Table 1 shows one common steering related problems of the 2019 Tesla Model 3.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Steering problems |
The vehicle’s front suspension began making loud squeaking noises and felt unstable while driving, especially when turning or going over uneven surfaces. At times, the vehicle does not make a proper turn and almost feels like it loses grip, which is extremely unsafe. I brought the vehicle to a Tesla service center. After inspection, Tesla provided a service estimate and documentation confirming the failure of the front lower lateral links — the exact part and condition described in NHTSA safety recalls 21v835000 and 23v235000, which cover defective front suspension lateral link fasteners on this vehicle make, model, and year. Despite the clear match, Tesla did not recognize the repair as recall-related and categorized it as a customer-pay service. This raises concern that some affected vehicles are being excluded from proper recall coverage, despite experiencing the same safety defects. There were no warning lights or alerts prior to the failure. The issue was confirmed by Tesla and the part is available for inspection upon request.
My 2019 Tesla Model 3 (rwd) began alerting error messages on the primary dashboard screen saying "steering assist reduced. Steering may require increased effort. " and "lane departure avoidance features unavailable", followed by the power steering going out completely. Steering required significant effort, which was dangerous while turning through intersections or navigating parking lots, and almost caused a collision with other cars. The error goes away after parking the car and powering it off and on again, but reappears after driving short distances (anywhere from 5 to 30 miles). With the error on the screen, sometimes the power steering appears to work without increased effort (but with lane departure avoidance unavailable), but other times the power steering is completely disabled. I received no warnings or alerts prior to the error messages and behavior I described above. I scheduled an appointment with Tesla service (plano-lexington drive-service 300 lexington dr plano, TX 75075) through the Tesla app, and after it was accepted, the app asked me to approve a repair estimate of almost $3000 to "remove and replace the steering rack". The replacement item is listed as "steering gear - left hand drive (1188832-00-b)" with a unit price of 2,260. 00. I contacted Tesla service and asked if they would just do a diagnosis first to inspect the car, and they agreed and reduced the estimate to just a $215 diagnosis. The morning of my appointment (Jan 17th, 2025), Tesla service sent me another new invoice for $3,176. 36 for a complete steering rack replacement. When I arrived at the service center, the tech said they inspected the logs remotely, and found the steering rack was failing and needed a complete replacement, before even looking at the car in person.
I was driving with food donations from my local shop to deliver them. I was about to turn left to go onto a different street when the car showed a notification that read "steering assist reduced. Steering may require increased effort". It was incredibly hard to turn the steering wheel, left of right. If the car is moving very slowly is becomes increasingly harder to turn it, making it almost impossible to park.
Steering rack failed due to water intrusion connector integrity failed.
Driving on the freeway and steering completely locked up. Luckily on a straight away so the car could go to side of road. Restarted the system and it was functional again. Has happened again. Very concern over the safety of these vehicles.
Car intermittently gives me a "reduced power steering" error making it impossible to steer and had to stop in the fast lane on the freeway and reset the car just to get the error to to away I could have been killed and Tesla refuses to have a recall on my year and model and I must pay out of pocket for a new steering rack this is not fair that other models is covered for a recall but not a 2019 Model 3.
"steering assist reduced" error code ui_a020 losing steering power mid-drive due to faulty power steering rack many others have had this issue happen to their Tesla Model 3 and ys, I would like to know if this is covered under a recall as my car is out of warranty for this type of safety repair happening very prematurely for a car.
June 15th the vehicle provided an amber triangle alert that power steering may not be fully available. On June 16th, the vehicle lost power to the steering wheel and the car steering locked in a straight ahead position. Fortunately the car was traveling at low-speed in a parking to and came to a halt in the parking lot. However, the steering was locked. After several re-boot attempts the failure mode light was extinguished and the car could be driven home. It was brought to Tesla to service on June 19th. Tesla reported "water ingress damage" to the steering unit, rack and electronics. Tesla charged me >$5,000 and implied the water ingress was my fault. The car is a southern California vehicle resident that has never been immersed in water, has only experienced periodic rain (CA 92865) and is driven on average 8,000 miles a year. It has never been out of state.
Customer concern confirmed there is a creaking noise coming from the front of the car while turning, I performed a visual inspection and found that both rf lower control arm bushings are torn and the lf frontward lower control arm bushing are torn but this is not the cause of the noise the cause of the noise is the upper control arms I took the load off of the upper control arms and the noise went away I also had someone turn the wheels while I looked for the cause of the noise and found that the noise is coming from the upper control arms, recommend replacing upper and lower control arms to fix all safety concerns.
I was driving my Model 3 when this alert occurred: alerts drivability - vehicle may not restart/service is required additionally the screen stated pull over the vehicle immediately safely. I was in the middle of the road driving so it became dangerous. I could not steer the vehicle and the brakes were barely working. I could not immediately stop because I was in the middle of traffic. I pulled right over as soon as I could and shut down the vehicle. I believe this is a defect. When I spoke to Tesla repair personnel I was told they know about this and it is happening when the Model 3 reaches 40k. How can they not address this - why would someone wait until someone is in a serious accident? I called to set up an appointment for this emergency and was told I cannot get an appointment for 1 month and I should not drive my car. When an electric vehicle just shuts down you cannot control the vehicle - this is very very dangerous.
I had the control arms replaced and now the steering assist/ steering gear assembly has stopped working. The vehicle is undrivable and it only has 29k miles. This happened while driving and I had to go straight through an intersection as I could not steer the car.
Steering wheel lost power (in city driving) it took the driver and the passenger turning the wheel to wrestle the car to the side of the road. Turned off the car’s power after coming to a stop. The car would not start. Took 6 resets to power up the car and return it to “normal. ” this is the second time the car had the steering lock up and the car not start. The first time was after shopping. The car was parked at the time. Took 4 resets to return the car to “normal. ”.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 55 mph, the steering wheel seized and became difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
Febuary 2024 my car gives me a pop up warning on screen that “ steering ability may be reduced”. A few minutes later I could barely steer the car as if steering was partially locked up to maybe 90%. Tesla service dept said the car “ reset” and it was ok to drive. Today April 16 2024 the same thing happened while driving. This is very dangerous. This is a software issue Tesla needs to resolve.
The steering wheel needs extra power to steer at low speeds. It acts as if the power steering has no power.
I started to notice a noise that kind of sounded like rusty hinge on door every time I turned the steering wheel. It did not matter whether it was left or right. I took the car into the dealer because I was concern it could be something serious. The Tesla service center said my upper and lower control arms were "torn" and needed to be replaced. I find this hard to believe that control arms are failing only after 35, 000 miles on the car. The car is not even 5 years old yet. I am not abusive with this car and even so this should not be happening. I have many other vehicles over the years with hundreds of thousands of miles on them and never had issues with control arms.
Power steering and regenerative braking was intermittently work. Steering fully locked up while driving 70 m/hr on a freeway when I was on my way to service appointment. Very scary!! service detected full steering rack replacement. When they took off the cable connectors water came pouring out. Water ingress caused corrosion to the body harness connector where it connects to the steering rack module. This seems to be an issue on online forums. Clearly this is a design flaw. How is water getting in and destroying all the electrical? very unsafe and how is this issue going to be fixed so water doesn’t continue to get in.
Power steering reduces, steering rack required replacement.
After driving the car for about 2 minutes a warning message popped up on the screen panel. It was a warning of reduced steering. When I started to turn left onto another street I could barely move the steering wheel. It felt almost completely locked up.
Fsd causing more nagging to the steering wheel due to recent recall update, making it much more dangerous to constantly having to move the steering wheel while the car is in motion and can cause the car to serve out of control or into another lane, dangerous recall, revert this back.
While stopping at the post office drop box and then attempting to depart, my steering completely stopped working. I could not turn the wheel without extreme force. Luckily, I was not far from home and was able to get home without accident.
My 2019 Tesla Model 3, with 41158 miles, started making a strange noise when I turned the steering wheel left or right. I scheduled service at a Tesla service center. The Tesla technician confirmed the noise from the upper control arms. They replaced the pair of upper control arms. After test driving the vehicle and putting the car on the lift the technician verified additional noises coming from the steering rack. The technician stated the left inner tie rod attached to the rack was also loose and since they both come together as a singular component they recommended replacement. There has been no warning lamps or messages about the problem. When I noticed the noise I scheduled the appointment. My concern is the possible steering failure if the problem isn't addressed immediately.
Loss of steering power while driving on the highway. Came out of nowhere.
The following recalls have been pending on my vehicle: 23v-838; tc2023-657, 24v-051 Tesla is unable to push over-the-air (ota) updates to my vehicle to remedy these recalls due to an issue with the onboard computer being unable to receive updates. This issue arose when Tesla pushed a software/firmware update to my vehicle which effectively "bricked" the advanced drive system portion of the computer. In other words, I am unable to safely receive an update to resolve the issues (solved by the recall) because Tesla's failed software update damaged the onboard computer.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while parked, the valet could not drive the vehicle out of the parking garage because the steering wheel was firm. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 33,359.
Loud squeaking noise inside cabin while driving started immediately after warranty expires and software update. Steering shakes with bumps. Almost felt like something is falling apart. Tesla service said known problem and since out of warranty customer will be charged. Wonder why all problems started immediately after warranty expires. Pls investigate if this part ( control arms and suspension) cause any safety issues. Also, software updates should be investigated as well.
Recently I have been receiving warnings from my Tesla after hitting a pothole or bump in the road. Abs is disabled, power steering is disabled, power brake assist is disabled, forward collision warning and driver assistance features are all disabled. Upon a service visit to Tesla, they found that a fault within the abs sensor circuit triggers these faults until the car is parked and shuts off to complete a reset cycle. Tesla claimed that this abs cable was improperly placed and has caused damage to the sensor cable.
At just 10 days over 4 years of ownership, which is out of warranty, and at about 44,360 miles, I noticed noise when going over small bumps, moving from stop to go and while turning the steering wheel. It appears that the upper control arm, a recall on about 3000 Tesla Model 3 and y, was the culprit. I contacted the service center and right away, over the Tesla mobile app, the knew it was the control arm going bad. They said it was safe to drive, however, it is a bit scary to hear the squeaking and noises when driving and turning the steering wheel, especially at highway speeds. The problem was fixed by Tesla's service center, however, because I was 10 days or so out of my 4 year/50,000 miles warranty, I was charged about $190 for the repair. I feel that since this is a know issue and has happened to many other non-recalled vehicles by Tesla, this would/should be a know defect and safety concern that should have been repaired under warranty.
The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while turning the steering wheel to the left or the right, there was an abnormal creaking sound heard. The failure occurred at various speeds and occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed and determined that the creaking sound was coming from the front upper control arm while turning the vehicle and the front lower control arm while in reverse. The dealer also diagnosed that the latter link was torn. The contact was informed that the control arms and suspension nuts and bolts needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,000.
Front upper control arm is failing, making an awful noise and can be felt grinding inside the car while driving. Reported to Tesla service and they denied the repair. It is a known issue, they need to recall all effected vehicles for repair.
Broken control arms.
Yesterday I had the most frightening driving experience of my entire life. It was raining heavily and I was going about 35 mph on the local road in my Model 3 standard, 3 years old. Suddenly I lost all traction and was slipping side to side +/-90 degrees from the direction of traffic. I immediately took my foot off the accelerator and tried to slow down but didn’t brake. I swung 180 degrees each way about 5 times. Luckily no one hit me but I was taking up all lanes as I careened all over the road. I can’t believe how easily the Model 3 loses traction in the rain. This is unacceptable.
Suspension lateral links attached to subframe became loose causing the lateral links to separate from the sub-frame. Wheel alignment shifted causing instability, which adversely impacted vehicle controllability and nearly caused a collision while driving. Problem was inspected, reproduced, and confirmed by the dealer/manufacturer/service center. Before the failure occurred, the primary symptoms were abnormal noises from steering/suspension area. Service center attempted to address these noises by inspecting and retightening the bolts, but unfortunately, this action did not resolve the issues and, eventually lead to a failure of the suspension system. It should be noted that parking brake functions and vehicle hold feature may have been affected by this failure. This incident may be associated with with the following recalls, NHTSA recall: 23v-235 or manufacturer recall: sb-23-31-001. However, my VIN does not appear to be included.
I was driving with my 5 yo in a car. We had to swerve to miss a truck pulling out in front of us, and when we swerved slightly, the systems of the car shut down. I could not drive the car to get us out of the middle of the road, but I also could not put the car into park. In order to prevent the car from rolling down the hill with my daughter and I inside, I had to keep my foot on the break. The emergency flashers also did not work, so there was a material risk of being rear ended. The ac also stopped working. It was 100+ degrees outside. The doors and windows did not work, so we were trapped in a hot car, in the middle of the road, without emergency flashers. Tesla roadside refused to come. They also refused to help me because the car was in my husband's name. My 5 yo daughter and I could have died either of suffocation or by collision.
On 3/28/22 at 4:01 pm, while in parking lot traffic traveling 2-3 mph, the vehicle lost propulsion, and steering. The vehicle's audible warnings sounded and displayed a series of errors ranging from tire pressure to driver assistance features not being available. The vehicle struggled to move and had steering as stiff as a vehicle without power steering all four tires flat. I backed it into a parking space and conducted a hard re-start using the steering wheel buttons. After a few minutes the vehicle rebooted and continued as normal. A service appointment with Tesla was made immediately. On 4/15/22 Tesla conducted a remote diagnostic and submitted a repair estimate to me in preparation for a 4/16/22 repair. The estimate was for the amount of $757. This amount appears to be related to my vehicle being 3,000 miles past the bumper-to-bumper 50,000 mile warranty. The invoice states Tesla will conducting the following: correction: sensor - wheel speed -abs - rear - rh (remove & replace); correction: hub - rear - rh (remove & replace); correction: hub - rear lh (includes alignment check) (remove & replace). Lastly the invoice lists the hub assy as the part being replaced.
You have many reports of Tesla Model 3 ball joint failures. The ball joints are failing due to lack of lubrication. If an owner complains enough Tesla will squirt some lube in and reseal with silicon goop. Owners are even diying with wd40. Here is a Tesla in the junkyard with upperball-joint popped apart and all other ball-joints busted. . Read more...
Two problems 1. Vehicle breaks randomly on the road when on assisted driving is enabled on freeways 2. New vehicle steering makes creaking/ clicking noise when turning. Reported to Tesla and vehicle was repaired, but same issue again.
Steering wheel locks up on my 2019 Tesla three it has done this two days in a row the car was and the customer service shop for seven days they text me told me the car was to be picked up and was all fixed I went to the Tesla dealership in orlando to get my car when they try to retrieve my car from the shop the wheel froze again they gave me another loaner car. Estimate time to be referred for this problem is seven days the days that this problem has occurred August 31 September 1 September 10 2021.
Squeaky sounds and shaking steering control due to the front 2 wheels upper control arm ball joints lost the lubrication. Extremely laud squeaky sounds, the squeaky sounds is similar to car that about to fall apart in movies. Resulting the Model 3 driver has to be on high alert all time, scared if the wheels will fall apart or the steering will be out of control or difficult to control.
This is a complaint about ball-joint failure in Tesla Model 3 cars. Please note that I have used the VIN of another Tesla to file this complaint since the VIN of the car in question is unavailable. Many owners are complaining on the forums that their steering is creaking and they are resorting to diy remedies such as peeling back the rubber boot on the top ball joint and squirting in lubricant. There have been many cases where the ball has eventually worn down and popped out of the socket. Here is a thread discussing this and the owner has included a photograph showing the separated ball joint. This photo is attached to this complaint thread: https://teslamotorsclub. Com/tmc/threads/whompy-wheel-syndrome. 221394/#post-5355853 snip ***I was driving this morning and the car started to pull to the left, as if my tire had gone flat. I pulled over and found that side of the car to be resting on the tire. I thought the air suspension had gone out in that area, but after having it towed, we found the ball joint to have failed. After looking online, I am thankful it wasn't much worse. If you google whompy wheel syndrome, you'll see plenty of stories where an accident ensued and lots of damage followed. Now I'm just interested to see what this will cost to fix. Guessing I should have the passenger side replaced, as a precaution, as well. "whompy wheels" is a term coined and perpetuated by a lunatic living in australia. The pictures associated with that phrase were taken from random pictures the guy found while trawling the internet, that is not to say people haven't had suspension issues, but "whompy wheels" is fud and therefore not a legitimate source of information. **** there are many Teslas showing up in the junkyards with this exact same failure. Please act now. Thank you. Keef.
Here is a Tesla Model 3 in the junkyard. . Read more...
Please please please have a look at the photographs of this Tesla with a snapped suspension. . Read more...
Yet another Tesla in the junkyard https://erepairables. Com/salvage-cars-auction/Tesla/model+3/vid-43698899 not in a crash. Front suspension simply fallen to bits. The usual busted steering knuckle and popped ball joints. I've seen shopping trolleys with sturdier suspensions. Please get these death traps off the roads. Yours extremely persistently keef.
Here is a 2019 Tesla Model 3 in the junkyard. . Read more...
While attempting to make a left into my driveway traveling about 10mph the steering completely disengaged and would spin completely around without moving the front wheels at all. I stopped and called service before hitting anything. The car is being serviced now.
I previously submitted a concern with this car that occurred in December 2019. Tesla in milford, CT had the car in service for 23+ days because of errors with the car: alert messages included (but weren't limited to) power reduced, front motor disabled, etc. The car kept powering off while I was driving and the brakes and steering malfunctioned. Tesla ultimately diagnosed the problem as a "shorted penthouse harness. " two weeks after receiving the car back, the error messages reappeared. The car broke down again and had to be towed back to Tesla in milford, CT. While Tesla indicated that the prior issues were resolved, they obviously weren't. The car shut down again while I was driving on the interstate and also in the city. The brakes and steering didn't function properly. I received error messages indicating power reduced, brakes disabled, power steering disabled, front motor disabled, automatic emergency braking disabled, car may be free rolling--just to name a few. This car is unsafe and unreliable. As of today, the car has been in service for 28+ business days; however, Tesla told me they worked on the car over the weekend, which would indicate the car has been in service over 30 days.
The driver was involved in a fatal accident in which the auto-pilot and/or lane-assist features failed, causing the vehicle to travel out of its lane and into oncoming traffic while traveling west on osceola polk line road east of sullivan road in florida. The Tesla then collided with a vehicle in oncoming traffic, killing the driver of the Tesla. Florida highway patrol and osceola county firerescue investigated.
I am making this complaint in the interest of public safety. There has been a Tesla Model 3 crash in russia. . Read more...
My car was five weeks old. While I was driving home on my commute I realize the screen had froze, and then suddenly blacked out. I thought it was a software update as I am a family that owns Tesla, but it wasn't because suddenly the ability to steer and break or compromised and the car had sped without any indication as to why. I reported it to Tesla and the earliest they could set for an appointment with several weeks later. Within one week of this incident initially occurring, this happened again during traffic and my car instead of breaking, increased tremendously and smashed into a car in front of me. I had contacted. Tesla letting them know that the first time this happened I was very lucky because I wasn't on the highway, but 95% of my commute is on major highways in the bay area. I said this could be dangerous and I really think this needs to be looked up faster, I got zero response. So when this happened there was absolutely nothing I could do and I rolled and sprained my ankle very aggressively. Not only that but all of the airbags in the entire car malfunctioned even though I was able to focus the brunt of the damage to the right front. Unfortunately one of the back windows didn't open nor did the passenger lower airbag. There was no one in the passenger seat but if there was that would have not gone off and that's not ok. There was no reason for this to happen and there were no updates on software that needed to happen and the car was five weeks old. Tesla has refused to provide me with their data and I have an ssd that shows my car shut down.