I received access to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system in late 2021. In the lead-up to that access, Tesla used a series of driver scoring metrics to select which users would get access first. Consistently, my metrics for forward collision warnings would show as alarmingly high, despite never coming within remote striking distance of another vehicle. On more than one occasion, a vehicle passing in other lane or turning left but in the other lane tripped the warning. At the time this registered as a red flag but more a bug of the evaluation system than the car’s recognition software. As time with the FSD suite has gone on, and subsequently with every new update, the phantom braking problem a number of users have described has plagued my experiences. Numerous times I’ve been driving with FSD engaged on two lane roads with no cars, shadows, animals or distractions of any kind around only for the car to suddenly and rapidly decelerate. Additionally I’ve received warnings repeatedly, without explanation, that the emergency braking system is disabling itself, then the warning will clear without any indication it’s either become reactive or is still disabled. Further, I’ve noticed through the new blind spot camera feature Tesla has released that my left rear-facing repeater camera can be blinded by the flashing of the embedded turn signal in the housing - but only the left signal, the right is not. This has led to, on more than one occasion, FSD disabling itself while active with little or no warning. I’ve listed the approximate date the first phantom braking occurred, but all of these problems have been an ongoing issues for months.
2018 Tesla Model 3 driver assistance complaints
Page 7 of 10: complaints 161 to 190 of 253, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was using Enhanced Autopilot on Tesla Model 3. It breaks automatically in middle of road for no reason even when there is no object in front of it. Its a life threatening situation because the vehicle behind my car will not have enough breaking distance and time at high speeds. It happens almost every month and specially under the reflection of bridges. I complained to service center and employees just ask exact time when it occurred and if exact time is not provided than Tesla employees does not do anything to resolve the issue. Looks like Tesla is putting many lives in danger.
Driving while on cruise control, the car will phantom brake. That is, it will apply the brakes: - when a vehicle is way way out there in my lane and not a potential problem. - when two vehicle are close on each left and right side lanes, but not in my lane. For instance, when on 3 lane road with all lanes going the same way, vehicles on my left and right sides out in front of me but not in front of me, the car will suddenly apply the brakes. These are just the most common instances. I get lots on incidents of the vehicle unnecessarily applying the brakes when on cruise control.
I saw the reports on all the auto breaking issues with tesla, and i wanted to report for over a year my car does this ALL the time when auto pilot is engaged. I can remember hundreds of times where there is nothing around and all of a sudden the car auto breaks and its hard breaking as though im slamming on the breaks.
Multiple instances of phantom braking and slow down while driving on Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) and/or Autosteer mode of the Autopilot feature. In addition, the lane keeping assistance feature gives phantom warnings even though the car stays in the lane.
Phantom braking, i.e. apparent engagement of brakes on car for no apparent reason during routine driving
When driving on undivided highways, the car will phantom / panic brake due to oncoming cars approaching in the opposite lane. At times, the car phantom brakes for no apparent reason at all as there are no cars nearby. At night, it gets much worse, with the car phantom/panic braking at nearly every oncoming car. My 2018 Model 3 is equipped with radar-assisted Autopilot, but newer Tesla vehicles don't have the radar hardware at all and instead rely on a vision-only system that uses the cameras alone. When I opted into Tesla's Full Self Driving beta, the new software disabled my car's radar and my car became a "vision-only" vehicle, like newer Tesla vehicles. At this point, phantom / panic braking became significantly worse. When radar was used, the braking was rare but still unsettling. With vision-only Autopilot, it's nearly unusable. Even with basic cruise control, phantom / panic brakes happen with the same frequency as if you're using Autopilot. I basically can't use any cruise control or autopilot when driving on undivided highways. On interstates and in-city highways, phantom / panic braking does still happen, but it's less frequent.
The automatic emergency braking system activated when there was no collision imminent. (7:13am, 5/22/22) Neither cruise control nor autopilot was engaged at the time of incident. I was nearly hit from behind by a driver who did not expect me to stop as there was no hazard or other vehicle. Tesla inspected the vehicle and found no fault and claimed that I needed driver education. Also on a subsequent interstate trip with cruise control engaged, the automatic emergency braking system activated unnecessarily. It appears to be related to shadows on the road or pavement changes.
Twice the car in Autopilot braked for no apparent reason. First time on an Interstate traveling at 65 mph in the center lane. As I was about to pass a truck located in the right lane that was going very slowly with its blinkers on, the Tesla abruptly decelerated from 65 mph to about 40 mph. Thankfully there were no cars behind me because I would have been rear ended. The second incident happened on a road inside my community that winds through a golf course. I put the car on Autopilot at 30 mph speed limit because there is radar hiding every. day. The car suddenly braked for no apparent reason . My hypothesis is there was a sign close to the road warning that golf carts cross here. There were no golf carts or people nearby and perhaps the sign was seen by the Autopilot as an object to stop the car.
Multiple episodes of phantom breaking with the car on cruise control on the highway. The car was not on autopilot during the episodes. The car abruptly drops from highway speed with full braking until you can override it with the accelerator. This will cause accidents of someone is close behind you. As a result, I do not use cruise control.
I intermittently get an on-screen message “automatic emergency braking is disabled.” Adaptive cruise control and auto-steering are disabled and I am unable to engage either one. Randomly the problem will resolve itself with no intervention from me - usually a day or two later. I have taken the car to Tesla service twice and they are unable to resolve the issue. On the last visit the service technician said that it is a firmware issue.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the warning message "Front Left Safety Restraint System Fault. Service Required." The contact continued to drive. The contact stated that the next day, the air bag warning light illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that a field mechanic would be sent to his residence to repair the vehicle however, the repair appointment was rescheduled several times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Additionally, the contact became aware that the VIN was included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000. Parts distribution disconnect. Defective airbag warning sign in red is also active. After repeated requests to Tesla they refuse to fix the issue and keep postponing the repair dates.
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.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received a notification for the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Car slammed on brakes as we were overtaking truck. Car may have mistaken truck's shadow for an object; this was around noon on a clear sunny day. Braking was sharp enough to cause an accident had someone been following us closely.
Stopped in left turn lane. On green light car in front and I began our left turn. I was some distance behind the car when suddenly my brakes applied automatically and I came to complete stop. Luckily car behind did not rear end me. Also, my car started beeping and a warning said something to effect: automatic emergency brake activated.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention). The contact then attempted to ship the vehicle to Hawaii and was informed that all recalls must be serviced before shipment. The dealer was notified about the recall and informed her that parts were not available. The manufacturer had been notified of the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
While on auto assist car engages in phantom braking
Autopilot hard breaks whip lash randomly beeps saying take over when going through an intersection or next to a semi. Phantom breaking
While vehicle was engaged in autopilot and adaptive cruise control on the freeway in traffic it has intermittently accelerated toward the vehicle in front requiring the driver to abruptly manually press on brakes to disengage the adaptive cruise control in order to avoid colliding into the vehicle in front. It has also suddenly braked on the freeway when there was no object in front requiring the vehicles behind to abruptly slow in order to avoid collision to rear of the vehicle. This has happened multiple times over years. I did report it once to the manufacturer who could not explain or reproduce it. There were not warning messages or lights to demonstrate failure of the system.
My 2018 Tesla Model 3 failed to engage its automatic emergency braking system - resulting in a collision due to the vehicle in front of me suddenly braking.
The auto cruise control brakes hard suddenly for no reason !! This puts the car in danger from vehicles behind me as the very unexpected slow down. Also, the blind spot warning has no audible and the car in next lane is too close beforeit turns red on the scree. It's not safe to turn your viewing to the screen from the road to change lanes. I drive the old fashioned way to be safe by looking over my shoulder before changing lanes.
Sudden Unintended Acceleration: While pulling forward onto our driveway (with incline) at a very slow speed, the car suddenly accelerated and brake was not working. Automatic emergency braking also failed.
My blindspot warning cameras display gets completely washed out at night, (unable to view alongside my vehicle) whenever the directional blinker lights. This causes me to loose view of anything alongside my car. This only happens during darkness. This has been corrected in newer versions of the camera, but Tesla refuses to repair this under warranty. I was instructed to have the cameras replaced at my cost or to disable the feature. They refuse to fix this under warranty. I have included the complete correspondence with Tesla after requesting service.
My Model 3 regularly brakes at highway speeds for no reason it does this in daylight but more frequently at night also - it appears more common in the rain - where reflections off the wet pavement seems to appear as solid objects to the cruise control i have stopped using the cruise control now - it is frightening to have the car suddenly slam on the brakes at highway speeds
My car is equipped with forward-facing radar, but ever since Tesla turned it off in favor of "Tesla Vision" my Autopilot/TACC experience has been greatly worsened. The car suddenly (and very unsettlingly) slams on the brakes on the highway or city traffic (I have FSD Beta) for anything from shadows, to hills/inclines, to curves, or minor harmless debris (shopping bags) in the road. This has not yet caused an accident but has almost come close. Other issues: - FSD Beta, when engaged, forces the computer to have control over the high-beams and windshield wipers. The car obsessively flashes the high beams whenever possible, including on well-lit city streets. On multiple occasions this has triggered road rage in surrounding drivers because they think I'm flashing my brights at them for no reason. There is no reason to engage the brights in a well-lit urban environment. - Forward Collision Warning has become completely unreliable and routinely warns for cars that are not in my lane or in front of my car directly. This makes me more likely to just ignore the warning.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the backup camera malfunctioned and the screen displayed completely black or completely white causing a visibility hazard to the driver while reversing the vehicle. The vehicle was previously serviced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V00D000 (Electrical System, Visibility, Back Over Prevention) however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the replacement parts were not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 35,000.
While on adaptive cruise control, my car breaks on highway for no reason. Looks like it happens at certain parts of highways. I noticed this at at least 3 highways and it breaks unexpectedly causing the vehicles behind me to almost crash into me.
The car has repeatedly (but not often) initiated emergency braking while traveling on a freeway. It has done this in literally the same place on California highway 85 several times, and occasionally on other freeways. It has always been a clear, sunny day, and it seems to occur when the vehicle travels from deep shade into bright sun (i.e. as when going under an overpass). The road was straight with no vehicle directly ahead for several hundred feet. I have reported this to Tesla via the app. and through the service departments. I have included date and time as well as location on some occasions. The only comment I have received was that the logs showed no problems, and no further action was taken by Tesla. When the severe braking occurred, an alarm went off in the car (a beeping sound). At least once a following car nearly collided with me. I was probably traveling in the range of 68-73 MPH. I do not have dates or mileage information, but Tesla may based on the occurrences I reported.
regularly experience phantom breaking and unwarranted early collision warnings
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