: 4 complaintsOct 2022: 4 complaintsNov 2022: 6 complaintsDec 2022: 0 complaintsJan 2023: 2 complaintsFeb 2023: 5 complaintsMar 2023: 3 complaintsApr 2023: 2 complaintsMay 2023: 5 complaintsJun 2023: 5 complaintsJul 2023: 0 complaintsAug 2023: 4 complaintsSep 2023: 3 complaintsOct 2023: 5 complaintsNov 2023: 2 complaintsDec 2023: 4 complaintsJan 2024: 3 complaintsFeb 2024: 5 complaintsMar 2024: 3 complaintsApr 2024: 6 complaintsMay 2024: 2 complaintsJun 2024: 0 complaintsJul 2024: 3 complaintsAug 2024: 1 complaintSep 2024: 0 complaintsOct 2024: 2 complaintsNov 2024: 2 complaintsDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 0 complaintsFeb 2025: 1 complaintMar 2025: 1 complaintApr 2025: 1 complaintMay 2025: 1 complaintJun 2025: 1 complaintJul 2025: 4 complaintsAug 2025: 2 complaints2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 96 in Jul 2020. Hover a bar for its count.
Complaints filed per month
MonthComplaints
Sep 20151
Oct 20156
Nov 20150
Dec 20151
Jan 20160
Feb 20163
Mar 20162
Apr 20166
May 20163
Jun 201613
Jul 20163
Aug 20166
Sep 20168
Oct 20163
Nov 20163
Dec 20162
Jan 20171
Feb 20177
Mar 20174
Apr 20174
May 20174
Jun 20173
Jul 20170
Aug 20173
Sep 20170
Oct 20173
Nov 20173
Dec 20174
Jan 20183
Feb 20181
Mar 20184
Apr 20184
May 20181
Jun 20181
Jul 20180
Aug 20181
Sep 20183
Oct 20182
Nov 20181
Dec 20180
Jan 20191
Feb 20191
Mar 20192
Apr 20193
May 20191
Jun 20191
Jul 20191
Aug 20196
Sep 20193
Oct 20199
Nov 201914
Dec 20194
Jan 20209
Feb 20205
Mar 20205
Apr 20201
May 20205
Jun 202055
Jul 202096
Aug 202052
Sep 202011
Oct 202012
Nov 202023
Dec 202010
Jan 202116
Feb 20217
Mar 20216
Apr 20217
May 20214
Jun 20219
Jul 202111
Aug 20213
Sep 20215
Oct 20214
Nov 20216
Dec 20212
Jan 20222
Feb 20226
Mar 20221
Apr 20224
May 20222
Jun 20224
Jul 20223
Aug 20225
Sep 20224
Oct 20224
Nov 20226
Dec 20220
Jan 20232
Feb 20235
Mar 20233
Apr 20232
May 20235
Jun 20235
Jul 20230
Aug 20234
Sep 20233
Oct 20235
Nov 20232
Dec 20234
Jan 20243
Feb 20245
Mar 20243
Apr 20246
May 20242
Jun 20240
Jul 20243
Aug 20241
Sep 20240
Oct 20242
Nov 20242
Dec 20240
Jan 20250
Feb 20251
Mar 20251
Apr 20251
May 20251
Jun 20251
Jul 20254
Aug 20252

Recent owner reports

Aug 5, 2025Steering

A few times the steering control has shut off while I am driving. Steering failure lasts a few seconds and then returns to normal function. The car makes a VERY loud alarm sound when the steering is inoperable. I have not seen any failure messages on the screen or in the Service menu. I took the car to Tesla for service yesterday. They did some sort of remote scan of the fault codes and told me that there is nothing wrong. They told me to continue to drive the car and record when the steering stops working again. This sounds like ridiculously bad advice to me. While the steering control has…

Aug 2, 2025Electrical system

Many air bubbles are appearing towards the bottom of the instrument panel on our 2015 Tesla Model S. This started a couple of weeks ago and the bubbles are increasing in size and number and they are moving upwards. The bubbles don’t presently obscure important driver information such as the transmission mode (drive, park, reverse, neutral), remaining battery range (e.g. 80%), car speed (mph), parking sensor distance, brake light status, car door open, frunk open, tailgate open, time, outdoor temperature, car lights on/off, warning lights, etc. However, the bubbles likely will do so in the…

Jul 27, 2025Power train

Large drive unit that has previously been replaced by Tesla failed due to coolant ingress leaking through rotor seal. Known issue per 3rd party technicians.

Jul 19, 2025Unknown or other

Hi, my trunk won't open when I press the button. This is the second occurrence that jas happend. When inside the trunk compartment the emergency cable to open the trunk is also not responsive and can not open the trunk. I think this is a big safety concern as the safety cord is there for a reason and in both cases id did not worked.

Jul 5, 2025Steering, Engine

Steering: While driving today (7/5/2025), all of a sudden and without warning, "driver assist" (power steering) became disabled. Steering wheel immediately became heavy in the sense that it was extremely difficult to turn. Motor: Also, on 02/22/2024, while driving on the freeway at freeway speed, all of a sudden and without warning, the rear LDU (large drive unit) failed and the car became inoperable. At that time, the car had approximately 45k miles on it.

Jul 4, 2025Steering

Electric power steering stopped working unexpectedly and making it very difficult to steer and drive safely.

Jun 1, 2025Latches/locks/linkages, Structure

I parked my 2015 Tesla Model S and found the rear door on the passenger side would not open from the outside even though the door handle was extended. This is a safety concern as we could not open the door to remove our pet dog from the car. It would also not be possible to open the door from the outside to remove a child in a car seat next to the door or an elderly or disabled person sitting next to the door who is unable to open the door from the inside. This could be life threatening in the case of a car crash. It is a major safety defect that should be repaired at no cost by Tesla for…

May 2, 2025Steering

While driving and mid-turn, 2 alerts were announced (park assist not available; steer assist reduced) and I immediately lost the ability to turn the steering wheel (it was 100% stiff) mid turn and was almost t-boned by a vehicle in on-coming traffic. I was able to make the turn widely and pull car to the side while blocking the only lane of traffic. I had ZERO warning and ZERO ability to turn the wheel even into a simple driveway. There was a parking lot near and I couldn't turn the wheel just to turn into it. This almost caused a huge accident which I could have been killed in. Luckily my…

Tesla Model S news

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall and complaint records, updated Oct 1, 2026. Complaints are owner reports and are not verified by NHTSA. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.