2023 Tesla Model 3 Visibility Problems

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, a rock struck the front windshield, causing a crack. The contact stated that the front windshield had previously been replaced for the same failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

NHTSA ID

11618667

Incident

Sep 1, 2024

Mileage

23,000 mi

Windshield is defective which appeared crack without any solid object hitting incidence.

NHTSA ID

11610657

Incident

Aug 12, 2024

Since I purchased my car in July 2023, I’ve had multiple false forward collision warning resulting in my insurance premium increasing by sizeable amounts and has caused me undue stress. I’ve reported this problem to Tesla but to no avail. Today 8/9/2024, between 5:17 and 5:21 pm, while driving my cars forward collision warning was activated while no vehicle was in front of my but instead to a parked car on the pavement. This has happened multiple times and Tesla denies being aware of any issues.

NHTSA ID

11607626

Incident

Aug 9, 2024

1) Driving at highway speed on a highway, the windshield wipers stopped and would not restart in the middle of a pouring rainstorm. We could barely see, but we pulled to the roadside and stopped the car. We put the car in park. Once we put the car in drive again, the wipers would work again. We took the car to the Tesla service center and they replaced the wiper module. 2) When stopped at a stoplight the car would not drive forward when the light turned green. The car would not go again until I put it in park and then back into drive. When exiting a parking lot and pulling out into traffic, making a right turn, the car just stopped and would not go. The car would not go forward in drive and would not go backward in reverse, it just sat there. I put the car in park. Then I put the car in drive again and it went forward as usual. I took the car to the Tesla service center and here is their report: "Repair Notes: Technician verified customer concern through review of vehicle alerts at customer timestamp and tow. Technician performed a very exhaustive circuit integrity check on the vehicle communication network and found no faults. Technician then investigated closer at the customer timestamp and found the vehicle Car Computer restarted itself due to an over memory condition upon wake, resulting in the experienced symptom. This is a know firmware characteristic that Tesla Engineering is aware of and actively working on a permanent fix to be released in future firmware. Technician also removed and replaced the faulty wiper motor.

NHTSA ID

11597099

Incident

Jun 17, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed in the rain with the windshield wipers activated, the windshield wipers became inoperable. The contact was able to turn the switch for the windshield wipers and the wiper blades started operating as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that the contact was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that the failure began after an OTA update. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 11,800.

NHTSA ID

11592680

Incident

May 21, 2024

Mileage

11,800 mi

While driving in rain, the windshield wipers will randomly stop. This will happen both in AUTO and in MANUAL modes, especially at night in poor visibility. I contacted Tesla and they came and replaced the wiper motor assembly but the problem was not resolved. I believe it is a software issue. I nearly had a crash as this happened to me first at night in a very busy and complex highway intersection and resulted in me being stuck in the middle and blocking traffic until I could navigate the touch screen and find the wiper option to get it restarted.

NHTSA ID

11582914

Incident

Apr 1, 2024

Automatic wipers are very erratic. Sometimes it works like crazy. Sometimes it never cleans the windshield even though it is soaking limiting visibility. Using it in manual mode is also very difficult as all adjustments are done on the screen forcing you to take your eyes off the road. There are no levers to adjust it.

NHTSA ID

11582681

Incident

Apr 12, 2024

Wiper control is limited requiring the driver focus on the touch screen. Auto wipers activation is slow and does not keep windshield clear from rain, forcing the driver take the eyes off the road and find the small area on the touchscreen to control the various wipers speed.

NHTSA ID

11570958

Incident

Jan 31, 2024

Ever since software release 2023.44.30, there has been a serious issue with automatic wipers and visibility during driving. It has been documented by drivers on the internet, however I simulated driving conditions in a car wash that has triggered auto wipers atleast a dozen times in the past. Today I recorded a 4 minute and 30 second video where there was zero activation of wipers at all with torrential rain simulated as well as soap fully covering the field of view. Since the auto wipers are tied to the autopilot and FSD system this could cause serious injury or death if not rectified.

NHTSA ID

11567124

Incident

Jan 22, 2024

The wipers come on for no reason and there is no way to turn them off. Since the wiper blades are running on a dry windshield the visibility decreases considerably after it runs for some time

NHTSA ID

11545791

Incident

Sep 1, 2023

Emergency braking applied when no other vehicles were in sight. Braking was hard enough to spill coffee. Seems to occur when adaptive cruise control is on. Happened about 10 times on recent road trip. Lucky no one was behind us! Felt very unsafe.

NHTSA ID

11536791

Incident

Jul 21, 2023

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Wiper blades activate for no reason while driving the vehicle in auto pilot. There is no ryme or reason as to when this happens, it just happens randomly at random times for unknown reasons. The most recent incident happened today, but this has been going on since I took ownership of this brand new car in December of 2022. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? When there is salt on the road and there is no moisture hitting the windshield, all this does with the salt is smears your windshield making it very difficult to see out of the windshield. The only way to clear the windshield is to activate the windshield washer fluid. This wouldn't be necessary had the wipers just stayed off in the first place. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The dealer tells me the wipers are working as designed, but can't explain to me why they turn on when there is no moisture hitting the windshield. They can't explain to me why it is happening to my car and not other similar vehicles of the same make/model. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? The dealer has looked into this and says it's working as designed. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No warning lights are or were present during any of these incidents.

NHTSA ID

11505120

Incident

Feb 2, 2023

I was driving in rainy weather and my windshield wipers were set to 'Auto' mode. The wipers were functioning correctly until I clicked on a menu item in the car operating system. The operating system became unresponsive to any touches and wipers stopped working at this moment which dropped my visibility to almost 0. I was fortunately not driving on highway when the incident occurred. The operating system rebooted after roughly 20 seconds and the wipers started working again after the reboot completed.

NHTSA ID

11501877

Incident

Jan 14, 2023