Tesla Model Y Complaints (2026)

327 consumer complaints on file.

#11760096August 27, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES
Screen provides alert that "center brake light condition deteceted". Shows up as VCRIGHT_a487. Tesla has said it is a software condition that will be fixed in an update, yet several updates later, the condition persists with no fix in sight. This error has appeared since the time of new vehicle delivery in early May 2026 to the present.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11759824August 26, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY
On August 26, 2026, I sustained a significant injury when the door of my Tesla closed while my thumb was in the door area. The door caught my thumb and forcibly lifted/tore off most of my thumbnail, causing immediate bleeding and leaving the nail bed exposed. I am reporting this because I am concerned about the safety of the vehicle’s door closing mechanism and its ability to prevent this type of injury when a hand or finger is obstructing the door. The force of the closing door was sufficient to cause substantial physical injury rather than a minor pinch. There were no warning messages or alerts before the incident that I was aware of. At this time, I do not know whether the door, sensors, or closing mechanism malfunctioned or whether they were operating as designed. The cause is UNKNOWN and has not yet been confirmed by Tesla or an independent service center. The vehicle and door are available for inspection upon request. I am also reporting the incident to Tesla and requesting that Tesla inspect the door and related components and preserve/review any available vehicle diagnostic or event data associated with the incident. The injury has been photographed and documented. I am concerned that the same door behavior could cause serious injury to another occupant, particularly if a child’s hand or fingers were caught in the door.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11759659August 26, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I am reporting this history because four windshield failures across two relatively new Tesla vehicles raises concern that there may be a recurring issue involving windshield durability, installation, fitment, glass stress, vehicle-body interaction, or another vehicle-related factor. I am also concerned about the following distances maintained by Tesla's automated driving and adaptive-cruise systems. In my experience, the vehicle frequently follows other vehicles more closely than I would choose when driving manually. While the vehicle may calculate that the distance is adequate for braking, closer following distances may increase windshield exposure to stones and roadway debris thrown from vehicles ahead. I cannot establish that automated following distance caused these windshield failures, and I am not presenting that as a proven cause. I am reporting it as one possible contributing factor that may warrant investigation along with windshield design, glass specification, installation, fitment, and structural stress. Because the windshield is an important visibility and structural safety component, I believe the repeated cracking history warrants documentation and review for a possible pattern involving Tesla vehicles. For the current August 17, 2026 incident, I have asked Tesla to inspect and document the apparent origin of the crack before replacing the windshield, including whether there is an identifiable external impact point or evidence of an edge-, fitment-, or stress-related crack. I am submitting this complaint so that NHTSA has a record of the repeated windshield failures and can determine whether similar complaints indicate a broader safety-related defect or trend.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11759166August 24, 2026
TIRES:SIDEWALL, TIRES:TREAD/BELT
The front driver-side OEM Hankook tire (size: 235/55R18) on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Standard Range developed a severe 2-inch structural split/crack along the tire shoulder/sidewall under normal daily commuting on paved roads. There was no road hazard or curb impact. This sudden structural failure caused immediate, complete air pressure loss, creating a severe safety risk on the road. The failure was confirmed by an independent local tire repair technician, who inspected the tire and declared it irreparable, forcing an immediate out-of-pocket replacement. No prior warning lights or symptoms appeared before the incident. Photos of the defect, tire size, and DOT code are available upon request.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11759095August 24, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I own a 2026 Tesla Model Y, and I subscribe to and use Tesla's Full Self-Drive ("FSD") service. Whenever I have the car in FSD mode and take over control of the car, thereby turning off FSD, a box appears in the bottom left corner of the display screen in the car that the driver must use for all functions of the car. That box asks why I turned the FSD off and requires that I choose from 4 selections. The box remains on the screen until a selection is chosen and does not disappear after any period of time on its own, and there is no option to stop that box from appearing every single time I take over from FSD. The requirement that I divert my attention from the road to the bottom corner of that screen every single time I take control of my vehicle from FSD is a dangerous distraction that on more than one occasion has almost caused an accident. It is ridiculous that Tesla imposes this dangerous feedback box on its drivers with no ability to turn it off or make it disappear without taking our eyes off the road to answer it. Please do something to require them to get rid of this dangerous mandatory feedback box before it gets people hurt or killed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758972August 24, 2026
STEERING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Subject: Safety Hazard caused by Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance on [2026 Tesla Model Y] Description: I am writing to report a serious safety issue regarding the Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance (ELDA) feature on my US-spec Tesla. Starting with recent software updates, the vehicle forces the Lane Departure Avoidance setting back to "Assist" upon every single drive cycle, with no option to disable it permanently. This behavior creates an immediate safety hazard, especially in cold climate regions and during winter driving conditions. When attempting to steer around immediate road hazards such as open manholes, deep potholes, or debris, the vehicle's cameras fail to recognize the object in the road. If the driver maneuvers to avoid the hazard without a pre-activated turn signal, the ELDA system aggressively intervenes, jerking the steering wheel back into the path of the danger. On slippery, icy, or wet roads, this unexpected electronic intervention causes a sudden loss of traction, risking a severe crash. Forcing a driver to navigate multiple sub-menus on a touchscreen to change a safety-critical setting before every single drive is dangerous and distracting. In the United States, there is no federal mandate requiring this setting to reset to "Assist" on every drive. I request that NHTSA investigate this aggressive software behavior and compel Tesla to restore the option for owners to permanently set Lane Departure Avoidance to "Warning" or "Off".
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758931August 23, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Phantom braking while using the TACC on the tesla
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758623August 21, 2026
LANE DEPARTURE
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving manually over 40 MPH, the Lane Departure Avoidance system jerked the steering wheel abruptly to the other side while the vehicle was still inside the desired lane. The failure was a recurring issue. The dealer was contacted and informed of the option to turn off the feature. However, each time the vehicle was restarted, the feature was turned on by default. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 300.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758297August 20, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
i was in FSD mode and my car began parallel parking.As the car was in reverse it automatically accelerated and crashed into the car behind me. I did not step on the accelerator pedal, nor the brake and my hands were not on the steering wheel. I in no way caused this accident. What is most surprising is that there was no warning response. Normally if I get too close to any object a color warning shows up on the screen, if I decide to make a change while driving the screen comes up with 4 options as to why I took control but in this case with the car hitting an object there was no response at all.Teslas standard answer is always that it's my fault. I know what happened and it was not my fault.I now have a repair estimate for $1,897.98 which I must be responsible for
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11758061August 19, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
This is what happened: While Full Self-Driving (FSD) was engaged, the vehicle approached an intersection and appeared unable to correctly follow the roadway. Instead of following the intended road path, the vehicle continued forward, drove over the curb, and struck a road sign. The impact knocked the sign down, and the sign subsequently struck the vehicle, including the roof glass. The roof glass shattered and small pieces of glass entered the cabin, exposing both the driver and front passenger to a safety risk. Vehicle data obtained after the incident shows that the vehicle was in ACTIVE_FSD leading up to the collision. FSD changed from ACTIVE to UNAVAILABLE approximately 1.5 seconds before the crash algorithm wake-up. Significant braking occurred only very close to the collision, and no Automatic Emergency Braking intervention was recorded during the incident window. The data also shows multiple substantial steering movements shortly before the collision. Accelerator-pedal data does not establish driver acceleration as the cause of the collision. The available samples show an accelerator position of 2.0% shortly before the collision and 0.0% in the next recorded sample. The driver applied the brake shortly before impact. There were no prior warning lamps or messages indicating that FSD was about to become unavailable before the vehicle departed the roadway. The vehicle has been inspected/repaired following the collision, and vehicle data relating to the incident has been obtained and preserved. Police responded to the collision, and the incident was also reported to insurance. A police report was filed, and the case number is 2026-07160174. I have not yet received the formal CR-4 crash report. Following the collision, I experienced significant psychological distress and trauma-related stress symptoms as a result of the incident.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11757772August 18, 2026
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. While the vehicle was parked and attempting to shift into drive(D), the brake pedal was depressed, and the driver attempted to select the gear, but the gear display icon appeared semi-transparent. The driver was able to select the intended gear after several attempts; however, upon depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated at a higher speed and struck a tree. The air bags did not deploy. No injuries were reported, and a Police report was not filed. No warning light was illuminated before or after the crash. Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode was not activated during the failure. The vehicle was driven to a collision repair center to repair the damage. The contact notified the manufacturer of the failure and requested assistance retrieving data from the Event Data Recorder (EDR); however, no assistance was provided. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired for the unintended acceleration. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11757570August 17, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
[XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] Email [XXX] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of Defects Investigation [XXX] [XXX] Re: Safety Concern – Tesla Structural Battery Pack Design Dear NHTSA, I am writing to raise a serious safety and durability concern regarding Tesla’s structural battery pack design, in which the high-voltage battery is glued into the vehicle’s body and used as a load-bearing structural member. My primary concerns are as follows: See atrached PDF fe 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
#11757495August 17, 2026
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the Full Self Driving Mode activated, the vehicle struck the garage wall, damaging the rear passenger’s side door. No injuries were sustained. The contact stated that the dealer had previously provided mobile service to replace the camera and that a second dealer, Tesla White Plains (250 Tarrytown Rd, White Plains, NY 10607), had performed a hard reset on the vehicle due to phantom braking; however, the failure persisted. The dealer was made aware of the failure but canceled an upcoming appointment and informed the contact that there was no failure found. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,001.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11757356August 17, 2026
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
On August 15, 2026, at approximately 5:00 PM, the vehicle was being driven with Full Self-Driving (Supervised) engaged during light rain. As the vehicle approached traffic ahead, it did not slow or brake as expected. The driver recognized that the vehicle was not slowing and attempted to intervene manually by pressing the brake pedal multiple times. The driver reports that despite these attempts, the vehicle did not slow or respond to the brake pedal as expected, and a collision occurred. There were no known warning lamps or warning messages indicating a braking-system problem prior to the incident. The vehicle has not yet been inspected to determine the cause of the reported braking behavior. The incident has been reported to the manufacturer, and a request has been made to preserve and review available vehicle data surrounding the collision, including braking inputs, vehicle speed, Full Self-Driving status/actions, warnings, diagnostic information, and safety/event data. The vehicle is available for inspection. At this time, the cause of the failure to slow as expected is UNKNOWN.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11756945August 14, 2026
STEERING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On August 3, 2026, my Tesla Model Y was traveling at approximately 50 mph with Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged. At approximately 4:12:47 PM CDT, FSD became unavailable and then became available again. At 4:12:51.628 PM CDT, FSD was recorded as ACTIVE_FSD again. Approximately 2.36 seconds after FSD was re-engaged, at 4:12:53.987 PM CDT, the vehicle's steering began a sudden and rapid rightward movement. I did not turn the steering wheel or intentionally provide a rightward steering input that initiated this maneuver. The recorded steering angle increased rapidly from approximately +11.4° to +20.7°, +33.3°, +83.3°, +137.9°, +154.7°, and ultimately approximately +282° within about 1.6 seconds. Importantly, FSD was still recorded as ACTIVE_FSD when the steering movement began. FSD changed to UNAVAILABLE at approximately 4:12:54.364 PM CDT, about 0.38 seconds after the steering movement had already started. The steering continued to escalate after FSD became unavailable.The vehicle subsequently experienced severe lateral acceleration of approximately 0.96 g, and crash detection activated at approximately 4:12:55.710 PM CDT. The accelerator was recorded at 0% during the developing steering event and increased only after crash detection. Hard braking and ABS activation occurred afterward.I do not have Tesla Dashcam footage, but I have retained Tesla's vehicle telemetry export containing FSD state, steering, steering-torque, accelerator, braking, vehicle-speed, stability-control, and crash-event data.I am concerned that Tesla FSD may have initiated or contributed to the unexpected steering maneuver that resulted in the collision. I am certain that I did not initiate the sudden rightward steering maneuver.I request that NHTSA investigate whether this represents a potential safety defect or unexpected FSD behavior, particularly the sequence of FSD re-engagement followed approximately 2.36 seconds later by the unexpected steering event while FSD was still ACTIVE_FSD
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11756780August 13, 2026
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Screen provides alert that "center brake light condition deteceted". Shows up as VCRIGHT_a487 Tesla said "The condition is characteristic of the current firmware with no current fix at this time". Tesla is looking into this concern as it is affecting multiple vehicles at this time
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11756753August 13, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
I was operating my Tesla using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) when the vehicle approached an active school zone with flashing warning lights and a posted school-zone speed limit of 35 mph. FSD did not appropriately respond to the active school zone or reduce the vehicle's speed to the posted 35 mph limit, requiring me to disengage FSD and manually slow the vehicle. The incident was captured on the Tesla dashcam. The recording shows FSD active while approaching the school zone. At approximately 14 seconds into the recording, the vehicle was traveling approximately 52 mph with "Self-Driving" displayed while the flashing school-zone warning and SCHOOL pavement markings were visible ahead. The posted school-zone speed limit is 35 mph when the warning lights are flashing. Because FSD was not slowing the vehicle appropriately, I intervened and disengaged FSD. Immediately following my intervention, vehicle speed decreased from approximately 49 mph to 39 mph, 31 mph, and approximately 29 mph as I manually slowed the vehicle. This was the second time I experienced FSD failing to appropriately respond to this same active school zone. After this occurrence, I saved the dashcam recording and submitted a Bug Report through the vehicle. There were no warning messages indicating that FSD could not recognize or respond to the school zone. My safety concern is that FSD may proceed into an active school zone substantially above the posted school-zone speed limit unless the driver recognizes the failure and intervenes. The original dashcam recording is available and documents the vehicle speed, FSD status, active flashing school-zone warning, posted speed limit, and timing of my intervention.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11756419August 12, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Car is less than a year old and forward camera is reporting visibility problem. Safety features, forward collision and autonomous driving is severely degraded. Tesla will not repair under warranty which requires disassembly of the camera housing. Front camera housing has been redesigned by Tesla but they are not retrofitting this fix for existing Model Y and have not issues a safety recall. This camera housing defect presents a risk to my safely and the safety of others.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11756048August 10, 2026
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
I am submitting this complaint to report what I believe is a potential safety defect involving the Tesla Autopark feature on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Premium All-Wheel Drive. On 7/21/26 at approximately 7:40 a.m., I activated Autopark to park my vehicle in my driveway. A transit van was already parked nearby and remained stationary throughout the parking maneuver. While Autopark was controlling the vehicle, my Tesla continued reversing and failed to stop before striking the parked transit van. The collision caused damage to the right rear passenger side of my vehicle. Based on what I observed, the vehicle did not recognize or respond appropriately to the presence of the stationary van. This raises serious concerns regarding the ability of the Autopark system to detect nearby stationary vehicles and avoid collisions during low-speed automated parking. Although I understand that Tesla states the driver must supervise Autopark, I am concerned that the system continued reversing into an obvious stationary obstacle rather than warning the driver or stopping before impact. I respectfully request that Tesla: Preserve all vehicle diagnostic logs, camera data, and sensor data from approximately 7:40 a.m. on the date of the incident. Conduct a full engineering review of the Autopark event. Determine why the vehicle failed to detect or avoid the parked transit van. Advise whether this incident resulted from a software issue, hardware issue, sensor limitation, or another system malfunction. Provide me with a written response and a case number confirming that this has been recorded as a formal vehicle safety complaint. I am prepared to provide photographs, dashcam footage (if available), the exact incident location, repair estimates, and any additional information required to assist with your investigation. Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11755731August 9, 2026
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
While returning the Tesla during a demo drive, the car suddenly braked extremely hard in the middle of the road for no reason. It was bright and sunny, and we were coming up to a green light. It caused me to slam my head back into the seat. There was seemingly no reason for the emergency braking, and if someone were behind me, it would have caused a collision.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0

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