2026 Tesla Model 3 Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: October 26, 2026 · Filed: October 27, 2026

• forward collision warning and automatic emergency breaking failed to work and are still currently an ongoing problem and not functioning. They are and have always Been enabled and can be inspected upon request. • my safety and those in my car and around me put at risk, by the system and software not functioning as intended and providing extra alertness and reaction to avoid collision. •the earliest service date I could get from Tesla is Nov 11. I have requested they preserve all data from dates Oct 20-27 2026 •no, my car has not been inspected yet. I have taken, Videos and have saved in car camera footage to show the ongoing defect. •no warnings lights or alerts prior to the incident. The problem first became apparent and clear Oct 26, 2026. I had FSD subscription that ended Oct 24, 2026 and the system warnings worked just fine during that time even while driving manually.

Incident: October 13, 2026 · Filed: October 15, 2026

On [XXX], the owner of a 2026 Tesla Model 3, left the garage of her house in the Tesla, and engaged the self-driving as the driver has done dozens of time in the past. The car proceeded down the driveway, as it has always done in the past. However, in an instant, before the driver had time to react, the car went straight where the driveway curved, and the car hit a tree. The video from the Tesla cameras was saved and confirms that the car was in self driving mode, there was no driver intervention causing the accident, and the driver did not have time to react and prevent the accident. This accident was due to a failure of the Tesla self-driving. The encrypted dashcam video was copied from the USB drive named [XXX], from the folder [XXX], and then accessed by logging into [XXX] and dragging and dropping the video file into the dashcam app. That was saved to our PC as [XXX}. Since the saved video did not show the telemetry data, the video was loaded into [XXX] and saved with the telemetry information visible. Another video was saved capturing the whole ExportDash.cam interface. That has bars showing where the car was actively steering, braking, or applying acceleration (“gas pedal”). This shows that the car was actively steering a second before the collision, but then stopped. There was no time for the driver to react to the car's failure to properly steer. The video showing the car in self-driving mode and failing to navigate a turn on the driveway can be accessed at this youtube link: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: October 2, 2026 · Filed: October 6, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the steering wheel independently turned to the left and the right. The brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle was shaking and uncontrollable. The contact depressed the brake pedal down, unbuckled, the seat belt and opened the door and the vehicle came to a stop. The Police was contacted and arrived on the scene. The Police removed the vehicle from the roadway onto the shoulder of the road. The contact was advised to tow the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but the diagnostic test report was not provided to the contact. The contact was informed that the information was reported to the engineers. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 450.

Incident: October 1, 2026 · Filed: October 5, 2026

Car was in self-driving and struck a piece of concrete. The car was in hands free and was being monitored by me, the driver. This obstruction was in the left side of the lane, about 2" tall, a foot wide and 6" across. I thought the car would see it and miss it but I was wrong, it clipped the concrete, punctured the tires side wall and damaged the tire rim. Tesls'a position was that I shouldn't have trusted the car abilities to avoid the obstruction. This is a basic for collision avoidance, and this system should not be allowed to run in self-drive without hands on the wheel unless the car is capable of avoidance of obstructions large enough to disable the car. This car is dangerous if it can operate at freeway speeds, hands free, and not have the ability to avoid obstructions that could cause it to be out of control.

Incident: September 30, 2026 · Filed: September 30, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH with the Autonomous Self-Driving feature enabled, the vehicle was driving in the left-turn lane and jerked over into the oncoming traffic. The failure mileage was approximately 9,999.

Incident: September 8, 2026 · Filed: September 26, 2026

I had FSD (Full Self Driving) (Supervised) enabled. The navigation map and turn instructions (which appear on the right side of the touchscreen) indicated that my car was to make a left turn at the upcoming intersection. After a full stop (at the Stop sign), my car crept out into the intersection, preparing to make an unprotected left turn (UPL) onto a major street (2 lanes of traffic in each direction). My car stopped (creeping out) when FSD “realized” that it was not yet safe to make the turn. My car, however had crept out far enough so that other vehicles coming from my left (in the right lane) had to swerve left to avoid hitting my car. There was another car behind my car so I could not “manually” back up (taking over from FSD) to remove the front of my car from the path of vehicles coming from my left. (If just one of the drivers of those vehicles coming from my left had been distracted, a likely collision with the front of my car could have occurred!) Eventually, there was a sufficient gap that I could (manually) make a right turn instead. Since this incident, I have had to preview the navigation map for every trip (before enabling FSD) and be prepared to route around any UPLs. After driving this car over 6500 miles (98 % on FSD), I have found FSD to be very safe overall! My only notable “risk of collision” event was the above-described UPL attempt! I have contacted Tesla Customer Service (via phone calls and online) on several occasions to report this hazard, but nothing has been done; (although on a live phone call, the representative acknowledged that others had also voiced my concern!) During a chat with Tesla’s “Grok” chatbot, Grok stated that a ‘Prefer Protected Turns’ option would be a low complexity addition that could coexist with continued UPL improvement”. Given this information, I think Tesla is being negligent by not adding the “Prefer Protected Turns” option to the vehicle user interface.

Incident: September 22, 2026 · Filed: September 22, 2026

On Sept 22 2026at approximately 10:26 AM, my Tesla vehicle was involved in a low-speed, 5 -10 mph rear-end collision while the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised automation system was engaged. The vehicle failed to initiate a timely braking sequence for a lead vehicle, resulting in an impact. There was a sudden accleration right before the hit along with a sudden braking. Critical Safety Failures & Discrepancies: 1. Unwarned System Degradation: Following the incident, Tesla Service technicians reviewed my vehicle diagnostics and explicitly stated that internal logs flagged the FSD system performance as degraded or "suspect" since the beginning of September 2026. However, prior to the crash, the vehicle provided zero driver-facing warning messages, dashboard alerts, or mobile application notifications indicating that the automated safety systems were compromised or operating with a defect. 2. Telemetry Log Contradiction: Tesla's initial internal review claims that the vehicle's telemetry indicates an accelerator pedal override by the driver. I explicitly state that my foot was not on the accelerator pedal and no such override was physically made. There is an active sensor tracking or system logging discrepancy regarding driver inputs during this FSD failure. Evidence Maintained: I have preserved the complete, 4-angle synchronized TeslaCam dashcam footage of the incident on my computer as visual proof of the vehicle's un-accelerated 5 mph forward creep. Furthermore, I have submitted an official Data Privacy Request to Tesla to force the extraction of the raw, unredacted vehicle telemetry logs (DI_accelPedalPos) to legally dispute their pedal position claims. I am filing this report to assist NHTSA's active investigations into Tesla Autopilot/FSD traffic safety violations, specifically concerning automated braking failures and inaccurate driver-override telemetry classification.

Incident: September 11, 2026 · Filed: September 18, 2026

The front windshield camera for FSD gets hazed and obstructs the front camera. Tesla say it’s from the gases that come from the interior from the vehicle being hot temperatures. My problem why did they not design the cameras like they did in the side puller protecting it from the interior gases. Now Tesla says they’ll clean it for 65.00. I just bought the car in March

Incident: September 18, 2026 · Filed: September 18, 2026

I was using the self driving feature and all of a sudden the steering wheel went haywire and was spinning. the car was swerving very aggressively in between lanes. putting my foot on the brake and hands on the wheel did not do anything.

Incident: September 9, 2026 · Filed: September 12, 2026

When using Tesla's Full Self Driving (supervised) speed control is erratic and not subject to the driver's control, such as it would be when using adaptive cruise control. As a result, the available speed modes (sloth, chill, standard, hurry and Mad Max) can cause the vehicle to dangerously exceed speed limits and at times to drive well below the posted speed limit, causing confusion and frustration to following drivers. There is no reason why the software cannot be changed to a safer method that would permit the driver to select the speed at which the car will travel, i.e. the speed limit, similar to adaptive cruise control found in most modern vehicles. When the operator of a vehicle is not in charge of the vehicle's speed, this is inherently dangerous.