Buyer Research

2024 Tesla Model 3 — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $26,000–$38,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 9 Tesla Model 3 years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

The refreshed 'Highland' Model 3 — quieter, better ride, new interior — and a record that is still young: 216 complaints and five recalls, most filed within its first two years. Read it for what it is, not as a rating. The old phantom-braking story is smaller here (22%), and the crashes in it are mostly Full Self-Driving doing something abrupt. The new story is the steering wheel itself: Tesla removed the turn-signal stalk and put haptic buttons on the wheel, and a third of the electrical and steering complaints combined are those buttons not registering in a roundabout or a tight turn. There are also a few reports of the steering going suddenly heavy at low speed, and one car that went dark at 65 mph. Two recalls need a buyer's attention: a computer board that can short and kill the rearview camera, and — new for 2026 — a batch of cars built for other markets without knee airbags that Tesla is buying back rather than fixing; check any 2024 for that before money changes hands. With the VIN clean and the buttons tolerable to you, this is the nicest Model 3 to sit in, at a used-car discount.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 216 owner complaints for the 2024 Tesla Model 3, and 5 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is the driver-assist and automatic braking systems at 22%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

5 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2024 Tesla Model 3

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Full Self-Driving and cruise control that brake, swerve, reverse or speed on their ownHigh — wallet impact

Forty-eight complaints, nine with a crash: FSD (Supervised) that turned into a concrete barrier on a state highway, that stopped for oncoming traffic and then reversed into a parked van, that ran 76 in a 55 on a software build that no longer lets the driver set a maximum speed; and cruise control that slows drastically on its own and 'brake-tests' whoever is behind. A few owners describe the front camera fogging up and Autopilot disengaging with a loud alarm, and one a car that gave no reaction at all to a head-on threat at night. None of this is a part you can replace; it is software Tesla changes over the air, and its behaviour on the day you buy the car is not its behaviour next month. Drive it on FSD or Autopilot for an hour if the car has it, and decide whether you would let a family member use it.

Repair cost: Not yet priced — a safety matter first, a repair bill second

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (48).

Turn-signal buttons on the wheel that do not register, a horn that is a speaker, and one car that went dark at 65 mphMedium

The Highland has no turn-signal stalk; the signals are haptic buttons on the left spoke, and 44 electrical complaints are led by them: presses that do not register, a button that locks out when a finger rests on it in a normal driving grip, no detent to feel, and Tesla telling one owner after a replacement wheel that this is just how they are. Owners also object that the horn is the external speaker rather than a dedicated horn. More serious and rarer: one car lost all electrical power at 65 mph with the screen black and heavy steering, and one screen froze for a night and took FSD, GPS, auto-wipers and every camera function with it. Try the signal buttons through a roundabout and three tight turns; if they miss for you on the test drive, they will miss every day.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$500 for an aftermarket stalk retrofit; $0 for a replacement wheel under warranty

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (44).

Steering that suddenly turns heavy at low speed, plus the same signal-button complaintsMedium

Most of the 36 steering complaints are the turn-signal buttons again, filed under steering because they live on the wheel. The ones that are about steering itself are the ones to test for: a driver at 26 mph whose wheel became so stiff he could not steer clear of a barrier, and an owner who got back into the car at an airport curb and found the power assist gone until it was reset. Both read like a loss of power steering assist, which on the 2023 has a recall behind it and on this year does not yet. In a car park, do a dozen slow, full-lock turns with stops in the middle, and after a stop-and-restart, and feel for any change in effort. A steering rack outside warranty is four figures.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,500–$3,000 for a steering rack outside warranty; $0 under warranty

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under steering (36).

Computer circuit board can short and kill the rearview camera image (recall)Medium

Recall 25V002 covers 2024–2025 Model 3s: a circuit board in the car's computer can short, and when it does the rearview camera stops displaying — along with, on some cars, the other camera-based features. Tesla pushed a software update to stop the stress that causes the short, and will identify and replace boards that already failed, free. Check the VIN, then put the car in reverse and confirm the picture comes up instantly and stays; then open the camera view while driving and check every camera is live.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Some 2024s were built for foreign markets without US knee airbags — Tesla is buying them back (recall)Medium

Recall 26V445 covers a set of 2024 Model 3s (and 2026 Model Ys) that were built for another market and registered in the United States anyway: they lack knee airbags, may lack other interior safety measures, and were not tested to US bumper standards. Tesla's remedy is not a repair but a repurchase of every affected car registered here. For a used buyer that means one thing: run the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup before you pay, and if this campaign appears, do not buy the car — the owner is entitled to sell it back to Tesla, not to you.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Hood latch may not warn that the frunk is unlatched (recall)Low

Recall 24V554 covers 2021–2024 Model 3s: after the frunk is opened, the latch may not detect that it was not pushed fully home, so no warning shows and the hood can fly open at speed. Tesla fixed it over the air. Open the frunk, lower it gently without latching it, and check the screen tells you it is open before you drive off.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 5 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Recall 26V445 on the VIN lookup — walk away, the car is due to be repurchased
✗Turn-signal buttons that miss a press through a roundabout or tight turn on the test drive
✗Steering effort that changes during a slow full-lock turn or after a stop-and-restart
✗Rearview camera image that is slow, blank or drops out in reverse
✗Any abrupt braking, swerve or speed change on an FSD or Autopilot test
✗Screen alerts for a camera that is fogged, blocked or unavailable

Good Signs

✓VIN lookup showing recalls 25V002 and 24V554 complete and no 26V445 campaign
✓Turn-signal buttons that register every press through a roundabout and three tight turns
✓Light, consistent steering through a dozen slow full-lock turns with stops mid-turn
✓Rearview image that appears the instant reverse is selected, with every camera view live
✓Battery health screen showing a full-charge range close to the original rating for its trim
✓Steering wheel already replaced by Tesla under warranty, with the invoice