What 748 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Tesla Model 3

I took my car to Tesla service to have 3 tires changed. On the drive home for the service, the car automatically pulled the to right several times with the final time pulling so hard, the car jumped the curb and damaged the car. Speaking with the Tesla service associate after the accident, they admitted that they did not complete alignment of the tires and that the automatic lane correction mechanism uses the alignment to gauge if it should correct or not. Tesla service will not take responsibility for causing the issue.

NHTSA ODI 11673159

While traveling at approximately 70 miles per hour on an interstate, the vehicle's automatic emergency braking system engaged multiple times in rapid succession—approximately five separate braking events. Each time, the system falsely detected an obstacle, which it appeared to interpret as a person in front of the vehicle. In reality, there was nothing on the road; the system was reacting to a roof-mounted strap that was fluttering slightly in view of the forward sensors. These false positives caused the vehicle to brake suddenly and forcefully, creating a highly dangerous situation for vehicles behind me. Multiple drivers were forced to swerve to avoid a collision. Thankfully, no crash occurred, but the repeated unexpected braking posed a serious risk to my safety and the safety of others on the highway. Additionally, I had previously disabled the automatic emergency braking feature in the vehicle's settings. However, I later discovered that this system reactivates by default every time the vehicle is restarted. There is currently no option to permanently disable this feature, meaning drivers must manually turn it off for each individual trip, which is not clearly communicated by the system. This issue has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer or a dealer. No warning lights or error messages appeared before or during the braking events.

NHTSA ODI 11670491

During operation steering wheel becomes heavy and difficult to turn and becomes notchy. Very difficult to stay in ones own lane.

NHTSA ODI 11669363

I was traveling northbound on [XXX} in Sugar Grove, IL with the traffic aware cruise control on. As I passed under [XXX] the car braked heavily for no reason. No cars in the area...thankfully. I could have easily been rear-ended. It has done this on more than one occasion at this location. I filed a "bug-report" via the right hand button on the steering wheel. I was also traveling [XXX] near Lasalle-Peru with the cruise control on at about 80 mph when the vehicle suddenly braked heavily. No cars around at all. The moment was extremely frightening. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11667444

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse into a parking spot, the cameras failed to activate, along with the sensors, which included the backup sensors failed to alert that there was an object. As a result, the contact crashed in reverse into a cement pole on the front driver's side door and mirror. No property damage was reported, and the vehicle came to a stop upon the contact depressing the brake pedal. The air bags were not deployed. The vehicle was going 5 MPH at the time of the crash. The contact attempted to retrieve the recording of the crash, and there was no record. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was not destroyed. No injuries were reported. The local dealer was contacted, however the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 17,290.

NHTSA ODI 11666026

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in self-driving mode, the vehicle was supposed to merge into the right lane, however the vehicle accelerated into the left lane, and another vehicle collided into the front driver side of the vehicle. The contact stated that he did not sustain any injuries, however the passenger stated he sustained injuries, but the injuries were unknown. No medical attention was required. The contact stated that a police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to dealer where it was diagnosed that the software needs to be updated. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was still drivable after the incident. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 104,547.

NHTSA ODI 11664877

Rodents Chew on Car Wires Consequences of Rodent Damage: Malfunctioning Components: Chewed wires can lead to a variety of problems, including issues with the engine, lights, sensors, and other electrical components. Expensive Repairs: Repairing or replacing damaged wiring harnesses can be costly, potentially running into the thousands of dollars. Safety Hazards: Damaged wiring can pose safety risks, potentially causing electrical shorts, fires, or malfunctions while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11661955

The power lift‑gate strut PN 1551489‑00‑B failed, bent inward, and shattered the rear glass on 16  May 2025. A known defect: Tesla superseded the part to PN 1551488‑00‑C in Oct 2023. Local Tesla Service center declined goodwill coverage to resolve the issue.

NHTSA ODI 11661529

When the vehicle is set to regenerative braking mode, lifting off the accelerator pedal causes the car to decelerate significantly. However, in many cases, the brake lights do not illuminate during this process. This could potentially create a safety risk, as drivers behind may not realize the car is slowing down and may not respond in time. tesla

NHTSA ODI 11660263

Wy wife and I drove our Tesla Model 3 from Palo Alto, CA to San Francisco downtown, to meet friends. I was the driver, and my wife sat on the passenger seat. The weather was clear, and the pavement was dry. I did not engage auto-pilot features during the entire trip. The car condition was normal with no signs of error or warning. I made a right turn onto [XXX] from [XXX] Shortly after I completed the turn, the car unexpectedly lost control. Without any prior warnings, it suddenly veered into the center divider, snapped a tree, dashed towards oncoming traffic on the other side of [XXX] , and finally stopped on [XXX] , labelled as location A on the attached drawing. Everything happened so quickly: I could not control the steering wheel, and I applied the brakes in vain. The vehicle seized control, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I regained control of the vehicle at the intersection of [XXX] and [XXX] , and was able to park the car at location A. We were very fortunate and blessed that we did not hit people at the bus stop, that there were no cars in front of us, that the opposite traffic on [XXX] was stopped by a red light, and that the traffic was light on [XXX] Without such luck, my wife and I, and probably others, would have been seriously injured, if not worse. Because [XXX] is one-way, we decided to move the vehicle to [XXX] , and parked at location B in the drawing. I called 911 and spoke to a female dispatcher. She asked us to remain at location B and wait for police officers to arrive. We waited there for almost 3 hours, but no police arrived. The dashboard display indicated that we had a flat tire(s). We called mobile tire services. After their inspection, most of our tires were alright, except the rim of the front-left wheel was badly bent, as you can see in the attached photo. The mobile tire service staff was skilled enough to carefully patch the damage and said it should be OK to drive back to Palo Alto. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11658826

If you are on a hill and you accidently press both the brake an accelerator, the car will fall to neutral and free roll. In whatever direction is downhill. I have big feet. Happened again to me, I bumped the brake pedal (but not enough to apply the brakes to stop) when attempting to pull forwards slowly and my car beeped with the "both pedals detected pressed" alert. and then it free rolled backwards (because I was on an uphill). THIS WILL CAUSE AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE THE CAR IS NOT SUPPOSED TO FREE ROLL BACKWARDS WHEN IN DRIVE, THIS IS A SAFETY PROBLEM. It has been 4 years now, and no action has been taken to adress this software defect. a NORMAL gas car does NOT do this. If you bump the brake in a normal gas car, IT DOES NOT FREE ROLL IN ANY DIRECTION. This is a tesla software problem that tesla needs to promptly fix ASAP!!!!!

NHTSA ODI 11658650

Passenger safety restraint system fault error appears on and off without any correlation to driving conditions or passenger presence. This error is potentially deadly since it will cause the passenger airbag not to deploy in an accident.

NHTSA ODI 11658350

We received a Front passenger safety restraint system fault on our car. When a passenger sits in the seat the fault is not displayed. This was not a software update and the sensor was faulty and could cause the airbags not to go off. The sensor was faulty in the seat but because we were out of warranty we had to pay for the repair. Clearly they have seen this issue and said it was not a recall but a bulletins and bulletins were a caution, they made us pay for the repair.

NHTSA ODI 11656184

Forward collision warning was falsely triggered causing the car to inappropriately apply the brakes twice in one drive. This causes the car to brake harshly and causes cars behind me to either swerve or slam their brakes. This causes a chain reaction of extremely dangerous behavior. The forward collision warning system is far too sensitive when there’s literally no obstacles to cause a collision or avoid.

NHTSA ODI 11651170

The cars forward collision warning system is far too sensitive and braked extremely hard when there was nothing to collide with. This caused the car behind me to slam their brakes and they got rear ended. This needs to be forced on Tesla to be addressed

NHTSA ODI 11650616

Two false collision warnings were triggered when in fact, there was nothing to collide with. This caused the car to brake extremely forcefully nearly causing another can to rear end me in midday traffic. If they would have hit me, it easily would have caused a 10+ car accident.

NHTSA ODI 11649834

The forward collision warning system is too sensitive. When cars are in a completely different lane, the car will sometimes think they are in your lane when they’re aren’t. This forces the FWC warning to alert and the brakes to slam. When this happens cars behind you sometimes swerve or nearly rear end me. This happened twice today march 14th.

NHTSA ODI 11648420

Sometime I have power steering and sometime I don’t have power steering assist sometime came back and was driving and car just took my wheel to left itself on [XXX] 2 times on same spot was coming out of highway didn’t have no cruise or self driving On all was off INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11647496

As I was approaching a green light with stopped vehicles the car caught glare from the car ahead of me thinking it was stopping when it was turning. This caused aggressive breaking mid turn and caused a spike in my insurance as well as decrease in my safety score. I reported this as a bug to the car but they never get checked for fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11645642

I was driving over an overpass on to the free way. It was about 11am. The steering wheel locked in a turning position, driving the car off the overpass. I was able to yank the wheel and get it back straight. The auto pilot was not on, the cruise control was not on. I drove it straight to the service center, i though i should call so i put the car in curise control to pull out my phone but decided against it and turned it off at 11:15. Now the service center says they can not duplicate it they are telling me nothing is wrong. This has never happened before. I have never had any issues with my car.

NHTSA ODI 11645163

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that after having a software update completed on the vehicle, while the defroster was activated, the windshield failed to clear up as needed. The contact stated that the heater also failed to operate as needed. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact learned of a recall for the failure however, the contact was unable to confirm if the VIN was previously included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the next repair was not covered under the recall. The failure mileage was 83,000.

NHTSA ODI 11643931

* The AC/Heat Pump Compressor and Supermanifold has failed at 64k miles. Vehicle is undrivable and parked at this time. * AC/Heat Pump Compressor and Supermanifold prevents the windshield from being cleared/defrosted/defogged, causing visibility issues and a danger to myself and others. * Vehicle remotely diagnosed and quote received totalling $3047.52 to repair the issue. * Components have not been removed from the vehicle yet. * There were no warnings prior to the failure of the AC/Heat Pump Compressor and Supermanifold.

NHTSA ODI 11643728

My car just made 50k and is out of warranty and the headlight fail. I contacted Tesla and they quote $1800 to fix it. When I went on the internet and found out that this is very common and seems to be a bad design. Can you do anything so they redesign and recall so we consumers are not ripped off by Tesla? I know is a long shot now that Elon is running the government but I have nowhere else to complain. Thank you

NHTSA ODI 11641101

Computer system improperly triggered two false forward collision warning while changing lanes, today, on 02/02/2025. These forward collision warnings and applied excessive braking for no reason causing an increased chance of being rear ended or losing control. In heavy traffic, the car is constantly creating dangerous situations like this and the sensitivity of the forward collision warnings needs to be dialed back when the blinker is on or while in between lanes.

NHTSA ODI 11640233

The car was advertised at 312miles on the battery. It is 265. The charging takes 45 to hr and I was lied to about the mileage overage and the ability to purchase the car. This car isn't as advertised. I reached out to tesla and they do t offer any solution. I was scammed. I want to return the car. The tires do t last as the cars are too heavy. If the tires don't last 1 yr that's a defect.

NHTSA ODI 11639558