Complaint volume
650 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
2021 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
650 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
650 Total complaints
45 Crash reports
5 Fire reports
16 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, service brakes,forward collision avoidance, 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 45 crash reports, 5 fire reports, 16 injury reports, and 5 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 42 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 18,076 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, service brakes,forward collision avoidance, 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 2021 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.
2021 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
45 Crash
5 Fire
16 Injury
5 Fatality
38 Towed
18 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 199
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 57
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 53
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 41
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 33
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 21
VISIBILITY/WIPER 12
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11
SERVICE BRAKES 10
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 10
650 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2022 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while reversing the vehicle from her residence at 3 mph and attempting to turn to the left, but failed to turn. The contact stated the vehicle continued to go straight and ran into a chain link fence. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention but she was frightened. The contact attempted to straighten the vehicle by turning left again and drove into a railing. The contact stated the instrument cluster screen when blank after the second crash. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact towed the vehicle to local dealer and was being serviced at the moment of the call. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 12,297 | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | 12,297 |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While driving the rear passenger driver side glass just shattered, this seems to be a issue with a lot of Tesla 3 models. The glass has a outward bulge, nothing hit the glass. Luckily this did not result in a crash, but could have. There are a lot of people that have reported this on the internet, this is a new 2021 model still under Warrenty and Tesla refuses to repair it under warranty even though a lot of them are having the same problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Car would slow down and suddenly using regenerative braking for no good reason while on Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (part of Autopilot) on very lightly traveled highways, mostly on I-80 in WY, UT, and NV. Incidents happened on 1 to 2% of every mile traveled. I have marked the date as July 3 below, but actually multiple (20 to 50 total) incidents occurred from 7/2 to 7/4, and 7/9 to 7/11. Incidents could occur whether Autosteer was engaged or not. No alarm sounded to indicate that a collision was imminent. If I didn't intervene, the car would sometimes recover almost immediately and slowed only 5 mph, but in other cases it would slow down by 20 mph within 2-3 sec before recovering. Speed limits were typically 75 to 80 mph; I was normally traveling around that speed. Although these highways have low traffic density, my biggest concern is that another car will rear-end mine if it's following too closely. My own observations: 1. The most frequent incident type seemed to occur when there were no vehicles ahead for 15 to 30 sec following distance. Prior to this, Traffic Visualization would sometimes show the next vehicle with uncertainty (flickering in and out or changing size) even though it doesn't normally show a vehicle outside of 4 to 6 sec following distance. Typically that vehicle was a semi-trailer and its appearance to myself (and probably to the cameras) changed due to lighting, details of the trailer, going over a hill, etc. 2. Less frequently, the car would slow down while passing a semi-trailer. Generally Autosteer was not engaged in these cases. 3. High crosswinds could be felt in many cases, but not all. 4. The system seemed much more reliable in areas with more traffic. I'm not sure, but I speculate is that the AI may start looking for vehicles where none exist if it can't easily see any. 5. When mentioned, 2 other Tesla drivers confirmed seeing similar behavior. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 8 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated and jumped the curb. The contact depressed the brakes pedal to the floorboard; however, the vehicle continued to accelerate and crashed into a wall where the vehicle came to a stop. There was no warning light illuminated. The seat belt was on and the driver's air bag deployed, however, the contact head hit the windshield, and it shattered. The air bag was not covering the contacts face completely. The police arrived on the scene and filed a report. There were injuries to the contact's left wrist, neck, hip, and back, and a fracture to the right foot. The contact started receiving medical treatment the same day. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The damage was to the front of the vehicle. The contact stated her personal phone was connected to Tesla, and an inoperative alert message illuminated. The manufacturer notified the contact at the time of the accident. The approximate failure mileage was 13,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 13,000 |
| Jul 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | My Tesla slowed from 70 to 50 on the freeway in under two seconds for no apparent reason while on autopilot. There was a concrete barrier a few feet away on the shoulder, which I had been driving next to for about a quarter mile before the incident. There was no other traffic within 50 yards of me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The adaptive cruise control system consistently phantom brakes in situations where there is no traffic in front of the vehicle while cresting rolling hills. Sometimes this braking is relatively minor (<5 mph) while other times it is aggressive enough the passengers lurch forward. At the worst, this happened approximately 10 times in 30 miles while going the speed limit of 80mph. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Problems with phantom breaking while driving on the highways at speeds over 65mph. There will be no reason for breaking (I.e. the automatic breaking system picks up a truck driving on the opposite side of the road/direction and slams on the break aggressively) which can be a cause for a rear collision and whiplash for driver/passengers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I engaged the cruise control while driving on the highway. I let go of the accelerator and it correctly kept the speed I had requested. It warned me that the car would not break. As the car passed another car (probably a police cruiser) that was parked in the ditch separating the two directions of the highway, the car suddenly applied the breaks and decelerated substantially. A pickup truck towing a trailer that was driving behind us was forced to swerve onto the right shoulder to avoid rear-ending our car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving in Highway, Interstate or Freeway with cruise control enabled with or without autopilot the car suddenly breaks for no reason. It is a clear phantom break. It happened many times in different occasions even on the I40 with no car around in the middle of the Desert. In a couple of times a big truck was following and I was almost rear ended because this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car breaks heavily without warning or cause. No cars in front view yet applies breaks like avoiding an accident. Almost caused me to get rear ended multiple times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While traveling on interstate highways over a period of 2 days both in overcast and sunny conditions the vehicle initiated braking multiple times in cruise control only (not on autopilot). No other vehicle nor obstruction was near when this would happen. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Tesla has been phantom breaking during autopilot multiple times in a single drive and has happened on multiple drives. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There were 3 back-to-back incidents of phantom braking. Car was in Navigate on Autopilot mode on Highway 85 somewhere near Blossom Hill and going a 65mph (posted limit) but it slowed down dramatically causing the possibility of the car being rear-ended. There was no blocking vehicle or object that should have caused it to slow down and brake. In all three incidents, I was able to assume manual control and safely speed-up again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | Please note that I have used the VIN of a random Tesla Model 3 to submit this complaint since the number of the actual car is unavailable. There has been an incident on a motorway in Germany and a full video is available here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKcvLeMWp3c This is a single vehicle incident. The front RH wheel has simply fallen off. There is no other car involved. There are no air-bags deployed. How much more evidence do you require before you demand a recall? The suspensions are deadly fragile. I will make it simple for you. Watch THIS video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkpIvIeHhc Plenty more where that came from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkpIvIeHhc Have a nice day. Keef | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Cruise control set to 75mph (speed limit) on lightly trafficked divided highway at ~5pm on June 26. Skies were overcast and temp was about 80 degrees. Car braked from 75 to about 62mph but did not disengage adaptive cruise control and neither did I by applying the brakes. There was light traffic and it did not happen while approaching an overpass which has triggered this before on two occasions. After rapid deceleration to 72, car increases speed but fluctuated in high 60s and low 70s before returning to the programmed 75. Incident lasted about five seconds in total. Once car returned to 75, I disabled cruise control for remainder of journey. This was a 45 mile journey and the issue did not surface until about 35 miles in to the journey. Because this has happened before, I was mentally prepared for it this time and wanted to see if the car would eventually stabilize back to the 75mph programmed speed. In two prior incidents in late 2021, the braking was severe and without warning so in those instances I immediately deactivated system by pressing brake pedal. The incident I report now also had no warning, good weather, no cars within about 100 yards, and no sun glare at all. Road surface was very good as it had been recently improved in 2021 so lane markers were excellent as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | This "self driving" Model 3, with FL License Plate [XXX], attempted to merge onto I95 south from an on-ramp, and very nearly caused a major accident. The vehicle had a bumper sticker on the back that said something like "please be patient, I am a self driving vehicle." The vehicle was merging from a left side on-ramp, at a VERY LOW SPEED, and crossed two lanes of interstate traffic, very erratically accelerating, then braking, then accelerating again, and then braking. My vehicle was directly in its path, and I had to brake hard, and take to the shoulder to avoid the collision. If this vehicle's trips are logged, it needs to be investigated. If it weren't for the humans paying attention, the actions of the Tesla car/driver would have caused a major accident, and most likely bodily injury or death. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving on the highway in adaptive cruise control, our vehicle all of a sudden breaked which slowed the car down dramatically. There was nothing around us that would have caused the car to automatically apply the breaks. This happened multiple times in a single drive on both Autopilot and Adapative Cruise Control. Luckily, no one was directly behind us when this happened so no collision was caused, but had someone been directly behind us we would have been hit. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, insurance or police. The breaking was very random, and we had to tap the brakes to take control and hit the gas to get the car back to highway speeds. We have stopped using cruise control and autopilot after seeing this is a known issue and an investigation is ongoing. It is extremely concerning that this "phantom breaking" happens without warning and at random when there is nothing around the vehicle to cause it to apply the automatic breaking system. This is a safety issue on the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - Cruise Control randomly slams on its brakes, no warning at all. No, it is not available upon request. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? - Cruise Control (Autopilot), puts my safety at risk because it can injure you if you are not anticipating the brakes being slammed, and it can put others at risk because if they aren’t following at a safe distance or not expecting the car to slam on its brakes, it can lead to an accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? - No. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? - No. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? - No. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car brakes while using adaptive speed control. In one incident the car was traveling at 71 miles per hour and braked to 25 mph. In other situations the car braked by at least 5 mph, on some situations this happened while speed control was engaged and I was traveling at 50 mph or less. In all these situations, there was not another vehicle in front of me that posed an immediate threat of collision. The adaptive self dimming headlights do not work properly while driving at night. Lights do not always dim for approaching vehicles or when approaching another vehicle from behind. On some occasions the bright lights engage when approaching other vehicles OR dim when not approaching another vehicle. Other times the light repeatedly switch from bright to dim when following other vehicles. I reported these issues to TESLA. The response was that their engineers are aware of the problenms and it is related to a firmware update and that will be coming. I worry about being struck from behind when the brake suddenly engages. I also worry that the headlight situation can cause a crash by blinding drivers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH with the self-driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that there were no other vehicles nearby in the lane. Additionally, the contact was unaware of any shadows or anything else in the lane. The contact stated that the vehicle slowed down and then resumed a higher speed. The contact stated that he disengaged the self-driving feature and manually drove the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that he attempted to notify the manufacturer thru the vehicle App but was unable to leave a full detailed report. The approximate failure mileage was 10,445. | Crash: No Fire: No | 10,445 |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | For no reason, the car applied significant braking while in Autopilot. There were no cars in front of me, no obstacles in the way and it was a clear, dry day. This is not the first time this has happened but it was the most significant. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On June 18 and 23, 2022, I was driving I-5 in Washington State with adaptive cruise control engaged when, abruptly and without warning, the vehicle decelerated. I overcame the first instance by depressing the accelerator; the vehicle self-corrected in less than a second in the second instance. In both cases, there were no vehicles in the immediate vicinity to present a possible hazard. The concern is for vehicles following closely during an incident that might not react quickly enough to avoid a rear end collision. The vehicle has not been inspected by another party and no attempt has been made to reproduce the condition for another entity. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car will phantom brake suddenly and sometimes hard while the adaptive cruise is on. I have reported to Tesla and they say there’s nothing they have to fix right now. This is extremely dangerous and Tesla needs to focus on a fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During a recent road trip to another state, Auto Pilot was engaged and the emergency braking system forced the car quickly to a stop on many occasions. To the human eye, there should have been no reason for the brakes to engage. Luckily no one collided with us, but the Auto Pilot system is not to be trusted. The incidents mostly occurred on two-lane roads, however, noticeable hesitation was evident many times during freeway cruising. Tesla repair will not review my case because I don’t have a specific time(s) of incident and they will not tell me how to properly log this information into the car’s software when an incident does occur. I feel helpless and am very nervous to take this car on a trip. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I had 2 phantom braking incidents one one trip today. The situation was similar- a car broken down on the shoulder. In both cases i slowed down and moved a bit left to give them room. I had cruise control on but as I braked, it came off. In both cases, once I passed the cars, the Tesla brakes hard. In one case I was almost rear ended by the guy behind me. In both cases, i was in full control of the car and was slowing down and giving way. The phantom braking occurred as I was abreast or past the hazard - in other words, too unnecessary and too late to help anyway. It scared the heck out of me - twice. The car is unsafe at any speed | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |