Tesla Model 3 Complaints (2024)

222 consumer complaints on file.

#11628107November 30, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
While merging into heavy highway traffic, turn signal failed to turn on when button was pressed. This made me have to merge without a turn signal on putting me at a higher risk of a collision and surprising the drivers behind me. Immediately after the merge was complete I attempted to troubleshoot the button and found that it was stuck in the up state, flicking it multiple times made it possible to press the button again. Later that day experimentation showed that the button was prone to sticking if pushed at an angle but would work correctly as long as a deliberate and vertical press is applied. Specifically pushing the button with force pushing the button outwards relative to the steering wheel would cause the button to shift to the outward edge and get stuck on the plastic housing rendering the button impossible to depress. This angle is typical as the persons thumb would naturaly slide outwards when interacting with the button. The vehicle has not been inspected by any third parties (including manufacturer), but a video was recorded reproducing the malfunction and demonstrating how pushing the buttons inward resolves the issue. No warnings about the button no longer being operation were displayed. On a somewhat related note, its nearly impossible to signal that one is exiting a roundabout with the buttons as they change location before being pressed (steering angle) and depending on angle change meaning (upper button means right or left turn for example).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11627631November 26, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Turn signal buttons will get stuck intermittently and not be able to actuate. This causes the inability to reliably and predictably utilize the turn signals. This also takes attention away from driving and places additional focus on looking at the buttons instead of the road.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11627372November 25, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
On multiple occasions (at least five times) in the past week, the turn signal buttons on my Tesla did not work. The buttons were stuck and could not be pressed (they are on the steering wheel.) This is a major safety concern as I cannot "communicate" my intentions to other drivers on the road. I have reported this incident to Tesla and will have the issue looked at by a technician. However, Tesla threatened to cancel my appointment if I did not provide them details of the incident prior to my appointment. I feel that a safety issue such as this would have them rushing to resolve it whether or not I answered their online question. Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11626503November 20, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Turn signals are now touch sensitive buttons on the steering wheel. On many occasions the turn signals fail to activate when pressed. I’ve reported twice to Tesla only to be told that “it’s normal” and they think it’s a software issue. I’ve also read many others have had the same experience. Definitely needs to be addressed sooner than later.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11626305November 20, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Left and turn signal buttons randomly do not work especially after disengaging FSD. Sometimes I have to re-engage FSD for the buttons to work. This can be dangerous when I'm trying to make a turn and cars behind me could be going really fast or not pay attention. I believe this is a software or firmware issue and not the steering wheel itself. No warning messages. I did report to Tesla warranty.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11626214November 19, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Car randomly breaks or swerves when using cruise control. When there is nothing ahead of me have called tesla and been told it is called phantom breaking and that it is normal happens multiple times a day, almost causes collisions. Very dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11625957November 18, 2024
STEERING
The turn signals are on the steering wheel. Sometimes these buttons are not pressable so I have to turn w/o signaling. That is after taking a risk of an accident. I have run into this multiple times and the stress level of operating the vehicle when that happens is very high. There have been a couple of occasions that I had to signal when the steering wheel is partially turned and I have to look down and do guess work to locate the right button. This is again an energy drain when driving. Traditional stalk is a no brainer and it takes all the thinking and stress away from driving. I consider this vehicle not safe for driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11625398November 15, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
1) Turn signal indicator (right side) does not always activate signal. It doesn't have the feeling that it was being pushed in. Has happened at least a dozen times since taking delivery, some of the times I have documented. Tesla says they won't just repair/replace it unless it's happening when I bring it in. Happens at random times. Cars behind me not alerted to me turning. 2) Turn signal indicator (both) cannot safely be used unless the steering wheel is in neutral position (car moving straight). This is especially true when in a roundabout and trying to signal to exit. It is impossible to select signal direction or even activate at all. This needs to be moved off of the steering wheel and onto a stalk like most other cars.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623314November 3, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Cruising at 75 and speed dropped to 55. There are at least 3 FSD/beta features in the driver set cruise control, did Tesla get approval to add those features to the cruise control?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623240November 2, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
About two weeks ago with driver set cruise control, the phantom braking was so severe that it took me down from 75 to around 15 if I remember correctly. The braking was so severe and at the same time self steered to the edge of the road along the guard rail that my body was unable to move quicker to correct the vehicle. Your system gets jolted violently without notice which takes a couple seconds to recover from and I decided to report this one after watching the San Francisco video. Fortunately, the two vehicles behind me were far enough away. This is absolutely not OK, I have had several severe braking incidents and each time it not only takes about 2-3 seconds to correct but also created back pain.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623236November 2, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Cruising at 75 the speed suddenly drops to 55, the worst I had was changed from 75 to 40. This is Dangerous and needs to be changed. It drops speeds every day and before I can correct it the car usually drops a minimum of 5mph. If allowed I will start to report this every day until it is corrected as it is a huge safety issue for other drivers and potentially a deadly crash or road rage incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11623002October 31, 2024
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
I’m reporting an ongoing issue with the turn signal button on my 2024 Model 3, purchased a few weeks ago. From day one, the button has intermittently failed to activate. Initially, we thought we were not pressing it correctly, but after continued issues, it’s clear this is a malfunction. Last night, while driving on a busy road, the right turn signal failed repeatedly, forcing me to miss a highway ramp. This is not only frustrating but dangerous. I’ve since discovered similar complaints from other owners, which raises serious safety concerns.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622529October 29, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This model vehicle does not have traditional turn signal stalks, it has buttons on the steering wheel to engage the left and right turn signals. Intermittently, these buttons become completely unable to be pressed, and as a result you are unable to signal turns to other drivers. This is a serious safety issue, especially in some circumstances where turn signals are critical to a given situation. Tesla Service denied any attempt to fix this issue, citing that I was not pressing the buttons hard enough. I have driven this vehicle daily for months and understand how hard to press a button. No amount of force will allow the button to press when this occurs. I provided five videos of this to Tesla Service. Online, many other owners are reporting the same issue. I have a personal friend with a 2024 Model 3 with the same issue, and Telsa Service also turned him away and threatened to charge him a fee if he reported it again and they were unable to reproduce. Here is an example of a forum of drivers reporting the same. It does appear this issue happens when a driver accidentally rests their finger on the buttons for a period of time before using them. Seems like a software issue blocking the function of the buttons - which are likely capacitive. https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/1esjzlr/turn_signal_issue_on_new_2024_tesla_model_3/
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622289October 28, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The left turn signal button will occasionally not work. Apparently this is a known issue but I have received nothing from Tesla about a fix. I took the car to Tesla Service today (currently there now) and they are telling me they will look for the problem. They gave me the same model demo car to take for a couple of hours and the same thing happened twice in a row to make lane changes on the freeway then never happened again. There are several YouTube videos about the problem. [XXX] being one. This problem makes this not only unsafe but also I could get a ticket for not signaling a turn. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622251October 28, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The car looses power while Driving on roads and freeways. This has happened to me 3 times in less than a month. And after every power loss I tow the vehicle to the dealer the Tesla dealer says it’s fixed but this problem has happened 3 times start Oct 11th 2024 then on the 26th and today October 28th. The vehicle turns on drives then alerts to a problem with audible alarms followed by all indicator warning lights saying there’s a problem along with the brake pulsing when applying the brake almost like ABS is working but no need for it. The car is completely powerless no power steering but the center console works. Please help and pressure Tesla for a recall on this issue
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622140October 27, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Using cruise control to go with the flow of traffic the vehicle will slow down for any random flashing lights far away or vehicle in next lane causing all vehicles to slow down unnecessarily. FSD and beta programming does not belong in driver set cruise control.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11622139October 27, 2024
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Have to swerve the vehicle back and forth to get the alarm to shut off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11621861October 25, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The button turn signal will not function about 10% of the time making it very dangerous for me when I do need to signal. People attribute this problem to resting your thumb over the button for an extended period of time and the steering wheel no longer registering the input. I believe that this is a tremendously dangerous design flaw. Tesla should return to the stalk turn signals.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11621438October 23, 2024
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While driving at highway speeds, the driver initiated what was to be a standard lane change from right to left to accommodate traffic merging onto the highway into the right-hand lane. About halfway through the lane change, the vehicle automatically and unexpectedly braked hard, locking the wheels. This led to high stress and back/neck pain. If traffic had not been light at the time, the vehicle would likely have been rear-ended. The vehicle was operating in traffic-aware cruise control during this event.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11620933October 21, 2024
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While using Traffic Aware Cruise Control the vehicle would rapidly decelerate with no warnings of potential collision and with no actual emergency situation existing on the road. In a single trip that spanned both day and night there were three rapid declaration events occurring both when light or dark outside. Vehicle display wouldn't show any messages as to the reason for declaration.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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