Table 1 shows one common suspension related problems of the 2021 Tesla Model 3.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Suspension problems |
Needs whole suspensions system fixed and is only 4 years old. Was told by the service center employee that other customers with the same year and model have had the same issue. Suspension has been noticeably affected for the past year (uneven tire wear so I had to get new tires and a bumpier ride), but just took it in today and had it officially diagnosed.
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.
While driving, I started to hear a creaking sound while backing up and turning the wheel left. The sound became worse over the course of a few weeks. The steering also felt a little loose. I reached out to the manufacturer for a service appointment, and could only be scheduled about a month out. After a few weeks, while trying to parallel park, the car felt like a tire was stuck, or had a flat. I stopped the car to look at all of the tires and they looked fine. When I returned home, I tried to recreate the issue with my wife moving the car slowly from the driver seat while I looked at the wheels. As she turned and backed up, the creaking sound was very loud, but the tires looked fine. When she put the car in drive and began to pull back into the driveway, I could see the front passenger tire was turned abnormally far to the left, looked like it was leaning, and it was locked (not rolling). Once we had the car in a safe position, I jacked up the car and looked at the passenger control arm to see a bolt completely missing from the front suspension lateral link. The other bolt was 1/2 of the way out and barely holding on. If this had come apart at highway speeds, I am afraid it could have killed or seriously injured my family.
Without any warning from feel unstable, wobbly, or noisy, my car began pulling hard to the right as I was going straight on a small street. I was going about 10 m-15 miles an hour. My steering wheel did not respond to my efforts to straighten the vehicle and my brakes did not slow the car’s path. I was only stopped by two parked cars on the side of the road that I bounced off of. When I got out, bystanders pointed to the sheared tie rod on the front passenger side. The witnesses stated it was clear from their view that if I had been going faster on a wider street there would have been severe injury instead of only three cars being damaged. My car was three years old and had passed its annual inspection one week before. The police were called twice but did not come within three hours so the car was towed without a police report.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed the contact noticed a knocking sound coming from the suspension with no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed as the front suspension lateral link separated. The contact was informed that the front suspension lateral link needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,543.
Please note that the VIN I have used is not the VIN of the actual vehicle which is the subject of this complaint. There has been a fatal crash in san diego. Here is a video of the aftermath. . Read more...
While getting a routine tire change, my mechanic alerted me to the fact that nuts were missing from the rear suspension on both sides. On one of them, the bolt had nearly slid out as a result, and could have been very dangerous as it did so. The tires had been rotated at this shop prior to this, and they had not noticed it. So the nuts must have loosened enough to fall out between 21,496 miles on 2/15/2023 and 26,278 miles on 6/16/2023. We never noticed anything out of the ordinary with regards to noise, vibration, or handling.
There is a recent recall for suspension related issues with this model. Recently there is a suspension related knocking sound coming from front drivers side area that seems suspension related. I am unable to schedule appt for inspection/ repairs due to another unrelated scheduled service. Tesla requires scheduling through the Tesla application and does not allow scheduling for service when another appointment is pending. I have no way to contact them directly. They have not responded to my concern through customer service app.
The wheel control arm bolts that hold the wheel onto the vehicle slowly unscrewed until they fell out (x2 bolts per wheel). It is available for inspection upon request. If a disconnected fully inflated tire is sucked under the car at high speeds, it may potentially flip the vehicle, badly rupture the battery pack or the wheel may jettison from the vehicle onto surrounding vehicles. It is unknown what kind of damage or after-effect would take place if the battery were severely damaged by an inflated tire and rim. The problem was observed, documented and repaired by Tesla. The effects of the problem were only observed at 1 mph. A recall of this specific issue was listed for other Model 3 2021 vehicles, but our VIN # was not included in this recall, while it should have been. Tesla has inspected the vehicle one time and claim the vehicle is now safe to drive. Insurance would not participate in any claims regarding this type of incident because nobody was hurt. We did not receive any warning prior to failure, not even a wobble, shimmy, clunk or precursor of any kind. The car appeared to be perfectly solid and then suddenly the wheel came off. The car did not crash into anything other than the ground when the wheel disconnected.
Please note that I have used the VIN of a random Tesla Model 3 to submit this complaint since the number of the actual car is unavailable. There has been an incident on a motorway in germany and a full video is available here. . Read more...
Random "phantom braking" while using autopilot or cruise control. Causes the car to slam on brakes and has lost control once almost causing me to go off the road. Also, has brake-checked many cars that follow behind me while I'm using autopilot or cruise due to the phantom braking. Also Tesla repair center in chicago replaced my front bumper with a discolored front bumper that had the same issue of peeling on the inner edges of the bumper as the prior front bumper. When I brought up the issue to Tesla they said that was a manufacturing process issue due to the molding process of the bumpers and that is how they all are. If that is the case why change the bumper? could have just told me that's how all the cars are and saved a lot of my time. Also, have had many repairs from Tesla that don't seem to end. These cars arent being produced in a consistent manner. What was promised during the purchase of the car doesn't seem to hold up.