What is the best year for the Tesla Model S?
No official dataset can support one universal best year. Use the table to compare complaint patterns and EPA figures, then open the shortlisted years for recall campaigns and exact specifications.
Model-year matrix
Tesla Model S
which year?
Compare every Tesla Model S model year the EPA recorded, 2012 to 2026. See complaint patterns, fuel economy and configurations side by side, then open any year for recall campaigns and the full dossier. Confirm against the official NHTSA recall search.
Evidence-led answer
Looking for the best Tesla Model S year—or years to avoid?
The official records cannot honestly name a best, worst or most reliable year. Complaint totals have no sales, mileage or age denominator. They can show where more reports were filed and which components were named, giving you years to investigate more closely before checking the exact car and its VIN.
Which Tesla Model S years should you avoid?
The records cannot justify a blanket avoid label. Years with more reports are surfaced below as research priorities, not predictions about every car from that year.
01 · More reports to inspect2015
667 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2015 dossier →02 · More reports to inspect2016644 indexed complaint reports; suspension is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2016 dossier →03 · More reports to inspect2013459 indexed complaint reports; electrical system is the most-reported component label.
Open the 2013 dossier →Do not read this as an avoid list. Older and higher-selling model years usually accumulate more reports. A low count can also mean a newer, rarer or poorly matched vehicle—not a safer one.
Complaint totals are counts of owner-submitted allegations, not confirmed defects, and they carry no denominator: they are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received. A high-volume or older year will usually show more reports than a rare or recent one. The site does not convert these into a reliability score, because the data needed to do that honestly is not in the public record.
Direct comparison
Compare two Tesla Model S model years.
Choose any two years. The URL keeps the pair so you can return to the same comparison. Every figure below is an observed official record or EPA estimate—not a reliability score.
2025 Tesla Model S
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 6
- Combined EPA economy
- 93–124 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 3
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $600–800
- Fuel labels
- Electricity
Most-reported component labelspower train 2suspension 2steering 1
Open the 2025 evidence dossier →2026 Tesla Model S
- NHTSA complaint allegations
- 3
- Combined EPA economy
- 93–124 mpg/MPGe
- EPA configurations
- 3
- Annual EPA fuel-cost estimate
- $600–800
- Fuel labels
- Electricity
Most-reported component labelsforward collision avoidance 2lane departure 1service brakes 1
Open the 2026 evidence dossier →Observed complaint-record difference
2026 has 3 fewer indexed complaint allegations than 2025.
This is not a rate or reliability finding. The counts have no sales, mileage, age or exposure denominator, and newer years have had less time to accumulate reports.Side by side
Tesla Model S by year.
Complaint bars are scaled against this model’s own highest year, so they compare years with each other and with nothing else.
| Year | Complaints | Most-reported components | Combined MPG | EPA configs | Annual fuel cost | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | forward collision avoidance 2lane departure 1service brakes 1 | 93–124 | 3 | $600–800 | Dossier → |
| 2025 | 6 | power train 2suspension 2steering 1 | 93–124 | 3 | $600–800 | Dossier → |
| 2024 | 38 | lane departure 32unknown or other 23electrical system 8 | 96–122 | 3 | $600–800 | Dossier → |
| 2023 | 111 | unknown or other 58forward collision avoidance 25steering 19 | 120 | 1 | $650 | Dossier → |
| 2022 | 136 | forward collision avoidance 45unknown or other 34steering 20 | 101–120 | 3 | $650–750 | Dossier → |
| 2021 | 176 | forward collision avoidance 62unknown or other 43steering 29 | 96–120 | 4 | $650–800 | Dossier → |
| 2020 | 80 | forward collision avoidance 31suspension 14unknown or other 14 | 97–117 | 5 | $650–800 | Dossier → |
| 2019 | 44 | forward collision avoidance 15suspension 8service brakes 7 | 97–111 | 7 | $700–800 | Dossier → |
| 2018 | 168 | forward collision avoidance 69unknown or other 36electrical system 34 | 98–103 | 4 | $750–800 | Dossier → |
| 2017 | 423 | electrical system 114suspension 107unknown or other 95 | 95–104 | 8 | $700–800 | Dossier → |
| 2016 | 644 | suspension 209electrical system 150unknown or other 150 | 89–104 | 13 | $700–850 | Dossier → |
| 2015 | 667 | electrical system 267unknown or other 189suspension 150 | 89–101 | 8 | $750–850 | Dossier → |
| 2014 | 365 | electrical system 132suspension 90unknown or other 82 | 89–95 | 3 | $800–850 | Dossier → |
| 2013 | 459 | electrical system 195unknown or other 122suspension 91 | 89–95 | 3 | $800–850 | Dossier → |
| 2012 | 61 | electrical system 37unknown or other 12suspension 9 | 89 | 1 | $850 | Dossier → |
Evidence snapshot generated . “Not indexed” means NHTSA holds no complaint record matching this exact year, make and model — not that no fault occurred. Recall campaigns are not summarised here: NHTSA publishes no bulk recall dataset, and fetching them per year would take longer than the page should. Each year’s dossier shows its recalls in full, live from NHTSA.