2018 Tesla Model 3 complaints

Error message displays confirming: “Front left safety restraint system default” Error code displayed: RCM_a021 Service is required but Tesla is charging for this safety issue. Researched this and other drivers are reporting same issue.

Front Passenger OCS errors - Tesla work quote (via Tesla Service Bulletin, not Recall) is to replace the OCS system & front airbag - totaling $1,200 for the repair. This is extremely common error code for Tesla's "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault".

Suspension bushings failing after 40,000 miles. There is ample evidence online that Tesla's have serious suspension and steering issues, just do a search for Tesla Whompy Wheels. In China the government cracked down on Tesla and required a physical recall and replacements of defective parts. Why is the US not protecting drivers the same way the government of China is? Please issue a recall on Tesla suspension and steering issues. Tesla is quoting us $1,300 to repair a suspension with 40,000 miles on it. The attached invoice does not show their quote, they deleted the quote when we told them no. We cannot afford this repair at this time but this is a serious safety issue on a low mileage car and I am disappointed that NHTSA is not requiring Tesla to fix this obvious defect.

The turn signal stalk does not differentiate between a partial (lane change) press or a full turn press. The signal will remain on until the stalk is moved in the opposite turn direction. This sometimes results in the opposite turn signal activating. This entire process is intermittent while driving. This happens mainly on the highway where an intermittent (half press) of the stalk is performed to switch lanes. When switching lands I have no idea whether it'll work as designed or fail to register a half press or full press of the stalk.

Salt Lake City Tesla Service Center 801-401-4135 I purchased a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD, VIN [XXX] . The car’s battery and motor drive train units are still within the warranty. On [XXX], the car’s POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM (PCS) stopped working spontaneously, without any physical damage caused by the owner. The PCS is required to charge the car. A broken PCS rendered my car essentially unchargeable, thus undriveable, and unusable. The PCS is a critical component required for normal car function. Without a functioning PCS, you have a broken car. This is a SAFETY ISSUE because you can be stranded in the middle of nowhere without the ability to charge and safely extract yourself from inclement weather and environmental exposure. On [XXX], I transported the car all the way from Pocatello, the 169 miles to the nearest Tesla Service Center in Salt Lake City, UT, at my own expense. On [XXX], the car was diagnosed, and repaired. On [XXX], before paying for the repair, I spoke to the Tesla Service center manager because I felt this component failure should have been covered under the warranty because it represents a FAILURE of a CRITICAL COMPONENT. This is a safety risk, as I mentioned above. He expressed sympathy with my situation and said that broken PCS was a known issue in early Tesla Model 3’s. After doing some research, this is indeed the case, with many online complaints about a broken PCS in Tesla Model 3’s. He said he hoped Tesla would some day reconsider, and that a

I am unable to open my rear passenger car door from the outside or the inside. Also the rear passenger door also lacks a manual release like the front doors have. This, coming off of [XXX] 's death, and Tesla's service apathy and insistence on first collecting money before solving this problem is incredibly dangerous. So I am now driving a death trap, and this is my only car, and Tesla should have to pay for the fix, yet they are insisting I pay for the full price because my car is now "out of warranty." But with this kind of LIFE-THREATENING failure of a door that should honestly just work, is reprehensible. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I purchased the car new in 2018. About two years into owning there would be a random notification about an "rcm_a036 : passenger safety restraint system fault". I reported and was told that the seat occupancy sensor was responding to noise from my cell phone. I stopped putting the cell phone on the seat, it kept happening with increasing frequency in 2021 and 2022 and I reported it two more times and was told to keep charging cables away from the seat, and then in 2021, they added a noise filter. I was told repeatedly that the fault was caused by noise and was not a real issue. The alert occurred with increasing occurrence and today I took it in and Tesla charged $1533.16 to replace the airbag and the occupancy sensor. I thought it was unsafe for Tesla to tell me the issue is a noise-related issue when it was related to the airbag and to tell me that the issue was not actually a real fault when both the OCS sensor and the airbag needed to be replaced. I think it's absurd to have a car 6 years old with 66,530 miles have to have an airbag replaced. I thought Tesla's comments about noise were disingenuous attempts to put off the repair until after the car was out of warranty.

The front right lower control arm, sub frame, and bolt(s) failed causing unsafe driving conditions while myself and my kids were in the car. There is a recall on this part for many of the exact same year, make, and model as my car: NHTSA campaign ID: 23V235000. Tesla recall SB-23-31-001 (info pulled from NTSB site). My VIN wasn’t on the recall, but there is clearly an issue, so I was forced to pay for this. Please add my VIN so I can be reimbursed and also get the other side repaired for safety reasons.

Front control arm and ball joints have been replaced twice for the same issue and I have looked into a bunch of message board groups and it's a common issue. Ball joints and control arm wear and rust abnormally and unusually fast. It happens about every 2 to 2.5 years.

I'm getting an error for "Safety restraint system fault" on my Tesla Model 3. When I booked a service appointment it turns out they are wanting to charge $1,955.11 for replacing the Occupant Classification System (OCS) of the front passenger, updating the front passenger airbag, and installing a OCS filter module. This seems to be safety related and should be part of a recall. I have seen similar reports from other drivers on Reddit.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention). The contact attempted to schedule an appointment for a recall repair on the Tesla App however, the app displayed an error “Unnecessary to schedule an appointment; You will be notified when parts are available" since June of 2023. The local dealer was contacted but confirmed that the recall repair needed to be scheduled via the Tesla App. The contact attempted to reach out to the manufacturer but was unable to reach a representative. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Front passenger safety restraint system fault message due to workers not torquing the seat belts into place correctly or properly verifying specs during build.

Two recent incidents/repairs related to both driver and passenger Curtain Airbag, replacement of Occupant Classification System, replacement of first row seat cushions, first row harness assembly, first row occupancy sensor, first row seat belt reminder sensor box. Total out of pocket cost of approximately $2,075!

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention), 23V838000 (Electrical System), and 24V051000 (Electrical System); however, the dealer stated that to perform the upgrades, the contact needed to purchase a new computer before the software could be updated. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed that it would be necessary to complete the updates. The contact stated that the manufacturer was unreasonable in determining that to complete the software updates that he needed to purchase a new computer. The contact stated that the back over prevention camera image intermittently was blank. Additionally, the on-board cabin camera ceased to function as needed, causing the autosteer feature to become inoperable. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

First. the car gives Front Restraint System Fault message and Tesla fixed during warranty. No, it's out of warranty, and the car starts giving Front Passenger Restraint System Fault warning message. Regardless if it's under warranty or not, restraint system fault (I take it as seat belt) imposes safety concern and should be a recall item.

Front passenger airbag and Seat sensor issues. The safety of front seat passenger was at risk due to faulty airbag or sensor. Tesla did confirmed that an alert was trigger on the car an they proceeded to replaced the airbag and sensor. Tesla verified the equipment after the repairs were done and everything since to be fine. We did get a warning on or around Feb 5th, 2024 and that when we proceeded to contact Tesla service and make an appointment. The reason for this complain is that we ended up paying for airbag and seat sensor repairs which should have been covered by Tesla since these parts are obviously defective. Please see uploaded documents for more details.

PTC Heater failed. This is a critical component that helps to maintain the battery's temperature within safe operating range. The only alternative is to replace this PTC Heater. Till the replacement is done, EVs battery may not maintain safe operating temperature range and could cause the car - not drive able. I consider this a significant safety risk. Cabin temperature cannot be maintained as well. Cause for PTC Heater failure is known - "change in temperature" could cause this item to fail per Tesla. i.e. when cold air blows over the heating element. Not sure if enough has been done to fix this from occurring for such a critical component with some hardware or hardware recall for several vehicles on the road. Else these cars must be considered for sales only for few states in the USA which have a stable operating temperature ranges for their PTC heaters to not run into the risk of failure due to big change in temperature.

The High Voltage Service Panel is part the battery which is part of the manufacturer warranty and drivetrain. A lot of Tesla cars had this problem and they are being charged $1800 to $2000 to “fix” this common failure. The problem is that the battery stop receiving the full amperage to charge the battery appropriately. In my case, I started charging more frequently on Superchargers during a long trip to different locations without a Level 2 homecharger and stopped several times into the Superchargers of Tesla. A diagram of the drivetrain and Battery system placed the High Voltage Service Panel as part of the battery. I had the problem since the past 2 years and did not fixed it, after I was sent an estimate cost of “repair”. I said that it was part of the battery system and they refused to accept it. As of 2024, I have search about this problem and most of the cars after 3-4 years are having the same problem. I am not sure what the repair consist of, but it might be a full battery replacement, and maybe opening the battery unit. In terms of safety, I feel unsafe about the possibility of the car catching fire during a supercharger session or even when plugged into my house Level 2 charger at 220 volts. Please inquire more about this frequently ongoing problem and safety, or any TSA related to this common issue. I included a picture found on the internet and the service panel is just on top of the battery

Horn stopped working. I see other people have this problem with Model 3. Tesla does not cover this after warranty period.

The steering wheel horn stopped working about a month or so ago. I can use the Tesla app to make the horn sound but not by pressing the steering wheel. Fortunately, no safety of others or myself have been experienced. No one else has inspected it yet, though I am due to have my state inspection tomorrow and I don't think that it will pass. There were no warning lamps for messages prior to the failure. I think I first noticed that it wasn't working about a month or so ago. I reported the bug on the car texting service but have not heard from Tesla nor received a software update to fix the problem.

The rear camera often fails. Does this mean it is recording or not when driving. I think Tesla should have fixed this rear camera harness recall. I have been waiting over two years for this fix. It has been too long. Safety issues backing up or driving without the rear camera working properly.

Get an error message - Front Passenger safety restraint system fault. - This is front passenger safety issue - This can put the front passenger to serious risk to injury or death - This message does not go away & Tesla acknowledges they need to fix it - Its not been inspected by police or insurance reps - Yes there is a warning message as noted above Tesla is failing to admit its their fault. They are giving me a quote of $2300 to fix this issue which I believe is a safety issue that Tesla did not manufacture properly leading to this issue. Please see the attached quote from Tesla - They need to "Update Front Passenger Airbag to Maintain Compatibility with Front Passenger Seat" and many other related fixes to get rid of this issue. TESLA SHOULD BE RECALLING VEHICLES FOR THIS SAFETY ISSUE!

I don’t feel comfortable driving this car because it is unsafe when I am on autopilot on the highway it would randomly stop the car by breaking instantly out of nowhere when there isn’t any car in front of me?! Please give me another car that is more safe to drive!?

While in FSD the car swerved to the left and hit a Tree. Youtube of the Crash.. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Vehicle touch screen will shut off while driving and take 5 minutes to reboot. I have taken it to Tesla multiple times since November and they said it’s a firmware issue and nothing is being done to resolve.

On Feb 12 2024 the error code RCM_a021 appeared. “Front left safety restraint system fault Service is required.” The service center confirmed that it was an issue related to seatbelt safety during a crash. They said “The specific part that would fail in this case would be the seatbelt pretensioner. When in an impact this deploys and pulls the seatbelt tightly against the driver. This will likely not deploy in an accident if not repaired as the wires going to this component are broken. We are replacing it with a new updated part that will not wear and have this same issue.” Although a known safety issue, it was NOT a repair under warranty. I am putting in this claim and appeal that it should be an under warranty repair. Parts and Labor for 1 seatbelt assembly replacement would have been $450. As it is a known safety issue, I opted to proactively repair both front seat seatbelt assemblies so the cost increased to $650. The cost estimate is attached. Also attached is the text communications with Tesla service center.

Full service history is detailed below. Since purchasing the Model 3 in April 2018, we have had three different instances of issues with control arms/suspension system. The most recent instance occurring this week (February 12, 2024) required the whole suspension system to be replaced with only 63,900 miles on the vehicle. The suspension system should not need replacing on a vehicle with only 63,900 miles on it. We have now had to pay Tesla $1,357.57 to continuously fix the issue with the suspension system on a car that is not even 6 years old with less than 64,000 miles on it. During an interaction with a Tesla technician for the second instance noted below, we were told that Tesla undersized the control arm leading to failures. He commented that they replace control arms on Model 3s on nearly a daily basis. This is clear negligence by Tesla and we would urge the NTSB to take immediate action. I know we are not the only Tesla Model 3 owners that have experienced control arm/suspension issues. Car Purchase Date: 4/7/2018, ~25 miles on vehicle Service Visit 1 on 7-23-2021 Odometer 42,790 Cause for visit: Creaking noise when turning or going over bumps Items replaced: 1) Front Upper Control Arm Left Parts = $0 (under warranty) Labor = $0 (under warranty) Service Visit 2 on 8-25-2022 Odometer 51,321 Cause for visit: Creaking noise when turning or going over bumps Note: Was told by service technician that Tesla undersized the control arm leading to failures. Commented that they

I got a recall notice from Tesla and Tesla is still in safety violation and is refusing to fix the issue, so I need your help to force Tesla to fix their abusive ways. The recall 23V-838 is related to "when Autosteer is engaged". Autosteer/Autopilot/FSD now DISABLES even when NOT engaged, alleging "improper use" when it wasn't even being used. It also disengages Autosteer/Autopilot/FSD while driving if it detects "improper use" (even if it's detection system itself is buggy), forcing the car to slow down like in the middle of the freeway! When the battery is low and there's only a mile or two to go to a charger, the software will slow down and force the car to pull over to get a tow, taking on average 2 hours to get a tow truck to go 2 miles, rather than allowing the driver to reach the charger with the remaining battery it shows. Tesla keeps changing the battery percentage for when it shuts down. It used to be 0%, then 3% and recently 6%. This randomness creates "range anxiety" and distrust in the battery percentage being a useful indicator. Tesla should use 0% as "shut down" and leave the rest of the battery as "drivable" to reach a charger to have an accurate indicator. It also flashes alerts on the SCREEN to "Pay attention to the road", which is ironic to have a screen display to distract attention to the screen... rather than pay attention to the road. Tesla took AWAY my Autosteer/Autopilot improperly, and no one in the Service Center or Support at Tesla knows how to fix

The is WATER in my right front FOG lamp and I don't know how it got in there, but Tesla says they can't get water out of it and can't reseal it, but is willing to let me pay $504 to replace a light... this is yet another Billionaire abusive practice by Elon Musk to generate cash flow and revenue for his failing company. Telsa also asked for $15,000 for a new battery, which the "software" said it started reducing the range JUST after the 120,000 mile battery warranty was up. Just like Apple does with reducing iPhone battery performance for so called "safety" reasons to make people pony up to the latest model. Which Tesla has been emailing me and texting me to try to get me to buy a new Tesla LOL. This is clearly an abusive "sales tactic". If they actually care about helping customers, they would figure out how to fix each issue. Clear out the water and seal the headlight. Figure out which battery cells need replacing and replace them. Simple and cheap solutions. Not "customer pay astronomical prices" for every damn issue Tesla forces upon people. Including "customer pay tows" after "Tesla's software" decides to randomly shut the car down in the middle of the road, rather than Tesla taking responsibility for their software malfunctioning preventing the driver from reaching their destination. These are clearly misguided attempts by an AWOL CEO [XXX] about his $55B pay package, trying to claw back money from customers to reward himself to pay for Twitter/X. Make[XXX] Musk and Tes

Tesla Model 3 Performance (M3P) comes with unrealistic "thin" wall tires on 20" wheels that easily POP when they hit potholes, nails, gutters, median divides, gashes in the road, etc. American roads are poorly maintained if at all by transportation departments. Only thick walled tires are suitable for roads. Tesla Model 3 LR (Long Range) and SR (Standard Range) comes with 18" wheels and tires, giving it 2 inches more of padding for both a smoother ride and fewer replacements. Each tire on my M3P costs $400-$500 to replace! That's around $2,000 for a set of four tires! Whereas 18 inch tires are more common and cost about half of that, about $200 per tire, $800 for a set. The remedy here is at least 19 inch wheel and tire replacements as a recall provided for free by Tesla to provide more padding and fewer tire replacements to deal with typical crappy roads.

A charging warning error msg appeared that there maybe something wrong with the cable leading to charging the battery and may lead to a fail charging and this the 2nd time. The first time I had a failed charging with no warning that it was failing amd that lead to the entire battery wouldn’t charge leaving me stranded and the car had to be towed to a Tesla service center., this time 02/08/2024 it’s sending me a notification that there is something wrong internally and I need to see service asap so this time it did send me a msg warning me there’s something wrong

Clunk and popping sound while driving, especially while turning the wheel or going over bumps in road. Maneuverability and control of vehicle felt impacted which could have resulted in an accident, damage to property, and injury and/or death of people. The issue was reproduced at the vehicle's Service Center and identified as a lose bolt that connects the front suspension lateral links to the subframe. This issue sounds very similar to a previous recall for the same make, model, and year of this vehicle, but the VIN for this particular vehicle was not included in that recall.

My bluetooth has not been connecting in my car. To preface this, my car was in twice this year alone, with a near $3000 bill, to replace the MCU, on a car with only 26k miles. Now this bluetooth connection issue is still a problem. After opening a service ticket with Tesla, I am told for an additional $180, I would need to replace my seat sensor. This means my seat (while I am driving) does not recognize that someone is on it and driving. My concern is the manufacturer remedy does not replace failed parts with improved design and that this has the potential to cause other safety issues if occupant detection compromised by faulty sensors. What if I am in an accident and the airbags don't deploy?

I was driving when I received a service prompt on my Tesla Model 3 stating that there was a fault with my front passenger safety restraint. When I looked around the area, I noticed that the cable securing my seat belt to the vehicle was sticking out of the enclosure by about 6 inches. The car has not been involved in any violent collisions and the seatbelt has not otherwise been abused in any way. The car only has 23,163 miles on it.

The steering of my model 3 became more difficult and clunky like I had to apply extreme amounts of force to turn. When I turned the wheel I could feel the wheel stop in each gear or grove of the steering mechanism. It got so bad at freeway speeds of 75 mph that it became extremely difficult to keep the car going in a straight line. As described before I would apply very heavy force to the wheel to turn it, when it did turn I would feel it clunk into the next stoping point and I would have to clunk back and forth this way to keep it going in a somewhat of a straight line. There was on time while using Full self driving on the freeway at 75 mph on a turn the full self driving was not able to turn the wheel and almost ran into the cement barrier. I was able to take control of the wheel and correct the car as soon as I saw the car cross the solid line. I took my car in for repair at the Tesla service center October 2023. I was charged $5k to replace the full steering unit in my 5 year old car at that time. I have owned 14 vehicles over my years of car ownership, vehicles age ranging from 1984 - 2018 and I have not once ever had to replace the full steering unit for any of those cars.

The rear bumper fell off on [XXX] on the [XXX] of the [XXX] bound for [XXX] toward Long Beach Airport when driving in the rain through a puddle of water. It’s a serious safety hazard for the model 3 and the cars behind. This is a widely reported known design flaw, but Tesla refused to cover the repair cost. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the message "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault" was displayed. The local Tesla Service center was notified of the failure and informed the contact the front passenger's side seat and air bag needed to be replaced; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 47,000.

The new software update forced as part of the autopilot recall is terrible and the system needs to go back to the way it was. They adjustments make the feature useless. There are many unnecessary warnings and notifications, all of which destroy the driving experience and actually make the car less safe. Bring back the old system

SERVICE ADVISORY FOR FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT SYSTEM APPEARS ON CENTRAL SCREEN AFTER SEATBELT IS UNLATCHED AND RETRACTED. FRONT RIGHT SIDE ALSO HAD THIS WARNING BUT IT NO LONGER DOES. WARNING READS AS FOLLOWS : "! FRONT LEFT SAFETY RESTRAINT SYSTEM FAULT. SERVICE IS REQUIRED. NOTE: THIS WARNING REAPPEARS EVEN WHEN THE SEAT BELT IS HELD LOOSELY AND ALLOWED TO FULLY SNAP BACK INTO THE RETRACTOR. THE WARNING PERSISTS EVEN AFTER REBOOTING THE MAIN SCREEN (DOUBLE SCROLL WHEEL PRESS REBOOT)

This seems to be related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V235000. My front right hand lateral link bolt managed to back itself out and broke off the nut that contains the bolt. This is confirmed by Tesla service center in Burbank. This is a HUGE safety risk as the front end was not properly fastened and at highway speeds could have caused an accident risking injury and death. The only warning of the issue was a knock sound being heard when the car is turned fully at slower speeds. There was also a slight rattle heard while driving over uneven roads. The result was an out of pocket charge of $3000+ to the car owner. The car was never included in the original recall or the subsequent expansion of the recall. Clearly the issue is more wide spread and should be fixed by Tesla

Many Tesla owners are experiencing this issue: "Front left (or right) safety restraint system fault. Service is required" message on screen Tesla service quoted $430 for a repair of a problem that shouldn't exit on a privately owned, non commercial low mileage (<50k in 5 years) vehicle. Tesla service refuses to do a recall or warranty repair. Comparison; we have a family Volvo with ~250k miles and it has never had a seat belt issue!

When seated in my car, I turned the steering wheel and I heard a clunk noise by the driver side. After trying to turn it back, my car dropped and I checked outside and it looks like something related to the axle or arms caused the issue. My axle seems to have separated and fell off and a bolt came off. This is a safety issue and I could’ve died if I was driving at higher speeds like on a highway.

I have three potential safety hazards to report. Tesla has advised that there is no recall for any of these. 1) The car issued an alert that says "Front Passenger Safety System Fault." This seems like the most serious. 2) The horn malfunctions and does not work at safe level 3) The driver's side mirror does not consistently extend out preventing the driver from adequately using the mirror for driving.

Began receiving fault alert 'RCM_a021 - Front Left Safet Restraint System Fault' in December 2023. Web query indicates this has become a common problem, with the source being a loose connection of the seat wiring harness under the front driver's seat. No other observed malfunction of the vehicle. alert occurs whenever car is entered and powered on (seat adjusts for specified driver). Alert seems to be based on loose wire that is either loose or severed at the wire harness connection.

On automatic setting, windshield wipers are erratic. Rain can be heavy and wipers don't engage. Requires manually operating wipers that are supposed to engage when windshield becomes wet from atmospheric rain.

This vehicle has had steering squeaks for a really long time. I've had ball joints sealed, control arms replaced and now lateral links replaced for damaged bushings. This has cost me a significant amount of money and the bushings show tears that could have resulted in loss of control.

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the steering disengaged. The vehicle was difficult to steer. The driver was able to veer off the road. The driver steering assist disengaged message was displayed. The local dealer was contacted and scheduled an appointment. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 23,505. The contact stated Tesla accepted no responsibility for the failure and charged close to $3000 to replace the unit.

At just over 50,000 miles, my Model 3 experienced a failure of its upper control arm on the drivers front wheel; the suspension was exhibiting loud creaking noises over bumps and road imperfections. While Tesla refers to this issue as "noise, vibration and harshness" and has previously applied a service bulletin to my vehicle where sealant was applied to prevent water ingress into the joint, continued driving on a failing component as critical as the suspension could cause an accident. Furthermore, they consider the repair something the customer has to pay for. My vehicle is currently sitting at Tesla service with no feedback as to the final cost of repair or even when they will complete the repair.

The airbag light shows

We intermittantly received alerts on the screen showing "Front safety restraint system fault (service is required)." After many hours of research, we found that other owners also have the same issue and they found that a wire from a electrical connector that connected to the seatbelt pretentension was broken from the seat being moved up and down.