Tesla Model 3 Complaints (2021)

674 consumer complaints on file.

#11450395February 4, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
On January 26th at about 4:30 pm pm on a clear day I was proceeding west at approximately 55mph on US33 between Barboursville and Ruckersville VA on a straight section of the road with a slight downward slope. I was not using cruise control. A tractor-trailer sized truck was going east and as it approached my Tesla braked hard, maybe maximally, and the panel flashed red, I think. I think I stepped on the brake pedal, but the braking ended instantly as the truck passed. There was no skidding or swerving. No car was close so there was no collision. There was no warning. The police were not called. I have not contacted the manufacturer - yet, as I assume it is a software problem that they are already working on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450389February 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Car continues to have instances of phantom braking, no acknowledgment from Tesla regarding the issue. Occurs randomly and unpredictably, causing a serious safety hazard for cars following behind on the road.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450375February 4, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The car phantom brakes a lot. When sun is directly hitting from front, the car wouldn’t go in autopilot. The car phantom brakes on 1 lane streets a lot when there is a car coming from the front. When going the speed limit, it changes automatically to lower speed limits out of nowhere and is a hazard and dangerous because there are cars coming from the back and can hit the car when it reduces the speed very fast. Have submitted multiple phantom braking issues with Tesla with pressing and holding right scroll wheel but nothing has happened so far to correct this issue. When a big trailer changes lane and comes to the near lane of the car, the car thinks it’s going to hit the truck so it phantom brakes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450371February 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While using adaptive cruise control the car unexpectedly and unnecessarily brakes, rather sharply at times. This occurs especially frequently on two lane roads with curves and with trucks coming from the opposite direction. This does not occur, in my 6 months of owning this Tesla Model 3, on freeways.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450370February 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving 65 on Highway 12 in California with the cruise control on and the car hit the brakes for no reason. I was not using autopilot, I was still controlling the steering. The car behind me had to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting me. This has happened several times and I am not afraid to use cruise control
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450368February 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Since about November Tesla has been doing random emergency braking both day and night in the middle of the highway almost causing numerous near miss accidents while on auto pilot. Also scaring the hell out myself and other passengers. It sends my dog in the back seat flying forward too.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450366February 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Car applied brakes while cruise control was engaged. There were no other vehicles around (either in front, approaching, or behind)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450349February 4, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
I have experienced several incidents of “phantom braking.” The brakes automatically apply, slowing the car abruptly, when there is no discernible reason.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450317February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
When vehicle is in full self drive mode, sometimes it mistakenly detects an obstacle on the highway and applies brakes. This event presents risk of getting rear ended at high speed on highways.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450308February 3, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking for no apparent reason. Worst occurrence was this morning driving home from work on cruise control, max speed cruise 73mph, suddenly my car braked on its own down to 59mph in 2 seconds. Very scary. My wrist hurts from that incident & my forehead almost hit the steering. Nothing in front & thank God no tailgating car behind me. This is not safe. It happens to me all the time but this was the scariest of all.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11450303February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Driving on the interstate in autopilot with nobody in front of me but there was somebody riding my rear. And the vehicle decided to phantom break which almost caused the guy to rear end me while going 75 mph it could have been lethal.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450270February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
1st incident Driving on a 2 lane road @ 55MPH with no oncoming traffic emergency braking occurred (with all the warning lights and sounds) with no obstacles in my path. 2nd incident driving on a 8 lane highway @65 MPH (I-71) with very little traffic (and no oncoming obstacles) emergency braking occurred (with all the warning lights and sounds) no obstacles in my path. 3rd incident driving on a different 2 lane road @ 45 MPH emergency braking occurred (with all the warning lights and sounds) no obstacles in my path. I have only owned the vehicle 2.5 months and less the 1300 miles on the odometer.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450253February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Since my ownership, I have experienced multiple phantom braking incidents with my 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range. I would estimate that I experience 3 to 5 severe phantom braking incidents per week. It is nearly a daily occurrence during my daily commute to work. Sometimes there are multiple incidents during one leg of my commute. I have filed several requests for service with Tesla through their application and every time the technical support says the system is working properly. I have given them explicit details and information about the incidents which have helped them to identify the time and location but they have never fixed/changed/remedied the phantom braking issue. I have filed these requests for service to protect myself if I'm ever involved in a serious accident due to these phantom braking incidents.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450247February 3, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While using the autopilot feature on my Tesla, there have been several instances where the car will brake suddenly for no apparent reason. This has happened at high speeds and at slow speeds under various conditions. The braking is so severe that if a car was following behind they would have to react quickly to avoid an accident. Multiple instances over the last year.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450238February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
System: Traffic Aware Cruise Control Safety Risk: Full regenerative breaking in the fast lane on a highway with a car following behind. Car behind had to initiate emergency braking. Reproduced by Dealer: Did not contact dealer Inspected by Manufacturer: Did not contact manufacturer Warnings: No, braking automatically initiated System: Lane Departure Warning Safety Risk: Misreading a parking garage and initiating lane departure warning chime Reproduced by Dealer: Did not contact dealer Inspected by Manufacturer: Did not contact manufacturer Warnings: Yes, warning chime initiated and warning message.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450227February 3, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving in cruise control, my Tesla 3 braked for no reason. No accident occurred because no one was behind me. It has happened about 10 times. It has not been confirmed by a dealer because I do not live near a dealer. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance representatives. No warning lights or messages appeared to warn me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450212February 3, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving on cruise control only. Autopilot was not engaged. I was cruising at 50mph when it "phantom" braked out of nowhere. It was clear as day in front of me and luckily the car behind me was a hundred yards or so. It abruptly decreased speed to 35mph before I could get back up to speed by manually using the accelerator to override cruise control. This has happened many times and I'm afraid to use such features moving forward.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450199February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When driving in several locations near my home, with cruise control engaged (not full driving, just cruise control), the car will suddenly slow to ~20mph and stay at that speed for a few moments, and then accelerate back up to the legal speed limit of 55mph, 60mph, etc. There are no objects on or near the road, no other cars, and it appears to be a problem with the software that identifies if there is an object in the road to automatically reduce speed or slow down. There are no warning chimes, no feedback to the driver of the reason to slow down, no posted speed limit signs, etc. I can duplicate this every time I traverse these roadways. One of the most significant reasons I purchased this vehicle was it's advertised safety features like emergency braking and such. However, with this problem, I either have to disable the auto-braking feature, or not use the driving assist features (like cruise control). This is a significant issue for me, and I have no doubt going from a 60mph roadway to 20mph for no reason will result in me getting rear-ended or at the very least cause problems for drivers behind me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450169February 3, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When driving at low speeds (below35) we have had 2 instances of the car braking with no obstacles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11450166February 3, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When using the adaptive cruise control on the vehicle, which is the only cruise control there is, the car will often brake hard for no reason, or inappropriate reasons. This most recent incident was a two lane highway (one lane each direction) where oncoming cars who were in their lane would cause the car to think a collision was imminent, start beeping, and brake hard. Another incident appeared to brake for shadows, but I am unsure! Overall the experience, and experiences of many other Tesla owners facing similar problems has caused me to just be unable to use cruise control at all as I fear it could cause an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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