2023 TESLA MODEL 3 Complaints

During my first highway trip from Dallas to my home in Alpine, TX, I experienced numerous instances where the car would suddenly decelerate as if I had applied the brakes. At first I thought it was because there was a lot of road glare because I was driving late in the day into the west sun, but the next day it happened early in the morning when the sun was behind me and the road was straight, relatively clean with clear markings. The ultimate instance was when I was driving on a newly reopened dark asphalt road with new markings, straight, no glare, sun behind me. Clearly there is a problem.

After charging my car at a charging center, the steering assist reduced message appeared on the screen. Then the power steering gave out and i couldn't turn the steering wheel. I had to get the car towed to a service center.

While traveling on a busy interstate highway, my Tesla 3 presented four errors on the control screen: Automatic Emergency Braking disabled, Power reduced, Vehicle shutting down and Unable to drive. The left hand side of the screen flashed red and instructed me to pull over safely. The car was immediately slowing down, and as I was in heavy traffic, I was unable to pull over to the shoulder safely. I turned on my hazard lights and performed a soft reset of the car - which caused my hazard lights to turn off, all while cars were honking and whizzing around me. After the car reset, I was able to drive a short distance, with enough speed, to cross several lanes of traffic and come to a stop on the shoulder emergency lane of an exit ramp. The car is only 6 months old, with 4000 miles, but had to be towed to the Tesla service center. The problem has been diagnosed as a problem with the rear drive unit inverter and will be replaced under warranty. While I appreciate the resolution and that it will be fixed, it could have been a very serious situation and caused an accident. Thankfully, I was able to get to safety and wait to be towed.

I was driving on a rural, two-lane highway with no other cars around and with cruise control engaged. Without warning, the car decelerated suddenly and rapidly from about 60 MPH and continued to decelerate until I pressed on the accelerator pedal (at about 40 to 45 MPH) to stop the deceleration. It happened at least 5 times during a drive from Spring Grove, IL to Champaign, IL on July 7, 2023, between 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM. If there had been a car following close behind me it would have been very dangerous. I had the Basic Autopilot engaged with Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (but not Autosteer). Weather conditions were bright sunlight with a few clouds. The problem has occurred several times (at least 4 times) since then. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. I have not had the vehicle inspected by anyone. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failures.

I took delivery of a Tesla Model 3 on July 7. On July 18, I received a digital message indicating that the software needed to be updated, and I complied. Later, when I got into the car to drive it, I got two error messages -- one indicating that the driver-assist steering might not work and the other relating to warning of approaching vehicles. I drove the car about 50 feet before realizing that I had no power steering and would not be able to control the car. Using all my weight to turn the steering wheel, I managed to pull over to the righthand shoulder of my street, where I left the car. A few hours later, I tried to drive the car again, and the problem had resolved itself. But I was nervous about driving it without an assurance from Tesla that it would not happen again, especially wile driving it, so I reported it to Tesla. Tesla's "remote team" did an analysis and reported six days later: "After reviewing your concern we have concluded that it can be chalked down to a known firmware issue that appears during the first start after completing the most recent update and goes away after leaving the vehicle and coming back. We are seeing no further issues with the steering assist, and no repair is needed at this time." Meanwhile, I had not driven my new car for six days out of concern that the steering wheel could freeze up while driving. When I search online, I found many, many reports from drivers about this problem, some of whom said they'd had to have their whole steering column replaced. I read this week that NHTSA had opened an inquiry, so I am submitting my experience so you can see the problem is not limited to 12 vehicles. Also, I suggest you do a Google search to amass more evidence of how common it is.

Emergency braking applied when no other vehicles were in sight. Braking was hard enough to spill coffee. Seems to occur when adaptive cruise control is on. Happened about 10 times on recent road trip. Lucky no one was behind us! Felt very unsafe.

On August 5, 2023, my car charge got too low for me to make it to a charging station in Lafayette Louisiana. I had the vehicle towed on a flat bed. I put the car in Tow Transportation mode. While we were towing the car, I opened the car to check the battery level and somehow the frunk was activated (perhaps I accidentally hit it, I'm not sure). The frunk opened while we were going about 60 mph down the highway, the wind lifted the trunk up and it crushed my front windshield and the frunk and opening mechanics were damaged. Had we not immediately pulled over the frunk hood could have been ripped off the car by the wind and caused a major accident. This seems to be a flaw in the Tesla electronics/app system - you should not be able to open the Frunk once it is put into Tow Transportation mode.

2023 Tesla Model 3 with 3,000 miles. No accidents or impact with potholes or curbs. Started vehicle, put in drive, pressed accelerator, car went forward but would not turn. Steering wheel was stuck in straight position. I stopped the vehicle and put it in park, same symptom of stuck steering wheel. My wife (passenger) and I did not notice any error lights or messages. I exited the vehicle walked away to trigger automatic locking. Returned to the vehicle, started it , and tested steering. Steering was free. Took approximately 5 mile test drive. Steering was erratic, making small movements to the left and right. At times it felt the car would veer offroad or into oncoming traffic. Contacted support. Dealer dispached tow truck to return vehicle for inspection. Was informed by dealer that no loaner vehicles are available, they only offered Uber credits.

On May 22, 2023 I had an annual physical exam at the doctor's office at 9:00 am. Upon completion of the visit, I drove my model 3 from the parking spot (3rd level) towards the ground floor. At the final turn, at the ground floor, I felt that the car had an unusual resistance when I tried to navigate the turn. The steering wheel felt as if it were locked. As a result of not being able to turn the steering wheel, I hit seven cars that were parked at the ground floor and incurred substantial damage. The car is totaled unfortunately. I am hoping that the NHTSA may have a way to analyze the true cause of this accident before they send the car to the salvage market.

Steering wheel stuck in straight position, unable to turn. Also, A/C line supermanifold defect present, needed to be replaced. Steering rack and harness both needed to be replaced. Tesla model 3, only had 40 miles before needing to be towed.