Tesla avoids recall action in longtime suspension probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released documents on Wednesday that indicated the regulator has closed an investigation into suspension failure reports on the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model S from 2015 through 2017 and the Model X from 2016 and 2017. One crash was reported with no injuries.

The agency said it found in testing and in checking complaints that the Tesla (TSLA) vehicles could still be controlled by drivers if the front fore links failed. The probe was originally opened in November 2020.

NHTSA finding: “The investigation has identified 426 instances of failure on part number 1041570-00-A or 1041575-00-A fore links. None of the instances resulted in any loss of vehicle control. One minor crash with no injuries is associated with the 426 instances fore link failures. A majority of the failures occurred between one to fifteen mph while parking in driveways or parking lots. In the eight instances where the vehicle was traveling more than 40 mph and the fore link failed, the vehicle remained controllable with no associated crash or injuries as a result.”

Tesla did a customer satisfaction campaign in 2017 to replace fore links on some of the vehicles. However, NHTSA said the replacements did not cover 75% of the failures identified in its investigation. The agency recommended that Tesla (TSLA) expand the replacement program.

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