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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Car was charging in garage overnight when an interior dash electrical fire started. Fire burnt dash and smoke damaged the interior or car. Fire smoldered itself out, and car was considered a total loss. Collision center that picked up vehicle stated that they believed the fire started from an electrical charging fault at the harness in the dash. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while attempting to park at 5 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed however the vehicle accelerated independently. As a result, the contact crashed into the two parked vehicles on the side of the parking space she was attempting to park. No air bags were deployed. One parked vehicle had an occupant and the other was unoccupied. There were no injuries or medical attention required. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer where it was unable to be diagnosed due to no available appointment. The dealer then suggested the vehicle be towed to the contact's residence where it currently remains in the garage. Tesla informed the contact that the brake system would not be inspected until she repaired the crash cosmetic damage to the vehicle. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | 33,000 |
| Nov 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car's autopilot suddenly causes it to slow down without any apparent reason. There are no cars in front of me, and the speed limit hasn't changed. This unexpected deceleration is dangerous because the cars behind me may try to avoid me during the slowdown, which could lead to an accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was driving home from work on a two-lane highway when my car suddenly (and without any warning) lost all driving power and shut down while there was still battery left on the vehicle (roughly 10%). I could no longer maneuver the vehicle due to lack of propulsion, so my car died in the middle of the road. It was towed directly to Tesla service center where diagnostics were supposedly run. Their conclusion was the car died due to insufficient charge (even though there was about 10% battery left at the time of the incident). About a week later, the same EXACT thing happened! The car lost all power and shut down mid-drive without any warning with about 7% remaining. Both times, I had my home address in the car GPS (so it knew the exact distance I was traveling) and it never indicated once that I needed to stop and charge the battery. Again, I had the car towed to the service center where they reached the same "conclusion" that the car died due to simply running out of battery. When I showed them proof (pictures and videos) that the car died with charge left on the battery, they did not investigate the issue further. They simply stuck to their original conclusion and no longer wanted to help remedy my defective battery. I have video and pictures proving that my car dies without warning (on multiple occasions) while there is still charge left on the battery, but Tesla refuses to fix/warranty my car (let alone try to investigate or replicate the issue). They tell me that my car is "operating as intended" and is safe to drive, all the while knowing it is definitely not safe to drive. I'm especially concerned due to the fact that I drive my two daughters in my car. They both are very young and use car seats. What happens in the event that I am driving on the interstate with them in the backseat and my car randomly dies without warning? There would be no way to safely remove them from the vehicle (let along myself) before being involved in a serious high-speed accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | It gives you a wrong message that your car is closed but actually no. And I got stuff stolen since this issue. First time close the door properly, but I can not lock it. I have to open it then close it again to lock it. video shows I uploaded the video in twitter [XXX] I can not upload a video in the below upload files area, so plz contact me to let me send the email if you can not see it on twitter. or you may see it here [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | POWER TRAIN | While drive after dark on a four-lane city road with no breakdown lane my vehicle alerted me of a problem and I should slow down. About five second later the car came to a stop and placed itself in park in the right-hand lane with traffic coming up behind me at 50 MPH. I was unable to locate the emergency flasher so I turned on the turn signal (I later found out the emergency flasher was located on the ceiling with white marking which were not visible in the dark). With the right turn blinker on I attempted to exit the vehicle but when I did, the turn signal turned off. This left me with a choice to leave a dark vehicle in the right-hand lane with moderate traffic or sit inside keeping the lights and signals on. No accident resulted but this was a very dangerous situation. The failure was a power converter which led to the disabling of both the front and rear drive motors. I was also unable to put the car in neutral and move it as far right as possible. I would have expected this type of failure to at least turn on the emergency flashers and give the driver the option of placing the car in neutral so it could be moved off the road. When i bought the car I specifically ordered the one with front an rear drive motors so failure of one would not completely shut down the vehicle. Seem like this power converter is a single point failure which leave the operator and other vehicles in a very dangerous situation. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | I was driving to work that all of sudden heard warning sound and the monitor displayed the "Shutdown" sign as well. The car lost its power and came to complete stop in the middle of the street. Luckily there was no car near me. I was not able to drive the car and had to tow it to the dealership. According to mechanic “the rear drive unit has failed internally”. This was extremely scary and dangerous and may have caused a fatal accident. The problem has been fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | Ul_a022_ApeFusesEtc Audience [service-fix, factory) Description Driver Assistance ECU (APE) is not fused or not locked or missing credentials Set Condition Driver Assistance ECU is not fused or not locked or missing credentials Clear Condition Driver Assistance ECU is fused, locked and has proper credentials Potential Impact Driver Assistance ECU is in an unsecured state (unfused) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | SEAT BELTS | The rear middle seatbelt has permanently locked and is unusable. It occurred after having the rear seats folded down and was observed when replacing the seat-backs to their normal position. Tesla has refused to repair due to vehicle being out of warranty despite the vehicle not having been involved in any collision. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving out of a parking space, the steering wheel seized. The message "Front Motor Disabled. Continue Driving" was displayed. The manufacturer was contacted and provided remote assistance, but the failure persisted. The contact stated that the vehicle regained power steering functionality after an hour. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving out of a parking space on another occasion. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla Service Center however, the failure could not be duplicated; however, the circuit board was replaced. The contact stated that the failure recurred while pulling out of a parking space on a third occasion. The vehicle was towed to a second Tesla service center, Tesla Sales (750 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087) who informed the contact that an unknown software update was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 17,000 |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When I purchased this automobile the dealer told me it had to be built, so it was my thought I was getting a brand-new car. I was not anticipating the problems I would have in the same year I leased this vehicle. I leased the automobile for 3 years with an agreement to drive 12,000 miles or less a year. Later after agreeing to the mileage set in the original contract, I learned through my own research that I could leased this automobile agreeing to drive up to 20,000 miles. My contract was not explained or expressed to me in detail, even after conveying to them that the automobile would be used as a vehicle for my business in transportation. They did not go over every possible option. Secondly, just a few months into having this vehicle, I took the automobile in for service April 6, 2023 Feb 23, 2023 Jan 3, 2023 Nov 7 of 2022 and Oct 6 of 2022, for the same issue, breaks making noise in the reverse position and while driving. Each time I had to pay a service fee. I had one agent to convey to me that I needed a brand new break system because they were not able to fix the problem that was causing the vehicle to squeak. After researching this specific problem and talking to other Tesla owners, I have learned that this is a common issue with Tesla manufacturer. I believe that this was not due to neglect or error on my part. Before this recurring issue with both my Model 3, I was very pleased with my Tesla and in a few years I will need to upgrade to a larger one as I grow, but not I hesitate to choose one. A few of my clients and family members also one Tesla, that are functioning perfectly, and they aren't so sure that they will stick with the brand after watching my experiences. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | I was driving my car on the highway I275 approximatley 5 miles North of St Petersburg Florida. When without reason the car spun to the left very quickly, I did not have any steering control at that moment. If the car had hyro plained it would not have spun out of control so quickly. The road was slightly wet as there was a drizzle but not to any extent to allow the car to spin out of control due to heavy water. My vehicle hit the highway guard rail and was badly damaged. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Recently on a trip between Wichita Falls and Quanah Texas, my Tesla Model 3 while on autopilot repeatedly braked hard while traveling at 75 mph in moderate traffic. While this is a frequent occurrence with my model 3, this is the first time I felt at risk of an accident due to how hard the vehicle was breaking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on I-5 North from Los Angeles to San Francisco with adaptive cruise control activated. Suddenly and without warning car activates emergency braking as if it sees an obstruction on the road but obviously road was clear of any obstructions. This happened 4 times then I finally decided to no longer use cruise control. This happened on a clear sunny day around noon time 9/8/23. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | This accident involved a high speed collision on the 2nd floor of a parking garage at a hospital in a suburb of Houston, Tx. Both the driver and the passenger were killed. A question has arisen as to how the vehicle could have accelerated at such a high rate, in such a short period of time, especially inside a parking garage? When we found out NHSTA was re-opening, the Tesla sudden acceleration issue, we thought it important to include the facts of our accident. Sudden acceleration in this case, raises some concern, taking into account the facts and circumstances surrounding this accident. We have photos of the vehicle if needed. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Fatalities: 2 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on a divided four lane interstate state highway, during daylight hours, sunny, clear, dry, minimal crosswind, the car spontaneously braked while under cruise control from approximately 75mph to 45mph. There was no oncoming traffic or mirages. Fortunately no following traffic either because they would have either struck us or run off the road. This happened three times in a very short period and we haven’t used it since. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While the Traffic-Aware Cruise Control was engaged, my car abruptly tried to stop 8 times on the interstate while traveling at 80mph (the speed limit on the open stretch of road in central Utah). The weather was clear, no clouds, no wind, very light traffic, very good roads, no debris on the road, about 85 degrees, no shadows were cast on the road and during the day. I was on a 5 hour road trip. Out of the blue on at least 5 of the occasions, with a vehicle about a half mile or more ahead of me and no vehicle next to me my car abruptly braked - like emergency breaking - for no apparent reason. Two of the phantom braking occurrences happened when after passing a vehicle and I signaled and pulled back in to the right lane with at least a 3 second space, and my car emergency braked. This about caused an accident and thankfully it did not cause a road rage incident. Two of the times we were snacking once on vegetables when the car phantom braked and the bowl and vegetables went flying forward. Thankfully none of the times did I have my cup to my mouth as I would have gotten hot coffee on me and could have burned myself or have caused some destruction to my car. The passenger in my car safety was at great risk as well as everyone on the road near me. No warning that the car saw something or was going to emergency brake. My vehicle is available for inspection. I have not taken it to a dealer or elsewhere for replication nor has the vehicle or component(s) been inspected. There were never any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. Also, the problem occurs 100% of the time I am at one particular place on a local freeway so it can be replicated. I do know that it will occur there so I plan for it. When I travel this road south bound there is never a problem but when I travel north bound 100% of the time my car will phantom brake regardless if it's day, night, clear or wet. Tesla needs another option for cruise control now! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Major phantom Braking at 70mph on interstate 5, 4 times the brakes slamed on as if yo had done an emergency stop from 70mph to 20mph fortunately we were not rear ended as I had my son and grandchildren in the car. The car was in cruise control on each occurrence I finally had to stop using it for fear of a major accident | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Intro: This is a well known problem with Tesla cars. It's referred to as "phantom braking" in the Facebook Tesla groups and is wide spread. Using only cameras since around 2021 for adaptive cruise control, the car will "slam on the brakes" even though the road is completely clear ahead. This can easily cause an accident if there is a car following you. It has occurred several times since I bought the car Jan 2022. - malfunction component adaptive cruise control. yes available for inspection - a rear end collision could occur when the car's brakes are activated so hard that the car decelerates from 70 to 20 in seconds - the problem is well documented - no, no inspection by any entity. Tesla knows the problems exists - no, no warning of any kind | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Wide gap on left back side of trunk whenever it’s closed shut. Opens and close fine but it’s not properly closed. Water gets in through the gap and gets in the trunk whenever it rains or I go to the car wash | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving west bound on I4 August 12th 2023 at 1236pm at mile marker 45-47. I was in the left hand lane with the cruise control set at 73 mph. all traffic was moving well. there was no car in front of me. there was a car passing me slowly on the right. there was a retaining wall to my left. My car for no reason changed the setting on my cruise control from 73 to 35mph. this caused my husband and I to be thrown forward and I had to jam on the gas to try to regain speed. This was the 4th time this happened and the second time I have reported to Tesla who insists that there is nothing wrong with the car. I am scared if someone is following me closely I will be rear-ended at a high rate of speed. They continue to quote information from the manual and in the invoices insinuating that any incident occurring from this would be my fault. This is a terrifying thing to happen when there is no reason for the car to slow for any reason. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My Tesla Model 3 Phantom Brakes when using Cruise Control, particularly in the morning when the road is clear, no cars or obstacles in front or behind me. The NHTSA KNOWS THIS IS A PROBLEM AND I HAVE PREVIOUSLY MADE THIS COMPLAINT. I contacted Tesla to no avail. They did nothing. WHY HASN'T THE NHTSA DONE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ISSUE. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS AN ACCIDENT IS WAITING TO HAPPEN. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2021 Tesla Model 3 RWD; 21,000 miles I pulled into a parking spot creeping in like I am about to park the car. When I tapped on the break to stop the car, it suddenly accelerated forward. It jerked so quickly forward that the back of my head was pushed into the headrest like a whiplash. Luckily, there was not a car parked in front of me because I generally park away from other cars. I quickly hit the break and the car stopped. I am 100% positive I did not accidentally hit the gas pedal. If I did hit the gas petal, I would not have hit it hard enough to make the car jerk forward and accelerate like it did especially when in a slow creeping speed to come to a stop to park the car. In 36 yrs of driving I have not had one accident. This was quite a scary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While the car was parked in a parking lot, I get two notification stating “Sentry mode has turned off due to a sentry system error.” When I checked out the car, the car has completely failed to do any of the computer related task, leaving only the gear, AC, and Bluetooth was working. None of the cameras, GPS, sensors, brightness mode and many others were completely stuck. This continued until the next day. This happened without prior symptoms or warnings. I would have been in deep trouble if I have been driving at the time of the incident. When I took the car to the shop, tesla didn’t update the status for a week. After a week, Tesla told us that the Turbo A, Autopilot main processor chip failed. This caused the autopilot to go on loop. Therefore the whole motherboard needed to be replaced. This happened to a brand new purchased Tesla 2021 standard range. Which cost me $2404.00. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The vehicle was traveling in excess of 75 mph with only the autopilot system enabled. The vehicle brakes engaged by itself enough to squeal the tires and the rear end momentarily broke free from the pavement. I disengaged autopilot and drove for approximately 5 minutes. I reengaged autopilot and approximately 5 minutes later the brakes engaged again. I left autopilot disengaged for the remainder of the trip (~ 4 hrs) There were no other vehicles nearby but the breaking was severe enough that if another vehicle had been behind me, it could have caused a collision. The dealer acknowledges that this unintended breaking does occur on other vehicles. There was no warning that the vehicle would severely brake. The weather was clear with bright sun on route I25 south of Denver. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |