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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Emergency braking kicks in at times when there's an oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane. It happens on straight roads in normal traffic when the oncoming vehicle is maintaining it's lane. The car will suddenly slam on the brakes when there's no chance of a collision. Afraid of getting rear ended, I avoid using the cruise control and "autopilot" due to this erratic behavior. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car decides to apply brakes for no reason | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I read this morning that there have been complaints about the automatic emergency braking engaging when it shouldn't and I would like to add my car to the list. I've had my Tesla a little over two years and turned off the feature about a year ago because it would hit engage the emergency braking when there was no reason to. After a software update a month ago Tesla reactivated the feature without my permission and the only reason I knew it was activated is because the brakes slammed while I was on the freeway. The forward collision warning also activates often when there is no threat of collision of near by. The details below are an approximation of the last time the emergency braking engaged but this happened probably 4-5 other times during the year I had it activated. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There are two problems: (1) braking and (2) windshield wiper operation. (1) Braking: When driving on a highway and going by an on-ramp on the right side, without any warning, the vehicle would, al of a sudden, slam violently on the brakes, even though the cars entering the highway are nowhere near where I would be driving. This has happened repeatedly to me, creating a hazard of a rear-end collision. The Tesla Model 3 in such cases would already be in a mode that would drive itself (by me having clicked on the right stalk twice). Additionally, the car often misreads a traffic sign for a different part of the road, such as a stop sign for a side road. The violent braking would take place in such a scenario also. (2) Windshield wiper operation: I'm not sure if this would qualify as a safety issue, but the windshield wiper operation doesn't work in automatic mode. I rely on this while driving in a rainy or snowy day so that I can concentrate on the driving itself without worrying about something else to do (turning on the windshield wipers). This is problem that has plagued the car right from the beginning, and to me, it presents a safety hazard. For example, about a week ago, I drove in bad weather (snowy) on a turnpike to get to a medical appointment. The weather turned bad, and cars would pass me by, splashing water/snow onto the car's windshield. The automatic mechanism should have kicked in to help me focus on the driving, but it did not. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Vehicle approached an upward slope which triggered a forward collision warning and (unsafe) emergency braking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have experienced phantom breaking twice with my model 3. The first time was on the 101 freeway near Santa Clause Lane outside of Santa Barbara. There was no car in front of me or a hazard on the road but the vehicle made a sudden stop while I was traveling around 55MPH. The second occurrence happened on the 101 freeway near Santa Maria. Again, the vehicle made braked suddenly while traveling around 65MPH. The closest car in front of me was about 100 feet away. There was a car behind me but I was able to quickly hit the gas peddle to avoid an accident. I searched online at the time to see if anyone else had this issue but didn't have much luck. I'm thankful that I saw the Washington Post article. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car has experience phantom breaking issues since 1 month after purchasing in December 2019 when using autopilot. Each time phantom braking so far only happens during interstate driving. During the two year period, it has happened over 10 times. Fortunately, no vehicle was very close behind me when phantom braking occurs. Oddly, no forward collision warning occurred during the phantom braking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |