Complaint volume
193 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
2024 Tesla Model 3 Complaints
193 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2024 Tesla Model 3, grouped by component category.
193 Total complaints
18 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
11 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 unknown or other, exterior lighting, 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 18 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 11 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 7 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 12,614 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, exterior lighting, 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 2024 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.
2024 Tesla Model 3
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2024 Tesla Model 3 complaints?
18 Crash
0 Fire
11 Injury
0 Fatality
9 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2024 Tesla Model 3 complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 45
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 16
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 16
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14
STEERING 13
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 7
STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 6
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4
193 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2024 | STEERING | Vehicle Information: 2024 Tesla Model 3 Description of the Problem: We purchased a brand-new 2024 Tesla Model 3 just seven days ago, and we’ve already encountered a serious safety issue: the turn signal frequently fails to function. This problem compromises our ability to signal lane changes or turns, putting our safety and the safety of others at risk, particularly in high-traffic or highway conditions. Inspection and Reproduction: We took the car to Tesla Service, and the service advisor confirmed that this is a known issue with the vehicle. The malfunction has been reproduced and verified by Tesla Service. Safety Risks: The inability to use the turn signal effectively creates a significant safety hazard, as other drivers cannot anticipate our intended movements. This increases the likelihood of accidents, especially during lane changes or turns. Inspection by Authorities: The vehicle has been inspected by Tesla Service, but no inspection has been conducted by any other authorities, such as insurance representatives or law enforcement. Warning Signs: There were no prior warning lights or error messages. The issue became apparent when the turn signal intermittently failed to activate. Request for Action: We are requesting an immediate resolution to this issue, including a repair or replacement of the faulty system, as well as updates on Tesla’s efforts to address this known defect. If no fix is currently available, we request clear communication regarding the timeline for a resolution and any interim safety measures that can mitigate this risk. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Entire screen froze. FSD stopped working completely. The system GPS stopped working, auto wipers stopped working, auto park, anything related to the cameras stopped working. After trying multiple resets, it didn't help. It luckily started working again in the morning. Others have reported this issue to Tesla and all over Reddit. News articles are starting to come out about it now. The entire motherboard dying is a massive safety issue, especially if there are any safety systems linked to it (like auto wipers, speedometer, ABS or AEB, FSD, etc.). Tesla refused to replace my computer after I showed them the issue. [XXX] 552(B)(6) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Issue is with Tesla's new turn signal buttons. They removed regular turn signal stocks with a left/right button on the left side of the steering wheel. This is a safety issue because it hardly works because you have to tap it dead center and I would have to take my eyes off the road to do that. If I'm on the curve already, with the buttons being on one side of the steering wheel, it's very difficult to click when the buttons are upside down. I have to take my eyes off the road more often than not which makes it a safety concern. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Screen cracked without any direct cause. Manufacturer defect. Manufacturer will not cover under warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER | The buttons on the steering wheel stick and do not work. These include the turn signals and also bright lights and windshield wipers. They stick on my car, and I am renting a 2024 model 3 that they stick on as well. It’s not possible to signal a turn or wipe the windshield when this happens, which is a safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | See attached document for complaint. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Occasionally, the Turn Signals decide to not work for a 5 second period. This is a car that is "stalkless" (meaning there isn't a physical turn signal stalk to press), but rather it's touchpad buttons on the steering wheel. While these usually work fine, occasionally when I depress one, I can feel that it does not press down at all, and the turn signal does not turn on. I view this as a SAFETY ISSUE in that a Turn Signal indicates intent to other drivers, and it's unsafe to not be able to use it. Tesla has replaced my steering wheel once (after 2+ months of waiting for "diagnostics") but the new wheel has the same issue. This has been occurring ever since I got this car, and that was many months ago. And I've heard other Model 3 and Model S customers have similar complaints. There is something fundamental going on, and Tesla does not seem to want to solve it on their own. They need to have NHTSA add some priority to this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Traveling with cruise control at 80mph with the flow of traffic and the speed setting dropped to 60mph. Why do you still allow this? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Traveling with cruise control with the flow of traffic at 75mph and the setting dropped to 60mph. I thought FSD/Beta programming was not allowed as regular vehicle settings so why does this continue? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | I reduced my set standard cruise control speed when traveling on a road curve and the speed drastically reduced by over 15mph lower than my setting on it's own. If i was traveling in a group then this would have created a dangerous situation for the following vehicles. This is another FSD/Beta programming in regular cruise control. Why are you still allowing this to exist??? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The right and left turn indicator buttons freeze up, and will not operate for indefinite periods. The problem is intermittent, however, the buttons may be frozen for several minutes before the problem clears. I believe the manufacturer is already aware of this problem affecting numerous 2024 model 3 vehicles. I believe this appears as a definite manufacturer design flaw, and does not appear as reasonable user error, or other isolated random defect. The problem is presently becoming well known to 2024 model 3 owners in all markets, and there are now many online posts by other owners of this vehicle model for this identical problem. I encourage NHTSA to conduct a quick online search of user reported incidents, as an easy starting point. This problem creates a serious safety risk to other drivers, since other drivers cannot be made aware of affected vehicle's driving intentions. There is no reliable means for affected vehicle drivers to predict or reliably control this problem, that I am aware of. The problem also creates a significant distraction for the driver of the affected vehicle, and particularly in situations that require rapid signal intentions, such as multiple immediate left and right turns in quick succession, or, emergency lane change to avoid stalled vehicles, or, intended driver direction following a four-way stop, etc. This problem may also create a potentially unavoidable legal jeopardy for any affected driver, who may face reasonable driving penalties enforceable by police, or, may be held at fault for accident, despite affected driver's best intentions to use or rely on the faulty equipment. I truly believe this is a serious problem worthy of immediate manufacturer recall and permanent remedy by the manufacturer. It is only a matter of time before a serious accident occurs, resulting in possible injury or death to anyone who either drives, or encounters, an affected vehicle. I hope NHTSA will promptly investigate. Thank you. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | While merging into heavy highway traffic, turn signal failed to turn on when button was pressed. This made me have to merge without a turn signal on putting me at a higher risk of a collision and surprising the drivers behind me. Immediately after the merge was complete I attempted to troubleshoot the button and found that it was stuck in the up state, flicking it multiple times made it possible to press the button again. Later that day experimentation showed that the button was prone to sticking if pushed at an angle but would work correctly as long as a deliberate and vertical press is applied. Specifically pushing the button with force pushing the button outwards relative to the steering wheel would cause the button to shift to the outward edge and get stuck on the plastic housing rendering the button impossible to depress. This angle is typical as the persons thumb would naturaly slide outwards when interacting with the button. The vehicle has not been inspected by any third parties (including manufacturer), but a video was recorded reproducing the malfunction and demonstrating how pushing the buttons inward resolves the issue. No warnings about the button no longer being operation were displayed. On a somewhat related note, its nearly impossible to signal that one is exiting a roundabout with the buttons as they change location before being pressed (steering angle) and depending on angle change meaning (upper button means right or left turn for example). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Turn signal buttons will get stuck intermittently and not be able to actuate. This causes the inability to reliably and predictably utilize the turn signals. This also takes attention away from driving and places additional focus on looking at the buttons instead of the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On multiple occasions (at least five times) in the past week, the turn signal buttons on my Tesla did not work. The buttons were stuck and could not be pressed (they are on the steering wheel.) This is a major safety concern as I cannot "communicate" my intentions to other drivers on the road. I have reported this incident to Tesla and will have the issue looked at by a technician. However, Tesla threatened to cancel my appointment if I did not provide them details of the incident prior to my appointment. I feel that a safety issue such as this would have them rushing to resolve it whether or not I answered their online question. Thank you. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Turn signals are now touch sensitive buttons on the steering wheel. On many occasions the turn signals fail to activate when pressed. I’ve reported twice to Tesla only to be told that “it’s normal” and they think it’s a software issue. I’ve also read many others have had the same experience. Definitely needs to be addressed sooner than later. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Left and turn signal buttons randomly do not work especially after disengaging FSD. Sometimes I have to re-engage FSD for the buttons to work. This can be dangerous when I'm trying to make a turn and cars behind me could be going really fast or not pay attention. I believe this is a software or firmware issue and not the steering wheel itself. No warning messages. I did report to Tesla warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car randomly breaks or swerves when using cruise control. When there is nothing ahead of me have called tesla and been told it is called phantom breaking and that it is normal happens multiple times a day, almost causes collisions. Very dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STEERING | The turn signals are on the steering wheel. Sometimes these buttons are not pressable so I have to turn w/o signaling. That is after taking a risk of an accident. I have run into this multiple times and the stress level of operating the vehicle when that happens is very high. There have been a couple of occasions that I had to signal when the steering wheel is partially turned and I have to look down and do guess work to locate the right button. This is again an energy drain when driving. Traditional stalk is a no brainer and it takes all the thinking and stress away from driving. I consider this vehicle not safe for driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 1) Turn signal indicator (right side) does not always activate signal. It doesn't have the feeling that it was being pushed in. Has happened at least a dozen times since taking delivery, some of the times I have documented. Tesla says they won't just repair/replace it unless it's happening when I bring it in. Happens at random times. Cars behind me not alerted to me turning. 2) Turn signal indicator (both) cannot safely be used unless the steering wheel is in neutral position (car moving straight). This is especially true when in a roundabout and trying to signal to exit. It is impossible to select signal direction or even activate at all. This needs to be moved off of the steering wheel and onto a stalk like most other cars. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Cruising at 75 and speed dropped to 55. There are at least 3 FSD/beta features in the driver set cruise control, did Tesla get approval to add those features to the cruise control? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | About two weeks ago with driver set cruise control, the phantom braking was so severe that it took me down from 75 to around 15 if I remember correctly. The braking was so severe and at the same time self steered to the edge of the road along the guard rail that my body was unable to move quicker to correct the vehicle. Your system gets jolted violently without notice which takes a couple seconds to recover from and I decided to report this one after watching the San Francisco video. Fortunately, the two vehicles behind me were far enough away. This is absolutely not OK, I have had several severe braking incidents and each time it not only takes about 2-3 seconds to correct but also created back pain. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Cruising at 75 the speed suddenly drops to 55, the worst I had was changed from 75 to 40. This is Dangerous and needs to be changed. It drops speeds every day and before I can correct it the car usually drops a minimum of 5mph. If allowed I will start to report this every day until it is corrected as it is a huge safety issue for other drivers and potentially a deadly crash or road rage incident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | I’m reporting an ongoing issue with the turn signal button on my 2024 Model 3, purchased a few weeks ago. From day one, the button has intermittently failed to activate. Initially, we thought we were not pressing it correctly, but after continued issues, it’s clear this is a malfunction. Last night, while driving on a busy road, the right turn signal failed repeatedly, forcing me to miss a highway ramp. This is not only frustrating but dangerous. I’ve since discovered similar complaints from other owners, which raises serious safety concerns. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | This model vehicle does not have traditional turn signal stalks, it has buttons on the steering wheel to engage the left and right turn signals. Intermittently, these buttons become completely unable to be pressed, and as a result you are unable to signal turns to other drivers. This is a serious safety issue, especially in some circumstances where turn signals are critical to a given situation. Tesla Service denied any attempt to fix this issue, citing that I was not pressing the buttons hard enough. I have driven this vehicle daily for months and understand how hard to press a button. No amount of force will allow the button to press when this occurs. I provided five videos of this to Tesla Service. Online, many other owners are reporting the same issue. I have a personal friend with a 2024 Model 3 with the same issue, and Telsa Service also turned him away and threatened to charge him a fee if he reported it again and they were unable to reproduce. Here is an example of a forum of drivers reporting the same. It does appear this issue happens when a driver accidentally rests their finger on the buttons for a period of time before using them. Seems like a software issue blocking the function of the buttons - which are likely capacitive. https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModel3/comments/1esjzlr/turn_signal_issue_on_new_2024_tesla_model_3/ | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The left turn signal button will occasionally not work. Apparently this is a known issue but I have received nothing from Tesla about a fix. I took the car to Tesla Service today (currently there now) and they are telling me they will look for the problem. They gave me the same model demo car to take for a couple of hours and the same thing happened twice in a row to make lane changes on the freeway then never happened again. There are several YouTube videos about the problem. [XXX] being one. This problem makes this not only unsafe but also I could get a ticket for not signaling a turn. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |