2013 TESLA MODEL S Steering Problems

When driving my vehicle the rear axle snapped causing the vehicle to fishtail. When checked by insurance company for repairs they found the Air suspension and rear axle snapped. It took out the air ride suspension, and bent 2 rims. It caused damage to the front fender as well as both interior wheel wells on the driver's side. Due to the suspension issue it caused a rock to come up and cracked windshield. The issue caused my vehicle to leave the road as I could not control the vehicle.

Power steering has failed and the car is dangerous to drive unless you have Arnold Schwarteneggers strength. Tesla wants to charge an exorbitant amount to repair their failure (just as they charged me for fixing THEIR recall with the EMMC unit. They keep passing the buck on the consumer which I can not afford to fix their problems in this financial climate.

On August 23, 2023 I was driving my 2013 Tesla Model S on the Van Wyck Expressway when suddenly the steering wheel became very stiff making the car hard to steer. I experience a loss of electronic power in steering the car. I called Tesla Road Service they dispatched a tow truck one of their tow provider and I was charged $475.00 dollars. It was towed to: Tesla Service Center @ 160 Van Brunt Street Brooklyn, NY 11231. I mentioned to Tesla Service Center per information I reviewed online this is a recall SB-22-00-014 per the year of my vehicle 2013 Tesla Model S. Tesla Service Center charged me $500.84 cents for a diagnosis they said the Electric Power Steering Gear Rack & Pinion is the issue and refused to acknowledge the recall per the model of my 2013 Model S Tesla. They quote me an amount of $4, 500.00...

At random the Steering assist reduce, traction control disabled, stability, control, disable, regenerative breaking reduced. Wipers are affected during these error messages. The car is trying to get me killed!! On different days, all those errors are gone and the car drives normal. Suspect this is a software defect and can be very dangerous. Seems like something got reset after the car is turned off. All software are up to date on the car and on the phone app. Once no more errors from the car, it would drive normal until it randomly disable traction control, stability control and wipers becomes very slow, get stuck at times.

The power steering in the vehicle is severely reduced, making steering very difficult while driving. Error message states that " Steering assist reduced - steering may require increased effort."

I lost power steering with 64,850 miles on the odometer. I was told the steering rack ($2750) and the front left body harness assembly ($525) needed to be replaced because of corrosion. These figures do not include labor and taxes. While I'm aware of the recall related to replacing the steering bolts to fix a corrosion problem (already fixed), this fix was not covered. I was very annoyed that this fix also included replacing the harness assembly, because the labor charge was 3 times the price of the harness assembly. This problem occurred in the morning after the car was parked in the driveway overnight and as soon as I turned the wheel, I head a slight pop and had NO power steering. The two line fault was "Steering assist reduced" "Steering may require increased effort". I'm glad this did not occur while negotiating a turn at speed because it's...

To whom it may concern, Tesla Model S, and potentially other vehicles, have notorious issues with their front suspension fore links perhaps causing unsafe driving conditions. The topic has been brought up on Tesla forums numerous times and countless drivers are experiencing the same issue due to faulty parts provided during the manufacture of Tesla vehicles. The issue causes turning tightness, tire rubbing, and complete car driving capability failure, usually at low speeds. With the frequency of the complaint and the potential danger it could cause should the front suspension fully fail at higher speeds, this serious matter needs to be investigated on an urgent basis. As older Tesla vehicles are now aging the occurrence and increased risk is only rising to everyday, unsuspecting drivers. Just recently, my fore link and front suspension failed only minorly, and without and complete understanding of what the issue was the car was experiencing...

I was approaching a stop sign at 2 mph when I heard a terrible metallic clunking sound from under the front of the car. When I went to make a right turn, I was unable to steer the car. I was able to get it into a parking lot where I saw that the front right wheel was cambered in at about 30 degrees. I took photos of the car and in the wheel well and saw that the wheel was disconnected from an upper control bar. I had it towed to the Tesla Service Center and they confirmed that the Upper suspension link had disconnected from the wheel. There is a ball and socket type of joint that connects the two and the ball had popped out of the socket causing the problem. I had them check the Right front connection and was told that that socket was also...

Car had a pending software update 7/21/2021, which I deferred in order to drive for the day. 45 minutes later, while taking a sharp curving exit ramp, the power assist steering cut off, and I almost left the roadway headed for the ditch. Steering manually is extremely heavy, and it took all my strength to keep it on the road. I updated the software and rebooted after returning home. The steering assist "heals" itself for about 30 seconds after you start up from a full shut down, but then the error message pops up again, and the steering assist goes out. There is a safety recall involving steering bolt corrosion.

THE STEERING RACK MOTOR FAILED CAUSING THE STEERING TO BECOME INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT. TURNING THE WHEELS AT NO OR LOW SPEED TAKES GREAT FORCE AND TURNING THE WHEEL AT FASTER SPEEDS TAKES MODERATE FORCE. THE MOTOR DIED MID TRIP, CAUSING A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR MYSELF AND OTHER MOTORISTS. THE MOTOR WORKED PERFECTLY FINE WHILE DRIVING TO MY DESTINATION AND FAILED, THANKFULLY, WHILE I WAS STOPPED.

POWER STEERING NOT WORKING

BACK AND FRONT SUSPENSION ISSUES, TIRE BLOW WHILE DRIVING AND CAUSED UNSAFE OPERATION.

WE OWN A 2013 TESLA MODEL S 85, REAR WHEEL DRIVE, NO AUTOPILOT. AS VEHICLE AGED, THE STEERING WAS NOTICEABLY VAGUE AND THE VEHICLE BECAME "DARTY" ON THE HIGHWAY, SEEMINGLY WANTING TO DRIVE OUT OF THE CURRENT LANE ON ITS OWN. THIS DARTINESS BECAME WORSE AND WORSE OVER TIME, AND ALSO WAS WORSE WHEN ACCELERATING OR DECELERATING. WE FIRST ALERTED THE DEALER OF THE PROBLEM IN AUG 2019, AND THEY REPLACED FEW COMPONENTS IN THE FRONT SUSPENSION (BOTH UPPER CONTROL ARMS AND THE RIGHT FORELINK) AND CHARGED US $1571+TAX FOR PARTS AND LABOR. THE STEERING SEEMED A LITTLE BETTER FOR A WHILE, BUT IN JAN 2020 WE BROUGHT THE CAR BACK IN WITH CONCERNS ABOUT VAGUE STEERING AND THE DEALER RECOMMENDED A WHEEL ALIGNMENT, WHICH WE PAID FOR. THE ALIGNMENT YIELDED NO IMPROVEMENT AND THE CAR BECAME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE ON THE HIGHWAY, REQUIRING CONSTANT STEERING ADJUSTMENTS TO KEEP...

I MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH TESLA THROUGH THE APP AND THEY ASSIGNED ME AT A PLACE IN BERKELEY TO GET THE BOLTS IN THE STEERING RACK HOUSING REPLACED (A RECALL) ALONG WITH ANOTHER RECALL. AFTER DROPPING OFF THE CAR THEY SAID SERVICE WAS COMPLETE. I ALSO HAVE BEEN HAVING AN ISSUE WITH THE MCU AND THEY SAID THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC BUT COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. WHEN THEY SAID SERVICE WAS COMPLETE I CAME TO PICK UP MY CAR. THEY GAVE IT BACK BUT WHEN I SAW THE INVOICE I NOTICED THEY HADN'T COMPLETED THE STEERING BOLT RECALL. I ASKED WHY AND THEY STATED THAT BECAUSE THERE WAS AN AFTERMARKET STEREO AMPLIFIER IN THE FRUNK THEY COULDN'T ACCESS THE BOLTS TO REPLACE THEM. IF I HADN'T INQUIRED OR LOOKED AT THE PAPERWORK I WOULD HAVE ASSUMED THE REPAIR WAS COMPLETED. I AM THERE ASKING FOR PAPERWORK FROM MY SERVICE ADVISOR...

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE STEERING WHEEL WAS DIFFICULT TO TURN. THE POWER STEERING ASSIST SYSTEM DISABLED MESSAGE WAS DISPLAYED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TESLA INC (9850 WEST BROAD ST, GLEN ALLEN, VA 23060) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE STEERING GEAR AND MOUNTING BOLTS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS LIKE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V204000 (STEERING) WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY REPAIRED UNDER RECALL. THE MANUFACTURER WAS SENT AN EMAIL HOWEVER, FAILED TO RESPOND. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 111,000.

CORROSION TO THE LOWER STEERING SHAFT WITH U-JOINT CAUSED POWER STEERING TO FAIL.

MCU (CENTER SCREEN) FAILED IN MY 2013 MODEL S. I RETURNED TO THE CAR AFTER IT WAS PARKED ALL DAY IN AN OUTDOOR PARKING LOT AT WORK AND IT WOULD NOT TURN ON. REBOOTING, OTHER TROUBLESHOOTING DID NOT REMEDY. AS A RESULT OF MCU FAILURE, TURN SIGNALS DID NOT WORK (EXTERIOR TURN SIGNALS AND AUDIBLE INDICATION OF TURN SIGNALS), AIR SUSPENSION COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, CLIMATE CONTROL COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, HEADLIGHTS COULD NOT BE MANUALLY CONTROLLED, STEERING SETTINGS COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, CHARGE LEVEL COULD NOT BE ADJUSTED, MEDIA/ENTERTAINMENT COULD NOT BE USED, BACKUP CAMERA COULD NOT BE VIEWED IN ADDITION TO OTHER FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE CAR. LEADING UP TO THE COMPLETE FAILURE OF THE UNIT, THE MCU WOULD OCCASIONALLY REBOOT ITSELF DURING DRIVING CAUSING LOSS OF TURN SIGNALS AND CHANGE IN STEERING DYNAMICS.

DURING ALL ELECTRICAL FAULT FAILURES THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY. I'VE HAD 6 SERVICE VISITS RELATED TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS CAUSING MECHANICAL FAILURES. THE STEERING RACK FAILURE WAS THE MOST RECENT PROBLEM. TESLA REPLACED THE ENTIRE STEERING RACK. THE TESLA OWNER'S FORUM AND TESLAMOTORSCLUB.COM OWNERS SAY THEY'VE REPLACED ONLY THE STEERING MOTOR AND THAT 1 PART FIXES THE POWER STEERING FAULT. THE ELECTRICAL CHARGING PORT FAILED BECAUSE OF ELECTRICAL FAULTS. THE 12-VOLT BATTERY HAS FAILED TWICE DURING THE LAST YEAR. 5 DOOR REGULATORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED IN THE FRONT 2 SEATS DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS. 3 WINDOW REGULATORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED DUE TO ELECTRICAL FAULTS. THE POWER STEERING FAILED DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL FAULT. I'VE PAID $6,500 FOR ELECTRICAL FAULTS DURING THE LAST YEAR. THE TIRES I BUY ARE RATED TO 55,000 MILES, BUT THEY KEEP WEARING OUT UNEVENLY, AND OFTEN BLOWING OUT, AT LESS THAN 30,000 MILES. THE SERVICE CENTER CANNOT...

INTERMITTENT LOSS OF ELECTRIC POWER STEERING ASSIST, LEAVING THE STEERING WHEEL ALMOST IMMOBILE, AND VERY HAZARDOUS DRIVING UNDER THE WRONG CIRCUMSTANCES. THE PROBLEM STARTED AFTER AN OVER-THE-AIR SOFTWARE UPDATE FROM TESLA. CAR HAS 33K MILES ON IT. TESLA SERVICE SAYS NOT THEIR PROBLEM, PLEASE HAVE IT TOWED HERE (90 MILES) AND PAY US TO LOOK AT IT. POWER STEERING RACK ITSELF FAILED ONE YEAR AGO AND WAS REPLACED UNDER RECALL.

MY STEERING FAILED AT 27000 MILES AND 5 YEARS. THE FAILURE OCCURRED ONE WEEK BEFORE TESLA ISSUED A RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE. THE SERVICE CENTER SAYS THAT THE RECALL COVERS REPLACING THE BOLTS THAT FAIL AND NOT THE BROKEN STEERING RACK THAT OCCURS BECAUSE OF THE FAILED BOLTS, SO THEY THINK THAT I SHOULD PAY ~$3000 TO REPAIR A KNOWN DEFECT AND OBVIOUS SAFETY HAZARD. I WAS LUCKY THAT THE FAILURE HAPPENED WHEN THE CAR WAS STATIONARY.

HERE IS A TESLA IN THE JUNKYARD. HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/19512447/PHOTOS THE AIR SUSPENSION HAS COLLAPSED AND ALL THE WHEELS HAVE GONE WHOMPY. I THINK THIS MIGHT MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT. *TR

THIS IS THE CAR WHICH SWERVED OVER A CLIFF AND KILLED THE DRIVER. HTTPS://WWW.EASYEXPORT.US/VEHICLE-FINDER/LOT-16405175/2013-TESLA-TESLA-NON-REPAIRABLE-CA-SAN-JOSE HTTP://WWW.PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM/NEWS/3318773-181/PD-DEFAULT-STORY-HEADLINE-XY?GALLERY=3314901&ARTSLIDE=0 I HAVE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPHS THAT SHOW NOT ONLY THAT THE STEERING KNUCKLE HAS SNAPPED BUT THE TREAD IS WORN OFF THE TIRE. THIS CAN ONLY HAVE HAPPENED WHILE THE CAR WAS DRIVING ON THE ROAD. THIS WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE CAUSE OF THE CRASH. THIS SAME EFFECT OF SNAPPED SUSPENSION WITH WORN TIRE CAN BE SEEN IN MANY OTHER TESLA CRASHES.. SINCE ABOUT 2015 TESLA HAS REDESIGNED THE STEERING KNUCKLE TO A SOLID H-SECTION INSTEAD OF THE HOLLOW DIE-CAST ORIGINAL. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL TO REPLACE ALL OF THE EARLIER FRAGILE VERSIONS. MANY MORE IMAGES OF SNAPPED KNUCKLES CAN BE SEEN AT HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/136377865@N05/SETS/72157658490111523/. *TR

HERE IS A TESLA FOR SALE AT A SALVAGE AUCTION. HTTP://WWW.COPART.COM/US/LOT/30119166?SEARCHID=695877385 THE AIR-BAGS HAVE NOT BEEN DEPLOYED AND THERE IS ONLY MINOR DAMAGE TO THE FRONT RH SIDE. THE CAR SHOWS SIGNS OF COLLAPSED SUSPENSION. THE TWO REAR WHEELS ARE SKEWED SIDEWAYS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. ALL WHEELS ARE JAMMED HIGH UP IN THE WHEEL WELLS. THIS WOULD TEND TO MAKE THAT CAR RATHER DIFFICULT TO STEER. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF THE AIR SUSPENSION FAILING AND THAT SINCE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE LIMIT STOPS ON THE SUSPENSION IT CAN LEAD TO DIRE CONSEQUENCES. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM.

HERE IS AN AUCTION LISTING OF A TESLA THAT HAS CAUGHT FIRE. HTTP://SALVAGE-BID.COM/RESULT.PHP?VIN=[XXX] THE PJHOTOGRAPHS SHOW THAT THE LH TOP BALL-JOINT HAS PULLED OUT FROM THE STEERING KNUCKLE. THIS IS NOT THE RESULT OF THE FIRE BECAUSE THOSE PARTS ARE SOLID METAL AND NEITHER THE STEERING KNUCKLE NOR THE WISHBONE HAVE MELTED. THE SUSPENSION FAILURE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PATTERN OF SIMILAR FAILURES THAT APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE OF CRASHES. PLEASE INVESTIGATE THIS RECURRING FAILURE INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

HERE IS A REPORT OF A TESLA CRASH AT AN INTERSECTION. HTTP://INSIDEEVS.COM/TESLA-MODEL-S-GETS-WRECKED-OWNER-SAYS-VEHICLE-SAVED-HIS-LIFE-IMAGES-OWNER-TESTIMONIAL/ THE REPORT BLAMES THE OTHER DRIVER AND CREDITS THE TESLA WITH SAVING THE OWNER FROM INJURY. THE CLAIM THAT THE HYUNDAI HIT THE TESLA AND THEN REBOUNDED AND HIT THE TESLA ONCE MORE IS QUITE UNUSUAL. THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE HIGH RESOLUTION AND IF THEY ARE BLOWN UP AND EXAMINED CLOSE UP YOU CAN SEETHE THAT TIP OF THE STEERING KNUCKLE IS BROKEN OFF (CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ACTUAL PART -WHICH WAS PURCHASED BY A REBUILDER- HERE: HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/136377865@N05/22799472895/IN/ALBUM-72157658490111523/ I THINK IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SUSPENSION FAILURES ARE CAUSING MANY CRASHES. THE DATE OF THE INCIDENT IS AN ESTIMATE. THE OWNER SAYS THAT TESLA HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL. "?TESLA CALLED MY HOME SHORTLY AFTERWARDS SAYING THAT THEY RECEIVED MULTIPLE ALARMS FROM THE CAR AND WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WAS OK. THEY PICKED UP MY CAR FREE OF CHARGE...

MY FRONT WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY CAME LOOSE FROM THE UPPER CONTROL ARM CAUSING A LOSE OF STEERING.

SOME TESLA OWNERS ARE ALLEGING THAT THERE ARE TESLA SERVICE BULLETINS FOR MODIFICATIONS ON TESLA'S THAT ARE BEING KEPT SECRET. IE: SOME TESLA OWNERS ARE REPORTING OCCASIONAL POOR BRAKE PERFORMANCE UNDER SOME CIRCUMSTANCES. MANY TESLA OWNERS HAVE REPORTED THAT BRAKE DISCS AND OTHER BRAKE PARTS EASILY BECOME WET, THEN RUST. RUSTED ROTORS CAN CAUSE GRABBING, AND UNEVEN BRAKING (SWERVING ON BRAKE APPLICATION). ALLEGEDLY SOMETIMES RUSTED PARKING BRAKES WON'T DISENGAGE. IT SEEMS SOMETIMES BRAKE PARTS BECOME RUSTED, STICKY AND UNRELIABLE. WHEN THE BRAKE PADS BECOME WET, THERE IS POOR BRAKE PERFORMANCE WITH LONGER STOPPING DISTANCE. THERE ARE SOME TESLA OWNERS REPORTING THAT THERE ARE TESLA SERVICE BULLETINS TO PREVENT POOR BRAKE PERFORMANCE, BY ADDING DUST (SPLASH) GUARDS, REPLACING ROTORS AND BRAKE PADS; YET DOING INTERNET SEARCHES I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY TESLA MODEL S. SERVICE BULLETINS ON THE BRAKES. TESLA SEEMS TO BE KEEPING SAFETY PROBLEMS LIKE POOR BRAKING...

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE STEERING WHEEL ABNORMALLY TIGHTENED AS IT EXHIBITED AN UNUSUAL CRACKING NOISE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS WHERE IT WAS STATED TO THE CONTACT THAT THE SHAM AND RACKING PINION NUT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AND THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 200.