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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I am getting less miles than advertised on full charge. Six months ago I was getting 185 miles on full charge now I get 156. The vehicle has a little over 5k miles and 2021. FSD does not work as advertised, fails to turn and it makes sudden turns and stops | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | SEATS | The driver's seat automatically adjusts when I get into the car. Normally this is a good thing, right? But when my wife and I both get in the car, and I'm going to drive, the car often assumes my wife is the driver and adjusts the seats to her settings as I'm getting into the car. This is a serious problem that has the potential to injure me. Since I'm tall, and my wife is short, the seat starts moving forward as I get in, and it starts to crush me. It's too hard to get back out, and I'm not always able to select my seat configuration quickly enough. If I happen to be carrying something as I get into the car, then that object usually is compressed between me and the steering wheel. There have been times where I didn't have my legs in fully, and they started to get crushed by the seat pushing them forward into the steering wheel. I've talked to Tesla about this several times. Tesla employees have told me that they hear about this problem regularly, but they don't have a way to fix it. And when I ask how to contact Tesla, they tell me use Twitter. I think Tesla's service department should have a method to communicate customer complaints directly. No one has given me any feedback indicating that they intend to do anything, even though they acknowledge that this is dangerous. I also wonder if it is possible that this might happen while I'm driving! For example, what would happen if the battery on my phone drained? The bluetooth connection would be lost. Would the car then pair to my wife's phone and readjust the seats? Of course, there is a simple fix. Instead of doing the automatic but stupid and dangerous adjustment, it should just ask for my confirmation. And never automatically go into a mode of "let's crush the driver"! I only want a computer to think for me if it's going to reason properly, in every situation, every time. Clearly Tesla didn't think this one through. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | STEERING | When performing a u-turn, at low speed, the steering wheel locked in position, only allowing the car to go straight. I was able to regain the ability to steer, after approximately 5 seconds. I didn't notice any alerts or warnings, as it was happening. It was in the middle of a busy intersection and I was fortunate I managed to regain control of the vehicle, in time. I have scheduled a service appointment with Tesla. the earliest available appointment is the 20th, in my area. I have since driven the vehicle, approximately 40 to 50 miles, without incident, but I am concerned that this might happen, again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Just completed a 2week trip and the car attempted to stop on its own over 37 times (stopped counting) on the highway. 2times I had a semi within a block of my rear of the car. Since this occurrence is not anticipated it worries me that it's going to cause an accident. Reported to Tesla and it's days the feature is beta, I don't believe that for a second . This my 3td car with adaptive cruise control. I was not using the auto guidence feature. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When cruise control is activated at highways speeds, vehicle sometimes brakes abruptly for no reason whatsoever. Issue is phantom braking. No other cars in sight, no changes in speed limits. Happened repeatedly on CA Hwy 46 between Interstate 5 and US 101 on 7/31/23 and 8/2/23. Similar instances observed on other highways, too. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My 2021 Tesla Model 3 is having MORE occurrences of phantom braking than ever before when I drive with the Tesla Autopilot/Full Self Driving system activated. I paid extra for Full Self Drive (FSD) and engage it mostly on highway driving. A recent software update from Tesla pops up a message on my screen any time I DIS-engage the FSD asking me "What Happened?" and offers me the chance to record a 10-second voice message regarding why I turned off the FSD. Yesterday, on 07/31/2023 between 12pm PST and 2pm PST I must have made at least five such recordings, each time for phantom braking suddenly jerking my car slower while I drove on major highways. In each case I was on a 55 mph highway (or faster). In all the cases, my lane was wide open with NO cars even remotely close to me. Sometimes there was oncoming traffic in the approaching lane of traffic, but not always. It certainly should not be braking due to oncoming cars in THEIR CORRECT LANE. Yet the car slowed down suddenly over and over again. This is a repeated problem, but I haven't had so many instances in one long drive. Yesterday I got fed up and resorted to driving without Autopilot for a large portion of my 150 mile trip home. Sudden braking - for no reason - substantially increases the risk of getting rear-ended by the car behind and frankly causes near-panic with people in the car itself. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My car has a Homelink that will automatically open the garage door when approaching the door. Unfortunately, if the garage door is already open, this will unexpectedly close the door with no warning. This has resulted in damage to the trunk lid of another can that was parked in the garage with the trunk open. It is a dangerous situation for the door to close when others near the door are not warned or something in the path of the closing door. The Homelink does show the status of the door (open or closed) so it would be easy to not close the door if it was already open. When the Homelink is used to remotely close the door, it has a delay and will flash the lights before the door is closed to warn people who are in the way. This is an easy fix and I hope something can be done. Other Tesla owners have had the same problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | “Phantom Braking”. Driving on the interstate approximately 75 mph using cruise control, auto steer, not auto pilot. Within a span of three hours today we experienced at least six episodes of the car emergency braking for apparently no reason. Immediately going from 75 to 40 mph. Thankfully no one was close behind us. We finally stopped using the cruise control. Now afraid to use it at all. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This is a report of the accident I was in on July 15, 2023 at 3:00 PM. I was going south on two lane Hwy 160 a couple south miles of Hwy 12 when I pulled out onto a wide, long pullout. When I decided to get back on the highway, I looked back to see a long line of cars coming. My Tesla’s Full Self Driving has Auto Lane Change which switches lanes for you when safe. I figured I would use Auto Lane Change to merge onto the road when safe. I already had the Tesla Navigation on. I turned on the Full Self Drive and my blinker, thinking that it would be a while before the Tesla decided it was safe to merge onto the road. However, the car started moving toward the road almost immediately. I realized that there couldn’t have been a break in traffic already. I turned in disbelief. Just then the left side of the was smashed. I looked ahead to see a SUV swerving back and forth down the road trying to regain control. Then the blur of another car. The SUV was sailing through the air, then it was sliding on its roof. I rushed to the SUV feeling like there was a good chance that people were really hurt or dead. I couldn’t see inside because of the airbags.The driver’s door wouldn’t open. I rushed around the back of the car and saw a dog getting out of the front passenger door followed by a man. The man helped his wife out. Thankfully, they were not hurt. While waiting for the tow truck, one of the fishermen who were hanging around for some reason asked me for my ID. I asked why. He said his car was in the accident and pointed across the highway to over a 15 foot embankment and to about 500 hundred yards away where I saw his car. He said that his car had been parked and was hit by the SUV. With the stress and adrenaline of the accident and because there was only my car and the SUV on the side of the road, I realized that this was the car I had seen in a blur during the whirlwind accident. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while using a self-driving mode at 50 mph, it would not stay in the lane and drive slowly into the next lane. The contact stated on April 9, 2023, while using a self-driving mode at 15 mph, a pedestrian walked into the lane and the vehicle did not detect the person and hit the pedestrian. No air bags deployed. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The pedestrian sustained an unknown fractured leg and a fractured arm and sought medical attention for his injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla collision shop and had the front windshield replaced. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer but was informed no failure was detected. The vehicle was not repaired and continued to experience the failure. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,570. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 48,570 |
| Jul 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | My car is braking hard while I'm on the highway. It's happened on this trip 7 times already. In one of braking, My wife almost got rear ended | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | Electrical system rebooted in the middle of driving: screen went off couldn't signal i swayed to the side and waited till the screen came back on after 3 minutes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Constant phantom breaking | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There is a design defect in the Tesla Model 3 which causes moisture to accumulate in the air filters. The filters then sit wet and develop mold and mildew. The first replacement was needed within the first 2 months of vehicle ownership. When the heat / air is turned into the on position, this fowl air is distributed to passengers in an enclosed environment and it becomes a health hazard, especially to those with preexisting respiratory issues. This is an ongoing problem with the soiled air filters requiring constant replacement. A Tesla mobile service agent confirmed that Tesla engineering team is aware of the issue, but hasn't come up with a permanent solution. The service agent stated they are spending tens of thousands of dollars in replacements filters and that a majority of his service calls are to replace the mildewed filters. The problem is Tesla continues to charge people to replace the filter with no solution for fixing the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When vehicle is in cruise control or autopilot the car will suddenly brake without warning. It will do this numerous times and could cause an accident if a vehicle is following close behind. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Multiple phantom breaking events while driving at highway speed. Luckily there were no cars behind us, otherwise there could have been a collision. Caused driver and passenger whiplash and items in car to be forcibly displaced. There were no advance warning. Tried to report to manufacturer but they seem to be closed for the holiday, will try again to report after holiday. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car “Phantom brakes” constantly when going over a hill when it does not have vision. The braking is aggressive at freeway speeds and poses a risk for rear end collisions or road rage incidents if people think they are being brake checked. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1:Brake fail when trying to stop the car after the accident. The car is available for inspection at Arrow towing service Oklahoma City. 2: After the car accident the car keep going can't stop got Tee boned and my passenger broke his legs and ankles, elbow. 3: No, the problem has not be discussed with the dealer or manufacturer yet. 4: No one, including police, insurance have been inspect it. 5: No warning lamp or any kind of warning. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving the Tesla model 3 in cruise control, It will without warning apply the brakes. I have to then accelerate and then take it out of cruise control. The issue has happened about a dozen times and only happens while in cruise control. It happened most recently today but has happened in previous days. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SEAT BELTS | When trying to seat belt on, under normal conditions, seat belt fails to engage. The belt is stuck in full locked mode. Issue happens intermittently. Failure of seat belt forces no occupancy of front passenger seat, as the only alternative would be to not wear a belt. This raises the following concern: 1. Will the belt fail to work properly in case of a crash event? 2. Will the belt disengage when normal driving. TESLA did NOT replace the belt under warranty and out of concern for my passengers, I replaced it under my own cost | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The incident first happend (and has been happening ever since) on I-8, I-10, I-20 east bound 2 days ago. Driving on EB I-8 with speed limits 75MPH, engaged Tesla's well touted onboard Enhanced Auto Pilot (EAP) with Auto Steer control. There was no one ahead of us for over a mile. The weather was clear and sunny, time of incident around noon. Max speed was set to 75 on EAP. All of a sudden, we felt a jerky motion, and realized the EAP has activated brakes, dropping speed from set 75 to about 50mph. No visual or audible alarms, the EAP did not disengage. The driver took over to speed up to avoid being rear ended by vehicles coming behind us. It happened several times more during our trip and then we decided to manually drive. We have video documentation available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On May 22, 2023 driving south on I-580 through Reno with the Tesla adaptive cruise control, there's a 55mph construction zone. As a result, I use the right scroll wheel to adjust the speed from 65 to 55mph. The scroll wheel didn't work. As a result, I turned off the cruise control with the right steering wheel stalk. At the same time, I noticed the vehicle speed indicator on the upper left of the CRT display was malfunctioning; both failing to respond to changes in the car's speed, and then indicating erroneous speeds (at one point indicating 34mph when I was going around 60mph. These issues continued. I took the exit on Double R Blvd to turn right. As I got into the right lane on the freeway to exit I attempted to turn off the cruise control and it didn't work. Approaching the exit, I then applied the brake. The regenerative braking function did not apply. As a result, it felt like the cruise control didn't turn off. However, I braked to a stop at the intersection in the right lane with no issues. When the traffic cleared, I attempted to turn right and proceed east on Double R Blvd. The car didn't move. Using the right stalk, I tried shifting into drive, reverse, and back. All this time, the drive (D) and reverse (R) indications on the CRT did not show. I let off the brake and the car inched forward. I turned right immediately into the Maverick gas station entrance to get off RR. The CRT display now showed the back-up camera displays (a normal indication of the car being in reverse). I cautiously let off the brake and applied the accelerator pedal to see if I backed up, but the car was in drive and proceeded normally. I continued to drive and the CRT screen went completely black. I soon realized the car's computer was rebooting with the faint Tesla logo on the black screen. Within a mile or so, everything came back on the screen and worked normally. I then reached my destination. When I returned to the car, it was as if nothing had happened. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | This same event has happened to me approximately 3-4 times since owning the vehicle. It occurs randomly without warning. The vehicle screen will randomly and suddenly freeze up and render itself inoperable. Eventually, the screen will reset itself or I will have to manually force a reset. After about 5-10 minutes, the screen will reset and the problem goes away. During the 5-10 minutes of the screen not operating, I cannot see or change any of the vehicles controls; loss of HVAC control, cannot turn on windshield wipers, cannot see vehicle speed, don't know if turn signals are on/off (also lose audible sounds when turn signals are on) are the major safety related losses; you essentially lose all control over the vehicle settings/controls. Vehicle continues to drive as normal, and all functions are restored after reset is complete. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I bought my Tesla model 3 in October 2021. I no longer can view my backup camera or side camera when signaling and reversing. gps doesn’t work. Warning collision doesn’t detect. No warning lamps or messages. I schedule a service and they might think it’s a failed mcu. It’s no longer under warranty since I put 79000 miles on it. Car isn’t even two years old and if mcu failed. I think it should be replace for free if it less than two years, miles shouldn’t count. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH as he was exiting a highway and slowing for a traffic signal at the bottom of the off-ramp his brakes failed to engage. The contact stated the brake pedal was stiff and he had attempted to use full leg force to depress the brake pedal. The contact's vehicle ran the traffic signal and the contact stated he hit the right front end of a vehicle that was across traffic from him. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the crash stopped his vehicle and the other vehicle. The contact said that the air bags had been deployed and that the left front end of his vehicle was crushed into the left wheel well. The contact stated that the other vehicle received only light damage to the right end of the bumper due to it being higher than his vehicle. The contact stated that the police were on the scene and filed a report. The other vehicle was able to drive away, and the contact's vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact stated that his insurance provider declared the contact's vehicle a total loss. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that prior to the crash he had attempted to engage his cruise control while on the highway and it would not work. The contact stated that when he engaged the cruise control the windshield wipers would activate and he stopped attempting to use cruise control. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | 18,000 |