There are 10 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2023 Tesla Model 3in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a rock struck the front windshield, causing a crack. The contact stated that the front windshield had previously been replaced for the same failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.
Windshield is defective which appeared crack without any solid object hitting incidence.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed in the rain with the windshield wipers activated, the windshield wipers became inoperable. The contact was able to turn the switch for the windshield wipers and the wiper blades started operating as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the contact was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that the failure began after an OTA update. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 11,800.
Automatic wipers are very erratic. Sometimes it works like crazy. Sometimes it never cleans the windshield even though it is soaking limiting visibility. Using it in manual mode is also very difficult as all adjustments are done on the screen forcing you to take your eyes off the road. There are no levers to adjust it.
While driving in rain, the windshield wipers will randomly stop. This will happen both in AUTO and in MANUAL modes, especially at night in poor visibility. I contacted Tesla and they came and replaced the wiper motor assembly but the problem was not resolved. I believe it is a software issue. I nearly had a crash as this happened to me first at night in a very busy and complex highway intersection and resulted in me being stuck in the middle and blocking traffic until I could navigate the touch screen and find the wiper option to get it restarted.
Wiper control is limited requiring the driver focus on the touch screen. Auto wipers activation is slow and does not keep windshield clear from rain, forcing the driver take the eyes off the road and find the small area on the touchscreen to control the various wipers speed.
Ever since software release 2023.44.30, there has been a serious issue with automatic wipers and visibility during driving. It has been documented by drivers on the internet, however I simulated driving conditions in a car wash that has triggered auto wipers atleast a dozen times in the past. Today I recorded a 4 minute and 30 second video where there was zero activation of wipers at all with torrential rain simulated as well as soap fully covering the field of view. Since the auto wipers are tied to the autopilot and FSD system this could cause serious injury or death if not rectified.
The wipers come on for no reason and there is no way to turn them off. Since the wiper blades are running on a dry windshield the visibility decreases considerably after it runs for some time
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Wiper blades activate for no reason while driving the vehicle in auto pilot. There is no ryme or reason as to when this happens, it just happens randomly at random times for unknown reasons. The most recent incident happened today, but this has been going on since I took ownership of this brand new car in December of 2022. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? When there is salt on the road and there is no moisture hitting the windshield, all this does with the salt is smears your windshield making it very difficult to see out of the windshield. The only way to clear the windshield is to activate the windshield washer fluid. This wouldn't be necessary had the wipers just stayed off in the first place. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The dealer tells me the wipers are working as designed, but can't explain to me why they turn on when there is no moisture hitting the windshield. They can't explain to me why it is happening to my car and not other similar vehicles of the same make/model. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? The dealer has looked into this and says it's working as designed. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No warning lights are or were present during any of these incidents.
I was driving in rainy weather and my windshield wipers were set to 'Auto' mode. The wipers were functioning correctly until I clicked on a menu item in the car operating system. The operating system became unresponsive to any touches and wipers stopped working at this moment which dropped my visibility to almost 0. I was fortunately not driving on highway when the incident occurred. The operating system rebooted after roughly 20 seconds and the wipers started working again after the reboot completed.
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