Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11521022May 8, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 70 - 75 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 31,043.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520831May 7, 2023
STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Car steering felt stuck and slid off the road which resulted in crashing into a tree. Tesla features did not help stay in the lane or break in an emergency.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520638May 5, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While using the autopilot or cruise control feature The vehicle slams on the brakes without driver intervention. I found this appears to be a common problem called “ Phantom Braking” I opened ticket with the local Tesla facility but they required an accurate time storm of the incident to be able to troubleshoot the issue. This is a major safety issue and I request it be investigated as soon as possible. I read some news reports that Tesla Phantom Braking has caused major accidents and I don’t want to be in one.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520582May 5, 2023
STEERING
Power steering failure. Vehicle became extremely difficult to turn while moving. Was unable to turn wheel while stopped. Restarted car and power steering came back online and failed again. Restarted a second time and power steering worked for the remainder of the drive. I am currently working with Tesla service to inspect and fix any issues. Safety concern, yes. was not able to make gradual turns while driving. Dealer/service center confirmation: not yet, car is being towed to service center today 5/5/23 inspection: no, car will be inspected by Tesla service center soon Warning: yes internal car system gave me a warning that power steering was not function and that steering may require extra effort.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520534May 4, 2023
SUSPENSION, STEERING
This is an addition to my earlier complaint, NHTSA tracking number # 11520382. To reiterate, in this issue the suspension components failed even though the rim and wheel were pristine, and the sidewall did NOT have bubbles even a week after steering issues were observed. I will submit pictures of the failed suspension components following my service center visit next week.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520516May 4, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Adaptive cruise control fails. Repeated phantom braking on the highway. Would cause severe high speed accidents if there was traffic, luckily there was not. Not yet. Not yet. No. First appeared on my first long (5+ hr) road trip and brakes were applied jarringly for no reason, braking from 80mph down to 55 before I could turn the cruise control off. Repeated this more than a dozen times on the highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520382May 4, 2023
SUSPENSION, STEERING
During a road trip, autopilot started pulling to the left and right because the autopilot was struggling to center the car in the lane. Driving without autopilot showed that the car was pulling to one side. A wheel alignment by Firestone showed alignment specs consistent with a strike, however the car was not actually struck during the trip. The rims and wheel look intact and brand new, without cracks or bubbles. A visit to the Tesla service center showed that the right hand rear control arm has an enlarged hole, indicating abnormal wear and tear on the suspension elements for a 4-month car with 7,000 miles. The car's steering wheel still feels loose even though the car drives straight.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520215May 3, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Hello, I have experienced 2 times the same issue with this new car model. I was driving on a interstate with 2 lanes, no cars in front of me and fortunately no cars behind, I was in autopilot mode and emergency brake system got engaged for no reasons apparently (Phantom braking) and I had to take over immediately. It was scary and I was lucky that no car was behind as it could have created definitely a worse scenario. The first time I was entering a bridge and the color of the asphalt was a bit different from the main road that might have triggered this phantom braking. The second time I entered in a driving area in the shade, here the phantom braking might have been triggered by a sudden change in the sun light. Regards.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520126May 2, 2023
STEERING
The steering wheel was received misaligned from the factory. When the steering wheel is held straight the vehicle veers to the left.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519936May 1, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Hello, I recently drove 600 miles and experienced numerous random, frightening and dangerous occurrences of "phantom braking" while in cruise control mode. The car suddenly slammed on the brakes (I could hear the tires screech) while the highway was almost always completely empty, and always completely devoid of any potential danger. In three occurrences, the car was confused by something physical (albeit posing no danger at all): it was confused a "divide highway" sign post at the beginning of a divided highway median, the distant back a truck, a least a quarter of a mile ahead, and an incoming truck a least a quarter of a mile ahead in a long curve. In all other occurrences -the vast majority of occurrences- whatever triggered "phantom braking" was nowhere to be seen (the highway in front of me was completely empty of any traffic or obstructions), and never materialized. My safety and the safety of drivers behind me (and potentially in other lanes in case of a pile-up) was compromised during every occurrences. I stopped using cruise control when a car or truck is behind me. I contacted Tesla Service. They did an over the air check and said that there was nothing wrong with the system, that each occurrence provided data to improve the Beta system (it would have been nice to be told when I purchase the car that my family and I were Beta testers of an automotive safety product), and that Tesla is "working on a firmware update". Not very reassuring, and most importantly, no fixes at all to address this dangerous safety issue. Tesla Service indicated that I do not need to bring my car in (since there is nothing wrong with the software and therefore no fix).There was no advance warning before occurrences of "phantom braking". Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519423April 28, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The vehicle gives false forward collision warnings which increases my insurance premium. This happened multiple times in the last month.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518954April 25, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving my car north on I15. Suddenly the car applied full breaks when there was no objects on the road. I could no longer control the car. Even when my foot was on the accelerator the car automatically depressed the break pedal. Luckily there was no vehicle behind me. I was also fortunate that we were going on a straight section of road. If this happened mid turn I would have completely lost control. These cars are a danger to society. It is impossible to drive them safely when they take control away from the driver.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518621April 24, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2023 TESLA MODEL 3. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO SEVERAL ISSUES WITH THEIR VEHICLE RANGING FROM MINOR TO DANGEROUS. THE CONSUMER STATED UPON THE FIRST DAY OF POSSESSING THE VEHICLE, RUBBER AROUND THE WINDOWS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. IT WAS REPLACED AND A MONTH LATER THE PHONE WAS NOT CONNECTING TO THE BLUETOOTH IN THE VEHICLE, NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM STATES VEHICLE IS ON THE RIGHT WHEN THE NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM WAS NOT ENGAGED, GLOVE BOX WILL NOT OPEN, WINDOW WILL GO DOWN WITHOUT NOTICE, THE APP TO LOCK AND UNLOCK VEHICLE MALFUNCTIONS, WINDOWS SQUEAKING WHEN EXITING THE VEHICLE, SELF LOCKING DEVICE WORKS SPORADICALLY, AND VIDEO RECORDING DEVICE STOP WORKING.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518419April 22, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While on Autopilot, the car suddenly phantom brakes when there is no risk of any collision ahead. This has happened multiple times on high speed highways. Within 1 hour, this happened 5 times and caused near-collisions with the car following my car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518284April 21, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving to school which is about an hour away from my home. I was in the carpool lane when all of a sudden I got a notice that the top speed of the vehicle was reduced to 35 MPH second later it said it was in low power mode. The screen starting flashing red and it began to shake and shut down. I had seconds to get into the shoulder of the freeway and the car and the car lost all power. This was an unprovoked incident and I feel that if put me in grave danger. In order for the car to start driving I had to exit and enter it again while on the freeway. I was thankfully able to pull into the shoulder because I was in the carpool lane but had I not been I would have had to do this in full traffic.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518018April 20, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While driving across the Nevada and Utah deserts, while on cruise control, traveling at 80 MPH we experienced 7 phantom braking. There were no vehicles or obstructions in sight and it was on straight stretches of road. We are no longer using cruise control due to the danger of possibly causing an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517985April 20, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla had been sending me messages since last year about the safety recall notice but they have not downloaded the necessary firmware update to remedy the safety issue NHTSA Recall no: 22V-702
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517798April 19, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving on the freeway at night, cruise control was on and going 70 mph. There were no other cars around and the car started braking on me out of no where. My speed went from 70 mph down to almost 20 mph on the freeway. Luckily there was no one behind me otherwise it would have been a bad crash.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517757April 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
My full self driving computer has crashed for the 3rd time since owning the vehicle which controls all of the cars safety features.. Tesla says they won’t do anything because the car is past the warranty by 9,000 miles.. so I’m basically stuck with a 1980’s Tesla.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517319April 16, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I have had several incidents of my car rapidly decelerating when in assisted driving mode and I am driving on the highway. I am driving at 65 and all of the sudden it decelerates, making it extremely dangerous. There are no apparent barriers or nearby objects causing this to happen. I am very concerned this will result in a significant accident. I have filed this claim previously without anything happening. Additionally, I had a problem with my rear warning signal not going off when I was in a parking garage, causing me to back into a car. I filed a claim with Tesla and never heard back from them.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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