2017-2023 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y Recall: Low Beam Headlights May Be Too Bright/FMVSS 108

A laboratory working for Transport Canada measured more light than the standard allows from a single Tesla Model 3 low-beam headlamp in the fall of 2023. Filed with NHTSA on August 4, 2026 as campaign 26V507, the result is a recall of 20,349 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles whose headlamps will be replaced at a Tesla service center.

Tesla first reported the same noncompliance as recall 24V208 in March 2024, then petitioned NHTSA to be excused from notifying owners and fixing the cars, arguing that the noncompliance was inconsequential to safety. NHTSA took until July 17, 2026 to deny the petition, and 26V507 is the new report it asked for afterward.

Of the 20,349 vehicles, 18,735 are Model Y from model years 2020 through 2023 and 1,614 are Model 3 from 2017 through 2023. Tesla puts the estimated share carrying the noncompliance at 100%.

The Issue

Low-beam output exceeds the maximum intensity Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 allows in what the filing calls the outer upper-right and outer upper-left areas of the 10U to 90U zone. Both headlamp assemblies are involved, left-hand part 1077371-98-L and right-hand part 1077372-00-L, labeled "SAE up-level" in the filing and supplied by Marelli Automotive Lighting of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

In the words of the Part 573 report, low-beam output above the allowed intensity may reduce visibility for the driver and other road users, increasing the risk of a crash. NHTSA's own summary puts the risk on oncoming drivers.

Both the cause field and the warning field are blank on all three versions of the report.

Compliant headlamp assemblies installed by Tesla Service are the remedy on file. Nothing in the filing describes a software update.

Affected Models

Model	Model years	Production dates	Units
Tesla Model Y	2020-2023	Feb 11, 2020 - Dec 24, 2023	18,735
Tesla Model 3	2017-2023	Jul 24, 2017 - Dec 2, 2023	1,614

Membership is set by the lamp rather than the car. A vehicle is on the list if it was built with, or later serviced with, a Marelli headlamp manufactured on or after June 2, 2023, and Tesla identified the VINs from manufacturing and service records. So the production dates in the table span the whole population, but a 2018 Model 3 that received a replacement headlamp in early 2024 can be on the list while a 2021 Model Y that never had headlamp work is not.

Headlamps from another supplier that met both the Canadian and U.S. versions of standard 108 entered Model 3 production on July 9, 2020. For the Model Y the filing gives two changeover dates, December 4, 2022 and August 7, 2023, in one sentence that names both the left-hand and right-hand lamps and the Fremont, California and Austin, Texas plants. It can be read as left lamp then right lamp, or as Fremont then Austin. Transport Canada's test sample was a left-hand Model 3 part built on June 2, 2023, almost three years after the other supplier's lamps were introduced on the Model 3 line.

A query of service data on July 30, 2026 showed that the noncompliant lamps had kept going into cars at service visits until May 3, 2024, which the chronology calls an error. That finding added 432 vehicles to the list; without them the population would have stood at 19,917.

Chronology and Investigation

On September 6, 2023, an independent laboratory under contract to Transport Canada told Tesla it would test a left-hand headlamp from a 2019 Model 3, manufactured June 2, 2023, as part of the agency's annual compliance program. Testing was done on the component alone, so Tesla passed along information that let the lab and the supplier talk directly, and the lab finished on October 13, 2023.

On January 16, 2024, Transport Canada reported that the lamp exceeded the maximum intensity allowed in the 10U to 90U zone and failed the low-beam photometric requirement of Canada's standard 108. Tesla began its own evaluation against both the Canadian and U.S. standards on January 22, worked with Marelli through March 1 on the test report and production data, ran more headlamp tests, reviewed the results from March 3 through March 7 and decided on a voluntary recall on March 9, 2024. Recall 24V208 was filed on March 15.

Tesla petitioned for an exemption from the Safety Act's notification and remedy requirements on April 8, 2024 and amended the petition on May 3, 2024. Two years and three months later, on July 17, 2026, NHTSA denied it. Tesla responded on July 24 by amending the 24V208 report to update its safety risk, chronology, remedy and schedule sections; NHTSA rejected that amendment on July 28 and asked for a new report. Meetings with the agency's Recall Management Division that day and with its Office of Chief Counsel on July 29 and August 3 preceded the August 4 filing of 26V507, which the chronology says covers the same noncompliance as 24V208.

NHTSA's acknowledgment letter of August 10 noted that the report supplied no remedy and required an amended Part 573. Amendment 1, dated September 1, 2026, moved the owner letter date from September 15 to October 3 and added the reimbursement language, with the remedy still listed as under development. Amendment 2, dated September 29, 2026, filled in the headlamp replacement. Across all three versions, the unit count, the two production windows and the June 2, 2023 lamp date did not change.

Reported Incidents

As of August 2, 2026, Tesla had identified three warranty claims and one field report for U.S. vehicles that are related or may be related to the condition, and it was aware of no crashes, injuries or deaths. That count sits in the chronology, which was filed once with the original report; neither amendment updated it.

Remedy and Notification

Tesla Service will replace the headlamps with assemblies that comply with standard 108, at no cost. Stores and service centers were to be notified on or shortly after August 4, 2026, and owner letters are scheduled for October 3, 2026 on the two amended reports. The field for the date VINs become searchable on NHTSA.gov is blank. Tesla's number for the recall is SB-24-17-003, its customer service line is 1-877-798-3752, and NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline is 1-888-327-4236.

No statement about reimbursing owners who paid for a fix before notice will appear in the owner letter. Tesla's stated reason is that every affected vehicle is covered by the new-vehicle or extended service warranty, or that no owner incurred such a cost.

Symptoms to Watch For

Because the warning field is blank and the noncompliance was found by a laboratory measuring one lamp on a photometric test, nothing in the report describes a change an owner would see from the driver's seat.

A headlamp replaced between June 2023 and May 2024. Lamps manufactured on or after June 2, 2023 define the population, and service installations of those lamps continued until May 3, 2024. Any Model 3 or Model Y of a covered model year that had a headlamp replaced in that window is a candidate.

A Model Y built in June, July or early August 2023. The later of the two Model Y changeover dates is August 7, 2023, so a Model Y built with a Marelli lamp between June 2 and August 7, 2023 can be on the list without ever having had headlamp service.

How Long Will the Recall Repair Take?

No labor time appears in the filing. The work is a headlamp assembly replacement at a Tesla service center, and the remedy text does not mention mobile service. Because the replacement part was filed only on September 29, an owner booking early should ask whether compliant lamps are in stock.

Bottom Line

The report carries no do-not-drive or park-outside advisory. An owner who had a headlamp replaced between June 2023 and May 2024 can call 1-877-798-3752 with the number SB-24-17-003 now, or run the VIN on Tesla's recall page, rather than wait for the letter scheduled for October 3. Whether the VIN is already searchable on NHTSA.gov is not stated in the filing, so the Tesla line is the surer check.

Find your Tesla Model Y and Model 3 recall information: https://www.tesla.com/vin-recall-search

A Transport Canada compliance test of one 2019 Model 3 left-hand headlamp, built June 2, 2023, found low-beam output above the maximum FMVSS 108 and CMVSS 108 allow. Tesla filed recall 24V208 in March 2024, petitioned to skip the owner notification and remedy as inconsequential, and refiled the same noncompliance as 26V507 on August 4, 2026 after NHTSA denied the petition on July 17, 2026. The remedy, filed September 29, 2026, is a headlamp replacement at Tesla Service. Tesla reports three warranty claims, one field report and no crashes, injuries or deaths in the U.S. as of August 2, 2026.

This is the third Tesla record on this site and the first filed since the two 2021 campaigns, 21V010 for Model S and Model X media control unit failures and 21V961 and 21V962 for Model 3 rearview camera harness and Model S hood latch faults. It is also the only record on the site whose chronology runs through a denied inconsequentiality petition: Tesla filed the petition on April 8, 2024 and NHTSA took until July 17, 2026 to deny it.