Complaint volume
983 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
983 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
983 Total complaints
100 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
34 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are suspension, unknown or other, forward collision avoidance. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 100 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 34 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 219 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 25,782 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to suspension, unknown or other, forward collision avoidance?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Tesla Model 3?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
100 Crash
4 Fire
34 Injury
0 Fatality
63 Towed
19 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
SUSPENSION 116
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 82
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 73
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 49
AIR BAGS 42
SEAT BELTS 39
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 34
STRUCTURE 27
STEERING 26
AIR BAGS,SEATS 20
983 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 | SEAT BELTS | Rear passenger side seat belt, when used for the first time since new car purchase in 2019, had an issue where it kept getting stuck and the retractor made a clicking noise majority of the time. This seatbelt is unable to be used as expected due to it getting stuck and not retracting fully and making noise. Reported this issue to Tesla Santa Monica Service center in October 2022, where the service advisor simply showed me how to use seat belt properly and come back later if issue kept happening and "resolved" the issue via "remote education," thus not offering a proper fix.. Issue has persisted, and I have reported it once again to Tesla Santa Monica Service center who tells me they're under new management and will decide whether I will be required to pay out of pocket after a test drive but are otherwise quoting me a diagnostic fee now. A test drive is not needed for this though since it's a seat belt malfunction issue. Reporting this to NHTSA because other Teslas have faced seatbelt recalls too. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I am driving on the new FSD beta that Tesla just released to comply with NHTSA's previous recall, version 2022.45.13. Despite the claim that this release has addressed these issues, I experienced these today while driving around my town on city streets and on the open highway: As I approached the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp off the highway to my neighborhood street, the car blew right past the stop sign just like it wasn't there. It did this before the current update as well. While this is improved over previous versions, it still doesn't slow down in advance of a new lower speed limit sign to ensure it's moving at that posted new slower speed by the time it reaches that sign, as it should. As you know, it's illegal, e.g., to continue driving at 45 mph after you've passed a 35 mph sign. But with this latest update, even though the car can "see" the new lower speed limit sign ahead, the car only begins to slow down once you've passed this new lower speed limit sign and then goes about 200 ft before it actually reaches the lower speed. This is still illegal in every state and is a danger to drivers and others. Please make Tesla fix both of these problems fully. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Heater suddenly stopped working. Will not produce any heat or defrost windshield. Passenger/Driver safety affected by lack of warmth in extreme cold and visibility while driving with iced windshield. 35,000 miles on well maintained vehicle w no damage or accidents. Dealer states that resistance heater and wire harness will need replaced. No cause identified. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the display screen intermittently went blank and failed to display the speedometer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 37,740. | Crash: No Fire: No | 37,740 |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The power conversion system is failing on my vehicle. It is causing faults that trip the breakers at my charger and could potentially cause a major problem at my charging station. It could also cause my vehicle to be stranded or possibly lose power while driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I experienced premature failure of all 3 modules is the vehicles PCS (Power Conversion System) part of the HV Battery System. Although a TSB was issued to replace the same part in other cars with "affected" VINs Tesla has ignored this faulty part and has declined to replace it under the vehicles HV Battery warranty even though the unit is replaced as a single unit when the HV Battery requires replacement. This is a well known issue that is being intentionally ignored by Tesla. It could leave a driver stranded in an unsafe condition or situation. I would like to see the part recalled. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10148850-9999.pdf | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The window switches on the driver window panel have deteriorated and broken not allowing the driver to pull up the windows. For a car that’s only 3 years old this should not happen and is a major safety issue as the driver has no way of controlling the windows. I have searched online regarding this issue and have found that many other owners have experienced the same exact defect that I have, most a VIN number around 30000 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STRUCTURE | Auto was in reverse and moved backwards while rear rt side door was open causing damage to another auto parked alongside. Shouldn't the auto not move in gear when a door is open and unlatched ? The auto can move forward or back with any door that remains open. I thought this would be a safety issue | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE | When I turn on the turn signal, Tesla displays the side repeater camera on the screen, which allows me to see if there is a car in the blind spot. In addition to the video on the screen, I believe the side repeater cameras are used by the onboard computer to determine whether there is a car in the blind spot (in which case it would display the lane in red and shows a car drawing on the screen). As you can see on the attached photo, when the turn signal is on at night, there is a massive light bleed from the turn signal to the camera, which makes it impossible to see whether there is a car in my blind spot. Presumably, this also hinders the car’s ability to detect whether there’s a car in the blind spot as well. This issue has been widely discussed online, and there are even YouTube videos teaching you how to fix it DIY. For example, here’s a YouTube video: https://youtu.be/_BUPsjguqdY Here is an example of a discussion thread: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/my-experience-diying-a-fix-for-the-blind-spot-camera-light-leak.261481/ It appears to be a hardware design flaw, which has been fixed in recent Tesla models. But the problem still exists on my 2018 Tesla Model 3, and I believe not being able to see the blind spot on the screen at night is a safety hazard that needs to be addressed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | The issue is with autostart, enhanced auto pilot and lane departure warning. I paid for Enhanced auto pilot. This car totally relies on cameras. 1. In the slightest occurrence of rain, it complains about one or more cameras malfunctioning or out of vision. This doesn't happen often in Full Self Driving version. For early adopters of Model3 FSD, manufacturer updated the cameras. However they did not do that for early Enhanced Autopilot customers. 2. For the same reason, on a 3 lane or more highway, on autopilot when one moves from speed most lane and if there is a truck on the slowest lane, the camera shows somehow that the truck is on the middle lane when it is not, and hence the software assumes an impending crash and pulls you back to the speed most lane, giving no time for anyone behind you to think anyone, and leaves yourself in a dumbfounded state. 3. Without the upgraded cameras, Autopilot is prone to accidents. 4. Car tent to automatically brake when sun directly shines on the driver or there is a bridge in front of you while on autopilot. I believe this has something to do with the older version of cameras. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front driver's and passenger's side door panels made clicking sounds while the windows were rolling up and down. The dealer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | 35,000 |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Our Tesla Model 3 had a failure of LV contactor which engages the HV circuit while driving the car in a 45MPH side road. The car had a sudden shutdown with emergency brakes engaged and the car came to a stop violently. It was providence that there were no vehicles following or car was not being operated in a 75MPH freeway and hence did not end up in a rear collision accident or worse involving an 18 wheeler. We talked to Tesla service and they indicated that such contactor failures occur and the car would typically behave like it did with stopping immediately as per design. I was telling Tesla service that the car should probably move into Neutral mode rather than stopping immediately. I also heard other instances where Tesla has stopped suddenly in the media. I would like Tesla to review their current logic with handling contactor failure and prevent violent and sudden stops of the vehicle to prevent accidents. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The rear view camera in our Model 3 stopped working in April 2022. This is a known problem related to NHTSA Recall Number 21V-00D, which was issued in December 2021. It has been over a year & Tesla is still waiting for parts to become available to perform the repairs for this recall. Although our car is still drivable, it is very difficult to use Tesla’s Superchargers since they require the car to be backed into the parking space. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE | In the Tesla, when using your blinkers, the side cameras display on the main center display screen. In this version of the cameras, the blinker light can actually be seen on the display because light leaks in behind the camera sensor. At night, this results in a bright flashing image on the screen, is completely distracting, and partially blinds the visibility of the "blind spot monitor". It is impossible to configure the car to turn off the camera display. Each time it turns on, you need to swipe the screen to remove the camera image, taking you eyes off the road to manipulate the screen while performing a lane change or turning maneuver. Newer versions of the car/cameras do not have this issue. While I do not have any saved video of this occurring, I can obtain it easily. However, here is an article about the problem and how one user decided to repair it themselves. https://driveteslacanada.ca/model-3/diy-fix-for-side-repeater-camera-glare-in-tesla-model-3-and-model-y-but-it-is-not-for-the-faint-of-heart/?fbclid=IwAR21UEPjKyvKPBYt_iTY4obGNIoHDjFK8gEci4dPNxIEmzlsVlPTv6uzt54 I selected yesterday as the date of incident, but this has been occurring for a while - ever since Tesla added the this camera to the screen when turning in version 2022.24 of their software. I believe I received this in early 2022. However, with the pandemic, I did not drive much and did not see this issue in action often. I was hopeful for a software update to correct this or minimize the impact, but that has not occurred. I consider this a safety issue with the vehicle that should be repaired as a recall. I have an appointment with Tesla now to repair this, however, they are telling me it will be at my expense. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,VISIBILITY/WIPER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Tesla recently pushed out a significant software update version 2023.2.12. Like a similar software upgrade last year, the upgrade wipes out all user profiles and rearranges control settings. The sudden change makes it hard to find simple and necessary control features of the car. The driver is significantly distracted trying to find where the new controls are. Some are hidden. Some are no longer visible. Software update is inherently unsafe especially for older drivers. In addition, the controls panel font is so small that many of the controls cannot be seen by older drivers. We have complained to Tesla that this is inherently unsafe and poses a risk to motor vehicle safety. No response. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | OEM Chrome on door handles is a thick metallic wrap over plastic. Over time the chrome wrap delaminated on 3 out 4 handles. This results in very sharp metal edge that presents a laceration hazard. Just wanted to share this in case others have this issue. It's not a serious issue but it definitely is unsafe and it might be good to warn others. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Automatic Headlights fail to illuminate when wipers are active. This has been reported to Tesla in 3/2022. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Heating has malfunctioned and car will not warm up defrost windows in snow storm. This happened shortly after charging the tesla at a supercharger and the car also seemed to suddenly require a software update. Having performed the update and reboot, the heat has not fixed. The weather is currently 14f and the car is essentially undrivable in the recent snow storms due to no heat. The system will blow air but this will not melt accumulating ice. Unsafe and random. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Hi, I did order Tesla in 2016 and delivered car in June 2018. Beased on the software updates, and recalls , Tesla was not about to full fill any of the recalls. Apart from existing recalls , I did notice couple of other issues with this my car . one of them is unable to configure /activate Cabin camera , even though Camera with pre installed Hardware. I did try to contact Tesla , as per their episode, 2018 Tesla models come with older computer/processor, and it not support Cabin Camera.& I have to pay $1000 +tax in order to make it active. They also said , I did not purchased 'auto pilot feature '. that way camera is not active. but newer models of does work without ' auto pilot feature'. That means older Tesla model3 computers of Tesla' must be recalled, because of poor computer design. Is there anything I could expect help from NHTSA? thanks [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Power Conversion System (PCS) failure. This happened without warning over 60 miles from home and service center on x-range Model 3, less than 50,000 miles. Tesla did the repair, and took no responsibility for its premature failure, nor did they provide any explanation for why the failure occurred, leaving me (the owner) with a very expensive repair bill. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | looks like "upper control arms Parts" are poorly constructed and Tesla is not able to fix . I've had my 2018 model 3 for a 4.5 years now I notice a squeaking noise coming from the steering wheel and its constantly whenever I turn the wheel. Tesla said to replace upper control arms Parts by owner , even though it was poorly designed .costing about $2800.00.. which is not acceptable . Would you mind take a look at this issue | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SUSPENSION | I was turning left into our garage at low speed, and a bolt fell out of the front right suspension (bolt came out of lower control arm) and the wheel practically fell off the car. A whole mess of damage happened, and it came out to an over $5,000 repair, and we're still getting it repaired. We recently had the tires aligned at Tesla in October 2022, roughly 3 months before the bolt fell out. Bolts like this shouldn't be falling out of the car, and at the very least Tesla should be checking the torque on all these things on any major service. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the contact attempted to activate the Autonomous Self Driving feature; however, there was a message stating that the Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control inoperable was unavailable. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis and the dealer stated that an unstated computer needed to be replaced due to overheating. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not under recall, and that the Warranty had expired. The failure mileage was 99,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 99,000 |
| Feb 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The electrochromic rearview mirror will not significantly darken or dim. There is no way to make the mirror less reflective. The vehicle is designed to automatically simultaneously darken the rearview and sideview mirrors at night. The sideview mirrors darken properly* but the rearview mirror only very slightly changes color and does not noticeably reduce reflected light. This appears to be a manufacturing defect with the mirror. From what I understand about how electrochromic mirrors work, I believe there is likely a slight misalignment within the layers of the mirror that result in the mirror providing less than acceptable contrast. I have another Tesla with the exact same mirror and it works as intended. According to various internet message boards, many Tesla owners have the same and the opposite problem (mirror gets too dark). This would lead me to believe this is due to lack of quality control during the mirrors' manufacture. This lack of functionality requires me to suffer temporary blindness (Troxler Effect) caused by the intense reflection of headlights of the vehicles behind me. My only remedy is to reposition the mirror such that the mirror becomes useless for its intended purpose. This defect has existed since I purchased the vehicle new in September, 2018. There are no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms associated with the defect. I reported this to Tesla multiple times. Tesla technicians inspected and tested the mirror on at least two separate occasions during daytime hours. Both times the technicians stated that the mirror appeared to work properly but the technicians were unable to replicate the issue because the vehicle will only darken the mirrors after sunset. *This is also problematic because the mirrors should also darken on dark, rainy, overcast days when the vehicles behind me are using their headlights. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | AIR BAGS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While attempting to park the car in a parking lot, the car did not respond to the release of the accelerator or the press of the brake but just continued. Car continued to jump the curb and run into a concrete wall without slowing or stopping. No auto functions were enabled on the car. Car was attempting to park in the spot on the right side of the photo but just continued on and ran into the stone wall. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | Unknown |