Tesla Model 3 Complaints (2024)

222 consumer complaints on file.

#11646889March 6, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking occurred three times with this vehicle, all three times, the car abruptly stopped while driving for no reason: 10/30/2024 at 8:03am 2/10/25 at 7:47am 3/6/25 at 5:55pm
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11646557March 5, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, ENGINE
Tesla has told me the AP4 computer has failed in my car which has resulted in them having to replace it. This issue impacts: emergency braking, blind spot detection, lane keep/centering, assisting with parking, automatic high beams and wipers, cruise control/ adaptive cruise control, Vehicles built in GPS to be stuck at one location every time, has made my touchscreen not automatically brighten or dim, my auto dimming mirrors be too dim in most driving conditions, constantly fail to install system improvements and safety updates, and because my vehicle keeps trying to do this, it has caused increased battery drain as well. This has increased the safety risk of my vehicle tremendously... Tesla has not seemed to publicly acknowledge the issue yet either.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11645455February 27, 2025
STEERING, SUSPENSION
Complaint: I took delivery of my new Tesla Model 3 on [XXX], and noticed it pulls hard to the right from day one. The steering shakes constantly, feels unstable, and loses traction—sliding sideways and lurching above 40 mph. It’s dangerous on highways; I’ve nearly lost control multiple times. Service wait times delayed my first visit over a month. Service History: Tesla Service, Dedham, MA, three visits: [XXX]: Techs confirmed pulling, performed alignment—issue unchanged. [XXX]: Pulling replicated, alignment redone—no fix. [XXX]: Supervisor test-drove, claimed no issues, said “normal operation,” and refused further action. Third-Party Input: On [XXX], Electrified Garage (Amesbury, MA), a Tesla/EV specialist, replicated the pulling, shaking, and instability. They suspect a suspension or steering defect (e.g., rack/control arm) and urged Tesla review, citing warranty coverage and parts limits. They called it a safety risk. Current State: The car’s unusable—shaking intensifies above 40 mph, slides unpredictably, and steering resists. I’ve stopped highway driving after near-misses. Tesla’s “normal” ignores this danger. Available for inspection on request. 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
#11644114February 21, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
See attached document for complaint.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11644012February 20, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY/WIPER
Turn signals on steering wheel don’t work sometimes. They also get stuck causing no signal to turn on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643186February 17, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
This is the 3rd or 4th time I have observed sudden unexpected acceleration when at a full stop at a light while using FSD Supervised (v13.2.7 just updated). It first happened 2 or 3 times on FSD v13.2.6 when mine was the lead car at stop lights. This time I was at a stop light but obviously not the lead car. The truck in front of me was blocking view of the traffic lights. Each time, I have hit the brakes immediately, so I don't know if the vehicle would stop on its own during these situations, but I have no issues with it safely braking at any other time. Other than this intermittent glitch, FSD has been flawless on the HW4 next generation computer, which may lead to driver complacency not expecting this. I am reporting for awareness & hopefully correction. I have MP4 video files of the incident, but I cannot upload them here.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643083February 17, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
During freeway driving, turn signal buttons located on the steering wheel, which when working properly produce a tactile click, fail to click and engage the turn indicator. A service visit to Tesla resulted in technician unable to replicate the issue. I was instructed to date stamp the problem. The next time I drove the car on the freeway, the problem repeated.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11641861February 11, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STEERING
Turn signal capacitive buttons are incredibly hazardous for safe driving. They are failing to register inputs for me regularly as resting your finger on one as is natural in a normal driving position, locks the signal out for a period of time. I had to look down trying to work out why the signal button was not registering my intent to change lanes on a freeway causing significant distraction at a critical time. Manufacturer refuses to do anything as they say it is just normal for the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11641828February 10, 2025
STEERING
Vehicle was functioning normally prior to this event. Around 17:30 on 02/10/25 I arrived at airport terminal to pick someone up. I exited vehicle, opened trunk then went back inside vehicle. Upon putting the vehicle in drive I noticed problem with power steering. I had to use excessive force to turn the wheel. I drove forward 100 feet, then pulled over and called Tesla Support. After describing the issue to the agent, she instructed me to put vehicle in park and press and hold both scroll wheels on steering wheel to perform system reset. After 2 attempts the issue persisted. I then exited the vehicle, locked it manually from the app. After 5 seconds I opened the vehicle, put it in drive and steering worked properly. Dry conditions - outside temperature about 30F I noticed that NHTSA is already investigating this issue for certain Tesla Model 3 and Model Y where power steering stopped working. While my issue happened while vehicle was stopped, I am concerned about it happening again while driving on highway
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11641696February 10, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This vehicle has push button turn signals that have replaced traditional steering wheel stalks. These can be difficult and dangerous to use as the steering wheel is being turned especially when you are trying to signal direction in the now numerous round-abouts that are installed in Florida and around the nation. They are also dangerous to operate during night time driving. I believe Tesla should recall these vehicles and install steering wheel stalks similar to their older model cars and which have been in use on all the vehicles I have operated in the past 60 years. It is not a matter of just getting used to their operation. It is a bad design.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11639791January 31, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ENGINE
Specifically when in somewhat cool and cold temperatures the Front Drive Unit is emitting abnormal high pitched sound that is intermittent at times and that is causing a distraction while driving and is very bothersome. Tesla acknowledged they hear it but nothing is being done about. Front Drive Unit should be replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11638547January 25, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The front camera that is known as Tesla vision consistently stays fogged up. This creates an issue when using auto-pilot that makes the car beep loudly and disengage auto-pilot putting others at risk if the car disengages and the driver is not quick enough to respond to the the disengagement. After several months of this and the problem does not go away after following Teslas advice per their user manual of pre conditioning the car and de fogging the windshield for a long period of time, I have scheduled a service appointment. The vehicle I own has not been inspected by Tesla, nor a third party service at the moment. There is no warning when the system will deactivate and I have had it happen several times on corners which is very concerning and scary when in the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11636311January 16, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: AUTOMATIC SYSTEM BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
When backing out, software doesn’t emergency brake or scream/beep/siren etc (no audible sound) when car is coming, just shows a red light on the screen. Every other manufacturer has this audible and emergency feature. My relative had hit their Tesla with another car since there was no beep or emergency braking with another car behind them. I have talked to many other people and they have said the same thing. It’s just a tiny red line that’s on the screen camera which makes no sense for a high tech car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635441January 11, 2025
WHEELS
This is an ongoing issue since I bought this car. There is a vibration felt in the steering and throughout the entire car when driving both at low and high speed. It is felt more when driving at higher speeds.Does not seem to be an alignment issue. Car was taken to service center multiple times and will be going again in a few days to attempt to diagnose this issue. I do not know the source of this issue but it causes a lot of concern while driving. Unsure whether something will break apart or will lose control of car etc.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635319January 10, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Touch activated car signal buttons often cease to work or allow input preventing safe and legally required signaling to show intended path of car to pedestrians and other vehicles. Tesla say it’s normal behavior and won’t repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635305January 10, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Rear Display (1875931-00-D) glass breaking without any impact. Tesla Service Center refused to honor warranty repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635280January 10, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In instances of rain or snow. The horn along with the pedestrian warning system do not function properly and aren’t audible. It appears to me that there is water intrusion into the speaker of which the horn and pedestrian warning system both use and that is what muffles the sound.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635250January 10, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In rainy conditions the horn does not perform as expected
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635234January 10, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car horn is muffled or no sound when driving in rain or exposed to water. It takes 30min-4h to dry out to be fully functional again
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635232January 10, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car horn is muffled or no sound when driving in rain or exposed to water. It takes 30min-4h to dry out to be fully functional again
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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