Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11453511February 22, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I am experiencing phantom breaking on our Model 3. While traveling last weekend on Interstate 5, as well as on CA 101 - the vehicle frequently slowed abruptly while driving at highway speeds. This occurred both with other vehicles around, and with no vehicles present - also while driving at times in clear daylight and while approaching shadows from surrounding objects such as trees or highway overpasses. It rendered the adaptive cruise control non-useable on a 5hr drive home due to the sudden and abrupt slowing of the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453469February 22, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Was driving on clear roads, there was a driver ahead of me but they were over 100 yards away, the vehicle behind me swerved to make sure they didn't get hit by my car's auto-braking safety feature. the vehicle was on autopilot using adaptive cruise control and just randomly used the safety feature without any warning or indication that there was any object on the freeway. The Incident had occurred in the morning on the 405s freeway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453451February 22, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
This vehicle suffers from frequent, intense phantom braking/automatic emergency braking, as well as frequent false forward collision warnings. The phantom braking puts us at significantly increased risk of being rear ended. The incidents are so frequent that the ADAS systems are essentially unusable. The constant false collision warnings have conditioned me to ignore the forward collision warnings, so if there comes a day when a real forward collision warning occurs, I'll have been conditioned to ignore it, possibly to the detriment of my safety and others. Tesla needs to communicate a a plan to prevent phantom braking and false collision warnings.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453389February 22, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving on autopilot at 60 MPH, the vehicle applied the brake independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated he had experienced the failure multiple times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453374February 22, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
PHANTOM braking constantly with NOTHING around, in the road, no oncoming traffic, at hill tops, in curves, VERY, VERY DANGEROUS!!! My Tesla is only 72 hours old and has less than 200 miles. Cruise at 60 mph and slams the brakes to as slow as 28 mph ...throws everything in the car to the floor. This is on State Highways with no traffic no oncoming cars, nothing in road, Tesla needs to be sued!!!! Please issue Federal Recall BEFORE someone is rear ended and dies. I've read Tesla has Known this problem exists since early 2021. Stop Tesla from making this deadly functionality.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453369February 22, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The autopilot applies the brakes when there is no obstacle in front of the car. One example - I was driving @ 60 mph on an entrance ramp from I-10 to SH 99 with the cruise control engaged but not the full autopilot (no lane keeping assist). There was a spot in the highway approximately 50 yards ahead where there was a slight dip and oil and lubricants had made a dark spot on the roadway approximately the size of a small car. Without any input from me the car slowed quickly from 60 to @ 30 mph. Fortunately no one was close behind me. Another example - I was driving @ 70 mph on SH 99 with the autopilot engaged. As we approached a gentle left hand turn the system apparently picked up the concrete guardrail as an obstacle and braked the car from 70 mph to @ 40 mph. As the autopilot continued the turn and maintained the lane the car sped back up to 70 mph. No one was behind me but there were cars in the lanes next to me that reacted when my car slowed down and sped up. My car is a 2022 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range. It does not have the full self driving option.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453363February 22, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
The vehicle will randomly SLAM on its brakes while traveling when autopilot or even just regular cruise control is engaged. We will be traveling 85 MPH and the car will randomly hit the brakes and drop down to 65 MPH in about 2-5 seconds. There are no other vehicles in front, but can sometimes be behind. It is extremely dangerous and could cost people their lives. These kinds of incidents will happen 15-20 times on a 150 mile road trip of all freeway driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453343February 22, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I purchased this vehicle 10 days ago and have had “phantom braking” about a dozen times already. Some more drastic than others. Most cases was at night and most cases there were absolutely no objects that should have triggered the vehicle to rapidly slow down. It is extremely annoying and dangerous as I went from 75 to 60 in about a second. It seems to happen more when there is little traffic in front of me than when I am moving along with a lot of traffic.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453332February 22, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
My car when it’s on cruise control will all of a sudden have phantom breaking issues causing it to decelerate very quickly almost causing many crashes with cars behind me. This issue needs to be addressed quickly before someone is injured or even killed
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453314February 21, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
This complaint was prompted by reading recent news reports of 'phantom braking' with our model vehicle. Previous to these reports, I did not have an awareness of NHTSA and their reporting mechanism. Driving on a highway, adaptive cruise control application. Sudden braking applied without my foot touching brake pedal. It was a sunny day, without any obvious need for braking. I was able to apply acceleration which terminated the braking cycle. No harm done, however if there was a car behind me there could have been a significant car accident at high speeds (>70 mph). This 'phantom braking' also occurred late 2021, also at highway speeds, on at least two occasion on the same trip cycle, in similar driving conditions (clear, dry). Nothing has been inspected. No indicators or warning lamps or messages applicable.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453305February 21, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On January 25, 2022, between approximately 7:30am and 8am while using cruise control, the auto suddenly braked three separate times between the above stated times. The third incident was so violent, that the passenger was thrown toward the dashboard and the driver pulled over to the shoulder to allow traffic from behind to pass. The incident could have caused a rear end collision given the sudden, involuntary braking. This was the first opportunity to engage the cruise control given we were driving a long distance at between 60-70 mph. Cruise control was disengaged after this incident and not used the balance of that trip. On February 8, 2022, at 7:44 am while using cruise control at approximately 65 mph, the vehicle again braked. The driver disengaged cruise control and did not use it again during that trip. The incidents have been reported to Tesla and there have been no explanations of the phantom breaking nor any assurance that the issues will be addressed. Given the breaking occurs at random times at high speeds while using cruise control, it is a dangerous condition and likely will cause rear end collision at some point. Would request that the issue be address and the phantom breaking be eliminated.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453296February 21, 2022
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
This defect affects the lane departure warning system of my vehicle. In certain situations, the lane departure warning system incorrectly activates when the vehicle is turning (vs. leaving a lane). On one occasion, the system activated while turning from my driveway onto the adjacent roadway. On another occasion, the system activated while leaving a parking spot. On both occasions, the vehicle was traveling less than 5 MPH and was not departing from a lane. When the lane departure warning activates, a loud noise is triggered, along with an alert on the center display. A driver's natural response in this scenario is to slow down mid-turn, potentially resulting in unsafe conditions for both driver and nearby motorists.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453294February 21, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The car brakes by itself. It seems to happen when there is an oncoming car in the opposite lane. The car slows down; it does not come to a complete stop but it is obviously dangerous enough that I will not use the cruise control
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453289February 21, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving on a two lane highway with adaptive cruise control on, the car sometimes decelerates and sometimes even comes to a quick stop with brakes when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction. Although it does not happen every time, tractor trailers turn red and the car slows from 55 mph to 10-20 mph rapidly. Cars behind me have nearly hit me in the rear because of the fast stop where none was expected (or needed). On occasion, the car slows when no car is coming, but there is a rise in the road, or a curve. In Rochester, at Tesla Service, I was told that the adaptive cruise control was "performing within specifications." If that is correct, the specifications are dangerous and need to be modified. The only remedy, I was told, was not to use adaptive cruise control.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453285February 21, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Three times so far in a week, the car has had extreme hard breaking on the freeway. These were done in full self drive mode. Absolutely terrifying and so unsafe for my family to have this happen.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453272February 21, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving on the highway, traffic is slowing in front of me and automatic braking kicked in and made the vehicle come to a full complete stop. I can normally override the brake by pressing on the accelerator, but it continued to stop, with several vehicles behind me slamming on the brakes because my vehicle wouldn’t move. Vehicle in front of me was a quarter mile ahead before I could move again.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453250February 21, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When driving on highway with “autopilot” engaged…. Vehicle brakes for no apparent reason at random times. Super dangerous especially if someone is following you. Vehicle brakes hard and is not safe
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453247February 21, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When using auto pilot or adaptive speed control the vehicle seems to see shadows or things that aren't there and brakes hard. It's happened several times and fortunately no accidents have occurred.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453214February 21, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Phantom Braking. Yes my safety and the safety of cars behind me were put at risk by the sudden braking. I have not contacted the dealer yet. There was no warning prior to the issues occurring. I sure wish I'd known about phantom braking before I set off on a road trip across I-70 recently. Very dangerous indeed. I drove my 2022 Model 3 from Denver to KC round trip last weekend and phantom braking occurred about 30-40 times total. I was using TACC cruise control and going about 75 MPH during these times. I didn't want to turn off TACC cruise control because the roads were straight and it was a 9 hour drive, but I did drive with my toe on the accelerator to be safe and was always on guard, especially when cars were directly behind me. It would suddenly brake when the pavement texture changed, under an overpass shadow, after a bridge and randomly when I had no idea it would occur. I was afraid of getting rear-ended and it made for a pretty tense trip. I sure hope it gets fixed or I won't be taking it on extended road trips. It would be a shame to not be able to safely use cruise control. Also, makes me aware of other Tesla's out there that might phantom brake as well so we need to be careful. Unacceptable and dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11453188February 21, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Just bought the in November and I experienced the phantom braking few times on the street without cruse control active and also on the freeway with and without autopilot on, on the street almost got rear ended.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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