Complaint volume
741 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
2022 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
741 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2022 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
741 Total complaints
51 Crash reports
3 Fire reports
26 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, vehicle speed control,forward collision avoidance, service brakes,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 51 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 26 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 55 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 13,827 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, vehicle speed control,forward collision avoidance, service brakes,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 2022 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.
2022 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2022 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
51 Crash
3 Fire
26 Injury
1 Fatality
32 Towed
21 Medical attention
What are the most common 2022 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 261
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 75
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 72
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 48
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 34
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 14
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 14
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 12
SERVICE BRAKES 11
741 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I purchased this vehicle 10 days ago and have had “phantom braking” about a dozen times already. Some more drastic than others. Most cases was at night and most cases there were absolutely no objects that should have triggered the vehicle to rapidly slow down. It is extremely annoying and dangerous as I went from 75 to 60 in about a second. It seems to happen more when there is little traffic in front of me than when I am moving along with a lot of traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | The vehicle will randomly SLAM on its brakes while traveling when autopilot or even just regular cruise control is engaged. We will be traveling 85 MPH and the car will randomly hit the brakes and drop down to 65 MPH in about 2-5 seconds. There are no other vehicles in front, but can sometimes be behind. It is extremely dangerous and could cost people their lives. These kinds of incidents will happen 15-20 times on a 150 mile road trip of all freeway driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The autopilot applies the brakes when there is no obstacle in front of the car. One example - I was driving @ 60 mph on an entrance ramp from I-10 to SH 99 with the cruise control engaged but not the full autopilot (no lane keeping assist). There was a spot in the highway approximately 50 yards ahead where there was a slight dip and oil and lubricants had made a dark spot on the roadway approximately the size of a small car. Without any input from me the car slowed quickly from 60 to @ 30 mph. Fortunately no one was close behind me. Another example - I was driving @ 70 mph on SH 99 with the autopilot engaged. As we approached a gentle left hand turn the system apparently picked up the concrete guardrail as an obstacle and braked the car from 70 mph to @ 40 mph. As the autopilot continued the turn and maintained the lane the car sped back up to 70 mph. No one was behind me but there were cars in the lanes next to me that reacted when my car slowed down and sped up. My car is a 2022 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range. It does not have the full self driving option. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This vehicle suffers from frequent, intense phantom braking/automatic emergency braking, as well as frequent false forward collision warnings. The phantom braking puts us at significantly increased risk of being rear ended. The incidents are so frequent that the ADAS systems are essentially unusable. The constant false collision warnings have conditioned me to ignore the forward collision warnings, so if there comes a day when a real forward collision warning occurs, I'll have been conditioned to ignore it, possibly to the detriment of my safety and others. Tesla needs to communicate a a plan to prevent phantom braking and false collision warnings. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car when it’s on cruise control will all of a sudden have phantom breaking issues causing it to decelerate very quickly almost causing many crashes with cars behind me. This issue needs to be addressed quickly before someone is injured or even killed | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking issues..very dangerous | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car brakes by itself. It seems to happen when there is an oncoming car in the opposite lane. The car slows down; it does not come to a complete stop but it is obviously dangerous enough that I will not use the cruise control | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car regularly brakes unexpectedly at highway speeds when the cruise control is engaged. It is behaving as if it detects a car in front and is trying to avoid a front end collision but there is no object there. I wonder if some debris or something flies in front of the camera and the car interprets it as another vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom Braking. Yes my safety and the safety of cars behind me were put at risk by the sudden braking. I have not contacted the dealer yet. There was no warning prior to the issues occurring. I sure wish I'd known about phantom braking before I set off on a road trip across I-70 recently. Very dangerous indeed. I drove my 2022 Model 3 from Denver to KC round trip last weekend and phantom braking occurred about 30-40 times total. I was using TACC cruise control and going about 75 MPH during these times. I didn't want to turn off TACC cruise control because the roads were straight and it was a 9 hour drive, but I did drive with my toe on the accelerator to be safe and was always on guard, especially when cars were directly behind me. It would suddenly brake when the pavement texture changed, under an overpass shadow, after a bridge and randomly when I had no idea it would occur. I was afraid of getting rear-ended and it made for a pretty tense trip. I sure hope it gets fixed or I won't be taking it on extended road trips. It would be a shame to not be able to safely use cruise control. Also, makes me aware of other Tesla's out there that might phantom brake as well so we need to be careful. Unacceptable and dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On January 25, 2022, between approximately 7:30am and 8am while using cruise control, the auto suddenly braked three separate times between the above stated times. The third incident was so violent, that the passenger was thrown toward the dashboard and the driver pulled over to the shoulder to allow traffic from behind to pass. The incident could have caused a rear end collision given the sudden, involuntary braking. This was the first opportunity to engage the cruise control given we were driving a long distance at between 60-70 mph. Cruise control was disengaged after this incident and not used the balance of that trip. On February 8, 2022, at 7:44 am while using cruise control at approximately 65 mph, the vehicle again braked. The driver disengaged cruise control and did not use it again during that trip. The incidents have been reported to Tesla and there have been no explanations of the phantom breaking nor any assurance that the issues will be addressed. Given the breaking occurs at random times at high speeds while using cruise control, it is a dangerous condition and likely will cause rear end collision at some point. Would request that the issue be address and the phantom breaking be eliminated. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on a two lane highway with adaptive cruise control on, the car sometimes decelerates and sometimes even comes to a quick stop with brakes when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction. Although it does not happen every time, tractor trailers turn red and the car slows from 55 mph to 10-20 mph rapidly. Cars behind me have nearly hit me in the rear because of the fast stop where none was expected (or needed). On occasion, the car slows when no car is coming, but there is a rise in the road, or a curve. In Rochester, at Tesla Service, I was told that the adaptive cruise control was "performing within specifications." If that is correct, the specifications are dangerous and need to be modified. The only remedy, I was told, was not to use adaptive cruise control. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When using auto pilot or adaptive speed control the vehicle seems to see shadows or things that aren't there and brakes hard. It's happened several times and fortunately no accidents have occurred. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on the highway, traffic is slowing in front of me and automatic braking kicked in and made the vehicle come to a full complete stop. I can normally override the brake by pressing on the accelerator, but it continued to stop, with several vehicles behind me slamming on the brakes because my vehicle wouldn’t move. Vehicle in front of me was a quarter mile ahead before I could move again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving on highway with “autopilot” engaged…. Vehicle brakes for no apparent reason at random times. Super dangerous especially if someone is following you. Vehicle brakes hard and is not safe | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Just bought the in November and I experienced the phantom braking few times on the street without cruse control active and also on the freeway with and without autopilot on, on the street almost got rear ended. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2022 Tesla Model 3 experiences sudden and unwarranted braking. Vehicle will use Autopilot and suddenly brake on roads. Commonly known as “Phantom Braking.” | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When using cruise control or Autopilot the car will all of a sudden slam on the brakes. This has the potential of being rear ended by the car behind me. This is usually when a larger truck is approaching in the on coming lane and I suspect the Tesla thinks it is about to hit it. This happens so often that I cannot even use the cruise control feature. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When on two lane roads and adaptive cruise control is engaged, the car ghost brakes when larger on coming vehicles are detected. This sudden braking could cause other cars to hit my car from behind. This occurs frequently. I reported this to Tesla during a service visit and they did something that didn't help. They did say to report back if it didn't help. I'm reluctant to use the adaptive cruise control. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking on the highway. No other vehicles in my lane or the lanes next me. Vehicle slammed on brakes and warning chime sounded | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving 45mph on an expressway. The wind blew apple blossoms off the trees beside the road. The posed no danger nor did they cause a visibility problem for me. The cruise control slammed on the brakes and I was nearly rear-ended. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was travelling on a 2-lane road at 50 mph using the car's autopilot (adaptive cruise control). As a pick-up truck approached me in the opposite lane, the car beeped loudly and applied the emergency braking at great force, reducing the car's rate of speed from 50 to 25 mph. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car randomly brakes while the autopilot feature is turned on, it has also happened while just in normal cruise control. Car will brake unexpectedly even in broad daylight on a straight road with no other vehicles around. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom Braking - Severe, very large number of instances since taking delivery of this auto in December 2021. Severe risk of rear-end collision should this occur when being followed closely. This occurs very often. On a 13 mile drive this morning, 2/19/2022, phantom braking occurred 12 times. The Tesla repair center repeatedly cancels an appointment made to address this issue, stating that 'it's normal for this to occur. Remember, autopilot is a Beta function'. The one time that I was able to have the vehicle seen by the repair center, this is what I was told. Warning chimes do sound. However, this extreme braking is unsafe, and could possibly result in loss of control if it occurs on slippery roads. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The automatic emergency braking system activated for no reason while driving northbound at night in the right lane on MA Route 24 as I approached the intersection with MA Route 79. At the time of the incident, there were no vehicles in front of me, nor were there any vehicles entering from Route 79. The adaptive cruise control system was engaged at the time of the incident. This has happened on several occasions at that same intersection under the same conditions. It has also happened when I've been driving in the left lane on the highway and passing a tractor-trailer in the right lane. The sudden, unexpected deceleration put us in danger of being rear-ended by traffice behind us, creating the possibility of a multi-vehicle, high speed collision. The problem hasn't been reproduced or confirmed by the mfr, police or others. The vehicle has not been inspected by the mfr, police, or others. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On cruise control, on a 2 lane highway when a tall truck is coming in the opposite direction, the car breaks as if it was going to be a head on collition. I reported to Tesla service and I was told not to use cruise control in a 2 lane highway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |