2018 Tesla Model 3 Seats Problems
Owners have filed 74 complaints with NHTSA about seats problems on the 2018 Tesla Model 3, 7% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 44,000 miles. The words owners use most often: “safety restraint” (61% of reports).
- 74seats complaints
- 44,000median miles at failure
- 0mention a crash
- 0mention an injury
- 0related recalls
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Safety restraint: mentioned in 45 of 74 complaints (61%)
- Front passenger: mentioned in 35 of 74 complaints (47%)
- Rcm A056: mentioned in 13 of 74 complaints (18%)
- Occupant classification: mentioned in 10 of 74 complaints (14%)
At what mileage do seats problems happen?
Based on 4 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
None of the 74 complaints report a crash, fire or injury.
Tesla Model 3 seats complaints by model year
| Model year | Seats complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 Model 3 | 2 | 2% | — |
| 2024 Model 3 | 2 | 1% | 15,000 |
| 2023 Model 3 | 9 | 2% | — |
| 2022 Model 3 | 10 | 1% | — |
| 2021 Model 3 | 6 | 1% | — |
| 2020 Model 3 | 23 | 5% | 19,000 |
| 2019 Model 3 | 47 | 8% | 66,000 |
| 2018 Model 3 | 74 | 7% | 44,000 |
| 2017 Model 3 | 6 | 23% | — |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists seats for the 2018 Tesla Model 3. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
The passenger seat back Occupant Classification System (OCS) sensor (Part #1920673-01-A) failed 3 times in under 22 months (Dec 2024, Dec 2025, Sep 2026), disabling the front passenger safety restraint system and airbag deployment logic
Vehicle Information: Year/Make/Model:Â 2018 Tesla Model 3 Mileage at Incident:Â 45,000 miles Description of Safety Defect: A sudden and persistent "Safety Restraint System Fault" / "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault" warning illuminated on the vehicle's primary touchscreen interface…
My Tesla Model 3 has a persistent RCM_a056 alert indicating a problem with the front passenger occupancy detection system. The unresolved fault affects the operation of the front passenger airbag system. I paid Tesla approximately $1,000 for a repair intended to resolve this problem. Tesla replaced…
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2018 Tesla Model 3s have seats problems?
No. NHTSA has 74 owner complaints about seats for the 2018 Tesla Model 3 (7% of the 1,031 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2018 Tesla Model 3 seats?
No recall currently lists seats for this vehicle.
At what mileage do seats problems start?
The median reported mileage is 44,000 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
What do owners say about seats problems on the 2018 Tesla Model 3?
The most frequent phrase is “safety restraint”, in 45 of 74 complaints, followed by “front passenger” (35).
Other 2018 Tesla Model 3 problems
See all 2018 Tesla Model 3 problems or seats problems across all Model 3 years.