2023 Tesla Model 3 problems
Owners have filed 726 complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model 3 with NHTSA. Forward collision avoidance accounts for 32.4% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of steering at 11.7%.
Complaints726
Crashes150
Fires3
Injuries97
Deaths3
What owners report breaking
Forward collision avoidance 32.4% · 235
Steering 11.7% · 85
Vehicle speed control 9.2% · 67
Unknown or other 7.9% · 57
Electrical system 7.0% · 51
Service brakes 7.0% · 51
Lane departure 4.8% · 35
Structure 3.3% · 24
Severity
Of those complaints, 150 describe a crash, 3 describe a fire, 97 report an injury and 3 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 8 model years of the Tesla Model 3 in this data, 2023 draws comparatively few complaints; 2018 is the outlier year.
Filing volume has held steady, 342 in the last three years against 384 in the three before.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 4,369 miles.
In owners' own words
The Tesla ran a red light on two separate occasions while in full self driving mode. The first time it went through without me being able to intervene. Given it had done it before, the second time I was able to stop it. Both times occurred at the intersection of [XXX] and [XXX] . It has not done it at other intersections. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) Forward collision avoidance
Since purchasing this vehicle in May 2023 I have had four (4) instances of the vehicle automatically braking (phantom braking) while traveling at a higher speed on the interstate using cruise control (Autopilot). This has occurred during both daylight and nighttime driving. At the time it occurred, only once was there a vehicle in front of me, but far enough away that the auto braking should not have activated. Forward collision avoidance
My vehicle constantly slows down and occasionally even slams on the brakes to slow down for nonexistent obstacles. I believe this is a serious safety concern if there is a vehicle behind mine, as the driver of that vehicle would not expect mine to rapidly slow down. The root cause seems to be that the camera vision system frequently mistakes certain signs and dark cars reflected in mirages as pedestrians. Forward collision avoidance
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other Tesla Model 3 years
2019 1,050 complaints · 21.9% forward collision avoidance 2020 767 complaints · 28.0% forward collision avoidance 2021 1,225 complaints · 48.0% forward collision avoidance 2022 1,496 complaints · 52.6% forward collision avoidance 2024 329 complaints · 18.8% forward collision avoidance 2025 209 complaints · 15.8% forward collision avoidance