RecallRepo

2012 Tesla Model S Recalls

Recalls on record Updated July 2026

The 2012 Tesla Model S has 8 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 4,649,815 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 89 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Recall campaigns

SEAT BELTS 24V376000 2024-05-28 125,233 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2024 Model S, 2015-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles. In the event of an unbelted driver, the seat belt warning light and audible chime may not activate as intended. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal…

Consequence

A seat belt warning system that fails to alert occupants of an unbelted seat belt can increase the risk of injury during a crash.

Remedy

Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update. Owner notification letters were mailed July 26, 2024. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-24-00-008.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 24V051000 2024-01-30 2,193,869 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2024 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, 2019-2024 Model Y, and 2024 Cybertruck vehicles. An incorrect font size is displayed on the instrument panel for the Brake, Park, and Antilock Brake System (ABS) warning lights. As such, these vehicles fail to comply…

Consequence

Warning lights with a smaller font size can make critical safety information on the instrument panel difficult to read, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Tesla began releasing an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-24-00-003.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 23V838000 2023-12-12 2,031,220 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling 2012-2023 Model S, 2016-2023 Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y vehicles equipped with all versions of Autosteer leading up to the version(s) that contains the recall remedy. In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, the prominence and scope of the feature's…

Consequence

In certain circumstances when Autosteer is engaged, and the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary or fails to recognize when Autosteer is canceled or not engaged, there may be an increased risk of a crash.

Remedy

Tesla will release an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 10, 2024. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-23-00-008.

BACK OVER PREVENTION 21V035000 2021-01-29 134,951 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Tesla Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles with a center display equipped with a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and an 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device. When the 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device for the center display reaches lifetime wear, the eMMC controller will no…

Consequence

The eMMC controller wear-out condition can cause the loss of the rearview camera display, defrost/defog control settings, and exterior turn signal lighting, reducing visibility and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Owners should ensure their vehicles are operating firmware release 2020.48.48.12 or newer, which will alert owners if the eMMC is approaching lifetime wear. Tesla will notify owners, and will replace the VCM daughterboard with one containing an enhanced eMMC controller, free of charge. The recall began March 29,…

STEERING 18V204000 2018-03-29 70,421 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with Bosch steering racks. The aluminum bolts that attach the power steering gear assist motor to the gear housing may corrode and fracture causing a reduction or complete loss of power steering assist.

Consequence

Loss of power steering assist would require a higher steering effort, especially at lower speeds, which may increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Tesla will notify owners, and Tesla Service Centers will replace the steering gear mounting bolts and add a corrosion-preventative sealer, free of charge. The recall began May 7, 2019. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-18-32-002.

PARKING BRAKE 17V260000 2017-04-19 31,709 affected
Defect

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2016 Model S and Model X vehicles. The electric parking brake calipers have an internal gear that may be improperly manufactured, possibly resulting in the gear fracturing during parking brake application or release.

Consequence

If the gear breaks during parking brake release, the vehicle will not be able to be moved. If the gear breaks during parking brake application, the parking brake may not adequately hold the vehicle, potentially resulting in the vehicle rolling, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Tesla will notify owners, and service centers will replace both the left and right electric parking brake calipers, free of charge. The recall began March 6, 2018. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-17-33-002.

AIR BAGS 17V023000 2017-01-10 2,997 affected
Defect

Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling all 2012 Model S vehicles. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the frontal air bags,…

Consequence

An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Remedy

Tesla will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag, free of charge. The recall began September 12, 2017. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752.

SEAT BELTS 15V780000 2015-11-23 59,415 affected
Defect

Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain model year 2012-2015 Model S vehicles manufactured May 31, 2012, to November 12, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with driver or front passenger seat belts that may be improperly connected to the outboard lap pretensioner.

Consequence

If the seat belt is not correctly attached to the pretensioner, it may not properly restrain the seat occupant in the event of a crash, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy

Tesla will notify owners, and service centers will inspect the driver and front passenger seat belts, correcting their connection, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on December 14, 2015. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-15-20-002.

Complaints by component

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
37
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
12
SUSPENSION
9
3crashes1fires6injuries1deaths
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
5
POWER TRAIN
5
VISIBILITY/WIPER
5
BACK OVER PREVENTION
2
EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT:VIDEO (TOUCH)SCREEN/MONITOR/UNIT
2
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
2
STRUCTURE:BODY
2
Total complaints89

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“In the evening of [xxx] of this year, the driver door airbag in my 2012 tesla model s self-deployed as I opened the car door to exit after parking in my garage. I brought the car to the tesla dealer in buena park california, and they told me they could not fix it because the car’s warranty had…”

AIR BAGS · reported 2025-11-26

“In october 2024, I brought my recently purchased used model s to the cincinnati service center for an antenna inspection, mcu upgrade, and general inspection to ensure the vehicle was safe and operating properly. During the inspection, I was informed that additional issues had been discovered.…”

POWER TRAIN · reported 2024-10-11

“In october 2024, I brought my recently purchased used model s to the cincinnati service center for an antenna inspection, mcu upgrade, and general inspection to ensure the vehicle was safe and operating properly. During the inspection, I was informed that additional issues had been discovered.…”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · reported 2024-10-11

“In october 2024, I brought my recently purchased used model s to the cincinnati service center for an antenna inspection, mcu upgrade, and general inspection to ensure the vehicle was safe and operating properly. During the inspection, I was informed that additional issues had been discovered.…”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2024-10-11

“The drive unit has water damage from normal driving. The car never went through deep water or was flooded, but the tech at the service center is saying the units are sealed but still can get water in them and corrode. How can a vital sealed part of the vehicle be damaged by normal driving and…”

POWER TRAIN · reported 2023-01-19

“I tried to start the car and got the “center display unavailableâ€� message. Reset the computer doesn’t help. I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the system to be on.”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · reported 2022-11-29

“I tried to start the car and got the “center display unavailableâ€� message. Reset the computer doesn’t help. I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the system to be on.”

EXTERIOR LIGHTING · reported 2022-11-29

“I tried to start the car and got the “center display unavailableâ€� message. Reset the computer doesn’t help. I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the system to be on.”

VISIBILITY/WIPER · reported 2022-11-29

Defect investigations

Investigation DP19005 Opened 2019-10-01 · closed 2021-09-28

Battery Management Software Updates

In a letter dated September 17, 2019, Mr. Edward Chen petitioned the NHTSA to initiate a defect investigation of certain Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles that received revised battery management software in one or more over-the-air (OTA) updates from Tesla, beginning in May 2019. The petitioner bases his request on…

Investigation DP19005 Opened 2019-10-01 · closed 2021-09-28

Battery Management Software Updates

In a letter dated September 17, 2019, Mr. Edward Chen petitioned the NHTSA to initiate a defect investigation of certain Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles that received revised battery management software in one or more over-the-air (OTA) updates from Tesla, beginning in May 2019. The petitioner bases his request on…

Investigation DP19005 Opened 2019-10-01 · closed 2021-09-28

Battery Management Software Updates

In a letter dated September 17, 2019, Mr. Edward Chen petitioned the NHTSA to initiate a defect investigation of certain Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles that received revised battery management software in one or more over-the-air (OTA) updates from Tesla, beginning in May 2019. The petitioner bases his request on…

Investigation DP19005 Opened 2019-10-01 · closed 2021-09-28

Battery Management Software Updates

In a letter dated September 17, 2019, Mr. Edward Chen petitioned the NHTSA to initiate a defect investigation of certain Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles that received revised battery management software in one or more over-the-air (OTA) updates from Tesla, beginning in May 2019. The petitioner bases his request on…

Investigation DP22005 Opened 2023-01-27 · closed 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…

Investigation DP23002 Opened 2023-06-29 · open

Sudden Unintended Acceleration

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a petition requesting that ODI reevaluate its decision to deny DP20-001 on the basis that intermittent high electrical current demands on the vehicles' 12VDC systems may have caused some or all of the incidents examined by ODI in DP20-001. The petitioner bases this…

Investigation EA20003 Opened 2020-11-12 · closed 2024-05-02

Loss of rearview camera

On November 20, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 20-003 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-18 Tesla Model S and model year (MY) 2016-2018 Tesla Model X vehicles equipped with the…

Investigation EA20003 Opened 2020-11-12 · closed 2024-05-02

Loss of rearview camera

On November 20, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 20-003 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-18 Tesla Model S and model year (MY) 2016-2018 Tesla Model X vehicles equipped with the…

Investigation EA20003 Opened 2020-11-12 · closed 2024-05-02

Loss of rearview camera

On November 20, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 20-003 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-18 Tesla Model S and model year (MY) 2016-2018 Tesla Model X vehicles equipped with the…

Investigation EA20003 Opened 2020-11-12 · closed 2024-05-02

Loss of rearview camera

On November 20, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 20-003 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-18 Tesla Model S and model year (MY) 2016-2018 Tesla Model X vehicles equipped with the…

Investigation EA21002 Opened 2021-09-17 · open

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant…

Investigation EA21002 Opened 2021-09-17 · open

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant…

Investigation EA22002 Opened 2022-06-08 · closed 2024-04-25

Autopilot System Driver Controls

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded PE21020 to EA22002 on June 8, 2022, to extend work and deepen the PE21020 crash analysis, to supplement that analysis with additional data, and to perform vehicle evaluations to understand how Tesla’s Autopilot system may exacerbate human factors or behavioral…

Investigation EA22002 Opened 2022-06-08 · closed 2024-04-25

Autopilot System Driver Controls

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded PE21020 to EA22002 on June 8, 2022, to extend work and deepen the PE21020 crash analysis, to supplement that analysis with additional data, and to perform vehicle evaluations to understand how Tesla’s Autopilot system may exacerbate human factors or behavioral…

Investigation PE20010 Opened 2020-06-22 · closed 2020-11-22

Loss of rearview camera

On June 22, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE20-010 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-2015 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB…

Investigation PE20010 Opened 2020-06-22 · closed 2020-11-22

Loss of rearview camera

On June 22, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE20-010 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-2015 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB…

Investigation RQ24009 Opened 2024-04-25 · open

Recall 23V838 Remedy Effectiveness

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening a Recall Query to assess the remedy adequacy of Recall 23V838. On December 12, 2023, Tesla filed a Defect Information Report (Recall 23V838) applicable to all Tesla models produced and equipped with any version of its Autopilot system, which Tesla described as an…

Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2012 Tesla Model S as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.