Problems · by component
2017 Tesla Model S suspension problems
104 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2017 Tesla Model S cite suspension, 27% of all 379 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
104
27% of all complaints
Crashes
14
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
5
Reported by owners
What owners say about the suspension
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“Car rattles when driven and makes loud sounds when going over bumps. Took to Tesla with 50k miles on it and they said it needs new air spring modules on front left and right. Did not do repair as it was over $3000. My car was built in the Fremont factory, the same as the cars in china that were recalled for the same reason. My car was a Tesla fleet car when I purchased it May of this year. Tesla had to know there was a problem and that’s why they wholesaled it to a different car dealership to be sold.”
“When getting into my vehicle for work, my vehicle appeared to be lopsided with the passenger side of the vehicle being considerably lower than the driver’s side. Luckily I noticed this right away and was able to back up safely into my parking spot. I brought it into the Tesla service center and they confirmed that the rear Suspension system/Air compressor/Air Spring Module on both sides are faulty and need to be replaced. They also stated that this was a “non-passenger facing alert” that they don’t believe was a new issue because I believe they stated the alert was visible 30 days prior when I had the vehicle in the service center for a different non-safety issue. After many days of research I see that this exact suspension issue thousands of Tesla owners more specifically Tesla owners of Model S/X years 2013-2018 see very frequently and in the state of California there was even a class action lawsuit due to this safety issue but for some reason there still has not been a recall? I believe that this on going suspension issue that Tesla has is a safety issue especially if traveling at higher speeds. This needs to be addressed sooner rather than later as it could…”
“In February 2022, I struck a downed tree limb which caused damage to my vehicle. The vehicle was repaired at a Tesla Service Center and the entire front suspension was replaced and paid for by my insurance. The car seemed to drive fine after this incident. In December 2023, I took the car in to a Tesla Service Center for an unrelated issue (the coolant level was low). After completing the service, I received a call from the service center stating that the service technician noticed that the vehicle was "swaying heavily to the right" and that it was not safe to drive. The service center performed diagnostic work and told me that the left fore link had detached from the ball assembly and that both the left and right fore links showed excessive wear. The service center initially told me that I would need to pay for this repair. Had them verify that the same components had been replaced recently and that only 6600 miles had been driven on the new suspension. After I told them that I would contact my insurance company, the service center quickly changed their tune, said they would cover the repair, and completed the repair within hours. Assuming their diagnosis was…”
“Left lower rear control arm is broken. Luckily it happened as I entered the garage. Could have been catastrophic on highway driving. There was no warning message of light.”
“While parking the left suspension fore link completely broke. The car only has 50k miles on it. I believe it is this issue: [XXX] [XXX]”
“As I was backing up out of a parking spot, I was turning the wheel when I heard a pop and a ugly grinding noise coming from my front driver side wheel well. Initially, I thought I ran over something, but did not observe and debris under the vehicle. I proceeded to slowly pull forward and continued to hear grinding, but not as bad. When I turned, the grinding continued. I got out again to observe that my wheel had caught the back half of my wheel well cover and ripped it off, sitting in the wheel well still. A firm tug pulled the cover from the well and I could see the wheel was not situated in the center of the wheel well. After contacting the manufacturer, they towed the vehicle and I learned that the control arm had snapped and they would need to replace the whole front suspension. They also noted a couple knicks under my carriage and very minor scrapes on my bumper and said that the failure was due to outside influence and, thus, would not be covered by my active warranty. They said I was in an accident which is completely false. After research, I presented numerous instances of control arm failure for the same year/model as my car at very low mileages,…”
Showing 6 of 104 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.