Tesla Model Y Complaints (2022)
874 consumer complaints on file.
- #11482107August 30, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? experienced phantom braking, especially during dry weather with sun, where there are the mirage of water shimmering across the road. this happen too often when mirage are present. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? It get to the point I would rather disable its safety feature and drive manually. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? None. Note the driver is deaf, so they are also poor in visible warning compared to audio warning.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11482033August 30, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
RE: Problems with cruise control and random braking I purchased the above model Y performance in June 2022 and we just took our first road trip the last two weeks of August 2022. We started in Sacrament, California and drove to Twin Falls, Idaho, Salt Lake City and return to Sacramento, CA. I started using the auto pilot steering and cruise control on the freeway (HWY 80 eastbound). At freeway speeds the car would suddenly and randomly apply the brakes, sometimes a very hard brake, which was scary and unsafe. I expected this normal feature to work properly on this road trip. As I traveled from Reno, Nevada to Twin Falls, Idaho, this random braking happened over 50 times. I tried several work arounds by disabling the auto steer, the emergency braking and all the automatic options, however, this random braking issue continued. There was no pattern and often it would occur with no other traffic on the road and perfectly clear road conditions. These so called safety features became a safety hazzard. I turned off the cruise control for long stretches because the random braking caused driver stress and fatigue. When I got tired of pressing the accelerator pedal, I would engage the cruise control and my manual work around was to have my foot hover over the accelerator pedal to override the braking manually. This was stressful since I never know when the hard braking would occur. This problem makes the car unsafe and very difficult to drive on a road trip over freeways. It also significantly impairs the value of this very expensive car since a standard feature (cruise control) does not function properly. It is scary to drive with random sudden hard braking. I bought this car for my wife and now she won’t drive it on a freeway due to this serious malfunction. I would like a response as to how you will remedy this problem
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11482022August 30, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH on the highway, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving to his destination. The contact experienced the failure a second time. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and was diagnosed with needing to clean the side sensors that was thought to have caused the failure. The dealer cleaned the sensors. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11481871August 29, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Car performed sudden and pronounced deceleration while ACC was engaged, for no apparent reason. This occurred intermittently, perhaps a dozen times, over an 800 mile round trip.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11481587August 28, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES
In addition to the car only achieving 65% of its actual miles range claimed the cars operating system will freeze while driving (once every 3 days on average), forcing the driver to reboot the car while driving (hold both scroll wheel buttons on steering wheel). This takes away the ability to read the speedometer, to use indicators and basically ALL of the functions of the car. The rear view camera display also fails about 10% of the time which I have recorded. The car will also SLAM on the brakes while on the highway, driving in the rain on autopilot to allow a merging DHL van into my lane instead of switching to the left lane as advised by DOT/DMV and I recorded this on dashcam yesterday coming back from NASA. It is a daily issue that passengers in my Uber cannot buckle their seatbelts because the buckle is too low into the seat for them to easily find, in some cases passengers get disgruntled and I am forced to park and wait until they can buckle themselves sometimes taking over 5 minutes. The driver assistance features do not always work and also alert me and my passengers when it is unnecessary making it seem more like a gamble than a safety feature; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes when it shouldn't. The false claims and inconsistencies are unlike any other vehicle I've ever driven. Tesla is a CRIMINAL enterprise acting purely in self interest and preservation to maximize profits and MUST be held accountable and to the standards of all other vehicles in the USA driving on our roads. I am APPAULED at the way Tesla has silenced me (blocked emails and blocked my ability to schedule service) and accused me of trying to cheat on my wife with the non-existent female Tesla employees on my BBB complaint which the BBB closed out claiming they solved it when Tesla didn't address a single complaint, just attacked my character publicly also known as slander. Also 250kw superchargers only charge at 50kw after preconditioning without other cars chargingFU
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11481502August 27, 2022SERVICE BRAKES
Multiple episodes of phantom braking when the car is in cruise control and autopilot. There can be a completely open road and it happens. Doesn’t seem to be any reason. We’ve been trying to pay attention if there are shadows, construction barrels, bridges, etc that it could be detecting, but it’s never the same. It is VERY dangerous and needs to be fixed
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480847August 23, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving 70 MPH on highway with adaptive cruise on. Light traffic, no vehicles on left side. I just passed a semi truck on right side and my car had a phantom braking incident. Slowed from 70 mph to 40 mph in a second or two. No vehicles directly behind me at the time. I pressed on gas pedal and speed resumed to 70. This has happened a couple of other times on a different highway.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480724August 23, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking was caused numerous times (over 20) during a 2000 mile roadtrip that seemed to be caused by autopilot misinterpreting heat mirages into an object to avoid. This caused the speed of the car to drastically reduce leading to unsafe braking conditions which caused several near rear collisions.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480664August 22, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When using the autopilot adapative cruise control feature, the car will regularly think there is a reason to slow down suddenly (the "phantom braking" common complaint). I only use the car on trips, and this happens frequently. While on Route 152, this happened multiple times on a stretch of road that is long and flat. There were no other cars around (and fortunately, none behind me). This probably happened 5-6 times during a 50 mile drive. More recently, it happened on Hwy 99 at least twice in about 30 miles of driving. There were more cars behind me so it felt very unsafe. There was no reason to brake however. It has almost gotten to the point where I do not feel comfortable using cruise control because it will suddenly start braking for no reason. I almost have to have more vigilance when cruise control (autopilot) is on than when it is off because the car might unexpectedly start braking. If Tesla cannot get this fixed, then they should probably stop offering this is as a feature in their cars.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480661August 22, 2022SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Driving on a highway, after passing a semi I changed to the right lane. I had traffic aware cruise control on. With no one in front of me, the car suddenly braked. I had to step on the accelerator to avoid being rear-ended by the semi. This is 3rd "phantom braking" event in past 2 weeks.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480639August 22, 2022VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
When using the cruise control, the vehicle will suddenly brake losing 20MPH before I can react. It has always happened on the interstates, often with no other vehicles in front of me. On the last 2 day trip the brakes applied themselves at least 6 times. I can no longer use the cruise control as I'm afraid somone behind me will crash into me. Tesla has been no help.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480533August 22, 2022UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The Tesla model 3/Y have two horn buttons on either side of the airbag. I noticed that my left side has never functioned well, so I started searching online. https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/comments/wr4tq0/comment/ikwiy3i/?context=3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvLCRr7-rrg https://www.reddit.com/r/ModelY/comments/m8vq4l/left_horn_button_not_working_service_refused_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ModelY/comments/u87aw9/my_horn_doesnt_work_and_tesla_refuses_to_replace/ Each post represents one complaint with dozens of others also chiming in w/ the same issue. Tesla has an inconsistent and reactive repair policy for something that is clearly widespread. I only found out my horn was broken when someone almost merged into me and I was unable to honk. There needs to be some type of proactive repair/advisory on this issue so owners can see if they have a problem and get it fixed before there are more accidents.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11480206August 19, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Phantom Braking. The most recent instances of phantom braking occurred on a recent trip to Lake Tahoe. The car phantom braked on the way there on the I-5 on August 5th in the afternoon. I don’t have the exact time, the braking surprised us so much that we didn’t think to enter a “bug report”. The I-5 at that section is a 4 lane divided highway. I think the cause of the phantom braking may have been a bridge that had a slight rise, causing the cameras to think there was oncoming traffic. We had the same issue multiple times on the way home on Tuesday, August 9th. In those instances, we entered bug reports. We also had multiple instances of phantom braking when driving on Route 28 around Lake Tahoe on August 7-9. Route 28 is a 2-lane road with alternating light and shadows from the trees. This may have caused the phantom braking, we entered bug reports in those instances
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11479520August 16, 2022SEATS, SEAT BELTS, AIR BAGS
My Tesla provided an in car warning message on June 28 stating that the “front passenger safety restraint system fault” exists. I immediately created a service request (the same day) and included pictures of the fault message. On July 6th, the Tesla service team stated that the appointment required a service center visit (which is not an option when making the appointment originally) and scheduled the appointment for July 25. On July 25, I took the car into the service center. A day later, Tesla confirmed an issue with the OCS module that required a new front passenger seat be installed. Tesla could not provide a date the new seat would be available and let me drive off with the vehicle. I made a follow up appointment on August 16th. On the day of the appointment, the Tesla service team confirmed that the replacement seat was not yet available and they still did not know when it would be. It has now been almost two months since the original alert and despite my proactive efforts, Tesla cannot tell me when this serious safety issue with my vehicle will be repaired. Tesla is allowing its customers to continue to drive vehicles with critical safety issues without any urgency in the repair.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11479515August 16, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I have had several incidents with this car. When using either the autopilot feature or just the cruise control. The vehicle randomly brakes very suddenly. It happens frequently when there is nothing in front of us. The two most recent incidents clearly present a huge safety risk. We were driving on the interstate, there was a semi next to us. We were in the left lane going 75 mph. The car suddenly braked for no reason and in a matter of seconds we went from 75 to 55 mph. Had the semi been behind us we would be dead. The other most recent incident was on a four lane highway. There was a truck behind us. We only had cruise control on and again the car suddenly hit the brakes for no reason. The truck behind us had to swerve to get out of the way and avoid hitting us. I have reached out to Tesla and have been told it is a software issue that they are working through. We have had this issue for the entire life of our car so if they are working to update it, they are not doing so quickly.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11479188August 14, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On a trip from Estes Park to Lubbock on Aug 12, 2022, there are at least two times of phantom braking under Autosteer, and at least three times of phantom braking under Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC). A phantom braking usually refers to a very sudden brake without any clear reasons. In our case, for every phantom braking during Autosteer or TACC, we were on highway with a speed limit or a few percent over speed limit, the weather was sunny and very clear, there was no cars in front of us in our (in any in most cases) lane, and road condition seems to be very normal. There is no warning from the car either. We are willing to have Tesla to examine the data of our car on that day for these sudden brakes. There was a rain on Aug 11, and the car was inside rain (in a parking lot of Fern Lake Trailhead) then and used (under city condition) after rain on Aug 11. Such sudden brake without any warning would be dangerous if there is a car behind this car. We did not have any accident (no car was behind us when such braking occurred). Our car is new, and we just found this problem. It is NOT reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle is NOT inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. I did not observe anything abnormal and messages from the car before this phantom braking.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11479034August 12, 2022AIR BAGS
I have a son 14 who is 99 lbs. It doesn't trigger the passenger airbag for the front seat. According to Tesla the limit is 100 lbs. My son is average height and weight. Why wouldn't a 14 year old kid trigger the Airbag to be on?!? My son has been out of a car seat/booster for 5 years! IMO this is a safety concern and I will have him sit in the back seat, but this seems kind of ridiculous.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11478745August 11, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On at least 4 occasions, April 4th 2022 and August 6th 2022 to be precise, I was traveling in my Model Y at highway speeds using Full Self Driving when my car suddenly and without warning decelerated and sharply steered out of the lane causing me to have to forcefully intervene to retain control of the car. On the April 4th date there were no cars or traffic around, the incident just happened, on the August 6th incident I was on 495 in fairly heavy traffic and was afraid that I would cause an accident because of the sudden and violent nature of the braking and turning of the car. The other incidents were also at traffic speeds in light traffic.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11478109August 8, 2022ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My husband took ownership of a brand new Tesla Y on Saturday 18 June from the Tesla Loveland dealership in Colorado. In less than 2 months of receiving the car, the electrical system ‘totally failed and ‘malfunctioned’ 3 times, while driving on busy roads/highways which placed my family’s life and safety at high risk of injury and death from a potential head on collision and crash from vehicles driving behind. The 3rd and most recent ‘malfunction’ occurred on Saturday 6 August at 12.46pm when (with no warning from the car’s warning or emergency system) vibrated aggressively before completely stopping in the middle lane of a busy road. This potentially fatal ‘malfunction of the cars electrical system’ was on one of Boulder’s busiest roads. I had turned onto a busy road (so was traveling at a very low speed) when the car started vibrating very loudly and stopped. There was no safety warning by the car nor any time to drive the car to the side of the road. This ‘malfunction’ and total outage put my life and my children’s lives at risk as we were trapped in a 4-lane carriage way and risked our safety to avoid oncoming traffic to get to safety. My husband called the police who created a safety barrier around the car while a tow truck arrived to tow the car to Tesla in Loveland Colorado. The incident put my family’s life at risk including my two young children (aged 8 and 6) who were passengers in the back seat. The first ‘electrical malfunction’ occurred on Thursday July 14 at 9.30pm when the car’s electrical system totally malfunctioned and stopped on a busy road. The car was towed to Tesla in Loveland. Several days later when Tesla technicians advised the problems were fixed and arranged for a Tesla technician to drive to us, the car malfunctioned and stopped on a busy road while the Tesla driver was in the car. It’s was towed again back to the dealership. This car is a lemon, unroadworthy and poses a death risk.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11478026August 7, 2022FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Tesla cameras are equipped with internal cameras intended to monitor driver attentiveness while using “Autopilot” features. The internal monitoring can be bypassed by simply covering the camera. This reduces the attentiveness checks and can be a danger as drivers will use autopilot functionality without proper attention on the road.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0