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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2017 Tesla Model 3 — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 26 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

26
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
1
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
0
Involved Fire
owner-reported
1
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Tesla Model 3 — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

0 complaints

26 complaints

1,030 complaints

615 complaints

451 complaints

666 complaints

765 complaints

428 complaints

218 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Forward Collision Avoidance 8 reports
Air Bags 7 reports
Seat Belts 6 reports
Seats 6 reports
Unknown Or Other 5 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 4 reports
Lane Departure 4 reports
Visibility/wiper 3 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Seats ODI 11445122 12/27/2021

Tesla vehicles have driver profiles to adjust seats automatically when a driver taps the brake pedal after entering the vehicle. A recent software update 2021.44.25.2 took away any on-screen indication of what profile the car is trying to set the seats to. There is no longer an on-screen STOP button, nor does a menu pop up giving a driver a chance to select a different profile…

Air Bags ODI 11705330 12/16/2025

I received an error about the occupant classification system and a safety restraint fault. These are due to known manufacturing defects. Addressing these concerns was expensive and also required a replacement of the front passenger airbag.

Steering ODI 11559386 12/10/2023

I had just finished Supercharging my vehicle from 50% to 80% and when I entered the car to drive home two warnings showed up 1. Steering assist was reduced and it might be more difficult to drive; and 2. Lane departure avoidance warning was not working. I did a hard reset twice - (foot on the brake while pressing the two steering wheel 'wheels') and began driving the 10-…

Vehicle Speed Control ODI 11439164 11/03/2021

On August 9th, 2021 I was traveling on Interstate 40, in NC, at MM 103 at approximately 70 mph. when with no warning the Main Control Unit (MCU) went blank. Adaptive Cruise control, speedometer were not operable or could not be seen. The MCU reset after a brief (5 second) pause. I immediately placed a service request for August 25th with Tesla. Tesla updated the firmware an…

Seat Belts ODI 11488259 10/06/2022

My tesla model 3 , parking break do not release. so i can not go front or back!!! i thing they had recall about that long time ago. it happend every month once. you get stuck for 2 hrs or so and then it get atomatically release!!!

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2017 Tesla Model 3, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2017 Tesla Model 3 reliable?
Owners have filed 26 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2017 Tesla Model 3, most often about forward collision avoidance. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Tesla Model 3 years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.