2023 Tesla Model 3 Transmission and drivetrain Problems
- Complaints
- 10about this part
- Share
- 2%of 428 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 500miles
- Trend
- Too newThis model year is less than 4 years old, so a trend is not meaningful yet.
NHTSA recorded 10 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2023 Tesla Model 3, 2% of the 428 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 500 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“soon after purchasing the vehicle (mile 43) while driving, the propulsion system failed completely and the screen instructed me to pull over but I could only drift as, again, pressing the gas pedal did nothing. This was a very dangerous incident and one that makes me fearful of putting my family back in the vehicle. I have repeatedly asked to speak with anyone at tesla about this issue but have had no email or phone calls returned or been given phone numbers that do not work. …”
NHTSA complaint #11527429, filed 2023-06“I was driving a turn on a major intersection Stirling and I-95 Holly wood Florida to the on ramp to enter I-95 southbound when my car began shaking violently during the turn and completely shut down. The car was dead and I could not go forward or reverse. The center information panel was still lit up but the car would not move in any direction. I was blocking two lanes of the major intersection for about an hour till 2 Road Rangers arrived and dragged my car off the road. …”
NHTSA complaint #11497390, filed 2022-12“I was turning onto a busy street and the car suddenly stopped and would not respond to the gas pedal. A message said shift into drive . I had been driving for about a mile already and had not touched the shifter. I then tried to shift into drive and it would not change. I tried multiple times. I then opened the driver door, shut the door, pressed the break to put in my pin, and then it would shift into drive. This was very dangerous as it stopped with the car partially in the road. Luckily there were no cars around.”
NHTSA complaint #11590171, filed 2024-05“I was driving my daughter to school on the freeway when we heard a loud bang toward the back of the vehicle and the vehicle alarms started going off. It said the car was powering down and would not restart. The car immediately reduced speed from 65 to 35 mph and I had to maneuver across 4 lanes of rush hour traffic to safely park on the side of the freeway. Thankfully this did not cause a collision but we were lucky. Even though the car was charged at 55% within 10 minutes the car was completely dead and powered off. …”
NHTSA complaint #11565611, filed 2024-01“1) Driving at highway speed on a highway, the windshield wipers stopped and would not restart in the middle of a pouring rainstorm. We could barely see, but we pulled to the roadside and stopped the car. We put the car in park. Once we put the car in drive again, the wipers would work again. We took the car to the Tesla service center and they replaced the wiper module. 2) When stopped at a stoplight the car would not drive forward when the light turned green. The car would not go again until I put it in park and then back into drive. …”
NHTSA complaint #11597099, filed 2024-06Transmission and drivetrain: other model years
Other parts of the 2023 Tesla Model 3
179 complaintsSteering
88 complaintsVehicle speed control
69 complaintsOther or unknown
59 complaintsBrakes
56 complaintsElectrical system
51 complaintsLane departure
28 complaintsBody and structure
22 complaintsSuspension
19 complaintsAir bags
18 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
13 complaintsSeat belts
10 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2023 Tesla Model 3
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology