About two weeks ago with driver set cruise control, the phantom braking was so severe that it took me down from 75 to around 15 if I remember correctly. The braking was so severe and at the same time self steered to the edge of the road along the guard rail that my body was unable to move quicker to correct the vehicle. Your system gets jolted violently without notice which takes a couple seconds to recover from and I decided to report this one after watching the San Francisco video. Fortunately, the two vehicles behind me were far enough away. This is absolutely not OK, I have had several severe braking incidents and each time it not only takes about 2-3 seconds to correct but also created back pain.
2024 Tesla Model 3 complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2024 record →
I’m reporting an ongoing issue with the turn signal button on my 2024 Model 3, purchased a few weeks ago. From day one, the button has intermittently failed to activate. Initially, we thought we were not pressing it correctly, but after continued issues, it’s clear this is a malfunction. Last night, while driving on a busy road, the right turn signal failed repeatedly, forcing me to miss a highway ramp. This is not only frustrating but dangerous. I’ve since discovered similar complaints from other owners, which raises serious safety concerns.
This model vehicle does not have traditional turn signal stalks, it has buttons on the steering wheel to engage the left and right turn signals. Intermittently, these buttons become completely unable to be pressed, and as a result you are unable to signal turns to other drivers. This is a serious safety issue, especially in some circumstances where turn signals are critical to a given situation. Tesla Service denied any attempt to fix this issue, citing that I was not pressing the buttons hard enough. I have driven this vehicle daily for months and understand how hard to press a button. No amount of force will allow the button to press when this occurs. I provided five videos of this to Tesla Service. Online, many other owners are reporting the same issue. I have a personal friend with a 2024 Model 3 with the same issue, and Telsa Service also turned him away and threatened to charge him a fee if he reported it again and they were unable to reproduce. Here is an example of a forum of drivers reporting the same. It does appear this issue happens when a driver accidentally rests their finger on the buttons for a period of time before using them. Seems like a software issue blocking the function of the buttons - which are likely capacitive. https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/1esjzlr/turn_signal_issue_on_new_2024_tesla_model_3/
The car looses power while Driving on roads and freeways. This has happened to me 3 times in less than a month. And after every power loss I tow the vehicle to the dealer the Tesla dealer says it’s fixed but this problem has happened 3 times start Oct 11th 2024 then on the 26th and today October 28th. The vehicle turns on drives then alerts to a problem with audible alarms followed by all indicator warning lights saying there’s a problem along with the brake pulsing when applying the brake almost like ABS is working but no need for it. The car is completely powerless no power steering but the center console works. Please help and pressure Tesla for a recall on this issue
The left turn signal button will occasionally not work. Apparently this is a known issue but I have received nothing from Tesla about a fix. I took the car to Tesla Service today (currently there now) and they are telling me they will look for the problem. They gave me the same model demo car to take for a couple of hours and the same thing happened twice in a row to make lane changes on the freeway then never happened again. There are several YouTube videos about the problem. [XXX] being one. This problem makes this not only unsafe but also I could get a ticket for not signaling a turn. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Have to swerve the vehicle back and forth to get the alarm to shut off.
Using cruise control to go with the flow of traffic the vehicle will slow down for any random flashing lights far away or vehicle in next lane causing all vehicles to slow down unnecessarily. FSD and beta programming does not belong in driver set cruise control.
The button turn signal will not function about 10% of the time making it very dangerous for me when I do need to signal. People attribute this problem to resting your thumb over the button for an extended period of time and the steering wheel no longer registering the input. I believe that this is a tremendously dangerous design flaw. Tesla should return to the stalk turn signals.
While driving at highway speeds, the driver initiated what was to be a standard lane change from right to left to accommodate traffic merging onto the highway into the right-hand lane. About halfway through the lane change, the vehicle automatically and unexpectedly braked hard, locking the wheels. This led to high stress and back/neck pain. If traffic had not been light at the time, the vehicle would likely have been rear-ended. The vehicle was operating in traffic-aware cruise control during this event.
While using Traffic Aware Cruise Control the vehicle would rapidly decelerate with no warnings of potential collision and with no actual emergency situation existing on the road. In a single trip that spanned both day and night there were three rapid declaration events occurring both when light or dark outside. Vehicle display wouldn't show any messages as to the reason for declaration.
The push button turn signals occasionally do not work. The buttons are completely unable to be pushed and activated. This issue occurs several times a day when attempting lane changes, left and right turns. I am unable to duplicate the issue on-command, but it occurs often enough and in situations where it is very dangerous, particularly in traffic when a turn signal is necessary and it will not activate. When I took the car in for servicing the issue, the technician confirmed that this is a known issue. They replace the entire turn signal and steering wheel assembly. But it did not solve the issue as the issue continues. There are no warning lamps, messages, etc. It simply does not work sometimes and randomly.
Since delivery of my new Tesla Model 3, the haptic turn signal buttons intermittently fail to register inputs despite repeated presses. This issue began immediately and occurs without any warning lamps or error messages. I am requesting the NHTSA to investigate this matter promptly due to the significant safety risks posed by the malfunctioning turn signal system in the Tesla Model 3. The inability to reliably signal turns and lane changes endangers not only us but also other road users. **Safety Risk:** • At highway speeds, I was unable to signal lane changes, leading to dangerous situations where other drivers were unaware of my intentions. • In one critical incident, I needed to make an emergency lane change to avoid road obstacles but could not activate the turn signal, nearly resulting in a collision due to surrounding drivers not being alerted. • Driving in high-traffic areas like Austin increases the hazard, as the lack of signaling can lead to rear-end collisions or sideswipes from drivers unaware of merging or turning maneuvers. **Reproduction and Inspection:** First Service Attempt: Reported the issue to Tesla; they replaced the steering wheel after months of waiting. The malfunction persisted, with turn signals failing again on the drive home. Second Service Attempt: Tesla service center acknowledged the problem but stated there is no mechanical failure they can address. They informed me it's a design flaw with the haptic buttons not consistently recognizing presse
Driver set cruise control has FSD imbedded that causes the vehicle to slow down drastically on its own. The car has brake tested several following vehicles so far. I’ve seen this before many times of other Teslas but thought it was the driver and now I know it was not. This causes a chain reaction of braking and smoking tires. I am positive this has created accidents but the ones involved have no idea how it started many vehicles ahead. The lane keep assist pillar cameras do not work in the dark, this has taken me by surprise already. The phantom braking on highways is awful, it is so bad that I am afraid to drive in the winter. The torque of the wheel sensor is not safe, when auto steer disables it can take you by surprise causing you to swerve into on coming traffic. The car accused me of using a cheat device one time so I decided to try it and surprisingly I found that it is actually much safer than using my body weight. These are extremely unsafe for busy traffic and slippery roads. I have videos showing it and will get more.
Left and right turn signal buttons located on the steering wheel intermittently does not work when pressed. I have taken my car to a Tesla service appointment on 10/11/24. There diagnostic system did not show an error and Tesla choose not to offer a repair or help of any kind. I feel unsafe driving my vehicle. Upon a google search, it appears I am not the only 2024 model 3 customer with this issue. I am unable to upload a video, but I have one that I can submit if provided further instructions.
Steering wheel has buttons for turn signals (they removed stalks in 2024 model 3). I’ve had several dangerous incidents where the turn signal buttons have failed to activate. This caused me to panic and nearly get into an accident on several occasions. I brought in for service and they said this is a KNOWN problem with 2024 model 3. What a joke! They told me to bring it back in once I can replicate it 3 times again. Apparently we are lab rats.
Lane change turn signal/indicator buttons stop working. Multiple times go to change lanes and the indicators have disabled themselves. There are no stalk based turn signals/indicators on the 2024 Tesla 3, only steering wheel indicator touch buttons. Searching on internet says the buttons can disable themselves on Tesla 3 if you rest your fingers near the indicator buttons. This is a huge problem if anticipating a turn or lane change. When you are ready to legitimately use them they are often disabled causing panic and causing you to look down to understand the issue, while at speed while on highway. Feature should be disabled entirely or at least optionally disabled.. or stalks available as retrofit. Super dangerous not being able to indicate when desired. Thousands of these cars on road with same issue. While also a bad design that the signal buttons rotate with steering wheel in general, (eg. almost impossible to indicate and exit while in a traffic circle, or indicate immediate left then right turn, as the buttons are no longer at 9/3 as they would when driving straight, but now some random angle away from hands that have had to re-grip during a tight turn) the buttons disabling themselves for a perhaps 5 second period on a whim is crazy dangerous and main reason to raise this safety issue. This seemingly affects all 2024 Tesla Model 3.
The turn signals buttons for the refreshed Tesla Model 3 (Highland) get stuck, preventing drivers from activating either the left or right signal. This malfunction poses a significant safety hazard as it compromises communication with other drivers on the road. There is no indication or symptom prior to the issue appearing.
Turn signal buttons on steering wheel are getting stuck and causes them to be inoperable.
My wife and I recently purchased a new 2024 model 3 Tesla with the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving feature. We chose this vehicle because my wife has a long daily commute and we wanted to make the drive easier for her. We test drove a similar model in early August. When we were testing the Full Self-Driving feature, the car failed to safely exit the freeway three times in our short test drive, causing my wife to have to take over. Both times, the car seemed to become confused by traffic cones as it prepared to exit the freeway, causing it to either miss the exit or to change lanes rapidly and unexpectedly, nearly colliding with other vehicles. When we reported this to the employees at the Tesla dealership, we were told that the car needed a software update to address the issue. It is now a month later and we received our vehicle a couple of weeks ago. I have not heard of the release of any software update addressing the issue we experienced. Given that this is the exact feature that prompted us to purchase the car and our intention was to make things safer for my wife, not the other way around, I would very much like to find out when this will be addressed. There are many drivers who currently use the Full Self-Driving feature and I am concerned that it is extremely unsafe.
The rear motor failed on my car. It has less than 4,000 miles on it. It is already being worked on. The car barely gave me 10 seconds before it lost power, locked up and wouldn’t move. Yes. They told me the rear motor failed and needed to be replaced. Tesla inspected it themselves and confirmed the issue. Yes, they appeared 10 seconds before it died, I had no other warnings prior to that. This was extremely dangerous as I barely had time to get to a safe place.
Ever since receiving this vehicle, the turn signals will intermittently not work. This is the new 'stalkless' turn signal design, using push buttons on the steering wheel. When going to signal a lane change, either direction, the button will not register me pressing it, no matter how hard I try to mash on it. It will not signal, resulting in a dangerous, illegal situation for myself and other drivers either missing my turn, causing a distraction while trying to rectify the situation, or forcing me to make a lane change or navigate a turn without signalling. I have found a slight workaround that works some times, which is to press the button to signal the opposite direction of my intention, then switch it back. Again, this is dangerous. When I raised a service request to Tesla, the soonest available service date given was over 2 months out from when I raised the request. That means I am forced to drive a dangerous, unreliable vehicle without being able to reliably properly signal my intention to other drivers.
I am writing to express my concern regarding recent design changes implemented by Tesla Motors in their Model 3, Model S, and Model X vehicles. Tesla has removed traditional turn signal and shifting stalks from the steering wheel and replaced them with buttons. While innovation in automotive design is crucial for progress, I believe these changes have significant implications for vehicle safety and warrant thorough investigation. The traditional design of turn signal and shifting stalks has been in place for decades and has become a standardized control method universally understood by drivers. This familiarity contributes greatly to safe driving practices and allows drivers to operate their vehicles instinctively. Tesla's decision to replace these tried-and-true controls with buttons on the steering wheel is a substantial departure from this standard and may impact the muscle memory and reflexes that many drivers rely on in critical moments. Moreover, the ergonomic and cognitive effects of this new control layout have not been publicly detailed by Tesla, raising questions about whether sufficient research and testing were conducted to ensure that these changes do not negatively impact the safe operation of the vehicle. The consequences of such changes, especially in situations that require rapid response, could potentially lead to confusion, delayed reaction times, or even accidents. Given these concerns, I respectfully request that the National Highway Traffic Safety Admini
On several occasions, the turn signal indicator buttons on the steering wheel failed to activate the signal. The button appeared to be jammed, it was not possible to feel the "detent" when pressed. This puts myself and others at risk due to the inability to properly signal when preparing to make a turn which has to then be aborted. I've found the button can only be "unstuck" by clicking the opposite turn signal indicator one or more times (this act can also be confusing to surrounding drivers). This happens randomly. Vehicle was brought to service center however they were not able to replicate the concern.
There is a a very dangerous software issue with new Tesla models where there is a 1-2 second lag between when cruise control is disengaged and when it actually disengages. Especially, at high speeds this is dangerous because the car can continue maintaining acceleration for several hundred feet against driver controls. I’ve had to slam on the breaks several times because of this. This is not a glitch, and this is not unique to my tesla. It’s a known issue reported by the community that needs Tesla’s attention.
Twice, could not disengage Adaptive Cruise Control using right scroll wheel. Multiple times, haptic turn signals malfunctioning
On certain occasions, it is necessary to reboot the computer in the vehicle. This causes the entire screen to go blank for about 2 minutes. During the reboot, HVAC, the speedometer, and other functions are unavailable. I am unsure if safety feature and ADAS features are available during the reboot. My complaint is that Tesla allows the reboot to occur while the vehicle is in motion. For safety reasons, I believe that rebooting the computer should be allowed only when the vehicle is in Park.
Turn signal capacitor buttons on the steering wheel on the 2024 Model 3 occasionally do not activate while driving causing an inability to signal a lane change. This is a major safety issue and is known by Tesla who has not provided an adequate fix to many 2024 Model 3 owners who are struggling with the issue. For a quality vehicle otherwise, this concern has placed me in a many unsafe situations.
Turn signal button on the steering wheel gets stuck occasionally (it is like a mouse button, and when this happens it cannot “click”). This effectively disables the turn signal and I am thus unable to indicate.
The right scroll wheel used to turn on/off adaptive cruise and lane centering doesn't register inputs every time the button is pressed in. This makes turning the system on and off unpredictable and dangerous.
Blinkers fail to activate intermittently.
Tesla Model 3 2024 does not have stalks to enable turn signals. Instead, it has buttons on the steering wheel. Sometimes these buttons stop working, so I'm unable to enable the turn signal, which puts me and others at risk. After a few minutes, the turn signal buttons work again. This happens randomly. It has occurred three times in the first 30 days of owning the car.
Turn signal buttons on steering wheels. Place finger over turn signal toggle area continuously without pressing on the steering wheel for less than a minute or longer, unable to engage the turn signal after when pressing. Able to reliably and repeatedly replicate the event. Could be a hazard if unable to signal turn direction when needed.
This vehicle lacks a stalk for turning signals. Instead, there are two buttons on the steering wheel that are used to activate the turning signals. When the steering wheel is far from its regular position (i.e. with the front wheels pointed straight ahead), it is difficult to quickly figure out where the buttons are and which is which. This is dangerous in avoidance maneuvers. It also makes using the signals difficult in other situations, such as roundabouts. I believe that this lack of a stalk will eventually lead to accidents as users will occasionally have to change lanes or turn without signaling because they can't quickly activate a turning signal.
The right turn signal button was disabled while highway driving. I tried pressing the top/bottom/left/right and center of the turn signal button and could not engage the right turn signal to indicate a lane change. Google search suggests this is a common issue for this model/year.
When I indicate to turn right, the indicator sometimes indicates to turn left. This happens randomly but approximately once every eight times that I indicate to turn right. I reported the issue to Tesla in April 2024 and they replaced the steering wheel to verify if there was a hardware issue. This did not fix the problem. Tesla Service then informed me that it was a known software issue and that I would have to wait for a software update to fix the problem. I have been waiting for four months but no software fix has been forthcoming. I took the car back to Tesla today, and they told me that they had no ETA on the software fix. This is a dangerous issue because if I indicate to go into a right hand lane and the car signals left, then another car can turn into me from the right hand lane, which has happened on one occasion.
The turn signal buttons on the steering wheel stick at random. It is extremely dangerous and doesn’t allow for communicating to other drivers when needing to quickly turn or merge. You also have to feel around for these buttons as they’re very small and are not user friendly. You often need to take your eyes off the road to find them, and it’s increasingly dangerous.
The turn signal buttons on the wheel frequently fail to turn on the turn signals when pressed. It always seems like when I most need to use them, they fail. I already had the wheel replaced by tesla and was told "this is just how they are" To be clear, when I press the turn signal button on my steering wheel, it will feel like the button will not depress, the turn signal will not turn on, and attempting to lift my finger and place it in other locations to try to press the button will not enable the turn signal. Pushing extremely hard does not work either. It seems like I need to press the opposite direction turn signal button or randomly wait sometimes for it to resolve itself and for the turn signal buttons to work again
While driving in the right lane of an Interstate using Full Self Driving (Supervised) mode (version 12.3.6), I was behind a motorcycle that was traveling slower than I. FSD was gaining on the motorcycle, but failed to move to the passing lane. I had to disengage the system so that the car didn't get too close to, or strike, the motorcycle. I manually moved to the passing lane and reengaged FSD. The car eventually decided to move to the right lane, behind the motorcycle. Again, it was gaining on the motorcycle and got too close, so I once again had to disengage FSD. It seems like the system didn't recognize the motorcycle or didn't recognize that it was traveling than slower than my vehicle.
Several times while using Traffic Aware Cruise Control, the system will suddenly brake severely for apparently reason. At these times, I was on a lightly traveled Interstate with no vehicles ahead of me. Each time, it was during daylight hours and it was sunny. This has also occurred while using Autopilot with Autosteer and with Full Self Driving. Once, there was a vehicle close behind me, so this sudden braking can be dangerous.
The right turn signal button has become stuck for a few seconds at random times and on multiple occasions. While driving on the freeway, I pushed the button to turn the turn signal on, but the button won't push down. I keep trying to push the button, but it is stuck for a few seconds. I either have to change lanes without a signal or wait until the button works again. It is unsafe because I look down at the steering wheel to see why it isn't working. There is no warning for it.
On July/30/2024 at around 6:15pm EST I got inside my vehicle to drive it and the steering wheel was extremely hard and difficult to move. A message popped on my screen saying "Steering assist reduced" error UI_A020. This made it completely impossible to drive my vehicle and ended up having to call a tow truck to take it to the dealership. If this incident had occured while I was driving I consider it lethal to my safety since I was unable to steer the vehicle. Called Tesla on the phone, they tried to reset the error but unfortunately they couldn't and suggested calling a tow truck instead. On July/31/2024 Tesla reached out to me saying the car had been fixed and it was a firmware bug resulting in the issue (fin report attached)
2024 Model 3 Highland LR, right and left blinker buttons stuck occasionally.
Turn signals are not reliable. They get stuck from time to time and I've already had a couple of close calls
In addition to the previous problem I reported concerning the intermittent failure of the back-up camera (which was replaced but the problem continues to this date) leading to Park Assist not working, the touch screen freezing and showing no movement of the car, and the speed control not working, I've also discovered on a freeway trip after putting the car into reverse first that navigation was not usable and the turn signals failed to automatically turn off when the lane change was made. After a rest stop, though, everything worked just fine again. This time I'm writing about the pedestrian warning sounds which do not play when reversing or driving forward at a slow rate of speed. Two of my neighbors have Tesla Model Ys that sound properly; it dawned on me that even with the windows open, I'd never heard the sounds coming out of my car since I took delivery of it on March 30, 2024.
The left and right turn signals are not functioning at times. My car is very new. I did not get into any accidents that would compromise the car's hardware. It is dangerous when I need to switch lanes or make a turn because I am unable to apply the indicator button on the steering wheel. the button gets stuck and I am unable to use it at the time of need. sometimes when I try to press the button, instead of the turn signal, radio starts. It is both stressful and such a headache. it is illegal to switch lanes without turn signals. it is frustrating to drivers on other cars, sometimes dangerous even. in high traffic areas like the bay area, california(where I drive) it is bound to cause some accidents if this is left unresolved. I am sometimes afraid I would cause harm to others because of this system failure and also get cited by the cops. Also, I spent a hefty money on this car. I think it is ridiculous that they did not get this basic part right that cars that were manufactured before the 1900s also manage to have a proper left/right indicator.
Occasionally the turn signal button cannot be pressed down to make a turn signal. This event has happened quite a few times during some urgent moments when I need to exit the highway and gives us a big concern. I heard from many other owners that Tesla just replace your steering wheel, but it dose not fix the problem. It is not because of pressing on the wrong area of the button. This should be a systematic issue.
Tesla removed the physical stalks for turn signals and replaced with buttons on the steering wheel that get stuck when pressed preventing you from indicating at all. Further, putting turn signals on a steering wheel means that the orientation can change when trying to indicate in any situation other than driving on a straight away. This is incredibly dangerous for the driver and other surrounding vehicles. There are numerous blog posts out there with similar driver experiences. Most people who report this issue also report that after Tesla replaces their wheel, the same problem happens again.
The steering wheel buttons on the left include left/right signal indicators buttons that get stuck. This is a problem that is discussed by multiple drivers on online forums. Others are indicating that there isn’t a fix when reported to Tesla. The left/right indicator design is distracting at best and dangerous when not working properly. The approval of the design should be revoked.
Turn signal buttons on steering wheel fail to activate turn signals at times. Intermittent problem. When it works, I can feel a click from the button. When it doesn’t work, no haptic feedback received.
The right turn blinker button on the steering wheel freezes in many occasions while the vehicle is in motion. Unable to signal right turn when the button freezes randomly. It happened four times to my vehicle during a 40 minute driving trip on Sunday [XXX]. Prior to the incident on [XXX], the same issue had occurred occasionally while driving but with less frequency compared to [XXX]. This issue was brought to the attention of Tesla service center in Syosset NY on [XXX] and I have been told that it was a firmware issue and there was nothing they could do at the moment other than waiting for firmware update. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2024 Tesla Model 3 → · Every Model 3 year → · How the figures are calculated →