Tesla Model Y Complaints (2023)

1,136 consumer complaints on file.

#11695566October 25, 2025
SUSPENSION
Just in school driveway going over speed bumps and 2 bolts that is hold the control arm fell out.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11695497October 24, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driving our 2023 Tesla model Y east on [XXX] on [XXX] near Pecos TX. Car suddenly lost power and started hard braking. We were rear ended by a large pick-up truck that was following as we were both traveling approximately 80 miles per hour when this occurred. The car was towed back to Dallas from Big Springs, TX (approximately 280 miles). The car's rear-end damage was such that my Tesla was deemed totaled by the insurance company. This power failure and hard braking had happened to me repeatedly over the last few years. When I spoke to Tesla at the Dallas service center about this issue, they acted as though they had never heard of this happening to anyone. We were both shaken by this accident but other than some soreness the next day we are physically OK. Tesla repair estimate was approximately $22,000. I was forced to buy another car. I had not planned on doing this as my car was fairly new with low mileage. 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
#11695326October 23, 2025
SUSPENSION, STEERING
While driving home from a shop, my Tesla Model Y suddenly stopped in middle of busy road and became unable to move forward. I had to press the accelerator hard, which caused a loud noise before the car moved slightly and I was able to pull over to side of road. I narrowly avoided being hit by another car. Upon inspection, it was found that front tire connecting rod and suspension had failed, causing rod to drop off. The tow truck who assisted me mentioned that this is common issue with Tesla vehicle. This was a terrifying experience and I feel extremely fortunate to have escape an accident. My vehicle is less than 24 months old and I am deeply concerned about the safety and reliability of this component . I strongly urge Tesla to issue a recall and investigate this defect. There is no assurance that this failure won’t happen again. And this is scary
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11695125October 22, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
FSD tried to pass on the shoulder multiple times and brake checked people multiple times. The FSD is unsafe and getting worse. Speed cannot be controlled. NO WAY TO CONTROL SPEED!!!?? Did you know this? Did you approve it? Did elon convince you it is ok?
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11694763October 21, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
My Tesla has a water leak through the liftgate, which is often caused by water ingress through the liftgate assembly. Tesla issued Service Bulletin SB-23-10-003 regarding this issue. When I contacted Tesla for service, they said my vehicle's VIN is not covered under this service bulletin, and I need to pay a service fee. The service bulletin mentions that vehicles built in Fremont, CA, are affected. Additionally, the rear light is constantly clogged with water, even in 80-degree weather. Furthermore, there is an air leak on the driver’s side door whenever the vehicle is moving in the next lane. Tesla says this is not covered under warranty. I paid a service fee for the repair, but it is still leaking. I requested them to take another look, and they are sending me a bill again. Thank you, [XXX] [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
#11693499October 15, 2025
SUSPENSION
*Lower lateral link assembly, front lower compliance link assembly, front aero shield, and front halfshaft assembly were damaged. Unable to steer the car afterwards. *Sudden loss of steering, blocking lanes of traffic. *Problem is common on Teslas and a previous isolated recall was done. Tesla denies this being a widespread issue. *Car made some clunking sounds prior, no lights or any indication this was life threateningly serious. Car suddenly made a loud snap sound backing up, can see parts of the suspension dragging on the ground. Car needed to be towed by flat bed to a Tesla service center.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692951October 12, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, POWER TRAIN
June 9, 2025 Phantom acceleration. No foot on accelerator. Car jumped from 5 to 35 mph. Breaks unresponsive for 3 seconds, smashed into 4 parked cars, creating a Chain-Reaction crash, my Tesla Model Y Totaled, Airbags deployed. Burlington Police Department arrived, took statements, filed report, no copy yet.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692603October 10, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Both B-pillar camera housings on my 2023 Tesla Model Y Performance become extremely hot even when the vehicle is parked in a closed garage and not in use. On the morning of the incident, the garage temperature was approximately 78°F. The car had been parked overnight for over 12 hours, plugged in, and charging to 80%. While the vehicle was preconditioning, no defrost features were active. Despite this, both pillar surfaces measured 156°F with an infrared thermometer—hot enough to cause skin burns within seconds according to standard burn-threshold data for human skin (~155°F). Both sides heating to this temperature simultaneously suggests an electrical or control malfunction keeping the pillar camera assemblies energized. These components sit near the seatbelt anchor and side-curtain airbag area, raising concern of fire, electrical, or occupant-safety risk if the condition persists. Continuous heating while parked could also degrade wiring insulation or camera electronics used by the vehicle’s driver-assistance systems. The vehicle and affected components are available for inspection upon request. The issue has not yet been inspected or confirmed by Tesla, but a service appointment request was submitted immediately after the event. Tesla repeatedly rescheduled the appointment, delaying it by more than six weeks despite the described safety concern. No diagnostic alerts, warning messages, or notifications appeared in the vehicle or Tesla app. This abnormal heating has occurred more than once under similar conditions and does not appear to be caused by ambient temperature or sunlight exposure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692288October 9, 2025
WHEELS, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
It was raining on I-287 North bound in Bridgewater Township, NJ. I was driving my Tesla Model Y well below the posted speed as it was raining. Suddenly my car took a spin, i lost control of the steering. Car took a 360 degree turn from right most lane on 3-lane highway and ended up on the side of the left most lane, rear ended into the bushes, hit the trees and damaged the back of the car. My car is all wheel drive, still i lost the control. I was so lucky to be alive.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692225October 8, 2025
POWER TRAIN, SUSPENSION
While driving, I heard a loud clicking noise from the front driver side wheel, followed by resistance and dragging of something under the vehicle. I did my best to pull over safely, but I could no longer steer the car. The control arm complete broke off of the wheel, and was now almost resting on the street while the tire/wheel was lodged into the wheel well bent sideways.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691675October 6, 2025
SUSPENSION, STEERING
The bolt that holds the front lateral link portion the the lower control arm to the subframe fell out while driving. I lost the ability to steer the car and had to stop immediately and have the car towed. In searching the internet this is a know issue by Tesla but has not been recalled.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691046October 2, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
RE: VIN [XXX] Battery problem Car is less than 3 years old. Suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. Only had about 5 seconds or so to react and the car stuttered and shut down. Could not move it or drive it all. Dashboard was still working but it would not move and flashing red in the console. Very scary and frustrating experience. Fortunately, I was on a city and not on a highway. The car had an error: "Pull to the side" which was very short of an alert response. I tow the car to Tesla center and was told that more than likely main battery issue with the inverter or similar. The Service center does confirm the inverter has been reset but they cannot find anything wrong with it. I do not think it is safe to drive as incident could happen again with the battery/inverter. This has happened to many other cars Tesla had. Thanks, [XXX] [XXX] [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
#11690255September 29, 2025
SUSPENSION
Noticed a minor squeaking sound during turning and during minor road bumpiness. Got worse, so did troubleshooting (turn wheel full right/left at very slow speed). There was a very loud pop/bang, and then a horrible grinding sound with accompanying vibration. Got out, noticed a large bolt laying on the ground. Looked under the car, and noticed the bolt was missing from the LH lateral linkage. The wheels are now canted/misaligned with each other (both facing inward, or one straight/one turned). There were zero warnings from the on board computer. If this had happened at highway speeds it could have been deadly or otherwise catastrophic. Completely unacceptable design.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11690215September 28, 2025
SUSPENSION, WHEELS, STEERING
During normal driving on Sat Sep 27 2025, unusual noises started to come from the front left wheel. There were no warning lamps or messages, and no indication of issues prior to onset of the noise. I had the vehicle towed to a Tesla Service Center the following day. Tesla's technicians found that the front lateral link bolt on the left hand side had backed out and fallen out of the subframe. They determined that the cause was related to improper torque specification or application of the original bolt. They reached this conclusion in part because the passenger side lateral link to subframe bolts were also under-torqued. Rear bolts were not affected. Tesla has replaced the front lateral links on both sides with new bolts. There was no vehicle accident or damage, so there has been no involvement or inspection by police or insurance. It is fortunate that this issue began when the vehicle was traveling at low speed, and that I chose to have the vehicle towed to the service center rather than driving it. The bolt has loosened when the noise started, and finally fell out at the service center. Had I been driving at highway speeds when the bolt fell out, I could have lost control of the car and injured myself and others. Online research suggests this is not an isolated incident for this model of car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689928September 26, 2025
SUSPENSION, WHEELS, STEERING
I picked up my son from school and got home at about 3:30 PM on Sunday 9/21/2025. My son got out of the car and I heard a “clicking” sound when turning my steering wheel to the left to prepare for backing into my garage. There were no warning lights or messages for this issue. I did get out of my car and checked, but did not see anything that hit my car underneath. I got back in my car and continued backing my car into the garage. The nightmare started happening - The bolts connecting the front control arm and steering knuckle fell off that caused the left “arm” disconnected from the steering knuckle. This had resulted a sudden total loss of steering control. Please see attached photos. I could not imagine if this would have happened on the freeway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11689256September 23, 2025
SUSPENSION
On last sunday (Sep.21, 2025), I drove my tesla model Y on high way. The vehicle suddenly loss of control and start shaking a lot. In the mean time, there are many system error messages posed on the screen, making the vehicle totally not drivable. On the second, it was identified by the Tesla service team that the lateral link bolt is missing. This issue has been the subject of Tesla recalls and reports, but after double check, my model Y never receive this recall, and cause me having no chance to prevent this accident happen. On last Saturday (Sep.21, 2025), I already reported the suspension issue through tesla app, but no Tesla service team person contact me, nobody help me. In summary, missing lateral link bolt is a very serious problem that cause the vehicle loss of control. However, Tesla never gives me a chance for recall repair, and even I report this and I still got no response.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688524September 19, 2025
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The Full Self Driving (Supervised) ADAS in this vehicle will react to shadows on the road and can put the car or other cars at risk. We have had multiple instances where, on a sunny day, the car will react to shadows cast on the road and take evasive action like braking or switching lanes abruptly. This can be hazardous due to the random nature of the of the occurrences and them happening at times when a driver may be lulled into a false sense that the car seems to be driving itself well. So far we have been lucky that no other vehicles were traveling too close behind or to the side of us. We have experienced this behavior multiple times and there are other people online who have reported this. The car gave no warning indicators either before, during, or after the occurrence. Note that our car uses a Hardware 3 computer. I believe that this issue may have been fixed on newer Tesla cars that use Hardware 4.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11688217September 18, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Tesla, Inc. regarding multiple critical safety failures that occurred with my Tesla Model Y (VIN: [XXX] ) during a collision on Saturday, [XXX], while I was traveling eastbound on [XXX] from the [XXX] exit to the [XXX] exit in Pennsylvania. At approximately [XXX], I was driving in the left lane when a BMW SUV abruptly cut into my lane ahead of me, accelerated briefly, and then suddenly braked. I immediately applied the brakes multiple times in an effort to stop my car. Even though there was sufficient space to stop safely, the braking system failed to respond, resulting in a collision with the BMW in front of me. Despite my efforts to avoid the impact, the following dangerous and unacceptable failures occurred at the time of the accident: 1.Failure of Regenerative Braking / Deceleration: When I lifted my foot from the accelerator, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected under Tesla’s regenerative braking system. 2.Failure of Braking System: Despite pressing the brake pedal twice—including a heavy application—the braking system failed to prevent collision, contrary to Tesla’s advertised safety performance. 3.Failure of Collision-Avoidance Features: Critical safety systems—including Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and Obstacle-Aware Acceleration—did not engage to mitigate or prevent the impact. 4.Failure of Airbag Deployment: Despite the severity of the crash, none of the airbags deployed, exposing me to serious risk of injury and raising grave concerns about the integrity of the Model Y’s occupant protection systems. 5.Post-Collision Failure of Regenerative Braking: Following the accident, when I attempted to drive the vehicle, the regenerative braking system was completely non-functional, creating a continuing safety hazard and rendering the vehicle unsafe to operate. 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
#11687537September 16, 2025
VISIBILITY/WIPER, STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Summary of Complaint: My 2023 Tesla Model Y has had two roof glass failures in three months (two glass roof replacements). Both times, the glass cracked from small road debris while driving under normal city conditions. Safety Concern The roof glass appears unusually fragile and prone to cracking, raising concerns about whether it meets industry standards for impact resistance and occupant safety. The rapid failure rate (two roof glass panels in three months) suggests a potential design or materials defect rather than isolated incidents of road damage. If roof glass panels cannot withstand normal road debris, this presents a safety risk for drivers and passengers, as well as for other motorists if large shards detach while driving. The roof glass seems unusually fragile. Two failures in such a short time suggest a design or material defect. If the glass cannot withstand normal road debris, it may not meet durability or safety standards. There is also risk to occupants and other drivers if roof glass fails while in motion. Request: Please investigate whether the 2023 Tesla Model Y roof glass meets required safety standards, and whether this issue is affecting other owners.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11687493September 15, 2025
WHEELS
The front driver’s side wheel came off of the axel while parking. Lug nuts/studs appear intact, suggesting a suspension component failure. This is a serious safety hazard that could have caused loss of control and injury.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

← Back to Tesla Model Y