Tesla Model X Owner Says His SUV Has Needed Half-Shafts “Four Times in Two Years,” and After a $2,000 Suspension Repair That Changed Nothing, He Told Tesla He’s Done Fighting: “We’re Buying a Lexus.”

There is a special kind of fatigue that sets in when a modern luxury vehicle starts sounding like a toolbox being shaken over a pothole. It is not outrage so much as a slow, methodical disbelief. That is the tone running through a recent series of posts from Tesla Model X owner Rami Alnajjar in the Tesla Model X Owners Community on Facebook. His 2020 Model X, with mileage that would hardly scare a rental fleet manager, has been through multiple sets of front half shafts and a front suspension repair bill of about two thousand dollars, yet he reports that the same knocking sound is still present. After all of it, he says he and his wife have decided to buy a certified Lexus for her and demote the X to secondary duty.

Here is how he first laid it out to the group, in full, word for word:

“Hi all, looking for some input from the community on a front suspension issue and whether this sounds like normal wear or more like a repair-related problem.

Car details:

2020 Model X

45,000 miles

Out of basic warranty (expired June 2024)

Timeline:

January 2025 – Tesla replaced both front half shafts for noise/vibration. Same visit, they noted “torqued ball joints to spec.”

May 2025 – I went back for a front rattle. Their invoice says they found a loose sway bar mount on the front and tightened it. Noise was reduced for a while.

November 2025 (now) – I brought it back again for a knocking/creaking when turning at low speed.

They say all four lower front suspension links/bushings (fore and aft, left and right) are torn and need to be replaced. They are also replacing both front half shafts again under warranty (so this will be the third set of half shafts). Quote for the four links plus alignment is about $1,850 out of pocket. The service advisor says the bushing failures are “not related” to the January repair or the loose sway bar mount and won’t do goodwill or warranty on the links.

My concerns/questions:

Has anyone else had all four lower control arm/link bushings fail around 45k miles on a Model X? Is that normal?

Has anyone had bushing or link failures after half-shaft replacement that Tesla later covered as goodwill?

From your experience, could improper torque/preload during suspension reassembly (or a loose sway bar mount) realistically lead to premature bushing failure like this?

Would you push harder with Tesla for goodwill/discount, get a second opinion from an independent EV-savvy shop, or just pay and move on?

I’m trying to be fair, but it feels odd that a sway bar mount was found loose only a few months after the half-shaft job. I’m already on another set of half shafts under warranty, and all four bushings happen to be torn at the same time.

Really appreciate any experiences, photos, or technical insight from others who’ve been through something similar.

Unbelievable, I just went to pick up my 2020 Model X from the service center after paying to have the front suspension “fixed.” I paid $2,000 (didn’t agree on the charge because I feel they caused it in the first place). The invoice says multiple front lower aft/fore links were replaced, alignment done, and that the car was test-driven and the noise/vibration were resolved.

The moment I moved out of the parking spot and turned the wheel right or left at low speed, the exact same loud knocking is still there; it literally sounds like the front wheels are going to fall off. Not only that, but as soon as I got in and started the car, I heard a repeated knocking/creaking for a good 30 seconds. I can’t tell if it’s from the suspension raising or from the vents, but it’s very noticeable.

For those who remember my previous post, this is the same issue I’ve been chasing since my last visit – multiple visits, half shafts already replaced 4 times in two years, then they blamed worn bushings/links, and now, after paying out of pocket, the problem is unchanged. Oh, and they did alignment.

How would you handle this? (I left them the car) escalate to the service manager, ask for a refund or re-diagnosis, involve corporate, etc.? Any advice from other Model X owners would be really appreciated.

Quick update

Quick update on my Model X knocking issue for those who saw my earlier post.

Tesla diagnosed the loud knocking during turns as half shafts and bushings, so I paid about $1,900 for the repair. When I picked it up, the car was exactly the same,  loud knocking still there, even though the invoice said the work was completed and the car was test-driven.

I left it with them again, and the next day they said they replaced the half shafts again (I thought that was already done), but they still hear “creaking.” When I asked about a refund since the repair didn’t fix the problem, they refused, claiming the suspension work “fixed the turning issue.” It didn’t.

At this point, I’m losing trust in their honesty. My wife and I already decided we’ll shop for a certified Lexus for her and make the Model X my secondary car, since selling it now would mean taking a loss.

Told the T center we’ll revisit the refund and resolution once the car is actually fixed, and I’ll handle it in person.

Has anyone gone through something similar with Tesla refusing to acknowledge an unresolved issue after a paid repair?”

The story did not stop with that first post. After approving the repair estimate and paying roughly two thousand dollars for the four links, alignment, and related work, Alnajjar wrote that he arrived at the service center expecting a quiet front end and a clean bill of health. Instead, he said, the moment he backed out of the parking space and turned the wheel at low speed, the same loud knocking returned as if nothing had been done. He also reported a repeated knocking or creaking for about thirty seconds right after starting the car, uncertain if it was from the suspension raising or from the HVAC system. He left the vehicle with the service center again, this time with the understandable question of how a test drive could have signed off on a noise that appears during the first turn of the wheel.

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Then came the post that really defined his position. In a "Quick update" to the same group, Alnajjar explained that he had paid about $1,900 for what Tesla had diagnosed as half shafts and bushings. When he picked the vehicle up, the loud knocking during turns was still present, despite the invoice stating that the work was complete and the car had been road tested. He left it again. According to his account, he was told the next day that the half shafts had been replaced again, yet the service team still heard "creaking." When he asked for a refund, he reported that they declined, stating that the suspension work had fixed the turning issue. In his view, it clearly had not. At that point, he wrote that his trust was fading and that he and his wife had already decided to shop for a certified Lexus for her, keeping the Model X as a secondary car since selling it now would, in his words, mean taking a loss.

The feedback from other owners read like a roundtable in a service bay. Jayr Guidaben described being told a strange front-end noise was normal after a test drive, only to track it down at home with his son. They jacked up the car, cycled the suspension, and found the sound coming from a strut brace bolt that was not fully tight. A simple twist of a wrench and the noise disappeared. Michael Cheng pointed out that a first-time half shaft replacement should usually only cost a few hundred dollars, which made Alnajjar’s statement that his vehicle had needed half shafts "4 times already" ring out in the thread. Several commenters recommended independent EV-savvy shops or third-party components. Others suggested calmly escalating within the company, documenting everything, and, if the pattern continued, consulting a professional regarding local lemon-law options.

Strip away the brand names and online forum handles, and what remains is a classic service story that could have taken place in any decade of modern car culture. A complicated vehicle develops a repeatable, unnerving symptom. The owner does what most responsible drivers would do: takes it to the factory service center, follows recommendations, pays for work, and expects the issue to be resolved. When it is not, tension arises not necessarily from the presence of a mechanical fault, but from the feeling that the diagnosis, the invoice, and the driving experience are no longer aligned. It is not an indictment of the technology itself. It is a question of process, communication, and quality control.

Technically, the questions Alnajjar posed are fair ones. Multiple front half-shaft replacements in a relatively short period, combined with torn bushings on all four lower links, invite a closer look at suspension geometry, torque procedures, and how much prior work might influence later wear. Owners in various forums have long discussed how heavy, high-torque electric SUVs place different stresses on their front driveline and suspension components compared with traditional sedans, especially under hard acceleration or on rough roads. Specialized aftermarket parts and alignment settings have emerged to address some of these loads. That context does not establish fault in any individual case, but it makes the community’s curiosity about simultaneous failures at modest mileage easier to understand.

For now, according to his own posts, Alnajjar has left the vehicle with Tesla again and told the service team that any talk of refunds or final resolution will wait until the car is fully and clearly fixed. In the meantime, he and his wife are already mentally moving on, planning a certified Lexus purchase and treating the Model X as a secondary car rather than the primary family hauler it once was. It is not a rejection of electric vehicles and not even necessarily a permanent break with the brand. It is the decision of an owner who has reached the end of his patience with a specific, unresolved problem and chosen predictability over uncertainty. In an era of highly advanced vehicles and over-the-air wizardry, his story is a reminder that the relationship between a driver and their car often lives or dies on something very old-fashioned: whether the strange noise in the front end actually goes away after you pay the bill.

Image Sources: Tesla Media Center

Noah Washington is an automotive journalist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys covering the latest news in the automotive industry and conducting reviews on the latest cars. He has been in the automotive industry since 15 years old and has been featured in prominent automotive news sites. You can reach him on X and LinkedIn for tips and to follow his automotive coverage.