Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11661955May 19, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Rodents Chew on Car Wires Consequences of Rodent Damage: Malfunctioning Components: Chewed wires can lead to a variety of problems, including issues with the engine, lights, sensors, and other electrical components. Expensive Repairs: Repairing or replacing damaged wiring harnesses can be costly, potentially running into the thousands of dollars. Safety Hazards: Damaged wiring can pose safety risks, potentially causing electrical shorts, fires, or malfunctions while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11661756May 19, 2025
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
While making a wide right turn at an intersection I heard three warning beeps before the steering wheel locked. I was unable to correct the steering. When I realized it wasn’t allowing the steering to correct, I began to brake, causing me to drive over a curb, ultimately stopped by a fence and cactus in someone’s yard. This is a huge safety concern, as children could’ve been playing in the yard, or farther up the road where a curve has a 30 foot embankment I could have rolled into. I have scheduled a service appointment with Tesla to have it looked at. I have had this issue occur multiple times before and am sure it can be reproduced.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11661529May 16, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE:HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS
The power lift‑gate strut PN 1551489‑00‑B failed, bent inward, and shattered the rear glass on 16  May 2025. A known defect: Tesla superseded the part to PN 1551488‑00‑C in Oct 2023. Local Tesla Service center declined goodwill coverage to resolve the issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11660765May 13, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I was using full self driving (FSD) and there was no one directly in front of me and thankfully no one behind me when it engaged its emergency brakes and came to an abrupt stop for no reason.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11660472May 12, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Tesla FSD Incident – Exton, PA ([XXX]) Just sharing a scary experience I had with Tesla FSD Beta yesterday — hoping it reaches the right eyes and helps others stay alert. I was driving on a main road in Exton, PA, using FSD with the “Avoid Highways” option turned on for the first time. This is a route I know well and usually follow using Google Maps. At one point, FSD turned on the left indicator, and I thought it was taking a regular exit — the road it chose looked like a narrow side street, so I didn’t question it. But within 5 seconds, I realized it had actually taken me into the oncoming traffic lane. It was shocking and totally unexpected. I immediately took over, stopped the car, and when the road was clear, safely steered back into the correct lane. This happened around 3 PM on a bright, sunny day, with normal traffic. 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
#11660263May 11, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When the vehicle is set to regenerative braking mode, lifting off the accelerator pedal causes the car to decelerate significantly. However, in many cases, the brake lights do not illuminate during this process. This could potentially create a safety risk, as drivers behind may not realize the car is slowing down and may not respond in time. tesla
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11659950May 9, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The horn on my 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance becomes severely muted, distorted, or inaudible when the vehicle is wet—especially during rain, which is when a functioning horn is most critical for safety. The horn sound in this vehicle is emitted through an external speaker (used for pedestrian alerts), not a traditional mechanical horn. This speaker is exposed to the elements and appears to degrade in sound quality and volume when wet. This presents a serious safety risk in conditions where visibility is already compromised, and the horn may be needed to avoid a collision. The issue resolves once the speaker dries out, but it is highly repeatable and affects the horn’s ability to fulfill its basic safety function. I believe this design may violate the intent of FMVSS 108 by failing to ensure a consistent and reliable horn sound in common real-world driving conditions. I urge the NHTSA to investigate this design and require Tesla to implement a more reliable solution, especially considering the horn’s essential role in preventing accidents.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11659830May 8, 2025
STEERING
The volume control buttons and vehicle setting buttons on my car’s steering wheel are made of metal. In high atmospheric temperatures the interior of the car heats up. The buttons also heat up and can cause burns if touching the button for an extended (more than 30 seconds) amount of time. This is very distracting while driving while also causing a mild burn.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11658826May 4, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Wy wife and I drove our Tesla Model 3 from Palo Alto, CA to San Francisco downtown, to meet friends. I was the driver, and my wife sat on the passenger seat. The weather was clear, and the pavement was dry. I did not engage auto-pilot features during the entire trip. The car condition was normal with no signs of error or warning. I made a right turn onto [XXX] from [XXX] Shortly after I completed the turn, the car unexpectedly lost control. Without any prior warnings, it suddenly veered into the center divider, snapped a tree, dashed towards oncoming traffic on the other side of [XXX] , and finally stopped on [XXX] , labelled as location A on the attached drawing. Everything happened so quickly: I could not control the steering wheel, and I applied the brakes in vain. The vehicle seized control, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I regained control of the vehicle at the intersection of [XXX] and [XXX] , and was able to park the car at location A. We were very fortunate and blessed that we did not hit people at the bus stop, that there were no cars in front of us, that the opposite traffic on [XXX] was stopped by a red light, and that the traffic was light on [XXX] Without such luck, my wife and I, and probably others, would have been seriously injured, if not worse. Because [XXX] is one-way, we decided to move the vehicle to [XXX] , and parked at location B in the drawing. I called 911 and spoke to a female dispatcher. She asked us to remain at location B and wait for police officers to arrive. We waited there for almost 3 hours, but no police arrived. The dashboard display indicated that we had a flat tire(s). We called mobile tire services. After their inspection, most of our tires were alright, except the rim of the front-left wheel was badly bent, as you can see in the attached photo. The mobile tire service staff was skilled enough to carefully patch the damage and said it should be OK to drive back to Palo Alto. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 5
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658650May 3, 2025
POWER TRAIN, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES
If you are on a hill and you accidently press both the brake an accelerator, the car will fall to neutral and free roll. In whatever direction is downhill. I have big feet. Happened again to me, I bumped the brake pedal (but not enough to apply the brakes to stop) when attempting to pull forwards slowly and my car beeped with the "both pedals detected pressed" alert. and then it free rolled backwards (because I was on an uphill). THIS WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE THE CAR IS NOT SUPPOSED TO FREE ROLL BACKWARDS WHEN IN DRIVE, THIS IS A SAFETY PROBLEM. It has been 4 years now, and no action has been taken to adress this software defect. a NORMAL gas car does NOT do this. If you bump the brake in a normal gas car, IT DOES NOT FREE ROLL IN ANY DIRECTION. This is a tesla software problem that tesla needs to promptly fix ASAP!!!!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658350May 2, 2025
AIR BAGS, SEATS, SEAT BELTS
Passenger safety restraint system fault error appears on and off without any correlation to driving conditions or passenger presence. This error is potentially deadly since it will cause the passenger airbag not to deploy in an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658337May 2, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
RCM2_a636 Front passenger safety restraint system fault (service is required) This causes an issue where the airbags won’t deploy due to it not thinking there is someone sitting there or not
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11657911April 30, 2025
STEERING
I have continuous issues with my steering wheel with the turn signals failing to work. Because the buttons aren't physical buttons, more times than not, they are failing for me to be able to use the turn signal. This causes a major safety concern. I have mentioned it with a service ticket with Tesla, but they state there is no fix for this as of today.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11657021April 27, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I have a safety concern regarding Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) Supervised system. V13.2.8 being the latest customer version. Since the update to FSD V13 in December, I have consistently used it on a daily basis. While it performs great on City streets, it consistently caused a serious safety risk on the freeway: It habitually tailgates cars at high speeds of 70-80 mph on the freeway. It does this even when there is no traffic and the other lanes are wide open. I have experienced this on both a Model 3 (2025) and a Model Y (2024). I am writing this complaint here hoping you will pay attention to it, as despite my best efforts, Tesla has ignored my feedback. I even opened a service ticket about it at one point, and the service tech couldn't care less. Not maintaining proper distance to the cars in front on the freeway puts the passengers at high risk for a rear end collision. If Tesla is to launch an unsupervised version of their FSD system, this problem MUST be addressed first!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11657017April 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
my 21 M3P 27K miles threw BMS_a079 I've never used a supercharger and rarely charge over 80% mostly charging at work on lvl 2 & occasionally at home on lvl 1 vehicle will no longer charge I've tried 2 Button reset and HV disconnect no help. 27k miles seems unreasonable for a battery malfunction on a vehicle that has been cared for meticulously.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11656911April 26, 2025
EXTERIOR LIGHTING, EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TURN SIGNAL
Turn signal will not turn on when button on steering wheel is depressed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11656336April 23, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My car has turn indicator buttons on the steering wheel rather than a turn stalk. I've found that these jam from time to time. What I mean is sometimes when I push the button, it is already 'jammed in' and nothing happens. I have to kind of randomly push around the button a few times, or push the opposite turn signal direction to unjam it. This causes a few problems: 1) Lane changes are dynamic and accident-prone. Having the signal indicator button jam on me is distracting and that's dangerous. 2) Sometimes the reason I need to change lanes is urgent, to avoid a potential collision ahead of me. If the button jams on me while I'm signaling the lane change, my instinct is to abort the lane change until I figure out what's going on. That's dangerous itself, since I might end up colliding. 3) When I'm trying to unjam it, my turn signals visible to other drivers can be kind of erratic - they sometimes see me signaling the opposite way briefly, or on-and-off. When I reported the problem to the Tesla service center, they said they've heard about the issue before. They said that usually people will bring in their car, but they won't be able to reproduce the issue onsite so they can't so anything about it. And they suggested that it might be because I'm not being 'precise' with my button presses, causing the buttons to occasionally be wedged. The problem with this is that the buttons don't have clear outlines of where you're supposed to press them, and there's no tactile way to position your thumb in the right spots -- and the position of the buttons is kind of variable since they pivot as the steering wheel itself pivots (unlike turn stalks which remain stationary regardless of the steering wheel angle).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11656199April 22, 2025
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH, LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE
While traveling over 230 miles from home on a road trip, my 2021 Tesla Model 3 suffered a complete and catastrophic failure. While in North Carolina, the vehicle became entirely unresponsive—doors would not unlock, windows couldn’t be operated, and I was completely unable to access the charging port, trunk, or frunk. The vehicle was effectively bricked without warning. This wasn’t a minor inconvenience—it was a serious safety issue. I was stranded out of state from Saturday to Tuesday, completely dependent on others for transportation while waiting for the vehicle to be towed 58 miles to a service center. I was eventually informed of the cause, auxiliary battery failure, but the fact remains: this happened without warning, in the middle of a long-distance trip, and could have left me in an extremely dangerous or isolated situation. Tesla's systems failed without notice; an apparent design flaw left me with no way to access or secure the vehicle. The inability to open the doors or charge the car poses obvious and unacceptable safety risks. The windows were secured with plastic to prevent rain from coming in. This incident is deeply concerning and should be taken seriously. I am urging NHTSA to investigate this issue and hold Tesla accountable to ensure this does not happen to other drivers under even more hazardous circumstances.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11656184April 22, 2025
SEAT BELTS
We received a Front passenger safety restraint system fault on our car. When a passenger sits in the seat the fault is not displayed. This was not a software update and the sensor was faulty and could cause the airbags not to go off. The sensor was faulty in the seat but because we were out of warranty we had to pay for the repair. Clearly they have seen this issue and said it was not a recall but a bulletins and bulletins were a caution, they made us pay for the repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11655731April 21, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Vehicle: 2024 Tesla Model 3 Date of Incident: [Insert Date] Location: Intersection of [XXX] Operating Mode: Tesla Autopilot (Engaged) On the above date, while driving with Tesla Autopilot engaged, the vehicle initiated an unexpected and improper right turn at the intersection of [XXX] This maneuver was not indicated in the planned navigation route, nor was it consistent with the legal road markings or signage in the area. The vehicle turned into a clearly marked “Do Not Enter” and “Wrong Way” zone, without any driver input or confirmation. I attempted to intervene, but the turn happened abruptly and could not be safely overridden in time. This resulted in a collision, vehicle damage, and physical trauma to both occupants — including nausea and vomiting in my wife immediately after impact. Dashcam footage from the right repeater camera confirms the presence of multiple “Do Not Enter” signs visible at the point of the turn. We have requested the Tesla Event Data Recorder (EDR) logs to confirm that Autopilot was active and that steering input came from the system, not the driver. I am reporting this as a serious safety concern related to Tesla’s Autopilot system and its decision-making at intersections. If this had occurred in a busier traffic environment, the result could have been far worse. This type of navigational or perception failure should be investigated immediately. Both occupants are seeking medical treatment and continuing to deal with the emotional and physical aftereffects of this incident. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0

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