NHTSA Complaint #11469373 — 2014 TESLA MODEL S

While driving the car at regular freeway speeds (50-65 MPH) on a sunny spring day, the vehicle displayed a warning message that "Power steering was reduced." This made steering the vehicle more difficult and dangerous in curves or during unexpected lane adjustments to accommodate traffic changes. The car's warning message did not go away and continued to warn that "Power steering was reduced." After bringing the vehicle to the Tesla Service Center, the staff confirmed that the steering rack and the harnesses attached to the steering motor had corroded and needed to be replaced. This Tesla model and year had another voluntary recall due to the bolts on the steering bolt corroding but the Tesla Service staff said this new issue was not related to the bolts but rather than steering rack and harnesses connected to the steering motor. When I asked what causes the steering rack and harnesses to fail, the technician said that exposure to the elements light water and snow causes corrosion. I asked if there was any way to prevent this from happening again and they said no. He mentioned that Tesla's newer Model S models now have a protective gear around the steering rack to prevent water corrosion but that the older Model S models did not have this protection and thus caused them to corrode and eventually fail. This issue is not normal wear and tear. This steering rack and harness failure has to do with exposure to the elements, the same reason that led Tesla to do a voluntary recall on the steering motor bolts. This steering rack issue is caused by the same issue affecting the steering motor bolts and therefore, Tesla should do a recall and replace the rack and harnesses at no cost to the customer.