Tesla Model Y Complaints

4,325 consumer complaints on file.

#11670740July 2, 2025
STEERING, SUSPENSION
Upper control arms wear out and start making sounds
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670693July 2, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
On [XXX], at approximately [XXX], I was driving westbound on the [XXX], just before the [XXX] and [XXX] off-ramp, with my wife and our [XXX] baby in the car. While in traffic, I noticed the regenerative braking system was not slowing the vehicle down adequately, despite having a clear and sufficient distance from the big rig ahead of us. As the gap closed, I slammed down on the brake pedal, but it felt abnormally stiff and did not respond with the urgency or force expected. The vehicle failed to stop in time, resulting in a rear-end collision with the big rig. Thankfully, we were not injured due to the speed of the accident. The breaks have not been inspected due to it being in the collision center There was an alarm but it sounded off too late and the car ended up colliding. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670678July 2, 2025
SUSPENSION
Tesla lateral link bolts fell out and/or sheared off. The happened on the front driver side of the vehicle. It happened while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670595July 1, 2025
WHEELS, SUSPENSION, STEERING
After doing multiple search online came across multiple user complaints about new Tesla model y juniper 2026 Lr awd you can feel vibration from steering wheel at highway speeds it is really specific at 80mph this is not a normal behavior especially vibrations took it to the service center and was told it was the wheels are not balanced properly so they fixed it apparently but is still doing it. I truly believe there is something Tesla knows but is not acknowledging it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670328June 30, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We ordered a car from Tesla on April 19th and received an email on May 1st stating the vehicle we had order had arrived, ready for delivery. We set up delivery for [XXX]. Picked the car up that day. On May 9th, we noticed that the “as configured” options on the Monroney sticker didn’t match the actual installed features on the vehicle. It was missing the Full Self Driving that was listed on the Monroney sticker (that we had not ordered). I immediately contacted Tesla and was told by Corporate sales support in California that it would be corrected since it was on the sticker at the time of delivery, it has to be included with the VIN purchased. Trusting them enough not to get the name of the gentleman I spoke with was my mistake. I have contacted Tesla corporate customer service, Tesla corporate sales support and the Council bluffs delivery center after I noticed the discrepancy between what was actually on the vehicle and what the Monroney disclosure stated. I have requested the full self driving capability that is listed on the Monroney sticker with the VIN attached to the car I purchased be added to the vehicle to match their disclosure under the “as configured” section of the sticker. I was told by corporate sales support in California that it would be added to the vehicle because of their mistake. I noticed it had been added to the wrong vehicle (we have 2 teslas). I contacted customer service and they directed me to council,bluffs. Preston Sherwood told me he suggested leaving it on the wrong vehicle, just cancel the monthly subscription and subscribe on the correct vehicle. So I did just that and my paid subscription expired yesterday on the wrong vehicle and the option went away. I contacted customer service and they said they would make it right, but it has to go through “sales support” then promised they would call me. No one did. The feature still isn’t on the vehicle as listed on the only physical legal document we were provided at delivery. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670301June 30, 2025
STEERING, SUSPENSION
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to complete a left turn, the contact briefly heard an abnormal clicking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle, after which the steering wheel jerked abnormally. The vehicle quickly returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the front-end suspension bushings. The contact was also informed that a bolt on the driver’s side control arm had loosened. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670270June 30, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle: 2021 Tesla Model Y VIN: [XXX] Date of Incident: [XXX] On the afternoon of Sunday [XXX], while my Tesla Model Y was parked at home and charged to approximately 80%, both my wife and I attempted to enter the vehicle to attend an important appointment. Upon approach, we found the car completely unresponsive — no power, no screen activity, and we were unable to start the vehicle or release the charging cable. Despite this, both front doors could still be manually opened. However, the frameless windows did not automatically lower as they normally would when opening and closing the doors, As a result, when we attempted to close the doors, both front door windows shattered, as the glass was unable to lower and collided with the door frame. This incident clearly resulted from a critical system failure that disabled essential safety and design functions. The vehicle was not damaged prior to this event, and there was no impact or external force involved. This malfunction rendered the vehicle inoperable and directly caused costly damage. I am requesting the following: A full investigation into the root cause of the power system failure Immediate replacement of both shattered front windows at no cost A written explanation of what caused the vehicle to become unresponsive This issue raises serious concerns about vehicle safety and reliability, especially when essential functions like glass auto-drop are disabled without any warning, leaving the glass vulnerable to breakage. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11670031June 29, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
The Tesla “self driving” features are inconsistent, at best, and frequently fail. I can not believe that the government approves these capabilities or the Tesla is accepting liability for road use. If these features are not reliable under supervised conditions, why would they be considered safe for robo taxi release? I have repeatedly tried to report this to Tesla and they say the systems are operating as designed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669845June 27, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
We just took delivery of our 2026 Tesla Model Y Juniper yesterday. Today, my wife was driving to work at around 40 mph when the car suddenly performed a hard brake (phantom braking), coming to a complete stop for no apparent reason. The driver behind her nearly rear-ended her. Importantly, she was not using Autopilot or Full Self-Driving at the time of the incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669835June 27, 2025
TIRES
Owned car for only a week with 470 miles on odometer. At appromately 10am CST on June 26 while on an exit ramp the tire sidewall failed catastrophically causing extraneous damage to fender well liner and molding. Car was stopped immediately as emergency services police and towbtruck were called. Weather was clear and there was np obstructions on the road. There was also no indication of low tire pressure until the failure happened. All tires were at the recommended 42 PSI per Tesla vehicle data. The failure was a complete total circumferential separation of the inner bead /sidewall from the rest of the tire. All tires were replaced by owner with Michelins due to lack of trust in the manufacturing quality of the pirelli tires. Tesla and Pirelli are not acknowledging any responsibility for this failure. This is a major safety related incident which could have caused a lot more damage if the car was traveling at a higher rate of speed. On an exit ramp the speed was not more than 45 mph.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669776June 27, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving with Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged, my vehicle proceeded through a red traffic light without any driver input on two separate occasions within the past few weeks. On both occasions: - The traffic light was clearly red. - The vehicle accelerated forward without prompt while first briefly coming to a full stop it then proceeded forward while traffic light remained on red. - There was no visible obstruction or confusion. These are serious failures in the FSD system’s signal recognition and pose an extreme safety hazard. I request a formal investigation and safety recall if warranted.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669709June 27, 2025
STEERING
My 2021 Tesla Model Y experienced a sudden loss of steering assist, resulting in an extremely heavy steering and loss of steering ability, at highway speed. I needed extreme efforts to push the steering wheel to go off highway to avoid accident. This happened on 6/14/2025 around 3PM. Tesla service diagnosed "internal electrical/mechanical steering rack failure", but no recall was issued for my VIN. I've reviewed NHTSA Recall SB-25-00-004 (2025) for 2023 Model Y involving EPAS/steering assist failure. The symptoms in my car appear identical. I believe the issue may affect more model years than the recall currently covers and request HNTSA investigate further.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669618June 27, 2025
SUSPENSION
I was driving my 2023 Tesla Model Y under normal road conditions when a sudden mechanical failure occurred. There was no collision or external impact involved. While driving in the San Jose area, the bolt of the front left lower control arm suddenly detached, causing the control arm to disconnect and drag on the ground. As a result, the front wheel became jammed, the vehicle lost steering control, and I was unable to continue driving safely. Upon immediate inspection, I found the suspension system severely damaged, with the control arm completely detached from its mounting point, posing a serious safety risk. The vehicle has approximately 19,200 miles and is still under factory warranty. This kind of failure is extremely uncommon and appears to be a structural or manufacturing defect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669531June 26, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
shortly after i purchased this car it began to put itself into park while the car was moving slowly and even when it was in car wash mode going through a brush carwash that requires cars to be in neutral. i reached out to tesla support to investigate and they explained this is a safety feature that engages if the driver leaves the seat while the car is not in park. i explained to them that in both cases i had been sitting firmly in the seat and there should have been no reason for the car to put itself in park and asked them how i turn this auto feature off. they said there was no way to turn it off. i explained to them that ALL automation features should be optional, they argued with me. came to find out some sensor in my driver's seat was malfunctioning. they took the car to replace the seat/sensor, but i reiterated that all these auto features should be optional and a consumer should be able to turn them off. my car was rendered unsafe to drive due to the malfunctioning sensor, i should have had a way to turn off the feature, i asked them to open a ticket with their engineers to add settings to turn off this automation feature. fast forward to 6/25/25, as i am pulling my car into a parking space at a store the car SLAMS itself in park, so hard that i thought maybe i had hit something hard with one of my wheels. i followed back up with Tesla support and am being told there is still no way for me to turn off this automation feature. no automation feature should EVER be hard coded into a motor vehicle. the risk presented by malfunctioning automation features is too great, and if i want to completely control every aspect of my car i should be able to, regardless of how much automation it is capable of. i am filing a complaint now because Tesla is clearly not taking these concerns seriously
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669530June 26, 2025
STEERING
The contact owned a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 - 50 MPH, the contact lost control of the vehicle. The contact stated that while attempting to regain control of the vehicle and attempting to correct the steering wheel, the vehicle kept going to the right and to the left independently. The contact was unable to regain control of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle struck a railing and a concrete divider with the passenger’s side front bumper and then the rear passenger’s side quarter panel, and the vehicle spun around on the highway and came to a stop. The contact pressed the emergency latch to exit the vehicle out of fear that the vehicle might catch on fire. The contact stated that the rear passenger’s side tire was pushed back due to the impact. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that all the air bags deployed as designed. The vehicle was towed to a local Collision Center. A Police report was filed. The contact stated that the vehicle was deemed destroyed by the Insurance Provider. The contact sustained injuries to the upper back, left shoulder, right elbow, and neck; however, there were no broken bones reported. The contact received medical attention for the injuries sustained. The local dealer was not contacted, and the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11669421June 26, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My 2023 Tesla Model Y has produced concerningly loud mechanical noises while parked, plugged in, and not being driven. I’ve experienced this on two separate occasions—[XXX] and [XXX]—after the vehicle had been parked for several hours in a garage. Upon waking the car (without driving it), it emitted a very loud and persistent mechanical sound, both while plugged in and even after unplugging. The volume and intensity of these sounds were far beyond normal operation and raised immediate concerns of overheating, component failure, or an underlying safety defect. The experience felt unsafe enough that we considered exiting the vehicle both times. We attempted to schedule a service appointment through the Tesla app, but received no response, and the request appears to have disappeared with no record remaining in the app. Based on the nature of the sound, we’re unsure what it could be, and may indicate a malfunction in the cooling system or battery thermal management. I have video documentation of both incidents, along with video from other nights with similar temperatures where this did not occur, for comparison. I’m submitting this report out of genuine concern for vehicle safety and reliability, especially given Tesla’s known issues with thermal and battery behavior in high-heat conditions. These noises began recently, and we have owned the car since 2022 and have driven it consistently in high Texas heat every summer. This suggests a new or developing malfunction, not a feature of normal operation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669250June 25, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Smoke began coming out of the vents while driving. Battery was at 2%. Driver pulled over, exited vehicle and within 2 minutes flames could be seen (on video) coming from the center, dash area of the vehicle. Fire developed rapidly. Lt. Copley Detroit Fire Department, Fire investigation section 313-237-0466
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11669242June 25, 2025
STEERING, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owned a 2024 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while his son was driving at approximately 38 MPH with his sister inside the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle lost steering and braking functionality and failed to stop as intended, causing the vehicle to drive through a crosswalk. The contact stated that the steering wheel failed to respond while being turned, causing the vehicle to crash into a curb and then into a parked vehicle, which was able to stop the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was towed to a Tesla Collision Center, and between Tesla and the Insurance provider, the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The Insurance Company reviewed the event data recorder (EDR) reports and confirmed the failure which contributed to the crash. The contact stated that the Police was not contacted because it was a single vehicle crash. The other vehicle owner was notified of the crash and was provided the needed information to file a claim. A Police report was not filed. The contact's son was taken to the local medical center in a family vehicle. The contact's son and daughter sustained headaches and concussions, and both received medical attention. The contact drove his son to the local medical center, where he was admitted and remained overnight. Additionally, the contact's son was continuing outpatient treatment for the injuries sustained. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 3,500.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11668806June 24, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
Subject: Formal Safety Complaint – Tesla Robotaxi Operation in Austin, TX on [XXX] Dear NHTSA ODI Team, I am writing to formally report a serious safety concern involving a Tesla Robotaxi operating in Austin, Texas on [XXX]. The vehicle was documented drifting into the wrong lane, crossing a double‑yellow line before realigning in the correct lane—posing a definite risk to oncoming traffic The same or a related Robotaxi was recorded exceeding posted speed limits, with speeds reaching approximately 39 mph in a 30 mph zone Visible in these clips were no adverse weather conditions or challenging intersections, contradicting claims that such factors influenced the mishaps Why this matters: The deployment is an early paid, driverless Robotaxi service—yet the performance demonstrated in these incidents raises immediate concerns about the system’s readiness for real‑world, public‑road operations The vehicles appear to be violating traffic laws, compromising the safety of passengers, other road users, and pedestrians. NHTSA’s own inquiry into these behaviors, and Tesla’s desire to keep responses confidential, underscore the importance of fully transparent oversight What I respectfully request: Confirm whether Tesla submitted its full responses by the deadline Ensure that all communications are reviewed under applicable standards, not withheld as proprietary. Promptly assess and address the potential defect in Tesla’s Robotaxi control software or hardware. Require Tesla to provide crash data, performance logs, and operational protocols for these and future incidents. Publish a full report on the safety of robotaxis INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11668663June 23, 2025
POWER TRAIN
Squeaking of lower control arms arms around 70k miles. Upper & lower require replacement, per Tesla Service Center
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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