What 592 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Tesla Model 3 Bev

Error message from tesla: front passenger safety restraint system fault. Potentially impaired airbag deployment for passenger. Tesla fixed it under warranty in 2021. The issue is appearing again and I am out of warranty. The car will warn me once every 15 minutes (very annoying).

NHTSA ODI 11607269

An error has displayed on the screen stating: "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault RCM_a056 Service is Required" and reaching out to the local Tesla service center, I discovered the prescribed repair costs $1600. After searching online for other owner's experience with the error, I discovered that this is a common issue caused by a wire connection to the seat control model coming loose due to a poorly tensioned connector. Those other owners have reported that Tesla knows about this issue in their manufacturing and is refusing to fix the issue or issue a recall even though it is a safety issue.

NHTSA ODI 11606031

Seat weight sensor does not always work. This results in the car putting itself into park while reversing / driving at low speeds. This also results in the car both not booting up / shitting down correctly depending on if it thinks someone is in the car.

NHTSA ODI 11604490

FRONT PASSANGER SAFETY RESTRAINT SYSTEM FAULT

NHTSA ODI 11596421

"front left safety restraint system fault/service is required" this is the error message, and i am being charged over $300 for a faulty seat wiring harness being replaced out of warranty for a massive safety issue

NHTSA ODI 11595185

I have a known safety issue with my Tesla model 3. There is a fault in the clips, requiring a filter clip to allow the safety restraint system to work appropriately. Tesla admits this is a known manufacturer fault but still charges 400$ to correct it.

NHTSA ODI 11590987

Car giving message 'front passenger safety system error'. Scheduled service with Tesla and was given a qoute of $2500. I checked online and found that this is a common problem where seats have been replaced, some harness under seat is issue and in some cases airbags were replaced. Seems to be a common safety issue which is manufacturing defect and should be recalled with no cost fix. Given it is a safety issue, I cannot drive with a passenger on front seat.

NHTSA ODI 11591006

The car has a feature which adjust the seats for easy entry and for a driver based on driver profile. This results in the drivers seat to automatically adjust per profile. It seems overtime this damages a cable or connection under the seat, resulting in a fault in the sensor which recognizes a driver being present in the seat in case of emergency, ie determines if it should deploy airbag. Right now our car is showing this error and it’s only present when the seat adjust for my partner who is a shorter driver. Tesla has stated previously that this would be around $250 to repair, could only do it in person at the repair center. Online I’ve seen reports of onsite techs making the repair in less that 5 minutes with no or minimal charge for a replacement sensor or cable.

NHTSA ODI 11590177

Tesla model 3 frequently displays front passenger safety restraint system fault message. This message is hard to take seriously as it comes and goes. It is rather confusing as the message full disappears if full self driving is enabled or subscribed. While I got the message on the display consistently from Jan to March 2024 I did not get the message during moth of April as I had free trial full self driving enabled. Now the full self driving grinders ended, the message is back. I am paying tesla to troubleshoot and fix. I believe this issue should looked by NHTSA and possible issue a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11587983

The car's main screen displayed an error message, "front passenger safety restraint fault. service required." According to on line user groups this same safety system fault has occurred in many Tesla Model 3 cars. In my case, Tesla replaced the occupancy sensor harness in the seat and replaced the passenger side air bag, for a total price of $1800. Replacing the air bag was by far the most expensive part of the repair, but it wasn't defective, it was merely incompatible with the new sensor. With a repair this expensive, many car owners will be tempted to forego the entire repair, since the warning doesn't prevent the car's operation. Tesla should recall all Model 3s and repair the problem, otherwise many drivers will be tempted to drive with a defective sensor system.

NHTSA ODI 11575684

In July 2023 we started receiving airbag fault messages on the main screen, “Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault". Based on our research this meant that in the event of an accident the airbag would most likely not deploy. We tried to schedule service and due to a "bug with the recent update" we could not get the invoice through their app or schedule the actual service for over a week. After contacting Tesla multiple times we got scheduled and had to drive to a service center instead of mobile service coming to us. This turned out to be a known fault due to the lack of an Occupant Classification System (OCS) Filter Module on the 2017-2019 Model 3. We were charged $165.89 to install what should have been provided for free on a recall to all affected model years. Upon arrival to the center they told me it could end up costing thousands of dollars if they had to replace the airbags, wiring harnesses and other components. That car was about 4 years and 1 month old, and just under 70K miles at the time, so the airbag system should not be failing. Those costs could be prohibitive for some owners, causing them to drive with an unsafe car. Luckily the service center tried the cheapest option first, which was installing the filter that is now standard equipment on all 2020 model years and later. The fact that Tesla now installs that filter as standard shows that it is necessary, and should have been provided to all previous model years as a free recall. Details can be found in the service bulletin that Tesla has already submitted to NHTSA at [XXX] . If that link doesn't work it is [XXX] from [XXX], 2019. This is a known issue for the affected year models that is fixed with an OCS filter module on newer models, that can be installed in a short time on older models. The lack of that module puts users at risk of the airbags not deploying as designed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11566767

Repeat error messages of "Front safety restraint" on the screen followed by passenger window not rolling down. This has happened in June 2023, October 2023 and December 2023. The tesla windows need to roll down half inch for the doors to be closed. Because the windows get locked, i cannot close the doors. Because the doors are not closed i cannot drive the car. the other connected problem is that the passenger side mirror is folded and cannot be unfolded. Every time we log a service ticket with Tesla, they do not give an explanation on the problem and just mention it as a software problem. in July 2023 when the safety restraint problem was fixed, it was invoiced as seat repair.

NHTSA ODI 11560255

Warning message regarding passenger safety restraint system. Code RCM_056

NHTSA ODI 11558807

I get an intermittent error message: RCM_a021 Front left safety restraint system fault service is required Tesla service charges nearly $360 for this repair. I have understood from owners with the same issue that the connector to the seat belt pretensioner is the issue. Several owners have the same issue.

NHTSA ODI 11548745

The issue pertains to a persistent warning message that displays "front passenger safety restraint system fault" with associated error code "rcm_a056". This warning suggests a potential malfunction in the safety restraint system, which could pose a significant risk to the passenger in the event of an accident. Tesla Service quoted $1180 for the repair including replacing the front passenger airbag and retrofitting SBR in the OCS passenger seat. This issue appears commonly reported among social groups.

NHTSA ODI 11531735

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the Front Passenger Restraint System Fault message was displayed. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the front passenger’s side seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.

NHTSA ODI 11500802

TOOK MY CAR FIVE TIMES FOR BRAKE/SUSPENSION CLICKING, DRIVER SEAT NOISE (BULLETIN ALREADY AVAILABLE), AND STEERING COLUMN RATTLE ( ADVISED BY TESLA TO MOVE THE STEERING A LITTLE BECAUSE IT TOUCHING THE INSTRUMENT PANEL ( BAD DESIGN AND SHOULDN'T THE CUSTOMER CHANGE HIS COMFORT TO COMFORT THE BAD DESIGN BY TESLA.), ALSO HAS ISSUE WITH CAMERA MOIST THAT PREVENT BLIND SPOT AND AUTOPILOT LANE CHANGE WORKS IN MOISTUR WEATHER, SEAT BELT RATTLE. ALL THESE ISSUE WITH SOME HAS BULLETIN THEY SAID NORMAL AND CHARGE ME FOR CHECKING IT WHILE MY CAR UNDER WARRANTY. ALL ISSUES ARE WHILE DRIVING EXCEPT BATTERY BREATHER SUPERCHARGING

NHTSA ODI 11414073