2021 Tesla Model 3 — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 667 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
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
26 complaints
1,030 complaints
615 complaints
451 complaints
667 complaints
765 complaints
428 complaints
218 complaints
0 complaints
0 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
After the latest update the Tesla autopilot feature is very unsafe to use. The screen constantly pings and nags the driver to pay attention drawing my attention away from the road. The system has become so sensitive that adjusting the AC down a degree causes the warning to pop up which distracts the driver and in my opinion is significantly less safe than the older version. Th…
My car experienced a problem with the control arms and based on my research this is a known problem with Tesla Model 3 yet a recall hasn’t been issued
The supermanifold failed, causing the front defroster to not work properly, resulting in loss of visibility in freezing temperatures. This is a common problem with 2021/2022 model 3/model y with the new heat pump that was supposed to be fixed with a software update, but was not. I now have a $3900 repair bill on a 1 year old car with 56,000 miles. The warranty expired at 50,…
Adding our vehicle to the list of those affected by what seems to be commonly known as "Phantom Braking". The most recent occurrence was on Interstate 25 southbound in northern Colorado when the "Autopilot" (Adaptive Cruise Control) suddenly braked and reduced our speed from 75 to 51 mph, with no vehicles or other obstructions visible. We were almost rear-ended by a car follow…
Tesla in the December 2021 V11 software update as made the car's common control user interface unsafe. Critical controls, such as defrost and climate control, as well as many others (like trip, tire pressure, heated seats, windshield wipers) , are now only accessible by hunting through menus - - all which require the driver to turn their eyes off the road for longer periods of…
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 Tesla Model 3, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.