While we expect advanced car tech to mean safer, easier driving, owners of the 2025 Tesla Model 3 are facing some serious concerns. Even though Tesla claims its Model 3, with features like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD), is ‘engineered for safety’ and aims to reduce driver workload, numerous complaints filed with the NHTSA show that there are actually quite a few safety risks involved.
Consumers are expressing increasing frustration with the reliability and safety of key components and systems. The volume and severity of these problems necessitate a thorough examination, moving beyond marketing claims to the tangible experiences of real drivers. Our objective is to present an unbiased, evidence-based account of these recurring issues, helping current and prospective owners understand potential pitfalls and the actions being taken—or not taken—to address them.
In this comprehensive review, we delve into the most common and critical service issues affecting the 2025 Tesla Model 3. We’ll meticulously break down the complaints, focusing on those that directly impact safety and the driving experience, drawing exclusively from the detailed reports and recalls provided. Understanding these challenges, from FSD complexities to fundamental steering and braking anomalies, is crucial for making informed decisions on the road ahead.
1. **Full Self-Driving (FSD) System Malfunctions**Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature remains in beta, explicitly “not fully autonomous,” requiring drivers to “stay alert and attentive” and “supervise” its operation. Despite these warnings, independent studies and regulatory reviews have “raised concerns about inconsistent behavior, misinterpretation of road signs, and crash risks,” particularly in complex environments. These observations are regrettably echoed by numerous complaints filed with the NHTSA concerning FSD on the 2025 Tesla Model 3.
A significant portion of consumer frustration stems from the FSD system’s erratic and unpredictable actions. An owner reported FSD “consistently caused a serious safety risk on the freeway,” habitually “tailgates cars at high speeds of 70-80 mph,” even “when there is no traffic and the other lanes are wide open.” Such inconsistent performance creates a profound lack of trust and presents undeniable safety challenges, demanding constant driver vigilance.
Problems extend to dangerous programming behaviors. For instance, after stopping at a red light, the vehicle “wants to keep advancing forward although the light is still red and has not changed.” This egregious misinterpretation of basic traffic signals could easily lead to an intersection collision. Another prevalent issue involves FSD struggling with fundamental lane keeping; even with “image in the screen correct,” the vehicle “has trouble staying within the line and needs to be corrected,” especially at intersections. These core failures undermine the very purpose of an advanced driver assistance system.
The cumulative effect is a system that often increases, rather than reduces, driver workload by demanding constant vigilance and rapid manual overrides. These issues highlight the critical need for further refinement and robust testing before FSD can genuinely deliver on its ambitious promise of autonomous driving. They must be “addressed first” before any “unsupervised version” is considered.
2. **Forward Collision Avoidance System Issues**Closely linked to FSD, the forward collision avoidance systems within the 2025 Tesla Model 3 have generated substantial complaints, accounting for “half of the forward collision avoidance complaints” tied to FSD. These systems, vital for preventing collisions, are exhibiting alarming inconsistencies. Complaints span both automatic emergency braking (AEB) and adaptive cruise control (ACC), indicating a systemic vulnerability in the vehicle’s environmental perception.
Owners frequently report the system misinterpreting objects or engaging brakes unnecessarily. A Maryland owner noted FSD’s “follow-distance is too close to the vehicle in front.” Both in FSD and auto cruise control, “many false alarms from overhead tree branches and cars that aren’t ahead of the Tesla” occur, leading to sudden, unexplained braking. This “engaging emergency brakes for no reason,” as described by a California owner, creates significant rear-end collision risks.
Further concerns involve the system’s performance during turns. The Maryland owner stated the car “takes turns too late and at unsafe speeds when autosteer and cruise control are both activated,” a problem that “also happens in FSD.” This inability to correctly judge appropriate turning speeds and timing puts occupants at risk. Such errors suggest fundamental flaws in sensor interpretation, leading to dangerous maneuvers rather than preventative safety actions.
The recurring nature of these issues, from phantom braking to misjudgment of road conditions, underscores a substantial safety defect within the forward collision avoidance suite. These are not minor inconveniences; they represent serious operational failures that can directly contribute to dangerous driving situations. Drivers are compelled to maintain an exceptionally high level of alertness even when driver-assist features are engaged.
3. **Lane Departure Malfunctions**Among the most critical safety concerns reported for the 2025 Tesla Model 3 are severe lane departure malfunctions, particularly when the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is engaged. These failures directly lead to situations where the vehicle veers dangerously into “oncoming traffic,” representing a catastrophic failure of a core driver assistance system.
One owner in Pennsylvania shared a frightening experience: while using FSD with the ‘Avoid Highways’ setting active, the car’s left indicator surprisingly activated, and within just five seconds, the owner found themselves driving into oncoming traffic. Thankfully, the owner quickly took control, stopped the car, and safely maneuvered back into the correct lane once it was clear, but this incident, which happened on a sunny afternoon with normal traffic, highlights a significant flaw in the system.
Another “critical malfunction,” described by a Georgia owner, involved the vehicle steering “towards oncoming traffic” because “Yellow double lines were not recognized around a turn.” This happened despite the dealership declaring the car “fully functional.” The inability of FSD to correctly identify and adhere to fundamental road markings poses an existential threat on roads where opposing traffic is separated.
These lane departure malfunctions are not isolated incidents but a pattern of hazardous behavior, placing drivers and other road users in imminent danger. When the system instead guides the vehicle into the path of oncoming traffic, it fundamentally fails its safety mandate. Such critical malfunctions necessitate immediate and thorough investigation by both Tesla and regulatory bodies.
4. Beyond the complexities of FSD, basic steering system problems are also a major worry for 2025 Tesla Model 3 owners, with issues ranging from a complete loss of steering control to a reduction in important driving aids, which directly compromises safety and driver confidence. These problems, whether they happen on their own or along with the driver assistance systems, hint at deeper issues with the car’s hardware or core software.
Several owners reported the “steering wheel locked” during maneuvers, creating terrifying loss of control. A California owner, making a “wide right turn at an intersection,” heard “three warning beeps before the steering wheel locked.” Unable to “correct the steering,” the driver “drove over a curb, ultimately stopped by a fence.” This “issue has occurred multiple times,” indicating a persistent and severe defect.
Other complaints highlight degradation of active safety features. A Texas owner reported “Steering Assist is reduced, Traction Control disabled, and Stability Control disabled.” This combination is hazardous, as these systems are crucial for stability and control. The “heavy” steering and car “coasting unless holding the brake pedal,” made the vehicle “unsafe to drive.” Such basic safety feature failures are severe.
The varied and severe steering complaints—from sudden locking to disabled assists—underscore a profound reliability issue within a primary vehicle control system. These fundamental failures directly jeopardize a driver’s ability to safely operate the vehicle. For a modern EV, these reports demand urgent attention and robust engineering solutions.
5. **Brake System Failures**The integrity of a vehicle’s braking system is paramount to safety, and for the 2025 Tesla Model 3, “Service Brakes” issues have emerged. These include the unavailability of automatic emergency braking and, perhaps more disturbingly, sudden, unexplained deceleration or “phantom braking.” Such anomalies create immediate hazards and increase the risk of rear-end collisions.
One Florida owner stated “automatic emergency braking and steering are unavailable along with a few other features,” lamenting that the “Service center and car manufacturer not doing anything about it.” The failure of AEB renders a crucial safety layer inert, leaving drivers reliant on manual intervention. The lack of response regarding such a fundamental defect is concerning.
More harrowing are reports of phantom braking, where the vehicle abruptly decelerates. A California owner described two events: “once on city streets… it went from 40 mph to 0 mph instantly.” On the freeway, “going about 75 to 80 mph, it was on Auto Steer, and the car went from the speed I was going to almost 0.” The owner rightly feared, “We both could have been killed because of the last incident.”
These unexpected braking events are a serious and frequently occurring defect that poses a significant safety risk by compromising driver control and violating basic expectations of how a vehicle should behave. Addressing these brake system failures is an urgent necessity to ensure the fundamental safety of the 2025 Tesla Model 3.
6. **Reported Crashes Attributed to Driver-Assist Systems**The most tangible and alarming manifestations of driver-assist system malfunctions are “Reported Crashes” directly attributed by owners to features like Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot. These incidents provide concrete evidence of critical safety failures, leading to property damage and potential injury.
One harrowing account describes a crash at night while driving “30 mph with FSD Supervised Mode.” The Tesla Model 3 “suddenly made a left turn,” drove “over a curb and onto the grass,” and “crashed into the rear passenger’s side of three unoccupied vehicles that were parked in the driveway.” Despite airbag deployment, the driver was “not injured,” but the incident highlights FSD’s unpredictable and dangerous maneuvers.
Another crash occurred during parallel parking. An owner, “driving with Autopilot and the most updated version of FSD engaged,” saw the vehicle “made a sudden left turn and crashed into a curb.” The driver “took over manually” to prevent further damage, but the “front passenger side bumper was damaged.” Concerningly, “The Tesla Software did not detect the crash,” raising questions about system logging.
These reported crashes, including a “near-fatal accident” on a “U-shaped highway exit road” where a driver “pull[ed] the steering wheel at the last minute,” paint a grim picture. These incidents are not minor, but situations where the vehicle’s own systems contribute to or fail to prevent severe accidents. They serve as undeniable evidence of profound safety risks in Tesla’s current driver-assist technologies.
