2023 Tesla Model 3 Brakes Problems

Regen braking sporadically not working when going down mountain or steep roads. Sometimes they work and sometimes they won’t. This is after extensive driving on warm days while battery is between 70-80%. Support could not help me and they don’t have any technicians available. I’ve sent them videos and time stamps and they are ignoring the issue and unable to help due to lack of knowledgable representatives This is a serious safety concern

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle jerked hard with several alerts for the "Traction Control, ABS, Lane Departure feature displayed. Additionally, the Stability Control System was disabled, and the message “Brake Hold Unavailable” was displayed. The contact stated that the “Automatic Emergency Braking Unavailable" and an orange triangle with an exclamation light were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,380.

Three times while driving at low speed and attempting to reduce speed—even while pressing the brake pedal—my 2023 Tesla Model 3 unexpectedly accelerated. During the first incident, the Dynamics screen did not allow me to change the Deceleration Mode. After rebooting the touchscreen, the options reappeared briefly, but later that same day they became unavailable again. Incident Times: 2nd incident: September 3, 2025, at approximately 4:15 PM EST 3rd incident: September 4, 2025, at approximately 4:50 PM EST

Brake Feature Malfunction Vehicle Details: •Model: Tesla Model 3 •Year: 2023 (approximately 1 year old) •Mileage at Incident: ~11,000 miles Incident Description: On 10/29, while manually driving my Tesla Model 3 on a public roadway, I experienced a critical braking failure. As I approached a vehicle in front of me that was decelerating, I initiated regenerative braking, then immediately applied the brake pedal forcefully. Despite pressing the brake pedal hard multiple times, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected and ultimately collided with the vehicle ahead. Throughout this incident, no collision warning, automatic braking, or other safety features activated, despite having all safety features enabled. This failure significantly impacted my confidence in the vehicle’s braking and safety systems. After the accident, I reviewed the Tesla incident report, which shows I attempted to brake but that acceleration was not reduced until the collision occurred. Despite the report documenting my attempts to brake, the system did not function properly, suggesting a potential mechanical or software defect in the braking and/or safety alert systems. Aftermath: •My vehicle sustained considerable damage. •I now feel unsafe driving the vehicle, particularly on highways, as I am concerned the brake failure could recur. Request for Investigation: Given the severity of this issue, I am seeking an investigation to determine: 1.Whether there is a defect in Tesla Model 3 braking systems that could result in brake failure under normal driving conditions. 2.If there is an issue with the vehicle’s safety features failing to activate appropriately. This incident has raised significant concerns regarding my safety and that of other drivers, especially given the car’s relatively new condition and low mileage. I would appreciate a prompt investigation into these safety concerns.

With the TACC system activated when traveling on a 2-lane road with a right-hand curve, if there is a semi-truck in the opposing lane, the emergency braking engages with a hard brake application. It can be overridden with accelerator pedal, but it endangers the car from collision with a following vehicle. There have been multiple incidents. I attempted to report the condition to Tesla customer support.

Vehicle was in cruise control, and cruise control did not deactivate causing the vehicle to propel into a building, causing airbag deployment. Safety sensors of car failed to recognize building, other vehicles, and obstructions as required.

On [XXX], I was driving my Tesla model 3 from California to my new home in Idaho as part of my move there. During the day, I had 6 or 7 situations where the car would suddenly go into full regenerative braking, or outright apply the brakes for no apparent reason. Most of these events took place of freeways at freeways speeds, or on highways (not freeways) at the local speed limit. Every situation was when I had supervised self drive or traffic aware cruise control enabled. These situations were extremely startling and in my opinion potentially dangerous. I don't want to imagine what might have happened if one of these "phantom braking" events had occurred with a heavy 18 wheeler behind me in traffic. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I was driving behind someone when a suv came over from left lane into the right lane in front of the cars that were in Front of me and made a sudden turn into a business. I was already applying the brake and was the 3 second rule behind the car in front of me, however the car did not stop as I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could. There have been other times that the car will automatically slammed brakes on because it feels that it need to…when it’s not necessary at all. But the other day when I needed the brakes to help me stop abruptly…they failed to do so. I hit the car in front of me and was cited as well. If I had been going faster..this could have been way worse. This definitely needs to be evaluated on Teslas. I have a dahcam video that I’m unable to upload.

I was turning into a parking garage when my car suddenly slammed on the brakes very hard to a sudden stop. Like there was an imagined hazard. I did not have the car on auto Drive as I do not trust the technology, but Tesla had just offered everyone full self driving automation that month. I did not elect to use that, but I feel that technology had something to do with this. Not only the incident scary. The stop was so hard. I was in pain after.

My Auto Hold feature will intermittently malfunction. Although there's electronic (car's log) and I have pictures, Tesla service center is advising this is not a "serious" problem, I should pick up the car and re-create the error message and then return the car

Autosteer was engaged while approaching Weatherford, OK on I40 - Sporadically, the vehicle slammed on the brakes, even though nothing was in front of me, and nothing was behind. The vehicle dropped in speed by almost 20 mph.

As I was approaching my off ramp (which has a very tight turn), my automatic brakes failed which caused me to slam onto the brakes, and skid into one of the off ramp signs. All 3 of my children were in the back, the back driver side window shattered, I lost my driver side mirror, and there was damage done to the back door and wheel well (all on the driver's side). Although the damage looked minimal, no one was willing to work on the vehicle and I was strongly encouraged by my insurance company to claim it as a total loss. Granted, I had this vehicle for approximately 2 months, and had put at least $4,000 into it.

While driving with cruse controll, auto pilot, or adaptive cruise control my vehicle brakes suddenly without warning and without any reason or danger. This has happened many times. Today on the I8 traveling from Yuma az to Surpirse AZ the car braked around 15-20 times with out reason. I held the tesla car symbol on the screen to report the problem.

When on a recent trip from Salt Lake City to Denver Via I 15 to hwy 6 and on I 70 When it was in cruse control and also auto pilot the car would on it's own brake. Some of the time it would brake very harshly others it would not be so violet ,but would certainly be some thing that could cause a very bad accident. The only solution Tesla service would offer was to go on a test drive to see it happen. This could take posably many miles, and then said they did not have a solution.

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 July 18th around, 7:00PM, the location is 1688 Hostetter Road Pacific, Rim Lane, San Jose, CA 95131. when I parked my car, and the car almost stop, the car suddenly unintended accelerated and hit another car. the car I used Creep mode, not Hold mode. I definitely sure my foot on the break.

While in cruise control vehicle will brake hard as if it detects something in front but there’s really a clear road.

I have had this car for 6 months. Three times within the past month sudden braking (phantom braking) occurred while driving on the high way with cruise control engaged. The car slowed from 70miles/hour to 35-40 miles/hour without warning on a clear day on a clear road. Then the car picked up speed. The cars in the front and the rear were far away to cause any incident. This happens in a random fashion and cannot be reproduced.

On several occasions ( 8 or 10 times) while driving at highway speeds, with little traffic, on an extended trip, the vehicle suddenly applied the brakes for no apparent reason. I have learned that this is called "phantom braking". On one such occasion, I narrowly avoided being struck from behind by another vehicle following me by applying the accelerator. I have not yet reported this problem to Tesla, but intend to.

Phantom braking. Traveling highway 5 Southbound between Red Bluff, CA and WIliams, CA at 70 mph, the vehicle suddenly and firmly applied brakes as if attempting to avoid a collision with an obstacle closely ahead. The braking force was enough to activate the seatbelt restraint. There was no traffic for at least a 1/4 mile ahead and behind and no obstacle. I managed to flip the ACC lever up to disable it during the braking but felt that I was losing control of the vehicle. After ACC was disabled normal operation ensued. Speculation: The incident occurred mid-May and the area is agricultural and therefore teeming with bugs that collect on the front of the car. The forward camera may have been hit by a bug and the visual recognition system may have mistaken the bug for a large obstacle.