2016 Tesla Model S Body & Structure Problems

The retracting door handle on my Tesla Model S failed, creating a dangerous situation where I could not enter the vehicle when needed. This defect poses a serious safety risk because if this failure occurred during a medical emergency, a crash, or a fire, neither I nor first responders would be able to access the vehicle quickly. In real‑world scenarios — such as needing to reach a child in the back seat, assisting an injured passenger, or evacuating the vehicle in traffic — a non‑functional door handle can cause delays that lead to injury. The failure also increases risk in cold‑weather regions, where being locked out of the vehicle can expose occupants to freezing temperatures. This is not a cosmetic issue; it is a critical safety hazard.

1.) Passenger Side Door is a potential hazard. Door latch and door mechanism does not open from the outside. 2.) Lane keep assist on Autopilot veers off to the right when it is first engaged and does not want to stay centered until it's been on for awhile.

Front trunk latch would not engage to latch frunk, and when frunk opened, would not engage to lock frunk. Error message kept repeating that frunk was opened, but it would not latch. When asked about the existing recall, was told that it does not apply to my vehicle, despite the problem being exactly as described in the recall.

Every time the car was put into park, or when the car turned off the passenger front door would pop open. Please see concern 7 on Tesla repair invoice.

In April, 2023 we received a recall notice directly from Tesla about a safety recall involving the front trunk hood opening while driving. The letter stated we would be contacted later about the fix. But we have never heard anything since from Tesla yet the recall does not show up on your website for our car. Can you explain what happened to the supposedly required repair?

All 4 door handles have ceased working. 1st responders wouldn't be able to gain entry.

The safety latch on the front hood has failed 3 times. The first two times were not reported to Tesla, because I assumed that it must have been my fault and there was little actual damage to my car. Fortunately, both occurances were at low speeds in a parking lot. The result was that my hood didn’t align properly. There was no other damage to the hood. I read about a Tesla recall for this very issue, so when I had my last service with Tesla (May 1) to replace the drive train (under warranty), I asked them to fix the safety issue on my hood. They refused to cover it saying that 1.) I was out of warranty. 2.) they could find no record in their system of the occurrences because the timing of the incidents was further back than what their system can recover and 3.) they couldn’t fix the latch without fixing the hood hinge mechanism I have since had a 3rd incident with my hood flying up. It happened on July 6. This time, there was damage to the hood of the car. I am uploading photos of the damage. I feel that Tesla should cover the entire cost of this repair. Clearly my 3 incidents were the result of a defective latch mechanism. I am fortunate that all of them happened at low speeds because it could have resulted in very serious injury if it would have happened on the road or highway. I am guessing that the latch in my Tesla is the same design and part number as the one in the recalled models. I,hope you can help me with this. Thank you for considering it.

Bubbles first appeared in the dashboard / instrument control panel display on the driver side on 3/25. The bubbles have been moving around over time and at some points while I've been driving (unable to take a photo), have travelled to the speedometer blocking my visibility of current speed.

Door/Door Handle. Puts my children at risk, as when I place car in park, door opens on it's own. With or Without someone sitting there. Drivers side rear door. Not the first time this has happened. Tesla blames their self-extending door handles. This will happen if I am outside the vehicle and unlock it. Door opens, it also happens if we are driving, and I put the vehicle in PARK. When the door handles extend, the door opens. My son has unbuckled himself preparing to exit the vehicle, not expecting the door to open on it's own. When it did, if a passing car drove by, the door may even have been ripped off and/or my child injured. Thankfully, THIS TIME, he only got a few scrapes when he hit the concrete. The whole mess of the self-extending door handles has been a nightmare since the beginning. These handles have caused endless problems, and have been replaced on both my current and previous Tesla Model S multiple times, at minimum FIFTEEN DOOR HANDLES HAVE BEEN REPLACED. I would need to go through countless service invoices to get an exact number. A door handle should operate problem free for the life of the vehicle. I should NOT have so many problems with one of the most basic functions of the vehicle.

The rear passenger door would open itself. This happened numerous times. An example of when it occurred and why it was dangerous is I would be in carpool line at my kid’s school and would slow down, stop, put the car in park, one passenger would leave from the front right door, I would put the car back in drive, start to drive off and then would see a warning that the rear right passenger door had popped open all by itself. I’m now driving 20 mph. I have young kids who are in the car which is very dangerous with a moving vehicle and a door next to them that has opened unexpectedly while now in motion. The car door would also open itself when it was just parked in a parking lot with no one inside it. I would come back from the grocery store and I would see the rear passenger right door just open. Tesla told me that I should disable the auto present door handle option for all doors except the driver door as a temporary solution until I could fix it with the dealership. I did this and it made the passenger rear right door inoperable. It jammed the door handle in a fenced out position and then it wouldn’t open or close at all which was another safety issue. If I had been in an accident and people needed to escape the car they would not have been able to through the rear right passenger door at all. Tesla told me they knew they had a problem with these door handles and would “upgrade” me to the new ones (they wanted to do both the rear door handles) for $1,000. They were asking me to fix both the broken one and the one that hadn’t broken as they said it would fail too. I was out of warranty and the manager did not think this was a serious issue. I thought it was a very serious safety issue. I told them that they should investigate and consider doing a recall. They ended up only fixing for free when I brought up filing an official complaint with NHTSA. Moving vehicles with car doors unexpectedly opening is a recipe for accidents that can be prevented.

PASSENGER DOOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENED WHEN VEHICLE IS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET. NO PASSENGER WAS OCCUPYING THE SEAT.

DOOR HANDLE FAILURE. THE DOOR PHYSICALLY OPENS BY ITSELF ONCE THE VEHICLE IS PLACED IN PARK AND HANDLE EXTENDS. THIS VEHICLE HAS HAD MULTIPLE HANDLES REPLACED ALREADY, EITHER DUE TO NOT EXTENDING, SO NO ABILITY TO USE AND OPEN CAR DOOR AT ALL, EXTENDING BUT NOT FUNCTIONING, NOT RETRACTING, AND EXTENDING AND PHYSICALLY OPENING THE DOOR WITH NO OCCUPANT INTERACTION. HAPPENS WHEN VEHICLE IS STATIONARY. CURRENT FAILURE COULD ALLOW AN EXTERNAL THREAT INTO THE VEHICLE WHEN PUTTING THE CAR IN THE PARK (SUCH AS CARJACKER, RIOTER ETC...) MY PREVIOUS MODEL S HAD OVER 15 DOOR HANDLES REPLACED DUE TO A MIXTURE OF THE SAME ABOVE ISSUES. THIS IS OUT OF HAND, A RECALL NEEDS TO BE DONE. *TR

ECU1 IS FAILING. MEMORY CHIP, PAINT ON MIRROR PEELING.

EXPERIENCING MAJOR AND PAINFUL PRESSURE BUFFETING FROM THE LIFT GATE OF THE MODEL S. THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN WELL DOCUMENTED AMONGST MANY OWNERS AND THE RESOLUTION IS TO ADJUST THE RUBBER DISCS THAT COME INTO CONTACT WITH THE PLASTIC ADJUSTABLE SHIMS OF THE CAR BODY. I'VE PERFORMED THIS ADJUSTMENT AND SO HAS THE SERVICE CENTER. BUT NOW, THERE'S NO WAY OF RESOLVING THIS ISSUE. ADDITIONALLY, TESLA SERVICE REFUSES TO EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THIS OBVIOUS DEFECT. MY 15 YEAR OLD SON AND I PERFORMED EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THIS MATTER, AND WE DISCOVERED A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE INCONSISTENT PANEL GAPS OF THE REAR PORTION OF THE MODEL S AND THE PRESSURE BUFFETING. THE THREADING ATTACHED TO THE FRAME, UNDER THE PLASTIC ADJUSTABLE SHIM IS STRAIGHT ON THE DRIVERS SIDE, AND ASKEW ON THE PASSENGER SIDE. THE SURROUNDING ALUMINUM IS ALSO SHOWING SIGNS OF DUCTILE FRACTURING. THE MOVEMENT OF THIS THREADED COMPONENT, PREVENTS THE SHIM FROM SITTING EQUAL TO THE DRIVERS SIDE SHIM, THEREFORE CAUSING THE LIFT GATE NOT BEING ABLE TO FULLY SIT LEVEL, CAUSING INCONSISTENT GAPS AT THE ADJOINING PANEL TRANSITIONS. EVEN MORE DISTURBING, THE ALUMINUM BODY PANEL THAT SURROUNDS THE LIFT GATE OPENING IS EXHIBITING A SIGNIFICANT TENSION STRESS. I HAVEN'T REMOVED ANY INTERIOR BODY TRIM PANELS TO EXAMINE THE ADJACENT PANELS. I MEASURED THE BODY GAPS RESULTING FROM THIS STRUCTURAL FAILURE WITH A DIGITAL CALIPER. THE DIFFERENCE IN SPACING IS 3MM. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT. I'VE ATTACHED PHOTOS OF THE THREADED ROD AREA SHOWING SIGNS OF DUCTILE FRACTURE, THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LIFT GATE OPENING EXHIBITING SIGNS OF FAILURE FROM THE TENSION STRESSES. THIS VEHICLE HAS NEVER BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT. THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS DEFECT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AND PUBLICIZED TO OTHER UNSUSPECTING MODEL S OWNERS. THIS IS AN IMMINENT SAFETY CONCERN.

DOORS RANDOMLY POP OPEN. WHEN ENTERING THE CAR FROM ANY DOOR, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE DOOR AND THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR POP OPEN. THE DOORS ALSO POP OPEN ANYTIME THE CAR IS PUT INTO PARK. SOMEIMES IT IS NECESSARY TO PUT THE CAR INTO PARK WHILE IN TRAFFIC AT A STOP LIGHT, OR WHEN STOPPED IN TRAFFIC JAMS. THIS CAN HAPPEN ON CITY STREETS, HIGHWAYS, FRANKLY ANYWHERE. WHEN THE CAR IS PUT INTO PARK THE DOORS POP OPEN. THIS IS CLEARLY A SAFETY ISSUE IN TRAFFIC. THE CAR IS LOW MILES AND ONLY 3.5 YEARS OLD. 3 OUT OF 4 DOORS HAVE HAD ISSUES. I SEE ON TESLA FORUMS THAT I AM ONE OF MANY PEOPLE THIS HAPPENS TO, SHORTLY AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRES, IN SOME CASES SOONER ALL OF THESE OWNERS FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO, THAT THERE ARE CLEARLY FAULTY DOORS THAT TESLA NOT ADDRESSING AS A SAFETY RECALL ISSUE. THE FRONT PASSENGER AND REAR DRIVER SIDE DOORS POP OPEN UNDER VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE, HAVING SMALL CHILDREN IN THE BACK SEAT THIS IS A LARGE SAFETY ISSUE IN MY OPINION. THE FRONT PASSENGER DOOR IS ALSO A SAFETY CONCERN. ALTHOUGH MY CHILDREN SIT IN BACK, I AM OFTEN TRANSPORTING ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. HAVING THE FRONT PASSENGER DOOR POP OPEN IN TRAFFIC IS ALARMING AND CONCERNING TO THE ELDERLY PEOPLE IN THE SEAT. ADDITIONALLY, THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE DOOR CAN NOT BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE. THE MOTORS IN THE DOORS ARE ROUTINELY DISCUSSED IN TESLA FORUMS AS HAVING PROBLEMS. AGAIN, THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE. IF THERE WAS AN EMERGENCY IN WHICH THE DOOR NEEDED TO BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE TO EVACUATE MY CHILDREN FROM THE BACKSEAT, THIS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HAPPEN, AS THE HANDLE WILL NOT EVEN COME OUT TO OPEN THE DOOR. THESE ARE TOO MANY ISSUES ON A CAR THIS YOUNG AND PRESENT REAL AND KNOWN SAFETY ISSUES THAT ARE NOT BEING PROPERLY ADDRESSED BY TESLA.

PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED REPORT I FILED ON SAFER CAR.GOVE AND THE LETTER I WROTE TO TESLA. I HAVE NOT GOT RESPONSE TO ANY OF THOSE.. .THIS PROBLEM HAPPENED AFTER I HAD SUCCESSFULLY TURNED THE CAR 90 DEGREE TO PARK HEADON. THE CAR HAD TO BE AT A VERY LOW SPEED AT THAT TIME. THEN WHEN I AS JUST A COUPLE OF FEET FROM THE CURB, THE CAR ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL. IF YOU GET THE REPORT FROM TESLA, YOU WILL FIND THAT CAR COULD NOT HAVE ACCELERATED THIS FAST EVEN IF I HAD PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BY MISTAKE. MANY OTHER DRIVERS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM. IT IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND PLEASE DON'T TAKE IT LIGHTLY. I ASKED TESLA TO GIVE ME THE REPORT OF THAT TIME AND THEY DID NOT GIVE. WE ALL FEEL THAT TESLA HAS BECOME SO MIGHTY THAT IT DOESN'T CARE. WE DEPEND UPON YOU FOR OUR SAFETY. SO PLEASE DO FULL ENQUIRY.*DT*JB

AS USUAL, I DROVE TESLA TO WORK. MY PARKING SPOT IS A HEAD-IN PARKING SPOT. TO PARK MY CAR I HAVE TO MAKE A 90-DEGREE TURN, SO I PRESSED THE BREAKS TO SLOW THE CAR. JUST AS THE CAR COMPLETED THE 90-DEGREE TURN AND I WAS ABOUT TO STOP THE CAR TO COMPLETE PARKING, IT ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL. IT JUMPED THE CURB IN THE FRONT AND HIT BUSHES ABOUT 5-6 FEET AHEAD. THE CAR SUFFERED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE THAT IS ESTIMATED TO COST ABOUT $20,000. I ALSO TRUST THAT TESLA IS COMMITTED TO MAKING TESLA 100% SAFE TO DRIVE. THEREFORE, IT IS IN BOTH PARTIES' INTEREST TO FIND WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. FORTUNATELY, TESLA KEEPS TRACK OF EVERY MOVEMENT THAT EVERY TESLA MAKES. THE RECORD CAN PROVE BEYOND DOUBT WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. I, THEREFORE, REQUEST A COMPLETE RECORD OF WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. THIS INCIDENCE HAPPENED BETWEEN 9:50 AM AND 10 AM EST ON AUGUST 22, 2019. AS I WAS MAKING A 90-DEGREE TURN TO PARK, YOUR RECORD WOULD CERTAINLY SHOW THAT I PRESSED THE BREAKS DURING THE TURN. THE ONLY WAY I COULD HAVE PUT THE CAR IN THE HIGH ACCELERATION - THAT MY WIFE AND I NOTICED - WOULD BE THAT I LIFTED MY FEET FROM THE BREAK AND INSTANTLY PRESSED VERY HARD ON THE ACCELERATED PADDLE. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW COULD THAT BE FEASIBLE. IF THE RECORD DOES NOT SHOW THIS PRECISE PATTERN, THAN IT POINTS TO A POTENTIAL SOFTWARE FLAW. PLEASE PROVIDE ME AND THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (NHTSA) WITH THE COMPLETE RECORD OF EVERY EVENT THAT HAPPENED WITH MY CAR ON AUGUST 22, 2019 BETWEEN AROUND 9:50 AM AND 10 AM. SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARAMETERS THAT ARE CRUCIAL FOR THE ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION ARE: WHAT WAS THE LOWEST SPEED OF THE CAR, AT WHAT TIME THAT HAPPENED, WHAT WAS THE HIGHEST ACCELERATION OF THE CAR AND THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN THE LOWEST SPEED AND HIGHEST ACCELERATION.*DT*JB

HELLO, I PURCHASED A USED CAR FROM LEXUS OF ROCKVILLE ON SATURDAY AND AS I WAS DRIVING HOME I HEARD A 'PRESSURE BUFFETING SOUND' ( SOUNDS LIKE A WINDOW IS CRACKED- BUT ALL WINDOWS ARE UP) I CONTACTED LEXUS ON MY WAY HOME AND THEY TOLD ME TO BRING BACK THE CAR . I RETURNED WITH THE CAR AND THE SALESMAN AND SALES MANAGER TOLD ME THEY WOULD NOT TAKE THE CAR BACK BECAUSE I PULLED OFF THE LOT WITH THE CAR. THEY REFUSED TO EVEN LOOK AT THE CAR. AND INFORMED ME THERE WAS A NO RETURN POLICY. WHICH IS RIDICULOUS. NOW, I'M STUCK WITH A $50K THAT I CAN'T DRIVE. THE NOISE IS SO BAD IT IMPEDES MY ABILITY TO DRIVE, WHICH IS A COMPLETE SAFETY HAZARD . I EVEN ASKED IF THEY COULD TAKE THIS CAR BACK AND LET ME FINANCE A DIFFERENT CAR AND THE SAID 'ABSOLUTELY NOT'. I HAVE OWN 2 TOYOTA'S AND NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS. I WANTED TO DO BUSINESS WITH LEXUS BECAUSE I ALWAYS HAD GOOD EXPERIENCES BUT I NOTICE YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS FALLEN WAY BEHIND THE CURVE. VERY DISAPPOINTING EXPERIENCE. DAILY I DEAL WITH CORRESPONDENCES WITH THE WHITE HOUSE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ALWAYS OUR ONE NUMBER ONE CONCERN BUT CLEARLY LEXUS OF ROCKVILLE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. THIS CAR CAME FROM AUTO ACTION DEFECTIVE AND NOW THE DEALERSHIP REFUSES TO FIX THE PRESSURE BUFFETING PROBABLY AND IS PASSING THE EXPENSE ON TO THE CUSTOMERS . WHICH IS EXTREMELY DECEPTIVE PLEASE, CONTACT ME [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

REAR PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE FAILS TO OPEN DOOR. THIS HAS BEEN A ON-GOING ISSUE WITH TESLA MODEL S VEHICLES. MY FIRST 2013 MODEL S HAD OVER 15 DOOR HANDLES REPLACED DUE TO FAILURE. MY CURRENT 2016 MODEL S HAS HAD AROUND 6. THE LAST WAS FRONT PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE REPLACED IN MAY 2018 WHICH WOULD NOT EXTEND NOR OPEN THE DOOR. I HAVE THE FAILED UNIT IN HAND, AS I HAD TO PAY OUT OF POCKET NON-WARRANTY (AS I WAS OVER THE WARRANTY MILEAGE), TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE DOOR HANDLE SHORTED OUT DUE TO WATER INTRUSION FROM POOR DESIGN (HIS WORDS). REAR PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE HAS NOW FAILED. IT WILL EXTEND, BUT WILL NOT OPEN THE VEHICLE'S DOOR. THIS IS A KNOWN, AND ON-GOING ISSUE FOR THE MODEL S VEHICLES OF ALL YEARS AND TRIM LEVELS. TESLA NEEDS TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION, AND PERMANENT FIX. I ALSO WANT TO REPORT THAT ALL DOOR HANDLES FAIL TO OPERATE BELOW IN TEMPERATURES OF 20*F ABOUT 25% OF THE TIME AFTER SITTING OVERNIGHT UNLESS THE VEHICLE IS REMOTELY PRE-HEATED (AS THE DOOR HANDLES FREEZE CLOSED INTERNALLY (IN THE DOOR) AND WILL NOT EXTEND.

THE VEHICLE WAS IN SERVICE FOR WARRANTY ISSUE. TESLA BURBANK SERVICE CENTER DENIED TO DONE THE RECALL. REGARDING TO THEM, THE RECALL IS UNNECESSARY AND DID NOT NEED TO BE DONE UNTIL RAINING. HOWEVER, THIS RECALL IS IN NEEDED FOR THE POWER STEERING GEAR ASSIST MOTOR MAY MOVE, CAUSING THE TRANSMISSION BELT TO SLIP, AND RESULT IN REDUCED OR LOST POWER STEERING ASSIST.