Tesla Model 3 Complaints (2021)

674 consumer complaints on file.

#11493303November 12, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Model 3 sudden Max speed reduction (60/55 to 25/30) when using Autopilot. This happens every time and in multiple areas when driving on I-4 through Orlando, FL.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493216November 11, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving in empty highway, no cars in front of me for great distances, on cruise control, the car would all of sudden perform hard braking. It happened many times in the course of two 6 hour drives over a weekend and I couldn't figure out what scenarios were predisposing to this. I also tried out autosteer (not autopilot) and it did it in autosteer too. It was very hard braking, not just disengaging, and so I just drove without cruise control because it is too dangerous and risks getting rear-ended because I am braking without warning and for no reason.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492989November 9, 2022
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The Tesla uses “auto high beam” when in autopilot. The pros of this can allow drivers to utilize the light so the cameras can detect anything to avoid any possible wrecks, but it does not have an option to be turned off. Along with other people online, my brights have flashed at people on the interstate and highways or haven’t turned off at all. This is irritating and limits the way I am comfortable with using autopilot. Please inform Tesla to make the auto high beam feature OPTIONAL.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492655November 7, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was on a road trip on rural highways in Texas and New Mexico. The adaptive cruise control/autopilot system repeatedly hit the brakes when driving at highway speeds for no apparent reason. This would happen even though there were no cars in front of me or other obstructions in the roadway. If there had been another car behind me there would have been risk of a rear end collision because the car would unexpectedly significantly reduce speed. A few times when this happened, the car made warning sounds, but most of the time it would not provide any warning at all. I have tried making a service request with the manufacturer, but they claim that there are no hardware problems with the car and I have to wait for a firmware update.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492520November 6, 2022
WHEELS
The TPMS alerted me that the front driver tire was low at 36 psi. Pulled into gas station within a mile from initial alert and when I unscrewed the valve cap the valve stem broke and shot out of the tire and the tire deflated. The components were found and are available for inspection. The car has not been repaired yet and is currently at the Tesla Service Center in Agoura Hills at 28721 Bldg A Canwood Street Agoura Hills, CA. I drive two children under 5 and am lucky this did not occur at high speeds or while the vehicle was in operation at any speed. There is no reason this should have happened. There was no prior damage to the wheel or tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11491423October 29, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
During a road trip from Oklahoma to California and back my Model 3 suddenly and abruptly braked coming almost to a stop on up highway while cruise control was engaged. The braking was such that it caused occupants to lunge forward and seatbelts pretension. This aggressive braking is a common occurrence with Tesla and has been called “phantom braking”. This is not the first time this has happened to me. This is a recurring issue
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11491000October 26, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: DYNAMIC BRAKE SUPPORT/BRAKE ASSIST
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH up a hill, the vehicle made a sudden stop without any warning, causing the contact and his wife go forward in their seats. The contact accelerated and the vehicle continued to operate normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the computer needed to be checked. The failure mileage was 4,100.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11490847October 25, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
In vehicle speaker system occasionally resets, keeping speakers from making noise during a 5-10 second window. This keeps in-vehicle chimes and collision warnings from sounding at appropriate volumes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489956October 19, 2022
STRUCTURE
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 10-15 MPH through standing water, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle, he noticed that the rear bumper had separated from the frame. The contact found the rear bumper on the ground a block away from his residence. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla Service Center who informed the contact that the failure was caused by water damage. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to an auto collision repair shop where the vehicle could be repaired by his insurance provider. The failure mileage was approximately 59,800.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489850October 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 20 MPH and experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489375October 15, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Traveling between Colorado and Missouri, multiple instances of "phantom braking" where, without warning, the car would brake suddenly and very sharply, such that the tires would squeal and items in the back seat slid onto the floor. There were no obstacles, the weather was clear and there was no reason for it to do so. We were only using the cruise control and not the self driving program. Our safety was put at risk because had a car or truck been behind us, a severe rear end collision could have occurred. We were traveling at highway speeds at the time this occurred. We requested a service appointment but Tesla told us this could not be addressed in a service appointment. Tesla said this would be addressed in future updates. We told Tesla this was unsatisfactory and dangerous. We wanted the car inspected and the problem addressed but Tesla said the service appointment could not do anything. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms before the failure. In fact the braking did not even disengage the cruise control, which normally is the case when the brake is applied. This had occurred previously and Tesla said it would be fixed with a computer update in July 2022. Obviously it has not been fixed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489364October 15, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driver side window fails to lock completely upon locking the car manually and/or using auto walk away function. This leaves the car very much unsecure and open to being vandalized. Additionally, the driver sides window fails to close fully when auto close button is pressed. The driver side window button has to be fiddled with few times to get a complete window seel.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489213October 13, 2022
SEATS, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BODY CONTROL MODULE:SOFTWARE
Seat sensor fail and was able to drive in the middle of the intersection to make a left turn. Since the sensor fail if vechicle is driven less the 5 mph the car will go in park- very scary when in the middle trying to turn left
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11489209October 13, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
On numerous occasions since I bought the Tesla in March 2021, the car will phantom brake when using cruise control and sometimes on it's own. This happens randomly with no warning and is very dangerous as it risks my car getting rear ended. This is an ongoing problem as you know but Tesla did nothing when I reported it and is still not doing anything. NOT GOOD.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488278October 6, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Since owning this car in January 2022, there have been issues of phantom braking during cruise control or autopilot. However, today 10/6/22 during an hour and a half time frame my car has had phantom braking episodes at least 5 times in the middle of the highway where it's speed suddenly drops by 20mph.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487953October 5, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving with cruise control on following another vehicle 150 yards in front of me. I'm not even using Auto-Pilot because on how dangerous and unpredictable it is. I'm using Normal Cruise Control, which is also a disaster. A car built in 80s can perform cruise control without any hassle. It phantom braked and the vehicle behind me had to take corrective action. This has to be addressed to be fixed. Ditching radar for "vision" was a huge mistake that puts mine and many other lives in danger. A simple cruise control feature that every car is equipped with shouldn't be a death sentence waiting to happen.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487494October 2, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
We have experienced numerous occasions of phantom braking, or sudden breaking while using the adaptive cruise control. The dealer could not find and mechanical or software problem although the issue persists. This is unsafe because the vehicles breaks suddenly and aggressively from speed without warning and when no breaking action is needed. I fear being rear ended by a following vehicle and have been reluctant to use cruise control. Warnings appear intermittently regarding camera visibility and needing cleaning the cameras have been clear when this warning appeared.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11486306September 25, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Complaint: Phantom Braking -- My wife and I took ownership of our 2021 Tesla Model 3 at the beginning of July 2021. We experienced what is referred to as Phantom Braking (Car initiating sudden braking while at highway speeds). We took it on a 3,000+ mile road trip to visit national parks in the western United States. Having owned electric vehicles since 2015, we found Tesla's charging network to be reliable and hassle-free to operate. On a few long stretches of road in Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah we engaged model 3's adaptive cruise control. Three times during that trip, between July 2nd and July 8th, 2021, the car braked hard, without warning, while traveling at highway speeds. From what we could determine, shadows cast on the road at the approaching side of gentle hills, with the sun in front of us, may have been interpreted by the car's camera's as an approaching or stationary object on the road. This was very unnerving and caused us to lose faith in the adaptive cruise control system. This was both disappointing and a bother since it meant that we were driving a 50 thousand dollar car without cruise control, making driving a more tiresome experience. This past labor day weekend, 2022, we drove to Las Vegas on the same Tesla model 3 and again activated the adaptive cruise control while driving in Nevada. We thought that by now the periodic software updates would have fixed the problem. This time the Phantom Braking occurred more frequently and on seemingly level sections of road. After about four attempts at using the adaptive cruise control we stopped. This was, again, disappointing that we were driving a car whose adaptive cruise control failed to perform as it was designed to. We were disappointed because for what we paid for the car, this feature should be more mature than it is. Luckily we did not have other cars close behind us at the times the car's computer together with the sensors and / or cameras decided it needed to apply the brakes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485971September 23, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Tesla allows owners to enroll as FSD beta testers however, the owner cannot unenroll when they request. The FSD beta is extremely dangerous and makes the use of even ACC impossible to use. I have requested to leave the beta via emailing [email protected], which an automatic response is received stating to unenroll respond to that email with your VIN and they will process the request. However, they do not process the request; I have sent dozens of email requests with no response and am still stuck in the beta software queue. I have attempted to submit service requests but the app recognizes the verbiage and blocks the submissions, stating to send the email instead. There is no other method to contact Tesla.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485250September 19, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Pillar cameras constantly complain blocked or blinded. Services refused to even look into the issue blaming glare from the sun, even when happening to both on opposite sides of the car at the same time. Report it even happens at night I am told it might be too dark for the camera. Did not occur like this on my 2019 Tesla Model 3. This seems to be causing random unexpected lane departure alerts or failures in lane keeping on cruise control or with lane assist. Message are extremely frequent and distracting. Message placement is blocked by arm while holding the steering wheel requiring me to take my eyes off the road to read. Been complaining about this for months, one of the two cameras (drivers side) was replaced which improved the issues with that side complaining but passenger side complains extremely often. Drivers side issue not 100% resolved but improved after replacement, possible cabling or MCU/ECU issue. Instead of looking at the issue Tesla insists the cameras must be dirty, moisture, too bright, too dark, etc. And fails to even examine components. Recent appointment canceled by Tesla after the scheduled date and time without notice. Camera doesn't appear to detect or recognize people or objects in that cameras visions creating what appears to be a blind spot when viewing in vehicle display. Have repeatedly seen person walking around my car will disappear from the screen around the passenger front quarter but reappear when in front of the vehicle or by the rear quarter.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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