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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | License plate light has a recall | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | STRUCTURE | Had to drive through water about 8” deep and while going through the water the rear bumper, and the skid plate underneath the car was yanked off breaking 2 brackets that hold the skid plate on and it broke the manufacturer welds on the other two brackets. This is a known defect with 2017-2019 but obviously it is also a defect with the 2020s. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | SUSPENSION,WHEELS | I am experiencing persistent front suspension issues with my Tesla Model 3 Performance. The vehicle has been taken to a Tesla Service Center three times, yet the problem has not been resolved. The issue includes: Unusual noises (clunking, knocking, or creaking) from the front suspension. Instability or poor handling at various speeds. Repeated failures of suspension components despite repairs. Each time, Tesla service has attempted repairs, but the issue continues to persist, raising serious concerns about the safety and durability of the suspension system.The vehicle is currently at Tesla service center as of March 4th 2025 and they are working on the same problem for the 3rd time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | SEAT BELTS,SEATS | The passenger-side seatbelt system in my Tesla Model 3 (bought Dec 2020) has been malfunctioning repeatedly. The vehicle displays a "Front passenger safety restraint system fault” warning, even when no one is on the passenger side. This issue has persisted despite multiple repair attempts by Tesla during the warranty period, but they have been unable to resolve it. Safety Concern: A malfunctioning seatbelt system is a serious safety hazard, as it could result in the seatbelt failing to function properly in an accident, potentially putting the passenger at greater risk of injury or death. Additionally, the fault warning may prevent proper airbag deployment or create a distraction for the driver while operating the vehicle. Attempts to Fix & Verification: Tesla has attempted multiple repairs but has not been able to fix the issue. According to Tesla, this is a common issue with this model, which raises concerns about a wider systemic defect. The problem is persistent and ongoing, making the vehicle unreliable and unsafe for passengers. Warning & Symptoms: The seatbelt fault warning appears randomly but frequently while driving. Tesla attempted to fix this issue as early as June of 2023, and has remained unresolved despite 4 or more service visits. We might have asked Tesla to work on this issue even earlier and more times since we're unable to pull up repair history before this due to their system error. This issue requires immediate investigation to determine if it is a broader safety defect affecting other Tesla vehicles and if a recall or mandatory repair is necessary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | This happened on 2/18/2023. After I charged my car at a local supercharging station, I drove on the local roads for about 2 miles when the car started shutting down. I could barely steer, and the computer monitor stated that the brakes were turning off, and other parts, like cameras, were losing functionality. I pulled over into the local park. I was frightened that my car was no longer functional and that I could be in grave danger driving again. I tried to call Tesla but no one answered. I had to go through the app. My dad came and we found a Youtube video that said to walk out of the car to let it restart. Looks like it happened to another owner. We did that and the car started functioning again. Not sure why it did this after a charge. But it happened again 3 mos later when I was on the freeway. Luckily, I knew what to do from prior experience. But I am mindful of this whenever I supercharge my car. I wait after charging to drive. This shouldn't be the case and Tesla should tell people of this issue. I tried to tell Tesla service when I went in for another repair but they ignored my comments. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STEERING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My Model 3 failed at under 50,000 miles and gave out a series of failure warnings. It was unable to drive anymore and steering became stiff and unresponsive. In researching this I see it is a common issue with hundreds of thousands of cars affected. And the NHTSA has an open investigation into it. Tesla as usual is denying the problem exists. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The Tesla windows have a window sensor in the door. It appears these fail. When they fail, the door does not shut securely. More specifically, it stays paritally ajar. I would like to report this a safety issue. More specifically, it is possible a passenger could fall out when the window does not shut properly. Additionally, it seem to impact the drivablity and safety. This should be considered a recall item. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Car radio goes so loud it damaged my ear nerves. This results in pain especially when exposed to loud sounds | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS | Back and buttocks area suffered electrical burns and pain from Tesla Seat Heaters (in heated seats) twice 1. Happened in 2024 on temperature level 3 2 Although I turned it down it happened again in 2025 on temperature level 2 | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | I keep receiving an alert: “Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault”. I contacted Tesla and they informed me that my airbag sensor needs to be recalibrated and may jeopardize a child sitting in the seat if the airbag is deployed. I understand that this is a common problem with the Model of Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In a private parking lot, within line of sight and ample time to respond to problem I used Tesla Smart Summon. Instead of taking an obvious route through the parking lot, it narrowly hit a parked car, then proceeded to drive over a parking barrier and into a wooded field towards me and a crowded food truck area. I was unable to cancel the feature in time to stop the car from the collision as it accelerated too fast and without any initial signs of an issue. Even after canceling through the app, the car tried to continue for a brief period. If anyone was in the area or we were closer we could have been hit. Tesla replaced the cameras but claimed no responsibility for damages, citing I was "in control". There were no warning lamps or indicators of any defects before the incident. I also have the original dashcam footage portraying the incident, which clearly shows numerous safety hazards to the smart summon feature. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | STRUCTURE | Tesla Model 3 vehicles, including mine, manufactured before the 2024 "highland" vehicle refresh, do not have a mechanical latch mechanism for opening the rear doors, in the event vehicle power is lost. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | AIR BAGS,SEATS | I was driving my vehicle. It said there was an issue with code "RCM_a056 Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault." Many older model 3's are having this issue and with the quote from tesla, they would need to perform a retrofit for the electrical wiring system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | SUSPENSION | THE FRONT CONTROL ARM IS DAMAGED, INTERESTINGLY ABOUT 6 MONTHS AFTER THE WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. TESLA REPAIR TECH TELLS ME ITS SO COMMON THAT THEY DON'T CHARGE FOR THE REPAIR BUT DO CHARGE FOR THE PART. AS I SIT IN THE TESLA REPAIR CENTRE WAITING FOR IT TO BE FIXED, 3 OTHER PEOPLE WITH EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM JUST WALKED IN DESCRIBING EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS PART DOES BUT GIVEN IT'S PART OF THE SUSPENSION, IT POSES A SAFETY RISK. THERE WERE NO WARNINGS EXCEPT FOR A VERY LOUD SQUEAKING NOISE EVERY TIME THE CAR TURNS OR ENCOUNTERS A BUMP | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Unknown issue with front passanger safety restraint system. Car suddenly notified me of an issue with the restraint system. Before the fault the car was simply just parked in my driveway, then I went into the car and the safety issue appeared. The seat was adjusted for my mom's height the day prior, this might have caused a wire to become pinched and caused the fault due to how the wiring under the seat is set up from manufacturing. Online search results show this to be a common occurrence for cars from 2019-2021 in Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | Rear camera works intermittently. It says it's temporarily unavailable and then it restores when car is started next time after exiting. Seems to be a sensor or camera cable issues because camera works fine when it does. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH and making a left turn, the steering wheel seized, and the front passenger's side of the vehicle lowered to the ground and made an abnormal grinding sound, before coming to a stop. The contact stated that upon exiting and inspecting the vehicle, it was noticed that the tie rod had detached from the front passenger's side wheel, and the front passenger's side wheel had turned inward and was pinned by the wheel well. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla Service Center, where it was diagnosed and determined that the front passenger's side steering assembly needed to be replaced. The contact was charged a fee for the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 36,000 |
| Nov 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE | This report is filed to support NHTSA Investigation #PE24031. The four vehicles listed on the SGOs were manufactured when Tesla referred to the ADAS hardware suite as Hardware 3.0 (HW3). This March 2022 video recorded an incident facing into the sun in a 2020 Tesla Model 3 with HW3 installed. Tesla's ADAS is engaged and operating on FSD Beta V10.10.2 firmware. A video sensor reacts to bright sun and shade by raising and lowering its sensitivity, which may compromise exposure if it occurs once. In a series of pulsed, high-contrast lighting changes, the exposure may be less than optimal during much of the transient. The depth and duration of the exposure error will vary by the sensor's make and model. Next, See: [XXX] ) Only the video is relevant. The rear-facing camera view on the Tesla's display shows the shadow cast directly behind the vehicle, confirming direct alignment. At 0:51, the car enters a bridge section where cross-members cast shadows onto the windshield-mounted cameras, causing a pulsed lighting effect. If a video automatic gain adjustment (AGC) step is in the signal path downstream of the sensor, it may react adversely to the pulsed input. The signal path latency, processing time, and the attack and release settings of the AGC delay the output, making it out of sync with the sensor's direct output. Note: At 0:57, the driver requests a speed adjustment as the ADAS emerges from the strobed lighting. At 1:50, the visualization displays the VRUs as facing into the vehicle's path and the ultrasonics returning pings off the metal barrier to the right. Other: Social media reports indicate that interior condensation in front of the front-facing cameras can be resolved using the standard front-screen defrosting feature. There have been accounts of the interior glass becoming hazy or cloudy, and DIY YouTube videos show how to remove the camera pod and sensors to clean that specific glass area. Example: [XXX] ). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | My car did a Phantom break while I was driving on President George bush Turnpike E at the Dallas North tollway exit . I was taking the exit with in the speed limit of 40 miles per hour and was keeping the distance from the car in front. Suddenly the car did an automatic break and car slow down significantly. I got hit from behind and had damage to the bumper and trunk. Emergency break feature went out and an alert came. It is very concerning that the car stops in the middle of road by itself and being hit from behind. I would like an answer from Tesla. I have the dash cam footage of the accident | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tesla's latest update pings you when you're sitting at a light and it turns green. It also shows you the green light on its screen rendering of your surroundings. The other day, Tesla incorrectly pinged me that a light was green when it was still red. It also displayed it as green on the screen. This is dangerous not only because it suggests the self-driving mode would have incorrectly registered the light and started forward (I was not in self-driving fortunately), but even without self-driving, drivers become primed to go when the ping happens, so this could lead a driver to run the light. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I am filing a complaint regarding a serious safety issue with my 2020 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus. While driving on the freeway, the car displayed a “Power Limited - OK to Drive” message, followed by “Power Reduced,” and then automatically limited my speed to 60 mph. This happened unexpectedly on a busy freeway, nearly causing an accident with a car behind me. The message advised that “exiting and re-entering the vehicle may restore operations.” I took the freeway exit and exited the car, re-entered, and resumed driving, but the error returned, reducing my speed further to 58 mph, and at one point, down to 7 mph. This behavior makes the car unsafe for freeway driving, as the speed can drop suddenly, putting me at risk of a collision. This issue persists on city roads as well, with speed reductions happening within a mile of driving, restricting the speed anywhere between 7-60 mph. I scheduled a service appointment with Tesla on 10/12/2024, but the earliest available date is 11/1/2024. I contacted Tesla’s customer service to prioritize my appointment or perform a remote diagnosis, but they refused to accommodate my request. During my own online research, I found that the car log indicates a “RearDrive Inverter Sensor” detecting high temperatures, likely causing the speed restrictions, along with a non-functional powertrain pump. Although my car is under an 8-year warranty for the battery and drive unit, Tesla has sent me a pre-approval bill for the upcoming service, making me concerned they may try to classify these issues as non-warranty and charge me hefty amounts for repairs. Currently, I cannot safely use my vehicle, especially on freeways, and I have no other repair options outside of Tesla. This ongoing issue is urgent and impacts my safety and ability to drive the car reliably. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | I am writing this claim to report a headlight assembly passenger side has failed at 22,000 miles in a Tesla model three 2020 year | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My Motor Control Unit failed. No reason given by Tesla Service Center. It simply just died. They cannot find a reason, and they also said I didn't do anything to cause the MCU to fail. Service Center agrees this is a rare event. Likely got a really faulty MCU to start with. I bought my car in 2020, so just over 4 years later my MCU died. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | There have been recent reports of Tesla FSD accidents that are now under investigation by NHTSA relating to crashes that occurred under difficult visibility conditions. A video I recorded several years ago while driving into a fog bank in NW Washington, about an hour North of Seattle, is linked below. Seeing the fog bank ahead and with no traffic in front or close behind me, I let the car proceed into the fog until the system triggered a takeover alarm. Usually, at this point several years ago, when the driver wanted to disengage FSD, the driver did so by raising the gear selection stalk. Raising the gear stalk disengaged TACC ONLY in this incident, and Autosteering remained active. (see: [XXX] ) After disengaging TACC, the car was slowed by regenerative braking but still under Autosteering control. Turning the steering wheel finally disengaged Autosteering, but that occurred second and was delayed by the driver's confusion over why raising the gear stalk wasn't enough to stop the alarm. Applying the brakes would have disengaged FSD completely - but that wasn't wise with low visibility. I tried re-engaging FSD briefly while still in fog (not shown in this video), and the system refused. This brings to mind a previous documentation video where, with FSD engaged, turning the wheel disengaged *Autosteering, but *TACC remained active. Again, the driver was not initially cognizant that TACC was still active (see: [XXX] ). I believe a subsequent recall remedied this 2nd example, but perhaps the fog bank-type takeover alarm was not affected by that recall remedy. Finally, I have one more video documenting the ability of FSD to see under challenging conditions, in this case, light rain, heavy rain, and eventually hail. No alarms were triggered (see: [XXX] ). Note: I no longer own the vehicle associated with this VIN. See the firmware version shown in the video for approximate dates of these occurrences. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | We were driving back from suffolk virginia along [XXX] - which has two lanes in both directions. It was a sunny day with clear skies. I had cruise control enabled. There were no other cars visible on the road in either direction in front or behind us. Suddenly and without warning the car slammed on the breaks - "phantom breaking". If somebody was behind us it could have easily been a crash. We continued our journey somewhat shaken, and 10 - 15 mins later it did the same thing in similar circumstances. We contacted Tesla who said we should press a button to record an event when it happened again. On a later day it did and we sent them the information. They contacted us back and said that nothing was wrong with car. Since then I feel the cruse control is basically dangerous, so I refuse to use it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |