2025 Tesla Model 3
This year drew an ordinary 113 complaints for a Tesla Model 3 — the model's median is 445. What they were about is the unusual part: 36.3% of them mention steering, against 10.7% across the model's other years.
Generation 1 of the Tesla Model 3, which began in 2017. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
| Complaints filed | 113 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 445 |
| Involving a crash | 24 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 131 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering — 36.3% of this year's complaints, against 10.7% across the model's other years (3.4×).
- wheel — 31.9% of this year's complaints, against 10.8% across the model's other years (3×).
- turn — 31.9% of this year's complaints, against 11.2% across the model's other years (2.8×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
It threw an error that said “Steering assist reduced” and the power steering no longer functioned. It was very difficult to turn the wheel. The vehicle was stopped when the error popped up, but was driving fine up until that point.
on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the turn signal button on the steering wheel was activated but was unresponsive. The contact stated that the button was stuck but then loosened up. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacture…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 24V935000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
- 25V002000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 25V690000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Tesla Model 3 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2025 Tesla Model 3? What happened to yours?
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