There are 5 stored owner reports matching the driver assist & adas leading-label group for the 2017 Tesla Model 3 in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 5 of 5 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)Within a week of posting a complaint here about phantom braking while in autopilot, my autopilot was disabled. Does the NHTSA share VIN numbers with the manufacturer? Because that sure felt like retaliation by Tesla
The vehicle frequently applies emergency braking when approaching overpasses at night while driving on highways at night at normal speeds. This happens about once per 100 miles or so.
Many phantom braking incidents both on autopilot and in adaptive cruise control mode result in surprising (and frightening) sudden braking for no reason. In high traffic conditions, this could lead to a possible rear-end collision. The adaptive cruise control has become so unstable in the last few months we will not use it. As this is a mature feature that used to work nearly flawlessly this is very frustrating to go backwards with an update.
SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASING THE CAR IT RECEIVED A SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD CALLED EMERGENCY LANE DEPARTURE AVOIDANCE WHICH IS TESLA'S FANCY NAME FOR A LANE DEPARTURE WARNING SYSTEM. I HAVE TAKEN THE CAR INTO THEIR SERVICE CENTERS 3 TIMES TO HAVE IT REPAIRED BECAUSE IT ONLY WORKS <50% OF THE TIME - NEVER WORKS DURING RAIN, SHADOWS ON THE ROAD, AND VARIOUS OTHER NORMAL ROAD & WEATHER CONDITIONS. EACH TIME I GET THE CAR BACK FROM THE SERVICE CENTERS I'M INFORMED THAT THAT SYSTEM IS WORKING NORMALLY. IN LATE JUNE OF 2020 I PURCHASED THEIR BASIC AUTO-PILOT SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR $2,170 WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF BOTH LANE KEEPING ASSISTANCE (TESLA'S SELF STEERING) AND ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (TESLA'S TRAFFIC & ROAD AWARE CRUISE CONTROL). THIS SOFTWARE HAS HAD "GLITCHES" AND MALFUNCTIONS EVER SINCE THE PURCHASE. I CONTACTED MARIE MOORE (ASSISTANT MANAGER AT TESLA'S BELLEVUE, WA) ABOUT THE ISSUES AND I WAS TOLD THAT THIS SOFTWARE WAS A "SELF LEANING" TYPE AND WOULD IMPROVE WITH USE. THE FIRST ISSUE WAS THE WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY WITH AUTO-PILOT ENGAGED THE CAR WOULD VEER RIGHT A FEW TO SEVERAL FEET TOWARD MOST ON & OFF RAMPS UN-NERVING MYSELF & PASSENGERS AS WELL AS GETTING CLOSE TRAFFIC UPSET ENOUGH THAT I WOULD GET HONKED AT OR WORSE. IT GRADUALLY GOT BETTER SO THAT IT WOULD ONLY VEER RIGHT SIGNIFICANTLY LESS. HOWEVER ON 4/19 MY CAR RECEIVED A NEW SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD THAT STATED IT WOULD IMPROVE THE AUTO-PILOT & COLD WEATHER PERFORMANCE. I DROVE THE CAR ON A 140 MILE FREEWAY TRIP ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT THE CAR WOULD RADICALLY VEER RIGHT ON ~90% OF ALL ON RAMPS! TWICE IT NEARLY JERKED THE STEERING WHEEL FROM MY GRIP AND ATTEMPTED TO STEER COMPLETELY OFF THE FREEWAY & ONTO THE ON RAMP. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT AT THE LYNNWOOD, WA SERVICE CENTER ON 4/26 AND WAS TOLD ONCE AGAIN THAT THE CAR WAS PERFORMING NORMALLY & THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO; & SAME WITH CRUISE CONTROL ISSUES
The Autopilot system on my vehicle malfunctioned, leading to the vehicle colliding into a stationary road barrier at highway speeds. The vehicle sustained severe damage as a result of the collision and was no longer operable.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.