2018 Tesla Model 3 complaints

NHTSA forced Tesla FSDBETA to remove “Rolling Stop” behavior at clear intersections. This has caused me to be continually honked at, drivers aggressively passing my slow FSDBETA car. The decision by the NHTSA has caused my car to be more UNSAFE by impeding proper traffic flows. NHTSA should be focused on improving safety and not traffic law enforcement. This complaint is directed at the improper decision and solely on the NHTSA to lift the guidance to Tesla. As a customer I now feel my car is unsafe to drive due to your decision.

Multiple episodes of phantom breaking with the car on cruise control on the highway. The car was not on autopilot during the episodes. The car abruptly drops from highway speed with full braking until you can override it with the accelerator. This will cause accidents of someone is close behind you. As a result, I do not use cruise control.

Twice the car in Autopilot braked for no apparent reason. First time on an Interstate traveling at 65 mph in the center lane. As I was about to pass a truck located in the right lane that was going very slowly with its blinkers on, the Tesla abruptly decelerated from 65 mph to about 40 mph. Thankfully there were no cars behind me because I would have been rear ended. The second incident happened on a road inside my community that winds through a golf course. I put the car on Autopilot at 30 mph speed limit because there is radar hiding every. day. The car suddenly braked for no apparent reason . My hypothesis is there was a sign close to the road warning that golf carts cross here. There were no golf carts or people nearby and perhaps the sign was seen by the Autopilot as an object to stop the car.

The automatic emergency braking system activated when there was no collision imminent. (7:13am, 5/22/22) Neither cruise control nor autopilot was engaged at the time of incident. I was nearly hit from behind by a driver who did not expect me to stop as there was no hazard or other vehicle. Tesla inspected the vehicle and found no fault and claimed that I needed driver education. Also on a subsequent interstate trip with cruise control engaged, the automatic emergency braking system activated unnecessarily. It appears to be related to shadows on the road or pavement changes.

When driving on undivided highways, the car will phantom / panic brake due to oncoming cars approaching in the opposite lane. At times, the car phantom brakes for no apparent reason at all as there are no cars nearby. At night, it gets much worse, with the car phantom/panic braking at nearly every oncoming car. My 2018 Model 3 is equipped with radar-assisted Autopilot, but newer Tesla vehicles don't have the radar hardware at all and instead rely on a vision-only system that uses the cameras alone. When I opted into Tesla's Full Self Driving beta, the new software disabled my car's radar and my car became a "vision-only" vehicle, like newer Tesla vehicles. At this point, phantom / panic braking became significantly worse. When radar was used, the braking was rare but still unsettling. With vision-only Autopilot, it's nearly unusable. Even with basic cruise control, phantom / panic brakes happen with the same frequency as if you're using Autopilot. I basically can't use any cruise control or autopilot when driving on undivided highways. On interstates and in-city highways, phantom / panic braking does still happen, but it's less frequent.

Phantom braking, i.e. apparent engagement of brakes on car for no apparent reason during routine driving

Multiple instances of phantom braking and slow down while driving on Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) and/or Autosteer mode of the Autopilot feature. In addition, the lane keeping assistance feature gives phantom warnings even though the car stays in the lane.

I saw the reports on all the auto breaking issues with tesla, and i wanted to report for over a year my car does this ALL the time when auto pilot is engaged. I can remember hundreds of times where there is nothing around and all of a sudden the car auto breaks and its hard breaking as though im slamming on the breaks.

Driving while on cruise control, the car will phantom brake. That is, it will apply the brakes: - when a vehicle is way way out there in my lane and not a potential problem. - when two vehicle are close on each left and right side lanes, but not in my lane. For instance, when on 3 lane road with all lanes going the same way, vehicles on my left and right sides out in front of me but not in front of me, the car will suddenly apply the brakes. These are just the most common instances. I get lots on incidents of the vehicle unnecessarily applying the brakes when on cruise control.

I intermittently get an on-screen message “automatic emergency braking is disabled.” Adaptive cruise control and auto-steering are disabled and I am unable to engage either one. Randomly the problem will resolve itself with no intervention from me - usually a day or two later. I have taken the car to Tesla service twice and they are unable to resolve the issue. On the last visit the service technician said that it is a firmware issue.

Recall not addressed by Tesla after 6 months

Main screen freezes up while driving multiple times per week requiring reset and unable to control safety items such as defroster.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the warning message "Front Left Safety Restraint System Fault. Service Required." The contact continued to drive. The contact stated that the next day, the air bag warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that a field mechanic would be sent to his residence to repair the vehicle however, the repair appointment was rescheduled several times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Additionally, the contact became aware that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000. Parts distribution disconnect. Defective airbag warning sign in red is also active. After repeated requests to Tesla they refuse to fix the issue and keep postponing the repair dates.

Tesla refusing to repair car to address the recall issued by NHTSA on Dec 2021.

Power conversion system failure. Vehicle would not charge from a home wall charger. Issue was confirmed/reproduced by Tesla and the part was replaced outside of warranty coverage at 96,000 miles on the odometer. Failure was sudden with no error messages.

Vehicle center screen freezing multiple times per drive. Speedometer, turn signals, autopilot, battery percentage, backup camera, blind spot monitor, parking sensors, HVAC and garage door opener all repeatedly inoperative. Audio chimes also freeze up and previously-engaged “navigate on autopilot” functions continue to operate without any visual or auditory alerts.

For a growing number of Model 3 owners, components in the HV Battery Service Panel are breaking down, yet Tesla refuses to cover the repair under its Battery and Drive Unit Warranty. Specifically, the "power conversion system" (PCS) in that panel is failing, and reducing an AC charge from 48A to 32A to 16A to… zero. If an owner drives to a location to charge from a Level 1 or Level 2 charger, and the PCS has failed, that owner will be stranded, unable to operate the vehicle. I have submitted a request for mediation to the American Arbitration Association (case no. 01-22-0001-9026), but I deem it important to not only address the problem in my vehicle, but all the others experiencing this same breakdown. I am thus reporting it to NHTSA, as I purport that a recall is in order. I will attach a more detailed description of my dispute with Tesla, as well as my original Purchase Agreement with an Agreement to Arbitrate, and a copy of Tesla's most recent warranties.

2018 Tesla Model 3, 87,000 miles. While driving, the display computer went completely black and would not reboot or display any data. Tesla repeatedly rescheduled the repair and it did not take place for three weeks during which time I could not drive safely. There was no heating, AC, defrost, speed limit, navigation, audio alerts, or sound system. When Tesla finally fixed it, they did so by replacing the entire computer at a cost of almost $1800. They never told me why the computer failed. Tesla had similar failures in the Model X and S which were repaired at no cost up to 100K. The NHSTA should issue a recall and require Tesla to pay for all these failures at no cost. This is a huge safety issue.

The enhanced autopilot failed to recognize a divider/Jersey barrier or alert the driver of the obstacle, as the software is advertised and was relied on to do, at an exit ramp and ran into the barrier without any type of maneuver or breaking to avoid the collision causing substantial injury to the driver. This exit is a very busy exit on I-95 with many commuters going to work at this time. It was by sheer luck that no other vehicles were involved. The driver endured an immediate stop from above 50mph to 0 in about a second. As far as I know, no inspection was performed. There were no warning messages, symptoms or problems related prior to the incident.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Hello. I am writing this report to describe a dramatic decrease in steering responsiveness and vehicle front-end control over my ownership of this car from new. Over about the last year, I have noticed that the steering and handling of the vehicle is not nearly as composed as it was when new. Today, the car has difficulty staying centered in the lane. This unsteadiness is especially evident at Interstate speeds (60-75mph) while the car enters a curve and experiences suspension loading. It feels loose and floaty, almost like the toe is changing while mid-corner. This results in "hunting" or back-and-forth steering inputs just to stay on center. Furthermore, any type of road imperfection causes dramatic bump steer. This culminates into white-knuckled grip driving, since the car will sharply pull out of its driving line. Performance driving, long road trips, or higher-speed cruising are no longer possible with this uncertain steering. Safety is somewhat impacted and the driving and ownership experience is dramatically diminished. For example, a new driver has difficulty with this car due to the ambiguous steering. Over the year this issue has continued, the car has been inspected exactly one dozen times, nine visits to various area Tesla Service Centers and three to reputable and performance-oriented suspension shops. They have confirmed some type of pulling but have yet to adequately resolve the issue. Across all service visits, I have requested and completed replacements of ma

The upper control arm, UAC, on my Tesla is rubbing against its joint causing significant noise such as squeaking and friction when turning the steering wheel due to normal wear and tear. More specifically, the lubricant inside the UAC has worn off. This is a known issue when researching online forums. However, Tesla refuses to acknowledge the defect and has "renamed" its part number. This has put myself and others at risk because of the high cost associated on repairing and replacing the UAC. DIY-ers that cannot afford this out-of-warranty repair are taking it in their own hands at an attempt to alleviate the noise and friction caused by a faulty and defective UAC. The problem has been apparently reproduced in this model yet the service center refuses to cover it. Simply put, anyone that sits inside of my car always asks, "I think your car is broken - why is it making that noise" yet Tesla has stated that the UAC needs to be replaced out of warranty to resolve the issue.

Daylight running lights are not operating, a warning in the instrument cluster of not operating lights is not give. So the driver is not aware of the issue! Repair is not possible the entire light unit needs to be replaced ! This is a come issue with the Manufacture Tesla as I found a lot of complains on the internet with this specific issues

Car slammed on brakes as we were overtaking truck. Car may have mistaken truck's shadow for an object; this was around noon on a clear sunny day. Braking was sharp enough to cause an accident had someone been following us closely.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at a slow speed in ongoing traffic, the vehicle accelerated independently and bumped into the vehicle in front of her lane. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The contact stated her vehicle did not need any repairs but the other vehicle did. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted about the incident. The contact stated she continued to experience the failure. The contact stated on November 2021, while she was driving at slow speed in a parking lot, the vehicle accelerated independently and she crashed into a concrete post. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The contact called the manufacturer and was referred to the body shop. The contact took the vehicle to the body shop and had the bummer, the passenger side headlight, the bender, and other front components. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated she had experienced the failure on 4 different occasions in total to herself and once to her husband. The contact stated her husband ran into bushes but no damage to the vehicle. No one was injured nor sought medical attention. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The

Stopped in left turn lane. On green light car in front and I began our left turn. I was some distance behind the car when suddenly my brakes applied automatically and I came to complete stop. Luckily car behind did not rear end me. Also, my car started beeping and a warning said something to effect: automatic emergency brake activated.

Screen shows "Front passenger restraint system fault Service is required" Tesla technician confirmed that "Occupant Classification System(OCS) Filter Module" needed to be replaced and the technician replaced it. Please see attached files.

While on auto assist car engages in phantom braking

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention). The contact then attempted to ship the vehicle to Hawaii and was informed that all recalls must be serviced before shipment. The dealer was notified about the recall and informed her that parts were not available. The manufacturer had been notified of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Autopilot hard breaks whip lash randomly beeps saying take over when going through an intersection or next to a semi. Phantom breaking

Every time a passenger sits on the front passenger seat, an alert " passenger seat restraint system fault" comes on. First time it was repaired under warranty back in 2009 and now the same issue has come back Feb/ March2022. The car is no longer under warranty and Tesla said this repair will the responsibility of the car owner.

While vehicle was engaged in autopilot and adaptive cruise control on the freeway in traffic it has intermittently accelerated toward the vehicle in front requiring the driver to abruptly manually press on brakes to disengage the adaptive cruise control in order to avoid colliding into the vehicle in front. It has also suddenly braked on the freeway when there was no object in front requiring the vehicles behind to abruptly slow in order to avoid collision to rear of the vehicle. This has happened multiple times over years. I did report it once to the manufacturer who could not explain or reproduce it. There were not warning messages or lights to demonstrate failure of the system.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the HVAC system became inoperable. The contact stated that the cold weather had frozen the windows and the contact was unable to properly see out of the windows and windshield. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not yet repaired. The manufacture was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 51,000.

My 2018 Tesla Model 3 failed to engage its automatic emergency braking system - resulting in a collision due to the vehicle in front of me suddenly braking.

The auto cruise control brakes hard suddenly for no reason !! This puts the car in danger from vehicles behind me as the very unexpected slow down. Also, the blind spot warning has no audible and the car in next lane is too close beforeit turns red on the scree. It's not safe to turn your viewing to the screen from the road to change lanes. I drive the old fashioned way to be safe by looking over my shoulder before changing lanes.

The vehicle looses power on the freeway and will continue to slow down despite repeatedly depressing the accelerator and holding it down. The vehicle has been brought in to Tesla and no fix has been found to this date. No warning lights go on and sounds are heard to alert to any problem. I have video of this.

Sudden Unintended Acceleration: While pulling forward onto our driveway (with incline) at a very slow speed, the car suddenly accelerated and brake was not working. Automatic emergency braking also failed.

My blindspot warning cameras display gets completely washed out at night, (unable to view alongside my vehicle) whenever the directional blinker lights. This causes me to loose view of anything alongside my car. This only happens during darkness. This has been corrected in newer versions of the camera, but Tesla refuses to repair this under warranty. I was instructed to have the cameras replaced at my cost or to disable the feature. They refuse to fix this under warranty. I have included the complete correspondence with Tesla after requesting service.

My Model 3 regularly brakes at highway speeds for no reason it does this in daylight but more frequently at night also - it appears more common in the rain - where reflections off the wet pavement seems to appear as solid objects to the cruise control i have stopped using the cruise control now - it is frightening to have the car suddenly slam on the brakes at highway speeds

The horn has failed and been replaced twice in three years. The problem is the placement and design which leads to water getting in and causing corrosion. The first time this happened in late 2019, I had no warning that it was failing or not working until I needed to use it to alert another driver of a potential incident. Now in 2022, I heard the horn had a different tone to it when someone pulled out in front of me. I made an appointment to have it repaired again. Once again, there was corrosion on the horn. I believe this is a safety concern as the horn allows any vehicle to alert other drivers or pedestrians of what could be a bad situation. The Tesla service center did not seem too concerned with this issue and recommended that the horn be used after parking the car when it is driven in the rain. I think there must be a design flaw if a three year old vehicle is on its third horn already.

Started hearing noises in left wheel well and notifications of stability control disabled and alignment issues. We scheduled an appointment, but were told it was safe to drive. As I was picking up my son, the left wheel locked up and the car had to be towed to Tesla Service Center. Problem is exactly as the recall issues for the 2019 Model 3 and Y recall.

My car is equipped with forward-facing radar, but ever since Tesla turned it off in favor of "Tesla Vision" my Autopilot/TACC experience has been greatly worsened. The car suddenly (and very unsettlingly) slams on the brakes on the highway or city traffic (I have FSD Beta) for anything from shadows, to hills/inclines, to curves, or minor harmless debris (shopping bags) in the road. This has not yet caused an accident but has almost come close. Other issues: - FSD Beta, when engaged, forces the computer to have control over the high-beams and windshield wipers. The car obsessively flashes the high beams whenever possible, including on well-lit city streets. On multiple occasions this has triggered road rage in surrounding drivers because they think I'm flashing my brights at them for no reason. There is no reason to engage the brights in a well-lit urban environment. - Forward Collision Warning has become completely unreliable and routinely warns for cars that are not in my lane or in front of my car directly. This makes me more likely to just ignore the warning.

I needed to back up slightly to make room to get our of a parallel parking position. I pressed the brake and put the car into reverse, pressed the accelerator slightly to back up. I then pressed the brake again and put the car into Drive. I then pressed the accelerator slightly to drive off, but the car suddenly accelerated in an uncontrolled manner. I was able to slam on the brakes to prevent an accident. This is not the first time that this type of unintended acceleration has occurred in this vehicle.

The rear view camera fails intermittently due to this recall. I was scheduled to replace the harness causing the problem, but appointment was cancelled. No new appointment is available or scheduled by Tesla. Having this issue for the last few months is a safety hazard when backing up the vehicle.

Tesla forced my car to update to v11 software. This software interface is dangerous. It hides the climate control and wiper control off the home screen and requires drivers to dig though menus to do things that were previously doable with one touch, such as enabling the defogger, defroster, wipers, or heated seats. This creates an unnecessary distraction for drivers.

While on adaptive cruise control, my car breaks on highway for no reason. Looks like it happens at certain parts of highways. I noticed this at at least 3 highways and it breaks unexpectedly causing the vehicles behind me to almost crash into me.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the backup camera malfunctioned and the screen displayed completely black or completely white causing a visibility hazard to the driver while reversing the vehicle. The vehicle was previously serviced under the NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the replacement parts were not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 35,000.

Regularly experience phantom breaking and unwarranted early collision warnings

The car has repeatedly (but not often) initiated emergency braking while traveling on a freeway. It has done this in literally the same place on California highway 85 several times, and occasionally on other freeways. It has always been a clear, sunny day, and it seems to occur when the vehicle travels from deep shade into bright sun (i.e. as when going under an overpass). The road was straight with no vehicle directly ahead for several hundred feet. I have reported this to Tesla via the app. and through the service departments. I have included date and time as well as location on some occasions. The only comment I have received was that the logs showed no problems, and no further action was taken by Tesla. When the severe braking occurred, an alarm went off in the car (a beeping sound). At least once a following car nearly collided with me. I was probably traveling in the range of 68-73 MPH. I do not have dates or mileage information, but Tesla may based on the occurrences I reported.

Everyday while I am driving on the highway, when the car is in cruise control, multiple times it decreases the speed drastically for no reason.