Tesla Model 3

Which Tesla Model 3 years should you avoid?

No Tesla Model 3 year stands out. Across the 8 model years old enough to judge, none drew twice the complaints of a typical year (about 537), and none shows an unusual share of fires, crashes or deaths for its age.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2017 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →