Autosteer Speed Limit Exceeded — Autosteer Unavailable, Take Control of the Steering Wheel
The TESLA-APP_W218 (Tesla APP (Autopilot / driver assistance)) EV fault code means: Autosteer Speed Limit Exceeded — Autosteer Unavailable, Take Control of the Steering Wheel. This is a serious severity code.
- Keep driving?
- Yes, but fix soon
- DIY difficulty
- beginner
- Estimated cost
- No repair cost in the normal case — the alert is the speed limit working as designed and clears with a stop and a shift into Park. Only persistent unavailability across later drives warrants a service visit, which Tesla would diagnose.
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Common Symptoms
- Touchscreen shows "Autosteer speed limit exceeded — Take control of steering wheel"
- Autosteer disengages and will not re-engage for the rest of the drive
- Traffic-Aware Cruise Control may remain available while Autosteer does not
- The car drives normally under manual control
Probable Causes (Ranked by Likelihood)
- The vehicle exceeded the maximum speed Tesla permits for Autosteer, so the feature became unavailable. This is the designed behaviour of the limit, not a component failure. High
- Autosteer not returning on LATER drives, after a stop and a shift into Park, is the case that is no longer just the speed limit — Tesla says to schedule service if it stays unavailable across subsequent drives. Low
Frequently Asked Questions
What does APP_w218 mean on a Tesla?
Tesla's official text is "Autosteer speed limit exceeded — Take control of steering wheel". Autosteer became unavailable because the vehicle went over the maximum speed allowed for that driver assistance feature.
How do I get Autosteer back after APP_w218?
Bring the car to a complete stop and shift into Park. Tesla states Autosteer should be available again when you shift into Drive for your next trip. In most cases it will not come back during the drive in which it triggered.
Is APP_w218 a fault that needs service?
Usually not. It is the speed limit behaving as designed. Tesla only asks you to schedule service if Autosteer remains unavailable throughout subsequent drives, and says the vehicle is OK to drive in the meantime.
Mechanics Guide Step-by-step diagnosis
Step-by-Step Diagnostic Procedure
Take immediate control of the steering wheel and keep it for the rest of the drive — this is Tesla's own instruction, not a suggestion.
To reset: bring the vehicle to a complete stop and shift into Park. Autosteer should be available again on the next drive.
If Autosteer returns normally on the next drive, nothing is broken — you were over the feature's speed limit.
If it stays unavailable across subsequent drives, schedule service. Tesla states the vehicle is OK to drive in the meantime.
Do not confuse this with a camera-obstruction alert. Those are separate alerts and clear by cleaning the camera area; this one is about speed.
Sources 2
This page is built from documented references. Verify against your own service info before repair work.
- Tesla Model 3 Owner's ManualTroubleshooting Alerts (official Tesla alert text)
- Tesla Model Y Owner's ManualTroubleshooting Alerts (confirms the alert is documented across models)
Commonly Affected Vehicles
- Tesla Model 3
- Tesla Model Y
- Tesla Model S
- Tesla Model X
- Tesla Cybertruck
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