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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was using cruise control on a road trip, traveling through Arizona and the car jolted to stop three different times without advance notice or anything in the road. It was like slamming on the brakes. I was afraid to use it anymore, so now it’s like having a vehicle without cruise control feature. There were cars all around. We are fortunate no one hit us. This needs to be addressed. Googled and discovered it is called “phantom braking.” Hoping this serious safety issue will be fixed and no one gets hurt or dies because of it. Thank you | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Using cruise control or auto pilot and then the car randomly brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 70 - 75 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 31,043. | Crash: No Fire: No | 31,043 |
| May 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While using the autopilot or cruise control feature The vehicle slams on the brakes without driver intervention. I found this appears to be a common problem called “ Phantom Braking” I opened ticket with the local Tesla facility but they required an accurate time storm of the incident to be able to troubleshoot the issue. This is a major safety issue and I request it be investigated as soon as possible. I read some news reports that Tesla Phantom Braking has caused major accidents and I don’t want to be in one. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While on Autopilot, the car suddenly phantom brakes when there is no risk of any collision ahead. This has happened multiple times on high speed highways. Within 1 hour, this happened 5 times and caused near-collisions with the car following my car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I was driving to school which is about an hour away from my home. I was in the carpool lane when all of a sudden I got a notice that the top speed of the vehicle was reduced to 35 MPH second later it said it was in low power mode. The screen starting flashing red and it began to shake and shut down. I had seconds to get into the shoulder of the freeway and the car and the car lost all power. This was an unprovoked incident and I feel that if put me in grave danger. In order for the car to start driving I had to exit and enter it again while on the freeway. I was thankfully able to pull into the shoulder because I was in the carpool lane but had I not been I would have had to do this in full traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tesla had been sending me messages since last year about the safety recall notice but they have not downloaded the necessary firmware update to remedy the safety issue NHTSA Recall no: 22V-702 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My full self driving computer has crashed for the 3rd time since owning the vehicle which controls all of the cars safety features.. Tesla says they won’t do anything because the car is past the warranty by 9,000 miles.. so I’m basically stuck with a 1980’s Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | During the time we have owned this car, it exhibits random and sudden deceleration events when operating AutoPilot (adaptive cruise control) on highways and freeways. The events are not explainable by presence of any notable present or potential hazard. The risk presented to and by surrounding (following) vehicles is so significant that it renders this function unusable. Saturday, April 1, was the last time this occurred before we decided we could no longer safely use this function, instead going to full manual control of the throttle and brake for all highway driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | SUSPENSION | There is a recent recall for suspension related issues with this model. Recently there is a suspension related knocking sound coming from front drivers side area that seems suspension related. I am unable to schedule appt for inspection/ repairs due to another unrelated scheduled service. Tesla requires scheduling through the Tesla application and does not allow scheduling for service when another appointment is pending. I have no way to contact them directly. They have not responded to my concern through customer service app. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | there were 2 phantom braking incidents today traveling between pasadena and berkeley onhighway 5. it was getting cloudy. the first incident occurred just after i passed under an overpass, and thought it might have been due to the lighting. the braking was mild . there were other cars passing me on the left. i had the cruise control set to around 74mph. i probably slowed to 65mph the second phantom braking incident was about an hour later, and it was HARD. fortunately the cars behind me were far enough away. the cruise control was also set around 74mph. interestingly, no audio alerts were issued with either incident. normally, when driving without cruise control, the car will issue audio alerts (loud, urgent beeping) if a car gets too close. in both of my cases, there were no cars in front of me as i was in the slow lane. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tesla has not downloaded the software to remedy NHTSA Recall No: 22V-702 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car will apply the brakes suddenly when in control when there is no obstacle to be avoided. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My car no longer makes any sound when driving in parking lots or alley lanes to warn pedestrians or bicycle riders of my approach. This needs to be addressed for the safety of myself and others. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving on the highway on autopilot (not full self driving or enhanced auto pilot), the vehicle will experience “phantom braking” where it will suddenly brake with full regenerative braking force without any perceivable reason/cause. I have noticed this event occurs every time at the same location as it is on my commute to work. I’ll be on the highway with my speed set to around the speed limit of 65mph in autopilot mode, and when approaching the merge of a specific on-ramp, the car’s set speed will suddenly change from 65 to 55 and then the full power of regenerative braking is applied until I manually disengage them. There can be no vehicles around me or any logical reason for it to brake, and it will do so anyways. This is a safety concern as a vehicle following behind me may not anticipate a random and hard braking event for no apparent reason or cause to do so. The car acts if the speed limit decreases, which it doesn’t, and then its reaction is to brake very very hard and abruptly. If I don’t manually disengage the brakes, I’m not sure if it would come to a complete stop on the highway or just brake until a certain speed is reached. This phantom braking event has occurred in other areas as well, but I have noticed it always happens at this one specific location every day. There are no speed limit signs/changes in the area. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My model 3 on crusing speeds on high ways, automatically applies brakes and makes sudden,abrupt, jolted slowing down which causes extreme pressure on persons body | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car suddenly braked hard when there were no obstacles or other reason. If someone was behind me I would have been hit. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car put on brakes unexpectedly during use of adaptive cruise control (autopilot). This phantom braking happens often at highway speed. Bug reports have been sent from vehicle to Tesla | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on the interstate I was using Autopilot (cruise control). I started into a slight curve when the vehicle suddenly emergency braked. The roadway was clear and thankfully no vehicle was following close behind me. Also there was no warning alarms, just a sudden, aggressive braking. This has happened several times before but the first time with no alarms beforehand. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My operating my Model 3 in autopilot mode, there is one particular location that my car "phantom brakes" every time I pass. I travel this location an average of 4 times per week. I have been reporting the phantom braking to Tesla for almost two (2) years and they still have not fixed the problem. They claim the car is doing what it is supposed to do. The phantom braking occurs on a divided highway on an overpass that passes over a highway with a lower speed limit ( 37° 4'54.40"N 94°18'48.09"W). It only occurs in the east bound direction. Tesla says their mapping information is provided by Google and until Google updates or corrects their mapping data, the problem will persist. On a day with no traffic behind me, I did not intervene and allowed the car to brake as it saw fit. I went from 70mph to 40mph all while in a 70mph zone. As I have mentioned, I have been telling Tesla about this since March of 2021 yet it is not resolved. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving with the Autopilot on, traveling about 65 mph on the freeway when the automatic emergency braking system kicked in for no reason. There was absolutely nothing in front of the car when it aggressively braked, very suddenly. I was very lucky no one was behind me. I have not reported this directly to Tesla, no one has inspected or confirmed this event. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | AC/Heat pump total failure at 18,317 miles. Due to cold weather in Michigan and simply running the car, the heat pump went out entirely which creates the climate control in the vehicle. This caused dangerous driving conditions since the windows could not be defogged and the vehicle was below freezing temperatures inside. The service agents I spoke with seemed to understand this was a common occurrence in cold weather climates. The reason I am reporting this, is although mine was replaced at no cost to me under warranty, this is a manufacturing oversight and needs to be addressed by the company. This can cause very unsafe driving conditions for many people, and cost thousands of dollars in repairs all because they sell a vehicle that has parts not suitable for the climates they operate in. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving Tesla on the freeway using adaptive cruise control at 65 miles per hour and the car suddenly brake and the sped jumped from 65 to 20 in seconds. It was scary. There was no one in front of nothing in the road to cause that to happen. It did say on the screen something about visibility. I had to take control of the car after. It has happened several times before. When I spoke with Tesla they said it’s a safety feature and it only happens when you pass certain cities. I find that hardly true | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | i am slowly coming into the driveway. All of a sudden the car accelrated while i was applying brake. the air bags didn't come on either. it hit the car in front which then got pushed into the garage | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This incident happened last summer, 2022 but I recently read that it is happening to many other people and thought I should report it. I was driving on Hwy 71 south in the Cincinnati area with the ADAS with the cruise control and auto steering in operation. All of a sudden the brakes slammed on with me not doing anything to cause it. There were no cars behind me and I touched and released the brake pedal and it went back to a normal driving mode. I don’t believe I hit a pothole or bump on the highway. I did not report it to Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |