2023 TESLA MODEL 3 Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking Problems

90 NHTSA complaints on file

Check any vehicle history by VIN - Free vehicle history report

All Forward Collision Avoidance Automatic Emergency Braking Complaints — Page 2

#11536692 |
The vehicle applied sudden and strong braking in clear road for no reason. It has done it on many occasions in the 2000 miles we have had the vehicle.
#11536242 |
My vehicle constantly slows down and occasionally even slams on the brakes to slow down for nonexistent obstacles. I believe this is a serious safety concern if there is a vehicle behind mine, as the driver of that vehicle would not expect mine to rapidly slow down. The root cause seems to be that the camera vision system frequently mistakes certain signs and dark cars reflected in mirages as pedestrians.
#11536067 |
The ADAS regularly brakes suddenly for no apparent reason. There does not seem to be a consistent reason. Yesterday, during a 90 mile drive EB on the interstate in the afternoon it braked (scaring us) suddenly so often that it made cruise control more of a hazard than a help. This morning between 9-11 am, westbound on the same interstate it braked suddenly 20-30 times. This sudden braking is dangerous as unexpected behavior could cause an accident with any vehicle behind us.
#11535686 |
The car has a tendency when I’m on rural highways to suddenly emergency brake when I have the auto pilot on
#11534448 |
On Adaptive cruise control mode about a set speed of 70-75mph on I-5 , the car was suddenly decelerating or braking on Freeway for no reason. I.e. No vehicle or obstacles was there which required braking during approx 3 occurrences happened on a same day of 200+ miles drive. It was deadly dangerous and increases risk for a nasty rear-end crash.
#11532892 |
While driving, both while using Adaptive Cruise Control and while using "Autopilot" (automatic lane centering), the car has severely emergency braked with no input from me. The conditions were bright sunlight, with mirages on the roadway in front of the car. I believe the car cannot tell the difference between these mirages and actual obstacles. The emergency braking is severe enough to potentially cause an accident, with speed rapidly dropping from 70 mph to 45mph. This is a serious defect that needs addressed ASAP.
#11533054 |
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the vehicle stopped suddenly without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 5,000.
#11532257 |
My Tesla Model 3 has had 3 phantom braking episodes since I bought the car new in June 2023. All 3 episodes were when the cruise control was on. Without any warning, the car will violently slow from 70mph to about 25mph in a very short time. My guess, less than 2 seconds. The tires loose grip on the road surface and the car will come to a stop. In all 3 instances, I needed to apply the accelerator to get the car moving again. During all 3 phantom braking episodes, there were no vehicles behind me that could of rear ended me. If so, the vehicle(s) behind me would have no doubt rear ended me. All 3 instances occurred on clear warm days close to Yermo CA on Interstate 15. I reported this phantom brake issue with the local Tesla location and they reviewed my cars software and said...
#11531187 |
Phantom braking occurred 3 times over the span of several minutes while driving at highway speeds. The first two incidents occurred while utilizing Autosteer. The third time occurred while only using cruise control.
#11531062 |
On July 6th, at 6:42pm, while driving 70 MPH on California Highway 152, on a clear day (88 degrees F), with no traffic around our car, the car slammed on the brakes, taking the speed from 70 MPH to 46 MPH in a period of 5 seconds (with most braking in the first couple seconds). I was using the cars' built-in Autopilot system. The car did the same thing about 2 minutes earlier, so we happened to have been recording a video of the cars operation when it happened this second time. The car did the same exact behavior on June 29th at 10:30am, on the same highway but different location. It was also a sunny day, and there were (thank goodness) no cars near us when it happened. That time, it braked so hard it triggered the ABS system.
#11530994 |
I was driving on a divided highway in the right hand lane out of two lanes. To the right was a grassy berm. To the left of the road was a grassy median. I was driving with the adaptive cruise control enabled and set to about 70MPH. Full self driving was not enabled. There were no vehicles or other obstacles visible ahead or to the sides, no vehicles following. Without any reason I could perceive, the vehicle abruptly decelerated rapidly. I pressed my foot on the accelerator pedal and the car stopped decelerating and resumed normal operation at roughly 40MPH. If another vehicle had been following me, the unexpected rapid deceleration could have resulted in a collision. This vehicle is a rental car owned by Hertz, and I have not had the vehicle inspected or diagnosed by any dealer, service center, the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. The Alert log...
#11530530 |
Tesla has serious safety issues automatic emergency, braking Blindspot warning, Lane, departure warning, and other basic safety features which are very common in the cars these days. I purchased Tesla for my teenage child. In past three months we have encountered multiple instances where Tesla was not able to perform as promised this morning I was driving tesla loaner Vehicle when I was heading to pick up my car and someone drifted into my lane without warning and Tesla did not apply emergency brakes or generated any warning signals. I have notified Tesla service about the incident and past incidents to tesla service representative. Tesla representative at Costa Mesa office opened the service request to get the software diagnosis completed so that they can get to the bottom of it, but [XXX] from Irvine office called me and he is in denial that it is a car issue and blame...
#11530051 |
Multiple times the car while on cruise control has slammed on brakes due to seemingly nothing. It's without warning our alert and it is extremely violent. It happens at least once every week.
#11529143 |
Vehicle automatically applies the breaks while using the cruise control. Braking occurs randomly and very suddenly at highway speeds with no warning. The car slowed rapidly to about 25 mph. This has occurred twice in the last 6 weeks in two different locations. Fortunately, there were no vehicles following at a close distance. If there had been, the sudden application of the brakes would almost certainly have resulted in a rear-end collision with the car that was following us.
#11528300 |
The 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance Autopilot cameras "saw" things that are not there while driving during daytime on the highway aka phantom braking. This resulted in quick automatic braking making for a very uneasy drive with fear of being rear-ended when it happens. Yes, my vehicle is available for inspection. Our safety was put at risk due to potential to be rear-ended. Also, this happened on an icy road which has potential to cause sliding. I called the Tesla sales department where I purchased the vehicle. They said there was nothing they could do and that Tesla is working on it. There are many websites discussing the problem. My vehicle has not been inspected by Tesla. They told me there is nothing we can do. I have not contacted my insurance company or police. I'm not aware of any warning signs. You are driving on a highway during the...
#11528024 |
I was driving from Palmdale, CA up to Mojave, CA at 7:05PM on June 16. The car was close to Rosamond, CA on the highway when it engaged FULL brakes. I started in the right lane, the autopilot was ON and set to 79MPH. The only cars visible on the highway were my car and the car in front of me. There were no other cars immediately visible to me or autopilot in front of me or behind me - other than us two. My car was traveling faster than the car in front of me, so at ~3-5 car lengths I started a left turn signal to merge into the left lane, and overtake the small car (silver Toyota?) in front of me in the left lane. When I started the left turn signal the autopilot disengaged as expected. I got in the left lane then stopped the signal,...
#11527405 |
On several occasions ( 8 or 10 times) while driving at highway speeds, with little traffic, on an extended trip, the vehicle suddenly applied the brakes for no apparent reason. I have learned that this is called "phantom braking". On one such occasion, I narrowly avoided being struck from behind by another vehicle following me by applying the accelerator. I have not yet reported this problem to Tesla, but intend to.
#11526945 |
While driving on 15 freeway between Riverside CA to Las Vegas NV, I put the car in cruise control. While near Barstow, the car hard brakes dropping speed quickly. Luckily no other car was near. I changed lanes to pull on the side as I wasn’t sure what was happened, as it actually felt like the car had locked up. I did take the car out of cruise control and that seemed to fix the problem. I’ve used cruise control before and the adaptive braking has been manageable, this was extreme. On 4 June 2023.
#11524155 |
On a clear sunny day driving on the freeway at 75mph on a 70mph speed limit, the regular cruise control(not Autopilot) was engaged. Experienced 4 separate incidents of strong emergency brakes being activated by the vehicle automatically for 2-3 secs, dropping speed by 10-15mph. As the driver I disengaged the cruise control by strongly accelerating the vehicle. Also multiple incidents of brakes engaging slightly for 1 second , always when driving on a straight freeway, with zero other vehicles present in the front or rear. The road had a slight incline then a slight decline. Just as the vehicle reaches the top of the incline the brakes activated. No warning lamps of sounds, just immediate sharp braking one all incidents. As the driver I felt very unsafe, and glad there were no vehicles close behind, which could have resulted in a rear collision. Vehicle has not been inspected by any...
#11522945 |
Vehicle breaks suddenly for no reason under a variety of circumstances. there is no pattern I could identify. i went on line to see if there is an update. many others with the same problem. Very dangerous if there is a car behind. Happens every day or so at freeway speed. Tesla needs to fix this!
#11521507 | Crash
The contact rented a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while testing the collision avoidance system the vehicle was moving at 2 mph and the brake pedal was not depressed the collision avoidance system did not activate. The vehicle collided with another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30. The VIN was not available.
#11520831 | Crash
Car steering felt stuck and slid off the road which resulted in crashing into a tree. Tesla features did not help stay in the lane or break in an emergency.
#11520215 |
Hello, I have experienced 2 times the same issue with this new car model. I was driving on a interstate with 2 lanes, no cars in front of me and fortunately no cars behind, I was in autopilot mode and emergency brake system got engaged for no reasons apparently (Phantom braking) and I had to take over immediately. It was scary and I was lucky that no car was behind as it could have created definitely a worse scenario. The first time I was entering a bridge and the color of the asphalt was a bit different from the main road that might have triggered this phantom braking. The second time I entered in a driving area in the shade, here the phantom braking might have been triggered by a sudden change in the sun light. Regards.
#11516845 |
The car phantom brakes 50% of the time when I use Enhanced Autopilot Feature on the highway
#11516347 |
Automatic emergency braking. Phantom braking without any real incident
#11516113 |
At random times the vehicle will slam on the brakes although there is nothing in front of it. It has happened with vehicles behind me and I have averted multiple crashes by luck I suppose.
#11513586 |
I was driving on the HOV lane (going between 65-70 miles mph) with the adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist on when the car suddenly slammed on it’s brakes to stop. There was a slight hump in the highway, but no car or object in front of me in the lane. Thank goodness there were no cars behind me or they could have easily rear ended me. It was extremely scary and now I’m too scared to use these driver assist features moving forward.
#11513455 |
I was on Interstate I5 on March 16th with car cruising on Tesla Auto Pilot Assist. The road was completely clear with nothing ahead of behind me for atleast half a mile. All of a sudden I experienced Sudden Breaking (Phantom Breaking) and broke hard to about 30 MPH before resuming. I was fortunate that there was nothing behind me otherwise I would have been rear ended. The only thing I could see was there as a dip in the roadway and some shadows were falling across the highway. Tesla has no radars and I suspect the camera was fooled by the lighting.
#11513310 |
I bought a new Tesla Model 3 in December of 2022. In mid March 2023 we had our first road trip in this vehicle. I had at least 4 major phantom braking incidences while traveling an average of 75 mph on I-80 with the cruise control on. Two were experienced while traveling eastbound in Nebraska and two were while traveling westbound a week later in Wyoming. Each experiece was separated in time by at least two hours. The last one scared me and my wife so much that she won't ride in the Tesla on the freeway until it is fixed. We also had several minor phantom braking experiences which did not alarm us. What happened is that the car slammed on the brakes while going 75 and reduced the speed to about 55 in seconds. It was over before I could react. The tires did not skid and fortunately...
#11511665 |
I experienced unnecessary emergency braking while driving from Chicago to Madison on I-90. I was driving at 75 mph on adaptive cruise control with auto steer on. I suddendly I experience hard braking for no reason. I observed my set speed limit changed to 45 mph. However, I instantaneously took over and pressed accelarator. I experienced the same 2 more times during the same trip. It's created a very dangerous situation.
#11510949 |
We were driving down the road, emergency braking enabled came on and car came to a complete abrupt start 10ft from railroad tracks and would not do anything. Could not reset it. Nothing.
#11506806 |
Multiple times on the highway the car would slam the brakes for no reason in autopilot mode reducing the speed significantly. In all cases it reduced the speed from around 70 mph to 40 mph. The road was clear with no vehicles in front.
#11506785 | Crash
My Tesla Model 3 was delivered on 14 December 2022. I first drove it on 16 December 2022 and that day I had an accident. I was about to park my car and I was already on the designated parking slot when the car made a sudden Un- commanded acceleration. I first hit the handicap sign, but the car did not stop and apparently the collision avoidance safety feature did not work. The continue to accelerate and I hit a restaurant establishment. The police came and I reported the incident to my insurance (Geico). The police (Mr. McClure) gave me the case number 2238293. Geico is taking care of the repair which would cost over $10K and the property damage, which added up to 10K. I went to the Tesla service center in Carlsbad and Mr. Hyuma said that I can request for the log. I guess it is the...
#11506109 |
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and the vehicle stopped abruptly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to accelerate to avoid getting rear ended. The dealer was contacted and admitted knowledge of the failure; however, there was no remedy for the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 2,000.
#11504317 | Crash
While exiting a hospital parking deck, after driving for approximately 15 to 20 seconds, the car began to accelerate to an uncontrollable rate of speed on its own. The Tesla crashed into a parked car which was then pushed into two other parked cars. The Tesla and at least the first car hit are totaled. There was no sign of the emergency braking system engaging. Injuries from the airbag deploying were sustained. The driver has a fear to drive again as the car seemed to have a mind of it's own. The Tesla is being held at the insurance company's tow yard. There has been no feedback from the dealer. No inspections have been conducted on the car. There were no indications there was a problem with the vehicle previous to the crash. It is unknown if any warning alert systems activated during the incident.
#11496554 |
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking on two separate occasions upon approach of an overpass. The contact also stated that an audible alert tone was coming from the vehicle during the failures. Neither the Service Center nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 865.
#11495408 | Crash
I was pulling into a park spot , coming to a stop and the car within seconds accelerated into a building. There was no warning at all. Also, after the collision a warning popped on the screen saying that the emergency break was disabled. This was the first time seeing this alert, and I did not disable anything. I picked up the car on 11/28.
#11494781 |
While moving car to DRIVE mode, Cruise Control was activated accidentally, which resulted in car moving on its own from a stopped position in garage. By the time it was learnt what has happened, the car rear ended another parked car. Luckily no human was in front of the car and thus grave body injury was avoided. The car speed might have been less than 20mph. The front collision avoidance warning was not there and neither did Emergency brakes got deployed.
#11494121 |
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model-3. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and abruptly stopped. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that there were no vehicles or objects around the vehicle at the time of the failure. The contact stated that she depressed the accelerator pedal and was able to continue driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the forward Collison Avoidance camera might need to be recalibrated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 500.
#11493312 |
While traveling on the interstate at 75+ mph, which the cruise control engaged, the vehicle emergency braked 2 times during on one trip. The first felt like a fluke, speed was reduced by 10ish miles per hour. The second time was terrifying. I was traveling approximately 77 mph on the interstate and out of no where my vehicle slowed down significantly. I was too scared of getting hit from behind to look at the speedometer to know how much it actually breaked but it felt like it dropped down to 30 mph out of nowhere. Luckily I was not on a busy stretch of interstate, the car behind me had enough time to slow down and there was no one else around. My husband and I were scared out of our minds, wondering why and how this happened. He immediately google and that is when we learned of 'phantom breaking"...

Other 2023 TESLA MODEL 3 Problem Areas

Forward Collision Avoidance Adaptive Cruise Control 104 complaints Steering 82 complaints Vehicle Speed Control 62 complaints Unknown Or Other 53 complaints Service Brakes 50 complaints Electrical System 39 complaints Forward Collision Avoidance Warnings 28 complaints Suspension 18 complaints Air Bags 17 complaints Structurebody 15 complaints Lane Departure Assist 14 complaints Lane Departure Warning 13 complaints Visibilitywiper 12 complaints Seat Belts 10 complaints Power Train 9 complaints Seats 9 complaints Engine 8 complaints Fuelpropulsion System 8 complaints Wheels 8 complaints Back Over Prevention Warnings 5 complaints Lane Departure Blind Spot Detection 4 complaints Electrical Systemadasautonomousself Driving 3 complaints Air Bagssensoroccupant Classification 2 complaints Latcheslockslinkageshoodlatch 2 complaints Service Brakes Hydraulic 2 complaints Back Over Prevention Automatic System Braking 1 complaint Back Over Prevention Rearview System Braking 1 complaint Back Over Preventionwarningsexternalpedestrian Alert 1 complaint Electrical Systempropulsion Systemchargingport 1 complaint Electrical Systempropulsion Systeminverter 1 complaint Electronic Stability Control Esc 1 complaint Exterior Lighting 1 complaint Forward Collision Avoidance Dynamic Brake Supportbrake Assist 1 complaint Latcheslockslinkagesdoorslatch 1 complaint Latcheslockslinkagestrunk Lidlatch 1 complaint Service Brakes Hydraulic Autohold Brake Systembrake Holdsoftware 1 complaint Steeringrack And Pinion 1 complaint Structurebodybumpers 1 complaint Structurebodyhatchbackliftgatesupport Devicestrut 1 complaint Structurebodytrunk Lid 1 complaint Tires 1 complaint Vehicle Speed Controlaccelerator Pedal 1 complaint Vehicle Speed Controlthrottle 1 complaint Visibilitywindshield 1 complaint
Check any vehicle history by VIN - Free vehicle history report