general problems of the 2023 Tesla Model 3 - part 1

The contact owned a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed in the third floor of a parking garage, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to full speed unintendedly, and the steering wheel and the brake pedal were inoperable, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a wall and crashed into the vehicle in front, and the vehicle stopped. No further information was available. No warning lights were illuminated. The front driver's side air bag deployed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot and was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. A police report was filed. There was no injury sustained. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 66,000.

While driving to work on a local road, I approached a red light where there were no vehicles immediately ahead. However, my vehicle unexpectedly steered off the road in front of a construction sign, entering a ditch. Despite my attempts to regain control of the steering and braking systems, I was unsuccessful. The vehicle subsequently stopped automatically on an incline. Fortunately, I avoided a collision with a gas station and intersecting roadway, but sustained damage to my car’s front bumper. Law enforcement and a towing service were contacted to remove the vehicle. I tried calling the dealership almost half day without an answer, then I went to the dealership where they told me that the hardware is fine but they can’t do anything about the possible software issues which leaves me in a situation where I’m nervous to drive the car. I reached out to the company about the accident and didn’t hear back yet from them. I request a thorough investigation into this incident to determine the cause of the unexpected, highly dangerous, autopilot behavior. I am disturbed mentally and emotionally due to the accident. I also require confirmation of the vehicle's roadworthiness and assurance that it is safe to operate before resuming driving.

Car is disengaging full self driving because of steering becoming difficult at slow speeds in a turn. Fsd disengages and the car drive straight instead of staying in the turn, crash could be likely.

The volume control buttons and vehicle setting buttons on my car’s steering wheel are made of metal. In high atmospheric temperatures the interior of the car heats up. The buttons also heat up and can cause burns if touching the button for an extended (more than 30 seconds) amount of time. This is very distracting while driving while also causing a mild burn.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? steering wheel. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? single vehicle accident. Driver suffered injury. No other person or vehicle was involved. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? don't know. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? in progress. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no indications were visible.

My dad was driving to work in the morning in the Tesla in the left lane of the freeway. Then the car started swerving on its own. He tried to regain control with the steering wheel but he couldn’t control it. The car wouldn’t turn when using the steering wheel and he was not using autopilot or lane assistance. He said it felt like the steering wheel and the car were not talking to each other. And the brakes weren’t stopping the car at all and because he couldn’t control the car it turned left into the divider and hit the divider and the car turn again to the right and automatically stopped in the middle of the second lane. The airbags deployed for the driver side. Thankfully there weren’t any other cars on the road at the time so there aren’t any injuries. But this crash could’ve caused serious injuries to him or other people. There were no warning signs, alerts, or noises before this happened. He has filed a claim with the insurance company. And a crash report was filed by the police.

I was involved in an accident due to what I believe was a malfunction in my Tesla’s steering system. While driving, the car unexpectedly turned the wheel to the left on its own and collided with a parked car. Despite my efforts to regain control by turning the wheel to the right and applying the brakes, the vehicle did not respond, and I was unable to prevent the crash. Given the lack of control and failure of the braking system, I strongly believe there was a serious issue with the car that led to the accident.

During a hydroplaning incident on a ramp, the Tesla refused to budge or give any steer. Major issue was no air bags deployed during collision.

Incident summary: on [xxx], I was in an accident and dropped my Tesla Model 3 at Tesla’s north phoenix collision center in Nov 2024. I received the car back in Dec/Jan. Immediately, I noticed dangerous swaying, bouncing, and veering when hitting dips—especially on the freeway. The car was unstable and unsafe to drive at high speeds. In Feb/Mar, tanner (assistant manager at the collision center) drove the vehicle with me in the passenger seat. After hitting a dip on the freeway, he panicked, exited, and agreed something was wrong. I was later told they did a wheel alignment, but the issue remained. This was the second time they returned the vehicle in an unsafe condition. I nearly crashed due to how unstable it felt. In may 2025, I brought the car back again. Tanner suspected the steering column but said no diagnosis was done. He gave me a loaner vehicle, which had a flat tire. I had to drive my own unsafe car for nearly a month while waiting for another loaner and parts—no resolution during that time. On 6/13/2025, I contacted the Tesla glendale service center. The advisor expressed frustration, saying this collision center often offloads unresolved issues. I also contacted Tesla support (877-798-3752), who advised me to file this NHTSA complaint. As of June 2025, the issue is still unresolved. My car continues to sway and veer dangerously on the freeway, and Tesla north phoenix collision has failed to properly diagnose or fix it despite multiple returns. This vehicle is unsafe to drive, and I’ve been given excuses for over 7 months. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Steering wheel locked up while driving, causing a collision in the highway.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the steering system appears to have malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to consistently pull to the right, even after multiple alignments with perfect specifications. This issue is ongoing, and the vehicle is available for inspection upon request. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? the pulling to the right affects the vehicle's handling and requires constant manual correction by holding the steering wheel tilted to the left. This compromises my ability to control the car safely, particularly during acceleration or regenerative braking when the issue becomes more pronounced. I am concerned that this could lead to an accident or further mechanical failure. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes, the issue has been demonstrated and reproduced during test drives with Tesla service technicians. Despite this, I was told the behavior is "normal" or attributed to road crown, which does not align with my driving experience. Multiple alignments have not resolved the issue. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? the vehicle has been inspected multiple times by Tesla service centers. Technicians have confirmed the pulling during test drives, but no definitive resolution or explanation has been provided. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no warning lamps or error messages have appeared. The problem began in September 2024 after I returned from a 4-month military deployment. During this time, the car was parked in my garage and not driven. The issue was first noticed immediately upon resuming use of the vehicle, which had approximately 12,000 miles on the odometer at the time.

Since I purchased my car in July 2023, I’ve had multiple false forward collision warning resulting in my insurance premium increasing by sizeable amounts and has caused me undue stress. I’ve reported this problem to Tesla but to no avail. Today 8/9/2024, between 5:17 and 5:21 pm, while driving my cars forward collision warning was activated while no vehicle was in front of my but instead to a parked car on the pavement. This has happened multiple times and Tesla denies being aware of any issues.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized, and it became difficult to steer the vehicle. The contact stated the vehicle failed to respond while the brake pedal was depressed. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle shuddered and almost caused the vehicle to crash against a guard rail. The contact stated that the auto steer avoided the rail but caused the vehicle to spin out. A police report was filed but was not available. There were no injuries sustained. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

On several occasions, the last being July 19,2024, auto correct on steering took control of my vehicle when no correction was needed. I’ve been taken by surprise and struggled on all occasions to gain full control of the vehicle. In addition, my car is not able to receive the over-air update to address the hood latch recall which leaves me more vulnerable to a catastrophic event. I can not reach a person in service as Tesla pushes every communication through the app. My appointment was pushed out over three weeks and I still have not heard from Tesla to confirm this appointment nor reach out with any concern whatsoever regarding this horrific safety concern.

This complaint is about a Tesla rental car from avis which has just shown up in the salvage yard. Because the VIN of the wreck can not be identified I have used the VIN of another wrecked Tesla. Here is the wreck in question. . Read more...

This is a duplicate of the letter I sent to Tesla on June 25, 2024. “for the past two weeks I have traveled to new jersey and back to north carolina. I’m writing to you because of my experience with Teslas fsd. On one occasion I was traveling on [xxx] (NJ) heading to [xxx] -with my navigation and fsd engaged, I approached north and south exit ramps, my Tesla could not make a decision - I had to bring my car to a full stop before the apex of the exit. Cars wizzing by me on both sides. On [xxx] heading home on [xxx] somewhere in virginia- with no one around me doing about 65 mph, my car almost came to an abrupt stop on the highway - once again, fsd fully engaged - my foot off the brake and my hands lightly on the steering wheel. Why? I have no clue - fortunately it reversed itself back into normal. Of course, both of the above incidents frightened me. I’m writing to you because I want a record of these events. I know my software is up to date and I’m not quite sure what to do about this. Please advise: thank you [xxx] the above was sent to Tesla inc 7101 glenwood Ave raleigh, nc 27612 0n June 25 and July 9, 2024 no response- information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The components that failed or malfunctioned include the braking system, steering system, and the airbag deployment mechanism. These critical systems experienced sudden and unexpected failures. Yes, the vehicle and its components are available for inspection upon request. -the sudden brake failure and steering wheel lock resulted in a complete loss of control over the vehicle. The inability to stop or steer the car properly led to it veering over the curb/grass area, posing a severe risk of collision. Additionally, the failure of the airbags to deploy during the impact further compromised my safety. This incident not only endangered my life but also posed a significant threat to the safety of other road users on highway i676. -at this time, the problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. Further investigation and inspection are necessary to determine the root cause of these critical system failures. -there were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms indicating any issues with the braking system, steering system, or airbags prior to the sudden failure. The malfunction occurred without any prior warning, which exacerbates the concern regarding the vehicle’s safety systems.

When I was driving my Tesla Model 3 with fsd exiting highway 400 (atlanta), the fsd directed me to a wrong routing. I corrected the direction by taking over the fsd, the car then lost its full braking system. I was not aware of it until my car slipped backward at a stop and hit a car behind me. The other driver is good enough to let me go, but my Tesla back bumper was damaged. When I got home and read the message on the screen, I was told that the braking hold was disabled, autopilot was disabled, braking charge was disabled, and wheel alignment was disabled, and more. I contacted Tesla and make an appointment half a month later. I was also told that the Tesla recommends to have alignment adjusted every 6000 miles or every 6 months- while I was not aware of this, I thought Tesla is maintenance free. This was what I told Tesla representative then: if this disfunction is safety related, it should be mandatory, not recommended! I feel I was lucky that I only have a small accident, it could be worse. I just dropped my car to Tesla for repair yesterday, the estimated costs was originally $275, then it went up to ~$1500, then ~$1800, when I was talking to a representative, the costs increased to $2167 in a few minutes! I asked why the prices go up, they said the previous prices are mistakes, and if I dont want to pay, I can drive my car home! I believe this happens to many other Tesla users as well, it needs to be addressed before more accidents and damages. The fragile safety operation and the way Tesla treat its customer are not acceptable, at least to my case. Thanks for your attention, if you need more information about my report, or have any question, please feel free to contact me. Lei zhang 404-273-9726 lei. Zhang72@yahoo. Com.

Constant lane change while driving has gotten out of control. A couple of instance the vehicle has changed lanes without manual manipulation. This is getting out of hand and has certainly put risks on my family while operating vehicle.

When using fsd beta, vehicle would fail to stop for red lights. Vehicle also attempted to merge me both into a tractor trailer traveling the opposite direction and a jersey barrier. This is a very dangerous and unsafe system that will lead to many fatalities.

The car went forward when in reverse mode. After going to other modes (drive/neutral/park) and back to reverse, the car kept going forward. Reset the system and the issue persisted. Finally resolved after third restart. The car bumped up against the driveway gate because it wouldn’t reverse despite the dashboard clearly indicating being in reverse. Contacted Tesla, who examined the system remotely and said no issue was identified. This was the second time this issue occurred, and Tesla offered no fix.

On January 20th at noon,around 1:00, I was driving normally on the highway. I remember using autopilot, and the speed limit was 55 mph, but I'm not very sure. At that time, it was raining heavily, and I was following the car in front, not doing anything else. Suddenly, I noticed that the Tesla car turned sharply to the left by itself! I couldn't control it. Let me repeat: the Tesla car suddenly turned left by itself. I instinctively grabbed the steering wheel, turned in the opposite direction to correct it, and pressed the brakes, but it was too late. I collided with a car in the adjacent lane, and the car later turned about 180 degrees and stopped! the left side airbags in the front and back all deployed! however, I were not injured. I got out of the car, immediately called the police, and contacted the owner of the collided vehicle. Later, the police arrived to document the incident. I believe it was a malfunction of the Tesla that caused the accident! I did not make a left turn manually! it was in normal driving mode. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request?I have no idea,sould check Tesla's driving records and the recorded video from the incident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center?no. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others?no. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear?on the day of the accident, in the morning, I noticed that the car exhibited a slight phenomenon of accelerating and then stopping on its own while I was driving, it was first appear but it wasn't severe.

The contact owned a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and merging right, the contact lost control of the vehicle and the vehicle stalled after crashing into the center median. The vehicle was totaled. No injuries were sustained. Medical attention was not sought. The contact stated that a police report was not filed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 500.

The car lost power steering while driving.

I decided to take my first road trip in the new telsa Model 3. The trip was from seattle to portland down i5 which is a pretty straight and easy road. Because of this I decided to use the autopilot feature (I purchased the fsd package) to help take the stress out of driving. (note, this is my first electric vehicle and even my first vehicle with a screen, so I stayed very aware and present the whole time driving with hands on wheel). After a while of driving I noticed the 'arrow' icon on the maps, which indicates my car, wasn't centered on the road and was in fact about quarter to half an inch to the right of the road. I didn't think much of it as I've seen my google maps do this before and after a little bit it readjust and fixes it. As the car was driving, it performed a sudden deceleration and then put on the blinkers to turn left (which I'm on the interstate so there was no left turn). What I noticed was that because the icon on the map wasn't centered on the road, it thought I was off the side of it. When it came up to a side street, it then thought I was on the side street. Thus it rapidly slowed me down to the side street speed limit (35 mph vs the 70 on the interstate), and then thought it needed to turn left to get on to an on-ramp to get me back on the interstate highway. Luckily I was able to catch it in time, but I had to fight with the blinkers for almost a full minute to get them to turn off. After this happened again several more miles down the road, I decided to manually drive the rest of the way. Once I got to a charging station and powered the car off and on, the icon then was centered on the road again. I have noticed a few times since, that it 'gets confused' on what road I'm on and it is concerning that this has a lot of control over the car. It would be great to have a manual way to tell the map that I am currently on which road so it can then note that.

So thanks to your interference my autopilot on my Tesla is broken. . . You guys think you are making our cars safer by getting your controlling poorly educated stupid hands into Tesla systems that are designed to be more safe. On paper Tesla autopilot is factually proven to be more safe than a human driver, these reports are publicly available perhaps your team was too lazy to read them. My car disengaged autopilot randomly while driving with 2 cars behind me and freaked out and told me I was not paying enough attention to the road just because I reached to unlock my phone screen. . . Not even pick it up off the wireless charging pad. . . Just unlocked the screen. So thanks to your agencies interference and forcing Tesla to levy this bogus "recall fix" on us I almost got rear-ended. . . In the car I work so hard to pay for, the car that I love because it keeps me and my family safe because guess what we are humans and not robots. Just as you do and everyone in your agency we all have to look at our phones briefly while driving because we live lives where we have to make sure those we love are ok or make sure our phone is charged for when we reach our destination. You are going to do exactly the opposite of your agencies supposed mission of keeping us safe. You will kill people with this stupid "recall". Get your crap together and tell Tesla to reverse autopilot back to its normal safe operating parameters and stop banning people from autopilot otherwise there are going to be a lot more wrecks and deaths. I'm not saying you should be taking duck selfie pictures for social media with your phone while in autopilot on a rural back road. . . That person deserves to be a victim of modern natural selection. But what your doing is over-controlling and you have no right to dabble in things you obviously don't understand. Your agency should be ashamed of itself, you are about as efficient as our government is at managing money. . . Fix it back.

On 12-2-23, I started to feel my steering wheel getting stiff while driving. The car started to feel unsafe to drive as it was very difficult to steer to the point that I ended up being unable to turn and hit a curb on two occasions. On 12-3-23, I started getting alerts in my vehicle about traction control being disabled, automatic emergency braking unavailable, stability control disabled and that I needed to schedule a service center appointment. I dropped my vehicle off at a Tesla service center as I felt that the car was unsafe to drive because turning was very difficult. The service center diagnosed my car and indicated that my steering rack needed replacing along with a wheel alignment. It was not covered by my warranty as the service center believed that the issue was due to impact because of the curbs that I hit. However, these issues occurred prior to the impact and the curb hits were a result of the failing steering rack. I purchased my vehicle on 6-17-23, and it was manufactured at the end of 05-23. My vehicle had 10k miles on it before the steering rack needed replacing.

Bought a 2023 Tesla Model 3 performance that vibrates from the day I bought it. After 12 service visits, new wheels tires and even a new brake rotor the car is still vibrating. Tesla seems to say it’s normal and that all Teslas drive like this but no other vehicle manufacturer has ever produced a car that vibrates. It’s unsafe and scary to drive this car the way it is. They tried fixing it at first hence why so many parts got replaced but since they don’t know how to fix it they wanna just push the “it’s normal and within spec” speech to me. Please get a recall going to address the ongoing steering wheel vibration problem faced by numerous owners as shown on numerous threads and forums. This is unacceptable.

Model 3 steering assistance just stopped working. The car was immobilized and towed.

The car lost all adaptive driving features and power steering.

Vehicle started displaying warning messages as I pulled out of garage - "steering assist reduced" and "lane departure avoidance features unavailable. " afterwards, I noticed vibration and clicking sensation while turning steering wheel and driving at low speeds. I performed a software reset but messages were still there. Then I performed controls, safety, power off procedure. Messages disappeared, but steering still felt jerky. This happened when the vehicle had approximately 2,300 miles on it. A few days later, when exiting the garage, steering wheel was initially locked. It then "popped" when I applied gentle pressure to turn the wheel and the warning messages returned. Steering felt stuttery afterwards. I scheduled service appointment with Tesla. They replaced steering rack. I have had no problems since. Currently at 3,700 miles.

Steering issue will be calling Tesla service about this problem. Put the vehicle in reverse to back out of a driveway and a message stating “steering assist reduced” appeared on the display. Did not back up; could not turn the steering wheel. Put vehicle in park and exited. After ten minutes put the vehicle in reverse, no message, and was able to steer again.

Summary: fsd malfunctioned, failed to disengage, causing loss of steering control, thus causing car to steer into wrong lane and resulting in an accident. Tesla service center refused to inspect unless car is fixed. Car was sent to crash champions ( autobody shop) and was quoted $35k to fix. Car was deemed as totaled by Tesla insurance. No response from fsdbeta@Tesla. Com I suspect that the latest fsd software update has caused my car to lose control. Time of incident: 19:28 pm location : wildwood Ave, sunnyvale Ave. Entering from lawrence expressway. Weather condition: clear night, well lit. Low traffic. What happened:? my car has been driving in fsd on lawrence expressway and it was doing everything correctly. Approaching that upcoming tight bend, the fsd slowed down the car, and I took over by steering the steering wheel to the right to deactivate fsd and taking the tight turn, right before the white rows of triangles on the street. At this moment, the steering wheel forcibly turned to the opposite direction (I. E. Left). I tried to correct the steering wheel by turning right even more, but the steering wheel wasn’t responding to my input for a split second. At this moment, my car is now on the wrong lane of wildwood Ave and my car finally responded to my steering input. I had to swerve in the opposite direction to avoid the incoming traffic and ended up brushing against an SUV, followed by an impact on the curb, before finally slowing down. Seeing that there was incoming traffic from the back, I drove down to a residential street to park my car for safety reason. The SUV driver called the police to handle the situation, we had our information and testimonies recorded down. I have already followed the safe practices of driving with fsd according to the manual, but in this situation, I am not certain which technology is responsible for causing my car to override my manual steering input. This led to me to question the driver safety systems in this car.

Steering is very jerky/choppy - vehicle is hard to keep straight while driving on freeway.

1. Power steering diminished as I was driving. As the steering wheel was turned their was a "clicking feel" , more than a vibration. I drove slowly and safely returned home. The message on the screen was "steering assist reduced" steering may require increased effort. 2. I did fear for my safety and the safety of others on the road because I did not have full normal control of the steering wheel. I slowed speed to 20mph and carefully made my way home. 3. Yes, they determined my steering rack needed to be replaced. 4. Tesla service inspected the steering rack and determined it needed to be replaced. 5. The message displayed on my Tesla screen was "steering assist reduced, steering may require increased effort".