Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11308965

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2019 TESLA MODEL 3

Manufacturer

Tesla, Inc.

Components

STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES

Dates

Incident: 02/06/2020
Filed: 02/13/2020

Owner complaint summary

I PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED A CONCERN WITH THIS CAR THAT OCCURRED IN DECEMBER 2019. TESLA IN MILFORD, CT HAD THE CAR IN SERVICE FOR 23+ DAYS BECAUSE OF ERRORS WITH THE CAR: ALERT MESSAGES INCLUDED (BUT WEREN'T LIMITED TO) POWER REDUCED, FRONT MOTOR DISABLED, ETC. THE CAR KEPT POWERING OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND THE BRAKES AND STEERING MALFUNCTIONED. TESLA ULTIMATELY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A "SHORTED PENTHOUSE HARNESS." TWO WEEKS AFTER RECEIVING THE CAR BACK, THE ERROR MESSAGES REAPPEARED. THE CAR BROKE DOWN AGAIN AND HAD TO BE TOWED BACK TO TESLA IN MILFORD, CT. WHILE TESLA INDICATED THAT THE PRIOR ISSUES WERE RESOLVED, THEY OBVIOUSLY WEREN'T. THE CAR SHUT DOWN AGAIN WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AND ALSO IN THE CITY. THE BRAKES AND STEERING DIDN'T FUNCTION PROPERLY. I RECEIVED ERROR MESSAGES INDICATING POWER REDUCED, BRAKES DISABLED, POWER STEERING DISABLED, FRONT MOTOR DISABLED, AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING DISABLED, CAR MAY BE FREE ROLLING--JUST TO NAME A FEW. THIS CAR IS UNSAFE AND UNRELIABLE. AS OF TODAY, THE CAR HAS BEEN IN SERVICE FOR 28+ BUSINESS DAYS; HOWEVER, TESLA TOLD ME THEY WORKED ON THE CAR OVER THE WEEKEND, WHICH WOULD INDICATE THE CAR HAS BEEN IN SERVICE OVER 30 DAYS.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11308965). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11308965. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.