Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise, lane keeping, backup camera).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2020 Tesla Model X owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the cruise control or autopilot functions activated, the brakes inadvertently engaged, causing the vehicle to come to an abrupt stop. The vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated that after the full self-driving beta program was installed, the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer transferred the contact to the tech department. The tech department informed the contact that they would repair the failure with an over-the-air software update. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model X. …
On 8/16/2022 Tuesday, I went to work at about 10:24 and parked by the road next to mcDonalds to call my husband. I wanted him to take the car to park elsewhere as that spot had no parking starting at 10:30. My husband was not available so I was about to move the car and had my feet slightly touching the brake. At that point the car suddenly accelerated and jumped forward without any control and hit a car that was coming out of mcDonalds driveway. That car was about 15/20 feet away from my car and I hit on the driver's side. My car was in such speed that it pushed the other car 6 feet on the other side which in turn hit a pedestrian crossing the road. I am 100% sure that I did not press the accelerator and the car moved by itself in such force that I had no chance of controlling it. I've asked Tesla to investigate as well
The contact owns 2020 Tesla Model X. The contact stated while using the self-driving feature or the cruise control, the vehicle would brake independently. The contact stated an unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact stated he had experienced the failure on multiple occasion. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure by the App. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000. The VIN was not available.
While idling in drive having applied my foot to the break, the dash displayed H for holding the break. My car accelerated by itself forcefully into the vehicle in front. My seat belt did not lock up, air bags did not deploy, emergency braking didn't work, the Tesla box report does not match the dash cam timeline. This was sudden unintended acceleration and I pray it doesn't happen to anyone else.
I have experienced several issues with my car: It brakes suddenly for no reason in the middle of the freeway It displayed an error message that said the right rear seat safety system has failed and needs service It displayed an error message that said the ultrasonic sensors are not communicating with each other (I believe these are used for the driver safety systems). I reached out to Tesla asking to look into these issues. Each time Tesla denied service and asked me to note down the exact time that these issues happened to help them investigate (they specified the format with an example 06/20/2022 5:22PM PST). If I'm driving the car, how is it safe for me to note down time with this precision? Also, the car has functionality to record all of these alerts but Tesla's software updates wipe them out (instead of retaining them). …
ON [redacted], while driving my second Tesla Model X on [redacted] from Carson City back to Reno at the speed of 79 mph on Autopilot, the same sudden loud alarming situation occurred, with 1. park Assist unavailable 2. Steering assist reduced 3. Adaptive ride control degraded 4. Traction control disabled 5. Stability control disabled 6. Lane departure avoidance features unavailable 7. Automatic emergency Braking is unavailable 8. Automatic vehicle hold disabled. I drove to s stop, the car can't park but remained in neutral gear. Can't hard reset. With my prior experience 1 month ago, I changed it into Tow mode several times, finally was able to switch into Park mode then was able to do a hard reset. When I brought in to Tesla, they said it's the SAME problem, steering rack issue. Another $5300 is gone. …
This is a major safety issue --- we got an error that steering assistance was "reduced" for about 12 hours. Then on [redacted] at around [redacted], we were pulling out of a parked area (after being parked for 2 hours) -- and proceeded to increase speed on [redacted] in Newark, the car steering wheel abruptly LOCKED ITSELF - you couldn't even move the steering wheel. It just locked and shut down completely. We proceeded to do a rest (hitting two scroll buttons) to reset the system over 5-6 times. Each time it takes about 10 mins to complete. It was pure HORROR - sitting on the road with cars just passing by and honking at me behind. I had the hazard lights on, but it was a dangerous situation. I was completely STUCK and immobile. After some time, the steering wheel "magically" started working again. …
While driving on an interstate at night traveling at 70mph the computer/console froze navigation and wouldn't respond to touch commands. Then everything on the car went dark. No screen, no signal lights, nothing. Luck is the only reason I did not have an accident. This was terrifying and dangerous and I and others could easily have gotten hurt. My car had no lights and other cars couldn't see me as I changed lanes (without being able to signal) to pull in the emergency lane. The car has had connectivity issues starting at 1 year after purchase (about one month ago). I am sometimes unable to play music and the computer screen reads "no connectivity". It may be a coincidence that the free 1 year trial of premium connectivity just ended at the same time these issues began. I now pay $10/month for the service. …
I drive a 2020 Tesla Model X long range plus. I bought it new and now have about 50,000 miles on it. Over the years, I have experienced quite a few phantom breaking incidents when the car was in auto pilot (self steering mode). Most of these were fairly minor in nature and not much of a concern. This July I drove the car to Colorado and back and had innumerable severe phantom breaking events. In the past the breaking would be fairly gentle and a tap on the accelerator would return the car to the preset speed. In July, the car was essentially "slamming on" the brakes and required an aggressive press of the accelerator to disengage the breaking. It felt like the car was going to come to a stop in the middle of the highway. I was cruising about 70 mph and would say that by the time I could get to the accelerator the speed would be down to about 60 mph. …
Tesla updated my vehicle with FSD 12.5.2.1 and it is dangerous and should be recalled. The software is too much for my vehicles processor, it frequently freezes for as long as 10 seconds. This loses my speedometer, my signal information, and happened while merging and nearly caused me an accident. The lane keep assist has retrograded significantly, it often goes outside of the painted lines and is in danger of hitting curbs. The processor feels like it struggles to keep up, and the auto steer is unsettled and jerky as it changes its mind. Previous software worked great, Tesla is pushing the software beyond the hardwares capabilities and it's going to cause accidents. Please stop them.
Related recalls
Forward collision avoidance › Warnings › External/pedestrian alert
Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2013, 2018-2021 Model S, 2020-2021 Model X, 2018-2022 Model 3, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles. A factory reset muted the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) sounds.
Remedy: Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, release 2023.44.30.14, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 27, 2024. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752.
Forward collision avoidance › Warnings › External/pedestrian alert
Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Model S, Model X, Model Y, and 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles. The Boombox function allows sounds to be played through an external speaker while the vehicle is in motion, which may obscure the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) sounds.
Remedy: Tesla will perform an over-the-air (OTA) software update that will disable the Boombox functionality when the vehicle is in Drive, Neutral and Reverse modes, free of charge.
Forward collision avoidance › Software
Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2017-2021 Model S, Model 3, Model X, and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles operating software version 2021.36.5.2. A communication error may cause false forward-collision warning (FCW) or unexpected activation of the automatic emergency brake (AEB) system.
Remedy: Tesla Service has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. The recall began October 25, 2021. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752.
Collision Avoidance complaints in other Model X years
Frequently asked questions
How common are collision avoidance problems on the 2020 Tesla Model X?
NHTSA has 34 complaints about the driver assistance of the 2020 Tesla Model X, 27% of the model year's 128 complaints. The component named most often is automatic emergency braking (15 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2020 Tesla Model X collision avoidance problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 24V-153 (external/pedestrian alert, Feb 27, 2024); NHTSA recall 22V-063 (external/pedestrian alert, Feb 4, 2022); NHTSA recall 21V-846 (software, Oct 29, 2021). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2020 Tesla Model X collision avoidance problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 10,000 miles, and 75% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury to driver assistance problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.