Tesla Model Y Complaints
3,785 consumer complaints on file.
- #11662280May 21, 2025EXTERIOR LIGHTING
While vehicle was driving on FSD at approximately 75 mph on freeway, the vehicle in front of me kicked up a small piece of tire trend. the piece of tire hit the headlight and shattered the glass on the headlight assembly, while not damaging any other part of the car. I have owned quiet a few cars from all makes including another Tesla however it seems this cannot be normal for the headlight assembly to shatter with such a small piece of rubber. I have tried to reach out to Tesla but they of course refuse any possibility of defect with Model Y headlight assembly so I wanted to submit this incident in hope that if enough people have experienced similar incident with their headlight assembly it would be recalled
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11662233May 20, 2025SERVICE BRAKES, STEERING, AIR BAGS
The vehicle was operating in Autopilot mode as it approached a right turn but was in the incorrect lane. The vehicle accelerated in an apparent attempt to merge into the correct lane and initiate the turn, but it approached the turn at an unsafe speed. I pressed the brake pedal, which disengaged Autopilot as expected, but the vehicle failed to slow down or stop. I attempted to manually complete the turn, but although I turned the steering wheel, the wheels did not respond. The vehicle continued forward at speed, struck a curb on the opposite side of the road, and then collided with a parked vehicle. The impact with the parked vehicle ultimately brought the car to a stop. Multiple error messages briefly appeared on the screen during the incident before disappearing.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 2
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11662001May 19, 2025LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH
1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The 12V battery failed unexpectedly, causing a complete shutdown of the vehicle. The car became fully inoperable—doors, windows, touchscreen, and manual override systems were unresponsive. Yes, the vehicle is available for inspection. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My young child was inside the car at the time of the failure. Due to the system lockout, I was unable to open the doors or remove them from the vehicle. Emergency responders were called and had to break windows to safely extract my child. This situation posed a serious risk of heat exposure, panic, and injury. 3. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The failure has been documented and attributed to a dead 12V battery, though Tesla has not formally inspected the vehicle as of this writing. I am working to have it evaluated by a qualified technician to confirm the cause. 4. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? The vehicle was not inspected by Tesla at the time of the incident. Emergency responders did assess the situation on site. I plan to notify my insurance provider, and will make the vehicle available for inspection. 5. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No. There were no alerts, notifications, or warning lights indicating the 12V battery was low or nearing failure. The malfunction occurred without warning.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11661968May 19, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Tesla loaner damaged by rodents Chew on Car Wires
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11661956May 19, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2nd Tesla loaner is damaged by rodents Chew on Car Wires.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11661933May 19, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, WHEELS
This is my 7th report. On [XXX] [XXX] pm I was traveling home from Alburquerque and was just past Isleta Resort and Casino heading south on [XXX]. I don't use cruise control very often because of the emergency braking that occurs (and that I have reported several times before). I was on a long drive and decided to try it on a short section of [XXX] on my first day, and found that it was slowing on it's own when I approached a car from behind. Two days later on the way home, when there was no one in front of me, it slowed significantly without needing to and I thought it was better than the past rapid braking...as I was thinking about this, the car abruptly "slammed on the brakes". I was forced forward but had my seat belt on. Stuff fell off back seat onto the floor. The Igloo cooler on the front passenger floor toppled forward. I'm quite sure there would have been a accident had someone been behind me. Additionally, the car is not recording my tire rotation from 16,000 miles, and continually says the last tire rotation was at 8,000. Good thing Discount Tire keeps track, as I am now overdue for another rotation (25k+ miles). 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
- #11661750May 18, 2025POWER TRAIN
Unintented Accelaration May 15th, 2025 - at about 2 pm the car was being parked in a small local shopping area parking lot by my wife. as she was pulling into the lot, the car suddenly accelarated and surged forward and she had to slam on the brakes to avoid any collision and getting out of control. after about 30 minutes, as she was pulling out of the parking in reverse, a similar experience, the car accelerated/surged backwards and she again had to slam the brakes to avoid any collision with other cars. this time, she also felt a loud thud under the rear portion of the car, no damage noticed. have sent a note to tesla service for it to be evaluated
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11661559May 16, 2025STEERING
The car will continue losing power steering while driving making it very hard to steer. It has happened at all levels of speed.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11661462May 16, 2025UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My name is [XXX] and I'm a 2023 Model Y owner. My car is completing 2 years on [XXX]. It was delivered on [XXX]. I've about 18000 miles. The tires were all in pretty good conditions. My touch screen did not give any low-pressure warning or any sort of warnings. On [XXX] we were driving from Charlottesville to Centreville, Virginia. After about 25 miles on [XXX], car wobbled a lot and we pulled over and find a flat tire with the side teared as shown in attachments. We called Tesla road side assistance and they said we can tow it to Richmond, VA and then replace tire next day which is Monday. We then called AAA and towed the vehicle in a truck back home to Centreville, VA. Next day Tesla road side tire team came. They checked the tire and found no nails and he mentioned that the tire still has good over 50% thread life. I asked him how this could have happened and it is bizarre and totally strange this happened as we don't have any damage on our rims or wheels. I paid 365$ to replace the tire as the technician told replacing is the only choice. A brand-new tesla that came with 4 tires - how can this happen when we have maintained and we have rotated and always maintained the recommended pressure. There was not a warning and suddenly tire became like this. We would like Tesla to arrange for reimbursement of the tire that did not last even 2 years and for the towing expenses of 370$ (attached receipt here). Reached tesla with the only email that I found online: [email protected] and got no response in 2 weeks 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
- #11661437May 16, 2025UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Hello, I am not sure if it is related or not, but I updated to the latest FSD software overnight 2025.14.6 This happened this morning during my first FSD after the update. When at the traffic light to turn left onto the highway my car suddenly did a 90 degree turn and entered the highway on the completely wrong side, directly into oncoming traffic. This happened this morning at approximately 450-500am PST. It turned and made such a sharp left that I had to grab the wheel and take over. But it was too late, it was already on the WRONG SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY heading directly into oncoming head on traffic... It happened so fast that I hit the button somehow and canceled the ability to submit my report on why I took over. This happened heading south on [XXX] in Brentwood CA. It turned left onto the wrong side of [XXX]. My car has never had any issued like this until this morning. This is so bad that I am now scared to even drive the car. I am hoping you might still be able to access the drive and see what happened. Thanks, [XXX] [XXX] VIN: [XXX] Tesla Model Y Launch 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
- #11661345May 15, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The issue lies with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system 12.6.4 on HW3. While driving on roads with lower speed limits (such as 35 or 45 MPH), the vehicle occasionally brakes abruptly for no apparent reason, even when there are no vehicles or obstacles ahead. This unexpected braking behavior can be dangerous, as it may lead to rear-end collisions if the driver behind is not attentive or prepared to stop suddenly.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11660814May 14, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
This incident happened on [XXX], I just got the Tesla data and police report. Here are the events as I remembered: - I was driving my 2023 Tesla Y with FSD supervised (v13.2.8) along [XXX] entered from [XXX] and driving close to north of [XXX] without any issue - Noticed a car in front of me braking hard (about 6secs from the recording dashcam footage) - Realized FSD was not braking hard enough (or at least it did not feel like it) - Slammed on the brake for what felt like an eternity (about 2 secs from the dashcam footage) - Rear end collision on the front car at ~25 mph, airbag deployed. I remembered feeling the brake pedal vibrating but did not stop the car at all. By analyzing the raw data provided by Tesla, it is found brake, accelerator, AEB, ABS and TSC were completely messed up after FSD failed, please refer to the attached analysis report. Note: The dashcam video file and the original Tesla data are available for reviewing if any need as I cannot upload along with this report. 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
- #11660772May 13, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Just days after taking delivery of our first Tesla (2022 Model Y, second-hand ), we experienced a dangerous incident. While Autopilot was engaged, the vehicle failed to slow down or properly navigate a curb near a roundabout. Despite our immediate manual intervention, the front wheel was damaged, resulting in loss of steering and a repair bill exceeding $7,000. After the incident, we were surprised and alarmed to learn that Tesla’s Autopilot is widely known to be unreliable and risky in urban settings. Yet, Tesla imposes no restrictions or clear warnings on its use in such areas, even where the vehicle’s software could easily identify elevated risks. Autopilot handles highways reasonably well, following lanes, making turns, and maintaining distance from other vehicles. This creates a misleading impression that it will perform just as effectively on city roads. However, city roads are far more complex, and the brief transition from Autopilot to human control is often insufficient to prevent accidents. Our experience painfully illustrates this. What concerns us most is that Tesla includes Autopilot as a standard feature but fails to adequately educate users about its limitations. There are no effective restrictions to prevent the system’s use in high-risk scenarios, nor are there built-in warnings when the system is engaged in unsuitable driving environments. This creates extremely dangerous situations for customers. Every life is valuable and deserves proper protection. In addition to the physical damage, the emotional toll after the incident has been significant. What feels especially unjust is Tesla’s response. The company has shown indifference, refusing to take responsibility or provide any compensation for an incident caused by clear system design flaws. We are submitting this report in the hope of preventing similar accidents and receiving the compensation we rightfully deserve. (The vehicle issue has been inspected and confirmed by the Tesla Service Center)
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11660756May 13, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with the full self-driving system activated, the message "System Malfunction - Take Over Immediately" was displayed. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable diagnose the vehicle or duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 39,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11660166May 10, 2025UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tail gate hinges will easily bend when the tailgate is closed manually during failure to power close. Tesla refuses the repair and states that vehicle owner will need to take vehicle to collision center to replace hinge even though no collision is involved. Resolution is to replace hinges and align door which tesla refuses to do under warranty.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11660109May 10, 2025SUSPENSION
Driving less than 5 mph, upper and lower control arms break off, throwing front driver side body onto front driver side tire. It could’ve been extremely bad if we were driving on the freeway and even caused death.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11659869May 9, 2025FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Adaptive cruise control changes speed without warning, often when passing a truck clearly in another lane, but also for no apparent reason. This occurs an average of approximately once every 5 miles, but at irregular intervals. It slows quickly enough to be a hazard. This occurs in all modes (set by speed limit or manual).
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11659635May 7, 2025STEERING
Steering assistance reduced alert is showing up on vehicle. It is difficult to drive the car. The car has less than 33,000 miles on it.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11659627May 7, 2025ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On April 14,2025 My 2022 Tesla Model Y caught on fire while charging. The fire Started from underneath the car near the trunk. The Fire burned the side of my house as well. The Fire Department Ruled it as an electrical fire due to the Battery.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- Yes
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11659450May 7, 2025SUSPENSION
During VA state safety inspection, inspector found “Rear upper rear control arm knuckle joints have play.” And rejected inspection stating serious safety issue. I checked online that tesla model Y 2022 has recall for this suspension issue but my VIN is not in it. 21V-912 / SB-21-31-004 Recall Why is my vehicle excluded from recall? It has the same issue as other Tesla.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0