Tesla Model 3 Complaints (2022)

773 consumer complaints on file.

#11596434June 25, 2024
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Making a 90 degree right turn at an intersection traveling approximately 15 mph, my steering wheel suddenly got very stiff and unresponsive. This caused me to travel into the oncoming lane of traffic before wrestling the very stiff steering wheel back under control. This condition persisted for the rest of my drive home, accompanied by “Steering assist reduced” and “lane assist keep unavailable” error messages. This incident luckily did not result in an accident but easily could have if it happened at the wrong moment.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11595793June 21, 2024
SEATS
ISSUE BACK OF FRONT SEATS COLLAPSED BACKWARDS DURING A REAR END COLLISION. CAR TOTALED. On December 4. 2023 we were rear ended while stopped at red. The van that hit us was doing 40 MPH, when it hit the Tesla we were driving. The two front seat backs collapsed backwards. As the driver and because of the seat collapsing backwards I suffered a fractured BACK and have spent the last six plus months in a cervical thoracic brace which we are still in.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11593979June 12, 2024
POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicle suddenly and violently lost power to its front drive units while driving steady on neighborhood street at low speed, <25 mph. Vehicle shuddered to a stop, then put itself in park, rendering it immovable in the middle of the street. Vehicle indicated a critical failure on its screen. Vehicle towed to Tesla service center. Vehicle had front drive unit inverter and pyro fuse replaced. No prior indication or errors before the failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11593084June 7, 2024
SEAT BELTS, SEATS
The seat weight sensors are failing in my 2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range.” Multiple sensors are malfunctioning including the seat/seatbelt & forcing the car to stay on/act occupied. In addition, if the seat is unoccupied and unbuckled - safety warning & systems are triggering- and I have no idea what type of behavior this may cause (preventative breaking/accident prevention). I am concerned for my safety due to this seatbelt system malfunctioning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11592116June 3, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING
Driving on the freeway, husband driving, myself in passenger front seat and 1yr and 3yrs in back. Just touched a 70 zone when the car, without warning/prompt started to deviate from left lane to right lane, at same speed, my husband tried to control car at which point he realized that the steering wheel and brakes were locked and he had no control of the direction or speed and could do nothing to stop the car. The car continued at high speed to drag us to the left side of the road, we smashed at full force into a display maintenance board first, the airbags deployed, and we continued to smash through a barrier and finally into a tree in a field about 100yards+ from freeway. We managed to escape the vehicle and get our screaming kids to safety where we then were picked up by ambulance and police. The car, of course, was unsalvageable. We, by some unknown miracle, made it out alive of this horrific, beyond imaginable experience. This was not normal behavior for a car. We had this car for 2.5yrs, we had no automatic driving capabilities turned on (we didn't have self-drive) and were driving home midday from a grocery store trip on a road we drive frequently. The brakes wouldn't push down, the steering wheel wouldn't move, we were totally at the mercy of the car.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
4
Deaths:
0
#11591981June 2, 2024
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The steering wheel locked up while I was driving. I was driving on a country road and the road didn't have any painted lane stripes and the car got a lane departure warning and the steering wheel pull me hard to the left, I almost got out of the road and on the way of a incoming vehicle, I break and pulled hard to the right and managed to pull to the side. When I got into a complete stop I checked all the settings, I turned off the late departure Assistant and the steering wheel was still locked. There is no on or off button on the car so I walked away from the car, the car locked and unlocked to get back in and the steering wheel was back to normal. It was very scary, lucky I was driving slowly and I wasn't around heavy traffic.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588874May 15, 2024
WHEELS
Vehicle steered erratically into a curb while FSD was enabled, causing damage to the rear passenger wheel and tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588595May 14, 2024
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Tesla summons was used to summons the car. Vehicle drove forward as directed and failed to clear car on left when pulling out of the parking space to go left. Vision systems and ultrasonic sensors failed to detect and perform safety measures resulting in vehicle collision.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588340May 12, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The Tesla model 3 from the factory does not have the option to get the trailer mode safety software. Aftermarket suppliers make and sell class 2/3 hitches for the model 3. And while the model 3 is not rated for towing. People still have the tow hitches installed and they tow trailers. The model Y with the tow package has what is called “trailer mode” which enables safety features for towing that allows the vehicle to do several things for safety while towing: - it adjusts the wheel braking and speed stability. - It routs to “pull through” charging stations for safe charging without having to unnecessarily and repeatedly unhook trailers. - auto steer, automatic steering, emergency braking, and following distance is all adjusted to account for the trailer and its weight. - light check, checking for functional trailer lighting. The Model Y that does not get the factory tow hitch does not get this tow package software. If you get the tow hitch added afterwards on the model Y or aftermarket, Tesla does not provide this safety enhanced software. The model 3 does not get this safety software regardless. And yet people are able to install after market tow hitches I believe Tesla should be required to offer the towing software to the Model Y base and Model 3 regardless if the vehicle it tow rated or not because the safety of the vehicle when towing is a necessity. I don’t think it should matter if they charge money or offer it free so long as you can have this trailer mode software option added for safety. Because people are going to tow with their cars. A lot of people don’t follow manufacturer recommendations. And U-Haul trailer rental among many other providers offers tow hitch installations and rents trailers to people with Tesla’s. So the easiest thing is to require Tesla to provide this safety enhancement to every vehicle and not just the model Y “if it gets the tow package from the factory.”
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588047May 10, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
After the recent 1-month free trial of FSD, my basic autopilot does not keep speed and will reset the programmed speed. This causes my car to slow rapidly and unexpectedly. This erratic change of speed creates a safety issue on the road due to the car slowing with no warning and without reason. Tesla has evaluated the vehicle remotely and has said it is performing normally despite this behavior just starting with the FSD trial. The previous 2 years of ownership have had no issues. I am told that this is due to different levels of autopilot having different performance and if I upgrade to the FSD this won't be an issue. No warning lamps are present.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11587308May 6, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
My Tesla sets off false front collision warnings multiple times a month, resulting in distraction, but more importantly, it increases my auto insurance rate through Tesla Insurance. I am not sure if Tesla is working on this "bug" or if it is intentional to keep driver safety scores below a certain threshold. I have video proof from the car itself indicating that there was no imminent collision threat.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11585875April 29, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, POWER TRAIN
The deemed to be totaled/flooded from driving through a rainstorm on 03/09/2024. Luckily the car did not shut off until about 3 hours later of being parked where the rain completely turned off the car. The car was taken to a dealership service center but deemed unable to fix due to the liquid reaching the electrical wires. Tesla insurance has been notified of this incident and as of 2 months later, deemed to take any action besides totaling the car. There has been issues in my service records for this car where water was leaking in and the parts were replaced free of charge but not to this manner. There was no warning or lamps regarding liquid being in the car or anything. Cannot get in touch with anyone at Tesla or Tesla insurance except for Tesla emergency roadside where they were unable to assist or reach anyone from Tesla / Tesla insurance in this manner.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11585742April 29, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The accelerator pedal broke off completely while driving on the highway (this is the second time this has happened). Accelerator pedal felt as if it were stuck when going from full self driving to manual and pedal broke off when more pressure was applied. The car began coming to a rapid stop on the highway due to regenerative braking and I was forced to quickly get to emergency lane, narrowly avoiding other vehicles in the process.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583129April 15, 2024
WHEELS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
At 7:50 this morning I had my first drive with Tesla FSD 12.3.4. It had been going very close to curbs on the passenger side on 12.3.3, but this is the first time it hit the curb and damages the tire rim. The current version of the software puts the car much too close to the curb, something not present in prior versions.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582880April 14, 2024
STEERING
Car was in the garage and showed alerts for Steering assist reduced, Traction control disabled,
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582521April 12, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Car will randomly jam on the breaks while going down the interstate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582246April 10, 2024
ENGINE
The contact owned a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed and merging into the right direction of the highway, the vehicle lost control, swerved from left to right, and spun. As a result, the contact crashed into the concrete divider where the vehicle came to a stop. No warning lights were illuminated at the time of the failure. No injuries were sustained. The police were at the scene however a police report was not filed. The vehicle was totaled by the insurance company. The contact mentioned an unknown recall being related to the safety failure experienced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581507April 6, 2024
SEATS, SERVICE BRAKES
Driver's seat weight sensor not working properly. Causes car to slam on the brakes when seatbelt is not on (for example in a driveway or automated carwash, potentially causing a crash) and can potentially leave car running indefinitely (draining the battery). Since sometimes it gets stuck in the occupied or unoccupied state.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581110April 4, 2024
LANE DEPARTURE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated the Self-driving feature automatically turned on without the contact's engagement. The vehicle attempted to make unexpectedly appropriate lane changes due to traffic several times before the contact noticed it was in self-driving mode. There were no warning lights illuminated. The dealer/manufacturer was made aware of the issue and stated they sent an email with instructions regarding the self-driving mode prior to the activation of the self-driving feature. However, the contact had not seen the email and was not aware the feature was activated. The contact stated a notification was not sent to the car screen allowing the contact to read the instructions and activate the feature
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11580382April 1, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Tesla updated my vehicle last night, this morning with out any clear warning my cruise control activation actually activated the "full self driving" I did NOT realize this until my car turned the blinker on and tried to change lanes!!! I had no idea what it was doing! I took back control and tried to activate cruise control again but had self driving activate instead. So I just drove to work manually. When I got to work I looked up how to activate cruise control and realized that there is a setting to change how it is activated that I could change to get it back to "normal" for me. Then I was checking my email and Tesla had "Gifted" me a trial month of full self driving, they changed how my car functions without telling me and it literally started driving itself much to my surprise all as a PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN. Frankly I am pissed, this is unacceptable! They radically changed how my car behaves, what my controls actually do, without telling me, to make more money.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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