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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There is a recall on the trunk of my car: NHTSA recall: 21V-00D It has been a year and Tesla has not contacted me to perform the inspection or repair on my car | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 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 dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SUSPENSION | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he heard a loud popping sound near the front passenger’s side wheel. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the lower front lateral link, assembly left and assembly right link, all four-ball joints and sub frame needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 59,000 |
| Nov 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I have been using autopilot on my 30 min commute for the past 4 years with zero major issues. On Sept 20th, 2022 at 5:45pm I was driving on my usual route at 70 mph under autopilot. I tried to disengage with the normal procedure of lifting the right stalk. It did not disengage. I tried moving the steering wheel by changing lanes, and again, it did not disengage. Finally tried to brake, and it did not brake. I was essentially stuck in 70 mph. I then quickly rebooted the car with the 2 scroll bars while driving and after about 1 minute stuck in 70 mph, the system rebooted and I was able to slow down with my brakes. Needless to say, this could have ended horribly if I did not reboot. I called Tesla right away to report it and the rep stated a service adviser will contact me in the morning. I did get a call from Drew at Tesla on Barranca in Irvine the following day and he stated that it sounded like a “unintentional acceleration” issue. He stated it will be escalated to engineering department and someone will call me in a few days. At this point, I am so freaked out driving my Model 3 fearing the brakes can lock up at any time. I wanted to share this with you so maybe others have had similar situations. I just want others to know how to reboot while driving if this ever happens to them (a life and death situation). I loved Tesla, but this situation scares me in so many levels. To this day, Tesla “engineering team” has not responded. I have requested an answer from Tesla 3 times since that day over 3 months ago, and still no explanation as to what happened that night of Sept 20th. I have. It used autopilot since that day (fearing the brake would fail to disengage) and so I have not be able to reproduce the situation. The vehicle still has not been inspected by the manufacturer since reporting the issue. Finally, there were no warning messages prior to the failure. I just wanted a response from the Tesla team, and unfortunately was not able to get one. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | Water/liquid entering cabin from behind glovebox. Potentially affecting computer and other electronics. Also could affect the AC system and its intake air filtering. Possibly adding mold growth due to the excess moisture entering from the outside. When it rains, the water will gush through into the front passenger’s feet on occasion. This is possibly from pooling water in the intake within the front trunk. When activating the air conditioning in the car after sitting in the rain, it will spill over into the front passenger’s mat. This issue could additionally damage the floor with rust over time if a weather proof mat is not in place. Tesla Service will charge the customer when out of warranty, even though this is an issue that should not occur in any vehicle. Thank you. P.S. photos of puddling water taken from a video made during the occurrence of the issue | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking. I was on cruise control only (not FSD mode) on HWY at 65 mile/hr, and my car breaking suddenly to 45 ml/hr until I took over. No one injured and no accident. There was a car behind of me when it happened, and the car changed line immediately. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Our heater stopped working in very low temperatures . Upon researching, this is a huge problem in cold climates which could be extremely dangerous. Tesla has recalled Tesla cars with heat pumps. This is not just an issue for new models and is an issue in older models as well. It appears this issue may have occurred because of a software update pushed out to fix newer cars Tesla’s with a heat pump. This update is potentially causing the heater in the older Tesla’s without heat pumps to break. Therefore, when the older cars are breaking, in order to stay warm in cold temps Tesla owners are paying $1200+ to fix their heaters due to a pure Tesla issue. We had no warning. Our heat went out. My son was ill with RSV and in fact we were bringing him to the hospital. It was 30 degrees in our car. This is an issue for so many people in even colder climates. Some owners are reporting they are having to drive their Tesla in severely cold weather and survive off of seat heaters. This is incredibly dangerous and I cannot transport my son in my vehicle at the moment. We do have scheduled service, but to our understanding Tesla is taking zero accountability. There are a massive amount of people complaining of this issue on the Tesla forums and local groups. I hope they report as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SEAT BELTS | I HAD THIS REAR SEAT SAFETY HARNESS WARNING ON MY SCREEN. THERE WAS NO PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE EQUIPMENT, BUT I HAD TO REPLACE IT AT MY OWN COST. SEAT BELT SYSTEM WOULD NEED TO BE A SAFETY RECALL RATHER THAN REPLACED AT OWNERS COST. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SUSPENSION | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated THAT while his wife was driving at unknown speed, she heard an abnormal sound and a part detached from the vehicle. There was also an abnormal rubbing sound. The contact pulled over and examined the vehicle and noticed that there was a metal part hanging underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included TSB-21-31-003. The failure mileage was 56,527. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 56,527 |
| Nov 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Multiple times when using the Auto-Pilot feature the brakes will engage and dramatically slow down the car for no reason. This has probably happened 5-10 times. At this point it is getting concerning. Luckily, no cars have been following me closely enough to cause an accident, but I'm afraid that this will occur at some point unless this is fixed. I am usually driving on the highway and there is nothing in front of me and the brakes will engage. On the screen I see arrows in the passing lane flowing in the opposite direction. I'm not sure what this means or if this is triggering the brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, a Service Warning message was displayed. The contact stated that the driver’s side front restraint system fault warning light was illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of failure through the Tesla app and instructed the contact to take the vehicle to the nearest Tesla Service Center for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20,000 |
| Nov 2022 | AIR BAGS | I have been receiving the following message: Front Left safety restraint system fault. (Error notice: Notice: RCM_a021) Proposed repair: 1ST ROW SEAT HARNESS ASSEMBLY - RIGHT HAND - SBR(1489060-05-D) 1ST ROW SEAT HARNESS ASSEMBLY - LEFT HAND - SBR(1489060-02-F) It seems that this is the same problem that they repaired under warranty. Now they are repairing again at a very high price (quote. Work pending). If this problem is repeating, it seems likely other cars would be encountering this defect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | Lateral and Comp Links Failed and Upper Control Arms Failed causing steering issues. Car has barely been driven and shouldn’t require repairs to these parts so early in its life. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The AC compressor failed which can be caused by over delivery of electrical power to the compressor causing premature failure. I’m concerned this could also lead to a fire. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | SUSPENSION | After a routine breaking in traffic noticed a loud grinding noise. Upon inspection notice that the right rear suspension assembly was sitting on the inside rim of the wheel. The bolt at the bottom of the assembly had either come out or sheared off. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I reported charging problems over the last several months to Tesla. You can only report problems via the App. They do not provide a phone number. They tried to fix my charging issue three times and each time said it was fixed. It was not and today I almost ran out of battery on the interstate because it would not charge. Today, after waiting an hour for their roadside service to respond they came and towed it. This is the fourth attempt to fix it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | on certain model year 2021-2022 Model S and Model X vehicles, model year 2017-2022 Model 3 vehicles and model year 2019-2022 Model Y vehicles to correct performance of automatic window reversal systems to comply with regulatory standards no response from tesla | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | SUSPENSION,WHEELS | Car is 4 years old with 22k miles only and never was involved in an accident or high impact situation. When backing out of driveway and then turning wheels going forward at low speed, a loud noise occurred in the front passenger wheel area and car came to a complete stop. After going out to investigate, the car body was resting on the wheel and two bolts were on the road and the lower control arm was detached from the underbody and dragging to the floor. Had this happened at high speed I can’t imagine what would have been the outcome. No early warning signs occurred prior to this incident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on a four-lane Interstate Highway and using the adaptive cruise control, the car suddenly decelerated with no obvious cause. We were well behind the car in front of us -- the cruise control was set to 7 car lengths. I pressed the accelerator as soon as I could to resume speed. Fortunately, there was no vehicle close behind us, but a vehicle closely tailgating might have crashed into us. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While in Cruise control: I.e.going 70 + mph, when passing large trucks (18 wheelers) the vehicle will hard break down to 50 mph. Vehicles traveling behind don’t expect this and are barely able to stop from hitting into my back end. Only happens with large 18 wheelers, seems to be Trucks that are white in color. It has happened several times previously, stopped at dealer, told nothing wrong, record if it happens again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | AT 70000 THE FRONT RIGHT BAR THAT CONNECT TO WHEEL WENT BAD 350 DOLLARS. AT AROUND 90000 MILES THE AC WENT BAD AND THEY SAID IS BECAUSE I USED IT TOO MUCH 4700 DOLLARS AT 110000 THE LID FOR THE CHARGER KEPT OPENING UP AND CLOSING BY ITSELF AT 127000 THE BATTERY RANGE REDUCED SIGNED WENT ON 129000 MAXIMUM CHARGE COULD BE CHARDED 47 PERCENT. AND COULD NOT BE CHARGED MORE THAN WHATEVER IS IN THERE ALREADY | Crash: No Fire: No | 90,000 |
| Oct 2022 | STRUCTURE,WHEELS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My vehicle, was parked and pulled out of the parking lot on a doing a complete left steering turn, couple of nuts&bolts carrying the vehicle control arm fell to the ground and the entire control arm disengaged out of the shafts. This could have been very fatal, if my family or me were riding the car. Tesla was trying to tell me that saying that, this is caused due to a high impact etc, not doing wheel alignment etc. And they want to charge me $3561+ to fix this shaft to put back the nuts and bolts that fell off from the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car frequently brakes for no apparent reason when driving on the freeway. This happens when either adaptive cruise control only or autopilot is used. For example, it has happened on a divided highway during daytime, in good weather, with clear lane markings, with no obstructions. It also happens sometimes when certain road signs come into view, such as "Caution" or "Men Working". There was no phantom braking problem with the car prior to 2021, when a software change was made. It is scary and dangerous for the car to slam on the brakes without any reason. I have stopped using adaptive cruise control or autopilot because of the risk of being rear-ended on the freeway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | SEAT BELTS | For the past year, I have been receiving "Safety restraint system fault" message from Tesla screen in my vehicle. The message does not stay on the screen. It sometimes goes off and then comes back. I have not been able to identify its pattern of occurrence and disappearance. I have informed Tesla service support numerous times since Dec 2021 until now. They did not charge me for the inspection and repair for roughly 3 inspections. Up until around April 2022, their fixes still could not resolve issue, so asked me to go into one of their repair shops. Repair shop charged me $161.45 to fix the problem. Everything seemed okay for couple months. But just last month in Sept 2022, the same warning message started appearing again. I have informed Tesla and Tesla wants to charge me $2200 this time. Would this resolve the issue? I am not sure. And why am I responsible for a safety warning system fault that was not caused by my normal usage of the vehicle? I asked Tesla to give me a reason why they are charging me and any action from owners that has caused this issue to come up again and again. They have not responded. I'm not sure how the law works, but isn't it manufacturer's responsibility to make sure the vehicle is safe to drive on the road? With this warning message coming on and off periodically, and apparently Tesla cannot identify the reason either. How am I supposed to know if and when there is indeed a problem with my safety restraint belt? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Very recently Tesla had a standard software update for the car. They happen all the time. There was no warning with this update (or any update I’ve seen) about removing paid for features if you install the update. This one disabled my radar and turned my radar based autopilot I specifically bought this car for into vision based autopilot. I paid $15k for full self driving and never requested the beta to use it because I specifically did not want to disable my radar because of safety concerns. They did it anyway now, and without warning. It phantom brakes now all the time and it never used to and the general autopilot performance is worse and unsafe. I can’t use it reliably anymore and Tesla refuses to downgrade the firmware or do anything to re-enable my radar and I’m absolutely livid. This is a $75k car that I got for this one feature and they took its functionality away from me without warning and won’t give it back. Vision based autopilot is not safe and I am afraid anytime I use it now. Radar based autopilot felt so safe it was relaxing much of the time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |