2020 Tesla Model 3: windshield wiper failure

Filed Mar 5, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · NJ

My Tesla Model 3 was brought to Tesla Princeton Service Center on February 27, 2025 for a 12V battery replacement. During the service visit, Tesla also replaced the rear glass, citing the rear defroster as the root cause of the battery drain — a repair that was added without prior discussion and increased the total invoice from an original estimate of $180 to a final charge of $1,730. Upon picking up the vehicle, the rear backup camera, blind spot cameras, navigation system, Sentry Mode, and windshield wiper sensor were all non-functional. None of these systems showed any malfunction prior to the service visit. Tesla Princeton’s service advisor denied responsibility without performing diagnostics, and in a subsequent message admitted he could not determine the cause with certainty without diagnostics — which have still not been performed. The vehicle was discharged from a licensed Tesla Service Center in a condition non-compliant with FMVSS 111. I have escalated this matter to Tesla executive leadership in writing and am filing this the federal safety agency complaint to create a federal record of this safety violation.

Filed Jan 21, 2024 · Visibility · NY

The windshield wipers do not have proper functional control. There is no adequate manual control over the windshield wipers without being distracting, further more the windshield wipers constantly put themselves in "auto" mode when you turn them off. This causes unnecessary distraction while driving and because the only feedback you have is either on the main touch screen or the bottom left touch screen this is a severe safety issue.

Filed Jan 12, 2024 · Visibility · ID

Tesla vehicles have an automatic wiper mode that is supposed to clear the windshield, without driver intervention, when it becomes obscured due to rain, snow, or water buildup. While driving on December 19, 2023, our Model 3 was passed by a large truck, throwing a large amount of water across the windshield. When this happened, the forward visibility was completely obscured momentarily. The automatic wipers did not clear the windshield as expected. The vision was obscured until the driver was able to manually enable the wipers. Obviously, driving at highway speeds on the freeway, without being able to see forwards, even momentarily, is a safety concern. Thinking the car had a failure, we tried to arrange for a repair from Tesla service. Their response was: "This issue has been identified as a known firmware issue, to be resolved on a future firmware release. For now, we recommend using the manual wipers as needed when auto wipers are not detecting rain. When a fix is available it will be sent to your vehicle automatically over the air. Unless you had any other questions, I will go ahead and close out this service request. Thanks!" Looking through Tesla owner forums, this appears to be a much discussed issue for the last 4-5 years. Many owners are having issues with functionality of the automatic wipers. We don't have any photos of the incident, but I recreated a similar situation in a local touchless car wash. With the car being completely deluged in water and soap, the automatic wipers never came on. The included pictures show the touchscreen with the Auto wiper mode and the windshield completely obscured, but no wiper activation. The last photo is a screenshot of part of the conversation with Tesla support about the repair request.

Filed Dec 6, 2023 · Visibility · CA

Currently occurring with FSD Beta firmware V.2022.27.12 but the same has occurred with previous firmware versions also. Normal operation of the vehicle with the ADAS engaged puts the windshield wipers into AUTO mode. At times the windshield wipers are activated when the windshield is dry. It isn't raining or misting and there's nothing on the surface of the windshield at the location of the front-facing cameras. "No rain" occurrences seem to correlate with times when visibility ahead has low contrast and there are no highlights and shadows to sharply define the scene, (ie, a little "muddy"). Observed when it is overcast but not raining, around sunrise when the sun is low in the sky and the light levels ahead are relatively low and headlights aren't helping illuminate the road ahead, and at times there are high-contrast light and shadows immediately ahead but farther down the road there is mist or fog, creating the same low contrast lighting conditions some distance away. It is as if the ADAS is aware that the scenery is not sharply defined and is "wiping its eyes" in an attempt to gain a more sharply-defined view. Occasionally, but rarely in my experience, the windshield washer is also engaged. Having the ADAS activate the wipers at these times is not a safety hazard, per se, but it is distracting and concerning as it gives the driver the impression that perhaps the ADAS is malfunctioning. I've read in user forums reports from a fair number of FSD Beta drivers complaining that the wipers go on when the windshield is dry and the ADAS is engaged. I haven't observed the same when the ADAS is not engaged.

Filed Oct 13, 2023 · Visibility · WA

The automatic windshield wipers are not picking up rain - at all. Living in a raining area, it caused me to no have clear visibility and on the Tesla you have to manually change the mode on the screen, which causes you to take your eyes off the road. Tesla has known about this but not issued a warning (See screenshot from tesla service agent). Luckily an accident didnt occur but this is an overall safety issue.

Filed Jun 21, 2023 · Acceleration · NY

The car had unintended acceleration. I was driving and suddenly it sped up really fast and I needed to slam on the brakes. This was on a residential street so it was really dangerous. This happened once before, on a highway. Both times this happened, I was touching the wipers controls. I have no idea if it’s connected or coincidence.

Filed Jun 12, 2023 · Driver assistance, Visibility · MD

The automatic windshield wipers came on and would not shut off. The car was clean, the day was sunny, and the camera lenses were free of dust or anything else that could cover them. While driving along, the wipers started and would not shut off. I went into the main monitor/screen that has the wiper settings but I was not able to activate the wiper/off button, so the wipers kept working. Pressing on that button would not activate it. I was in autopilot at the time, i.e., cruise control + lane keep assistance. I have FSD/full self driving, but have never used it since it is still in beta testing. I’m using Tesla software # 2023.7.10 I checked the various Tesla websites, and you can turn off the wipers only if you disable the ADAS features. After I turned off the ADAS, I was able to activate the wiper/off button. But this is a terrible situation, the ADAS needs to be activated, but if I activate, it wipers will begin working whenever they feel like it, regardless of the weather outside. This is clearly a software problem with the Tesla ADASN needs to be corrected. I don’t want to be driving along with auto pilot on, and then the wipers will simply turn on. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated to correct this dangerous situation. There are countless hundreds of complaints like this on the various Tesla websites about spontaneously functioning wipers when the weather is bright and sunny.

Filed Jun 1, 2023 · Visibility · AZ

Windshield wipers routinely start "auto-wiping", even while turned off. I've reported this to Tesla many times and nothing is done. Plenty of evidence online that others have this same problem. I live in Phoenix, Arizona so when I say my windshield is dry, I mean it's DRY. Leaving out how distracting it is to have your wipers refusing to quit wiping, it's also wearing out the wiper blades so they're not efficient when actually needed. I've already replaced them once a year ago with, maybe 10,000 miles on vehicle.

Filed Apr 10, 2023 · Electrical, Visibility · WA

Left headlight blinker and windshield wiper not working. Happened twice once in 2022 and now. Repaired once in 2022 and when happens is dangerous because can’t signal and can’t use wipers in the rain

Filed Feb 24, 2023 · Lights · CA

I was driving to work on the morning of February 24th 2023 and it was raining. After some time, and while on the freeway, I noticed that my low beam headlamps icon (green telltale) on the center display was not showing. As I always drive with lights in AUTO, and since it was raining (windshield wipers were activated automatically), I expected the headlights to turn on automatically. I worried that I would not be seen well by other drivers, and had to navigate to the controls on the center display and switch the headlights from AUTO to ON manually. The headlights then turned on (I assume, since I couldn't see indications on whether they were on or off on the outside, but the green icon did appear after I pressed the "ON" button). Given that it was raining outside, relatively dark, and the windshield wipers were on, I would expect the headlights to be activated while in the AUTO mode. I have never had issues with this before, and wonder if this came from a software update. The switch to go from auto to manual lights isn't very easy to reach from the driver seat so I would expect the auto mode to work well so this situation doesn't have to happen.

Filed Sep 18, 2022 · Visibility · FL

Tesla software version 2022.24.8 that I currently have installed has switched off the vehicles equipped forward facing radar. I can't find any method to undo their software update, I'm unable to find a way to contact a person via their website. I've lost control of my lights and wipers when the vehicle is using Autopilot. Both of which are set to automatic leaving me the driver with absolutely no way to turn them off short of turning off Autopilot which I've paid money for. I'm unhappy that a vital safety feature that I'd paid for (radar) has been switched off by the manufacturer without any means whatsoever to turn it back on. I do not want their software overriding my decisions as the driver, radar needs to be on and I the driver need to have full/complete control over lights and wipers.

Filed Feb 17, 2022 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · NY

Phantom braking can occur when vehicles are passing at night and during the day for no reason. There is no adequate control to enable the windshield wipers. Many menus to access the wiper controls. Not safe