2021 Tesla Model 3 complaints

The heat pump failed in 12/2022. The defroster would not work and heating was an issue. I encountered 2 dangerous situations in snowstorms where I could not see out the window and the heating was inconsistent and difficult to control.This was fixed by Tesla. The heat pump failed again (less than a month later). I was told today that there was an ice buildup in the coils possibly due to car wash (?). This problem, I am afraid, is going to continue.

While using the base level of "autopilot," remaining in a lane and maintaining speed, the car will randomly slam on the brakes even when there are no vehicles or objects in front of it. The first incident occurred while driving late at night on an interstate. There were no vehicles in front of the car, but it rapidly reduced speed from 75mph to 30mph, before immediately speeding up again. The camera based "autopilot" is essentially useless and I have decided not to use it when driving.

While charging Model 3 the amperage went from 32amps and was capped at 16amps. This is a wide spread issue with Tesla’s model 3 Power conversion system (PCS). There is 3 controllers in the PCS system. When all 3 are working correctly it will charge at 48amps. If one stops it will drop to 32 amps or drop to 16 amps if two fail or not even charge if 3 fail. This is a known issue and and costly repair as Tesla refuses to fix these under the battery warranty.

Autopilot failed. Driver had head, neck injuries , and the passenger had head, neck, and knee injuries. CRASH REPORT: Date - 1/14/23; Time - 10:30 am. NCIC Number - 9565; Officer's Name: Garduno #22857

Twice in October 2022 (18th and 20th), my vehicle decelerated suddenly during cruise control with no impediments in the road (i.e., phantom breaking). The breaking on the 20th was akin to slamming on the breaks, and both occurred at freeway speeds. I did *not purchase Tesla's self-driving feature. The vehicle also on the 18th tried to steer around an object that did not exist in the road while I turned onto a freeway on-ramp. I reported all three incidents at that time to Tesla for servicing of the vehicle. It is unknown whether any "repair" was actually done to eliminate phantom breaking (I no longer use Tesla's cruise control in similar traffic conditions which were at the time crowded outside of the carpool lane I was using).

On 1-14-2023, while driving westbound on I-64, around sunset (5:20ish pm) in a straight portion of the highway, the vehicle suddenly braked for no reason. There was nothing in the road and no cross traffic. There was an all white semi in the right lane that I was approaching in the passing lane. I immediately disengaged the cruise and continued my trip with no further incidents.

The only cruise control feature available on this car is the adaptive cruise control. This car continues to make sudden unsafe braking maneuvers for no reason. It seems to get confused by steep hills, bridges, shadows, and other factors. You can be on a highway going 70mph and it will slam the brakes, terrifying passengers and potentially causing you to get rear ended. This has been ongoing since the purchase of the car 1 year ago.

While driving on an otherwise unobstructed road, with no nearby obstacles on a Rural South Dakota Interstate, the vehicle suddenly slammed on breaks in an unsafe fashion, forcing the vehicle behind us to swerve to evade our car. We were told by Tesla service that sometimes, "road shimmering" can cause this behavior, and there is no remedy available. In response to this, I gunned the accelerator to try and remedy the issue, hitting unsafe speeds before being able to fully return control to the vehicle. This was NOT while using the vehicle's autopilot system for FSD (which was available on the car), but adaptive cruise control, though the same issue happens with FSD regularly. This is not the first instance of this happening (I have stopped using cruise control and FSD on the vehicle since), but the first time it seriously endangered myself and another driver.

Vehicle's turn signal is not hardware based, but instead relies on the software registering signal use. The turn signal can be "fully" pressed, and "partially" pressed, and the behavior is supposed to be: Full press: Blinks until you manually disengage 1/2 press: Blinks 3 times, then automatically disengages. Anything "between" a full press and a half-press, ie beyond the level which is supposed to trigger a 3-time blink, but not "bottoming out" the signal, regularly fails to trigger the signal at all. This leads to scenarios in which the driver "thinks" they have signaled, and creates unsafe situations for surrounding vehicles.

Trip from Piedmont, California to Salt Lake City, Utah, I experienced three (x3) phantom breaking incidents at over 80 mph on interstate 1-80. The car without warning dramatically de-accelerated from approximately 85mph to 65mph or 60mph without warning and suddenly. Dog was riding in back and thrown into front dashboard on one occasion. Visited Tesla dealership on State St in Salt Lake City Utah upon destination arrival and manager/head at front desk laughed indicents off saying, "we've heard of such incidents just wait for the software update." Horrible. Beyond dangerous. I can report that in all three incidents there were no cars in front or behind me and the phenonenon occurred totally unexpectedly. Reported it also to Tesla repair shop in Berkeley, California, and intake group had zero sympathy and said, "it's a known software glitch."

On multiple occasions, the car will suddenly decelerate while using adaptive cruise control on the highway. Malfunctioning component: adaptive cruise control. Safety: rear end collision if another vehicle was following too closely. Manufacturer is fully aware of the problem.

The wheel control arm bolts that hold the wheel onto the vehicle slowly unscrewed until they fell out (x2 bolts per wheel). It is available for inspection upon request. If a disconnected fully inflated tire is sucked under the car at high speeds, it may potentially flip the vehicle, badly rupture the battery pack or the wheel may jettison from the vehicle onto surrounding vehicles. It is unknown what kind of damage or after-effect would take place if the battery were severely damaged by an inflated tire and rim. The problem was observed, documented and repaired by Tesla. The effects of the problem were only observed at 1 MPH. A recall of this specific issue was listed for other Model 3 2021 vehicles, but our vin # was not included in this recall, while it should have been. Tesla has inspected the vehicle one time and claim the vehicle is now safe to drive. Insurance would not participate in any claims regarding this type of incident because nobody was hurt. We did not receive any warning prior to failure, not even a wobble, shimmy, clunk or precursor of any kind. The car appeared to be perfectly solid and then suddenly the wheel came off. The car did not crash into anything other than the ground when the wheel disconnected.

I was going 80mph on the interstate coming back from Little Rock to Tulsa. The time was 4am in the morning with little or no traffic on the road. I was using only the cruise control with adaption turned on. The car all of a sudden without any warning almost came to a complete stop on the interstate. I later asked what caused this and was told it is phatom braking but this was VERY dangerous, if someone had been behind me they probably would have been messed up. I merely accelerated to make sure I was at least keeping the minimum speed limit. Please advise. Shawn

The supermanifold failed, causing the front defroster to not work properly, resulting in loss of visibility in freezing temperatures. This is a common problem with 2021/2022 model 3/model y with the new heat pump that was supposed to be fixed with a software update, but was not. I now have a $3900 repair bill on a 1 year old car with 56,000 miles. The warranty expired at 50,000 miles. The failure was not a result of negligence.

Adding our vehicle to the list of those affected by what seems to be commonly known as "Phantom Braking". The most recent occurrence was on Interstate 25 southbound in northern Colorado when the "Autopilot" (Adaptive Cruise Control) suddenly braked and reduced our speed from 75 to 51 mph, with no vehicles or other obstructions visible. We were almost rear-ended by a car following us, however. I want to point out that this was only the worst example of several episodes that occurred that day, and on earlier dates as well. We no longer use Autopilot, which makes long trips much less comfortable. I also want to mention that our vehicle does NOT have Tesla's "Full Self Driving" (FSD) installed, so my hands were on the wheel at all times.

On certain sections of highway unsuccessfully attempted to activate auto-steer (two down clicks) multiple times in a row. Did this multiple times in a row but was unsuccessful to activate auto-steer. Instead a supposed "easter egg" (which activates with 4 down clicks) very loudly plays loud jarring music (called "rainbow road")...this is NOT FUCKING FUNNY--I nearly ran my car off the road and into oncoming traffic. Giant 2000 pound hunks of metal going at 60 mph should NOT FUCKING COME with special surprises. This is incredibly dangerous and jarring to drivers.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V235000 (Electrical System, Forward Collison Avoidance) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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. Parts distribution disconnect.

Driving south on the 5 freeway right northing on Oceanside the vehicle shut down at freeway speed. I had to coast of the to the first Oceanside. Fortunately it was late at night and there were no cars in the immediate vicinity. In addition to this the vehicle has had multiple episode of phantom breaking. I do not feel safe driving the car.

Random "phantom braking" while using autopilot or cruise control. Causes the car to slam on brakes and has lost control once almost causing me to go off the road. Also, has brake-checked many cars that follow behind me while I'm using autopilot or cruise due to the phantom braking. Also Tesla Repair center in Chicago replaced my front bumper with a discolored front bumper that had the same issue of peeling on the inner edges of the bumper as the prior front bumper. When I brought up the issue to Tesla they said that was a manufacturing process issue due to the molding process of the bumpers and that is how they all are. If that is the case why change the bumper? Could have just told me that's how all the cars are and saved a lot of my time. Also, have had many repairs from Tesla that don't seem to end. These cars arent being produced in a consistent manner. What was promised during the purchase of the car doesn't seem to hold up.

At some point in 2021 Tesla released a software update that causes the vehicle to ignore the ambient temperature sensor for the first 15 minutes of a drive. Tesla explained to me that this was to avoid errant readings in hot environments with lots of reflected heat from pavement. I’ve reported the following safety issue to them several times through the winters of 2021 and now 2022, to no avail despite numerous software updates since. In cold environments where a vehicle is leaving a warm and potentially higher humidity environment such as a garage to a very cold and dry environment - just as the car begins using the sensor data the windshield will immediately fog up causing a major safety issue. This occurs with the hvac on auto and requires a shift of 30+ degrees, which is not an uncommon occurrence in cold environments. 50 degree garage to 17 degree outside for example.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated that the adaptive cruise control was activated during the failure. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,169.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently made a sudden stop and then lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, and the contact was informed that the inverter failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 9,000.

I believe that Tesla's autosteer and Full self driving features are improperly designed. I will speak to them as if they were one and the same. I noticed that you have a check box for Lane Keeping Assistance above, but there is no checkbox for coercive auto steering, which is Tesla's product. The only ability it offers as far as steering the car is to forcibly disengage the autosteering feature. This is not assistance and this is the problem. A properly designed Lane Keeping Assistance feature continuously monitors driver steering action, lane position, and traffic conditions. If the Lane Keeping Assistance system finds itself 'alone' with little or no measurable input from the driver, action is called for. With the Tesla, the feature has an embarrassingly stupid 'driver attention check' which, until recently, could be easily defeated by the simple addition of a weight to one side of the steering wheel or the other. In a misguided attempt to correct this ridiculously poor design, they have recently made matters much worse. Now they distract the driver's attention from driving by forcing the playing of some sort of 'patty cake' type game, which does prove alertness of the driver, but detracts from the real and necessary work of circumventing the actual threats encountered in everyday driving. In short, a proper Lane Keeping Assistance feature should not be totally ignorant of the driver's subtle driving moves (it's an excellent feature as long as autosteering isn't engaged) an

The contact leased a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the center display failed to operate as designed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle; however, while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. A message indicating that the trunk was opened was displayed. There was also a question displayed whether the contact wished to continue driving. The contact tapped the option YES however, the touch pad center display failed to respond. The contact exited the vehicle and attempted to close the trunk several times; however, the trunk reopened independently. The contact was able to close the trunk after eight attempts. The contact was able to continue driving to her residence. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle, the trunk reopened independently. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and assisted the contact with towing the vehicle to the local Tesla Service Center where it was diagnosed that an unknown software had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer declined to provide additional information. The failure mileage was approximately 15,460.

The cabin heater stopped working. I received an error code "VCFRONT_a447" recommending to take the vehicle in for service. This issue is a problem in sub-zero climates where the windshield will not defrost before and during driving. I have found 67 other cases from reddit and tesla motors club describing the same issue, on new or <2 years old cars. My components have not been inspected. I tried a full hard reboot of the software and no fix. Tesla service estimates $1,792 repair. Replacing a Supermanifold ($450.37) & A/C compressor ($1273.53) +tax =$1792. I am out of warranty by milage, car is 1.5 years old. 60,200 miles.

I'm getting a notification that says " cabin climate control system requires service cabin heating/cooling limited or unavailable". As a result of this failure the defroster is not working properly. The windshield defroster will only blow cold air very slowly. This causes the windshield to fog up very quickly in cold temperatures. I cannot see out of the windshield properly.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

While using cruise control on a cross country drive, there have been numerous instances of phantom braking in my Tesla Model 3 SR+ (2021). This has been occurring during both day and night driving on the highway, at speeds of 65-75mph. It appears to happen most frequently when there’s a slight up-hill on the highway followed by a slight downhill and then phantom brake, but there have been instances on flat highway road at night with phantom braking taking place.

It has been weeks and Tesla has still not provided a fix for this issue. It was supposed to be resolved over the air but we have called Tesla for weeks and they have no idea when the fix will be available. Do they have a time limit to resolve? Sep 19,2022 Manufacturer Recall NumberTBD NHTSA Recall Number22V702 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete

I have had the car for about 1.5 years. In the last week it has started to have phantom braking where on a clear, flat road with no traffic, it suddenly has hard braking and slows from about 65 mph down to 40-50 mph. This has occurred when operating on Autopilot with the cruise control and autosteer on. There is a risk of a rear collision with this sudden braking. There was no warning. I do not have Full Self Driving.

Model 3 sudden Max speed reduction (60/55 to 25/30) when using Autopilot. This happens every time and in multiple areas when driving on I-4 through Orlando, FL.

Driving in empty highway, no cars in front of me for great distances, on cruise control, the car would all of sudden perform hard braking. It happened many times in the course of two 6 hour drives over a weekend and I couldn't figure out what scenarios were predisposing to this. I also tried out autosteer (not autopilot) and it did it in autosteer too. It was very hard braking, not just disengaging, and so I just drove without cruise control because it is too dangerous and risks getting rear-ended because I am braking without warning and for no reason.

The Tesla uses “auto high beam” when in autopilot. The pros of this can allow drivers to utilize the light so the cameras can detect anything to avoid any possible wrecks, but it does not have an option to be turned off. Along with other people online, my brights have flashed at people on the interstate and highways or haven’t turned off at all. This is irritating and limits the way I am comfortable with using autopilot. Please inform Tesla to make the auto high beam feature OPTIONAL.

I was on a road trip on rural highways in Texas and New Mexico. The adaptive cruise control/autopilot system repeatedly hit the brakes when driving at highway speeds for no apparent reason. This would happen even though there were no cars in front of me or other obstructions in the roadway. If there had been another car behind me there would have been risk of a rear end collision because the car would unexpectedly significantly reduce speed. A few times when this happened, the car made warning sounds, but most of the time it would not provide any warning at all. I have tried making a service request with the manufacturer, but they claim that there are no hardware problems with the car and I have to wait for a firmware update.

The TPMS alerted me that the front driver tire was low at 36 psi. Pulled into gas station within a mile from initial alert and when I unscrewed the valve cap the valve stem broke and shot out of the tire and the tire deflated. The components were found and are available for inspection. The car has not been repaired yet and is currently at the Tesla Service Center in Agoura Hills at 28721 Bldg A Canwood Street Agoura Hills, CA. I drive two children under 5 and am lucky this did not occur at high speeds or while the vehicle was in operation at any speed. There is no reason this should have happened. There was no prior damage to the wheel or tire.

During a road trip from Oklahoma to California and back my Model 3 suddenly and abruptly braked coming almost to a stop on up highway while cruise control was engaged. The braking was such that it caused occupants to lunge forward and seatbelts pretension. This aggressive braking is a common occurrence with Tesla and has been called “phantom braking”. This is not the first time this has happened to me. This is a recurring issue

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH up a hill, the vehicle made a sudden stop without any warning, causing the contact and his wife go forward in their seats. The contact accelerated and the vehicle continued to operate normally. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the computer needed to be checked. The failure mileage was 4,100.

In vehicle speaker system occasionally resets, keeping speakers from making noise during a 5-10 second window. This keeps in-vehicle chimes and collision warnings from sounding at appropriate volumes.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 10-15 MPH through standing water, he heard an abnormal sound coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle, he noticed that the rear bumper had separated from the frame. The contact found the rear bumper on the ground a block away from his residence. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla Service Center who informed the contact that the failure was caused by water damage. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to an auto collision repair shop where the vehicle could be repaired by his insurance provider. The failure mileage was approximately 59,800.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle inadvertently decelerated to 20 MPH and experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

Driver side window fails to lock completely upon locking the car manually and/or using auto walk away function. This leaves the car very much unsecure and open to being vandalized. Additionally, the driver sides window fails to close fully when auto close button is pressed. The driver side window button has to be fiddled with few times to get a complete window seel.

Traveling between Colorado and Missouri, multiple instances of "phantom braking" where, without warning, the car would brake suddenly and very sharply, such that the tires would squeal and items in the back seat slid onto the floor. There were no obstacles, the weather was clear and there was no reason for it to do so. We were only using the cruise control and not the self driving program. Our safety was put at risk because had a car or truck been behind us, a severe rear end collision could have occurred. We were traveling at highway speeds at the time this occurred. We requested a service appointment but Tesla told us this could not be addressed in a service appointment. Tesla said this would be addressed in future updates. We told Tesla this was unsatisfactory and dangerous. We wanted the car inspected and the problem addressed but Tesla said the service appointment could not do anything. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms before the failure. In fact the braking did not even disengage the cruise control, which normally is the case when the brake is applied. This had occurred previously and Tesla said it would be fixed with a computer update in July 2022. Obviously it has not been fixed.

On numerous occasions since I bought the Tesla in March 2021, the car will phantom brake when using cruise control and sometimes on it's own. This happens randomly with no warning and is very dangerous as it risks my car getting rear ended. This is an ongoing problem as you know but Tesla did nothing when I reported it and is still not doing anything. NOT GOOD.

Seat sensor fail and was able to drive in the middle of the intersection to make a left turn. Since the sensor fail if vechicle is driven less the 5 mph the car will go in park- very scary when in the middle trying to turn left

Since owning this car in January 2022, there have been issues of phantom braking during cruise control or autopilot. However, today 10/6/22 during an hour and a half time frame my car has had phantom braking episodes at least 5 times in the middle of the highway where it's speed suddenly drops by 20mph.

Driving with cruise control on following another vehicle 150 yards in front of me. I'm not even using Auto-Pilot because on how dangerous and unpredictable it is. I'm using Normal Cruise Control, which is also a disaster. A car built in 80s can perform cruise control without any hassle. It phantom braked and the vehicle behind me had to take corrective action. This has to be addressed to be fixed. Ditching radar for "vision" was a huge mistake that puts mine and many other lives in danger. A simple cruise control feature that every car is equipped with shouldn't be a death sentence waiting to happen.

We have experienced numerous occasions of phantom braking, or sudden breaking while using the adaptive cruise control. The dealer could not find and mechanical or software problem although the issue persists. This is unsafe because the vehicles breaks suddenly and aggressively from speed without warning and when no breaking action is needed. I fear being rear ended by a following vehicle and have been reluctant to use cruise control. Warnings appear intermittently regarding camera visibility and needing cleaning the cameras have been clear when this warning appeared.

Complaint: Phantom Braking -- My wife and I took ownership of our 2021 Tesla Model 3 at the beginning of July 2021. We experienced what is referred to as Phantom Braking (Car initiating sudden braking while at highway speeds). We took it on a 3,000+ mile road trip to visit national parks in the western United States. Having owned electric vehicles since 2015, we found Tesla's charging network to be reliable and hassle-free to operate. On a few long stretches of road in Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah we engaged model 3's adaptive cruise control. Three times during that trip, between July 2nd and July 8th, 2021, the car braked hard, without warning, while traveling at highway speeds. From what we could determine, shadows cast on the road at the approaching side of gentle hills, with the sun in front of us, may have been interpreted by the car's camera's as an approaching or stationary object on the road. This was very unnerving and caused us to lose faith in the adaptive cruise control system. This was both disappointing and a bother since it meant that we were driving a 50 thousand dollar car without cruise control, making driving a more tiresome experience. This past labor day weekend, 2022, we drove to Las Vegas on the same Tesla model 3 and again activated the adaptive cruise control while driving in Nevada. We thought that by now the periodic software updates would have fixed the problem. This time the Phantom Braking occurred more frequently and on seemingly level sections of

Tesla allows owners to enroll as FSD beta testers however, the owner cannot unenroll when they request. The FSD beta is extremely dangerous and makes the use of even ACC impossible to use. I have requested to leave the beta via emailing [email protected], which an automatic response is received stating to unenroll respond to that email with your VIN and they will process the request. However, they do not process the request; I have sent dozens of email requests with no response and am still stuck in the beta software queue. I have attempted to submit service requests but the app recognizes the verbiage and blocks the submissions, stating to send the email instead. There is no other method to contact Tesla.

Pillar cameras constantly complain blocked or blinded. Services refused to even look into the issue blaming glare from the sun, even when happening to both on opposite sides of the car at the same time. Report it even happens at night I am told it might be too dark for the camera. Did not occur like this on my 2019 Tesla Model 3. This seems to be causing random unexpected lane departure alerts or failures in lane keeping on cruise control or with lane assist. Message are extremely frequent and distracting. Message placement is blocked by arm while holding the steering wheel requiring me to take my eyes off the road to read. Been complaining about this for months, one of the two cameras (drivers side) was replaced which improved the issues with that side complaining but passenger side complains extremely often. Drivers side issue not 100% resolved but improved after replacement, possible cabling or MCU/ECU issue. Instead of looking at the issue Tesla insists the cameras must be dirty, moisture, too bright, too dark, etc. And fails to even examine components. Recent appointment canceled by Tesla after the scheduled date and time without notice. Camera doesn't appear to detect or recognize people or objects in that cameras visions creating what appears to be a blind spot when viewing in vehicle display. Have repeatedly seen person walking around my car will disappear from the screen around the passenger front quarter but reappear when in front of the vehicle or by the rear quart