The Tesla suspension investigation now open at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers nearly 1.2 million vehicles, according to a filing from the agency’s Office of Defects Investigation. The review concerns reports that a front suspension component can detach and potentially cause “a loss of vehicle directional control,” NHTSA said.
The preliminary evaluation applies to 2018 through 2020 Tesla Model 3 vehicles and 2021 through 2023 Tesla Model Y vehicles, according to the NHTSA filing. Reuters reported the investigation earlier.
NHTSA said it has received 156 complaints tied to the alleged defect. The agency described the issue as the detachment of the front lower lateral link, a part of the front suspension assembly. In the cases NHTSA reviewed, most reported failures happened without advance warning. Some complaints, however, described noises before the part failed.
NHTSA said it has not recorded any crashes, injuries, or deaths connected to the potential defect. That is a meaningful boundary on what is known so far: the agency is investigating complaints and failure reports, rather than announcing a recall or a confirmed defect.
Which Tesla models are under investigation?
The NHTSA review covers two Tesla lines and specific model years: Model 3 vehicles from 2018, 2019, and 2020, and Model Y vehicles from 2021, 2022, and 2023. The agency estimated the affected population at nearly 1.2 million vehicles.
A preliminary investigation is an early step in NHTSA’s defect-review process. It lets the agency collect information, examine complaint patterns, and decide whether the issue warrants further action. The filing does not say Tesla is recalling these vehicles.
What failure is NHTSA looking at?
NHTSA is looking at complaints involving detachment of the front lower lateral link. The agency said the possible failure could affect vehicle directional control, which is exactly the sort of phrase that turns a small piece of metal into a federal paperwork problem.
The warning pattern is also part of the review. NHTSA said most reviewed cases reported no advance warning, while some reported noises before the failure. The filing does not identify a confirmed cause.
Tesla has dealt with suspension-related recalls before. In 2021, the company recalled 2,791 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles over a possible suspension defect. Tesla later recalled another group of Model 3 vehicles after NHTSA found that a loose fastener could allow the lateral link to separate from the sub-frame.
NHTSA said the complaints in the current investigation do not appear to be related to those earlier issues. That distinction matters for owners trying to figure out whether this is a repeat of a known fix or a separate failure pattern. For now, the public record says only that NHTSA has opened a preliminary evaluation and is reviewing the complaints.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
