There are 10 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2015 Tesla Model Sin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The MCU that controls the climate and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems stops working while driving. I sent a service request to TESLA and they replied that my older MCU1 is failing because of the new software updates. It isn't the eMMC card hardware failure, but the symptoms and safety concerns are the same. None of the controls work, as the main screen goes blank and resets while driving. TESLA told me the fix for this problem is to upgrade to MCU2, which they fail to provide for free as a safety recall. There was already a recall for the MCU memory chip failing and causing the same safety concern. The car disables the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems when this problem occurs. It happens about once or twice a month for the last year.
TESLA UPGRADED THE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM ON MY CAR AND AS A RESULT THE SCREEN'S VIEW OF THE BACKUP CAMERA IS NOW EXTREMELY DARK WHEN USED AT NIGHT. MY WIFE NARROWLY AVOIDED HITTING A TREE THE FIRST NIGHT. THE UPGRADED SYSTEM'S BACKUP CAMERA IS ALMOST USELESS NOW AND A REAL SAFETY HAZARD AS ONE CAN NO-LONGER SEE THE ROAD OR ANY OBSTACLES WHEN REVERSING AT NIGHT. PREVIOUSLY, IT WAS A VERY WELL PERFORMING SYSTEM. TESLA HAS NOT FIRM TIMELINE TO RECTIFY THIS ISSUE.
THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT (MCU) TOUCHSCREEN FAILED (COMPLETELY DARK/NON-OPERABLE) AND GREATLY REDUCED MY REAR VISIBILITY WHEN PUTTING THE CAR IN REVERSE GIVEN THE LOSS OF THE REAR CAMERA DISPLAY. THIS OCCURRED UPON LEAVING WORK AND GETTING INTO MY PARKED CAR.
THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT FAILED ON MY 2015 TESLA MODEL S. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND HAPPENS ON ALL TESLA'S DUE TO A MEMORY FAILURE ON THE MCU1 UNIT. THIS CAUSES THE REAR VIEW CAMERA TO NOT WORK IMPACTING SAFTY VISIBILITY WHEN BACKING THE CAR. THE CAR BEING ELECTRIC IS QUIET AND WITHOUT A PROPER REAR VIEW CAMERA IT IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT IS WELL KNOWN BY TESLA
I HAVE TESLA MODEL S 2015. MCU OR DISPLAY FAILED AS DESCRIBED DUE TO FLASH MEMORY NO TURN SIGNAL. NO REAR CAMERA. KNOWN PROBLEM ELON MUSK KNEW ABOUT AND DID NOTHING TO FIX SHOULD BE RECALLED
MCU DEGRADATION. OBTAINED THE CAR IN 2019 AND BY 2020 THE UNIT HAS DEGRADED TO DANGEROUS STATES. WHILE DRIVING THE CAR IN REVERSE THE CAMERA SPLIT INTO TWO IMAGES INVERTED, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE WHILE BACKING UP. ALSO THE SYSTEM NAVIGATION FAILED DURING ONE OF MY TRIPS CAUSING ME TO SOFT RESET IT AT NIGHT WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR SHUT OFF THE HEADLIGHTS IN A DARK AREA WITH NO STREET LAMPS, FORCING ME TO PULL OVER USING THE HAZARDS TO PARK. THE SYSTEM NEVER SHUT OFF THE HEADLIGHTS OR PREVENTING DRIVABILITY WHEN RESETTING IN THE PAST. MENU FUNCTIONS HAVE STARTED TO SHOW UP CRYPTIC AND UNUSEABLE FORCING MORE COMMON RESTARTS WHILE DRIVING. MULTIPLE TRIPS TO TESLA SERVICE CENTERS WILL NOT RESOLVE THE ISSUE. THE STAFF IGNORE IT AND SAY ITS NORMAL. THEY KEEP SAYING THE CACHE IS FULL AND ONLY THEY CAN FULLY CLEAR THE CACHE. IN ALL CASES THE VECHICLE WAS IN MOTION AND EACH COULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT.
TOUCHSCREEN THAT CONTROLS MOST VEHICLE FUNCTIONS INCLUDING HVAC BECAME DISABLED BECAUSE A CHIP IN THE TOUCHSCREEN WENT BAD. THE CAR WAS UNABLE TO CHARGE AND WOULD TAKE APPROX 5 MINS TO START AT TIMES. UNABLE TO CLEAR FOGGED WINDOWS WITH HVAC
I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE INVESTIGATING TESLA MODEL S COMPUTER FAILURE. I WOULD LIKE TO LIST THE ISSUES I HAVE HAD SINCE I BROUGHT MY MODEL S IN MARCH 2015: -APRIL 2015 ? FRONT TRUNK WOULD NOT OPEN. LATCH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. -JUNE 2016 ? DRIVER DOOR HANDLE STOPPED WORKING. REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY -AUGUST 2019 ? MEDIA CONTROL UNIT FAILURE (TOUCHSCREEN). HAPPENED ON A FRIDAY AND I COULD NOT SEE IN REVERSE, COULD NOT USE HANDSFREE PHONE ? IMPORTANT FOR ME AS A CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN ANSWERING CALLS FROM THE ICUS. COULD NOT CLOSER SUNROOF. CAR COULD NOT BE SHUT DOWN. THE AIR CONDITIONER STAYED ON FOR 3 DAYS UNTIL I CAN GET THE CAR TO SERVICE CENTER. CAR HAD TO REMAIN PLUGGED INTO CHARGER TO SUPPORT THE AIR CONDITIONER ETC SO I HAD ENOUGH BATTERY RESERVE TO GET TO THE SERVICE CENTER. MY COST $2134 -AUGUST 2019 ? A/C FAILED AFTER HAVING RUN NONSTOP FOR 3 DAYS B/C OF MCU FAILURE. MY COST $869. -AUGUST 2019 ? IN EFFORT TO SHUT DOWN THE CAR, PER TESLA PHONE INSTRUCTIONS, I DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY AND CHARGED IT. AS A RESULT THE BATTERY SHAPED BALLOONED OUT AND I HAD IT REPLACED SINCE EVERYTHING WAS OPEN. MY COST $216. *TR
I HAVE THREE ISSUES REGARDING VISIBILITY FOR SAFE DRIVING: 1) A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM OF THE CAR EXPERIENCED A SOFTWARE CRASH. AS A RESULT THE SIDE MIRRORS DID NOT OPEN AND THE REAR VIEW CAMERA DID NOT WORK. THE CAR WAS STILL DRIVE-ABLE I NEEDED TO TAKE MY SON TO SCHOOL SO DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS. THIS WAS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE, PARTICULARLY ON THE FREEWAY, AND I BELIEVE IT IS ILLEGAL IN CALIFORNIA TO DRIVE WITHOUT WORKING MIRRORS. I CONTACTED TESLA ABOUT THIS AND THEY DID NOT OFFER ANY SPECIFICS. I BELIEVE THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE. OPERATIONAL MIRRORS ARE ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT, I THINK IT IS BAD DESIGN THAT THESE ARE DEPENDENT ON THE SAME SYSTEM AS THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM. TESLA'S PLAN TO REPLACE SIDE MIRRORS WITH VIDEO CAMERAS IS WORRISOME IN THIS REGARD. 2) THE RADIO CONTROL BUTTONS FOR CHANGING THE STATION ON THE STEERING WHEEL NO LONGER WORK. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE RESULT OF A SOFTWARE UPGRADE BY TESLA. TO CHANGE THE STATION NOW REQUIRES DIVERTING ATTENTION FROM THE ROAD TO A TOUCH SCREEN. I HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS TO TESLA AND THEY HAVE REPLIED WITH ANY MATERIAL EXPLANATION. 3) WHEN THE CAR IS IN REVERSE THE BACKUP CAMERA CAN BE BLOCKED ON THE DISPLAY BY OTHER ACTIVITY. THIS IS A PROBLEM IN THAT A PASSENGER CAN INADVERTENTLY TURN OFF THE CAMERA DISPLAY WHILE CAR IS IN REVERSE MOTION. A SECOND ISSUE IS THAT THE BACKUP CAMERA WILL OCCASIONALLY DISPLAY IN SOME SORT OF SPLIT SCREEN MORE. IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE TRYING TO DISPLAY BOTH A WIDE ANGLE VIEW AND NARROW VIEW. THIS ONLY HAPPENS RANDOMLY (MAYBE ANOTHER SOFTWARE ISSUE) BUT IT DOES DIMINISH THE USEFULNESS OF THE CAMERA. I HAVE NOT CONTACTED TESLA FOR THESE ISSUES CONCERNING THE REAR CAMERA.
The Contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the vehicle was exhibiting failure. The failure mileage was not available. The manufacturer was not contacted. Parts distribution disconnect.
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.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026