What 108 owners told NHTSA about the 2025 Tesla Model 3

On June 19, 2025, while parking my brand new 2025 Tesla Model 3 in a residential lot, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated forward over a curb, crashed through a iron fence, and struck an outdoor A/C unit and patio furniture on the back of a neighbor’s unit. The car became stuck and had to be towed. On June 19, 2025, while parking my newly delivered Tesla Model 3, the vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly lurched forward, resulting in a crash. I was parking slowly and cautiously with my foot on the brake at all times. According to a neighbor who witnessed the incident, I was moving at a very slow speed when the vehicle suddenly surged forward without warning. I did not intend to accelerate, and I firmly believe this may have been the result of a system malfunction—possibly involving the vehicle’s sensors, software, or misinterpretation of pedal input. Tesla Service reviewed the driving log and stated that it showed I “stepped on the accelerator.” I respectfully dispute this conclusion, as the vehicle’s behavior was completely inconsistent with my actions. I am a careful, experienced driver with no prior accidents in over 30 years of driving. This incident raises serious concerns about Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA), a known issue that has been reported by other Tesla drivers in past years. If the vehicle misinterprets driver input or experiences a sensor/software glitch, this can lead to property damage or bodily injury, especially in tight parking situations or near pedestrians. I am submitting this complaint to ensure this matter is documented and investigated appropriately. Safety should not rely on logs alone — real-world behavior, driver feedback, and potential software/hardware flaws must be examined carefully.

NHTSA ODI 11669732

FSD lane‑selection defect: vehicle moves into far‑left lane and remains there, forcing right‑side passing. Vehicle: 2025 Tesla Model 3, FSD v13.2.9 (current production build) Behaviour (100 % reproducible): • On every non‑interstate roadway with two lanes in each direction, the car self‑selects the far‑left lane and stays there at or just below the posted speed limit even when the right lane is completely clear. • If I disengage FSD, manually steer into the right lane, and immediately re‑engage FSD, the system moves back into the far‑left lane within seconds. This occurs on every attempt. • The freeway/interstate stack exits the left lane correctly, proving the capability exists and the defect is limited to surface‑street logic. Legal conflict: • Violates Massachusetts General Laws, ch. 89 § 4B, which requires drivers to keep to the right‑hand lane except when overtaking.

NHTSA ODI 11669559

2025 Tesla Model 3 the follow distance is too close to front vehicle (only 1 to 2 car lengths) while in full self driving mode and there is no way to adjust it like in cruise control mode. Also, while in auto cruise control or full self driving the forward collision warning has too many false alarms from overhead tree branches to nothing in front of car for more than 500 feet. Finally, the car takes turns too late and at unsafe speeds when autosteer and cruise control are both activated. This also happens during Full Self driving.

NHTSA ODI 11669087

Automatic emergency braking and steering is unavailable along with a few other features. Service center and car manufacturer not doing anything about it.

NHTSA ODI 11668060

I have had this happen twice, once on city streets going to work the car was not in auto pilot and it went from 40mph to 0mph instantly. If there was a car behind me I would have gotten slammed into. The second time, my mother was in the passenger seat and I was on the freeway going about 75 to 80mph and it was on auto steer and the car went from the speed I was going to almost 0 and I instantly took control of the vehicle. We both could have been killed because of the last incident and I thought the cameras saw something on the road but there was nothing there. No cars were near me when both events occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11667591

I went to drop my son to a summer program to a park. After dropping him, as soon as I started, car just accelerated very fast and went on the sides. I was able to turn the steering back into road but it kept speeding and went on the other sides. In the process, cars tires got impacted. Within 5-10 secs, car got from one side walks to the other side walk and then car stopped somehow. Fortunately, it did not impact any other cars parked or other cars on the road. But the whole thing was very scary.

NHTSA ODI 11667418

My vehicle is equipped with Supervised FSD and has had couple of issued on the intersection of [XXX] and [XXX] in Portsmouth, Virginia. It seems every time I stop at the light, the system recognizes the red light and stops, but shortly after it wants to keep advancing forward although the light is still red and has not changed. The vehicle has also had a problem staying on lane at light on the intersection of [XXX] and [XXX] in Suffolk as it is getting ready to turn left prior to entering the entrance road to [XXX] . The image in the screen is correct and the lines are in place, but the vehicle has trouble staying with in the line and needed to be corrected. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11665191

Phantom braking from freeway speed to almost a stop, with no other vehicles presenting issues nearby. Three occurrences so far.

NHTSA ODI 11664926

FSD Malfunction, inspection available. Yellow double lines were not recognized around a turn, causing the car to steer towards oncoming traffic. UNKNOWN. Vehicle was declared fully functional by Tesla Dealership. No warnings, vehicle had many symptoms prior to the last event in which I decided to service the vehicle. First critical malfunction May 21, 2025.

NHTSA ODI 11664631

While making a wide right turn at an intersection I heard three warning beeps before the steering wheel locked. I was unable to correct the steering. When I realized it wasn’t allowing the steering to correct, I began to brake, causing me to drive over a curb, ultimately stopped by a fence and cactus in someone’s yard. This is a huge safety concern, as children could’ve been playing in the yard, or farther up the road where a curve has a 30 foot embankment I could have rolled into. I have scheduled a service appointment with Tesla to have it looked at. I have had this issue occur multiple times before and am sure it can be reproduced.

NHTSA ODI 11661756

I was using full self driving (FSD) and there was no one directly in front of me and thankfully no one behind me when it engaged its emergency brakes and came to an abrupt stop for no reason.

NHTSA ODI 11660765

Tesla FSD Incident – Exton, PA ([XXX]) Just sharing a scary experience I had with Tesla FSD Beta yesterday — hoping it reaches the right eyes and helps others stay alert. I was driving on a main road in Exton, PA, using FSD with the “Avoid Highways” option turned on for the first time. This is a route I know well and usually follow using Google Maps. At one point, FSD turned on the left indicator, and I thought it was taking a regular exit — the road it chose looked like a narrow side street, so I didn’t question it. But within 5 seconds, I realized it had actually taken me into the oncoming traffic lane. It was shocking and totally unexpected. I immediately took over, stopped the car, and when the road was clear, safely steered back into the correct lane. This happened around 3 PM on a bright, sunny day, with normal traffic. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11660472

I have a safety concern regarding Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) Supervised system. V13.2.8 being the latest customer version. Since the update to FSD V13 in December, I have consistently used it on a daily basis. While it performs great on City streets, it consistently caused a serious safety risk on the freeway: It habitually tailgates cars at high speeds of 70-80 mph on the freeway. It does this even when there is no traffic and the other lanes are wide open. I have experienced this on both a Model 3 (2025) and a Model Y (2024). I am writing this complaint here hoping you will pay attention to it, as despite my best efforts, Tesla has ignored my feedback. I even opened a service ticket about it at one point, and the service tech couldn't care less. Not maintaining proper distance to the cars in front on the freeway puts the passengers at high risk for a rear end collision. If Tesla is to launch an unsupervised version of their FSD system, this problem MUST be addressed first!

NHTSA ODI 11657021

Turn signal will not turn on when button on steering wheel is depressed.

NHTSA ODI 11656911

My car has turn indicator buttons on the steering wheel rather than a turn stalk. I've found that these jam from time to time. What I mean is sometimes when I push the button, it is already 'jammed in' and nothing happens. I have to kind of randomly push around the button a few times, or push the opposite turn signal direction to unjam it. This causes a few problems: 1) Lane changes are dynamic and accident-prone. Having the signal indicator button jam on me is distracting and that's dangerous. 2) Sometimes the reason I need to change lanes is urgent, to avoid a potential collision ahead of me. If the button jams on me while I'm signaling the lane change, my instinct is to abort the lane change until I figure out what's going on. That's dangerous itself, since I might end up colliding. 3) When I'm trying to unjam it, my turn signals visible to other drivers can be kind of erratic - they sometimes see me signaling the opposite way briefly, or on-and-off. When I reported the problem to the Tesla service center, they said they've heard about the issue before. They said that usually people will bring in their car, but they won't be able to reproduce the issue onsite so they can't so anything about it. And they suggested that it might be because I'm not being 'precise' with my button presses, causing the buttons to occasionally be wedged. The problem with this is that the buttons don't have clear outlines of where you're supposed to press them, and there's no tactile way to position your thumb in the right spots -- and the position of the buttons is kind of variable since they pivot as the steering wheel itself pivots (unlike turn stalks which remain stationary regardless of the steering wheel angle).

NHTSA ODI 11656336

We had our winter tires swapped for summer tires at the Discount Tire on 361 S Grady Way, Renton, WA. After driving on them for over a week—including high-speed highway driving—our car suddenly started feeling like it had a flat tire. However, the tire pressure was completely normal. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the rear passenger-side tire was sitting at an angle. When I removed the hubcap, I discovered that one lug nut had completely fallen off, and the remaining ones were all loose. It appears that the Discount Tire technician only hand-tightened the lug nuts during installation.

NHTSA ODI 11654205

The contact owns a 2025 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the turn signal button on the steering wheel was activated but was unresponsive. The contact stated that the button was stuck but then loosened up. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11653272

Steering assist reduced, traction control disabled, stability control disabled. When trying to drive steering heavy and car coasts unless holding brake pedal, which is unusual for a Tesla at it normally auto holds. Traction control and stability control also disabled, unsafe to drive.

NHTSA ODI 11652701

As I was pulling into a parking spot with my new 2025 Model 3 Tesla, I removed my foot from the gas to slow the car - the appropriate way to do so which is called Tesla's One Pedal Driving. The car did slow but then suddenly surged forward at an alarming rate. I have 100% certainty that my foot was not on the gas at this moment. The car was stopped by a large concrete planter just in front of me, however, if that planter was not there, my car would have been through the glass of an office building or in a head on collision with another car in the lot. If there was a person walking into the building, they would have been dead. A witness approached me and mentioned that the car seemed to act erratically. I have been in touch with Tesla about the issue and am awaiting response.

NHTSA ODI 11649448

I sent following to Tesla I had an accident at around 6:30 PM on Sunday, March 2nd with my Tesla Model 3 and asking to see if you can conduct a diagnostic check into this incident. I was coming home at that time with the Tesla and about 100 yards from my house, I experienced a sudden acceleration with the car going from about 20mph to, I think, over 40 mph and crashed into the garage area of my house. Around the time I started experiencing that unwanted acceleration, I heard a whining sound. As it started that sudden acceleration, I checked below to make sure my right foot was pressing on the brake pedal and it was. Since I have the regenerative braking with my tesla, the car should have decelerated but, instead, it sped up. I continued to press the brake pedal but I could not mitigate my car’s continual acceleration. It eventually crashed through the lowered garage door and went through the right side of the garage wall about half way out and came to the stop. I was driving myself and not engaged in self-driving feature. I like to see if the Tesla has any resources available to retrace last few seconds and be able to glean more information of why that sudden acceleration might have happened. The car is still located in my garage but currently the car is disabled and powered off. The car’s power was on and it automatically turned on emergency light for about 30 minutes after the accident before it eventually powering off. I am also curious to know why none of the airbags were deployed in this accident. I have many photos available of the accident. The fire department and police came and assisted. I do not know if this matters but the couple of nights before the car had one of those over the air updates by Tesla and also about couple of minutes before the accident I drove through about a minute of hard rain in otherwise light rainy drive. I also wonder why auto-braking did not engage against the house.

NHTSA ODI 11646628

The contact owns a 2025 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving with the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving and attempting to parallel park into a parking space when it made a sudden left turn and crashed into a curb. The contact took over manually and depressed the brake pedal in order to avoid the entire vehicle driving over the curb. The contact mentioned that the Full Self-Driving software was the most updated version and it did not detect the curb causing the crash. The front passenger side bumper was damaged and scratches underneath the vehicle. No injuries were sustained. No air bags deployed. A police report was not filed. The Tesla Software did not detect the crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer. The failure mileage was 19,000.

NHTSA ODI 11645905

Turn indicator not working. I was in a highway and when I pressed turn indicator button, nothing happened. Multiple presses with varying pressure had no effect

NHTSA ODI 11644385

After installing Tesla OTA software update 2024.45.32.15, my vehicle experienced critical system failures. Upon entering the car the next morning, I noticed that all cameras were non-functional, and navigation had completely stopped working. This posed a serious safety concern, as features like Autopilot, parking assistance, and basic visibility enhancements (such as rearview camera functionality) were unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11643254

Turn signal stalk has been removed. Directional activation is now done by pressing arrows on steering wheel spoke. I have to take my eyes off the road to locate the spot that turns the directional on or off. These arrows are next to the radio controls and I inadvertently turn them on all the time. If your turning you cannot find the flat markings that activate them. I cannot safely drive this car after weeks of trying to adjust. In addition they have placed a turn signal stalk on the new model Y due to customer feedback.

NHTSA ODI 11642371

The indicator buttons randomly disable and also disable if the user rests their finger lightly on an indicator button for some number of seconds. The car is available for inspection on request. Tesla looked at it and said it's "normal" and "expected" for the buttons to disable if you simply rest your finger on the button for too long prior to clicking it in. When this occurs, BOTH indicator buttons will be disabled for upwards of 12 seconds. Neither button will physically click, and the indicators themselves will not activate no matter how many times you try pressing the button. This put the safety of others (AND MYSELF) at risk three times in my one month of owning the car. Tesla did nothing the first time I tried to get it fixed and said it's "normal", and wanted me to leave the service center with nothing done. I refused, so they replaced the entire steering wheel for me. The new steering wheel exhibited this same behaviour this morning - nearly resulting in a car smash as I was trying to navigate around an existing car smash on the highway. No warnings, messages or anything. I've only owned the car for a month.

NHTSA ODI 11638799