There are 4 stored owner reports matching the powertrain & transmission leading-label group for the 2012 Tesla Model S in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 4 of 4 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)The drive unit has water damage from normal driving. The car never went through deep water or was flooded, but the tech at the service center is saying the units are sealed but still can get water in them and corrode. How can a vital sealed part of the vehicle be damaged by normal driving and claim water damage? The car operated just fine the day before. Please advise.
The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle independently shifted to neutral. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who informed the contact that they could not duplicate the failure. The contact stated that the failure recurred daily while driving whenever he depressed the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer. The dealer informed the contact that the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 125,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was an abnormal humming sound detected coming from the drive unit. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed that the drive unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.
CAR WON'T START, COMPUTER PROBLEMS ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, AFTER MULTIPLE CALLS TESLA HAD NO RECORD OF PRIOR COMPLAINTS AND NO REMEDY. LEFT STRANDED MULTIPLE TIMES. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.