2022 Tesla Model 3 Owner Complaints

While using TACC on a 2 lane road the system mistook a vehicle approaching in the opposing lane as a threat and braked hard. This could have easily caused a collision had someone been following closely.

12/9/2021

On at least five occasions since purchasing this car new on 12/07/21, the car, while on Autopilot (non-FSD), has suddenly and unexpectedly braked on clear roads. On each occasion, there were no vehicles in front of me nor any objects visible on or near the roadway. On two occasions, a car following me nearly collided with my car. All the incidents occurred AFTER camera calibration was completed. The car has 143 miles at this writing.

12/13/2021

On at least five occasions since purchasing this car new on 12/07/21, the car, while on Autopilot (non-FSD), has suddenly and unexpectedly braked on clear roads. On each occasion, there were no vehicles in front of me nor any objects visible on or near the roadway. On two occasions, a car following me nearly collided with my car. All the incidents occurred AFTER camera calibration was completed. The car has 143 miles at this writing.

12/13/2021

While driving on freeway at 75mph the car for unknown reasons applied braking and steering and brought the car down to 45mph before I could disengage the autopilot function. This has happened multiple times with just cruise control and both cruise control/steering. All instances happened for unknown reasons, sometimes on a 2 lane highway or multiple lane freeway with nobody around except behind me. I had a very difficult time controlling the car when this happens and the vehicle behind me had to slam on their brakes and swerve around me. This is a very scary and extremely dangerous issue. Issue has been reported to Tesla and awaiting fix.

12/13/2021

**Im well aware that Tesla's AutoPilot system is not autonomous** There is no 'dumb' cruise control option on Tesla Vehicles, only Traffic-aware-cruise-control (TACC). TACC is unusable, and quite frankly dangerous, on any single-lane divided road. Anytime a large vehicle, such as a semi or box truck, passes by in the opposite lane, my car abruptly and aggressively brakes while TACC is engaged. This poses a danger to myself and others behind me. Im filing this complaint in hopes that it will coerce Tesla to address this issue faster.

12/17/2021

Three incidents within 5 minutes of what Tesla owners call "phantom braking" whenever the car has cruise control on. For no predictable reason and no warning the car brakes suddenly and forcefully - could be shadows, reflected lights, oncoming traffic, who knows. It is a scary phenomenon and caused me to get in very dangerous situations - almost got rear ended at 60 mph. This is after owning the car for only 10 days. Called Tesla and they had no answer except to say that the car "will learn."

12/31/2021

On at least five occasions since purchasing this car new on 12/07/21, the car, while on Autopilot (non-FSD), has suddenly and unexpectedly braked on clear roads. On each occasion, there were no vehicles in front of me nor any objects visible on or near the roadway. On two occasions, a car following me nearly collided with my car. All the incidents occurred AFTER camera calibration was completed. The car has 143 miles at this writing.

12/13/2021

Three incidents within 5 minutes of what Tesla owners call "phantom braking" whenever the car has cruise control on. For no predictable reason and no warning the car brakes suddenly and forcefully - could be shadows, reflected lights, oncoming traffic, who knows. It is a scary phenomenon and caused me to get in very dangerous situations - almost got rear ended at 60 mph. This is after owning the car for only 10 days. Called Tesla and they had no answer except to say that the car "will learn."

12/31/2021

Forward collision avoidance system triggered 4 separate times in a 70 minute/60 mile drive on a stretch of highway and rural roads. The highway consists of 40 miles of divided and undivided highway, with up to 2 lanes per side. Occasionally, the undivided section has center turning lanes. Junctions and turnoffs are common. 3 incidents of forward collision detection automatic braking were triggered by semi trucks in the oncoming lanes on 1 lane per side undivided highway. The vehicle automatically applied the brakes, taking the vehicle from roughly 60mph to 30mph quickly during each instance. The trucks were not particularly close, nor were they appearing to leave their lane into mine. The 4th automatic braking incident occurred seemingly randomly on a rural, undivided 1 lane per side state road. All of these had the potential to cause an accident if I were being closely followed. All incidents occurred using the Autopilot cruise control feature. The auto steer lane keeping feature was activated for at least 1 of the 1st 3 events, but I do not recall which. In all of these instances, the vehicle did not perform any other evasive maneuvers. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th incidents were completely unexpected. The 3rd occurred during a particularly narrow, curvy section of undivided highway, which we were actively anticipating. Due to a configuration issue, the onboard dashcam was not functioning during these events and no video of these events was recorded. This vehicle is expected to go into the service center late December for this and other trim quality issues. Customer service indicated interest in these events and advised me to file bug reports when these occur. For issues with lane keeping, the autopilot auto steer feature regularly under-steered during most curves (narrow canyon driving) and often strayed closer to the lanes to the left of me than I would under my control.

12/4/2021

When on adaptive cruise control, random and sometimes severe automatic braking incidents occur when no obstacles exist in front of the car. It is as if the car is getting confused as towards what is ahead, and frequently applies the brakes as if it was going to crash into something. This is always unexpected, and requires driver intervention to correct/override.

12/26/2021

The heating system gave out on my 2022 TESLA Model 3 on the coldest day we've had here so far. -5F - Gave an error code on the screen VCFRONT_a447 - with message - Cabin climate control system requires service cabin heating / cooling limited or unavailable. - The problem has occurred to many people who have complained online in the facebook owners groups that I am a member of. Surprisingly the system is working again after it had some time to thaw out. It appears to be a design flaw with this heat pump system which should include a recall of sorts so that TESLA can retrofit some sort of heating or thawing element onto the valves that are icing over and preventing the HVAC system from working properly.

1/12/2022

Last night I plugged in the car (2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range) as I normally do and, via the Tesla app, scheduled the car cabin to be heated and the battery to be pre-conditioned by a specified time. When I entered the car at that time, the cabin had not heated up - the message on the display screen stated that the cabin heater was not functioning properly and that I should seek service. The temperature here in northern Wisconsin at the time of this incident was -13 F. Since I had planned to take a long trip across Michigan's Upper Peninsula this morning where there are few charging opportunities, and since I cannot assume that the battery pre-conditioned (which extends the range of the vehicle), if I had not aborted my trip I feel I could have been in a life-threatening situation due to extreme cold.

1/21/2022

Forward collision avoidance system triggered 4 separate times in a 70 minute/60 mile drive on a stretch of highway and rural roads. The highway consists of 40 miles of divided and undivided highway, with up to 2 lanes per side. Occasionally, the undivided section has center turning lanes. Junctions and turnoffs are common. 3 incidents of forward collision detection automatic braking were triggered by semi trucks in the oncoming lanes on 1 lane per side undivided highway. The vehicle automatically applied the brakes, taking the vehicle from roughly 60mph to 30mph quickly during each instance. The trucks were not particularly close, nor were they appearing to leave their lane into mine. The 4th automatic braking incident occurred seemingly randomly on a rural, undivided 1 lane per side state road. All of these had the potential to cause an accident if I were being closely followed. All incidents occurred using the Autopilot cruise control feature. The auto steer lane keeping feature was activated for at least 1 of the 1st 3 events, but I do not recall which. In all of these instances, the vehicle did not perform any other evasive maneuvers. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th incidents were completely unexpected. The 3rd occurred during a particularly narrow, curvy section of undivided highway, which we were actively anticipating. Due to a configuration issue, the onboard dashcam was not functioning during these events and no video of these events was recorded. This vehicle is expected to go into the service center late December for this and other trim quality issues. Customer service indicated interest in these events and advised me to file bug reports when these occur. For issues with lane keeping, the autopilot auto steer feature regularly under-steered during most curves (narrow canyon driving) and often strayed closer to the lanes to the left of me than I would under my control.

12/4/2021

Sunday, January 2nd, on the way back from Vegas back to Sacramento, on the highway with Lane assist driving, the car suddenly braked going from 70+ miles to almost a complete halt. I was able to steer it into the oncoming lane to avoid the pick up truck from hitting us from behind. The braking system again slowed the car down significantly a few more times on this trip and wee have not used this feature since. Car was bought on December 26th and we are fairly new owners of a Tesla.

2/2/2022

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the cruise control activated, the vehicle would independently brake with the Forward Collision Avoidance warning chime being audible. The contact stated that the failure would occur when oncoming large vehicles or as another vehicle in the opposite lane would drive past the vehicle. The contact called a service center where an appointment was made; however, the contact received an email that informed him that the appointment was cancelled. The contact was informed that an internal diagnostic was performed and that no defect was discovered. He was informed that over time the vehicle would adapt and improve its performance over time. The contact stated that the failure had persisted, and no improvement had been made. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 16. When travelling at 62mph with cruise control engaged, if a semi is oncoming in the other lane, the car will brake suddenly and slow by 30 plus mph in seconds.

12/6/2021

I was driving on a two lane road using auto pilot. I was going 55mph when all of a sudden my car slammed on the brakes down to 32mph as a school bus approached us. There was no reason to brake. The school bus never entered my lane. If a car had been following me closely I would have been rear ended for a system malfunction. Very scary.

2/3/2022

On trip from Grand Island NE to Pueblo CO on Colorado state Hwy 76 when driving at highway speeds the auto steer function repeatedly (at least 8 occurrences) invoked emergency braking for no apparent reason. This occurred during daylight hours, in brilliant sunshine, on clear and dry road conditions with no other vehicles in the vicinity, in both the right and left lane. In some cases the car would brake upon cresting a slight rise where the horizon is not visible until the vehicle is at the top of the rise. In another case there was highly reflective silver steel guard rails on both sides of the road. Also experienced phantom braking when there was identical signage on both sides of the road at about head height of a person. We also experienced occurrences on flat sections of road with no signage. The braking is unpredictable and severe enough to cause a rear end collision If a vehicle had been behind us during any of the events we experienced.

2/10/2022

Less than a month after I purchased my car, the whole diver's side headlight assembly stopped functioning, no blinker, no headlight, no running light. It's been over a month and Tesla keeps moving my service appointment to a later date. Tesla states it's a part issue, yet you continue to build cars with headlights ignoring current customers. I still have no working Headlight assembly.

2/14/2022

Power steering and full power to the vehicle failed - these failures can be seen upon requested inspection. Power steering failed during operation - meaning that while i was driving the vehicle i was not able to change the direction of travel at a high rate of speed. Then the vehicle came to a sudden stop, stranding the driver/passengers in the middle of the road which has a high speed limit. Since full power failed quickly afterward, hazard lights or other warning lights (brake lights) could not be activated. Emergency manual exits had to be used to exit the vehicle This problem has been reproduced in both Model 3 and Model Y and has been confirmed by a dealer service repair center. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer and the problem has been confirmed - a full steering console replacement is required due to electrical and hydraulic issues in the steering system and battery system. There was no message prior to the vehicle failure, the error is sudden and unexpected which makes it even more dangerous

2/14/2022

Power steering and full power to the vehicle failed - these failures can be seen upon requested inspection. Power steering failed during operation - meaning that while i was driving the vehicle i was not able to change the direction of travel at a high rate of speed. Then the vehicle came to a sudden stop, stranding the driver/passengers in the middle of the road which has a high speed limit. Since full power failed quickly afterward, hazard lights or other warning lights (brake lights) could not be activated. Emergency manual exits had to be used to exit the vehicle This problem has been reproduced in both Model 3 and Model Y and has been confirmed by a dealer service repair center. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer and the problem has been confirmed - a full steering console replacement is required due to electrical and hydraulic issues in the steering system and battery system. There was no message prior to the vehicle failure, the error is sudden and unexpected which makes it even more dangerous

2/14/2022

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently started braking with the cruise control was activated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the local dealer. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 1,500.

2/15/2022

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 55 MPH and using the automatic cruise control, the vehicle inadvertently slowed down with a larger vehicle approaching from the opposite lane. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated however, a warning alarm bell chimed and the vehicle decelerated to 20 MPH. The contact reported that after the larger vehicle went by, the vehicle resumed the pre-set cruising speed. The vehicle was not taken to the local dealer; however, several scheduled appointments with the techs at the dealer had been canceled. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and the contact was informed that the failure was a software issue known as Phantom Braking. The contact stated that the manufacturer recommended continued use of the cruise control in order to gather more data on the cause of the failure. The contact was concerned about the risk of a crash while using the feature. The failure mileage was approximately 200.

2/16/2022

Feb 14, 2022: 5:55 p.m. on cruise aka AP. Aggressive/phantom braked 31 mph to 0 in 1 sec heading west on Wildhorse Parkway between Caspian Spring and Buckskin Bend San Antonio 78254 with a car behind 3 lengths. 30 sec later control panel displays cruise control will not brake. Same day 724 p.m. set cruise to 39 mph braked very hard travelling northwest on Shaenfield Rd about 200 yards from McDonalds 8107 TX-Loop 1604 San Antonio TX 78254. Complete 17 sec video comments about cruise control brakes available. Unable to attach video. Feb 17 cruise or AP used twice at 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. No engagements with hard braking. Since ownership Feb 4-17 side repeater and back cameras indicate false distance of oncoming traffic making for unsafe condition and issue was raised with Tesla tech and he informed me since cameras are static, nothing they could do. Additionally, Feb 14, turn signal camera for blind spot detection did not come on during right turn signal but came on for left turn signal.

2/17/2022

When cruise is turned on the wipers turn on. This was their response. Hello Dominic, This is Ken from Tesla virtual service center. We have been getting some push back on the most recent update doing what you are saying regarding autopilot/autowipers. Our auto wipers and sensors with our windshields need improvement and is still in beta. I am not sure why the factory has decided to lock in the auto wipers function during autopilot for that reason on last months firmware update. Your comments along with others have been reported back to the factory to provide feedback to them on the problems you are facing as a customer. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to override this or turn it off. hopefully it will no longer be the case after the next update but a mobile tech coming out on the 19th will not be able to rectify this concern.

2/18/2022