Warnings Problems of Tesla Model 3 - part 1

Component/system failure: total failure of the autopilot ecu (das computer) and the front-end module (fem) wiring harness. Incident description: my 2021 Tesla Model 3 (37,000 miles) experienced a catastrophic and "silent" failure of the entire vehicle vision suite and all active safety systems. A Tesla service technician (warrington, PA) inspected the vehicle and confirmed the root cause was a factory-defective (crimped) internal coaxial cable in the wiring harness. This manufacturing defect caused an electrical short that destroyed the primary safety-critical computer. Safety risk: this failure resulted in a direct violation of fmvss 111 (rear visibility), as the backup camera was rendered completely inoperable. Furthermore, all collision-avoidance features—including automatic emergency braking (aeb), forward collision warning, and blind spot monitoring—were disabled. Critical safety concern (silent failure): the vehicle provided zero driver-facing alerts, dashboard warnings, or lamps to indicate that these safety systems were offline. I unknowingly operated a vehicle that was non-compliant with federal safety standards and lacked all primary crash-avoidance technology. The failure codes (app_w045 and vcfront_a158) were only discoverable by manually entering the vehicle's "service mode. " manufacturer status: Tesla service has confirmed the hardware failure and the wiring defect but is currently refusing to cover the $2,800 repair cost, despite the failure involving systems currently under federal recall (sb-26-00-016). I am reporting this because a factory wiring defect causing a total, silent failure of federally manda.

See all problems of the 2021 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

I continue to experience phantom "forward collision avoidance" warnings. Tesla has looked at this several times, even once charging me $60 to clean the cameras (should be under warranty in my opinion). Latest response to problem: known issue, no known hardware cause. In other words live with it. They even suggested buying fsd package at $1200/yr as a solution! one more than one occasion the tacc and autosteer disengaged with traffic behind me. Very scary.

See all problems of the 2024 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

In autopilot mode on 1/28/26 the vehicle without any warnings went through a red light causing an accident. A week prior it failed to adjust speed in a 35 mile per hour zone maintaining 71.

See all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

The rear camera malfunctions intermittently and causes other errors to happen, like automatic emergency braking unavailable or forward collision warning unavailable. When the camera error happens, it says the camera is unavailable. I took my car to the Tesla dealership three times. The first time, they did a continuity check and said the harness was degraded, and they replaced the harness and the rear camera. A week later, it happened again. The second time they reset the camera calibration and it worked. The day after, it happened again. The car is at the Tesla dealership for the third time (02/20/2026).

Yesterday I had another near miss collision and like all the others there was zero reaction from the car, an accident would happen long before the car would react. How many deaths are you going to allow to happen before you take proper action? it’s obvious someone there is being bought because the dangers can be easily proven over and over. My previous car would have braked long before I would have had to steer away from the oncoming vehicle, my Tesla has given me zero protection from front end collisions like the pictures provided.

Possible unintended acceleration incident while approaching the driveway the car accidentally accelerated on its own, cause a collision. We request that Tesla preserve all vehicle logs and telemetry data for safety investigation. VIN: [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

My Model 3 was t-boned in an intersection, hitting both the front and rear doors, as a result of a vehicle running a red light. The driver that hit us was speeding and didn’t hit brakes. The impact pushed the Tesla almost in a complete 360 on an adjacent street where the driver side of the car jumped a curb and stopped after hitting a pole slightly on the driver side. Red light etc all substantiated by police report. Airbags deployed on the passenger side from the seat and upper panels. Front airbags failed on both sides. There was also a delayed airbag deployment from the back of the driver seat that only ripped the seat but never deployed fully. The smell of fire / burning and debris was all that happened from the driver seat. I requested a crash report from Tesla which outlines the speed and airbag deployment. The report says that knee level airbags deployed but they never did. I crossed referenced crash test speed data and various complaints about Tesla airbags. The data reviewed seems to indicate that I experienced failed equipment which is currently under review. I’ve also reviewed various sources of information about 7 2024 Model 3 driver side airbag known issues, where Tesla only recalled one vehicle. I’ve been told that other recalls for this issue are u see evaluation and to keep checking my VIN for details. I share this because serious injuries can be caused by this failure, especially when hit by an SUV. The vehicle was totaled, not drivable and towed from the scene. Please be cautious if you have a 2024 Model 3 and demand that Tesla look into the airbag manufacturing issues promptly and issue relative recalls. The collision alert also failed.

On September 18, 2025, my 2023 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: 5yj3e1eb9pf632327) suddenly accelerated on its own and the brakes failed to respond despite repeated pressing. To avoid hitting other vehicles, I turned into a property driveway and struck a tree. The airbags deployed. This was a case of sudden unintended acceleration combined with complete brake failure, creating a serious safety hazard. Forward collision warning also did not prevent the impact. A police report was filed by the dekalb county police department, GA, USA (report #25-074809, case #0440200), which specifically documented brake failure as the cause of the accident. The report also notes that the driver was injured by the airbag and that the vehicle had to be towed from the scene. A copy of the police report can be provided upon request.

Vehicle in front stopped suddenly. The car gave no alert and did not stop whatsoever. The Tesla collided with the vehicle in front. **I have dashcam footage of the incident.

See all problems of the 2019 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

Incident #1 vehicle sitting at a red light. After several seconds the vehicle operating under Tesla fsd suddenly started to drive as if the light had turned green, which it had not. I stopped it immediately. Incident #2 vehicle was stopped a t a red light and started forward again as it the light had changed but had not. I noticed a flashing red light at the next intersection a few hundred feet away. So, I went around the block and tried again and it behaved the same. After a few seconds it started to go again. There was not another light near where the first incident occurred.

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

Then forward collision warning system inaccurately reported and reacted to a park car that was not in my lane. This caused my car to slam the brakes and subsequently almost cause an accident behind me. This also raised my car insurance premium so they can charge me more money.

See all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

Backup camera recall was not fixed properly or the new parts have same issue. As a result the backup camera was not functioning. When the camera is not functioning the autopilot system drives aggressively, speeding up to the max set speed when it is not safe to do so with current traffic conditions. Had to disengage autopilot otherwise it would have crashed. Also I received an alert that the emergency breaking system was not functional. When reversing could not use backup camera.

See all problems of the 2018 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).

Vehicle must have thought a shadow line in the road from a bridge indicated a wall I was about to hit, as it slammed on the breaks in the middle of the freeway. Car behind had to swerve to avoid. On the same trip, several nags of 'keep eyes on the road' were incorrect, as my eyes were directly on the road, but phone was in hand functioning as a microphone taking voice memos. Car proceeded to shut itself down while in the middle of the freeway, causing me to go slower than traffic and put me in danger as cars behind me had to swerve or lane change to avoid me as I tried to pull off to the shoulder. These forced shutdowns from incorrect 'nag fails' are causing safety issues. Nag failures should not forcibly shut the car down. Not sure if this is being enforced by NHTSA, or why Tesla is choosing to disable their auto steer or fsd when drivers are detected to be failing nags - nags should be there to help drivers, and potentially the nag data/cab video can be used after the fact should a user failing nags be involved in an accident for insurance dispute resolution, but shutting the cars down themselves is causing issues.

I pulled up to a red light in a protected left turn lane. My car is set to use regenerative braking and hold/not roll once stopped. I felt my car roll forward a bit, which shouldn't happen when these settings are on. I quickly checked my rearview mirror, assuming someone had hit me from behind to cause me to roll forward. No one was behind me. I hit my brake and the car suddenly accelerated at full throttle speed, I would guess, into the intersection, despite the light being red for me. I quickly glanced down at my foot to confirm that it was on the brake pedal and it definitely was. I continued to repeatedly push the brake pedal down to no avail. I was steering and tried to navigate my way through 4 lanes of moving traffic because they had a green light. I hit the front end of a car, which didn't slow my car at all. I went on to hit another car's front end, which didn't slow my car at all either. My car then charged out of control to hit the curb on the opposite side of the street facing traffic. Hitting the curb stopped my car finally. I noticed that the airbags on the right side of my car were deployed. Components that failed/malfunctioned: brakes, fuel/propulsion system, speed control, automatic emergency braking, collision warning/avoidance, traffic signal detection Tesla insurance has deemed the car a total loss. I also reported the malfunction to their vehicle support but haven't gotten the report or the data report from the car that I requested yet. I was told that the report would be complete by 8/7/25. The car was placed on a hold for the investigation, so it should be available for inspection. I do have the dashcam videos and photos of my car, if needed. This incident was terrifying because I had zero control of my vehicle due to the sudden unintended acceleration (sua). I see on the internet that sua is a problem with Tesla that has been reported repeatedly. It is a miracle that no one was hurt or killed. Tesla needs to address this immediately!.

2025 Tesla Model 3 the follow distance is too close to front vehicle (only 1 to 2 car lengths) while in full self driving mode and there is no way to adjust it like in cruise control mode. Also, while in auto cruise control or full self driving the forward collision warning has too many false alarms from overhead tree branches to nothing in front of car for more than 500 feet. Finally, the car takes turns too late and at unsafe speeds when autosteer and cruise control are both activated. This also happens during full self driving.

See all problems of the 2025 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

I was using full self driving (fsd) and there was no one directly in front of me and thankfully no one behind me when it engaged its emergency brakes and came to an abrupt stop for no reason.

Forward collision warning was falsely triggered causing the car to inappropriately apply the brakes twice in one drive. This causes the car to brake harshly and causes cars behind me to either swerve or slam their brakes. This causes a chain reaction of extremely dangerous behavior. The forward collision warning system is far too sensitive when there’s literally no obstacles to cause a collision or avoid.

The cars toward collision warning system is far too sensitive and braked extremely hard when there was nothing to collide with. This caused the car behind me to slam their brakes and they got rear ended. This needs to be forced on Tesla to be addressed.

Two false collision warnings were triggered when in fact, there was nothing to collide with. This caused the car to brake extremely forcefully nearly causing another can to rear end me in midday traffic. If they would have hit me, it easily would have caused a 10+ car accident.

The forward collision warning system is too sensitive. When cars are in a completely different lane, the car will sometimes think they are in your lane when they’re aren’t. This forces the fwc warning to alert and the brakes to slam. When this happens cars behind you sometimes swerve or nearly rear end me. This happened twice today March 14th.

As I was approaching a green light with stopped vehicles the car caught glare from the car ahead of me thinking it was stopping when it was turning. This caused aggressive breaking mid turn and caused a spike in my insurance as well as decrease in my safety score. I reported this as a bug to the car but they never get checked for fixed.

Computer system improperly triggered two false forward collision warning while changing lanes, today, on 02/02/2025. These forward collision warnings and applied excessive braking for no reason causing an increased chance of being rear ended or losing control. In heavy traffic, the car is constantly creating dangerous situations like this and the sensitivity of the forward collision warnings needs to be dialed back when the blinker is on or while in between lanes.

There has been numerous false forward collision warning reports from my car over the past two years. Over 100 to be exact. These false collision warnings cause the car to brake abruptly increasing the change of being rear ended, causing accidents behind me or even causing my car to swerve. This has been witnessed by at least 3 different passengers of mine. Tesla refuses to acknowledge that their software can be flawed in any way despite my attempts to contact Tesla service, Tesla insurance, Tesla support and Tesla internal investigative services. I have requested a complete list of all bug reports and no one is able to reproduce them for me or give me a list. No my vehicle has not been inspected because Tesla claims that this is working as intended. Which, if that is the case, they're doing/using it to arbitrarily raise people's premiums and make them pay more with Tesla insurance. No warnings. Just abrupt stops due to the camera improperly reading a situation, seeing something that isn't there, or simply activating out of thin air.

Driving on hwy 8 (houston beltway), going west, dog came out from left side, Tesla auto pilot was engaged and did not detect collision with the dog. Car did not stop, did not alarm, dog was hit, my front bumper was damaged, and car kept on going.

Brake feature malfunction vehicle details: •model: Tesla Model 3 •year: 2023 (approximately 1 year old) •mileage at incident: ~11,000 miles incident description: on 10/29, while manually driving my Tesla Model 3 on a public roadway, I experienced a critical braking failure. As I approached a vehicle in front of me that was decelerating, I initiated regenerative braking, then immediately applied the brake pedal forcefully. Despite pressing the brake pedal hard multiple times, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected and ultimately collided with the vehicle ahead. Throughout this incident, no collision warning, automatic braking, or other safety features activated, despite having all safety features enabled. This failure significantly impacted my confidence in the vehicle’s braking and safety systems. After the accident, I reviewed the Tesla incident report, which shows I attempted to brake but that acceleration was not reduced until the collision occurred. Despite the report documenting my attempts to brake, the system did not function properly, suggesting a potential mechanical or software defect in the braking and/or safety alert systems. Aftermath: •my vehicle sustained considerable damage. •I now feel unsafe driving the vehicle, particularly on highways, as I am concerned the brake failure could recur. Request for investigation: given the severity of this issue, I am seeking an investigation to determine: 1. Whether there is a defect in Tesla Model 3 braking systems that could result in brake failure under normal driving conditions. 2. If there is an issue with the vehicle’s safety features failing to activate appropriately. This incident has raised significant concerns regarding my safety and that of other drivers, especially given the car’s relatively new condition and low mileage. I would appreciate a prompt investigation into these safety concerns.

About two weeks ago with driver set cruise control, the phantom braking was so severe that it took me down from 75 to around 15 if I remember correctly. The braking was so severe and at the same time self steered to the edge of the road along the guard rail that my body was unable to move quicker to correct the vehicle. Your system gets jolted violently without notice which takes a couple seconds to recover from and I decided to report this one after watching the san francisco video. Fortunately, the two vehicles behind me were far enough away. This is absolutely not ok, I have had several severe braking incidents and each time it not only takes about 2-3 seconds to correct but also created back pain.

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 Tesla Model 3 from the factory does not have the option to get the trailer mode safety software. Aftermarket suppliers make and sell class 2/3 hitches for the Model 3. And while the Model 3 is not rated for towing. People still have the tow hitches installed and they tow trailers. The model y with the tow package has what is called “trailer mode” which enables safety features for towing that allows the vehicle to do several things for safety while towing: - it adjusts the wheel braking and speed stability. - it routs to “pull through” charging stations for safe charging without having to unnecessarily and repeatedly unhook trailers. - auto steer, automatic steering, emergency braking, and following distance is all adjusted to account for the trailer and its weight. - light check, checking for functional trailer lighting. The model y that does not get the factory tow hitch does not get this tow package software. If you get the tow hitch added afterwards on the model y or aftermarket, Tesla does not provide this safety enhanced software. The Model 3 does not get this safety software regardless. And yet people are able to install after market tow hitches I believe Tesla should be required to offer the towing software to the model y base and Model 3 regardless if the vehicle it tow rated or not because the safety of the vehicle when towing is a necessity. I don’t think it should matter if they charge money or offer it free so long as you can have this trailer mode software option added for safety. Because people are going to tow with their cars. A lot of people don’t follow manufacturer recommendations. And u-haul trailer rental among many other providers offers tow hitch installations and rents trailers to people with Tesla’s. So the easiest thing is to require Tesla to provide this safety enhancement to every vehicle and not just the model y “if it gets the tow package from the factory. ”.

My Tesla sets off false front collision warnings multiple times a month, resulting in distraction, but more importantly, it increases my auto insurance rate through Tesla insurance. I am not sure if Tesla is working on this "bug" or if it is intentional to keep driver safety scores below a certain threshold. I have video proof from the car itself indicating that there was no imminent collision threat.

Tesla adas detects non existent objects and issues collision alerts and phantom brakes randomly if there is no cars in front of the Tesla, braking abruptly and almost getting me into rear end accidents. Tesla adas freaks out when making lane changes randomly, shaking violently and giving the driver and its passengers a fishtailing simulation. Auto wiper triggers randomly while it's sunny, distracting the driver and forcing an interaction on the center console to stop it. Auto wiper cannot be turned off as it reengages upon using Tesla adas. The rear view camera lags. It stutters and shows me a delayed view. Compounded by the Model 3's very small rear view mirrors and side mirrors, this is incredibly dangerous as I have no way of gaining sufficient visibility of the back of the car. Tesla service told me this is all normal.

While using the full self driving mode (fsd) the vehicle will randomly and without warning slam on the brakes at highway speeds and decelerate to 30-50mph on an active highway. If the highway is multilane, the car will slow and attempt to change lanes. It appears the vehicle thinks that something is in the road, even if the road is clear. This happens multiple times on my longer road trips, and is very concerning. It did this yesterday with a semi-truck closely behind me. The vehicle has gone into service and I did bring up the issue, but the service team was unable to assist on this issue (screenshots attached). The software currently installed in my vehicle is 2024. 3. 15, the latest available from Tesla. This issues has been ongoing from every software update I have had in the car however.

Tesla summons was used to summons the car. Vehicle drove forward as directed and failed to clear car on left when pulling out of the parking space to go left. Vision systems and ultrasonic sensors failed to detect and perform safety measures resulting in vehicle collision.

Issues became more prevalent as soon as Tesla insurance 2. 0 came out. My car has become too sensitive often giving me several false forward collision warnings per day. This includes parked cars on my street as I’m coming in around a long corner, cars in turn lanes, and cars that I’m not even close to all being registered as collision warnings. This causes my safety score to drop for no real reason causing my monthly payments to be more. I think this is entirely done on purpose and has nothing to do with actual safety. I have scheduled service appointments and talked with Tesla insurance and they give me nothing but excuses and the run around.

Since the recall for autopilot / full self driving which required driver alerts (often called steering wheel nag), the alerts are now so frequent and reoccuring that it forces you to stare at the screen and not the road. If you look at the road, both hands on the steering wheel, every few seconds, as little as 10 seconds since the previous, the screen begins to flash (only at the top) indicating that you must now slightly shift your hands. These are often hard to see unless you stare at the screen and give no other noticable indicator. Recently I was just awarded a strike for not adjusting to it, about 30 seconds after the previous indication and it had no audible sound or indication the only warning apparently was a visual one. The screen is not in front of the driver like a heads up display, its off to the side. Other vehicles warn you not to use the on screen displays while driving, even Tesla, so why does this feature force you to stare at the screen your entire drive. It seems unsafe to force -constant- checks of the screen from the driver to determine if you're in autopilot compliance.