What is it like to own a 2020 Tesla Model 3 in NYC?
523 are registered in the five boroughs. Here is what they cost to fuel, what owners report to NHTSA, and which recalls are open.
There are 523 2020 Tesla Model 3s actively registered in New York City, most of them in Queens at 200. EPA rates it at 113 to 141 MPGe combined, 220 to 330 miles of range. NHTSA lists 21 safety recall campaigns covering this vehicle and holds 765 complaints submitted by owners and drivers.
- Registered in NYC
- 523
- Combined MPGe
- 113 to 141
- Recall campaigns
- 21
- Complaints to NHTSA
- 765
Data: NYS DMV August 17, 2026 snapshot, NHTSA and EPA as of August 17, 2026
Will I see myself coming and going?
523 2020 Tesla Model 3s are actively registered in New York City, across 5 of the five boroughs. Queens has the most at 200, and The Bronx the fewest at 56.
| Borough | Registered | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Queens | 200 | 38.2% |
| Brooklyn | 126 | 24.1% |
| Manhattan | 77 | 14.7% |
| Staten Island | 64 | 12.2% |
| The Bronx | 56 | 10.7% |
| All five boroughs | 523 | 100% |
What will fuel cost me?
The 2020 Tesla Model 3 is electric, so EPA rates it in MPGe rather than MPG: 113 to 141 combined across its 8 EPA configurations, with 220 to 330 miles of range. MPGe is a conversion of electricity into a gallon-equivalent, so it compares consumption, not fuel bills.
| Configuration | City | Highway | Combined | Annual fuel cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 136 MPGe | 123 MPGe | 130 MPGe | $600 |
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 124 MPGe | 116 MPGe | 121 MPGe | $650 |
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 128 MPGe | 117 MPGe | 123 MPGe | $600 |
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 138 MPGe | 124 MPGe | 131 MPGe | $600 |
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 148 MPGe | 132 MPGe | 141 MPGe | $550 |
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 124 MPGe | 116 MPGe | 121 MPGe | $650 |
Six of 8 configurations shown. The full table is on the specs page, with engine, drive, transmission and fuel type for each.
What goes wrong with it?
Owners and drivers have submitted 765 complaints about the 2020 Tesla Model 3 to NHTSA, across 23 component categories. The most reported is forward collision avoidance, with 215. These are reports, not confirmed defects and not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no reason other than that more people own it.
| Component | Complaints submitted | Latest report |
|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 215 | August 4, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 81 | July 16, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 69 | July 19, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 46 | July 11, 2026 |
| Steering | 45 | July 11, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 44 | July 25, 2026 |
| Suspension | 44 | August 10, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 41 | August 2, 2026 |
A complaint is somebody telling the federal government that something happened to their car. It has not been investigated, confirmed or agreed to by the manufacturer, and the count says as much about how many of these were sold as about the car itself. If you want to know what a symptom means rather than how often it is reported, the symptoms guide is the page for that.
Is mine affected by a recall?
NHTSA lists 21 safety recall campaigns covering the 2020 Tesla Model 3. A campaign covers a range of vehicles, not every one built, so the only way to know whether yours is included is to check your own VIN against NHTSA's lookup.
| Campaign | Component | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| 26V507000 | Exterior lighting:headlights | August 4, 2026 |
| 24V935000 | Tires:pressure monitoring and regulating systems | December 17, 2024 |
| 24V376000 | Seat belts:front:warning light/devices | May 28, 2024 |
| 24V153000 | Forward collision avoidance: warnings:external/pedestrian alert | February 27, 2024 |
| 24V051000 | Electrical system: instrument cluster/panel | January 30, 2024 |
Who works on Model 3s in Brooklyn?
We do. Nacmias Service Center is at 619 Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, family owned since 1977: diagnostics, brakes, suspension, engine and transmission work on the Model 3. If it will not start where it sits, the flatbed that brings it in is ours too.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.