Complaint volume
640 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
640 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
640 Total complaints
43 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 43 crash reports, 5 fire reports, 16 injury reports, and 3 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?
43 Crash
5 Fire
16 Injury
3 Fatality
37 Towed
18 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 198
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 57
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 53
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 40
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 32
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 18
VISIBILITY/WIPER 12
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11
SERVICE BRAKES 10
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 10
640 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When the vehicle is in autopilot at high speed, it breaks suddenly without any visible obstacles. This happens at Kraft once every 200 miles of highway driving with autopilot on. The speed drops suddenly from 75 mph to 40 mph. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | Several times per week, my vehicle brakes automatically for no apparent reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at 55 MPH with the Forward Collision Adaptive cruise control engaged, the driver was approaching a railroad overpass and the vehicle stopped independently. The cruise control was disengaged and the vehicle operated as designed. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact stated that the Adaptive Cruise Control signal recognition was not functioning as designed. The contact reached out to the manufacturer and provided an online form describing the failure. The manufacturer confirmed that the issue was a known failure and that a fix was in the process. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50. | Crash: No Fire: No | 50 |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1) When using autosteer and/or adaptive cruise control the vehicle randomly brakes and very rapidly decelerates. This has occurred on at least a dozen drives, beginning on my first long road trip after owning the car for 2 months. 2) If another vehicle is following my car, we could very easily get into a rear-end accident. This happens at high speeds going from 75mph to 55mph in seconds, so the chance of a collision is high. I also become very scared when this happens which temporarily takes my attention away from driving. 3) No the problem has not been reproduced by a dealer. I live 150 miles from the nearest Tesla dealership. 4) No the vehicle has not been inspected. 5) No warning signs which is why this "phantom braking" is SO TERRIFYING. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking. Severe application of brakes resulting in up to but not limited to 25 mph decrease of speed when semis are oncoming in other lane. Other times without any vehicles around. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking while using cruise control and/or auto pilot. This is most disconcerting at highway speeds especially when it sounds safety alarms most times while doing it | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When car is driving on autopilot on highway, it slams on the brakes on its own. This has happened 2-3 times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During the use of the Autopilot feature in Tesla, the car suddenly starts braking with no obstacles. This can cause a safety incident on the road when there are vehicles behind and the Tesla suddenly stops for no apparent reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On 2/17/22 at appx. 8:08am with adaptive cruise control engaged the collision warning alarm chimed and the car beaked quickly for 50mph to 30 mph. There was an SUV in the oncoming traffic lane. This has happened several times. The system sometimes does not recognize that approaching vehicles are in a correct lane. This happens with larger approaching vehicles such as large SUVs and trucks. Additionally we have been getting many (dozens) of dashboard error warnings that one or more of the cameras are blocked or blinded. As Tesla has chosen to delete lidar and depend solely on cameras as safety system detectors this affects Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Emergency Braking, Blind spot warning, Forward Collision Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assistance, and cross traffic alert. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During use of the autopilot system on my trip from wilmington DE to GA and vice versa, at nurmeous times the car would automatic hard break dropping the speed by 20mph+ stating there are emergency vehicles while there wasn't any or any vehicle in front on the highway, and at various other time during the drive it would auto slow down 1-2 mph for no reason both causing unsafe driving conditions. Each day this happened over 10+ times | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On multiple occassions, while using the adaptive cruise feature, (but not the auto steer feature) the vehicle will suddenly slow down to the speed limit, without any warning or notification that anything has changed. This happens in multiple occasions on the Long Island Expressway between exits 48 adn 32. The vehicle slows by itself for no reason at all. fb | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various highway speeds with the adaptive cruise control activated the braking system would erroneously activate causing the vehicle speed to suddenly be reduced. The contact indicated that the failure had occurred on multiple occasions and speed reduction was significant. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 1,400. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,400 |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I've owned this vehicle since October of 2021, and wish to provide examples of my own issues concerning phantom braking while using the Autopilot/Traffic Aware Cruise Control Feature on my Model 3 Standard Range Plus. Having now put roughly 6,000 miles on the vehicle in the conditions found in western Maryland/south-central Pennsylvania, I've been able to find these consistencies concerning phantom braking: On an undivided 2-lane highway: 1. When it's a dashed line that allows for passing on long straight stretches, more phantom braking incidents occur than when the center line is double-solid. Those are usually 5-15mph braking events until the opposing vehicle has passed without incident. 2. When going down/up a gently sloping hill and the car is unable to see the lines far enough ahead because of a turn. If a vehicle is coming the opposite direction, the car appears to believe that the opposing vehicle is in your lane and coming right at your vehicle. These are usually the hardest phantom braking events. 3. When vehicles are parked parallel along the side of an undivided road, and especially at night, the car appears to think these are threats to its/my safety. I say that they appear worse at night, as when my headlights cause the rear taillights/reflectors to visually brighten, the incidents are more frequent. These vary wildly, from having no braking events to hard braking events. On a divided highway: The most consistent issues in my case happen when going up/down mountains. A highway turns into 3 lanes, with the rightmost lane for large, heavy trucks that are going slower than the rest of traffic. If you are in the middle lane, and that slow truck is using it's 4-way blinkers, Autopilot/TACC appears to see it as an emergency vehicle, and heavily brakes. I've gotten in the habit of always using the leftmost lane to avoid this issue. The trucks are clearly in another lane, well out of mine, and are moving, even if slower than the rest of traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have owned my Tesla Model 3 with FSD for 9 months and have over 10000 miles of driving in the city and highway. Ghost braking has occurred on many occasions and is worse on two lane highways with commercial trucks approaching in the opposite oncoming lane. The vehicle inappropriately and suddenly decelerates from 65 mph to 40 mph. I have had to stop using FSD and adaptive cruise control because of this erratic issue. Recent trip using cruise control (not FSD) on a 4 lane divided highway (I-70 eastbound) there was no surrounding vehicles, no blind hills, obstacles or inclement weather and the vehicle went from 80 mph to 56 mph within a few seconds, requiring me to disengage the cruise control and accelerate to avoid being rear ended. The cruise control and FSD are dangerous and life threatening due to this erratic problem, please start an investigation and recall to remedy these issues before drivers and passengers are injured or killed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This car has "Phantom braking" issue. As the autopilot was on, on the freeway, the speed was around 70 mph, it brakes without any obstacles or car in the front, just a not very even road. Speed dropped suddenly, felt like an emergency. This scared me to use autopilot. And phantom braking happened several times. When I raised this issue to Tesla dealership for repair, the answer is - "software updates constantly make autopilot better, and it is in beta and driver agree to it every time driver engage autopilot. Tesla will never force you to use autopilot and can drive normal like any other car." | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When the vehicle is in cruise control mode, the brakes will engage for no apparent reason. It has happened three times. The brakes will engage then release causing the car to quickly decelerate and disengage the cruise control. It has only happened on the freeway when driving, no other cars are in front or braking in front of the car. There is no apparent reason for the braking other then cruise control mistake. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on autopilot on the highway at about 65MPH the car applied the brakes for no reason. The car descends in speed aggressively and can easily cause a rear end collision. This has happened randomly before as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle would independently brake without warning. The contact stated that he saw an article that referred to the failure as “Phantom Braking”. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 2,000 |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I owned this 2021 Tesla Model 3 for six months. On many occasions, while using the adaptive cruise control mainly on two-lane roads at various speeds between 35-55 MPH, the car would unexpectedly rapidly apply the brakes when there was no hazard present. This almost got me in a road rage situation, as the following vehicle thought that I intentionally brake-checked them. I discontinued using the system. I no longer on this vehicle, but can provide new owner’s information if needed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | While driving from Austin to Nashville, during the last, dark part of our drive, we hit rain. The Auto windshield wiper setting did not work, so I had my passenger help with selecting wiper speeds as the wiper speed control is difficult and distracting to use while driving. We tried the Auto setting a couple more times to see if there was any change, and noticed that the wipers would turn on when we drove under a light, then off again when the there was no light. We tested this a few more times and it appears that the Auto wiper setting only works in well-lit settings (i.e. when it's not raining), and does not work in the dark. It is possible to click a button on the left stalk to trigger a single wipe, but this is ineffective in anything beyond light rain. Due to the inaccessibility of the wiper controls and insufficiency of the single-wipe button, this presents a safety risk while driving the car in the rain. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving 72 mph on Ca State Hwy 99 in the #2 lane. The closest car to me (front) was about 100 yards away in the fast lane #3. I had cruse control on when the vehicle applied its emergency braking bring me down to 54 mph in about a second. This caused the truck behind me to almost hit me. He then went around my vehicle and slammed on his breaks thinking I did it on purpose. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving with cruise control engaged the vehicle will suddenly brake without reason. I have almost been rear-ended multiple times. My wife had things thrown off of seats and onto the floorboard. When I wrote to Tesla they said this can be normal and gave me excuses including lighting problems and semis too close. Frequently this happens with no one around with no lighting problems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My vehicle will be in Autopilot mode on a two lane highway, when suddenly it will brake very hard, so hard that I have to hit the gas to avoid a collision from the car behind me. It also does this on interstates when approaching and passing a tractor trailer. It seems to read the shadow on the road cast by the truck as an obstacle and brakes very suddenly. Taking me from 65mph to much slower in a second or two. It seems very dangerous. This has happened at least 100 times in the past few months. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving with Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autopilot the car will randomly apply the brakes in causing a severe drop in speed frequently from 70 MPH to less than 50 extremely quickly. This happens primarily on undivided highways with no pattern - sometimes when other vehicles are approaching, no distinction between large or small or color, but most frequently and most violently occurs when no vehicles or obstacles are present. This sudden drop and alarm notification from the car can cause me to quickly jerk the steering wheel in response and potentially losing vehicle control. In some occasions this happened at highway speeds with people behind me almost causing a rear-end collision. I put in a repair notice with Tesla and the response was that the TACC and Autopilot are beta and upon review of trip logs they noticed no faults and closed the repair request. This feature is unsafe and since a cruise control is a necessity for my frequent longer trips, having a car without a functioning cruise control is beyond inconvenient, it is a safety issue. The breaking has also occurred on divided multi-lane roads but less frequently and with less severity. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In cruise control or autopilot, the car will apply brakes randomly and without warning. It is extremely scary to have it slam on the brakes for no reason. Luckily no one was behind me, so I wasn’t in danger of causing an accident, but the problem is constant enough I cannot use the cruise control nor autopilot. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |