2018 Tesla Model 3 Exterior lighting Problems

In the last 18 months I have had 8 service visits relating to electrical issues. In the last 30 months: - I had my car computer replaced after it shorted out, and then had to have it replaced again the next week. - I had the same taillight short out twice in a row. - I have had the 12V battery replaced three times. - I have had multiple low voltage controllers short out over multiple service visits. - The sound system has shorted out once as well. - One time, I was unable to shift to drive because a heater had shorted out. Now, I have to replace my right headlight and passenger airbag occupancy sensor due to shorts as well. The right headlight goes out intermittently and the passenger airbag alert fires sometimes. Tesla Corte Madera submitted a buyback request on my behalf after witnessing all these issues, but Tesla corporate denied it. I am sure the electrical issues will continue to affect the safety and drivability of my car. Thank you for your help.

NHTSA ID

11749184

Incident

Jun 25, 2026

The turn signal stalk does not differentiate between a partial (lane change) press or a full turn press. The signal will remain on until the stalk is moved in the opposite turn direction. This sometimes results in the opposite turn signal activating. This entire process is intermittent while driving. This happens mainly on the highway where an intermittent (half press) of the stalk is performed to switch lanes. When switching lands I have no idea whether it'll work as designed or fail to register a half press or full press of the stalk.

NHTSA ID

11578794

Incident

Mar 21, 2024

The is WATER in my right front FOG lamp and I don't know how it got in there, but Tesla says they can't get water out of it and can't reseal it, but is willing to let me pay $504 to replace a light... this is yet another Billionaire abusive practice by Elon Musk to generate cash flow and revenue for his failing company. Telsa also asked for $15,000 for a new battery, which the "software" said it started reducing the range JUST after the 120,000 mile battery warranty was up. Just like Apple does with reducing iPhone battery performance for so called "safety" reasons to make people pony up to the latest model. Which Tesla has been emailing me and texting me to try to get me to buy a new Tesla LOL. This is clearly an abusive "sales tactic". If they actually care about helping customers, they would figure out how to fix each issue. Clear out the water and seal the headlight. Figure out which battery cells need replacing and replace them. Simple and cheap solutions. Not "customer pay astronomical prices" for every damn issue Tesla forces upon people. Including "customer pay tows" after "Tesla's software" decides to randomly shut the car down in the middle of the road, rather than Tesla taking responsibility for their software malfunctioning preventing the driver from reaching their destination. These are clearly misguided attempts by an AWOL CEO [XXX] about his $55B pay package, trying to claw back money from customers to reward himself to pay for Twitter/X. Make[XXX] Musk and Tesla do the right thing by customers and REPAIR these issues, rather than [XXX] poor customers' cashflow. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11571743

Incident

Feb 13, 2024

Automatic Headlights fail to illuminate when wipers are active. This has been reported to Tesla in 3/2022.

NHTSA ID

11509508

Incident

Mar 1, 2022

Many states like Florida have a law that headlights need to be on when it is raining, My Tesla has automatic wipers that come on when it senses rain, when this happens, it should also turn on headlights for safety reasons but it does not, they need to be turned on manually, the car does also have automatic headlights, but the automatic headlights on the car only work when it gets dark in the evening. This is a simple programming change that Tesla could do, my repeated requests to Tesla to address this in the app has done nothing, that’s why I’m requesting you force Tesla to do this. Makes sense right?

NHTSA ID

11507937

Incident

Feb 17, 2023

The passenger-side daytime-running headlight (aka, "signature light" or "accent headlight") failed at approximately 66,000 miles and four years. This makes the daytime-running headlight ineffective. I have since noticed many Tesla Model 3's with the same issue. To fix this problem requires replacement of the entire headlight assembly. This was a very expensive repair (~$1200) and will likely be ignored by owners of Teslas no longer covered under warranty. This creates a common safety issue with these automobiles.

NHTSA ID

11495946

Incident

Aug 30, 2022

Vehicle center screen freezing multiple times per drive. Speedometer, turn signals, autopilot, battery percentage, backup camera, blind spot monitor, parking sensors, HVAC and garage door opener all repeatedly inoperative. Audio chimes also freeze up and previously-engaged “navigate on autopilot” functions continue to operate without any visual or auditory alerts.

NHTSA ID

11464794

Incident

May 14, 2022

Daylight running lights are not operating, a warning in the instrument cluster of not operating lights is not give. So the driver is not aware of the issue! Repair is not possible the entire light unit needs to be replaced ! This is a come issue with the Manufacture Tesla as I found a lot of complains on the internet with this specific issues

NHTSA ID

11460960

Incident

Apr 15, 2022

The steering system failed. I'm not sure about the availability for inspection. My safety was put at risk when my car collided with another car. I had just pulled out of my driveway and turned to go down the street a short distance from a stop sign where I would turn left. From a video taken by one of the car's cameras, the car went to the left side of the street and started toward the intersection where the car hit another vehicle. I have driven to the intersection numerous times. There is no way that I would have pulled toward the left side of the street. I believe that something in the steering system malfunctioned. This put me and other drivers on the road at risk. I don't know if the the problem has reproduced. There was a policeman at the site, but he would not inspect the vehicle for a malfunction. My insurance company must have inspected the car as they called today to inform me that the car is totaled. The failure happened so quickly, that I had no warning.

NHTSA ID

11445624

Incident

Dec 21, 2021

In a heavy Florida rain this afternoon about 3:30pm EDT I noticed my automatic headlight with windshield wiper function was inop. The lights normally go on with windshield wipers in the past. Upon investigation Tesla has removed this function at least on Model 3 and Y cars for some regulatory reason. It is unsafe to have to go to the touch screen to turn on headlights in this situation. Owners are complaining on forums but i think more drastic action is required.

NHTSA ID

11434278

Incident

Sep 24, 2021

THERE IS A BUILDUP OF WATER AND CONDENSATION IN THE REAR TAIL LIGHTS OF MY VEHICLE. THE ISSUE IS KNOWN BY TESLA AS THEY REPLACED THE SAME PROBLEM BEFORE, HOWEVER, NOW THEY ARE NOT COVERING IT UNDER WARRANTY EVEN THOUGH IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM AMONG MODEL 3 OWNERS.

NHTSA ID

11416172

Incident

Apr 21, 2021

Mileage

65,700 mi

FRONT FOG LIGHTS AND REAR TAIL LIGHTS FOGGING AND FILLING WITH CONDENSATION THAT COULD LEAD TO ELECTRICAL ISSUES. SERVICE CENTER SAID THIS IS 'NORMAL'.

NHTSA ID

11311527

Incident

Jan 1, 2020

Mileage

19 mi

PROBLEM: REAR TAIL LIGHTS WERE NOT ILLUMINATED, EVEN THOUGH THE STANDARDIZED HEADLIGHT SYMBOL/INDICATOR WAS DEPICTED ON THE VEHICLE INSTRUMENT SCREEN. THIS SYMBOL IS UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD TO INDICATE BOTH HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS. INCIDENT: WHILE DRIVING ON A DARK AND UNLIT ROAD, I ENCOUNTERED DEBRIS BLOCKING THE ROAD. IN ORDER TO PASS THROUGH, I EXITED THE VEHICLE WITHOUT TURNING IT OFF AND LEFT THE DRIVER'S DOOR UNLATCHED TO ENSURE THE VEHICLE DID NOT INADVERTENTLY POWER DOWN. I EXPECTED THAT THE HEADLIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS WOULD REMAIN ILLUMINTED TO, BOTH, LIGHT THE ROAD AHEAD AS WELL AS ILLUMINATE THE REAR FOR SAFETY AND VISIBILITY. AFTER MOVING THE DEBRIS FROM THE ROAD, I WAS SURPRISED TO FIND THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY DARK AND NOT VISIBLE FROM THE REAR. HOWEVER, THE INTERIOR INSTRUMENT PANEL SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPICTED THE STANDARDIZED HEADLIGHT SYMBOL, WITH NO WARNING THAT THE REAR LIGHTS WERE INDEPENDENTLY TURNED OFF. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD, AS THE DRIVER/OWNER HAS NO INDICATION THAT THE REAR TAIL LIGHTS TURN OFF. ASIDE FROM MANUALLY GOING INTO HEADLIGHT SETTINGS IN THE VEHICLE CONFIGURATION MENU, THERE IS NO EASILY ACCESSIBLE WAY TO KEEP ALL LIGHTING ACTIVE WHILE THE DRIVER IS NOT IN THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ID

11269277

Incident

Oct 5, 2019

Mileage

12,999 mi

THESE VEHICLES ARE NOT EQUIPPED WITH FRONT SIDE AMBER REFLEX REFLECTORS AS REQUIRED UNDR FMVSS 205 REQUIREMENTS

NHTSA ID

11186749

Incident

Mar 11, 2019

HELLO, I OFTEN FOLLOW TESLA MODEL 3 CARS IN DENSE TRAFFIC, AND STOP BEHIND THEM AT RED LIGHTS. I HAVE TO SAY, THEIR TAIL LIGHTS (MORE EXACTLY, BRAKE LIGHTS IN THE CENTER OF TAIL LIGHT) ARE EXTREMELY BRIGHT WHILE BEING VERY SMALL. THEY ARE ALMOST AS BRIGHT AS LASERS. WHEN IT'S DARK, LOOKING AT THEM EVEN WITH PERIPHERAL VISION IS PAINFUL, I HAVE TO LOOK TO THE SIDE TO AVOID BEING BLINDED. I AM SURE LOOKING AT THESE LIGHTS IS DANGEROUS TO MY VISION. INSTEAD OF THESE VERY SMALL AND VERY BRIGHT LIGHTS, TESLA SHOULD HAVE USED BIGGER LIGHTS WITH SMALLER INTENSITY (EMITTED POWER PER SQUARE INCH). I AM ATTACHING A STOCK PICTURE OF MODEL 3'S TAIL LIGHTS. UNFORTUNATELY, A CAMERA COULD NOT CAPTURE THE VERY HIGH INTENSITY OF THE LIGHT.

NHTSA ID

11179985

Incident

Feb 11, 2019

I WAS AT THE SUPERCHARGING STATION IN DUBLIN ( CALIFORNIA) . WHEN I WANTED TO TAKE REVERSE AND PARK MY CAR FOR SUPERCHARGING.MY CAR SHOWED THE OPTION OF AUTOPARK. SINCE THERE WAS AN OPEN SPOT AVAILABLE FOR PARKING MY CAR (WHERE MY CAR FITS PROPERLY - AS PER TESLA GUIDELINES) .I STARTED AUTO PARKING ,IN AUTOPARK FEATURE USUALLY THE CAR COMES CLOSE TO THE OTHER CAR AND THEN TAKES NECESSARY TURN. BUT IN MY CASE THE CAR CAME VERY CLOSE TO THE OTHER CAR AND INSTEAD OF STOPPING IT SPEEDED UP AND DASHED TO THE OTHER CAR IN THE PARKING SPOT. MY CAR HAS COLLISION PREVENTION PLUS IT PROVIDES ACCURATE DISTANCE IF THERE IS SOME OBJECT BEHIND MY CAR, BUT IN THIS CAR NEITHER OF THE SYSTEMS ALERTED ME AND LED TO A CRASH.I RAISED A COMPLAINT TO TESLA ABOUT THE AUTO PARK FEATURES PROBLEM BUT HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY ANY WORD FROM THEM. I HAVE ATTACHED THE IMAGES OF THE CAR.

NHTSA ID

11115496

Incident

Jul 27, 2018

Mileage

3,400 mi