Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11452678February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I owned this 2021 Tesla Model 3 for six months. On many occasions, while using the adaptive cruise control mainly on two-lane roads at various speeds between 35-55 MPH, the car would unexpectedly rapidly apply the brakes when there was no hazard present. This almost got me in a road rage situation, as the following vehicle thought that I intentionally brake-checked them. I discontinued using the system. I no longer on this vehicle, but can provide new owner’s information if needed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452676February 18, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When I drive this car in cruise control, I never know when it will suddenly brake without warning, trying to bring the car to a stop whether I am going 65 or 30 mph. It will see a shadow in the road, a pedestrian on a sidewalk, an oil spot on the pavement, and will abruptly throw the car and me into rapid deceleration. If it is sees a car in the oncoming lane, driving appropriately in its own lane, my car in the opposite lane will suddenly brake like I am about to have an accident. It will brake if it sees a vehicle coming around a bend in the opposite lane. Not only is my vehicle's braking uncomfortable and alarming, it is exceedingly dangerous. On urban and semi-urban highways, multiple times someone has almost rear-ended my car. Only because I was hyper-alert to the situation was an accident averted. I am an excellent and conscientious driver, with both hands on the wheel, not using my phone. I am not using the "self-driving" mode and never have. It is an option I paid $10K for but have never used. My main concern is for the safety of my current vehicle and for the other cars on the highway around me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452657February 18, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking while using cruise control and/or auto pilot. This is most disconcerting at highway speeds especially when it sounds safety alarms most times while doing it
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452649February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking. Tesla Service asked me to record times of incidents. I drove cross country and there was an incident almost every 10 minutes. Most commonly when going over a hill or passing by a truck, the car will stomp on the brakes for no reason, causing danger to myself and other drivers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452644February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
Feb 14, 2022: 5:55 p.m. on cruise aka AP. Aggressive/phantom braked 31 mph to 0 in 1 sec heading west on Wildhorse Parkway between Caspian Spring and Buckskin Bend San Antonio 78254 with a car behind 3 lengths. 30 sec later control panel displays cruise control will not brake. Same day 724 p.m. set cruise to 39 mph braked very hard travelling northwest on Shaenfield Rd about 200 yards from McDonalds 8107 TX-Loop 1604 San Antonio TX 78254. Complete 17 sec video comments about cruise control brakes available. Unable to attach video. Feb 17 cruise or AP used twice at 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. No engagements with hard braking. Since ownership Feb 4-17 side repeater and back cameras indicate false distance of oncoming traffic making for unsafe condition and issue was raised with Tesla tech and he informed me since cameras are static, nothing they could do. Additionally, Feb 14, turn signal camera for blind spot detection did not come on during right turn signal but came on for left turn signal.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452630February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving with cruise control engaged the vehicle will suddenly brake without reason. I have almost been rear-ended multiple times. My wife had things thrown off of seats and onto the floorboard. When I wrote to Tesla they said this can be normal and gave me excuses including lighting problems and semis too close. Frequently this happens with no one around with no lighting problems.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452628February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While autopilot was engaged at a speed of around 75 mph, the emergency brakes automatically engaged thought there were no impediments on the roadway. The closest car to the front was too far ahead for it to register on the screen. In another instance the same action occurred but as the car was going under an overpass. It was a sunny day so I assumed the shadows created by the overpass triggered the emergency braking. My spouse also reported two instances that this occurred to her while she was driving alone.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452626February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving with either cruise control or autopilot my car constantly brakes or “phantom brakes” for no apparent reason or brakes VERY hard when semis are approaching in opposite direction. This happens mainly on one lane country roads. On the freeway it’s less but it has braked for absolutely NO reason ( no cars around) at least a few times per month. My wife will not use cruise control due to this happening so often. I drive it most of the time and since I use cruise control or autopilot it “phantom brakes” every single day.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452623February 17, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
My vehicle will be in Autopilot mode on a two lane highway, when suddenly it will brake very hard, so hard that I have to hit the gas to avoid a collision from the car behind me. It also does this on interstates when approaching and passing a tractor trailer. It seems to read the shadow on the road cast by the truck as an obstacle and brakes very suddenly. Taking me from 65mph to much slower in a second or two. It seems very dangerous. This has happened at least 100 times in the past few months.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452618February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Both the adaptive cruise control and the Autopilot are dangerously defective. The car will brake without any valid reason. If put into use, the phantom braking will occur several times per hour, regardless of speed. Other drivers have honked at us after nearly rear-ending at highway speeds. We have been unable to use either feature. The car has been back to the dealership in Vallejo CA. Hours of data log have been given to Tesla. We have loaded every software update including the most recent. Nothing helps. I have given Tesla a list of the situations that seem to cause the invalid braking. These include: Red & Blue markers in Nevada that mark highway cross-overs for their highway patrol. Large highway signs at the outside of a curve. K-Rail at the outside of a curve, Black tar sealant lines on the highway, Overhead Highway signs as the car is coming up a rise, and many more. We actually made a game of predicting the phantom braking and were right over 50% of the time. As it is, it is unsafe and unuseable. Pending a fix, they should at the very least give drivers the option to revert to plain, old dumb cruise control. It would be far safer. The "Autopilot" feature is even worse than the Adaptive Cruise control. It freaks out at corners with K-rail and when you do see a problem that hasn't registered with Autopilot (road hazard) the Autopilot fights you trying to take control. I almost crashed into a bumper that was on the highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452617February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I was driving the vehicle on a highway at night and there were no other vehicles around. I engaged the adaptive cruise control to set at 75mph. Suddenly the vehicle applied the break very hard on its own and slowed down to less than 30mph. It was very scary and unsettling. This happened on at least 2 separate occasions within about a month and both times there were no other cars nearby.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452598February 17, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
On a two lane road doing 60 mph, with vehicle on cruise control, it slowed rapidly to about 30 mph all on its own. When I say rapidly like right now-I was afraid the vehicle behind me would not be able to stop. Then accelerated back to the set speed. NO WARNING…..this problem is easy to duplicate. As of now I cannot use cruise control too dangerous.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452591February 17, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
On several occasions since June 2021, my Tesla Model 3 has suddenly braked hard on its own while the Autopilot cruise control function was engaged (phantom braking). There has been no apparent reason for the sudden braking incidents, and they have happened at highway speeds. When I reported these incidents to my Tesla dealer, I was told that Tesla was aware of this problem with Tesla Model 3 vehicles, and that Tesla was working on finding a solution. Yet the problem has continued, and occurred again as recently as yesterday
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452583February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle stopped independently and without warning. An unknown dealer was contacted and made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452570February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving 72 mph on Ca State Hwy 99 in the #2 lane. The closest car to me (front) was about 100 yards away in the fast lane #3. I had cruse control on when the vehicle applied its emergency braking bring me down to 54 mph in about a second. This caused the truck behind me to almost hit me. He then went around my vehicle and slammed on his breaks thinking I did it on purpose.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452556February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
While using either the Autopilot or Adaptive Cruise Control, the car will unexpectedly brake for no reason. This happens almost every single time the car is using either of the two features. Sometimes it brakes so hard it creates a safety issue for the cars traveling behind.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452551February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
When driving with Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autopilot the car will randomly apply the brakes in causing a severe drop in speed frequently from 70 MPH to less than 50 extremely quickly. This happens primarily on undivided highways with no pattern - sometimes when other vehicles are approaching, no distinction between large or small or color, but most frequently and most violently occurs when no vehicles or obstacles are present. This sudden drop and alarm notification from the car can cause me to quickly jerk the steering wheel in response and potentially losing vehicle control. In some occasions this happened at highway speeds with people behind me almost causing a rear-end collision. I put in a repair notice with Tesla and the response was that the TACC and Autopilot are beta and upon review of trip logs they noticed no faults and closed the repair request. This feature is unsafe and since a cruise control is a necessity for my frequent longer trips, having a car without a functioning cruise control is beyond inconvenient, it is a safety issue. The breaking has also occurred on divided multi-lane roads but less frequently and with less severity.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452550February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While using adaptive cruise control on freeway my suddenly reduces speed significantly quickly as if it’s trying to stop. I always fear car behind me is going to bump into my car. Also it hurts passengers into the car when it happens.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452544February 17, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The issue is "Phantom Breaking" while using "Traffic Aware Cruise Control" and "Auto Pilot" The car suddenly breaks for no reason when using either mode listed above. It happens more frequently with sun and shadows than on overcast days. It's so upsetting that I don't try to use either with passengers onboard or when traffic is following close behind.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452532February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving along a 2 lane road around 1:00 PM. It is a bright sunny day. I put the car into TACC (Traffic Aware Cruise Control) and set a speed of 70MPH in a 65 zone. Once a car came a certain distance away traveling in the opposite lane towards my vehicle the car would brake slightly and drop my speed below 70. I corrected the speed drop by applying the accelerator. Again within a few minutes the same behavior occurred when a vehicle in the opposite lane came into view the car braked and dropped my speed by 5-10 miles an hour before I was able to correct and accelerate again to cruising speed. This happened continuously almost every time a car was visible in the other lane until I turned it off. I attempted to use TACC again on the way home on the same ride in the evening and the same behavior occurred where the car would brake suddenly even though nothing was passing in front of the vehicle that would require a stop. I use TACC on freeways regularly and also use Autopilot and it generally does not brake when it doesn't need to, but it still can occur on freeways. The most dangerous use is on 2-way roads. It is unusable and constantly brakes the car when another car approaches in the other lane. This braking is sudden and unexpected and could lead to a rear end collision. There is not an option to use cruise control that doesn't cause this problem. I am taking the vehicle to Tesla 2/17 and will have them inspect it. There are no warnings or messages on the vehicle saying there is a problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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