Tesla Model S Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Tesla Model S model year from 2012 to 2026, benchmarked against each other with 5,280 federal complaints, 39 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2013, 2015–2017. These years top the Model S's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
Safer bets: 2012, 2019–2020, 2022 — the quietest years with at least four years on the road.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Model S's own worst year — full methodology.
Under investigation. Federal regulators currently have 6 open defect investigations on the Tesla Model S.
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening this Engineering Analysis to evaluate Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) (collectively, FSD) degradation detection system. The focus of this investigation will be to assess the system’s ability, when encountering…
Model years named: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations. This investigation concerns versions of FSD that Tesla has labeled…
Model years named: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) has identified numerous incident reports submitted by Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) in response to Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), in which the reported crashes occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports. The majority of these…
Model years named: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:DRIVER MONITORING:SOFTWARE
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…
Model years named: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
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…
Model years named: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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,…
Model years named: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
An investigation is not a recall; it may close with no action. All open investigations →
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Electrical tops the Tesla Model S file with 1,196 complaints, concentrated in the 2013–2016 model years, most often reported around 58,750 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Few reports | 6 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | Few reports | 7 | 2 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | Too early to call | 78 | 6 | Driver assistance | 5 |
| 2023 | Typical | 162 | 13 | Other | 11 |
| 2022 | Better year | 198 | 20 | Driver assistance | 12 |
| 2021 | Typical | 279 | 24 | Driver assistance | 22 |
| 2020 | Better year | 123 | 11 | Driver assistance | 12 |
| 2019 | Better year | 73 | 10 | Driver assistance | 6 |
| 2018 | Typical | 288 | 11 | Driver assistance | 33 |
| 2017 | Avoid | 673 | 9 | Electrical | 57 |
| 2016 | Avoid | 1,024 | 10 | Suspension | 100 |
| 2015 | Avoid | 1,057 | 9 | Electrical | 86 |
| 2014 | Below average | 546 | 9 | Electrical | 53 |
| 2013 | Avoid | 677 | 11 | Electrical | 61 |
| 2012 | Better year | 89 | 8 | Electrical | 7 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 1,102 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Tesla Model S. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Tesla Model S TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Tesla Model S years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2013, 2015–2017 as the Tesla Model S years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Tesla Model S problem?
Electrical tops the Tesla Model S file with 1,196 complaints, concentrated in the 2013–2016 model years, most often reported around 58,750 miles.
What are the best Tesla Model S years to buy used?
The quietest Tesla Model S years in federal records are 2012, 2019–2020, 2022 — each with at least four years on the road and well-below-average complaint volume for this model.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Tesla Model S only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.