NHTSA complaint #11495279

Owner complaint summary

At night, both left and right side turn signal cameras (repeater cameras) become heavily obscured with glare when using turn signals. This interferes with lane keep assist, blind spot/collision warning, autopilot functions, and the ability for a driver to safely discern the presence of a vehicle in the vehicle’s blind spot. In November 2022 Tesla stated “It is a characteristic of the product… that has been design enhanced in newer vehicle production.” The issue is caused by 3 small holes located on the repeater camera’s printed circuit board (PCB) that allow internal light from the turn signal repeater to shine through the PCB to the camera sensor side, directly obscuring most of the camer sensor. The new “design enhanced” version covers these 3 holes with tape, eliminating the problem. Tesla does not view this as a concern and does not cover this safety issue under warranty. A very large number of owners have filed complaints with Tesla. Some owners had the parts replaced under “good will” while most have been charged for the replacement of the side repeaters as Tesla doesn’t classify this as a defect in “materials or workmanship”. Despite this, Tesla felt compelled to “enhance the design” by eliminating this problem. It’s absurd that Tesla knows about the issue and went as far as correcting it to prevent further problems, but won’t issue a TSB for vehicles effected by this “characteristic” that poses a major safety concern.