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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2024 | SEAT BELTS | The passenger seat belt no longer latches. The mechanism that pushes out the pin to hold the belt in is no longer working. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | At low/no speed, turning the steering wheel to the extreme left or right produces a low-end creaking noise as if something is rubbing. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owned a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH with the full self-driving mode activated and making a right turn off the highway, the vehicle collided with the wall of the exit ramp and spun out. The contact stated that there were no prior alerts and or warnings of the collision. The contact sustained a right shoulder injury. Medical attention was not needed. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to a collision shop where it was deemed totalled. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 27,669. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | 27,669 |
| Dec 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE | This incident is the result of poor operation of safety warning and navigation systems in a Tesla Model 3 leading to an accident. I rented a Tesla Model 3 from Hertz at Seattle Tacoma airport. At a traffic light I followed navigation directions making a left turn into Southcenter Mall in Tukwila WA. This turn placed me in the direction of a Subaru which hit me in the driver side rear side. The Tesla safely warning visual and audible system did not activate as designed. I owned a similar Tesla Model 3 at the time and was very familiar with its operation. The navigation and collision warning systems in this rental vehicle did not in any way act or engage like my personal vehicle, and therefore I was placed in a dangerous situation causing an accident to occur. This was a low speed accident, as I was beginning to accelerate after the light turned green, with sufficient time for the systems to react and provide warning, which they did not. I was not cited in the accident. This may be a Hertz maintenance issue or a Tesla issue I'm not sure. I am loading both the Tukwila Police report and Hertz accident summary which contradict: Please note the Hertz report is correct in the Subaru hitting me and the damage on the left side | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | I was driving on the highway when the touchscreen lit up with multiple error messages including: - Steering assist reduced (Steering may require increased effort) - Traction control disabled (Drive with caution) - Stability control disabled (Drive with caution) - Parking brake functions degraded (Parking brake may not apply or release) - Lane Departure Avoidance features unavailable (Features may be restored on next drive) Also, the speedometer changed to 0 (while we were going 70 mph). When I pulled onto the next off-ramp the steering was very heavy and the regenerative braking was not working. Pressing the brakes (even slightly) felt like the ABS was pulsating. This was extremely dangerous and easily could have resulted in a serious accident in heavy traffic or if the road had not been straight. It was a rental car so I have not seen the car since the rental company towed it away. I have not heard from the rental company about the car's status or their findings. Prior to the catastrophic failure of multiple systems, there were two other warnings messages: - Left front fender camera blocked or blinded (Clean cameras or wait to regain visibility) - Autopilot safety/convenience features unavailable (Features may be restored on next drive) These had been coming on and off for a couple hours but I had assumed they were due to driving through heavy rain. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Tesla needs to be required to implement trailer mode to all model 3/Y vehicles (not just those equipped with a tow hitch from the factory) because the basic autopilot and existing safety software does not correctly identify when the vehicle is towing a trailer. Legal Aftermarket tow hitch installations exist for small trailers, such as U-Haul trailer. However Tesla does not recognize these aftermarket installs. And Tesla needs to be required to add the required trailer software mode for vehicles with aftermarket hitches to provide the required safety software when towing. It is needed because of the cars emergency braking, collision avoidance, navigation, and autopilot modes need to know that a trailer is connected so that the vehicle software does not make an unsafe maneuver depending on the driving situation/condition. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | STEERING | The car's steering wheel locked unexpectedly, rendering the vehicle undrivable. Additionally, multiple alerts appeared, indicating that the car's hold feature, traction control, and steering assist were reduced. This issue occurred while the car was parked but still running. When I shifted into drive, the car unintentionally rolled backward, forcing me to press the brake pedal to prevent a collision. If this had happened while driving, it could have resulted in a serious accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | Hi. My issue is partly related to case PE-22-002 and may also contribute to it as well. I will forward my dash-cam videos (the false detection of cars in-front of me for 63.5% of that drive is included here) to your email as support for the investigations. I have been noticing warnings that a car is in the lane I am changing into when there is no car present. This has happened several times, despite the camera showing no cars and checking for myself showed no cars. The first time it happened, it scared me so bad I jerked back into my lane and could have lost control of being safely in the lane. I filed a service request and was told it would cost me an est. $195.00 to have them look at it, but they said they think it is software related and tried to say they don't deal with software issues. It has experienced many occasions of decelerating for no cause when using the Full Self Driving, Autopilot and Cruise Control. It would cause me to have to disengage them as I felt it was effecting my distance efficiency. I found a new issue last night that caused concern. We have been getting high reports of following too closely, so I drove from Plainview, Tx to Amarillo, Tx in complete control myself while driving 100% perfectly and it reported that it claimed 63.5% of that drive was "Following To Closely" when in-fact any time a vehicle was in-front of me by (I think) 30 car lengths, I changed into the other lane where the was no vehicles in the lane at all. It is my personal opinion that it is a combination of the cameras not being infrared and not seeing well enough in low light situations, and the software unable to tell the difference between darkness/shadows and objects that should be avoided. These false alerts occur more for me in low light conditions, but the unneeded deceleration has occurred in all conditions. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In autopilot mode vehicle failed to recognize School bus with flashung red lights and children crossing in front of vehicle. Had to hit brakes | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The following will happen in drive or reverse. Causing the vehicle to enter a free roll condition. If the vehicle detects both pedals are pressed. The vehicle will then disengage the motors and the brakes. And it will free roll. The vehicle does not successfully maintain stop and hold in this case. I was stopped at a red light and on an uphill. When the light turned green, I bumped the brake pedal when I went to accelerate forward in drive. My car rolled backwards downhill as a result. My instinct was to press the accelerator to try and go forward before I thought to hit the brake. My car rolled about 1.5 car lengths backwards. Luckily nobody was behind me. This is a safety issue that has existed for the 3 years that I have owned this car. Not once has this been corrected in a software update. This is a serious safety problem and I’m surprised nobody has free rolled into a pedestrian or vehicle because of it. Or if they have, maybe they don’t know that it was caused due to this vehicle behavior. The software needs fixed to prevent free rolling in drive or reverse. Normal gas cars don’t suddenly fall to neutral and free roll all over the place if you bump both pedals. like wow. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | SUSPENSION | See attached document for complaint. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the contact heard an audible chime. The contact stated that the message "Driver Side Safety Restraint System Fault" was displayed. Additionally, the passenger’s side air bag warning light intermittently illuminated and after a week remained illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure by the service App. The failure mileage was approximately 49,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 49,000 |
| Oct 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Tesla FSD almost caused a serious accident. My car was at a stop sign at a t in the road with cross traffic going 40-50mph. The car did not see a white car driving toward from the left as it pulled out. Instead of stopping before getting in front of the car, it pulled slowly into the lane and then errored out, stopping right in front of a car that was about to T-bone me. I had to take back control of the car and quickly accelerate before they crashed into me. Luckily the combination of me taking over and accelerating and the other car also slowing down drastically saved us from having a serious accident. Unfortunately I had a fresh cup of hot coffee in my left hand and the acceleration caused it to spill allover the left side of my face, neck and chest causing burns. None of this would have happened if I wasn't testing the free trial of "Full Self-Driving." This was only a block from my home and it couldn't even work properly for more than 2 minutes. Software is so far from being ready to be safely used it is going to kill people. I have dashcam videos of the whole thing and can provide to you. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | SUSPENSION | The right front passenger side suspension started squeaking at 22586 miles. Service center replaced lower lateral links on 7/1/24. Repair did not fix the squeaking sound. Service center could not replicate the issue until a test drive with myself and a tech on 9/20/24 and made me make a third appointment for repair. On 10/16/24 the service center said the control arm was failing, but did not think it would be covered under warranty. A quick internet search turned up lawsuits, hundreds of complaints, and crashes resulting from failing control arms. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS,SEATS | car has a passenger safety restraint fault, got quote to replace a sensor for $455 parts and labor. when reading online, this appears to be a common failure in these vehicles and if you don't get repaired, air bags / seat belt restraint may not work properly. seems like should be a recall for this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | SEATS | Got this warning on my tesla model 3. Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault will get it fixed at appt on monday Had the exact same issue on our Model Y. Also happened to my friend's tesla. It is all over the internet. I think a recall should be issued and the warranty extended to ten years for this issue on all existing teslas | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving I the Highway and the car start to move in another car direction, I went to Tesla they said is computer fault, but I’m not involved in any accident to get a computer issued and now I receive the letter reporting a problem And they don’t wanna fix this | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Full Self Driving prominently suggests the user enable “automatic set speed offset”. When enabled it tries to guess the speed it should be going, and goes that speed. On city streets and rural highways the driver is unable to lower the speed with the normal cruise control speed dial. it is disabled. It recognizes when the speed limit lowers on the road, but does not adjust to that new limit. The only option is to hit the brakes or otherwise disable the system. On the interstate this resulted in it resetting to the maximum 85 MPH as it was setting itself to 86 at every deactivation. Turning cruise control back on, despite having previously set it to the speed limit, causes it to to immediately accelerate regardless of the posted limits or the previous setting. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | All has been reported in writing to Tesla Corporate and Tesla Service Center SoDo Seattle, WA. Has not been repaired to date, with multiple attempts to bring car in for service: Emergency brake failed to engage on two occasions, [XXX] it was first reported that the car lost control of steering and emergency brake did not engage. Second time on [XXX]; car would not shift into any gear. Tesla Roadside said to have it towed (we did), Tesla had car for two weeks and did not address issues reported. Tesla has received extensive documentation for both times. They continue to tell us to drive car and just report issues as their resolution. Car has failed seals that have resulted in multiple times of mold and rodents in car (had professionally inspected). Tesla continues to insist I go inside vehicle and drive car. Tesla first discovered the mold in March 2024 during warranty service visit. They acknowledge smell in writing. Odometer was changed while car was brought in for service (shows on Tesla provided service records). Car arrived on 7/2/24 at 11:06am with 32,390 miles and left 7/2/24 at 11:07am with 32,687 miles. Manager was present and in the car for this visit. Car charger has failed and been replaced multiple times, battery is defective. Tesla will not inspect. Reported in writing loud thudding in trunk for months and Tesla took no action. Turned out to be live rats discovered during private mold inspection in trunk, frunk and inside of car; we believe we were exposed to rodents for months due to Tesla refusing to inspect properly. We have reported the car making us incredibly ill with heart and lung issues, unexplained hair loss, nausea, fatigue and Tesla has taken no action. We arrived at Service center 7/2/24 asking for water and ill from the car and they ignored until we said we would need to call 911. No warning messages for any of the safety issues reporting, Tesla maintains the car is in good condition. Continue to seek medical care. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No Medical attention | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The noted vehicle is one of 7 Teslas (6 Model 3s and 1 Model Y) that I have rented from Hertz for a round trip from Orlando Fl to Naples Fl. Over the last 7 months. Each of the Model 3 vehicles was different, I never got the same Model 3. Each of the vehicles exhibited the same or similar glitch when traveling on [XXX] at [XXX] when either the navigation and/or the adaptive speed control was engaged and traveling at or near the posted speed limit when nearing this specific exit. If only the navigation system is on it will direct the driver to take the exit and then return to the interstate using the on ramp. If the adaptive speed control is engaged, either with or without the navigation feature on, when the vehicle is on [XXX] near or under the overpass it will abruptly try to slow the vehicle to 35 MPH, the speed limit for traffic on the overpass. None of the rental vehicles has the full autopilot activated to my knowledge. This event will occur when traveling in either direction and has only occurred at [XXX] on my 200+ mile trip. Having this occur once or twice would be strange, but 7 times at the same location over 7 months in 7 different vehicles is more likely a glitch of some kind, and one that could result in a crash if a driver is unprepared for the unexpected rapid reduction in speed. [XXX] is heavily travelled with both local and out of town drivers in both personal and rental vehicles. I have no idea if this is occurring at other locations but it seems to be consistent here. Since the adaptive speed control must be using information from the navigation system to display and utilize the speed limit to regulate maximum speed, it is likely the problem is in the navigation system. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while operating the vehicle in "Self-Driving" mode, the error message "Camera Malfunction" was displayed. During the failure the vehicle drove through red lights and erroneously steered the vehicle off the road and into the wrong lane. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the main computer was faulty and needed to be replaced. The computer was replaced but the failure persisted. No further information was available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 34,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 34,000 |
| Sep 2024 | STEERING | Constant alert of "Steering assist reduced" Steering rack replacement under warranty | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | The car continuously complains about front passenger safety restraint system faults. This has gone on and off since about 15k miles and car is now at 50k miles. Tesla has said it is software related at one point (different software complains about it differently) and most recently installed an occupant classification system filter module without it resolving the issue. Now they are saying that it needs an $1100 repair. From boards and forums this seems like a well known issue that many cars are having from Tesla and it seems they are avoiding properly handing the issue and fixing it at their expense. This issue seems to cause the passenger airbag to disable and turn off when there is a passenger actively sitting in the front passenger seat as well as it makes a chime and distracts the driver every time it flips its state - which can be multiple times a minute! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | my tesla 3 performance year 22 software problem My car defaults to 25 mpr in a 55 mpr area. This happens on secondary roads in North Carolina. This dangerous. I have taken my car to Charlotte and Raleigh service Centers with no fix for this software problem. This been going for almost 2 years. I have been by the service center managers that one day this software problems will be fixed one day. I have informed Tesla that this software issue is very dangerous but they do not care. Please help since I have not any success with this very important matter. This software problems make the car drive and behave very different. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My 2022 Tesla model 3 has a major issue that should be widely addressed and because the computer screen has completely turned off although there was never any damage done to the vehicle. The cost to fix this issue is $3,052.30. I went on a three day vacation and came back to the screen not turning on but the vehicle can still drive, the major issue is that the screen controls all major functions of the vehicle and is a major danger driving the car if you cant see how fast your going, how much battery is left or will basic safety equipment will deploy? How can a vehicle be driven under these basic safety standards and conditions when it’s a faulty manufacturing issue. In addition come to find out that the computer tried to update it’s software with out my consent and causing the computer to fail there fore leaving me in danger situation of driving the vehicle under these conditions and then having me to pay the financial repercussions although I caused no damage to the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |