Problems · by component

2015 Tesla Model S suspension problems

147 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2015 Tesla Model S cite suspension, 23% of all 646 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
147
23% of all complaints
Crashes
30
Reported by owners
Fires
6
Reported by owners
Injuries
16
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the suspension

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“While driving approximately 45mph on a smooth dry road, the drivers side front lower ball joint broke in half. This caused the wheel to separate from the lower control arm and get lodged between the fender well and the front subframe. This caused the inner tie rod to bend and the cv joint to separate from the inner connection. The rubber brake line was torn in half and undercarriage damage due to it slamming to the pavement. I notified Tesla and scheduled an appointment. This happened on 02/26/2025 at approximately 7am. The vehicle did not drive abnormal or give any warning before the incident. All maintenance and services were up to date.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Feb 26, 2025SuspensionCrash reportedODI 11645192
“Failure part was drivers side front wheel "Fore Link Assembly" which broke at the wheel connection on our driveway while turning left in reverse. I heard a loud thunk but hadn't run over anything and nothing irregular outside so I continued but now I could hear something scrapping. Turns out it was the front tire now rubbing the wheel well liner when turning left. pulled the tire off and you could easily see where the fore link fractured. Fortunately this part didn't fail on the road as the outcome might have been bad considering the possible loss of control. Our car, 1985 purchased new with 68,450 miles was towed via required flatbed to a Tesla Service Center and repaired. I have all replaced parts including the fractured section that fell on our driveway. Outside of the repair personnel and myself no one has looked at the part but you can clearly see what used to be a circular opening was elongated and ,about a 90 degree section, missing.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 29, 2024SuspensionODI 11622580
“Drove out of my driveway and 2 minutes later I hear a metal clink and my steering wheel pulled to the left. I was going 15-20 mph. Pull over and see the right rear wheel angled inwards. And see a metal piece broke off. Turns out the rear control arm broke for no apparent reason. Many others reported same issue and there was a recall on this for 2013-2014 SB-19-31-001 [XXX] but not years going forward even though many of the newer Tesla’s have same issue. Luckily I was going g slow but it seems it is just a matter of time before this happens to someone on the highway or at faster speeds to cause some serious damage and injuries.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 11, 2024SuspensionODI 11607787
“Backing out of a parking spot, my car made a loud "thunk" and stopped. I put the car in park and got out, looking all around and under the car. I did not see anything. I backed out of the spot and circled the lot to see if there was anything in the parking spot I may have run over. Nothing. When exiting the parking lot, the car made the same "thunk" and again ground to a halt. I again exited the car and looked all around. This time, I could see that the front driver's side tire was not in the correct position. It was shifted toward the back of the wheel well. I knew something had physically broken. I had the car towed to a service center. They checked the car and said a suspension fore link had broken. They recommended replacing all of them, not just the one that broke. They blamed the age of the car (95,000 miles). I was incredibly lucky that this occurred in a parking lot given that the vehicle came to an immediate stop. There were no prior warning signs. The car last had a scheduled inspection at 87,500 miles.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 25, 2024SuspensionODI 11604576
“Ive been notified that my front upper, lower arms, and bushings on my suspension are damaged. Tesla has sent me an massive bill to replace the parts on the car that I am not able to provide. As a looked up and talked to other Tesla S owners, this apparently is a major issues with all of them and very common. So common that China issued a recall requiring Tesla to fix this manufacture defect of wreaked and poorly manufacture parts. Why is the US not forcing this yet? They should be held liable for their fault mechanic engineer of the vehicle that is costing us THOUSANDS of dollars to repair and replace even at very low mileage Invoice attached. This was the cost AFTER they gave me discount for replacing a part I did not authorize. This was an issue with the dealership still.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Apr 24, 2024SuspensionODI 11584979
“This is the 3rd time a control arm on the car has cracked. I see tons of people online complaining about the same issue with the fault aluminum control arms. I have no damage and no rust and it just cracked on its on as i was backing out of a parking spot. I could have been seriously injured or my daughter had this happened on the highway. My dad is an issurance adjuster for 30 years and has never heard of any cars control arms cracking on their own. Please help as this is a huge safety issue and it seems Tesla has been putting the blame on the drivers. There was a grinding noise in reverse and the wheel was tilted inward. Multiple control arms have cracked in the car. A car that has no damage or accidents. This car is less than 10 years old and this doesn't happen with any other cars. It's a fault control arm part made out of cheap aluminum.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 26, 2024Steering, SuspensionODI 11579552

Showing 6 of 147 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.