Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11456627March 14, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Using auto pilot on highway car would apply hard breaking for no apparent reason. Several times this nearly caused crash as cars that were behind me has to swerve to miss hitting us. This happed at least half a dozen times. Most of the breaking was quick and abrupt, but at least twice they were abrupt but took the car from 75 to 20 on the interstate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456554March 14, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Multiples times while the car was using cruise control we have had it unexpectedly and aggressively brake. This seems to happen when a car is coming towards us in the opposite lane. We have only had the car for 4 days. It is to the point we do not use the cruise control. If someone would have been behind us we would have gotten in an accident. We have also had the forward collision warning go off while not in cruise control.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456481March 13, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving on a 4-lane limited access road while using adaptive cruise control (Tesla calls it "Autopilot", my car suddenly reduced speed dramatically. There were no other cars nearby, nor was there any kind of obvious obstruction. I was able to turn off Autopilot and resume speed, but I worry what might have happened if there had been another vehicle behind me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456435March 12, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The automatic emergency brakes would go off while driving on autopilot at highway speed, when there is nothing in front of the car. The brakes are very unexpected and aggressive, potentially putting the car at risk of being rare ended. Tesla states that I should press on the accelerator to override the brakes, but most times the braking is so aggressive that the override isn’t affective. Moreover, my car would give false forward collision warning if the car in front of me slows down even a little bit, even when there is at least a 5 car distance from me to the car in front of me, and we are no where near colliding. Tesla would use these false forward collision warnings to drive down my “safety score” and raise the premium of the insurance they offer me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456393March 12, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The adaptive cruise control system (Autopilot) brakes even when there's no obstacle on the road, or if there's a truck on the opposite lane. This also triggered the forward collision warning system. If there was a vehicle behind me, this would've caused a crash
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456264March 11, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 75 MPH, the braking system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to abruptly stop. The contact indicated that prior to the braking system activating, an audible beeping noise was heard inside the cabin. Additionally, there was no vehicle or object nearby to cause the Forward Collision Avoidance system to be activated. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local service center was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 1,800.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456090March 10, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was on I-470 east of I-25 going east. I was traveling at 83 MPH, therefore the car was not in Autopilot, only had cruise control on. I signaled a lane change, made the lane change, and then the car applied brakes hard, going from 83 MPH down to 66 MPH. This happened in front of a late-model full-size pickup truck. The driver of the truck was not happy and tailgated for about 2 miles. I reported this problem to Tesla. They first don't want to even allow a service visit on the issue. Second, they want to charge me over $80 for a service visit on a car that is under warranty. When we had FSD beta in January 2022, we didn't face these issues except once or twice. Tesla advisor even admitted to me that cars with FSD beta and cars with Autopilot have different navigation software. Therefore, Tesla has a fix for this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455995March 10, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
We were traveling at about 75 mph on Intestate 94 in Wisconsin (same speed as the other cars around us) using adaptive cruise control when our car suddenly hit the brakes, the display showed the speed limit sign of 70 MPH, but the display where it would have shown the max speed we set, instead showed maximum speed of 40 mph. I used the accelerator pedal to return the speed to that of the surrounding traffic without problems. During other parts of the journey cars came up close behind us as they wanted to go faster and had this happened then we would have been the lead car in a severe rear end collision. This happened several other times during the same two day road trip, including once about a minute before the incident described above, but none were this severe, perhaps "lightly" tapping the brakes even though there would not have been a need to.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455991March 10, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Drivers side camera not working making cruise control (adaptive & regular) unavailable also left turn blind spot visualization not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455980March 10, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When driving in cruise control on a 4 lane highway (2 in each direction) the car automatically went into a hard brake, slowing down approximately 20 mph. The car returned to cruise control and 5-10 seconds later did the same thing again. There were no cars within roughly 1/4-1/2 mile in front of the vehicle, but there were cars heading in the other direction in the lanes traveling the opposite direction.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455959March 10, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While using autopilot or cruise control on the highway, the vehicle frequently brakes for no reason and without warning. This occurs repeatedly throughout the drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455882March 9, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the cruise control activated, the vehicle would independently slow down without warning as vehicles on the opposite side of traffic would pass by his vehicle. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455871March 9, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While using adaptive cruise control, the car suddenly braked on Interstate at 65 mph when no obvious obstruction was seen. There was one truck over 100 yards ahead in the slow lane. The braking occurred after I changed lanes to pass. There were no vehicles ahead in the passing lane. Despite a light rain, visibility was not overly affected.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455870March 9, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. 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 6,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455854March 9, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
- Cruise control and Autopilot are causing rapid and unneeded emergency braking. This issue essentially renders the car unable to reliably use basic cruise control capabilities - Unneeded braking can cause an unintended rear collision by someone following behind the vehicle, also raises blood pressure of drivers and passengers in the car when braking happens violently and unnecessarily. - Issue hasn't been reproduced. But others I've spoke with are experiencing this on the Tesla Model 3 - The vehicle hasn't been inspected by anyone. - There is no warning audibly or visibly in the car. However the problem seems to occur when the car can't determine if an oncoming car or other obstacle is in the actual lane of the direction of travel or not. My guess is that this has to do with the vision system that's tied into autosteer and cruise control
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455724March 8, 2022
WHEELS
The tire fell off the car while driving. The lateral link bolts have come unfastened and cause the link to come out of place and consequently damage several suspension components. As the bolts unfastened, the wheel was separated from the car and fell off, causing the car to be undrivable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455661March 8, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Just purchased a new Tesla Model 3 (long range) yesterday. On the drive home, I engaged the cruise control after the car reached its required calibration distance of 50 miles. Occasionally, but without warning, the car would automatically apply the brakes with no car or other visible obstruction ahead of me on a long straight road. The brakes were applied so firmly that the car would have come to a complete stop within 200-300 feet if I had not engaged the gas pedal to stop the braking action. The suddenness of the braking forced the car behind be (my wife, who was following at a safe distance) to aggressively brake in order not to rear-end me. This happened 3-4 more times during the 120-mile drive home, so I finally disengaged the cruise control and "manually" controlled the accelerator by foot for the last 20 miles of driving, without further incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455550March 7, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When driving my husband's new Tesla on the highway for the first time, with adaptive cruise control on, there were two frightening incidents: 1) I was traveling in the left-most lane of a 3 lane highway (3 lanes in one direction) moderate traffic. I signaled my intention to change lanes, and started to migrate into the middle lane. There was an 18-wheeler in the right-most lane slightly ahead of me. The Tesla suddenly braked hard without warning. Either I or the Tesla also swerved back towards the leftmost lane (it happened very fast and I was panicked, so I'm not sure which of us initiated the swerve). The Tesla then seemed to recover from being "spooked", and accelerated back up to the set speed. 2) Later that day, I was traveling on a highway again, this time just two lanes in one direction. Traffic was light. The Tesla again braked suddenly, though there were no cars nearby, and then resumed speed. Additionally, when driving in moderate traffic in town, the Tesla let out loud alarms twice to alert me about cars it deemed I had not paid sufficient attention to as traffic slowed approaching a light. Cruise control was not on, and it did not brake, but it was startling. I usually drive a 2017 Volvo V60 with adaptive cruise and collision-avoidance technology, and it is MUCH less sensitive than the Tesla is.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455535March 7, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Potential computer system/programming issue. TACC autopilot issue. Highly numerous amount of 'phantom braking' events, potentially could cause loss of vehicle control and/or rear end collision. Also, auto-dimming headlights issue, in that oncoming drivers could experience blinding high-beam lights due to the fact that the lights do not dim automatically until the oncoming vehicle is very close. This is potentially a high risk for auto accidents. Again, high amount of phantom braking!!! These issues are ongoing issues, and started upon delivery of my vehicle, new, in December 2021. Tesla service will not address these issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11455424March 6, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While driving with the adaptive cruise control enabled or the autopilot enabled, the car will do a hard braking episode which may reduce the speed from 60mph to 40 mph about a fast as is possible without locking up the tires. This happens on four lane divided interstate driving as well as two lane undivided driving. In either type of driving, there may not be any traffic anywhere in site. The most common condition for the occurrence of the braking is while using the adaptive cruise control on a two lane highway and a large truck or farm vehicle approaches from the other direction while driving in the center of their lane. The car acts like it has detected a possible collision, annunciates the collision warning, and brakes hard. I am reporting this because it is obvious to me that this is a safety defect. If someone were following behind me, even at a range considered safe, the deceleration is fast enough to cause the car behind me to collide with me. These hard braking episodes will happen as many as 4 or 5 times in a full day of highway driving. Many smaller episodes of less dangerous braking occur throughout a full day of driving and I consider them annoyances. I received my new car in January of 2022 and have driven it 4300 miles. The car has exhibited this condition since the fist time I tried to use these features starting February 3, 2022. I will not use the cruise control or autopilot when passengers are in the car because it is very alarming to them when it happens. I now rarely use autopilot when I am alone because of the constant state of fear that an uncontrolled braking will happen which would cause an accident. I would be happy to share further information with you. I am aware of the investigation that you began last week looking into the phantom braking phenomenon for Tesla owners. From reading the Washington Post article on the subject and then various posts on Tesla forums, my experiences match the phantom braking descriptions.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

← Back to Tesla Model 3