2019 Tesla Model 3 acceleration & cruise control problems

Related recalls

No recalls on file.

What owners say

1. Filed Apr 23, 202680,000 miCATowedAcceleration & Cruise Control

   The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped at a residential gate, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a private residence. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

   NHTSA complaint #11733256 · source
2. Filed May 5, 2025OHBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

   Phantom braking (as it's referred to by experts) happened to me twice on the highway using Traffic-Aware-Cruise-Control. Very scary. I was on cruise control going 60 mph when suddenly my car braked suddenly and inappropriately, losing at least 20 mph in a split second before I was able to slam on the accelerator and prevent an accident (rear-end collision). This happened TWICE in the course of 5 minutes on the same highway! There was no obstruction in the road, no cars…

   NHTSA complaint #11658874 · source
3. Filed Feb 18, 2025MIBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

   When cruise control or self-driving systems are engaged, there have been numerous times when the automatic emergency braking system mistakenly slowed the car suddenly. At 70+ mph, this is incredibly dangerous. The AEBS apparently sees shadows as dangers. Fortunately, there has never been an instance when another vehicle has been close behind.

   NHTSA complaint #11643341 · source
4. Filed Jun 18, 2024FLDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

   Tesla has combined cruise control with their Auto Pilot feature. Now there is no human override to what speed limit to use, Tesla determines the speed to used based on certain criteria. This puts the driver at risk who may want to lower or increase the speed limit based on certain conditions Tesla may not be able to detect. For me it was a 9 PM run to the store thru an area that had temporary road construction and known to be a speed trap zone.

   NHTSA complaint #11595134 · source
5. Filed Aug 18, 2023TXCrashAcceleration & Cruise Control

   I was at a toll booth paying for tow. All of a sudden the car accelerated forward by itself, ramming into the toll bar. At that time, my arm was still sticking out the window while interacting with the toll terminal. This incident is something that needs to be looked at. It certainly looks like this is a result of the accident avoidance feature. Not sure why it activated either. But I am 99.9% sure that I did not accidentally press the gas pedal because I had to slam on the…

   NHTSA complaint #11539342 · source
6. Filed Jul 27, 2023NMBrakesAcceleration & Cruise Control

   I have a 2019 Model 3 and yesterday, while making a left turn and applying pressure to the brake, receiving feedback from the brake, my car lurched forward for about half a second. I thought I may have been rear ended, but no one was behind me. This has happened on the freeway before as well. I'll be accelerating at a totally even place and BAM, I'll jolt forward out of nowhere. On the rare occasions that I use the car's "autopilot" feature, I will also encounter phantom…

   NHTSA complaint #11534870 · source
7. Filed Jun 1, 2023CA1 injuredBrakesAcceleration & Cruise Control

   Multiple extreme braking so much where today actually hurt my neck it stopped so abruptly up a hill miscalculating that a walker was about to be hit by my car, the man was nowhere near being hit and the auto braking skid to a halt whipping my head forward and my sweatshirt choked my Adams Apple area. It was extremely abrupt, scared me, the walker and nearly caused a rear end collision with the car behind me. This has happened a lot in the past 3 months yet I’ve had the car…

   NHTSA complaint #11524916 · source
8. Filed May 29, 2023FLCrashTowedBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

   On 10/17/2021 my son was killed along with his passenger in this Tesla. The car was thought to be going over 100 miles an hour on a city road Coconut Point Road in Estero Florida. The car was thought to have hit a tree with the rear tire and was sent flying through the air and hit another tree and split in half. My son knew this road well as it was close to his home and drove it on his way home from work. I feel strongly that this was an acceleration issue!! He has driven…

   NHTSA complaint #11524321 · source
9. Filed May 15, 2023CACrashBody & StructureBrakesAcceleration & Cruise Control

   My wife was dropping my kid in the school drop off line. The speed was probably about 5 mph. The Tesla suddenly went into a sudden spontaneous acceleration. When my wife tried to brake, the brakes did not work. There was no forward collision warning beeping sound that went off, which is supposed to. It hit the vehicle in front and finally hit a fence. so, both the accelerator and brake malfunctioned. The car will go to a body shop tomorrow. Since it was a school drop off…

   NHTSA complaint #11522124 · source
10. Filed May 13, 2023ORBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

    I live in a very rural area with very little traffic on two-lane country roads. When my cruise control is active, my Tesla sometimes brakes for no reason. A couple of days ago it violently braked from 70 mph to 50 mph for absolutely no reason. On that particular trip of 30 miles or so it "phantom braked" four times. I have had this car for almost 4 years and this problem appears to be getting worse.

    NHTSA complaint #11521846 · source
11. Filed May 11, 2023TXDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

    The right camera and coax cable have gone bad. The coax cable is corroded and have water inside the camera. This is affect the car to use cruise control and the auto steer function.

    NHTSA complaint #11521558 · source
12. Filed May 6, 2023TXDriver Assistance & Safety TechAcceleration & Cruise Control

    The car will not allow me to use the cruise control, or put the car into auto-steer. Tesla says it do to a coax cable that is damaged or gone bad. Additionally the day a camera repeater also needs to be replace. The car has only 62,000 miles and is 4 year old. Which is out of Warranty.

    NHTSA complaint #11520730 · source

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology