There are 15 owner-reported driver assist & adas complaints for the 2020 Tesla Model Sin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Since the installation of software version 2024.27.25, which includes FSD version 12.5.4, on Sept 26, 2024, any driving which occurs on FSD results in emergency braking events for Green Lights, unprotected/unsignaled crosswalks without pedestrians present, Parallel Parked Cars not encroaching on the lane of travel, vehicles traveling the same direction and similar speed (+/- 5mph), not encroaching on my lane. These frequently reoccurring events were not remedied by any of the subsequent updates received: v2024.32.10 (FSD v12.5.4.1) on Oct 8, 2024 v2024.33.5 (FSD v12.5.4.2) on Nov 2, 2024 2024.44.25.2 (FSD v12.5.4.2) on Dec 10, 2024 While not all events occurred with surrounding traffic, those that did posed a hazard to not just occupants of my vehicle, but those in and around other vehicles, including pedestrians. Most other drivers do not expect and are unprepared for a vehicle to apply panic-level emergency braking and come to full stop at green lights, before unprotected crosswalks with no pedestrians present, or along well-traveled streets without significant errant other drivers. No warning lights, chimes, or other indications ever appeared on any of the displays or instrument clusters within the vehicle during any of the events. The FSD traffic display did not indicate or highlight any features of the surrounding area that were causing it to slow or stop. The problem has been regularly experienced by many other drivers, as evidenced by the large number of similar reports across the various Tesla driver communities online. I and my vehicle are available for inspection and I'm additionally willing to take an inspector on a ride-along to demonstrate the issue.
Setting: Adaptive cruise control, 70 MPH, no nearby traffic, no nearby bridges or overpasses, no visible obstructions, straight highway, daytime, clear skies. Incidents (multiple): Unexpected, inexplicable braking. During one of the incidents, there was a splotch of some sort on the road (perhaps spilled paint). During all other incidents, there was nothing obvious which could explain a misperceived need to brake.
Driving on freeway speed 80mph with no other cars around the car slammed on brakes while on cruise control. It was able to accelerate and the next time I put the cruise control on a few minutes later it slammed on brakes again. Car clean no warning that it was trying to avoid an unseen object. Drove rest of the way without cruise control on and no problems.
While driving today on I-25 northbound at approximately 9:50 am from Albuquerque to Santa Fe we had the cruise control set at 85 mph. There were no vehicles or obstacles in front of our 2020 Model S when the automatic braking suddenly engaged bringing the vehicle to a sudden stop. Multiple vehicles behind us had to make emergency maneuvers to avoid hitting our stopped vehicle. The vehicle was set on cruise control, NOT full self driving. This type of life threatening malfunction is not acceptable in a $100,000 vehicle. The car was serviced 1 week prior to this incident at the Tesla service center in Pojaque NM. There were no warning lights, messages, or other notifications prior to the phantom braking incident. We plan to sell the vehicle as we no longer feel safe driving it.
While driving my daughter to school at approximately 8 AM I turned onto the merge lane of southbound Interstate Highway 280 at the junction with Wolfe Road, Sunnyvale. At that time of the morning the sun was low in the sky. After I turned into the merge lane and started accelerating to merge onto the highway the car was pointed directly towards the sun. While accelerating and at about 60 MPH the car braked hard without warning and a message that corrective action had been taken was displayed together with an audible warning. There was no vehicle in front of my car for some hundreds of feet. The vehicle following my car was able to slow in time to avoid a collision but came very close to the rear of my vehicle. While there was no collision, the driver of that vehicle sounded his horn for an extended period of time and gestured at me. Sudden braking at highway speeds on a clear stretch of road clearly puts vehicles behind the rapidly slowing vehicle at risk of a collision. My vehicle has has not been inspected by Tesla or anyone else since this occurred. There were no indications of any problem before or since this incident. The vehicle is available for inspection if requested.
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 52 MPH. During the failure a second vehicle nearly crashed into the rear of the vehicle. The contact indicated that no warning lights were displayed. The failure occurred on several occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 30,000.
While using adaptive cruise control on the highway. During the day. I experienced multiple instances of unnecessary braking. Once when another car was close behind me. I think the car was overreacting to passing cars or shadows or dips in the road. It did not seem to happen while driving at night. At times it happened about every fifteen minutes. At other times it would be about once an hour. Sometimes the car would recover and accelerate again quickly and at other times I had to step on the accelerator pedal
I was on the interstate with my cruise control set at 75 mph. Traffic was normal when all of a sudden the brakes were applied and my speed quickly decelerated by at least 20 mph. I immediately physically applied the brakes to disengage the cruise control and immediately speed up again so that I would not get rear ended by the car behind me. This event happened 5 more times through my road trip while I was using the autopilot AND cruise control.
The tesla full self driving was on and it turned my car into the guardrail in the middle of the highway all by itself for no reason at 70mph. It looked like a truck was turning into my lane and instead of stopping the car swerved into the grass and I hit the guard rail. The car was totaled. I have a video of the incident. This is one of the videos: https://www.veed.io/view/8e44fe01-a7ab-457c-90ee-4f7089bfe33c Full self driving was on the whole time. When I tried to take over it was too late to stop it and the brakes did not work or stop. The airbag did not go off. There had to be an error with the full self driving that decided I should go into the guardrail.
While driving with adaptive cruise control or auto pilot the car will apply the breaks for flashing yellow lights. Random times there is nothing around and it will just tap the breaks lunging you forward then contrinues as normal.
The vehicle still exhibits random forward collision alerts. I can be multiple car lengths away from the car in front traveling at no more than 40 mph, and it will still trigger. Tesla is using these to determine a safety score, which it then uses to determine monthly auto insurance rates. There is no way to request review of a potentially false forward collision alert. Worse, on the freeway, the autopilot still randomly emergency brakes. This is a well known reported issue for all Tesla vehicles. Over-the-air updates have not fixed this issue. Lastly, the passenger side mirror keeps getting stuck in rear view mode (faces down) when shifted to drive gear. I've brought this up with the service center, and they claim nothing to fix. This has been ongoing since I purchased the vehicle. I have had near misses when attempting to shift to the right and cannot see vehicles on the right lane.
The Tesla when driving at 35 mph on AIA at or near the speed limit frequently has quick sudden phantom braking and acceleration. I have analyzed and believe I know the reason. There are many driveways. When cars enter or exit, these phantom braking events occur. Most often when another vehicle ( in front of the Tesla )enters a driveway and is moving away from its lane, even if its tail light is in the bike lane (which is a painted narrow lane on the right side of the road) the Tesla will suddenly brake (flashes simultaneously a red dashboard image for following too close and then accelerate). At the instant of the following too close warning the lane in front is totally clear. It happens so fast that if cars behind are not being attentive they close too close to my vehicle and then set off a warning on my dash. Similarly if on a multilane road and an accelerating car cuts in front of me too close, the cruise control sees the object without considering its acceleration, and suddenly brakes and then as the car in front accelerates to create more distance , the Tesla accelerates suddenly as well. Further, the tesla system invokes more rapid changes in speed - both deceleration and acceleration - than a good human driver would invoke as humans register the acceleration of the vehicle in front of them. In fact humans would curse the other car more often than brake. One other comment: Tesla has an outstanding feedback system between vehicle and headquarters and their system has been behaving better than a 2020 S Class Mercedes comparable one that I have also been driving. Tesla feedback from customers is not even available. I know this is a business aspect - but I believe they would improve their system if they had a way get the feedback I just gave you. But they do not.
the car when the autopilot is on sometimes will Phantom Brake out of nowhere at high speeds in the highway. almost creating a coalition with the cars in the back.
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100.
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds between 40-50 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions at the same road location. Also, the contact indicated that the vehicle had erroneously attempted to switch lanes and at one time attempted to switch lanes into oncoming traffic. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100.
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