2018 TESLA MODEL 3 Complaints

Occupant classification System (OCS) for front passenger seat kept alerting while driving both with and without any person or object in the seat. I contacted Tesla service center and they stated that the occupant classification system (OCS) AND the front passenger airbag require replacement, otherwise the front passenger airbags will not function properly in a collision. I asked if this was a recall or covered by warranty, and they said no.

I was involved in a rear-end collision where I was completely stopped at a green light due to traffic congestion and the person driving behind me hit my car from behind that caused me to hit the car in front of me. The impact was hard that the Tesla model 3 immediately turned on the hazard lights and called 911. The screen of my Tesla model 3 stated "airbag deployed;" however, no airbags deployed. The Tesla immediately became inoperable and did not let me drive the car to the side of the road out of traffic. Also, the Tesla did not let me change to towing mode (since the screen eventually went black); which made it more difficult to tow the vehicle out of the way of traffic.

The car's horn has stopped working. A car was entering my lane almost running me off the road and I could not alert the other driver because the horn wouldn't work. The car has not been inspected by the dealer, police or insurance yet. I received no warning lights or messages before the failure. problem was recognized on 8/30/24. This seems to be a known issue that Tesla has not addressed. Estimate they have given for repairs is $195.00

Front passenger safety restraint system fault error. They tried fixing and it started the next day again. Now they want to replace this along with my airbag. This seems to be a consistent issue reading forums online. This is a manufacturing defect and major safety issue.

Error code: RCM_a021 Front left safety restraint system fault. It appears this is a very common safety problem for many Tesla 3 owners and I believe it’s due to faulty design - shall be a recall paid by Tesla ! Please search on google.com, enter the error code above and you will see many complaints for the same issue…

RCM_a021 Front left safety restraint system fault RCM_a056 Front passenger safety restraint system fault I have been noticing this error on my Tesla Model 3. Also, I researched on it and found out numerous people are having same problem. So, since it’s safety related issue there should be recall to fix it.

I started getting this alert on my screen a few weeks ago: RCM_a056 "Front passenger safety restraint system fault" Service Required. Tesla says the warranty only covered this issue up to 60,000 miles and I'm at 61,000. They are quoting like $2,000 to fix. They say they have to change something in the seat (sensor) and change the air bag since new sensor is not compatible with old airbag. Looked up issue and it seems to be common happening at before and after warranty for a lot of people. I see different quotes from $500 to $2000 (mine was the highest). This should be a safety recall. I do not suspect too many people getting this fixed on their own their due to the expense.

Tesla has completely changed the user interface on a few occasions. It is now dangerous for me to try to change the danged radio station if the car is in motion because of the amount of attention to the display needed to locate and select something, even stations I regularly listen to. In a prior version the ones I regularly used easily popped up in a small area. It takes multiple touches just to navigate through to the station I last listened to. This is the worst they've done, but they regularly change the User Interface for no particularly good reason/benefit. Cars should be easy to use.

Error message in passenger airbag restraint system. There is a known issue where the cable bundle in the seat wears with movement of the seat, causing a short. Tesla has redesigned the bundle and it’s using a new airbag, but will only replace the faulty bundle if it fails while under warranty. It is a >$1900 Repair for the customer. Upon my research, this happens frequently even in the first year of the car. My car has 39,000 miles on it is faulty already. They can’t replace the bundle because the new Improved bundle requires a different airbag, increasing the cost of the consumer

For the fifth time since the car was purchased new, it is displaying a warning that there is a passenger airbag fault. This has been repaired previously four times by Tesla, on 8/04/20 (28980 miles, replace OCS filter module), 2/10/21 (35831 miles, replace front passenger seat), 1/06/22, and 5/08/23 (52891 and 82293 miles, both replace OCS filter module). It is now showing this warning again (106507 miles, 8/22/24) for the fifth failure. This is extremely concerning that an airbag may not deploy properly or even might deploy when not warranted. Since the car has been repaired so many times for the same recurring problem it suggests there is a systemic issue with this component which should be addressed properly.