There are 9 owner-reported tires & wheels complaints for the 2018 Tesla Model 3in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
1.The component that failed is the load index rating and both inner and outer sidewalls of the tire. Yes, the tires are available for inspection, they are off the car and stored in my garage. 2. I believe the safety of others and my self were at risk, I went for a tire rotation and saw the damage and asked the shop if tires were good and they said its good. Later my father points out this will kill me, so I went back and they offered the replacement warranty with that "tire is free and clear of all liens" claim. :( I refused to sign after reading and bought new tires at tesla and kept the old ones in storage. Also would like to note there website has a gap on warranty manual year after January 1, 2021 to before January 1, 2024 so I'm assuming the newest one is in play. Overall, the safety of others mainly heavy cars like Tesla's are involved. Also the local manger spilled to me that these tires are on Hertz and Enterprise cars, but they might be lighter/cheaper versions then mine. 3. Yes, tesla Tech in Libertyville IL informed me this is a problem and to read my user manual and double check the load index rating. All of which check out correct and don't sound any alarms. 4. no, only firestone and Tesla inspected the tires. 5. No, no warnings besides the cracks forming and getting bigger in the cold weather. Only visual inspection or leak might warn others, but I fear the leak is too late unless parked. Tire size: "235/45R18 94W M+S" from the actual tire. Now that I'm looking at it they are missing the 'P' for passenger.
Tesla Model 3 Performance (M3P) comes with unrealistic "thin" wall tires on 20" wheels that easily POP when they hit potholes, nails, gutters, median divides, gashes in the road, etc. American roads are poorly maintained if at all by transportation departments. Only thick walled tires are suitable for roads. Tesla Model 3 LR (Long Range) and SR (Standard Range) comes with 18" wheels and tires, giving it 2 inches more of padding for both a smoother ride and fewer replacements. Each tire on my M3P costs $400-$500 to replace! That's around $2,000 for a set of four tires! Whereas 18 inch tires are more common and cost about half of that, about $200 per tire, $800 for a set. The remedy here is at least 19 inch wheel and tire replacements as a recall provided for free by Tesla to provide more padding and fewer tire replacements to deal with typical crappy roads.
I was parallel parking the vehicle and I heard a loud "thunk" sound. I looked under chassis and came to learn that arm connected to wheel had completely fallen off. Luckily, this was not on freeway or with my family. Vehicle was taken to Tesla for inspection, they mentioned this should NOT have happened and they couldn't explain for how this would have been undone, initially. They stated they'd replace both arms but would be fee on customer $1200+ which I was bewildered that not only is this part not supposed to easily come off but that this would be something I needed to pay for. I asked that they take this up with management, they came back 20min later to state they notice slight deterioration and sent me an image, which I could barely see and now explained this "could" have been the cause. I've had some folks share that this may be a known issue with 2018 Model 3, which is also same year my vehicle was made it. I'm really disappointed as this is our second Tesla and this has been first huge incident and luckily it wasn't with others inside, as this could have turned out very differently
Hit a rock and the wheel cracked open circumferentially between the rims. The tire did not pop nor did the edge of the wheel rim get damaged. The rock did not damage the front valance so the rock was less than 6”.
WE HAVE A 2018 TESLA MODEL 3, PURCHASED NEW IN LATE JULY 2018, WHICH CURRENTLY HAS ABOUT 32,000 MILES. WE HAVE NOW HAD 8 FLAT TIRES IN THE SPAN OF 26 MONTHS OR ON AVERAGE ONE EVERY 4,000 MILES, ALL BY PUNCTURE. WE LIVE AND DRIVE IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. OUR OTHER VEHICLES HAVE GONE 10+ YEARS WITHOUT A FLAT TIRE SO THE TESLA FLAT TIRES ARE NOT DUE TO THE AREA WE LIVE IN.. ON OUR TESLA WE HAVE HAD TO REPLACE 7 TIRES, 5 WITH ASSISTANCE FROM MICHELIN AT A TOTAL OUT OF POCKET COST OF ABOUT $2,000. PLUS MUCH TIME, PAIN AND SUFFERING. THE FLAT TIRE ISSUE IS AN OBVIOUS DESIGN FLAW AS TESLA SPECS AND DELIVERS THE CAR WITH MICHELIN 235/45R18XL 98W MIC PRIMACY TIRES THAT ARE PRONE TO PUNCTURE DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE, THE LOW PROFILE SOFT RUBBER TIRE AND THE CAR DOES NOT COME WITH A SPARE TIRE. WE HAVE TALKED AT LENGTH WITH TESLA SERVICE AND THEY ADMIT THAT THE CAR IS A 'FLAT TIRE MAGNET' AS IT IS ONE OF THE HEAVIEST VEHICLES ON THE ROAD, THE LOW PROFILE PERFORMANCE TIRES ARE PUNCTURE PRONE AND FLAT TIRES ARE THE MOST COMMON REPAIR. WE HAVE BEEN STRANDED SEVERAL TIMES DUE TO GETTING A FLAT IN AN AREA WITH POOR CELL PHONE COVERAGE, WHICH MEANS YOU ARE BASICALLY HITCH HIKING. ON 2 OCCASIONS WE WERE ON A FREEWAY IN THE FAST OR SECOND LANE WHEN THE PUNCTURE OCCURRED AND THE VEHICLE AUTOMATICALLY SLOWED DOWN WITH ALARMS SCREECHING FORCING DRIVERS BEHIND US TO PASS ON THE RIGHT PRECLUDING US FROM PULLING OVER FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, WHICH DESTROYED THE FLAT TIRE, REQUIRING REPLACEMENT. THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND LEFT MY WIFE AND I TERRIFIED. WE NO LONGER TRUST THE VEHICLE FOR TRIPS OUTSIDE OF OUR IMMEDIATE AREA.
THIRD PARTY PRODUCT CALLED AN ALLOY GATOR (HTTPS://ALLOYGATOR.COM/US/) WHICH IS SOLD BY ALLOY GATOR NORTH AMERICA (US OFFICE 9035 DEARBORN AVE, BLAINE, WA 90238) TEL 1=855=534-2867 PARTIALLY DETACHED FROM MY WHEEL WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY, BEGAN FLYING AROUND, AND SMACKED INTO MY PASSENGER SIDE REAR DOOR, REAR QUARTER PANEL AND REAR BUMPER. IT THEN SNAPPED OFF AND SHOT AWAY FROM THE VEHICLE LIKE A HIGH SPEED PROJECTILE. THE PRODUCT CONTAINS NO WARNINGS ABOUT THE RISK OF THIS HAPPENING, SEEMS TO BE DEFECTIVELY DESIGNED, AND IT COULD VERY WELL HAVE HURT A PERSON OR PROPERTY WHEN IT SNAPPED OFF AT HIGH SPEED. THE PRODUCT IS UNSAFE AND SHOULD NOT BE PERMITTED TO BE SOLD IN THE U.S. ATTACHING PICTURES OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED AS WELL AS A PHOTO OF THE REMAINING PART OF THE ALLOY GATOR AS IT APPEARED ON MY WHEEL AFTER THE DAMAGE WAS DONE.
HERE IS A MODEL 3 IN THE JUNKYARD. HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/25836110/PHOTOS THE CAST METAL HUB ASSEMBLY ON THE FRONT RH SIDE HAS SHATTERED CAUSING THE WHEEL TO FALL OFF. THIS WAS NOT THE RESULT OF A CRASH, NO AIR-BAGS HAVE DEPLOYED AND THERE IS ALMOST NO DAMAGE TO THE BODYWORK. THIS CRACKED HUB IS INDICATIVE OF BAD QUALITY CASTING AND QUALITY CONTROL. IT IS UNLIKELY TO BE THE ONLY SUCH CASE. THE CULTURE OF INTIMIDATION AT TESLA IN WHICH IT IS REPORTED THAT DARING TO MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH LORD ELON WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE DISMISSAL MEANS THAT THESE FAILURES ARE NEVER REPORTED. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. KEEF WIVANEFF
HELLO- I WAS TRYING TO PARK MY VEHICLE IN A PARKING SPOT IN SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA WHEN THE CAR AUTOMATICALLY ACCELERATED AND HIT ANOTHER CAR. IT THEN IMMEDIATELY HAD A FLAT TIRE. I DID NOT HIT THE WRONG PEDAL NOR WAS I ACCELERATING IT. IT WAS QUITE DANGEROUS. IT CAME TO A HALT AFTER HITTING ANOTHER CAR. BOTH THE CARS WERE DAMAGED.PRIOR TO THAT WE HAD DIFFICULTY TRYING TO CONNECT TO THE CAR USING THE APP ON THE PHONE BUT THOUGHT IT COULD HAVE BEEN DUE TO AN APP ERROR. NOT SURE IF IT WAS CORRELATED. THIS EVENT HAPPENED ON SEP 24. TESLA ADVISED ME TO TOW THE CAR TO THE SERVICE CENTER. SINCE THEN MY CAR HAS BEEN WITH TESLA SERVICE. THEY HAVE NOT GIVEN US ANY UPDATES ABOUT THE DIAGNOSTICS AND KEEP TELLING US TO TAKE THE CAR BACK. THEY HAVE CLEARED TO DRIVE THE CAR FOR 20 MILES. MY CAR WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED. I REQUEST YOU TO HELP. THIS IS QUITE SERIOUS FOR THE SAFETY OF EVERYONE. WHILE I AM WILLING TO ACCEPT IF TESLA PROVES BEYOND A DOUBT THAT IT WAS MY ERROR, I AM QUITE CONFIDENT THAT IT DID IT AUTOMATICALLY. I AM ALSO CONCERNED THAT TESLA HAS NOT GIVEN US ANY UPDATE FOR THE LAST 3 WEEKS AND HAVE NOT PROVIDED US WITH ANY DETAILS OF WHAT THE COURSE OF ACTION IS BEYOND ASKING US TO TAKE THE CAR BACK AND CLEARING IT TO DRIVE FOR 20 MILES. I HAVE 2 KIDS AND WANT A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION FOR THE SAFETY OF EVERYONE INVOLVED. PLEASE HELP.
BRAND NEW VEHICLE WITH 2 TIRES HAVING SIDE WALL BUBBLES. NO ROUGH DRIVING . SEEMS TO BE AN INNER TIRE PROBLEM. MAYBE A DEFECT .CONTINENTAL BRAND TIRES.
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.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026