Tesla Model Y Complaints

4,325 consumer complaints on file.

#11652393April 2, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Per the Tesla service team, there is a defect in the car computer which causes intermittent signal of the backup camera, failure of automatic emergency braking, and also Autopilot unavailability in a 2021 Tesla Model Y with less than 40k miles on it. This issue only occurred after a software update and affects key safety features such as blind spot warning proximity warnings. The Tesla service team said the only way to solve it was to replace the entire car computer and charged us $2,583 for their own product defect. The car did issue alerts to us saying that Autopilot and automatic emergency braking were unavailable, but did not detect issues with intermittent camera signal.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11652177April 1, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
This is my 5th complaint and involves, again, the key card. This is the used key card the El Paso Tesla Dealer was kind enough to give me, and help me program, when one of the original key cards, less than a year old, stopped working. (Tesla wanted me to pay $45 for 2 new key cards) The used key card stopped functioning so I planned to call Tesla and have them "reprogram it"...something that must be done while I am in the car. I went on a last-minute trip and took my spare, barely-used key card. I also had my phone but didn't realize I'd not re-downloaded the Tesla app when I recently troubleshot my phone. Later in the day I parked at CIty of Rocks State Park in NM, still without connectivity, and locked the car with the "good" key card. Then I misplaced the key card! I called one of my 2 backup drivers and asked her to unlock and start my car for me. Her App did not allow her to do so, even though it showed the location of my car at City of Rocks...it said "move closer to the car". (She lives in CA). I had to get a ride to Wifi, download the Tesla App, and when I tried using it to unlock the car, it said "you must be closer to the car". When I got to the car, I was able to unlock and start it using the phone key. After arriving home, I used my App to get Roadside assistance and asked for a phone call when they texted to confirm my location. I explained that I didn't need service, just needed help re-programing my defective card. (I had since found the good card!) The woman on the other end was helpful but it was difficult for her also. We ended up removing the defective key from my profile, though it required a lot of work and also required the "good" key card. I have to call Tesla on Monday (it was Sunday) to get the card re-programmed. Had my difficulty been in a high-traffic or unsafe area I would have been in trouble. The "backup" drivers on my App are there for emergency access to my car, supposedly from any location.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11651694March 31, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2024 Model Y. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH with the Full Self-Driving features activated, the vehicle failed to stop at the intersection when the light was red. The vehicle continued to accelerate through the red light. The driver was ticketed by the Police for the infraction. Additionally, while using the Full Self-Driving feature, the vehicle attempted to turn while at a light with a red arrow. The driver depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 22,251.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11651551March 30, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS
During the autopilot self driving feature the model Y was stopped at a red light waiting to make a left turn. For an unknown reason it proceeded through the red light. Cross traffic had to aggressively break to avoid an incident. Not sure what causes this glitch.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11651355March 28, 2025
STEERING
The driving wheel locked during a turn on back road and ran right into a electricity pole. All air bags deployed and the electricity pole broke. The driver was slightly injured on her forearm.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11651285March 28, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While using cruise control (TACC) or FSD, the vehicle inadvertently brakes until vehicle stops, due to detecting light glare or other things as a collision threat. This happened many times. Reported to Tesla service, they said it is a bug and I should file a bug report. I have previously filed many bug reports about this but no software update fixed the problem. Incident happened many times, Tesla should have records of all, because when there is a disengagement, driver is asked to tell what happened by voice.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11650768March 26, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
To whom it may concern, I would love some help with an issue I'm having with Tesla. I purchased my 2020 Model Y used from Tesla and the car was and is still under bumper-to-bumper warranty. I've had dozens of issues with the built-in dashcam and sentry modes that have stemmed from an update Tesla made, which has also resulted in my USB drives causing repeated errors. And while the USB drive error may not seem bad, it causes issues with the sentry mode and dashcam where they don't work and these features are some of the main reasons that I purchased the car, also making the car valuable to me and my family. Despite this, even though the car is still under warranty, Tesla Service in Sacramento is trying to charge me for my ninth service center visit for this same issue. Here's a list of my visits for this same (and related) issue: - 4/4/2024 - 4/19/2024 - 7/24/2024 - 10/25/2024 - 11/20/2024 - 12/18/2024 - 2/5/2025 - 3/6/2025 I have invoices for each, and again, each correlating visit has been under warranty and now even though my car is still under warranty, Tesla is trying to charge me for attempting to fix this for my ninth visit for this same issue. Can you please help me with this ongoing issue that Tesla is now trying to charge me for even though the car is under warranty?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11650751March 26, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
on 2/15/2025, while backing out of a driveway at about 7:30PM, the vehicle backed into a parked car directly behind it parked in street. There was no warning signal emitted that an object was behind the car. There was no safety alert on the display. Essentially the vehicle's sensors did not see the vehicle directly behind it.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11650661March 25, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
On [XXX] I was driving North on [XXX] at approximately 70 MPH when my 2023 Tesla Model Y Long Range brakes violently applied by them self twice in the space of a few seconds, the sudden unexpected brake application was a shock to me causing me almost lose control of the vehicle and was almost rear ended by a truck that was a few car lengths behind me. My car was in manual mode with the "Emergency Braking" switch enabled (no self drive or cruise control), the weather was sunny and dry and there were no traffic or obstacles in front of my car. The onboard dash cam briefly captured the incident. The problem did not reoccur for the remainder of my drive home. There was no warning prior to the incident, I believe that emergency brakes may have flashed on the screen ( not sure because I was busy reacting to the situation). The car has not been inspected as of yet. I now have to disable the Emergency Braking function each time I drive my car because unfortunately the system defaults to the on position and I don't trust it. This issue appears to be a problem with the system that provides visual information to the Emergency Braking System. I'm making this report because this is an extremely dangerous problem that needs to be addressed by Tesla before it causes injury or worse. 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
#11650338March 24, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER
In 2024 Tesla sent an over-the-air software update to my 2021 Model Y that gave us a month of free "full self driving." We did not ask for this. At the end of the 30 days, our cameras and GPS system failed. The Service Center said they had never seen this before despite many reports online posted by other Teslas owners. Tesla service said it was not fixable and recommended replacing computer at a cost to me of $2500. Now Tesla has posted a safety recall for this exact problem. They admit it was their fault and the recall states Tesla will replace the computer at no cost to the customer. However, they are only willing to fix the 2023-2025 models (those years are still under warranty). I feel that Tesla should fix all the model years that were affected. Tesla has again declined to fix my car. This is the recall website: [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
#11649657March 21, 2025
STRUCTURE:INTERIOR PANELS:DOOR
On three separate occaisions the back left door panel has slipped from its position and caused the door to not be able to open either from the inside or outside. It requires repair each time. This is extremely dangerous for the back seat passengers as they are not able to exit the car AND it can't be forced open AND requires a technician. I have asked Tesla to fix it, but it appears to be a design flaw and it is a known flaw. There are no warning lights. The vehicle has been looked at each time and each technician has said that the clips pop out and they do a car each week or so.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649840March 21, 2025
VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM
The windshield will fog up often due to moisture, which is made worse by activating the mechanism the Tesla model Y has for defogging, and rolling the windows down does little. This put my safety at risk when my visibility was compromised by this while driving on the highway, when I had to navigate and pull into the breakdown lane using teslas cameras. There were no warning lights, and this vehicle part has not yet been inspected. Since this issue has happened on residential streets to me before, I was able to avoid a crash, but I had little to no visibility, and it’s only a matter of time until this does result in a crash.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649641March 21, 2025
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:HOOD:LATCH
Vehicle hood latch censor . Around feb 25 2025 my car was parked in parking lot when i shift to d it showes hood latch need service i towed the car to service center . They replaced the censor by saying its a old bad censor . Now again my car parked in garage march 17 the same hood latch censor error . And it wont let you drive more than 15 mph . Even the hood is locked . If you check kn social media alot of people faced the same issue
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649637March 21, 2025
SEAT BELTS
Rear left seat buckle won’t latch.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649532March 20, 2025
STEERING
The steering control arms were clicking and making noises when the steering wheel was turned. Reports on Reddit said dozens of people had this problem right before they completely busted and lost control of steering the vehicle. I took mine in to the service center and they acknowledged the problem and charged me over $750 to fix. This is a SAFETY ISSUE and should be recalled and fixed for free. I have owned cars for over 40 years and have NEVER had to replace steering control arms. They installed faulty parts.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649612March 20, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
1. Brake I used the FSD all the way from the New Asian Market (Charlotte, NC) to the T-section of [XXX] and [XXX] (Columbia, SC), then changed to driver control and turned to [XXX] (home). Entering the garage, when arrived at the parking spot, I released accelerator pedal and pressed the brake pedal, the car did not stop but pushed forward, and hit a wooden shelf, BBQ grill and the drywall. The car, shelf, BBQ grill and the wall all damaged. 2. USB Storage The USB memory did not record any information. 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
#11649066March 18, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
While driving at approximately 25 mph on a local street in Seattle, WA, my Tesla suddenly engaged the brakes without any apparent reason. The vehicle was not in Autopilot or Full Self-Driving mode, and my foot was actively pressing the accelerator pedal at the time. The braking was abrupt and forceful, causing a sudden deceleration. The weather was clear with good lighting. There were no obstacles, vehicles, or road hazards in my path that could have triggered the braking. The unexpected stop was shocking and could have led to a rear-end collision, as there were vehicles behind me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11649052March 18, 2025
STEERING, WHEELS, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
1. Front Passenger side wheel and auto steering system malfunctioned. Yes it is available for inspection. 2. My car was not drivable and I was stuck on the leftmost lane of highway with fast traffic passing by. Had to call 911 to move myself to safety. 3. Not yet 4. Vehicle has been inspected by the police 5. No warning lamps or message prior to failure
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11648794March 17, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Phantom braking event on highway. Going about 65 miles an hour. It slammed on the brakes. Car is on latest software. I have the video clip whet it shows me trying to get the car under control.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11648458March 15, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla remotely disabled my vehicle twice (February 28, 2025, and March 6, 2025) without prior notice, legal justification, or a court order. February 28, 2025 – Tesla Disabled My Vehicle for 3 Days My Tesla Model Y was remotely locked without warning, leaving me stranded and unable to use my vehicle. Tesla refused to provide a reason or reinstate access for three days. March 6, 2025 – Tesla Disabled My Vehicle Again & Attempted Repossession Tesla again remotely disabled my vehicle, then sent a tow truck for repossession without legal notice. I called the police, who confirmed Tesla had no legal repossession order. Tesla refused to restore access, forcing me into a coerced “voluntary surrender.” How This Posed a Safety Risk I was stranded in public locations without notice or transportation alternatives. Had the vehicle been in motion, this could have caused a road hazard. Tesla’s lack of due process denied me the chance to dispute the action before losing my vehicle. Confirmed by Law Enforcement & Tesla’s Own Records Police intervened on March 6, 2025, and confirmed Tesla had no valid repossession order. Tesla has refused to provide written documentation or a legal explanation for these actions. Regulatory Concerns Tesla’s unilateral ability to disable vehicles raises serious consumer safety issues: What prevents Tesla from disabling vehicles arbitrarily? What legal safeguards exist to protect owners from unjustified manufacturer lockouts? Should federal law restrict Tesla from disabling vehicles without court approval? Request for Investigation Tesla’s remote disabling practice endangers consumers and should be urgently investigated by NHTSA to determine if federal safeguards are needed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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