Seats Related Problems of the 2023 Tesla Model 3

Table 1 shows one common seats related problems of the 2023 Tesla Model 3.

Table 1. Seats related problems of Tesla Model 3

Problem Category Number of Problems
Seats problems
9

Seats problem #1

My pant leg got caught on the plastic seat trim under the seat. Kept my leg trapped so I fell out of the car on the ground in the parking lot. Happened again the same day, but I caught myself before I fell. The incident caused a hole and rip in my clothing, but the rest of my body went to the ground leaving my knee and other leg caught until the end. Had a different outfit on today and it caught again! I did not fall this time either. The time I did fall I hyperextended my wrist and landed on my hip and leg, creating bruising and a sore pelvis, knee and back. Went to massage therapist soon after. Currently, following up with doctor.

Seats problem #2

Rear seat safety restraint system fault.

Seats problem #3

On 5/28/24, while pulling up the driveway, the car suddenly accelerated and it’s so fast that we couldn’t react. The car crashed into the garage, knocked down one wall along with the main electrical panel. It stopped because it got stuck on 10 in foundation’s of garage structure. The collision mitigation feature did not get triggered and didn’t give any alert or helped to stop the car from crashing into the garage. Airbags on both driver and passenger sides did not deploy. Prior to this accident, the car already had issue with the driver’s profiles and the seat just moved back and stuck at the easy entry mode. The car became inoperable because the driver’s seat can’t be moved forward to a position where I could reach the gas and brake pedal. I contacted Tesla service and was told to delete the driver’s profile and create new one , power off the screen, power cycled the car. I’ve done all of that but the problem kept happening on and off. The car was scheduled to be looked at by Tesla on 6-20-24 but the accident happened on 5-28-24. We’d like to find out the root cause of the accident whether the car has any malfunction that could’ve triggered the sudden unintended acceleration. We’ve reported the accident to both Tesla and my insurance company. Tesla confirmed that the data was downloaded and being reviewed and there is no available information to be shared with me at this time.

Seats problem #4

Driver seat will adjust itself while driving down the road. While the seat is moving by itself it will also roll the da window down and no way to roll it up. While all things happening the heat will also stop working.

Seats problem #5

When involved in a rear-end collision the drivers seat malfunctioned. It went into a laid down position and twisted causing a back injury.

Seats problem #6

I just purchased this new 2023 Tesla Model 3. I am not reporting a failed or malfunctioning component but I have a safety concern. After taking delivery I noticed that there are no emergency door latch releases on the rear seats like there are on the front seats. This could make exiting the back seats very difficult or even impossible in the event of an emergency with loss of power to the vehicle. I cannot believe that this feature was omitted. I worry that people will die because they will not be able to escape a burning vehicle quickly enough. This seems like the door could be easily modified to correct this issue and make this vehicle much safer.

Seats problem #7

On July 5, 2023 my front passenger seat assembly was replaced due to a passenger safety restraint system fault. Two days ago I discovered two black self tapping bolts sitting behind the front passenger seat on the floor mat. The front passenger seat assembly was only connected to the car chassis by the two front mounting bolts. It was possible to tip the seat forward by pushing on the headrest. I am now able to screw these two bolts almost completely back into the chassis using fingertip pressure only. Either these bolts were never installed during seat replacement or they simply rattled loose and fell out. This attachment hardware needs to be designed for repeated installation removal cycles over the life of the vehicle and should require considerable torque for installation and removal. Something is seriously wrong!.

Seats problem #8

Brand new Tesla Model 3 delivered a week ago. Passenger seat, front inside mounting bolt is not tight. Corner of the seat rail can move up/down 1/8-1/4". Can't tell how well attached it is. Potential safety concern. Passenger side back seat cushion also exhibits up/down movement 1/8-1/4" but likely not a safety issue.

Seats problem #9

My Tesla Model 3 was delivered with the rear attachment bolts missing for both front seat rails. The rear seat rail end will lift up at least an inch when the seat is pushed gently from behind.


Seats related problems in other Tesla Model 3 model year vehicles:



Model 3 Service Bulletins
Model 3 Defect Investigations