Original Tesla Model 3 2017–2023

Watch out for

Reputation: what owners and the press report. Tap one to see what to check.

• Creaking front upper control arms All years

  What to check: Drive slowly over bumps and listen for creaks, pops or clicks from the front. Ask whether the upper arms have been replaced.

  The ball joint of the front upper arm wears and creaks, and cannot be replaced on its own. InsideEVs called it a chronic defect. Eleven owners in one Tesla Motors Club thread report it, on 2018, 2019 and 2022 cars among others; some had both arms replaced.

  Sources ^1,2

• Loose front suspension fasteners 2018–2021

  What to check: Confirm with Tesla that recalls 21V835000 and 23V235000 were done.

  Fasteners on the front lateral links may loosen and let a link come away from the subframe.

  Sources ^3,4,1

• Heating that stops working All years

  What to check: Run the heat on high and make sure it blows hot.

  Electrek reported widespread heating failures on brand-new 2021 cars with the heat pump in the winter of 2020. Drive Tesla reported more in early 2022, on heat-pump cars in extreme cold and on older cars with a resistive heater, some after software updates; on the older cars the fix was a new heating unit.

  Sources ^5,6

• Battery capacity All years

  What to check: Get a battery health report showing how much capacity is left.

  Recurrent's data on more than 1,500 US cars showed an average loss of 40 miles of range in the first 20,000 miles, levelling off after that. Its later study found range fell most in the first 1,000 days.

  Sources ^7,8

• Panel gaps and paint flaws All years

  What to check: Look along every panel gap and over the paint in good light.

  Edmunds calls build quality "a bit of a dice roll", and owners reviewing 2023 cars on Edmunds name panel gaps and paint problems.

  Sources ^9,10

• Rear camera cable 2017–2020

  What to check: Open and close the trunk, then check the rear camera picture. Confirm with Tesla that recall 21V00D000 was done.

  Opening and closing the trunk can wear through the camera's cable, and the picture goes blank.

  Sources ^11,12

• Sudden braking with nothing ahead Built after April 27, 2021 One source so far

  What to check: Try the cruise control on an open road and note any sudden, unneeded braking.

  NHTSA opened an investigation into phantom braking on 2021 cars built after April 27, 2021.

  Sources ¹³

What buyers say

Reputation: what owners and the press report

• Avoid: Early build quality 2017–2018 Less sought after

  Edmunds' test car, one of the first 1,200 built, had a hood seam that was not flush, a broken vanity mirror and a loose seatback cover, and Edmunds listed questionable durability among its cons. Consumer Reports withdrew its recommendation in February 2019 over loose body trim and glass defects, and gave it back in November.^14,13

• Avoid: The older Autopilot computer Built before the Full Self-Driving computer, HW3 Less sought after

  Electrek reported in March 2019 that only cars bought with Full Self-Driving get the newer computer free. A recall covering 2017 to 2020 cars names the 2.5 Autopilot computer.^15,12

Before you pay

Open the buyer's checklist

Every warning and recall for this generation, with a box to tick.