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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | At just 10 days over 4 years of ownership, which is out of warranty, and at about 44,360 miles, I noticed noise when going over small bumps, moving from stop to go and while turning the steering wheel. It appears that the upper control arm, a recall on about 3000 Tesla Model 3 and Y, was the culprit. I contacted the service center and right away, over the Tesla Mobile App, the knew it was the control arm going bad. They said it was safe to drive, however, it is a bit scary to hear the squeaking and noises when driving and turning the steering wheel, especially at highway speeds. The problem was fixed by Tesla's service center, however, because I was 10 days or so out of my 4 year/50,000 miles warranty, I was charged about $190 for the repair. I feel that since this is a know issue and has happened to many other non-recalled vehicles by Tesla, this would/should be a know defect and safety concern that should have been repaired under warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving, the AEB randomly and repeatedly activates while there are no obstacles in my path. It will slow on the interstate from 70 mph to 30 mph. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | In the Tesla Model 3 vehicle's newest software update, there are text blurbs over 15 words that show up when autopilot is engaged. While I was trying to read this text blurb, the autopilot was attempting to change lanes. I had to prevent this while attempting to read the text blurb. This is because the car was making a dangerous maneuver and had not realized that the cars in the next lane over it was switching to was fully coming to a full stop. The car did not realize this and assumed that the next lane was faster, so it sped up. I turned off autopilot, re-corrected the steering, and re-engaged autopilot. The car continued its previous behavior, turned on the turn signal and went towards the next lane while keeping me busy trying to speed-read 15+ words in half a second. Keep in mind, that this is an issue easily preventable with the removal of the text blurbs. This was a distraction to me, the driver, while the car's automated system assumed it was making the right decision. This put the safety of the passengers in my vehicle at risk and the safety of others, behind me, at risk. As in the incident description above, I replicated the issue once. The dealer (Tesla) has remained silent since my report to them. The vehicle or component has not to my knowledge. There were no warning signals, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the distraction. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Drivers side rear door is stuck shut. After some research, there is no manual release. This is a significant safety issue and needs to be resolved for all cars that lack the release. I shouldn’t have to visit a service center to open a door. I will refrain from having rear passengers in the car as this is a blatant safety risk. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In autopilot or cruise control, this vehicle will brake unexpectedly with no vehicle or obstacle in front of it. This has happened primarily on highways, and it has happened between 10 and 15 times, such that now the driver cannot trust either autopilot or cruise control because if someone is following close behind, it could cause a wreck. We reported it to the dealer in Wexford PA prior to a service appointment, and they have not been forthcoming with a solution. We do not believe they inspected the system. There was no warning that this failure was about to occur. Below I report the date of the last 3 occurrences. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On long, straight interstate highway roads where speed limit is 80mph in GOOD to EXCELLENT weather and visibility conditions the vehicle on average would apply emergency braking at least 10x per 1,000 miles when no hazard or obstruction was present. This was often caused by asphalt color changes, slight hills, or shimmer in the distance…all of which are normal conditions for average driving. If vehicle was being followed closely by another car it had potential to cause high speed collision and injury or death. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on US 395 near Mojave, CA, with cruise control enabled, the car braked suddenly twice within a 20 minute period. There were no other cars on the road but there was still a "phantom brake" that came out of nowhere. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE | The lane keeping assistance will send the car jerking left or right without reason or warning. (I’m not sure if the car is reacting to a shadow on the road or for some other reason.). This has occurred a number of times with an abrupt and violent movement. The last time this occurred was at around 6:50pm on Wednesday April 5, 2023 while driving westbound approaching the northernmost Palm Beach Island bridge. The car made a violent and completely unnecessary shift out of the lane and I had to make a forceful corrective steering response that scared both myself and my passenger. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact's girlfriend owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 73 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 41,000 |
| Apr 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | In 2020 my driver side headlight assembly stopped working then in 2023 my passenger side headlight assembly stopped working. This includes the day time running light as well as headlight and turn signal in each assembly. No warning was displayed. This can cause confusion for other drivers and pedestrians through the inability to indicate my location or intention of travel. The first time this happened, the service center explained it was a component issue and the assembly was replaced by them. No warnings were shown from the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On several occasions the autopilot mode braked unnecessarily. In one instance causing the big rig behind me to honk. Recently it braked hard when there were no cars around on the freeway. On a third time it braked as a car in a neighboring lane was close to crossing the lane but did not. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY | Went on a long trip over the last 2 weeks that involved >2000 miles of highway driving. Wanted to use the Adaptive Cruise Control but couldn't because of frequent sudden braking for no apparent reason. The last time that it happened was on I84 with no cars in sight in either direction, no large signs in sight, and no changes in pavement color in sight. We were traveling at 80mph with Adaptive Cruise Control engaged (Self Driving was NOT engaged) and the car suddenly braked to less than 50mph before I could intervene to regain speed control. We couldn't use Adaptive Cruise Control for the rest of the trip because we decided that it was too dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | The rear view camera of my car it’s failing intermittently some days work some days don’t. So I found that there is a recall related to this specific issue. NHTSA Recall Number 21V-00D then I scheduled a service with Tesla indicating that I’m sending the car for them to honor the recall. They accepted and scheduled the service appointment through the app at $0 cost because obviously it’s their responsibility. Well for my surprise when I arrive to the Tesla Service Center in Coral Gables Florida, the person in charge refused to honor the recall saying that the car it’s not in warranty and that they don’t perform services on recalls even though I was showing them that the recall it’s on my VIN number at the NHTSA website. Now I’m worried that I may cause an accident because the car may malfunction due to this safety issue with the rear camera. Find attached screenshots of the conversations I had with them where they are basically refusing to properly perform the service for this recall that includes the full inspection of the coaxial cable to see if it’s too damaged and the replacement of the part. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The contact stated that the message “Vehicle Hold Disabled” and vehicle shutting down and pull over safely. The contact was able to pull on the side of road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was contacted, and the manufacturer had the vehicle towed to the dealer. The failure mileage was 34,148. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 34,148 |
| Mar 2023 | SEAT BELTS | My vehicle is giving me a warning saying "Front left safety restraint fault - Service is required". This is a 2018 Tesla Model 3 that Tesla says is a repair and not a recall. But if my seatbelts don't work, this seems like it should be a safety recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Car in park in busy parking lot. Car reset itself to factory settings, profiles gone, everything at factory default. Put car in reverse, rear-view cameras pop on as expected, but as I'm in motion in reverse the cameras freeze and a dialog box pops up with details on "what's new in V11", preventing rear visibility. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | WHEELS | Link - Lateral - Lower - Front - LH (Remove & Replace) LOWER LATERAL LINK -FRONT(1044341-00-D) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car on multiple occasions while driving on the highway with either the cruise control or autopilot engaged, drastically brakes and slows down for no reason. These slowdowns are drastic and have occurred when there are no other cars or conditions to cause the response. The braking is so dramatic that it is unlikely that I could have intervened in time to prevent a trailing vehicle from potentially rear ending my car. The speed change was so drastic that a trailing driver also may not have been able to react in time. This is a serious issue that must be corrected without delay. This typically issue occurs within 15 minutes of engaging the cruise control or autopilot and has happened multiple times. The date below is the most recent occurrence. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car restarted itself and wiped out the entirety of my saved settings. I’m very upset because I had to set up everything all over again. Additionally, the full self driving brakes randomly while driving and causing my body to slam and pushed back from the seat belt. The autopilot feature also failed to recognize yellow lights where it will cross it, which had to be disengaged by the driver in order to avoid accident. The fsd also failed to recognize merging lane when merging onto the freeway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VISIBILITY,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number 21V00D000 (Back Over Prevention) and 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the parts were not available. 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 stated that the backup camera was inoperable nearly caused the vehicle to strike a pedestrian. The failure mileage was 48,000. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SUSPENSION,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I was driving using beta full self driving feature, and the vehicle was involved in a collision | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SUSPENSION | The front control arm fails just 58k mile mark this known issue on car. Multiple time brought to there attention no action was taken | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | the PTC heater fails on a lot of the older cars leaving them stranded. The % of cars effected is alarming. This should be recalled to prevent people from being stranded in the cold. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On Feb. 18, 2023 when the Tesla model 3 was being driven on I-66E in a regular lane (55mph speed limit) parallel to an I-66 express lane (posted limit of 70 mph) going in the same direction, the car display showed the higher posted speed limit of the express lane. As a result, in assisted cruise control mode, the car would speed up more than 15 mph faster than the permitted speed for the non-express lane. Using assisted cruise control in such a circumstance is a serious hazard, but it has been observed many times on different highways since the vehicle was purchased in 2019. The problem puts the occupants of the car and other vehicles on the road at risk. The problem was initially experienced on I-395 and reported to Tesla in 2019 soon after purchase, but no action or follow-up was made. Recently, the problem has been consistently detected multiple times in similar circumstances. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I am writing to report a serious issue that occurred while my wife and two of my children were driving my Tesla Model 3 with VIN number [XXX] on Highway 99 North on February 14, 2023, at approximately 6pm. While driving on the highway, the Model 3 suddenly shut down and died. The vehicle completely lost power and they were unable to restart it. Despite trying all the resets given by Tesla roadside assistance, the car would not move. Even the Tesla team wasn't able to move the car and it was California Highway Patrol who moved it to a safer location. My wife and children were extremely frightened by this incident, which was an incredibly dangerous situation as they were driving on a busy highway, and they were lucky that no accidents occurred as a result. I wanted to update you that the Tesla team in Stockton, CA is now handling this issue and they have informed me that the battery fuse blew. However, this incident has left me with grave concerns regarding the safety of my Tesla Model 3 for myself and my children. I believe that the car has become extremely unsafe to drive, and I am very worried that a similar situation could happen again. I must also note that this incident has created a panic within me, that even if and when the issue is resolved, every time I drive my Model 3, I will have a flashback of the incident and the fear that it might happen again. I believe this is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |