Wiper problems of the 2020 Tesla Model 3

Software update was pushed onto my car, after the update the car autopilot ecu no longer works. When the ecu finally failed these features were stuck or are completely broken/not working: - auto dim rear view mirrors (these were stuck in dim mode, preventing me from seeing in rain or darkened environments such as at night or under shade, 0% visibility under these conditions when changing lanes or reversing) - rear view camera completely stopped functioning, as did all cameras on the car - forward collision warning no longer works - autopilot (adas features in general) no longer functioning including lane keep assist - on screen navigation is locked in place where the car failed (screen shows location where the car ecu presumably failed). I am further unsure if the following features function as required: - airbag deployment - aeb (automatic emergency braking).

I am reporting a spontaneous windshield crack that developed on my 2020 Tesla Model 3 performance under normal operating conditions. After exiting a routine drive-through car wash in las vegas on a hot day, I noticed a hairline crack in the windshield. It originates from the very bottom edge within the black ceramic frit area, curves upward, and spans across the glass. There are no impact points, chips, or pits of any kind. I brought the vehicle to Tesla service, where the service manager visually confirmed it is a stress crack not caused by external damage. Despite this, they stated that Tesla does not offer goodwill or warranty repairs for windshields, regardless of the nature of the failure. This raises a serious safety concern. A windshield is a structural component of the vehicle and critical for driver visibility. A spontaneous failure like this without external cause compromises safety, especially at highway speeds. There are numerous reports of similar spontaneous cracks in Tesla Model 3 vehicles, often originating from the same area. This suggests a potential systemic defect in the design, installation, or bonding of the windshield. I am requesting that the NHTSA investigate this issue for safety implications and possible structural design flaws.

A crack appeared on the interior of the windshield, with no marks of any exterior impact and no external crack or other mark on either surface of the windshield. The crack originated directly from the windshield positioned camera/rear view mirror.

The windshield wipers do not have proper functional control. There is no adequate manual control over the windshield wipers without being distracting, further more the windshield wipers constantly put themselves in "auto" mode when you turn them off. This causes unnecessary distraction while driving and because the only feedback you have is either on the main touch screen or the bottom left touch screen this is a severe safety issue.

Tesla vehicles have an automatic wiper mode that is supposed to clear the windshield, without driver intervention, when it becomes obscured due to rain, snow, or water buildup. While driving on December 19, 2023, our Model 3 was passed by a large truck, throwing a large amount of water across the windshield. When this happened, the forward visibility was completely obscured momentarily. The automatic wipers did not clear the windshield as expected. The vision was obscured until the driver was able to manually enable the wipers. Obviously, driving at highway speeds on the freeway, without being able to see forwards, even momentarily, is a safety concern. Thinking the car had a failure, we tried to arrange for a repair from Tesla service. Their response was: "this issue has been identified as a known firmware issue, to be resolved on a future firmware release. For now, we recommend using the manual wipers as needed when auto wipers are not detecting rain. When a fix is available it will be sent to your vehicle automatically over the air. Unless you had any other questions, I will go ahead and close out this service request. Thanks!" looking through Tesla owner forums, this appears to be a much discussed issue for the last 4-5 years. Many owners are having issues with functionality of the automatic wipers. We don't have any photos of the incident, but I recreated a similar situation in a local touchless car wash. With the car being completely deluged in water and soap, the automatic wipers never came on. The included pictures show the touchscreen with the auto wiper mode and the windshield completely obscured, but no wiper activation. The last photo is a screenshot of part of the conversation with Tesla support about the repair request.

Currently occurring with fsd beta firmware v. 2022. 27. 12 but the same has occurred with previous firmware versions also. Normal operation of the vehicle with the adas engaged puts the windshield wipers into auto mode. At times the windshield wipers are activated when the windshield is dry. It isn't raining or misting and there's nothing on the surface of the windshield at the location of the front-facing cameras. "no rain" occurrences seem to correlate with times when visibility ahead has low contrast and there are no highlights and shadows to sharply define the scene, (ie, a little "muddy"). Observed when it is overcast but not raining, around sunrise when the sun is low in the sky and the light levels ahead are relatively low and headlights aren't helping illuminate the road ahead, and at times there are high-contrast light and shadows immediately ahead but farther down the road there is mist or fog, creating the same low contrast lighting conditions some distance away. It is as if the adas is aware that the scenery is not sharply defined and is "wiping its eyes" in an attempt to gain a more sharply-defined view. Occasionally, but rarely in my experience, the windshield washer is also engaged. Having the adas activate the wipers at these times is not a safety hazard, per se, but it is distracting and concerning as it gives the driver the impression that perhaps the adas is malfunctioning. I've read in user forums reports from a fair number of fsd beta drivers complaining that the wipers go on when the windshield is dry and the adas is engaged. I haven't observed the same when the adas is not engaged.

Fsd beta firmware version 2023. 27. 7. -- when operating with fsd beta in control of the vehicle, the turn signal is activated and the appropriate left or right side blind spot video is brought upon the driver's display automatically. This works perfectly for city street lane changes and turns at intersections or driveways, etc. When operating on a controlled access highway the systems works in the same manner, activating the turn signal and displaying the blind spot video on the driver's display when changing lanes and exiting the highway. However, the turn signal is not activated and the blind spot video is not displayed on the driver's instrumentation when first entering a controlled access highway. This is the one exception where the driver is required to activate the turn signal while fsd beta is in control, and seems like an oversight or 'bug'. However, it might be by design, in which case the intent that the driver is required to activate the signal indicating the vehicle's merge has not, to my knowledge, been communicated to the driver as the one exception to the otherwise automatic operation of the turn signal and blind spot video display while the vehicle is under fsd beta's control.

The automatic windshield wipers are not picking up rain - at all. Living in a raining area, it caused me to no have clear visibility and on the Tesla you have to manually change the mode on the screen, which causes you to take your eyes off the road. Tesla has known about this but not issued a warning (see screenshot from Tesla service agent). Luckily an accident didnt occur but this is an overall safety issue.

Spontaneous shattering of side window, rear driver's side. Car was parked in driveway at the time.

The automatic windshield wipers came on and would not shut off. The car was clean, the day was sunny, and the camera lenses were free of dust or anything else that could cover them. While driving along, the wipers started and would not shut off. I went into the main monitor/screen that has the wiper settings but I was not able to activate the wiper/off button, so the wipers kept working. Pressing on that button would not activate it. I was in autopilot at the time, I. E. , cruise control + lane keep assistance. I have fsd/full self driving, but have never used it since it is still in beta testing. I’m using Tesla software # 2023. 7. 10 I checked the various Tesla websites, and you can turn off the wipers only if you disable the adas features. After I turned off the adas, I was able to activate the wiper/off button. But this is a terrible situation, the adas needs to be activated, but if I activate, it wipers will begin working whenever they feel like it, regardless of the weather outside. This is clearly a software problem with the Tesla adasn needs to be corrected. I don’t want to be driving along with auto pilot on, and then the wipers will simply turn on. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated to correct this dangerous situation. There are countless hundreds of complaints like this on the various Tesla websites about spontaneously functioning wipers when the weather is bright and sunny.

Rear windshield developed a stress crack. No incident was involved, it just suddenly appeared. It ran about 1/3 of the rear window. I was concerned the glass would fall in on infant passenger seated in a car seat in the back seat. This appears to be a common glass problem for Tesla.

Windshield wipers routinely start "auto-wiping", even while turned off. I've reported this to Tesla many times and nothing is done. Plenty of evidence online that others have this same problem. I live in phoenix, arizona so when I say my windshield is dry, I mean it's dry. Leaving out how distracting it is to have your wipers refusing to quit wiping, it's also wearing out the wiper blades so they're not efficient when actually needed. I've already replaced them once a year ago with, maybe 10,000 miles on vehicle.

Left headlight blinker and windshield wiper not working. Happened twice once in 2022 and now. Repaired once in 2022 and when happens is dangerous because can’t signal and can’t use wipers in the rain.

This is regarding the computer and the cameras on this car. From the first day that I got this car, I have had the issue that when I use the cameras or the backup camera on this it laggs and this is part of safety issue because I was going to ran over some people when I was reversing. The lagging is very noticibale and I took the car to Tesla multiple times and said is ok but when they send technician to my house, we went for drive and I showed him the cameras and he duplicated the problem. The problem is getting worst and last month the computer was blacked out while I was driving. I need you guys to help me out to either put a recall on this car or return and get my full money back for this junk.

Tesla software version 2022. 24. 8 that I currently have installed has switched off the vehicles equipped forward facing radar. I can't find any method to undo their software update, I'm unable to find a way to contact a person via their website. I've lost control of my lights and wipers when the vehicle is using autopilot. Both of which are set to automatic leaving me the driver with absolutely no way to turn them off short of turning off autopilot which I've paid money for. I'm unhappy that a vital safety feature that I'd paid for (radar) has been switched off by the manufacturer without any means whatsoever to turn it back on. I do not want their software overriding my decisions as the driver, radar needs to be on and I the driver need to have full/complete control over lights and wipers.

Phantom braking can occur when vehicles are passing at night and during the day for no reason. There is no adequate control to enable the windshield wipers. Many menus to access the wiper controls. Not safe.

Tesla Model 3 has side repeater cameras that work as blind spot monitor cameras and provide visuals for safe lane changes. However, my Model 3 suffers from a manufacturing defect in the camera assembly which causes the visuals to wash out at night due to light bleed from the turn signal. This caused an unsafe condition where I almost ran into a car in my blindspot being unable to see them on the camera visual. I raised the issue with service and they do not consider it a manufacturing defect. . Read more...

There are two problems: (1) braking and (2) windshield wiper operation. (1) braking: when driving on a highway and going by an on-ramp on the right side, without any warning, the vehicle would, al of a sudden, slam violently on the brakes, even though the cars entering the highway are nowhere near where I would be driving. This has happened repeatedly to me, creating a hazard of a rear-end collision. The Tesla Model 3 in such cases would already be in a mode that would drive itself (by me having clicked on the right stalk twice). Additionally, the car often misreads a traffic sign for a different part of the road, such as a stop sign for a side road. The violent braking would take place in such a scenario also. (2) windshield wiper operation: I'm not sure if this would qualify as a safety issue, but the windshield wiper operation doesn't work in automatic mode. I rely on this while driving in a rainy or snowy day so that I can concentrate on the driving itself without worrying about something else to do (turning on the windshield wipers). This is problem that has plagued the car right from the beginning, and to me, it presents a safety hazard. For example, about a week ago, I drove in bad weather (snowy) on a turnpike to get to a medical appointment. The weather turned bad, and cars would pass me by, splashing water/snow onto the car's windshield. The automatic mechanism should have kicked in to help me focus on the driving, but it did not.

Tesla issues an update to software that forces drivers to go through a jumble of menus to do important tasks like turning on defrosters and windshield wipers. These used to be one touch items on the home screen, but now require drivers to take their eyes off the road for a dangerous amount of time.

Tesla pushed an update (v. 2021. 44. 25. 2) to my Model 3 a couple of days ago that has dramatically altered the usability of the car, and potentially has safety implications. There was no warning prior to the update being applied that such changes to the car's user interface were included, nor is there any option to revert to the prior user interface. Major issues with the changes are outlined below: - 1-button, single-click shortcuts to seat heating, defrost/defog functionality have been removed; when driving in bad weather where the screen may fog up rapidly, you're now required to take your eyes off the road, and click twice on a small target on the touch screen to activate the required functionality. - 1-button, single-click access to the wipers has been removed, now requiring one to either rely on the auto-sensing functionality (which works properly about half the time), or click through the hvac menu to adjust the wiper speed. - the quick access driver profile selection dropdown in the previous interface has been removed. My spouse and I differ significantly in height, and about half the time, the car selects the wrong profile when we're both getting into the car (despite our phone keys being linked to our specific profiles). With the earlier ui, it took one tap on the screen to switch to the correct profile. Now, I have to dig through menus to select the correct profile, while my knees are being slowly ground into the steering column/dash. - when driving, the speedometer, gear selection and navigation look significantly different than in the earlier ui. This is likely to lead to more distracted driving while we get used to the new interface. I filed a service request with Tesla, requesting that they revert our car back to the prior version of the interface; this request was denied and the appointment was automatically canceled with a generic message about firmware updates being rolled out on a schedule.

My front windshield has chipped and then cracked twice in about 6 months. I heard a pebble hit the windshield the first time, but it sounded very small and I did not expect it to chip/crack. The second time I didn’t even hear anything hit it. My friend has the same vehicle and her back windshield cracked unexpectedly and another friend’s cracked when she hit a bug that was on the windshield with her hand.

Light sources such as tail lights of other vehicles, traffic lights, and lit signs, all have an artifact effect - view of the light source has a double that exists right above the original source with a slightly dimmer brightness when viewed through the windshield. This is not an effect caused by poor eyesight, things look normal when viewed directly through an open window. The effect can be reproduced at any time, but it is most noticeable at night when the view of the artifact is in high contrast to dark backgrounds. This effect is most noticeable on led light sources, such as led tail lights. This effect is produced regardless of the state of the vehicle - occurs when the vehicle is stationary or in motion. This is a safety concern as double vision - seeing artifacts on light sources through the windshield can cause excessive strain on drivers' eyes, and can be an unwelcome distraction to the driver. This can also potentially cause confusion in the driver where the location of a lit object may be misjudged by the driver who sees artifacts on those light sources.

From the moment I drove my brand new Tesla off the lot - the screen - the only way to control anything about the vehicle - would freeze; black out; and take several minutes to reset itself. While in this completely inoperative state: the audio system would emit a high pitch noise; any ability to tell speed; turning signal status; anything was completely impaired; the climate control blasts on high fan a torrent of cold air. At 2000 miles; this has happened several hundred times - on average once every 10 miles driven; though sometimes twice within a few moments (boots up only to reset again) and sometimes it can go as far as 30 minutes without freeze; black; reset. This is easily the most expensive car I've ever purchased; and had nearly 0 miles upon pickup - it is easily the most frustrating experience I've had with a car. To not be in control or have any visibility to the machine driving at highway speeds when everything goes completely black and the computer takes minutes to reset. The repair facility has estimated $2400 which they're attempting to charge me.