Complaint volume
587 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
2019 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
587 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2019 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
587 Total complaints
58 Crash reports
5 Fire reports
19 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 forward collision avoidance, suspension, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 58 crash reports, 5 fire reports, 19 injury reports, and 3 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 134 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 21,753 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, suspension, unknown or other?
- 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 2019 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.
2019 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2019 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
58 Crash
5 Fire
19 Injury
3 Fatality
47 Towed
15 Medical attention
What are the most common 2019 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 63
SUSPENSION 53
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 35
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 26
LANE DEPARTURE 26
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 24
AIR BAGS 20
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 18
STEERING 17
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 17
587 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2023 | AIR BAGS,SEATS | The issue pertains to a persistent warning message that displays "front passenger safety restraint system fault" with associated error code "rcm_a056". This warning suggests a potential malfunction in the safety restraint system, which could pose a significant risk to the passenger in the event of an accident. Tesla Service quoted $1180 for the repair including replacing the front passenger airbag and retrofitting SBR in the OCS passenger seat. This issue appears commonly reported among social groups. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | AIR BAGS | I have a warning sign stating my air bag system on the passenger side is not working. Many drivers have reported this as an issue. Due to the fact that the car is no longer under warranty I am concerned if I get I to an accident and the air bags don’t deploy, my loved ones are in grave danger if they are in the passenger seat. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I own this Tesla model 3 for approximately 4 years. I was driving this car on US interstate highway 10 east, on July 8, 2023. Cruise control and Navigation on Auto pilot was on. A very serious Phantom breaking took place at around 10:52 am, about couple of miles before exit number 400 on I-10. It was clear a day, there was no car in front of me or on my left lane. I was on right lane. auto pilot suddenly reduced my speed from 72 miles per hours to 39 miles per hour in about 2 to 3 seconds. Due to this, a 16-wheel truck behind my car has to swerve to avoid hitting my car from behind and running over me. My wife was in passenger seat. If the 16 wheeler driver would not have taken evasive action, we will have at least two potential deaths. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Frequent phantom braking. If someone is following closely they may rear end us. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SUSPENSION | Left and right lateral links were blown. Increases the chance of a vehicle crash. Tesla has identified the issue in my vehicle and replaced both parts. There were no symptoms, the technician found it by inspecting the suspension due to an unrelated noise reported by me, the customer. There have been multiple recalls in the past for the Model 3 and Model Y manufactured in 2018 and 2019. Tesla has not issued any recalls for my vehicle. Now that my vehicle is off warranty, I was charged $803.50 plus taxes to replace both parts that should have been part of a larger recall. I suspect this is a recurring issue that Tesla is not addressing. The chances of having a similar issue on one side is already low. In this case, it is on both sides, which reinforces my suspicion. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My vehicle, a 2019 Tesla Model 3, which is equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta software, often fails to detect pedestrians and other objects in its path and react appropriately to them. It is highly concerning that this software is being trialled on public roads and pedestrians put at risk. I recently saw a video showing pedestrians being put at risk by someone testing FSD, which even put children in harms way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9JGviyMkzM&feature=youtu.be This software is highly dangerous and needs to be banned and people experimenting on public roads should not be allowed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I recently updated my 2019 Tesla Model 3's software to version 2023.7.15. Ever since I did so I have been getting random, unexplained, and unnecessary decelerations in both adaptive cruise control mode and while driving using the vehicle's autopilot (not FSD). While this is annoying at least it is also unsafe as I could easily be rear-ended for no reason when this happens. It has happened every time I drive the vehicle and usually more than once per drive. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on a clear, sunny day in Arizona on interstate 8 at highway speed with the Tesla AutoPilot engaged. There were no vehicles in front of me and no obstructions in the road when the car did heavy braking (aka phantom braking) for no known reason. I immediately had to override the braking with pressing on the accelerator. This occurred multiple times on the same road. If a vehicle had been traveling behind me when this happened, it would be highly likely that a collision would occur because of the random nature of the extreme braking. I did not use the adaptive cruise feature the rest of the trip in fear that a collision would occur. No warning messages were/are present. The Model 3 I drive is equipped with sensors on the front bumper that (I believe) Tesla has deactivated to use vision-only instead. I drove for years using the non-vision (sensor) method without experiencing phantom braking, so this experience is new to me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | At 2401-2499 AL-36, Hartselle, AL 35640, 34.447019, -86.811335, traveling West, the car suddenly slows to 25 mph from the normal 55-60 mph. This sudden slow down startles the driver, passengers, and following traffic which rapidly approaches the rear. The problem is reproducible. Yes, the vehicle has been reported to Tesla using their voice reporting system. There are no warnings prior to the failure. It has happened ever since the road work replacing a bridge completed two years ago. BTW, Google Map Pro still shows the construction barriers at that location. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Unintended acceleration during public street and highway while approaching a stop to make a right turn on November of 2022 in Orange County California onto a highway I let go of the pedal ready to press the brake and while turning it made a unnecessary acceleration to speed up making steering difficult, another incident where I believe in February 2023 as I was driving in the right lane a truck made a sudden stop and the accident avoidance never deployed nor warn me and the acceleration maneuver my steering pedal as I felt it degrease on the brake and increase on the acceleration pedal this was very traumatic and scary knowing I might have bodily injuries or even death also while setting the speed limit I notice while using the regenerative braking the brake pedal would vibrate very aggressively also while using the back up cam and side views it would glitch a lot after a bug update I feel this is very concerning for me and my kids and a lot of reviews and even attorneys or aware of the situation most of all it's a safety issue for California | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | Multiple extreme braking so much where today actually hurt my neck it stopped so abruptly up a hill miscalculating that a walker was about to be hit by my car, the man was nowhere near being hit and the auto braking skid to a halt whipping my head forward and my sweatshirt choked my Adams Apple area. It was extremely abrupt, scared me, the walker and nearly caused a rear end collision with the car behind me. This has happened a lot in the past 3 months yet I’ve had the car for over 4 years so I am assuming something is wrong with the software updates - it’s super scary not to have control of your own car. Also, I can opt out of auto braking on my car yet that’s not what I’m reporting, I’m reporting the fact that it’s phantom braking miscalculating street situations and causing dangers to me, my passengers and others like I’ve described above. Also noticed recently, when I hit the gas, it’s often the car doesn’t “go” it pauses and then may go with similar miscalculation of street situations like pedestrians on a adjacent sidewalk or motorcycles in between cars yet literally the Tesla won’t let me move…this isn’t safe. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 | Unknown |
| May 2023 | AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The passenger occupancy sensor and airbag failed and needed to be replaced. The system alerted me to the failure. Tesla does not cover this as a manufacturing issue. $1300 for repairs on parts that are designed for safety Tesla is not responsible for the quality of parts used to assemble the vehicle. Per Tesla safety related issues are only covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. There must be a higher standard for safety. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On 10/17/2021 my son was killed along with his passenger in this Tesla. The car was thought to be going over 100 miles an hour on a city road Coconut Point Road in Estero Florida. The car was thought to have hit a tree with the rear tire and was sent flying through the air and hit another tree and split in half. My son knew this road well as it was close to his home and drove it on his way home from work. I feel strongly that this was an acceleration issue!! He has driven this car for 2 years, so knew the car well. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Fatalities: 2 Towed | Unknown |
| May 2023 | SEAT BELTS | On my 2019 Tesla Model 3, the following warning appeared:" "Front left safety restraint system fault" This warning appeared in May 2023 and the local Tesla service center wants $700 to repair it - when this is clearly a driver safety issue and should be fixed at no charge. The vehicle has about 27,000 miles and is just out of warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There is one spot on HWY 29 near me in Lake County CA where the car while driving on autopilot always sees an obstacle ahead and warns of an immediate collision. There is however, nothing in the road it is just the road dips down (a bit like a helter skelter) and the car does not recognize it. It is replicable and happens every time that highway is driven. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while utilizing the ADAS features including the Adaptive Cruise Control, the vehicle unexpectedly braked. The contact stated that on another occasion while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. Due to the failure, the vehicle abruptly stopped and caused the contacts wife’s seat belt to retract very tight. The contact stated that he disengaged the features including the Adaptive Cruise Control to operate the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it remained. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 50,000 |
| May 2023 | STRUCTURE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | My wife was dropping my kid in the school drop off line. The speed was probably about 5 mph. The Tesla suddenly went into a sudden spontaneous acceleration. When my wife tried to brake, the brakes did not work. There was no forward collision warning beeping sound that went off, which is supposed to. It hit the vehicle in front and finally hit a fence. so, both the accelerator and brake malfunctioned. The car will go to a body shop tomorrow. Since it was a school drop off zone, safety of a lot of people were put at risk. It was very hard to get Tesla on the phone. so, we went into a Tesla service center and a complaint was filed. They will be reviewing the data but I dont know how long it will take. A software update had been applied a week back. 2 hours after the accident, a software update screen popped up | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I live in a very rural area with very little traffic on two-lane country roads. When my cruise control is active, my Tesla sometimes brakes for no reason. A couple of days ago it violently braked from 70 mph to 50 mph for absolutely no reason. On that particular trip of 30 miles or so it "phantom braked" four times. I have had this car for almost 4 years and this problem appears to be getting worse. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | The right camera and coax cable have gone bad. The coax cable is corroded and have water inside the camera. This is affect the car to use cruise control and the auto steer function. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving in Cruise Control at the Speed Limit at 65 mph with both hands on the wheel and my foot near the brake (on the 395 Freeway in CA on 5/5/23) and no vehicles in front of me, the car suddenly braked hard (the brake pedal fell to the floor under my foot without my foot making any contact with the pedal) and stopped, thus causing the driver/passenger and all contents to shift forward violently. Luckily, there was no one behind the car, no loss of control of the car, no collisions, and no injuries of the driver/passenger as we were both wearing our seat belts. There was a large 16-wheel truck approaching from about 100 feet away on the other side of the road that passed by without any adverse events. It was the second time that this phantom braking had happened on that same road this year. That other time was in Feb 2023. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | On Saturday, May 6th I was driving with a passenger to the airport for Uber. She was in the rear right seat. We were on a 3-4 lane highway and I had Tesla FSD engaged. Out of nowhere, the car breaked in such an extreme manner as to send us thrusting forward in our seats. It was mid afternoon and we were beyond lucky that there was no traffic around us at the time. I felt terrified. If there was traffic, it easily could have been a deadly situation. There was no warning and I had to disengage the FSD function by further pushing on the breaks. I was reported to Uber for a safety issue, understandably, by the passenger. I have not contacted Tesla service or an independent service to look at the issue but plan to today. I saw there was a safety recall for vehicles from 2019. I would like a refund/recall if possible. I do not feel safe using FSD. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car will not allow me to use the cruise control, or put the car into auto-steer. Tesla says it do to a coax cable that is damaged or gone bad. Additionally the day a camera repeater also needs to be replace. The car has only 62,000 miles and is 4 year old. Which is out of Warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | False warning while passing a parked vehicle that I have video of | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the Autonomous Self Driving or Adaptive Cruise Control feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the roadway. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions without any other vehicles or objects nearby. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 28,000 |