2018 Tesla Model 3: seat belt won't latch or retract

Filed Oct 3, 2025 · Airbags, Seat belts · IL

Driving a 2018 Tesla Model 3, driver seat shows message "Front left safety restraint system issue. Service is required". This occurs when the driver is in the seat with the seat belt fastened and the vehicle is in motion. This issue refers to the possible seat belt, seats and/or air bags failure. This is a threat for drivers as these are the front line of defence in case of any collisions or accidents. This issue has been reported by multiple Tesla car drivers and their posts are available on online forums. Message appears on the Tesla screen driven. Tesla does not cover this out of warranty. My appeal to NHSTA is this is hazardous to drivers and cars should be recalled and repairs should be covered.

Filed Jul 17, 2025 · Airbags, Seat belts · 60,000 miles · NY

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the front passenger's side restraint warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a seat belt restraint failure. The contact was informed that the front passenger's side wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. In addition, the contact stated that a year prior to the failure, the front driver's side restraint failed, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that at that time, the front passenger's side restraint failure was intermittent; however, the repair for the front passenger's side restraint was not completed because the failure was not duplicated. The contact stated that only the driver's side wiring harness was replaced under warranty. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Filed Apr 1, 2025 · Airbags, Seat belts · NC

The driver side seatbelt/presence sensor intermittently fails due to faulty wiring. This causes a warning stating 'front left safety restraint system fault' and the driver side airbag to turn off when the warning is present causing a severe safety issue. This is a well documented common safety failure of these vehicles

Filed Jan 29, 2024 · Seat belts · NY

Service advisory for front driver's side seat belt system appears on central screen after seatbelt is unlatched and retracted. Front right side also had this warning but it no longer does. Warning reads as follows : "! Front left safety restraint system fault. Service is required. Note: this warning reappears even when the seat belt is held loosely and allowed to fully snap back into the retractor. The warning persists even after rebooting the main screen (double scroll wheel press reboot)

Filed Jan 15, 2024 · Electrical, Seat belts · GA

We intermittantly received alerts on the screen showing "Front safety restraint system fault (service is required)." After many hours of research, we found that other owners also have the same issue and they found that a wire from a electrical connector that connected to the seatbelt pretentension was broken from the seat being moved up and down.

Filed Dec 9, 2023 · Seat belts · NC

The issue I am having is already documented in this TSB: [XXX] I feel this should be a recall, not just a TSB as it is a safety issue which can cause the seatbelt pre-tensioners to fail. If may fail at the time of a collision with no previous notice and cause the pre-tensioner to not work in the event of a collision. This should be repaired free of cost by Tesla. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Oct 28, 2023 · Airbags, Seats · CA

For the past 2-3 weeks, my vehicle has been intermittently displaying an error message that reads “Front left safety restraint system fault,” accompanied by the error code RCM_a021. This error has been appearing nearly every day and seems to indicate a malfunction in the Restraint Control Module, specifically relating to the front left safety restraint system. Importantly, the vehicle has not been in any accidents, and no recent repair work has been done that could explain the onset of this issue. This malfunction poses a significant safety risk. The front left safety restraint system, which includes crucial components like the seat belt latch sensor and the pretensioner system, is designed to protect the driver in the event of an accident. Given the critical nature of these safety features, the issue at hand could compromise the vehicle’s ability to protect its occupants, thereby placing both the driver and passengers at considerable risk. The vehicle has not been inspected or diagnosed by a Tesla dealer, an independent service center, or any other entity such as police or insurance representatives. This absence of professional evaluation further underscores the urgency for a thorough investigation into the root cause of this fault. There were no precursors or warnings prior to the appearance of this error message. The issue spontaneously manifested and has been consistently reoccurring. This lack of predictability elevates the risk associated with the fault, making it vital to investigate and resolve it expediently. The intermittent but consistent fault code RCM_a021 affecting the front left safety restraint system in my 2018 Tesla Model 3 is a significant safety concern. Given the absence of any recent repair work or incidents or recalls that could account for this problem, along with the lack of any professional diagnostic evaluation it’s my hope that the federal safety agency and Tesla take appropriate action to investigate and resolve this potential safety defect.

Filed Jul 13, 2023 · Seat belts · MD

Tesla is charging me to replace the defective second-row center seatbelt buckle. My car has 47,600 miles today (7/13/23). I've owned several other cars and never had to replace a seatbelt buckle before.

Filed Jul 12, 2023 · Electrical, Seat belts · NJ

Received an error "Front left safety restraint system fault. Service is required." error on my vehicle yesterday (7/11/2023) which disappears when lifting seat to highest position. As soon as seat is lowered more than 1/2" the error reappears and airbag light is illuminating notifying that the airbag is not enabled. This error is clearly an issue with the safety restraint system on the vehicle but Tesla will not honor fixing this under their Supplemental Restraint System Limited Warranty. The vehicle is within coverage period (<5 years and <60,000 miles). I am being told this SRS Limited warranty covers air bags, seat belt, seat belt buckles, sensors, and modules only. I have not taken the vehicle in for service as the quote I received is too expensive ($601). Please see photos for my conversation with Tesla service as well.

Filed May 22, 2023 · Seat belts · CA

Driver seat belt is not locking when I pulled suddenly. It looks that the driver side (front left) seat belt impact locking system is malfunction. Car is only 4 years and 4 months old with 57,000 miles. It is life danger to driver if he hits with an accident. A message came up. Making appointment with Tesla, but I believe that it should be a recall item like rear harness. I have never seen even in 20 years old car the seat belt impact locking system malfunction. It is a poor workmanship of the impact locking system. I would appreciate if you begin an investigation into this and urge Tesla to issue a recall notice to safe drivers and others around.

Filed Apr 24, 2023 · Airbags, Seats · CA

I was experiencing intermittent Bluetooth connection issues along with vehicle not powering off and the gear shifting to park when moving the vehicle at (very) low speed without the seatbelt buckled. I noticed the Bluetooth connection problem after a bad software installation in Jan 2023, however the other two issues have been noticed since at least 2020. When I took the car for a second time, Tesla diagnosed the problem as a faulty seat occupancy sensor (SOS). Tesla told me that the driver side seat SOS is “sticky” that the car didn’t consistently know there was a driver in the car when I sit on the seats (which explained why the car would put itself in park when driven at low speed (<3mph) without seatbelt on, and why the engine kept running even after I stepped out of the car when the car wasn’t locked ( like, when the car is parked in the house’s garage). Further research on the web (https://www.carproblemzoo.com/tesla/model3/2018/seats-problems.php ) shows that other teslas had faulty seat occupancy sensors at both driver side and passenger side. Faulty sensors may lead to improper, or failed, airbag deployment. This is a safety issue that Tesla had known and should have performed a recall and fixed, or the very least sent a billeting to its service centers so that they would check the seat sensor when someone’s complaining about any of the three symptoms I had. When I took the car to Tesla in Feb 2023 their (mis)diagnosis was that I had too many wires plugged into USB ports and that’s why the Bluetooth didn’t connect. I didn’t complain about the vehicle going to park by itself - as I thought it was a “safety feature”. I didn’t care to report the motor running after exiting, as I thought it was the battery mgmt system running to cool the battery!

Filed Jan 15, 2022 · Airbags · CA

There was a seatbelt failure warning that came out on the screen. For obvious reasons, this ranks pretty high for safety concerns. I scheduled a service for it and was charged because apparently my car is out of warranty. Considering this is a manufacturer failure and not a wear and tear issue, a reasonable person would not lay cause on the owner but rather a quality issue, or the lack of it. I did a little research and found out that this is not an isolated case but rather an ongoing issue with other owners as well. A few instances would indicate an isolated issue but multiple occasions would suggest a systemic failure. Please consider reviewing the matter and resolve appropriately. If it is not Tesla’s responsibility so be it, just have it reviewed because so many other lives may be in danger without accountability. Thank you.