Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11710903

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

2023 TESLA MODEL 3

Manufacturer

Tesla, Inc.

Components

STRUCTURE

Dates

Incident: 12/24/2025
Filed: 01/14/2026

Owner complaint summary

The entire bumper assembly fell off my Tesla Model 3 during the heavy rains on December 24. I didn't see it happen. It was just missing. But it may have happened on the freeway, when we drive through a flooded area. There is a history of this happening with this model when there is a lot of rain or you drive through a puddle. They admitted to this defect in 2020, but claim it was fixed. Apparently not. They are now telling me "we are unable to cover the repair under vehicle warranty because the condition was caused by outside factors," i.e., water. This cannot be normal.

Official record ID (ODI): 11710903. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The JSON record button above proxies NHTSA's public API so verification works in every browser.