Complaint volume
427 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
2020 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
427 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
427 Total complaints
50 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
24 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, unknown or other, vehicle speed control,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 50 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 24 injury reports, and 2 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 73 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 12,664 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, unknown or other, vehicle speed control,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 2020 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.
2020 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2020 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
50 Crash
2 Fire
24 Injury
2 Fatality
35 Towed
24 Medical attention
What are the most common 2020 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 72
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 34
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 24
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 18
SUSPENSION 17
AIR BAGS 14
STEERING 14
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14
STRUCTURE 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10
427 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2023 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, she encroached into the right light and was T-boned by a bus. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact did not sustain any injuries and a police report was not filed. The contact managed to drive the vehicle away from the accident despite damage to both the front and rear passenger side doors. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The contact stated that the lane assist feature failed to operate as needed. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 22,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | 22,000 |
| Feb 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I get "phantom braking" on average about every 2-3 hours of highway driving with cruise control enabled. All of a sudden without any road obstructions or vehicles ahead, the car will suddenly break hard even at highway speeds. Sometimes it happens when I approach an underpass or get to a section where the pavement is darker than before. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | I was driving to work on the morning of February 24th 2023 and it was raining. After some time, and while on the freeway, I noticed that my low beam headlamps icon (green telltale) on the center display was not showing. As I always drive with lights in AUTO, and since it was raining (windshield wipers were activated automatically), I expected the headlights to turn on automatically. I worried that I would not be seen well by other drivers, and had to navigate to the controls on the center display and switch the headlights from AUTO to ON manually. The headlights then turned on (I assume, since I couldn't see indications on whether they were on or off on the outside, but the green icon did appear after I pressed the "ON" button). Given that it was raining outside, relatively dark, and the windshield wipers were on, I would expect the headlights to be activated while in the AUTO mode. I have never had issues with this before, and wonder if this came from a software update. The switch to go from auto to manual lights isn't very easy to reach from the driver seat so I would expect the auto mode to work well so this situation doesn't have to happen. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The backup camera on my car (and countless others posted online) sometimes has a 1-2 second delay in starting when in reverse, and often will freeze momentarily while in motion. This problem was introduced when Tesla updated their software some time in 2021, where it was livable but noticeable. Then in a subsequent update, the lag and freezing became extreme and rendered the backup camera useless at times. Then, another software update COMPLETELY FIXED the problem. However, one of the recent updates has reintroduced the issue, albeit not as bad as at its worst, but still a safety risk as unexpected freezing of the rear camera, even momentarily, could cause a potential collision with an object that may appear behind the vehicle. I love the software update model Tesla has. But safety features code needs to be walled off from other functionality so it cannot be impacted by updates. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The ADAS system for the car includes automatic steering, which only works at the speed limit detected or less. The car incorrectly sets the speed limit in many instances as much as 30 mph under the limit. It isn’t safe to drive the car at such a different speed than the rest of traffic. Tesla claims it relies on map data and can read speed limit signs. Most rural roads have no posted limit, so they default to 55 mph. Even in the presence of a posted speed limit, the car defaults to their bad map data within seconds of passing such a sign. Tesla has no mechanism for reporting this bad data to get it corrected. This has been ongoing for more than a year. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car was running in auto-steering mode. Last year it did phanthom breaking 3 times in freeway ( Arizona I-10 from casa Grande to tempe direction). Same happened on 2/14/22, it did phantom breaking for no reason. Speed dropped from 80MPH to 55mph. Luckily no one was ahead or behind me. This is high risk for drivers behind me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The problem is my car has been in the shop six times for an issue that Tesla claims it is unable to fix. I started smelling a burning smell (smoke coming from my air vents anytime the air is on) and brought it in. The first three times they were unable to find anything the fourth time they noticed debris That was embedded in the heating fins. They replaced that unit. The fifth/sixth time they actually took the HVAC unit out and noticed the entire plastic underneath was melted and warped. Since the smell has continued and I’m worried that it’s dangerous, I had the air quality tested. The formaldehyde levels were 50 times higher than the EPA recommends as a safe level. (HCH0 level of 6 ppm) I’ve submitted all this to Tesla and they said they are currently working with their legal team to figure out if a buy back as possible. The New York Attorney General told me that the car is not viable for a lemon law due to the fact they didn’t do three chances to fix it in 90 days. (The first 2 appointments were in the 90 days but the 3-6th were just past it) The car is not safe to breath air in and my lungs hurt from even spending a few minutes in the car. I’m worried about the effects it has on my health and I feel morally wrong to sell it to anyone else. Please help. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on Interstate 295 (it is unclear what the official direction North, south, west). You are going south toward Philadelphia. Some signs say north but in reality it is only for a mile or two then the road bends due south. Every time I travel on this road and just before the Scuddersfall bridge, the car brakes to 30 MPH and it does it again on the other side of the bridge (the same direction). I have reported this many times on Tesla's "bug report" and for the 2 years + nothing has been done to correct the problem. The car doesn't have a problem in the opposite direction. I usually take it off the autopilot at this location to prevent the braking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Using Autopilot on an empty highway at appx 65mph, the auto pilot system began to brake aggressively without any obstacles in front of me. As it approached 40 or 30 mph, I pressed on the brake to cancel the autopilot before I was hit from behind. Scary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated he was not able to operate the rear windows in the vehicle. The contact referenced his concerns about regulation Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard: 571-6; not allowing him to open or close the rear windows. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure through the App. The failure mileage was approximately 44,300. | Crash: No Fire: No | 44,300 |
| Jan 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | This is regarding the computer and the cameras on this car. From the first day that I got this car, I have had the issue that when I use the cameras or the backup camera on this it laggs and this is part of safety issue because I was going to ran over some people when I was reversing. The lagging is very noticibale and I took the car to Tesla multiple times and said is ok but when they send technician to my house, we went for drive and I showed him the cameras and he duplicated the problem. The problem is getting worst and last month the computer was blacked out while I was driving. I need you guys to help me out to either put a recall on this car or return and get my full money back for this junk. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On a recent trip, while using the adaptive cruise control on a divided, straight, flat four lane highway, the vehicle would randomly slam on the brakes for absolutly no reason, endangering us and other vehicles behind us, who were not expecting a random slam of the brakes. Driving conditions were ideal - sunny, excellent visibility and very low traffic. There were no oncoming or road-crossing vehicles and no vehicles in front of us on the divided highway to trigger the reaction. This happened 14 times over about 200 miles of driving on our return trip home and over 30 times on the trip out. On the outbound trip, I was using it on both the divided highway and sections where there was only one lane in each direction, so decided to just use the cruise control when there was a divided highway. This is a recent phenomenon, as cruise control has never done that before. The semi-autonomous mode does it all the time as well, so we stopped using it for fear of causing an accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | TIRES | On October 29, 2022 the Michelin tire on my 2020 Tesla Model 3 that had 16,000 miles on it, suffered catastrophic tread loss while traveling at 70 miles per hour on California Route 110. The tire was the original equipment tire supplied with this vehicle when my lease began in January, 2021. The DOT number on the tire was B9 EL 04 EX 0419 and the tire size was 235/45R18 98W. The tread did not wear out, the tread delaminated from the tire and was lost on the side of California Route 110. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE | My car is affected by a product defect where Tesla Model 3's which have blind spot monitoring cameras (all model 3s) during a certain time frame have extreme glare at night, preventing the driver from safely using the blind spot monitoring system. The camera is basically unusable, and this is a feature that drivers rely on to safely view their blind spots. I have done lots of research online, and Tesla repeatedly refuses to fix these product defects under warranty. There are tens of thousands (potentially hundreds of thousands) of affected vehicles, and I'm sure that Tesla is trying to avoid a costly recall, so they refuse to admit that this is a major safety issue and say that it is "within spec". If you search "tesla model 3 side camera glare" in Google, you'll find that there are thousands of complains on forums. Tesla fixes some under warranty, and refuses to fix others. I am aware that there was a recall on Model 3 vehicles already due to the rear view camera going out, which the NHTSA deemed a safety issue. I would argue that the defective blind spot cameras are a FAR more significant safety issue, because the rear-view camera is used almost exclusively during slow speed maneuvering into tight spaces, while the blind spot cameras are used on freeways for high-speed (60-70mph) lane changes. I have reached out to Tesla and requested that they fix this under warranty as it is a major safety issue, and they told me that newer production models have had the problem fixed, but that my model year needs to pay to have it fixed by Tesla. I have attached pictures of my conversation with Tesla to this complaint. Please take action against this company, which is putting its customers at risk because they don't want to bear the financial cost of fixing their product design defect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I don't think TESLA has dealt with recall 22v-702. TESLA has not notified me of the status of the recall. Please let me know if they have solved the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This is the first and only time this has occurred as of today, 1/1/23. Around 11:45am EST, I was driving down a side street with no traffic coming towards me, behind me, or in front of me (and with no objects in the road). Suddenly, my brakes were aggressively applied and a warning came up on my screen saying it was the Automatic Emergency Braking that had been applied. It then released a few seconds after. I do not have the Autopilot option on my car, and I did not have any type of cruise control engaged at the time. If this had occurred in traffic for no reason it easily could have caused an accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I was on the exit lane coming from Costco on 12/31/2022 at around 12:20 PM with a speed of about 40 miles . My exit is about 100 yards away. Tesla model 3 that I’m driving suddenly accelerated at high speed and pulled towards right and hit the wall next to freeway exit lane. Then it hit the wall on rear tailgate and rolled to middle of freeway within a fraction of seconds. Two vehicles coming on the freeway hit my car and after second hit my car completely stopped in the middle of freeway. I was able to come out safely and later CHP officers came and towed the vehicle | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Recall 21v-00d was registered DEC 2021, notice said waiting for parts. It's been OVER 12 months and no parts yet? Also, the phone number Tesla has listed on the recall notice and their recall info on your website goes to a self-service site that states to use your Tesla app to schedule a repair so there is no way of contacting the company directly to find out about the status of the recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This vehicle has the phantom braking issue whether you are using adaptive cruise or autopilot, and has happened at least 15 times in the past two years. Because of the sudden braking, we almost had a collision with a semi-truck coming up behind us on I-5 heading south the last time and the driver thought I was brake-checking him, making him very angry and giving obscene gestures at us for it. We reported it to the Tesla service center, and they basically said it happens, and they disclosed it in the operator manual. That is unacceptable. This is very dangerous, and lives could be lost in the circumstance where someone is following close behind. Tesla basically is saying it can happen and there is no fix which absolutely unacceptable and this car is dangerous to drive. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While using the autopilot function car unexpectedly brakes almost to a stop for no apparent reason. This happened in different driving conditions, day, night, other cars around and on empty roadways, both divided and connected two and four lane freeway and side highways. Brakes so hard that objects fly off the seat and cars traveling behind my vehicle have had to break themselves and or change lanes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was driving Tela on 237 Clavaras Blvd heading towads 880 South just before Abott ave in Mlipitas town California Tesla Model 3 acelrated suddenly hitting the car in fronts, emegency automatic braking did not kick n. Earlier it had autopilot set not sure if it tured off. We were surirsed, my wife was driving and I was i passenger seat none of the safety measure worked in the Tesla. My car is totaled. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking: While in cruise or autopilot mode, it suddenly brakes on freeway without any obstacles observed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed on the highway, the vehicle was experiencing phantom braking. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving at various speeds with the cruise control or while using the autonomous self-driving feature. The contact stated that the battery warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or local dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while utilizing the ADAS features including the Adaptive Cruise Control, the vehicle independently applied the brakes while driving at highway speeds. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 25,000 |
| Nov 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking issue. Cruise control set at 68mph. Medium freeway traffic at 7pm. Noticed disabled car ahead on the shoulder. No danger. As we approached the car, my car went into a panic stop as if it thought a collision was ahead. Car braked and skidded. I was able to regain control and accelerate and avoid a rear end collision. No waring or repair issues | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |