Vehicle Data Hub

2018 Tesla Model 3 body & structure problems

Owners reported body & structure problems in 61 complaints for the 2018 Tesla Model 3, 4% of the complaints on file.

At a glance

Complaints
61 4% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
16,000 miles 30 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
16 and 1
Injuries and deaths
10 and 0

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When body & structure problems show up

Body & structure complaints by mileage, 2018 Tesla Model 3 Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 16,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 17 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 7 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 3 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 1 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 2 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 0 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 0 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 0 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 0 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 0 complaints 200k+ miles: 0 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 16,000 miles
Based on 30 complaints that include mileage. 90% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles17
20k to 40k miles7
40k to 60k miles3
60k to 80k miles1
80k to 100k miles2
100k to 120k miles0
120k to 140k miles0
140k to 160k miles0
160k to 180k miles0
180k to 200k miles0
200k+ miles0

What the data shows

Of the 30 body & structure complaints that report mileage, the median is about 16,000 miles, and 90% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 16 crashes, 1 fire, 10 injuries.

What owners wrote

I was driving on auto pilot mode when I was going to make a right hand turn when in order to slow down at the traffic ahead of me, I applied the brakes but there was no brake action whatsoever. This was not a panic situation, it was just normal braking. When the brakes failed to actuate and the vehicle accordingly wasn't slowing down, in order to avoid hitting pedestrians or the vehicle in front of me, I swerved to the right and ended up hitting a tree.

Reported at 8,137 miles, January 2019 CrashInjury

I was involved in a car crash with the autopilot activated. The autopilot has a flaw where it cannot detect when a large vehicle like an 18 wheeler or cement truck in merging into the lane. It sees a large gap and while the front part of the vehicle is slowly snaking into the lane it starts to accelerate. I hit the side of a cement truck and had 8k in damages. I reached out to tesla without any response.

Reported at 15,000 miles, July 2019 Crash

Other problems reported for the 2018 Tesla Model 3

Body & structure problems in other years

Body & structure problems across all Tesla models