Complaint volume
982 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
982 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
982 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, electrical system. 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, electrical system?
- 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 130
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 103
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 78
AIR BAGS 66
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 60
SEAT BELTS 54
STEERING 44
SERVICE BRAKES 35
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 34
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL 30
982 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | All 4 Brake lines (tubes) from either from ABS or Brake booster pump are corroded and pierced. All brake fluid leaked front center of the vehicle and lost all brake. Brake lines or tubes are looks good from under the front and back tires. It looks like a quality of the brake lines / tubes from ABS to the bottom are not meeting the expected quality. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | SEAT BELTS,SEATS | A sensor for the driver side safety restraint system was displayed from the vehicles screen. Potentially loose wires under the seat when manufactured. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | SEATS | This message has been intermittent and looking online has happened a lot for this model. The front passenger restraint system is critical for passenger safety, this should be a recall. Concern: Customer states:Alerts - Seats - Front passenger safety restraint system issue/Service is required Detected August 16, 2025 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | SEAT BELTS | Getting a notification for "Front left safety restraint system fault" which disengages the airbags. Seems like a very common fault with Teslas but no recall has been made. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL | Too fast and too close to stop sign to red light or other cars while in Full Self Drive (supervised).I had to disable it to avoid risks of accident.Even using Chilly Mode. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL | Backup camera recall was not fixed properly or the new parts have same issue. As a result the backup camera was not functioning. When the camera is not functioning the autopilot system drives aggressively, speeding up to the max set speed when it is not safe to do so with current traffic conditions. Had to disengage autopilot otherwise it would have crashed. Also I received an alert that the emergency breaking system was not functional. When reversing could not use backup camera. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | SUSPENSION | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at slow speeds, after completing a right turn, there was an abnormal sound coming from the front passenger’s side suspension. The contact stated that increased effort was required to maneuver the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who determined that the passenger’s side control arm had disconnected. The contact was informed that two bolts that secured the control arm to the frame were missing. The contact also stated that the bolts were found by the tow truck driver while loading the vehicle for towing. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 95,000 |
| Jul 2025 | SEAT BELTS:FRONT | The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the front passenger's side restraint warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a seat belt restraint failure. The contact was informed that the front passenger's side wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact stated that a year prior to the failure, the front driver's side restraint failed, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that at that time, the front passenger's side restraint failure was intermittent; however, the repair for the front passenger's side restraint was not completed because the failure was not duplicated. The contact stated that only the driver's side wiring harness was replaced under warranty. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 60,000 |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Tesla failed to properly diagnose a high-voltage battery isolation fault in my 2018 Model 3. Despite safety-critical BMS_a027 and BMS_a142 faults indicating multiple isolation failures, they skipped required insulation resistance testing, falsely blamed sand in a connector, and charged me $174.95. After the issue returned, they reversed course, replaced an internal battery contactor, and reduced the $1,173 estimate to $356—admitting fault without owning it. Days later, a diagnostic showed dangerously low isolation resistance (380kΩ, far below Tesla's 1,000kΩ safety threshold), yet they took no further action. On July 12, the car again went into limp mode. Tesla’s repeated failure to follow safety protocols, diagnose accurately, and honor warranty obligations has left me with a vehicle in an unsafe state and no corporate accountability. I've contacted their Resolutions team three times (7/2, 7/7, 7/10) with zero response. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | My Tesla got stuck in a McDonald's drive-through because the EPB (Electronic Park Break) refused to disengage. I believe it got stuck as the vehicle was pulling up to the window to pay and I had to reach out with my phone to tap their payment terminal to use Apple Pay. Then the park brake engaged I believe because I possibly lifted up from my seat, yet had my foot on the brake, but when I put it into drive, it refused to disengage. So my car got stuck for about an hour until we force skidded it out of the drive way. Now I've been stuck at this McDonald's parking lot for days, unable to drive it to get repaired or charged. Tesla Temecula refuses to schedule service and canceled the service appointment. Other further away Tesla Service Centers want to charge me hundreds of dollars for diagnosis that I don't have. This is the 2nd time the park break got stuck. The other time was in hospital ambulance ER drop-off bay. This is a major safety issue and the NHTSA should do a safety recall on this to force Tesla to fix it. It's both a software and hardware engineering issue. Yet Tesla keeps placing the blame and cost on customers to profit from their faulty engineering testing. Please help me and Tesla customer fix this! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | AIR BAGS,SEATS | An error code (RCM_a056) will intermittently come up and say there is a fault with the front passenger safety restraint system. It will turn on for a car ride and stay off for a few days and come back randomly. When I researched this code, I found that this is a known issue with 2018 Tesla Model 3's. Apparently there was a flaw in the airbag system which causes this safety concern. I contacted a Tesla service center and they said it would cost $300 just to check it out and another one said +$1000 to "fix". I called their customer service line explained that this should be covered for free since it is not due to "normal wear" but rather should be a safety recall. I also explained this to the service techs but they just said they can't do anything. If I would have been involved in an accident, my wife could have died because of this safety flaw. The vehicle is still under warranty until 120,000 miles. Thank you for your consideration on this matter. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | SUSPENSION | My car started having loud noises and suspension on both side of my car started making noises and both control arms along with sway barrings and struts are gone bad. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | SEATS | RCM_a021 Front left safety restraint system fault error | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING | Front suspension creaking & rattling going over bumps Tesla took days & days & never called me w/ problem I kept calling in!! Finally decide it is a KNOWN recall problem w/ Suspension bolts & sub frame! They told me they torqued them & would test drive for noise & I never heard from them! I had to call in. Suddenly I had a $4200 estimate for repairs including $322 1.24 hours of diagnosis??? A known problem other 2018 Tesla’s have been recalled for ??? Very suspicious?? How do I know they didn’t torque it too far & strip bolt themselves?? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | My brake lines began to leak. When I took the car to the Tesla Service center they repaired the brake lines, but in the process they found that the brake fluid had leaked in/on the battery compartment. Furthermore, they found a coolant leak that also leaked on/in the battery compartment. This cause a hole to develop into the battery compartment. Having the coolant and brake lines in a place that could affect the batteries is a significant design flaw of the Model 3. According to the technician from Tesla, my car/batteries, were a ticking time bomb and could have ignited at any point. I am very fortunate that a fire was not started with myself or my family in the car. I believe Tesla needs to make all Model 3 owners aware of this possibility and come up with a way to remedy this flaw before someone looses a life. If the brake lines on my car hadn't sprung a leak, I'm not sure I would have know about the coolant leak until it was too late. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | AIR BAGS | This is a large scale problem with Tesla due to their "easy entry" which automatically moves the front seats to fit the drivers saved positions. Due to Tesla not properly securing the wires under the seat, they get crimped over time causing an error of "safety restraint system issue." There have been thousands of reported Teslas with a simple Google search. The service center also stated to me this is a large scale issue but a recall has not been issued. This is very dangerous as this disables the airbags due to a seat belt or wire crimp under the seat issue. Please investigate and issue a mandatory recall for the safety issue as Tesla wants $1000 to rectify the issue. Many have reported this issue to be fixed by the service center multiple times only to come back months later. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | AIR BAGS | Vehicle is displaying an error message "Front passenger safety restraint system fault" and "front passenger safety restraint system fault. Service is required." This has the result of "The restraint system may not function as designed." According to an Internet search, this is a very common fault, caused by "interference" and necessitates an occupancy sensor, wiring harness and airbag module exchange. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | STEERING | The bolt/fastner holding the control arms almost backed all the way out. I was driving and heard metal sound it got worse on the drive home. I also noticed the alignment to get worse and when I got home I looked and the bolt/ fastner almost came out. There is a tesla recall for only a small percent for my year with that issue. Tesla wants 4k to replace it. It is a huge safety issue. I have a family and it could have been serious if it detached not only to me and my family but other vehicles other pedestrians. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | SEAT BELTS | Vehicle is displaying an error message "Front passenger safety restraint system fault" and "front passenger safety restraint system fault. Service is required." This has the result of "The restraint system may not function as designed." According to an Internet search, this is a very common fault, caused by "interference" and necessitates an occupancy sensor, wiring harness and airbag module exchange. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | SEAT BELTS | When seat is moved up for my [XXX] daughter, who is learning to drive, it now triggers an error an indicates the air bags will not work. The error code is RCM_a021. It seems the vehicle has a defect that over time the connections for the front seat harnesses will fail. This is a known issue with a Service Bulletin - SB-21-17-005 on your website from December 8, 2021. [XXX] Manufacturer has confirmed the issue, but refuses to replace it unless they are paid more than $800 (although, online people report that when they were under warranty the cost for parts and labor was in the $300 range). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | POWER TRAIN | I just traded in my vehicle for a Tesla from 3rd party dealership on [XXX] A light came on once I reached my home. I called right away before the dealership closed but no one answered. So I took it upon myself to make a service call to Tesla to get my vehicle checked come to find out my vehicle has extensive damages from my unit drive, my subframe and the battery pack is severe punctures and needs to be replaced. Choice Automotive LLC in Honolulu Hawaii didn’t disclose anything to me before purchasing this vehicle. also they didn’t disclose that this vehicle was in a car accident, but they carried on with the sale. I have pictures of what needs to be repaired. Tesla said, I will need $20,000 to repair these damages. So I’m trying to take legal action against Choice Automotive LLC for selling me a vehicle that needs a lot of repair to drive normal again. I need them to pay for these repairs immediately. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | SEAT BELTS | I believe this is a safety issue that warrants a recall notice since the seat restraint system may not work correctly due to an electrical connection issue. I get an error message "Front left safety restraint system fault" that comes comes and goes depending on the position of the driver seat - if I raise the seat I get the fault message, if I lower the seat the message goes away. This is clearly due to a loose electrical connection in the seat restraint system. I removed the cover at the side of the seat and have identified a loose yellow/orange plastic connector to the left of the seat (see picture). When you jiggle that connector the error message goes on and off. Tesla will fix the issue for $650, but I believe this is a faulty design issue that causes the connector to get worn every time you adjust the seat, and it should be fixed by Tesla at no charge. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | My 2018 Model 3 recently started experiencing issues during AC charging where I’m only able to use 16A out of the 48A available from my Tesla mobile connector charger at home. The specific error warning and error I’m seeing says “PCS_a019 Power grid or vehicle issue limiting AC charging Unplug and retry/ Try different charging location”. Before this started happening I’ve been charging with the same charging setup at home since 2019 and have been getting 32A consistently.
I’ve tried the following options to diagnose the issue: 1. I’ve unplug and replug mobile charger from the connector. (the end plug to the mobile charger), I’ve also plug and unplug connector to the nema 14-50 receptacle. 1. The mobile connector exterior shows a constant flowing of green color on the “TESLA” letters outside the charger 2. I also separately own a second 2023 Model Y Performance, my Model Y is able to use the same Tesla mobile charger connector/receptacle at my home. It it getting AC charging at 32A 3. I’ve also tried charging the 2018 Model 3 (w/ the issue) at another separate AC charging station from a friend’s house that can normally deliver 48A, but I’m still also only getting 16A out of the possible 48A After sending the above to Tesla service center, they remotely diagnose and stated that it was an partial failure/issue with the " Power Conversion System" on the vehicle. However, Tesla mentions that is is not covered by their "HV Battery Warranty" and only covered by their 4 year 50k miles Basica vehicle warranty. My particular vehicle has only 37k miles on the odometer but it exceeded the 4 year period so I'm out of warranty. However I found that my vehicle fits the criteria for this outstanding NHTSA bulletin notice (SB-18-16-011) [XXX] , which also specifically mentioned "Replace Reworked Power Conversion System". My vehicle meets the criteria ( manufactured [XXX]) but Tesla refused to honor the bulletin. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | SEAT BELTS | Got an alert on the Tesla screen on 4/21/2025 indicating "Front left safety restraint system fault". Took to Tesla Svc Center and they replaced seat belt lap pretensioner, seat belt reminder vent, seat belt reminder sensor box and first row occupancy sensor. Cost $650. Alert goes away if I raise the seat and comes back if I lower the seat. I asked Tesla while scheduling an appointment whether it was a safety issue and they said "Yes". Vehicle has only 43,500 miles on it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | STEERING | Upon entering my vehicle, which was in my garage, I put it into reverse. I found the steering wheel extremely difficult to turn and upon viewing the screen I saw a message stating "Steering assist reduced. Steering may require increased effort". I backed up about 10 feet and still was unable to turn the steering wheel. I noticed another message advising "Lane Departure Avoidance features unavailable. Features may be restored on next drive". I pulled back into the garage and rebooted the car to no avail. I let the car sit for several hours before trying again. This time the steering was fine. I am scheduled to have the manufacturer inspect the car on Tuesday April 29, 2025. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |