Tesla Model S P100d
Problems & Worst Years

Three model years of data on the Model S P100D show a car whose complaint volume fell steadily even as the underlying issues stayed remarkably consistent. 2016 is the clear high point: 402 total occurrences and three safety-severity problem categories, led by 104 reports of media control unit failure and 93 more describing broader electrical-system glitches. Suspension failure leading to wheel collapse drew 67 reports at safety severity, a separate cluster of 47 specifically named center media control unit failure, and 32 reports described steering and vehicle-speed-control malfunctions severe enough to be rated safety.

2017 carries the same electrical-and-suspension combination at lower volume: 255 occurrences, three safety-severity categories, with suspension failure again leading at 38 reports, followed by steering-system malfunction (23), touchscreen blackouts and unresponsiveness (20), suspension ball-joint failure (20), and another 20 for media control unit failure specifically.

2018 is meaningfully quieter — 68 occurrences and only one safety-severity category — though unintended acceleration accounts for 12 of those reports at that top severity tier. The remaining top-five issues that year are lower-grade: suspension failure (11), reduced steering assist (9), general electrical-system issues (9), and forward collision avoidance system malfunction (6).

No recall campaigns appear against any year of the P100D in this dataset, so everything here is owner-reported rather than a confirmed manufacturer action. Given how often suspension and steering issues recur across all three years, a pre-purchase inspection that specifically checks suspension components and control-arm condition is worth prioritizing regardless of which year you're considering. Keep in mind these numbers reflect what owners chose to report to NHTSA rather than a measured failure rate, and that a 2018 car simply may not have accumulated as many reports as an older one even if its underlying reliability were identical — a full service history and hands-on inspection tell you more than the model year alone.