2021 Tesla Model 3 Interior & seats Problems

I am the owner of a 2021 Tesla Model 3 and am filing this complaint due to a significant safety concern: my vehicle does not have manual or mechanical releases for the rear doors; only electronic mechanisms are present. In the event of a total power failure, accident, fire, or submersion, rear seat passengers would be unable to exit the vehicle through the rear doors, as there is no physical lever or alternative escape route directly available inside the rear seats. This design poses a serious risk to occupant safety in emergencies, especially for families with children or passengers unable to access the front seat manual releases or trunk escape features. The lack of a rear mechanical release is inconsistent with standard automotive safety practices and could lead to injury or loss of life if electronic door access is disabled. It’s important to note that newer Tesla models now include manual rear door release mechanisms, demonstrating that Tesla recognizes the safety benefit and necessity of this feature. Owners of earlier models, like mine, are left without this critical safety upgrade, and I believe this should be addressed for all affected vehicles. I strongly urge NHTSA to investigate this issue and consider whether a recall or mandatory modification is warranted for the affected Tesla Model 3 vehicles. Please contact me if any additional details are required.

NHTSA ID

11699856

Incident

Nov 17, 2025

Resistive occupancy sensor consistently failing causing: -Bluetooth to not automatically connect anytime the vehicle is entered - vehicle puts itself in park to prevent rollback if seatbelt is not applied - car does not recognize when driver is in seat These are serious safety concerns as it could cause a domino effect in safety features if not applied when needed.

NHTSA ID

11685809

Incident

Jun 1, 2025

The frunk keeps opening while driving or parked without me pressing the control to open the frunk

NHTSA ID

11672330

Incident

Jun 26, 2025

RCM2_a636 Front passenger safety restraint system fault Service is required Passenger airbag turns OFF when a passenger is sitting in it. Error is intermittent and while occasionally turn off and on. Seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen should someone get in a car accident.

NHTSA ID

11668094

Incident

Jun 19, 2025

While traveling over 230 miles from home on a road trip, my 2021 Tesla Model 3 suffered a complete and catastrophic failure. While in North Carolina, the vehicle became entirely unresponsive—doors would not unlock, windows couldn’t be operated, and I was completely unable to access the charging port, trunk, or frunk. The vehicle was effectively bricked without warning. This wasn’t a minor inconvenience—it was a serious safety issue. I was stranded out of state from Saturday to Tuesday, completely dependent on others for transportation while waiting for the vehicle to be towed 58 miles to a service center. I was eventually informed of the cause, auxiliary battery failure, but the fact remains: this happened without warning, in the middle of a long-distance trip, and could have left me in an extremely dangerous or isolated situation. Tesla's systems failed without notice; an apparent design flaw left me with no way to access or secure the vehicle. The inability to open the doors or charge the car poses obvious and unacceptable safety risks. The windows were secured with plastic to prevent rain from coming in. This incident is deeply concerning and should be taken seriously. I am urging NHTSA to investigate this issue and hold Tesla accountable to ensure this does not happen to other drivers under even more hazardous circumstances.

NHTSA ID

11656199

Incident

Apr 5, 2025

The Tesla model 3 has a manual release lever for each door in the front. The passenger side lever doesn't work, creating a safety issue if the car were to lose power then that door would not be able to be owned in case of an emergency. It was never used before and just doesn't work. I've heard this is a common issue on the 2021 model as it was the first refresh or re design.

NHTSA ID

11638685

Incident

Dec 30, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the hood opened unintentionally, the A/C unit and the radio intermittently turned on and off, the infotainment system screen intermittently turned black and randomly turned back on, along with several other failures that occurred. No warning lights was illuminated. The failures occurred on several different occasions. The contact was notified that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V554000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages, Electrical System) however, while attempting to update the vehicle software, the vehicle failed to complete the software update. The vehicle was drivable and was taken to the place of residence; the contact attempted to get in contact with Tesla Roadside Assistance however, once the contact reached the "confirm pickup spot" screen, the screen froze and would not confirm the request. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact attempted to notify the manufacturer however, the contact received no response in return. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11617973

Incident

Oct 1, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V554000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages, Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted but saw no recall information related to the VIN. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11614468

Incident

Jul 25, 2024

Passenger SRS system fault. Initial error is due to a fault with the occupancy sensor. Presumably disabling or degrading seatbelt pre accident tensioning and proper airbag deployment. Also causes repeated & distracting beeps throughout drive.

NHTSA ID

11598091

Incident

Jul 1, 2024

The rear seat doesn’t detect kids under 50lbs. Putting the seat in car seat mode only disables the seatbelt alert and doesn’t keep the rear fans on. You can turn them on manually, but the car forgets that they should stay on if you precondition the cabin from the mobile app. Meaning that my child cooks in the back seat due to lack of rear cabin conditioning unless I remember to turn it back on in a buried menu every time.

NHTSA ID

11564709

Incident

Apr 3, 2023

The driver's seat automatically adjusts when I get into the car. Normally this is a good thing, right? But when my wife and I both get in the car, and I'm going to drive, the car often assumes my wife is the driver and adjusts the seats to her settings as I'm getting into the car. This is a serious problem that has the potential to injure me. Since I'm tall, and my wife is short, the seat starts moving forward as I get in, and it starts to crush me. It's too hard to get back out, and I'm not always able to select my seat configuration quickly enough. If I happen to be carrying something as I get into the car, then that object usually is compressed between me and the steering wheel. There have been times where I didn't have my legs in fully, and they started to get crushed by the seat pushing them forward into the steering wheel. I've talked to Tesla about this several times. Tesla employees have told me that they hear about this problem regularly, but they don't have a way to fix it. And when I ask how to contact Tesla, they tell me use Twitter. I think Tesla's service department should have a method to communicate customer complaints directly. No one has given me any feedback indicating that they intend to do anything, even though they acknowledge that this is dangerous. I also wonder if it is possible that this might happen while I'm driving! For example, what would happen if the battery on my phone drained? The bluetooth connection would be lost. Would the car then pair to my wife's phone and readjust the seats? Of course, there is a simple fix. Instead of doing the automatic but stupid and dangerous adjustment, it should just ask for my confirmation. And never automatically go into a mode of "let's crush the driver"! I only want a computer to think for me if it's going to reason properly, in every situation, every time. Clearly Tesla didn't think this one through.

NHTSA ID

11537464

Incident

Aug 7, 2023

Seat sensor fail and was able to drive in the middle of the intersection to make a left turn. Since the sensor fail if vechicle is driven less the 5 mph the car will go in park- very scary when in the middle trying to turn left

NHTSA ID

11489213

Incident

Jul 6, 2022