Complaint volume
434 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
434 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2020 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
434 Total complaints
51 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
26 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 51 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 26 injury reports, and 2 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 74 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 13,034 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?
51 Crash
2 Fire
26 Injury
2 Fatality
35 Towed
25 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
SUSPENSION 20
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 18
AIR BAGS 14
STEERING 14
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14
STRUCTURE 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10
434 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2022 | POWER TRAIN,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and using Self Driving feature, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and continued to drive the vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated while reversing, the vehicle inadvertently moved forward and slightly bumped into a guardrail. There was no further information provided. The contact depressed the brake pedal and was able to successfully reverse after several attempts. The contact also stated that the vehicle would fail to make normal beeping sounds and alerts while reversing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that unless he provided the specific time and date of the failure, they could not assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 10,000 |
| Mar 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving at highway speed, the vehicle's automatic emergency braking unexpectedly activated, without cause or warning, which caused a very rapid deceleration of the vehicle. Fortunately, the traffic on the highway was light and no other vehicles were around, but this "phantom braking" had the potential for a major collision. This is the first time this has happened on this vehicle. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer and there were no prior warnings. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | SUSPENSION | The upper control arm on my vehicle creaks and it is a known issue amongst the Tesla model 3 owners. This creak can eventually wear to the point the ball joint will separate during driving. This is a safety issue that can cause an accident. Tesla denied the warranty repair due to some after market parts. This is not a valid reason to deny me warranty because this issue is prominent in all cars of this model and year regardless of aftermarket parts or not. Currently the issue is present at low speeds. Tesla applied a "patch" to keep water from getting into their poorly designed ball joint. Unfortunately by the time they got to this repair for my vehicle it was too late. And water had gotten in and caused the damage and now it is a safety concern. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while the vehicle was in reverse, the rear camera would intermittently fail to operate as needed. The contact had previously received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) but stated that the vehicle was not included in the recall. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20,000 |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My Tesla Model 3 is equipped with standard auto pilot (no full-self driving) and traffic aware cruise control (TACC or otherwise known as adaptive cruise control). While engaged, I experience, on average, per 60-mile trip a minimum of 1 phantom braking event. Note this is not on residential, county or state roads, this is on divided highways. The vehicle will slam on the brakes for no reason and will at times activate the forward collision warning system. It's so bad I've disabled many of the safety systems for fear I will cause an accident. Traffic aware cruise control on a two lane road (this does not steer or lane center the vehicle), is unusable because it constantly brakes for oncoming traffic in other lanes, or aggressively brakes for vehicles turning in front of you, even with plenty of distance to clear. The system will even continue to brake, after the turning vehicle has fully cleared the road. This requires the driver to slam the accelerator to cancel the braking action. When I first purchased the vehicle in February of 2020, there were no issues with Phantom braking. This issue has become worse with over-the-air updates. I canceled my full-self driving subscription because the phantom braking was even worse with that software. Additionally, Tesla uses a driver safety score to determine insurance rates if you are using their branded insurance program. When these phantom braking events occur it sometimes registers as an emergency braking event which deducts from your overall score and can ultimately cause your rates to increase. When I enrolled in FSD, before Tesla would release the software, they required a certain safety score over a week's time. During that time the system falsely reported running red lights, emergency braking events, and aggressive stopping, while only using the regenerative braking system. They system will also flag you for tailgating with auto pilot engaged. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There is a complete failure of the Autopilot (cruise control) feature and sudden braking when using. There is an extreme risk to personal safety when using this feature. On several occasions, I have been using this feature on the highway while going the posted speed limit of 65 or 70 mph. Suddenly, the vehicle will decelerate aggressively and violently causing any vehicles behind me to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. This feature of the vehicle is not recognizing road signs, or other inanimate objects, correctly and mistakes them for some hazard that requires braking. Very dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During regular driving at highway speeds, and using Adaptive Cruise control and auto steer feature, The car would suddenly brake substantially for no reason. There was no object or anything that In the road. If there was a car traveling behind me closely a sever accident could have happened. This has happened on more than 10 occasions since owning the car in 2020 new from Manufacturer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE | The Tesla rear facing repeater cameras show the driver's blind spot when changing lanes. The cameras are also used during automatic lane changes when the car is in drive-assisted (FSD) mode on the highway and in city (FSD Beta). The cameras have a manufacturer defect. At night, light from the turn signal led is blinding a large part of the vision field of these cameras. This renders the blind spot vision for the driver but also the computer assisted automatic lane changes for the car partially obstructed. Tesla has acknowledged this defect by redesigning the rear facing cameras so the blinding is remedied. Tesla is refusing to fix this issue under warranty and requires owners to pay for this safety fix. Tesla's statement on this issue: "Hi Stephan! The blind spot camera performance on your vehicle is neither a defect of materials nor workmanship. It is a characteristic of the product. And it's a characteristic that has been design enhanced in newer vehicle production. If you wish to upgrade to newer camera technology, you have an option to purchase the upgraded cameras and have them installed." I am having my cameras replaced, and will pay for it. I believe Tesla should, however, seeing how this is driver safety related even if they are unwilling to acknowledge this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking on my car, just like everyone else. In autopilot on the highway my car will break pretty hard when there is nothing in front of it. Seems to occur when approaching bridges and large signs. If I drive on the highway every day, it will happen to some degree at least once a drive. At least once this nearly caused an accident (I was almost rear ended because my car braked for no reason) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In numerous instances since the vehicle was purchased in December 2019 and with all software versions to date, the vehicle has suddenly and with no warning or reason rapidly and forcefully applied the brakes while adaptive cruise control was set. This has happened on four lane interstates at speeds between 65 and 78mph and on two lane highways in both day and night. The "phantom braking" is worst on two lane highways and makes the use of cruise control at night on a two lane highway nearly impossible to use due to the frequency of occurrences. This braking has nearly caused accidents and has resulted in my wife's neck aching due to the unexpected and forceful application of the brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH and turning left, the vehicle experienced “Phantom Braking). There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 12,000 | Crash: No Fire: No | 12,000 |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving down Interstate-5 my Tesla has been known to automatically brake from traffic safe speeds down to 40 immediately. It has happened multiple times. I have video to prove it as well. My video is too large at the moment but it does exist. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,VISIBILITY/WIPER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking can occur when vehicles are passing at night and during the day for no reason. There is no adequate control to enable the windshield wipers. Many menus to access the wiper controls. Not safe | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | late November of 2021, sunny weather, dry pavement. I was driving with Auto pilot (auto aware cruise control) on a 2-lane highway in rural MN. No traffic, I came upon a shadow cast by trees across the highway and the car suddenly braked. Later that same day, I was driving on a 4-lane expressway in a rural area—again with CC on. I was approaching an overpass that cast a shadow onto the roadway and the car suddenly braked. In both cases the car did not come to a complete stop but significant reduction in speed. Luckily in both cases no one was following close behind me. I have no interest in FSD and don’t agree with it as our highway/roadway infrastructure is a long way off from being ready. However, cruise control should be solid and I am now wary of using it and am tense under same conditions—I can’t rely on it. Tesla (Elon Musk) made a bad directive to have this system rely on cameras only. This system should also have LiDAR or at least radar. I informed Tesla of this issue. They acknowledged receipt of the complaint but never offered what they would do about it. Phantom braking is a big issue and FSD ought to be outlawed until infrastructure, vehicles and drivers are ready for it. For the life of me, I don’t understand why anyone would want FSD. Anyway, the issue with my car is not with FSD. Thanks | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have had too many phantom braking incidents to count, it has happened hundreds of times since I bought the car. Most incidents were mild slowdowns (3-10 mph) on some two lane roads through interstate and but some were quite quite violent, 20 mph or more slowdowns in a second or two. For example, using only adaptive cruise control or with autopilot also engaged and no other vehicles nearby, the car suddenly slammed on the brakes before I was able to step on the pedal and stop the deceleration. If there had been a truck behind me following close, it would have rear ended me. This sort of instance happens regularly, at least once or twice a week. Mild slow downs, as noted above, happen a handful of times most every time I drive the car. It happens when roads are empty or full, and slow downs also occur even when lines in the road are clear, there is no traffic. It also can occur when I am cresting a hill or making a blind turn | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car has experienced phantom braking for no apparent reason when on cruise control or auto pilot. Tesla claims to have to looked at the cars programming remotely and found no problem. I took the car to a Tesla dealer for a seat belt recall and asked them to also repair the phantom breaking. Again they said that they found nothing wrong with the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car braked from 65 mph to 35 mph with no obstructing traffic, the car has done similar things on many occasions however. On the occasion of the most recent occurrence, I noticed that the car indicated a change in the posted maximum speed for that location from 65 mph (normal highway speed) to 35 mph, at which time it began slowing to the erroneous 35 mph limit. There was no reason for the change in speed, as there was no posting, construction or traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On to different occasions while vehicle was in Enhanced Autopilot the car braked hard for no apparent reason. If another car had been close behind it might have hit me. Problem has not been confirmed by a service center or the dealer, nor has the vehicle been inspected by anyone. The described actions happened in a construction area on highway I-25, both northbound and southbound. Problem appears to occur at off ramps. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Countless times, while driving on a two lane highway at speeds from 45-70 mph while on adaptive cruise control, the car unexpectedly braked when a vehicle was in the oncoming lane. This became so much of a problem that I needed to keep my foot on the accelerator if there was a car or truck in the other lane. It was dangerous because a car following me could have run into me or I could have skidded on ice. This has been happening for about a week. I think it is called phantom braking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | I recently brought my car in for routine servicing and informed the Tesla service technician that I’ve been experiencing significant lag with the rear (reverse) camera video feed since roughly early-December 2021. The rear (reverse) camera lag makes reversing hazardous, as any reliance by the driver on the the rear (reverse) camera feed can cause serious (potentially fatal) injury and/or property damage. I asked the technician to look into and address the issue; I told him I was aware there had been a recall and that I received a notice. He informed that they were unable to replicate the issue—which I find hard to believe, given it happens constantly—and that rear (reverse) camera lag is common in Model 3s as they age. My car is less than two years old—hardly classifying as “aged”. In looking at Internet forums, this appears to be a very common issue with Model 3s, and one that has yet to be resolved by the manufacturer through either hardware or software update(s). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car will brake without any warning and with not reason to brake. Many complaints I’ve read online call this phantom braking. It has happened over ten times now and can be extremely dangerous as it will brake the car almost instantly and I have almost been rear ended because of it. Only matter of time before this happens and it results in a wreck. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The vehicle's side cameras (those near the wheels) have a defect that lets internal light shine through 3 holes in the PCB of the camera. Since the side cameras are mounted in the same assembly as the side blinkers, whenever the blinkers are on (hazards or turn signal), the side cameras become almost unusable either by the driver or, seemingly, by the car's computer to give any blind spot warning. Result: blind spot warning / automatic lane change is not working as expected when in total darkness and turn signal / hazard is on. When asked for a repair under warranty, Tesla refuses, saying that this is not a defect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | Tesla model 3 has side repeater cameras that work as blind spot monitor cameras and provide visuals for safe lane changes. However, my model 3 suffers from a manufacturing defect in the camera assembly which causes the visuals to wash out at night due to light bleed from the turn signal. This caused an unsafe condition where i almost ran into a car in my blindspot being unable to see them on the camera visual. I raised the issue with service and they do not consider it a manufacturing defect. The defect however has been confirmed by independent researchers like here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BUPsjguqdY | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | automatic braking happens for no reason. Happened multiple times on freeway . | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On Tuesday 2/1/2022 approximately 9:20am EST, as I was sitting in a stop-and-go traffic, as the traffic was freeing up and started moving going roughly 5 to 10 mph, the vehicle automatically applied phantom brake - with a notification of emergency braking applied. I was not on cruse control or autopilot. i was in full control of the car yet it suddenly applied the ebrakes nearly causing someone to rear end me since the traffic had started moving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |