Tesla Model Y Complaints
4,325 consumer complaints on file.
- #11494634November 22, 2022VISIBILITY, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH and at various speeds, the center console froze, turned off, and then rebooted. The contact stated that the steering, brakes, and accelerator pedal were still operable. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent and occurred 3-4 times per month. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the failure was due to a software glitch and the vehicle was not unsafe to drive. Additionally, the contact stated that the driver's side window had started to roll up independently as stated in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility). The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the window independently rolled up and nearly caught his fingers. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494509November 21, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No 118. Power operated window, partition, and roof panel system
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494435November 21, 2022AIR BAGS
Was hit by a F-250 running a stop sign, estimated speed of F-250 was 45 MPH. The airbags failed to deploy in my vehicle.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494368November 21, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, he experienced "phantom braking" and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a computer failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,500.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494341November 21, 2022STRUCTURE:BODY
1. brake system 2. after vehicle slowly pull up to the curb, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, while the brake was applied, it jump the curb in a shopping center and hit the post outside of a restaurant 3. it was a brand new vehicle just got delivered one day before, ~10 miles on odometer 4. no warning of any kind prior
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494334November 20, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I floored the accelerator, and heard a pop. The pedal then remained depressed about 50% of the pedal travel. I was able to drive the car normally, but only using about 50% of the pedal range to do so. I took it to Tesla for service and after diagnosis, had to replace the accelerator and brake pedal assembly. The mounting plate that held both pedals broke. They said it was impossible to break by stepping on either the brake or accelerator. An “outside force” must have caused the failure and they refused to cover the part and labor under warranty.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494322November 20, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
When my vehicle is on cruise control it suddenly brakes for no apparent reason. On a road trip, it has happened suddenly and many times during the trip. It’s quite scary and dangerous.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494262November 19, 2022LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
In Tesla’s from model years before 2021, the side “repeater cameras” that are rear facing suffer from a light-leak of the blinker. There are three small holes in the PCB circuit board that allow light from the blinker to leak into the camera at night. Tesla subsequently fixed this problem, first by applying a sticker over the holes in the circuit board, and later by redesigning the part entirely. But this “light leak” problem exists on hundreds of thousands of cars. There are two problems with this: 1) Tesla has now changed their “Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving” software to a Tesla Vision system that ONLY uses cameras for the autopilot features, including lane keeping and lane changes. They no longer use ultrasonic sensors or forward looking radar, even though it is still installed on these cars. This reliance on vision makes it impossible for the Tesla side facing cameras to see when the blinker is turned on. This can result in unpredictable behavior when changing lanes or turning at night with autopilot engaged, including unpredictable or erratic driving where the car abandons a lane change mid course and swerves back into the lane. 2) Even when autopilot is not engaged, the blind spot monitoring in this car consists of a pop up window on the center screen showing the side view camera when the turn signal is engaged. At night, with the blinker on, the driver sees a bright light flashing intermittently in the side view camera. This is very distracting and potentially hazardous to the driver. Tesla has refused to replace the cameras on my car under warranty because they state the cameras are “neither a defect of materials nor workmanship” and are an “expected condition based on the inherent capability of the camera design”.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494239November 19, 2022LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
On 11/17/2022 about 6pm when I drive on highway I -5 from San Diego to irvine, I am driving in the middle of the lane, the car keeps on going to the left and almost hitting the wall when I was on the left lane. I moved to the third lane and the car tried to do the same thing. At one point I lost the control of the car and it suddenly changed to the lane on my left. Fortunately there is no car on my left at that time. I used basic cruise control at that time, not Auto pilot .I have lane departure avoidance on at that time, not sure what's going on. The girl I carpool with said the lanes displayed in the screen is very clear. After I got off the highway, we checked the front camera and it is clean. My husband turned off lane departure avoidance function and restarted the PC of Tesla. We drove in the highway again and Tesla behavior is normal.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494118November 18, 2022SUSPENSION
Went to get my state vehicle inspection and had heard a noise actually from the time I picked the car up new at dealer. The noise sounded like something rattling in the "frunk" down by front driver wheelwell. I thought nothing if it until the state inspector at the Tesla focused shop in Londonderry NH called me from waiting room and showed me on the lift what the noise was. He showed me what I now know is called a "jam nut" on the tie rod end of the front driver wheel. It was not even touching the actual tie rod end to hold it in place. I noticed after he tightened it the steering wheel became tighter slightly in a good way. The noise I heard was gone since picking the car up as well. This concerns me greatly. I am not sure if other nuts or bolts are correctly set on the suspension or even throughout the car as the robot or human device attaching bolts may have had a muscalibrated device and this likely is not limited to one nut on one vehicle unless it was simply gross human incompetence.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11494058November 18, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I was driving at about 40 MPH on local road at rush hour, the car was put in parking mode when I made a lane change, the speed reduced to 0 rapidly and put me in extremely dangerous situation like being rear ended. then I cannot put car in drive mode and called maker's roadside assistance and 911. car was towed to service center. 1a. Q: What component or system failed or malfunctioned A: car's power system failed. 1b. Q: is it available for inspection upon request? A: I don't know. 2. Q: How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? A: car might stop quickly unexpectedly when travel at high speed, very likely being rear ended or overturned due to side swipe. 3. Q: Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? A: UNKNOWN 4. Q: Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? A: car was towed to service center and was inspected & diagnosed. 5. Q: Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? A: no any warning, it happened unexpectedly.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493952November 17, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The navigation system needs to be updated to enable larger font sizes! This has been a problem reported to Tesla for many years (see Tesla users forum), but they don't address the issue. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE! I cannot read the directions easily while driving. Consequently, I must move my head closer to the screen and spend more time looking at it to understand the next turn. This causes me to stop looking at the road for too long a period of time and almost causes me to have an accident! THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW!
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493970November 17, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
The contact owned a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated. The vehicle swiped the side of an apartment building before crashing into a tree and coming to a complete stop. The air bags deployed upon impact. The contact sustained chest pain, and his daughter, who was a passenger, sustained chest and ear injuries from the air bags deployment. Medical attention was received. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the tow yard and deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 2
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493603November 15, 2022LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On 9/11/22 at approximately 1:30PM I was driving north on I65 in northern Tennessee just before the Kentucky border. Conditions were heavy rain. Traffic was moving but heavy. I had autopilot engaged. I was traveling approximately 70 mph. Three lanes of traffic. I was in the far left lane. I had my hands on the steering wheel. Without any prior notice, I lost total control of the car. Seemingly all four wheels were autoplaning due to the wet pavement. I had zero control of the car. The car seemed to slow down, drifted into the full shoulder left lane, then rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise and hit the concrete center median. The car then rotated another 90 degrees counterclockwise and came to a full stop all in the left shoulder lane. The front airbags deployed. There were three people in the car. We were not injured and left the vehicle on our own. Miraculously no other vehicles hit our vehicle
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493605November 15, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I have Full Self Driving I paid $12,000 for and immediately wanted a return upon receiving the car it doesn't work as described. Tesla declined to refund me for the FSD software months ago. I have brought the car into service 3 times now and Tesla each time says there is nothing wrong with the car despite 5,000 gigabits of my own dashcam footage showing the car driving me into oncoming traffic, swerving towards concrete barriers, not seeing 5 people in a cross walk when turning at 25 mph, randomly SLAMMING on the breaks and much more. The touchscreen will freeze leaving the driver with no turn signals, no speedometer etc. I feel like the car is possessed trying to kill me, I am a full time Uber driver. Tesla service manager tells me with a straight face "just don't use it." "just don't make any left turns". The front facing camera keeps rattling so I pulled the Teslacam footage and the camera is so blurry you can barely see anything so I bring it in for service and they say nothing is wrong. This is beyond dangerous this is a dereliction of duty that will result in lost lives, NHTSA you MUST intervene I have already alerted my Governor and State Attorney, they have verified they have received my testimony. I make a choice every day to get in a car I know is trying to kill me or not be able to feed my family. Tesla service manager Prince HARASSED me by calling 15+ times while I was at dinner with my 9 month pregnant wife and threatening me by telling me he's tracking my car to Publix and to my home. Wouldn't take the car out of service mode until I drove 45 minutes back to return his phone; I should have thrown it off a bridge! because he left his phone in my car with a 1 hour timer counting down. This is a cover-up please launch a REAL investigation Tesla is stealing billions Elon makes Enron look like a hill next to a mountain this just ain't right! Last time I checked 3 service trips without a solution qualifies the car as a Lemon and needs to have recalls.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493436November 14, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
During routine highway driving while using the included Autopilot (Adaptive Cruise Control) software, the vehicle will suddenly and without warning abruptly slow and apply breaks. This slowing can occur when traveling at 70mph (the posted speed limit) and attempt to slow to a speed of 45mph. This change causes a great safety hazard in the event of being closely followed or rear ended. This phenomenon is known to tesla and been colloquially termed "phantom breaking". No hazard or other external reason is present to merit a sudden breaking.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493561November 14, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving on highway when the car in front of me brake hard. Tesla failed to detect imminent crash and did not provide warning AND emergency braking. The vehicle has been recently serviced in tesla service center. There were no other warning lamps / messages / symptoms of the problem prior to the failure.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493540November 14, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I was driving on I-70 in Colorado, heading westbound. I had the vehicle in basic "cruise control" speed mode. No autosteer or anything like that. Our of the blue, the car jammed on the brakes on its own, as if it was about to hit something. However, there were no vehicles in the area. It was a significant reduction in speed. Probably from 65-35. Luckily, there wasn't anybody behind me. It was scary, to say the least. There were no warnings prior to the episode. I believe that this is referred to as "phantom brakes". THANK YOU!
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493380November 13, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
At least 5 times in the last month, my Tesla Model Y will suddenly brake when there’s no obstacle in the way. This most often happens at highway speeds, a terrifying scenario. I believe it mostly (or exclusively happens) when I have cruise control on. I notice it happens when there’s a sudden change in the color of the road surface, like going from concrete to asphalt. It also happens when I’m cresting a hill - like it can’t see over the other side of the hill. I have not yet experienced it while having the “stay in the lane” feature, which also sets the maximum speed at 5mph over the speed limit. But it definitely happens when I have cruise control on. I have only had this problem for the past few months, so I wonder if there’s a bug in the most recent software version.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11493354November 13, 2022STEERING, SUSPENSION, WHEELS
Heard loud clicking noises upfront when turning hard out of parking spot.Immediately I Checked front wheels manually on looseness, but could not detect any movement. Decided to drive home (20miles).I was very careful not to steer to hard through curves. Upon turn into my driveway ( hard right turn which I took very slow) ,left front wheel suspension came unhooked and an approx 3” long x 1/2” galvanized bolt fell onto driveway. My 2020Tesla Model Y was stuck at the bottom of driveway. My company mechanic came about an hour later ,jacked up the left side,removed front left wheel : the bolt as pictured below had loosened entirely from its nut and galled off releasing the wheel suspension and allowing the wheel to come loose . We temporarily fixed the bolt and drove the ModelY into our garage ( flat surface) 500 feet further uphill. Upon further inspection we found another bolt separated from its nut on the other side as well (4) other bolts totally loose almost entirely stripped from its counter nut. We found no sign of LOCTITE or similar. The bolt in question is on bottom of lit up spot ( in below picture) Bottom line: steering suspension bolts should not come loose on a vehicle not even 2 years old!
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0