NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2022 Tesla Model 3. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle stopped independently and without warning. An unknown dealer was contacted and made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.
When using the autosteer function and also the adaptive cruise control, the vehicle seems to have a phantom braking issue. The car will apply brakes in an aggressive manner when the vehicle is faced with oncoming traffic in the opposite lane headed the other direction on a 2 lane road. This seems to occur when a large truck such as UPS or semi tractor trailer is approaching in the other lane headed the other direction - the vehicle seems to recognize that as an imminent forward collision and begins to aggressively brake the vehicle, which could cause a following vehicle to rear end me. This has happened on several occasions with varying degrees or severity (how hard it applies the breaks)
Phantom braking on highways, multiple times on full self driving (auto pilot)
Took delivery of 2022 Tesla Model 3 on Wednesday February 16, 2022. 3 incidents since taking delivery when autopilot adaptive cruise control is engaged and car randomly slams on brakes. 2 incidents with no known hazard in view of direction of travel and the other when approaching oncoming traffic driving in opposite lane. No indication (such as beeping on normal lane departure) that the vehicle was going to engage automatic braking.
Just bought the in November and I experienced the phantom braking few times on the street without cruse control active and also on the freeway with and without autopilot on, on the street almost got rear ended.
Car will brake for no reason at all. Hazardous for any cars behind the vehicle when it randomly brakes.
Multiple Phantom Braking incidences Nearly rear ended Have reported to Tesla on several occasions. First time reported Tesla replied back that the problem has be remotely solved. Not at all. Have experienced Phantom Braking many time since. Manufacturer has repeatedly replied with “our engineers are working on it”. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. Been happening for several months
Sudden unexplained braking while in cruise control on an interstate. Unexplained very, very loud warning alerts out of the blue. Usually happening when there was a an adjacent white truck in daylight conditions.
When driving on two lane roads using adaptive cruise control, the car will often decelerate or brake suddenly when there is oncoming traffic or lighting conditions change. There is no warning when this happens. I recently made a 200 mile trip and this occurred at least 15 times during the drive. I felt unsafe especially when there was a vehicle behind me.
When I drive this car in cruise control, I never know when it will suddenly brake without warning, trying to bring the car to a stop whether I am going 65 or 30 mph. It will see a shadow in the road, a pedestrian on a sidewalk, an oil spot on the pavement, and will abruptly throw the car and me into rapid deceleration. If it is sees a car in the oncoming lane, driving appropriately in its own lane, my car in the opposite lane will suddenly brake like I am about to have an accident. It will brake if it sees a vehicle coming around a bend in the opposite lane. Not only is my vehicle's braking uncomfortable and alarming, it is exceedingly dangerous. On urban and semi-urban highways, multiple times someone has almost rear-ended my car. Only because I was hyper-alert to the situation was an accident averted. I am an excellent and conscientious driver, with both hands on the wheel, not using my phone. I am not using the "self-driving" mode and never have. It is an option I paid $10K for but have never used. My main concern is for the safety of my current vehicle and for the other cars on the highway around me.
I was driving on the highway on autopilot, I had my vehicle traveling at around 75mph when suddenly it slowed down abruptly all the way down to 58 for no reason at all. There were no cars behind or around me. Phantom braking is a real thing.
The automatic emergency braking system activated for no reason while driving northbound at night in the right lane on MA Route 24 as I approached the intersection with MA Route 79. At the time of the incident, there were no vehicles in front of me, nor were there any vehicles entering from Route 79. The adaptive cruise control system was engaged at the time of the incident. This has happened on several occasions at that same intersection under the same conditions. It has also happened when I've been driving in the left lane on the highway and passing a tractor-trailer in the right lane. The sudden, unexpected deceleration put us in danger of being rear-ended by traffice behind us, creating the possibility of a multi-vehicle, high speed collision. The problem hasn't been reproduced or confirmed by the mfr, police or others. The vehicle has not been inspected by the mfr, police, or others. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
Phantom braking on open roads. Occurrences: Twice on February 16, 2022 Twice on February 17, 2022
When using cruise control or Autopilot the car will all of a sudden slam on the brakes. This has the potential of being rear ended by the car behind me. This is usually when a larger truck is approaching in the on coming lane and I suspect the Tesla thinks it is about to hit it. This happens so often that I cannot even use the cruise control feature.
When driving on highway with “autopilot” engaged…. Vehicle brakes for no apparent reason at random times. Super dangerous especially if someone is following you. Vehicle brakes hard and is not safe
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would independently downshift while in cruise control while passing semi-trucks driving in the opposite direction of traffic. The contact stated that while driving to work on one occasion, the failure occurred fourteen times. The contact stated that there was a beeping sound coming from the vehicle during the failure. The contact had called a service center where he was informed that the failure was normal vehicle operation. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 0.
I was traveling northbound on a two lane highway with a speed limit of 55mph. I was traveling 60mph with Tesla autopilot to include autosteer engaged, it was light outside and partly cloudy. A tractor trailer approached traveling southbound in the opposite direction, my vehicle immediately slammed on the brakes, dropped speed to under 25mph, and the forward collision warning chimes and alerts on the screen started. It should be noted I was well within my lane of travel going northbound; the tractor trailer was also well within its lane traveling southbound. At no point did my vehicle or the tractor trailer veer towards each other, and at no point was there ever a chance of our vehicles colliding. This happened a total of two times, both times the circumstances were identical involving tractor trailers.
On a two lane road doing 60 mph, with vehicle on cruise control, it slowed rapidly to about 30 mph all on its own. When I say rapidly like right now-I was afraid the vehicle behind me would not be able to stop. Then accelerated back to the set speed. NO WARNING…..this problem is easy to duplicate. As of now I cannot use cruise control too dangerous.
My car suddenly braked for no reason. I was at risk of a rear-end collision. I called Tesla and they instructed me to reboot my computer. They said an engineer would review the computer records and get back to me. No follow-up has happened yet. No, the vehicle has not been inspected. Before the incident, I heard a warning signal.
This issue happens only on one side of an highway (I-76E), otherwise I have not noticed it elsewhere. When using cruise control or autopilot, the vehicle changes the max speed from like 65 to 45 or 50 mph (in 65 mph highway). It happens in 4/5 places on the highway where it reduces the speed of the car abruptly. This may cause rear ending of the vehicle if there is a closely following vehicle.
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.
I own a 2022 Tesla model 3 I am having issues with the Problem known as Phantom Braking which occurs while driving in cruise control. This happens somewhat randomly but especially when the road takes a curve, or when a large vehicle comes in the opposite direction. For example, if going 60 mph, it brakes immediately to 30 mph, and if going 30 mph, it brakes fast to 15 mph. This results in groceries sliding forward and seat belts being activated, not to mention the car behind having to brake to avoid a collision. The Tesla service department says there is no fix for it, it is just part of the current full self driving package.
When using auto pilot or adaptive speed control the vehicle seems to see shadows or things that aren't there and brakes hard. It's happened several times and fortunately no accidents have occurred.
When putting the car into reverse, the rear camera comes on, while reversing pulling up the climate controls to turn on heated steering wheel, after exiting the climate control screen (while still reversing) the camera doesn’t come back on automatically… there is risk for crash
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
While using adaptive cruise control, the car would often brake for no reason. This seemed to mostly occur when going over the crest of a hill.
When using auto pilot (adaptive cruise control), the car randomly slams on its brakes on its own, specifically when near semi trucks.
The vehicle suddenly brakes quite significantly and without warning periodically when cruise control or automatic steering is in place. It happens most often on two lane roads when a truck or a vehicle with headlights on approaches in oncoming traffic. There is no warning and it is so startling that it causes the driver to overcorrect or worry that the car will completely stop with traffic moving behind us. It is totally unpredictable and unanticipated. Once the vehicle has passed, it rapidly resumes speed. It feels as if the car has total control, not the driver. I have not notified Tesla, but plan to. Very dangerous and unnerving.
This is my third report for the same phantom braking issue I drove approximately 250 miles today and had three episodes one while passing a 18 wheeler he was on the right and fully in his own lane it braked forcefully. And two episodes with no objects or any explanations why it applied the brakes hard while traveling at 78 mph once with a car following witch caused me great concern. Side note I gave up using it on two lane undivided roads any oncoming large truck or RV triggers braking.
Have had several phantom braking espisodes when driving with cruise control on both at 45 mph. It brakes by itself and there is nothing in front of me that would of caused this
Phantom Braking. Yes my safety and the safety of cars behind me were put at risk by the sudden braking. I have not contacted the dealer yet. There was no warning prior to the issues occurring. I sure wish I'd known about phantom braking before I set off on a road trip across I-70 recently. Very dangerous indeed. I drove my 2022 Model 3 from Denver to KC round trip last weekend and phantom braking occurred about 30-40 times total. I was using TACC cruise control and going about 75 MPH during these times. I didn't want to turn off TACC cruise control because the roads were straight and it was a 9 hour drive, but I did drive with my toe on the accelerator to be safe and was always on guard, especially when cars were directly behind me. It would suddenly brake when the pavement texture changed, under an overpass shadow, after a bridge and randomly when I had no idea it would occur. I was afraid of getting rear-ended and it made for a pretty tense trip. I sure hope it gets fixed or I won't be taking it on extended road trips. It would be a shame to not be able to safely use cruise control. Also, makes me aware of other Tesla's out there that might phantom brake as well so we need to be careful. Unacceptable and dangerous.
Hello. My name is [XXX] and I need to speak to someone from Tesla or somewhere about the horrible customer service and service that I have received by the Tesla dealership in Littleton Colorado who the supervisor is [XXX]. I refuse to pick up my car because I am very concerned about the consistent safety issues that I have been experiencing that have not been addressed after four times bringing my car in and Dwayne told me that this will not go past him in refused to give me anybody else’s number who is in charge of him or the dealership or the district or the region or anything. Can somebody who is in charge of either the dealership or higher up than the manager at the dealership in Littleton please give me a call Or anyone who deals with safety concerns with vehicles that are not being addressed by the dealership. I am currently using a loaner right now and feel unsafe to bring that back in until I get a phone call from someone higher up in this company. I have never been more disappointed in a car company ever in the service that I have received. I have plenty of documentation as well to show that they refused to fix anything and consistently blame me for all of the issues that are going on with this car. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Car randomly auto braked at night while on cruise control (45 mph). Car turning across traffic was roughly 200 feet away and well out of potential collision range. Also, car won't auto break when there is an actual obstacle in front. Could drive the car into a wall (believe me, I've verified this).
The autopilot applies the brakes when there is no obstacle in front of the car. One example - I was driving @ 60 mph on an entrance ramp from I-10 to SH 99 with the cruise control engaged but not the full autopilot (no lane keeping assist). There was a spot in the highway approximately 50 yards ahead where there was a slight dip and oil and lubricants had made a dark spot on the roadway approximately the size of a small car. Without any input from me the car slowed quickly from 60 to @ 30 mph. Fortunately no one was close behind me. Another example - I was driving @ 70 mph on SH 99 with the autopilot engaged. As we approached a gentle left hand turn the system apparently picked up the concrete guardrail as an obstacle and braked the car from 70 mph to @ 40 mph. As the autopilot continued the turn and maintained the lane the car sped back up to 70 mph. No one was behind me but there were cars in the lanes next to me that reacted when my car slowed down and sped up. My car is a 2022 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Long Range. It does not have the full self driving option.
On my daily commute to work on the interstate while in cruise control the car will slam on the brakes fro no apparent reason. This abruptly takes my car from 70 mph to 40. Happens multiple times in cruise control every day.
The auto emergency braking consistently brakes for no apparent reason while using adaptive cruise control or autopilot. The Tesla Model 3 will consistently slow and brake while passing a semi or larger vehicle while myself and the vehicle I am passing are both within our lanes with no abnormalities. This "phantom braking" is the worst on a two way (one lane each direction) highway at night. It was so bad I could not use and trust the autopilot/cruise system because it was more unsafe to use it than to just turn if off. I feared that I would get rear ended or it could aggressively brake in a corner causing me to loose traction. I also had the vehicle brake with no vehicle approaching and no one behind. It just randomly applied the brakes and the collision warning went off. Literally nothing in front or behind me on a two lane highway (one lane in each direction). My cameras were clean
Multiple times while driving using adaptive cruise control while approaching a semi(both oncoming and overtaking) the car will slam on the brakes(phantom braking).
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.
The vehicle when autopilot is engaged, sometimes when passing large vehicle like a semi truck or for no reason the vehicle will slam on the breaks, sounds warnings for forward collision. Could cause an accident if traffic around is paying attention or a road rage incident. Phantom Braking it's mostly called
The car brakes by itself. It seems to happen when there is an oncoming car in the opposite lane. The car slows down; it does not come to a complete stop but it is obviously dangerous enough that I will not use the cruise control
I was driving on the highway with cruise control activated at 60mph. The vehicle randomly broke and slowed. No other car was on site and no other person or object was around us. This has happened several times. This random braking on cruise control. This is dangerous. Please help with this issue and let me know what the next steps are. Thanks.
While using “Traffic-Aware Cruise Control” the car regularly sounds an alert and breaks rapidly in preparation for a forward collision despite no such danger existing. Most often this occurs on a two-lane highway when a large van or semi-truck is traveling in the opposite direction; in its own lane, nonetheless. This feature is marked as “beta” but there is no standard cruise control option. This issue can be easily reproduced and happens multiple times on any given day when said circumstances exist. Tesla service advisors have told me the only fix is to not use the feature. I am scared the sudden breaking may cause whiplash, a rear end collision, or other danger presented by sudden unnecessary breaking. When using the additional Autopilot feature, “Autosteer,” the incidents seem to happen even more frequently and invoke a slight swerve right - away from the vehicle in question. This could make it even harder to recover from the phantom breaking event.
While using adaptive cruise control or the autopilot systems, the car will unexpectedly brake very hard (dropping speed anywhere from 5-20 mph). This can cause a safety issue due to other cars behind that aren’t prepared for a car to randomly hit the brakes and drop up to 20mph quickly. The problem is easily reproducible by using the systems while driving anywhere. Complaints and requests to the manufacturer have gone unfixed and brushed off as not a concern. This happens every single time I use cruise control, not just the date I had to select for the incident.
I would like to add my voice to those complaining about the phantom braking problem in recentlly built Teslas. On more than one occasion, the car has slammed on the brakes, in broad daylight with good visibility, FOR NO GOOD REASON. At the very least, Tesla should be compelled to add plain-vanilla cruise control that permits the driver to switch off any traffic-aware assistance features. This problem is ongoing and occurs nearly every time I attempt to use the traffic-aware cruise control. The problem makes this feature too dangerous to use.
Freeway driving on a clear day in low traffic on a straight road using Tesla’s TACC adaptive cruise control the car abruptly slowed from 73 mph to @ 50 mph with no vehicle in front of my car. This was a very brief deceleration. The braking released after @ two seconds and the car returned to the set max speed (73 mph).
On a four-lane divided highway and again on a two-lane road my Tesla 3 long range AWD phantom braked for no apparent reason several times over a 145 mile trip while on cruise control and/or on auto pilot . On the two-lane portion of the trip I assumed the braking occurred because of shadows on the road. On the four-lane highway it braked for no reason. If someone had been closely following me, I am sure a serious collision would have occurred. I will not use either cruise control or autopilot until a fix is made. This Tesla on cruise control makes for a dangerous driving situation.
I have experienced multiple situations where my 2022 Tesla Model 3 has issues with the automatic emergency braking feature, which causes the car to slam on the brakes unnecessarily while operating in the autopilot mode. Generally, I've seen this the most on 2 lane roads, especially when large vehicles (semi trucks, etc) are in the opposing lane. In some cases, the car will brake when there are no cars in the opposing lane. My concern is that the cars traveling behind me may not have the reaction time to brake, due to not expecting my car to brake in front of them.
While driving on the interstate with the adaptive cruise control engaged I’ve now had four incidents where I’ve had to over-ride the system because the car mysteriously slammed on the brakes attempting to stop the car when no threats were apparent. These were frightening and dangerous events. I’ve had several cars with adaptive cruise and never experienced this type of un-provoked emergency braking. The for situations were as follows: 1) The road gently curving to the right while I was in the second to far left lane and there was a concrete barrier left of the far left lane divining the opposing lanes. The car apparently mistook the barrier as a threat because it slammed on the brakes without warning. I override the system to avoid a collision from behind. 2) Driving down a three lane road in the center lane when a car entered the road into the right lane and was still going much slower than the center lane. My car slammed on the brakes despite the other car never coming close to entering my path or lane. 3) two instances of the car emergency braking on a two lane road because it apparently mistook oncoming traffic in the opposing lane as a threat. Again had to override to avoid being rear ended. This adaptive cruise system is too dangerous to use as I cannot trust it to not brake hard and unexpectedly.
A warning displayed on the screen of the car alerted me to the vehicle having low coolant, recommending that I drive the car to a service center despite being unsafe to do so as the container that recycled the closed loop coolant system was completely empty. The warning caused me to check underneath the vehicle housed in my garage, which displayed a puddle of bluish liquid with a foul smell. There was a leak that was caused by an impact unknown to me to the aero shield protecting the high voltage battery pack. The impact ruptured the coolant line and fitting that connected the battery with the line. The manufacturer's service center recommended replacing the entire battery as they do not repair this part on the car.
Driving on I-26, 4:30am, no cars around and my car aggressively brakes causing me to react quickly and disable smart cruise control. Making a return trip 1 week later on I-95, the car at various times brakes for no reason multiple times on a700 Mile trip.