2018 TESLA MODEL 3 Complaints

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the Back Over Prevention camera intermittently failed to operate as needed. The contact then received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention). The vehicle was taken to the service center where the back-up camera cable was reinforced as stated in the recall. Upon return of the vehicle, the contact stated that the back-up camera failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that the dealer had not tested the cable and that the recall repair did not fix the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that since the failure was intermittent prior to the failure, they were not responsible for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 41,000. The contact stated that the manufacturer had made a mistake and refunded the cost to the contact. The complaint has been resolved.

I believe the front passenger occupancy sensor has failed or malfunctioned again. The first instance of issue took place on 03/05/2020 and a second instance of the same issue has occurred again on 09/29/2022. It is available for inspection upon request. Front passenger safety is put at risk because the vehicle may not deploy the front passenger airbags if it is not able to detect the occupancy status of the front passenger seat. The problem was reproduced by the Tesla dealer after the first instance of failure. The vehicle was inspected by the manufacturer after the first instance of failure. The system warning that displays on screen - "Front passenger safety restraint system fault/Service is required".

-PCS (Power Conversion System) failure. - No warning light, message or symptoms, failed overnight. - Car is not drivable, HV completely isolated and drain 12V battery overnight. Can’t open any door, screen dead and had to tow. - Repair cost $1884, 53k miles / 4 yrs and 2 months.

My vehicle received the Full Self Driving Beta (FSD-B) update Software Version 2022.20.17. I took the vehicle for a ride near my office in The Heights area of Houston, Texas, and when stopped in traffic at a red light briefly placed the vehicle into park to engage the FSD-B via the touchscreen. When I engaged Autopilot with the FSD-B active, the vehicle made a right turn from the MIDDLE lane of the roadway which had just opened into three lanes a short number of feet beforehand crashing into another vehicle causing damage to both vehicles and injury to my hand. It appears the Full Self Driving Computer failed to recognize that the roadway had just changed from two to three lanes whereas there were not vehicles in the third lane until the moment my Tesla Model 3 turned suddenly and aggressively. Had it been less than a second earlier, my vehicle would have been fully into the turn and the accident likely of a catastrophic "T-Bone" nature. The manner in which the computer turned the wheel was especially shocking. I am accustomed to Autopilot having used the system for several years, but not with the vehicle making full-turn maneuvers as is the case with the new FSD-B software. I was holding the wheel firmly close to the "six and nine" positions and beneath the "V" areas of the steering wheel. The wheel turned so aggressively and suddenly that there was no possible way to counter the maneuver and soft-tissue injury occurred to may hand requiring prescribing of steroids to reduce inflammation and pain. Tesla was notified of the accident and provided with video from the vehicle's Dashcam system, but denies liability for the accident claiming it is driver responsibility.

Constant "phantom braking" occurrences despite great conditions (sunny, no wind, good visibility, low traffic) during a road trip that was two hours both ways. Typically happened when coming to the crest of small hills, or when "road mirages" due to light refraction, or when a car in the distance just became noticed by the vehicle. Happened both on divided highway and two lane highways. Several braking occurrences were pronounced enough to be likened to not quite slamming on the brakes, but definitely applying them firmly. This, besides being terrifying and attention grabbing, itself a safety issue, it could also mean close following vehicles may have to react in such a way to also apply brakes heavily at highway speeds which could cause a rear end collision or swerving to avoid my vehicle. I also get little to no warning it's about to happen, until it does, no alarms go off, and in general it was noticing the hills, mirages, and vehicles just coming into the car's "sight" that the correlation of the phantom braking was occurring. I know this is known by Tesla, and I am going to take it in for a winter tire swap this week, and let the dealer know it is a major issue with my car.

Originally received notification of DTC "BMS_a035 - Vehicle may not restart." Vehicle was serviced and the rear motor drive unit was replaced. Was not given the oppertunity to inspect the serviced components upon request. Within 48 hours of service, "BMS_a027: Power limited, OK to drive," & BMS_a170 - (de)acceleration warning & top speed warning." My concern is related to a potential cascading problem, which cannot be diagnosed, and which will lead to failure of the propulsion system or an unexpected discharge issue / thermal event from an electrical issue while the vehicle is in use and/or parked.

Tesla Model 3 (and other models) comes equipped with side cameras on the vehicle's B-pillars. Tesla has designed these components to allow cabin air to infiltrate the space between the cameras and the exterior glass. Of course, this means that humid cabin air will condense on the glass when ambient conditions cool the glass enough. This blocks the cameras, causing certain features (e.g. blind spot camera, auto lane change, lane keeping assist) to stop functioning. These features have been actively advertised by Tesla and sold for thousands of dollars as software upgrades, but do not reliably function because of this design flaw. As can be seen on many internet forums (e.g. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/b-pillar-cameras-fogging-up.172226/page-8), this issue has been known for years, yet Tesla has provided no fix for the problem. As recently as Sep 2022, their service centers are still telling customers to run cabin heat to eliminate condensation, but the cameras are well insulated, thermally, from the cabin (see Page 2 infrared pics https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/camera-condensation.168472/page-2), so this does almost nothing, while potentially overheating the occupants. After 3-4 years, it is clear that Tesla is not interested in taking this design flaw seriously, and will only act if forced by safety regulators. This is an integral part of what Tesla has marketed as their cars being "safer than humans", and it's unable to cope with normal weather conditions (I live in Seattle, WA and routinely see this in temps as high as mid-50s to low-60s).

My Model 3 often breaks for no reason when using autopilot on freeways. Even though there is no vehicles around my car, the car "phantom brakes" often causing me to slow down extremely fast with no warning.

Periodically the driver side front brake will emit a squeal when travelling at low speeds. Reported to Tesla and they attributed the lack of braking as a contributory fault. They bevelled the brake pad and explained that this was normal behavior. However this did not fix the problem and it periodically reoccurs.

Car displayed a vehicle passenger harness safety fault that requested I contact Tesla service for an appointment. Received a repair estimate from Tesla identifying that they need to "install Occupant Classification (OCS) Filter Module" requiring part "Service Kit- OCS Rework (1479982-00-C) and saying the cost to me is $151.25. This isn't listed as a recall item but I don't believe this should be a owner issue to resolve.