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2018 Tesla Model 3 fuel system complaints

Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 24 of 24, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2018 Tesla Model 3 fuel system problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Jan 16, 2023 · Fuel system · CA

On December 27, 2022, in light evening street traffic, my car accelerated briefly without the accelerator pedal being applied. I took my foot off the accelerator pedal to decelerate for an upcoming red light. While my foot was off the pedal, the car accelerated and lurched forward. The car was towed to the Tesla Sacramento Service Center. The technician incorrectly cited the "creep mode" as being involved. The car was in motion when it unexpectedly accelerated. "Creep Mode" only engages when the car is close to or fully stopped. Tesla technician was unable to determine an accurate reason for the unexpected acceleration.

Filed Jan 10, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · WV

The Power Conversion System is failing, this makes charging the car difficult. The charge rate is reduced and charging fails without warning. There is no warning from the vehicle that the part is failing but instead says the power grid is the issue. The issue started while the car was still under warranty, but falsely claimed the problem was with the evse or the wiring to the evse. Had the failure been properly reported rather than being misleading, the vehicle could have been repaired under warranty,

Filed Oct 23, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · AL

I reported charging problems over the last several months to Tesla. You can only report problems via the App. They do not provide a phone number. They tried to fix my charging issue three times and each time said it was fixed. It was not and today I almost ran out of battery on the interstate because it would not charge. Today, after waiting an hour for their roadside service to respond they came and towed it. This is the fourth attempt to fix it.

Filed Sep 22, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · MI

Originally received notification of DTC "BMS_a035 - Vehicle may not restart." Vehicle was serviced and the rear motor drive unit was replaced. Was not given the oppertunity to inspect the serviced components upon request. Within 48 hours of service, "BMS_a027: Power limited, OK to drive," & BMS_a170 - (de)acceleration warning & top speed warning." My concern is related to a potential cascading problem, which cannot be diagnosed, and which will lead to failure of the propulsion system or an unexpected discharge issue / thermal event from an electrical issue while the vehicle is in use and/or parked.

Filed May 11, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · UT

For a growing number of Model 3 owners, components in the HV Battery Service Panel are breaking down, yet Tesla refuses to cover the repair under its Battery and Drive Unit Warranty. Specifically, the "power conversion system" (PCS) in that panel is failing, and reducing an AC charge from 48A to 32A to 16A to… zero. If an owner drives to a location to charge from a Level 1 or Level 2 charger, and the PCS has failed, that owner will be stranded, unable to operate the vehicle. I have submitted a request for mediation to the American Arbitration Association (case no. 01-22-0001-9026), but I deem it important to not only address the problem in my vehicle, but all the others experiencing this same breakdown. I am thus reporting it to the federal safety agency, as I purport that a recall is in order. I will attach a more detailed description of my dispute with Tesla, as well as my original Purchase Agreement with an Agreement to Arbitrate, and a copy of Tesla's most recent warranties.

Filed Mar 15, 2022 · Acceleration, Fuel system · CA

The vehicle looses power on the freeway and will continue to slow down despite repeatedly depressing the accelerator and holding it down. The vehicle has been brought in to Tesla and no fix has been found to this date. No warning lights go on and sounds are heard to alert to any problem. I have video of this.

Filed Mar 3, 2022 · Acceleration, Fuel system · NJ

I needed to back up slightly to make room to get our of a parallel parking position. I pressed the brake and put the car into reverse, pressed the accelerator slightly to back up. I then pressed the brake again and put the car into Drive. I then pressed the accelerator slightly to drive off, but the car suddenly accelerated in an uncontrolled manner. I was able to slam on the brakes to prevent an accident. This is not the first time that this type of unintended acceleration has occurred in this vehicle.

Filed Jan 18, 2022 · Driver assistance, Fuel system · NC

When driving with the driver assist Auto Pilot active it's possible to disengage Auto Pilot but Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) remains active. When Auto Pilot is active the auto pilot system has control of the car including navigation, maintaining the lane, and speed. Speed can be set by the car or driver. In some cases disengaging auto pilot disables TACC , in other cased TACC remains active. A driver may be caught off-guard when the car continues forward at the set speed after disengaging auto pilot. This difference in behavior can surprise a driver and that puts every other driver in the area at risk. Ways to disengage Auto Pilot : 1) Press up on the right-side stalk (also used to engage TACC & Auto Pilot) on the steering column behind the steering wheel. When pressing up on the stalk Auto Pilot and TACC are both disabled. 2) Step on the brake pedal. Pressing the brake pedal disables both Auto Pilot and TACC. 3) Turn the steering wheel, for example to avoid a road hazard or a vehicle in the car's path. Turning the steering wheel only disables Auto Pilot functions, TACC remains active. The car continues to move forward at the speed Auto Pilot was using. The three disengagement methods have similar, but different outcomes. The result is a driver by moving the steering wheel can disengage Auto Pilot while cruise control remains active. This problem is compounded when considering Tesla's forward collision warning and avoidance has issues with stationary vehicles like those stopped at off ramp traffic lights or in traffic jams (this will be covered in another report). Since cruise control remains active when Auto Pilot is disengaged by turning the steering wheel is as designed there are no warnings or alerts. Several time I've had to swerve or slam the brakes to avoid contact with other cars and trucks after taking control with the steering wheel while Auto Pilot was active. This happened several times, date listed in Additional Details is near first time.

Filed Oct 23, 2021 · Electrical, Fuel system · NV

Power Conversion System was defective when car brand new and replaced under 50k mile warranty. Now out of 50k mile warranty and Power Conversion System is failing again. Manufacturer service center says this item is customer pay and is just a defective item that is out of warranty for the 1-year replacement warranty, and refuses to cover this repair under the battery warranty where the Power Conversion System is located. Service center states there is nothing the customer did wrong or could do to cause this problem, acknowleges it is a defective part, and insists it is customer pay with no indication of an updated part. What happens when the Power Conversion System fails is the car is stranded and cannot recharge or operate its safety systems. This should be a recall item if it was updated to a newer part correcting defective design. The manufacturer should replace this high voltage and core functionality of the vehicle under its battery warranty where the part is located. It would be highly dangerous for the vehicle owner to replace this part and requires specialist tools to diagnose and replace or repair.

Filed Jun 2, 2021 · Body, Electrical · CA

My car was parked and was charging in our garage when it suddenly shut off. I got into the car to get something, but noticed the car's computer screen did not light up. I tried to open the glove box and it also would not open. When I tried to open the car door button, it also would not open the door while I was still inside. I got out of the car using the manual car handle and realized the charger would not unplug from the car either. I was very scared that the car was going to burn because the battery was charging at the time and everything suddenly happened. In addition, the backseat doors do not have a manual car handle to open the door. In an event of an emergency and the power shuts off, how are passengers sitting in the backseat going to escape from the vehicle??? The cause was due to a 12v battery malfunction.

Filed Feb 16, 2021 · Brakes, Engine · 1,700 miles · NY · crash

Unintended acceleration resulting in a crash with a tree. My car was total. The car was was statioanary waiting to put air in my tire.

Filed Feb 25, 2020 · Fuel system, Suspension · 20,000 miles · CA · fire

This is a complaint about a burned out tesla model 3. I have used the VIN of a random wrecked tesla because the VIN of the car in question is unrecognisable due to fire. Here is the toasted tesla https://www.iaai.com/vehicledetails/35451122/25 it has been burned to a crisp but the front wheel has been wrenched off due to the usual broken suspension arms and popped ball joints. The wheel must have fallen by the wayside because it is not burned in the slightest and has been stashed inside the body of the car post-inferno. Isn't the job of the federal safety agency supposed to be protecting the public? What is wrong with you guys? For the love of fudge please do something. Regards your friend keef

Filed Apr 26, 2019 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 13,350 miles · CA

On 04/13/2019 the car abrupt stopped in the middle of the road while I drove it along northbond santa rita road in pleasanton ca. . Cars coming from behind had to make urgent braking or lane change to avoid hitting us. My young child was crying in horror, and we have no way to get ourself to safety with the car totally unable to move. We called 911, and local police was dispatch to help other card avoiding hitting us, while we waiting for tow truck to arrive. The car was unresponsive for about 20 minutes, with the display showing messages: "unable to drive, pull over to safety. Car shutting down". The car resumed operational after about 20 minutes, without any noticeable change. I drove the car to nearest service center (pleasanton ca). After a few days, I was contact by the service center stating the car can be picked up, while nothing was done to fix the issue. Their official invoice states: "this is currently scheduled to be fixed in 2019.20, but the customer can continue driving. If it happens again (seems unlikely), they can just get out of the car and get back in to resume operation.". I pointed to tesla service representative that their recommended solution is unacceptable - just like what happened to us already - it would be illegal and unsafe to exit the vehicle if it stops in the middle of highway, with no chance to pull over even to the curb. The tesla representative brought an engineer to help "explain" the information, when he mentioned that this issue is a known characteristic related to use of cruise control. And the engineer said he would personally be ok to drive the car without using cruise control. I asked if that means the cruise control is not safe, they said it would be my own judgment. I think this is a significant safety hazard tesla is intentionally ignoring and need thorough investigation.

Filed Feb 15, 2019 · Electrical, Fuel system · 1,500 miles · TX

The vehicle was parked. But wouldn't move to gear (drive or reverse). It was giving the message "cannot maintain vehicle power". Had I lost the power while driving, it would have been a clear safety issue.

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