Tesla Model S Steering Problems

Steering complaints by model year

Which parts fail

• Electric power assist system
  1

Components named in complaints (power steering, steering column, rack and pinion).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  10567%
• 25k–50k
  149%
• 50k–75k
  1510%
• 75k–100k
  96%
• 100k–150k
  117%
• 150k+
  21%

What owners report

Problem: turn signal based on buttons on the wheel (Tesla removed the stalks) After three months of ownership, I still can't signal in case of emergency, when a fast lane change is required, or when exiting from parking with the wheel turned. Issues: 1. I Can't find the buttons when the wheel is turned (buttons rotate with the wheel) 2. The buttons are located below the hand and not above it, so I need to search for them. I practically need to take my eyes off the road to find the buttons because they have no unique touch and feel. It does not work for emergencies and fast lane changes. 3. The pressure required is not unified. Extreme pressure is required toward the edges of the button and other is no feeling where the edges are.

I have lane departure, avoidance in lane departure assist both turned off in the settings. Despite this, The alarms are constantly going off (Even when I am not departing a lane). It even overrides my steering inputs incorrectly! 8:28am 5/24/2024 for example, I am pulling into my garage and it's yanking the steering wheel trying to crash me into the wall. I immediately verified the settings are all still turned off. I have an open service ticket with Tesla where I am supplying them dates and times every time it happens and no one is responding. Previously had them replaced the whole vehicle (lemon law), and it still happening.

There is a design flaw with the horn on the steering yoke. It is not easily located especially in times of stress or eminent collision. I have been driving for 50 years and all horns in my past vehicles have horns in the center of the steering wheel. Last April, I was backing up in a parking lot and through the rear camera, I saw a car behind me backing up. I stopped my car and could not get to the horn quick enough to alert the other diver and he continued to back up and he backed into my car causing $3,500 in damage. Yesterday, I was driving, and someone made a very unsafe turn that needed a horn to alert them, and I could not find the little button on the yoke to activate the horn. Yesterday's event, a near miss caused me to file this notice, although I should have done it sooner. …

My 2023 Tesla Model S has a horn activated by a small button on the right side of the steering wheel rather than by pressing the center of the steering wheel. During a recent dangerous traffic situation, I needed to use the horn immediately to warn another driver, but I could not locate and activate the horn button quickly enough while concentrating on avoiding the hazard. No collision occurred. The incident occurred approximately on August 23-24, 2026; I do not recall the exact date. I reported this to Tesla as a safety concern. Tesla confirmed that my vehicle can be converted to the newer steering wheel configuration with a mechanical center horn. Tesla initially quoted $1,177.34 for the replacement. After further diagnostics, Tesla determined that the conversion also requires replacement of the driver airbag and revised the customer-pay estimate to $1,748.50. …

My vehicle was hit in the parking lot with my car being stationary/parked as I could not click the horn button as it is not in the center of the steering wheel. Per CEO comments: [redacted] Replying to @[redacted] All cars made since November also have push center for horn - just waiting on firmware update. If you mash right side of yoke with your palm, horn will trigger. 7:13 PM Mar 1, 2022 on Twitter

The car doesn't have a conventional horn. Instead the horn is activated via a small button on the steering wheel. I don't mean to be a pain, but I feel as though the horn is meant for emergency situations mostly. I've been in multiple situations now where someone has almost hit me and I tried to swerve and find the horn but given the fact I have to keep my eyes on the person swerving into me, was unable to find it in time. One of these times, the person continued to not see me and I nearly was pinned between the car and the wall of the freeway. Due to not being able to activate the horn, I had to swerve and slam on my brakes instead almost being rear ended by the car behind me. Ideally I'd love if Tesla has to recall this steering wheel for one with a mechanical horn. …

Beta Autopilot was engaged, driver had hand on steering wheel, vehicle was traveling less than 35MPH (speed limit) and coming around a corner when it misjudged the road curve. The road curved to the left and as the car took the turn it took too wide of a turn and veered slightly off the road. Unfort the front right side of car went up and over the begining of a rock incline. The front right tire blew out and ONLY the side AIrBags deployed (both sides). The car traveled about 500 yards along the road and then turned itself off. I could not get the horn to work, nor put it in neutral. There were no warning signs before incident. In fact the I belong to a beta driving scoring rating and for that day Tesla rated me a 91/100. I called Tesla roadside assistance and they said they would not provide any help as it was viewed as an accident and not a self-driving issue. …

I recently took delivery of a Tesla Model S with the new steering "yoke" and lack of directional stalk. After having used this system for some time, I believe it to be extremely dangerous and ill-advised. First, Tesla eliminated the fixed-position directional stalk and moved directionals, wiper functions, high-beam functions and even the horn to small, poorly-defined "buttons" on the steering yoke. This change makes variable what should be fixed positioning for very important vehicle functions. In other words, these buttons become moving targets on an awkwardly-shaped spinning control surface that often requires the driver to take their eyes off the road in order to attempt even the most basic operations like signaling or using the horn. This is *extremely* difficult and *extremely* dangerous. For example, trying to signal when exiting a roundabout. …

Related recalls (5)