What goes wrong with a 2021 Tesla Model 3?
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,224 complaints about this vehicle to NHTSA. They are reports, not confirmed defects, and here is what they are about.
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,224 complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 to NHTSA, spread across 25 component categories. The most reported category is forward collision avoidance, with 588 reports. A complaint is somebody telling the federal government what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect, not a manufacturer finding, and not a failure rate.
- Complaints submitted
- 1,224
- Component categories
- 25
- Most reported
- Forward collision avoidance
- Latest report
- August 3, 2026
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, as ingested August 17, 2026
What these numbers are, before the table
These are complaints submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. They are reports, not confirmed defects and not a manufacturer finding, and they are not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no other reason than that more people own it.
The component category is chosen by the person filing, out of NHTSA's own list, which is why one of the largest categories on almost every vehicle is "unknown or other". Read the table as a map of what owners chose to report rather than as a ranking of what breaks.
All 25 categories.
Most reported first. Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths are counts of reports that also mentioned one, as recorded by the person filing.
| Component | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | Latest report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 588 | 14 | 2 | 10 | July 23, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 124 | 11 | 1 | 4 | May 1, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 123 | 11 | 0 | 4 | May 1, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 93 | 6 | 0 | 4 | July 29, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 77 | 7 | 1 | 4 | June 4, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 40 | 8 | 0 | 2 | August 3, 2026 |
| Visibility/wiper | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 14, 2026 |
| Steering | 26 | 10 | 2 | 4 | July 8, 2026 |
| Power train | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | April 29, 2026 |
| Structure | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | July 10, 2026 |
| Seat belts | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | May 18, 2026 |
| Suspension | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | April 17, 2026 |
| Back over prevention | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 20, 2026 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | May 30, 2026 |
| Air bags | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | March 23, 2026 |
| Exterior lighting | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | January 12, 2023 |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | November 17, 2025 |
| Seats | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 19, 2025 |
| Wheels | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | August 26, 2025 |
| Engine | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | October 9, 2023 |
| Tires | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | August 8, 2025 |
| Visibility | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 5, 2025 |
| Engine and engine cooling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | December 15, 2022 |
| Firerelated | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | May 16, 2022 |
| Service brakes, hydraulic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | October 19, 2021 |
Of the 1,224 complaints filed about this vehicle, 84 mentioned a crash, 9 a fire and 36 an injury, and 9 mentioned a death. These are counts of what reporters wrote, not findings, and NHTSA does not verify them at the point of filing.
What to do if your car is doing one of these
A category on this page is not a diagnosis. If your car is making a noise, showing a light, or leaking something, the useful question is what that symptom means and whether it needs the shop tonight or next week.
The symptoms guide works the other way round from this page: it starts with what you can hear, see or smell and says whether it is roadside, a tow, or a booking. If what you are seeing matches a recall campaign on this vehicle, the repair is free at a franchised dealer.
Who works on Model 3s in Brooklyn?
We do, at 619 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218, family owned since 1977. Diagnostics first, then the work, and a flatbed if it will not start where it sits.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, owner-submitted complaints. Anyone may file one, they are published as filed, and NHTSA opens an investigation only when a pattern in them warrants it. A complaint that led to an investigation and a complaint that did not look identical in this table.
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.