2018 TESLA MODEL 3 — Complaint #2174490
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL filed February 7, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2174490 (ODI reference 11716395) concerns a 2018 TESLA MODEL 3 and was filed on February 7, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 10, 2025. The report was geocoded to Florida based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as forward collision avoidance: adaptive cruise control, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TESLA MODEL 3 cohort independently describe similar forward collision avoidance: adaptive cruise control failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2018 TESLA MODEL 3 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
Description of the Defect: While driving with Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged, the vehicle's primary computer shuts down and reboots, causing a sudden loss of all safety features, including Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Warning, and the driving visualization. The cameras go black while the vehicle is in motion. The Trigger: The failure is triggered by high electrical load. If the Cabin Heater (HVAC) and Seat Heaters are active while FSD is fully computing, the 12V power supply to the computer drops below critical voltage, causing a "Turbo A" processor lockup and system crash. Evidence of Defect: Service Center diagnostics confirmed the specific error code APS_w169_TurboA_SCS_LKUP (Computer Crash) occurred at the exact same timestamp as VCLEFT_a302_blowerGeneralFault (HVAC Blower Failure). This proves a common-mode voltage drop affecting multiple critical systems simultaneously. Manufacturer Response: The manufacturer (Tesla) acknowledged the logs but
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2174490 |
| ODI Number | 11716395 |
| Date Filed | February 7, 2026 |
| Failure Date | November 10, 2025 |
| VIN | 5YJ3E1EA3JF |
Similar FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL Complaints for 2018 TESLA MODEL 3
There is no checkbox for Full Self Driving (Supervised): 3 times in the last 4 weeks, my Tesla has become impatient at long red lights and lurches out into the intersection. I am very concerned becaus
Repeatedly and randomly, with cruise control (not FSD) engaged, the car would brake, sometimes aggressively. The last time, it braked so hard the tires or brakes squealed and the car swerved slightly
Main incident: Time: 2025-08-28 ~12:41 PM PST What happened: After searching for a parking space, the driver was preparing to reverse into the spot, the driver pressed up the stalk to shift the gear
Too fast and too close to stop sign to red light or other cars while in Full Self Drive (supervised).I had to disable it to avoid risks of accident.Even using Chilly Mode.
Backup camera recall was not fixed properly or the new parts have same issue. As a result the backup camera was not functioning. When the camera is not functioning the autopilot system drives aggressi
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.