What 982 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model 3 (all Variants)

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

NHTSA ODI 11459282

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.

NHTSA ODI 11458607

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.

NHTSA ODI 11458674

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.

NHTSA ODI 11457591

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.

NHTSA ODI 11457513

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.

NHTSA ODI 11457391

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.

NHTSA ODI 11456770

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.

NHTSA ODI 11456690

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.

NHTSA ODI 11456493

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

NHTSA ODI 11455867

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.

NHTSA ODI 11455642

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.

NHTSA ODI 11455634

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.

NHTSA ODI 11455133

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.

NHTSA ODI 11455066

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.

NHTSA ODI 11454870

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.

NHTSA ODI 11454599

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.

NHTSA ODI 11453824

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.

NHTSA ODI 11453846

regularly experience phantom breaking and unwarranted early collision warnings

NHTSA ODI 11453589

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.

NHTSA ODI 11453711

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.

NHTSA ODI 11453419

While traveling from San Diego, CA to Louisiana on the self-drive mode the car abruptly stopped in traffic 3 times (while this was at night there was no concern for an accident). On the return trip back home it did it 1 more time in the daylight hours, but this time there was an 18 wheeler behind me. We were doing the speed limit at the time, which was 75mph and it slammed on the brakes making me go from 75 mph to 60 in seconds. I was able to take control of the vehicle and get it back to highway speed before there was an accident.

NHTSA ODI 11453519

"PHANTOM BRAKING" when cruise control is on, usually when on the freeway. Sometimes it occurs next to other vehicles, sometimes there are no cars around. On a 600 mile trip it will often occur at least once and most of the time 2-3 times. If it was slippery, the sudden braking could cause loss of traction. If someone was too close behind me they could rear-end me. No one has inspected the issue. Has been occurring since I've owned the car. No warnings.

NHTSA ODI 11453452

On several occasions while driving with autopilot on the car has suddenly and inexplicably braked HARD while at highway speed. Each time there was nothing in the road, no car, no obstruction, no anything, but it was as if the car saw something that wasn't there and jammed on the brakes. I quickly took back over and returned to highway speed. Luckily we were not in heavy traffic or I would have been concerned about being rear-ended by another vehicle. I don't do a lot of road trips with the car and have used autopilot less as a result, but I would guess it has happened 4-6 times since I have owned the vehicle. I just thought it was a glitch that they would work out but just saw reports of others still experiencing this issue so thought I should report it so you were aware of the breadth of the problem. The date below is a total guess as to the last occurrence.

NHTSA ODI 11453070

Since we purchased this car 3 years ago, when driving with the cruise control, it has in appropriately applied the brakes. This is a ongoing problem. This is a frequent occurrence (once or twice during 100 mile drives) mostly on 4 lane high ways. The most common situation where this happens is on a uphill rise in the highway and a overpass at the top of the hill. It can be a slight application of brake or a very strong application which is very dangerous with a large truck or close following car behind you. I only use cruise control to rest my foot on long rides and turn it off when approaching a over pass. There are other times it is turned on when a truck passes on the other lane or a car entering the high way from an entrance ramp that the white lines are worn out. We only use the cruise control with great care.

NHTSA ODI 11453071