There are 4 stored owner reports matching the lighting leading-label group for the 2018 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)Tesla designs a single piece headlight with no serviceable parts. This includes headlights, high beams, and namely daytime running lights. All of these components are on an LED strip that overheats and un-solders due to this high heat, which causes premature failure. Some owners have reported as little as 3 months of life before failing. The daytime running lights are essential for safety driving in low light situations. These daytime running lights are seemingly built to fail. The lights dim then eventually no longer work. Tesla's solution is to have the customer purchase a brand new headlight at $2,500. My vehicle is 2018 Tesla s with 43,400 miles and always kept in carnage. Tesla should either goodwill swap out these headlights for a non-built to fail component, or offer a repair for a quality LED strip with proper heat distribution. Without daytime running lights safety is a major concern on foggy, rainy, and low light situations. I have attached an image showing how the failure begins on top then slowly goes all the way down to the side of the headlight which fails later,.
Tesla designs a single piece headlight with no serviceable parts. This includes headlights, high beams, and namely daytime running lights. All of these components are on an LED strip that overheats and un-solders due to this high heat, which causes premature failure. Some owners have reported as little as 3 months of life before failing. The daytime running lights are essential for safety driving in low light situations. These daytime running lights are seemingly built to fail. The lights dim then eventually no longer work. Tesla's solution is to have the customer purchase a brand new headlight at $1500. My vehicle is 4 years old and has been through 3 pairs of headlights already, when the last set burnt out I just left them as is. Tesla should either goodwill swap out these headlights for a non-built to fail component, or offer a repair for a quality LED strip with proper heat distribution. Without daytime running lights safety is a major concern on foggy, rainy, and low light situations. I have attached an image showing how the failure begins on top then slowly goes all the way down to the side of the headlight which fails later.
The daytime running lights on both front headlights have stopped working with 45k on the odometer. Tesla service center has refused to cover the safety issue because the car warranty is 5k over warranty mileage. The vehicle no longer has working day time running lights. After doing some research this is a common problem with 2016 to 2020 model s and x and Tesla motor company is refusing to repair the DRL lights.
BACKUP LIGHTS ARE INADEQUATELY BRIGHT AT NIGHT, IN DARK SITUATIONS ALLOWING NO ABILITY TO MAKE OUT GROUND FEATURES WHEN BACKING UP. TESLA HAS UPDATED FIRMWARE AND REPLACED CAMERA WITH NO IMPROVEMENT. SAFETY DEFECT OF BEING UNABLE TO SEE BEHIND CAR WHEN BACKING UP AT NIGHT NOT FIXED, SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN PROBLEM WITH THE CAR.
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.