2020 Tesla Model 3: jerking or lurching

Filed Jul 2, 2026 · Driver assistance, Steering · CA · 1 injury

On XXX at approximately 5:00 PM, I was driving my 2020 Tesla Model 3 on [XXX] from [XXX] toward [XXX], with Tesla FSD engaged. Near the area where the center divider begins/ends, the vehicle crossed the double yellow/divider area and entered the opposing traffic lane. There was no oncoming traffic at that moment, so there was no crash, but this created a serious potential head-on collision risk. The car also did several hard jerks that aggravated my neck and back that it has been consistently doing for a long time which cause worse ongoing headaches. The system/component that malfunctioned was Tesla FSD/Advanced Driver Assistance, including lane keeping/steering behavior. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. My safety and the safety of others were put at risk because the vehicle moved into the lane for oncoming traffic. I had to intervene and no longer feel safe using FSD. I have reported unsafe FSD behavior to Tesla multiple times before, but the issue has not been resolved. Tesla service has previously listed the concern as “FSD not working properly/test drive required” and/or general diagnosis, but I have not received a clear written resolution explaining why the vehicle crossed into the opposing lane or how Tesla will prevent this from happening again. There were no warning lamps or messages that I recall before the vehicle crossed into the opposing lane. If Tesla has vehicle logs or telemetry for the incident, I request that they be reviewed. I am reporting this because the vehicle may repeat this unsafe behavior and create a head-on collision risk. The car continues to behave unsafely and erratically. i have a log of some of the incidents. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jan 7, 2026 · Driver assistance · NJ · crash

Vehicle Information: 2020 Tesla Model 3 AWD (Leased) Full Self-Driving (FSD) enabled Summary of Safety Issue: While Full Self-Driving (FSD) was engaged, the vehicle failed to detect roadside infrastructure and collided with multiple fixed objects, including a route sign board, a walkway sign board, and an underground electrical cable. The system did not provide adequate warnings or corrective action before impact. System jerk the steering confirmed system is engaged but did not break and drive to non-drivable area and not given any disengagement warning and totaled the car. Incident Details: • Date of incident: [XXX] • Location: On [XXX] {XXX] Piscataway, NJ 08854 • Road type: [XXX] • Weather/visibility: Clear • Speed at time of incident: <40 MPH (under the speed limit) Description: As soon as i trigger the FSD it immediately tried to navigated left or right and failed and unexpectedly veered into roadside infrastructure. The system did not slow down, steer away, or alert the driver in time to prevent the collision. The impact caused significant damage to public property and the vehicle is totaled. No injuries occurred. Evidence Available: • Photos of the scene and damage • Police report (number: [XXX] • Tow documentation • Tesla collision center estimate Reason for Reporting: This incident suggests a potential safety defect in Tesla’s FSD system related to object detection, path planning, and collision avoidance. The failure occurred without driver input and raises concerns about the system’s reliability in detecting fixed roadside objects. I request that the federal safety agency review this incident as part of ongoing evaluations of Tesla’s driver-assistance systems. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Aug 7, 2023 · Electrical, Transmission · VA · crash · 1 injury

On August 2, 2023 at 0400, the Tesla M3 was charging in the garage using a home charger. Smoke indicative of an electrical fire likely originated from the vehicle and eventually triggered a smoke alarm in the kitchen. The driver was unaware the source of the smoke was the Tesla, disconnected the Tesla and moved it out of the house to protect the vehicleb assuming a fire was in the house, and called firefighters who searched the home without success for a source of the fire. The driver now believes the Tesla was the source as the garage access door was cracked open to feed the charging cable from the 240v outlet in the laundry room. The nearest smoke detector from the Tesla is in the kitchen, where the driver smelled smoke from an electrical fire. At roughly 0745, the driver was about to complete a one hour commute to work in this Tesla unaware that the incident at 0400 was related to the Tesla. The driver experienced a sudden vector and velocity change in the vehicle while traveling at highway speeds. This is the driver's last memory of the accident that followed. A witness driving behind the Tesla described the vehicle traveling in clear lanes when it abruptly jerked left, then right into the side of the highway into concrete barricades. The Tesla was destroyed, airbags deployed, and the driver was rescued by first responders,firefighters, and paramedics. The driver was evacuated to the nearest hospital with serious injuries. The driver suffered broken ribs, a pneumothorax, several lacerations to head and chest, several contusions across the shoulder, legs, and body, and a mild traumatic brain injury.

Filed May 9, 2023 · Locks · 14,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 25-35 MPH, all four windows slightly went down independently, wiggled and made clicking sounds. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the sound had become unbearable. Additionally, the contact stated that the front driver's side and passenger's side doors and the rear driver's side door failed to close securely. The door chime reminder engaged. The contact also stated the vehicle would shift into park (P) and would jerk when attempting to drive due to the failure. The contact stated that the doors required to be slammed in order to close securely. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle shifted into park (P) and stopped abruptly while driving. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving downhill and while at a traffic light. The vehicle was taken to a Tesla Service Center several times, and the windows and doors were readjusted; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the Tesla Service Center, where the window trim panel and the door trim panel were readjusted; however, the failure increased. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

Filed May 1, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · ID

While driving in FSD, autosteer, traffic aware cruise control, and with all turned off, I have experienced 5-10 episodes of “phantom braking” on the highway at high speeds over the past 48 hours. I have driven in 4 states total so far; in sunny, cloudy, straight road ahead conditions, sometimes with cars around and sometimes on totally empty stretches of road. The first episode took my car from 80mph to 60mph extremely suddenly, with no warning, lurching me and the things in my car forward. I was shocked as I was unfamiliar with this issue. Luckily the car behind me at the time was about 1/8 mile away. However, this could have very easily caused someone to rear end me. This repeated over and over all day yesterday, sometimes the braking less severe than others. Now if using cruise control I need to hold my foot over the accelerator instead of the brake, which feels wrong and also unsafe, but it’s terrifying and I disengage cruise control if anyone gets too close behind me to be safe.

Filed Nov 1, 2021 · Airbags, Body · CA · crash · 1 injury

While turning into a parking spot in a covered parking garage the car seemed to speed up and lurch. It hit the cement wall and pushed the car back with such force the air bags deployed. Thank God it was just a wall. The car is now at the repair garage and have not heard back regarding how much damage and if the car is going to be "totaled". When I mentioned this at a party we were at, a friend of mine said she had the same problem. There were no collision warnings. It happened in a split second. The parking garage was at my Doctors office so I was able to have my wrist x-ryed right then. No serious injury. Just a little leary of driving this model car if not any electric vehicle.

Filed Jul 2, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 3,300 miles · CT

Friday june 26th, 6:00 p.m. Public roads. Sunny, dry. Something snapped while driving 5 MPH at the moment I started a slow left turn. The car lurched to a halt. The right front wheel was angled left at about a 35 degrees, while the left wheel pointed straight. Tesla sent a flat bed. The truck technician reported by phone that the wheel was separated from the suspension and a tesla bolt was available for him to temporarily hold alignment for safe loading. I understand he left a note and the bolt inside the car. I believe the bolt was part of the broken suspension. The car had 3,300 miles. During my ownership, I noticed a light clicking (or clunking) when the car passed over a 3 inch change in road elevation, such as occurs during repaving when striking a man hole cover or new layer of asphalt. I took this to be a peculiarity of the tesla suspension combined with the 18 inch wheels. The sound was rare, as most roads are quite smooth and I made it a point to drive slowly over sudden bumps. More recently, as our town is repaving, I heard the click more frequently. On father's day, while a friend was test driving the car, he being a car geek, heard the click, called it a "clunk," and told me to get it looked at. I had not yet made the appointment when something snapped on june 26th. Over the weekend I left voice mails and sent to tesla service an email stating tesla should consider giving me a replacement vehicle, but I wished first to hear their report on what had occurred. Tesla service in milford is not open on weekends. Tesla called on monday afternoon seeking my input on what had occurred. Later that day they reported it appeared to them that a critical bolt had not been welded onto the sub-frame. Tesla service in milford ordered a new sub-frame, part number 1044521-00-r, from california. Tesla is researching what occurred.