Tesla Model Y Complaints (2021)

1,096 consumer complaints on file.

#11661956May 19, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2nd Tesla loaner is damaged by rodents Chew on Car Wires.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11659635May 7, 2025
STEERING
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
#11659090May 5, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla refuses to clear this recall, despite the software having been rolled out via over-the-air updates years ago. I now have to sell my vehicle because I'm unable to import it to Canada.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658669May 3, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
- Computer appears to stop working in colder temperatures (or random). - ALL cameras, including rear view camera (needed for backing up) and side cameras stop working. Error message shown on touch screen saying cameras are not available. - All road sensing information including other cars, lanes markers (everything) disappears from touch screen dashboard and no longer works. There are no longer any warnings for anything. - GPS tracking stops and no longer tracks along with the car. Car becomes a safety hazard due to poor visibility. Especially evident during reverse.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11658497May 2, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
While reversing in this 2021 Tesla Model Y (software v12, 2025.14.1, Full Self-Driving Supervised), the vehicle’s ultrasonic sensors showed a wall directly behind on the display. However, the Tesla Vision camera system did not visually render the wall, and neither Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) nor Obstacle-Aware Acceleration activated. The car reversed under driver input directly into the wall, causing a collision with property damage. The safety defect appears to be that the ultrasonic sensors, although still present and visually displayed, are no longer integrated into the collision avoidance systems after Tesla’s software updates activating Tesla Vision. As a result, the AEB and OAA systems seem to rely only on camera data, ignoring ultrasonic sensor input — leaving a dangerous blind spot in reverse. This problem affects safety because the driver receives no warning that AEB or OAA will not engage based on ultrasonic detection alone. Tesla’s updated owner manuals (2023.12) state that AEB is now designed to work in reverse, but in this case, the system failed. The issue has not yet been inspected by Tesla or a dealer but appears reproducible on vehicles with ultrasonic sensors running Tesla Vision software. This is likely a widespread defect affecting 2020–2022 Tesla Model 3, Y, S, and X vehicles equipped with ultrasonic sensors but updated via software. There were no warning lights or system alerts before the failure. I request NHTSA investigate whether Tesla’s software has disabled or failed to integrate ultrasonic sensor data into rear collision avoidance, creating an undisclosed safety risk for owners.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11655447April 18, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The Adaptive cruse control would stop working off an on. also it would give false land departure warnings causing driver to swerve thinking they were going to run into another care
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11654477April 14, 2025
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the message "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault" was displayed on the instrument panel. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 68,400.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11653724April 9, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
See attached document for complaint.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11653378April 8, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The front collision warning is too sensitive and reacts unnecessarily to many events that are not a risk for collision. In addition, the sound of the warning is too loud causing the driver to become unnecessarily startled and may cause possible loss of control of the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#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
#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
#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
#11648401March 14, 2025
SEAT BELTS, SEATS
Continued failure of the OCS system after repair by tesla. This is the system responsible for determining if a passenger is in the passenger seat and without this is a safety issue. As it could affect airbag deployment.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11647726March 11, 2025
TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the TPMS warning light illuminated, with the “TPMS Fault” message was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed with TMPS failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact associated the failure with an undisclosed recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11646831March 6, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC, AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at 10 MPH and depressing the brake pedal; however, the vehicle accelerated independently and failed to brake without warning. The contact assured there were no distractions that could have caused the crash. Due to the failure, the contact crashed into another vehicle as the air bags deployed. Despite the air bag deployment, the vehicle continued to accelerate and repeatedly hit the same vehicle. The brake pedal eventually responded after depressing multiple times to the floorboard and the vehicle finally came to a stop. The contact did not sustain any injuries and did not seek medical treatment. The driver of the other vehicle did not report any injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene to an independent tow yard. The contact mentioned reviewing the Tesla App on the crash however it was not recorded and there was a recording lag. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 39,264
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11646740March 6, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY, STEERING, SUSPENSION
My steering is making loud noises and so is the suspension. It’s so loud it’s embarrassing to drive. The steering wheel also came apart because it wasn’t glued down properly and had air bubbles. I see recalls for cars but not my specific vin. Tesla says no wheel replacement for me and cost of replacing link assembly parts and bolts would cost me 2000$
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11645405February 27, 2025
SEAT BELTS
I am writing to formally file a complaint against Tesla Motors regarding a serious safety issue involving defective seat belts in my vehicle. Despite my efforts to address this matter directly with Tesla, their response has been dismissive, prioritizing an out-of-pocket repair fee over a fundamental safety concern. Recently, my [XXX] son discovered that rear driver side seat belt does not latch onto the buckle. When I contacted Tesla to seek assistance in resolving this issue, I was informed I would need to pay out of pocket to replace the buckle because my warranty had expired as of January this year. During the replacement, the Tesla technician pointed out that the other 2 seat belt buckles in the back seat were also defective and would soon not function properly. The Tesla service center in Alhambra, CA was notified but they categorized it as a customer-pay repair. An expired warranty should not absolve Tesla of responsibility for a defect in a critical safety component. Seat belts are essential for driver and passenger protection, and any failure in their function could lead to serious injury or fatality. I am deeply concerned that Tesla does not seem to be taking this issue seriously. Instead of addressing the safety risk posed by the defective seat belts, their response has been to demand payment for a repair that should not be the driver's financial burden. Safety should always be the top priority, and I believe Tesla’s handling of this matter is unacceptable. I urge your office to investigate this issue further to ensure that Tesla is held accountable for addressing potential defects in their seat belts. If Tesla is unwilling to resolve this matter appropriately, I believe regulatory intervention is necessary to protect consumers from similar safety risks. 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
#11644352February 23, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VISIBILITY/WIPER, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The heat pump stopped working twice, which requires a trip to the service center and the repair to restore function is a minimum of $3,000. The vehical has no heat at all, no defrost, no cabin heat nothing! This defect happens in the coldest parts of winter and leaves the owner stranded wherever this occurs. The first time was at 52,000 miles. It wouldn't turn on. The heat pump seized. The second time was on a trip, it blow out all the freon and stopped working in Waterloo, Iowa. I was 4 hours from home and it was -4F outside. The car had 136,000 miles. Many others have had heat pumps go out in the same situation...dead of winter. The repair is $3,000 to get heat back into the car. The heat pumpscare clearly defective or not big enough and are destroying themselves every other winter in Minnesota. This is 1. Dangerous because you can't defrost your windshield. 2. You cold freeze to death in very cold conditions. 3. A very expensive repair pn a part that should last mire than a 1 or 2 years. Home heat pumpsvlast 10- 24 years!!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11643673February 19, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, SUSPENSION
Alerts regarding vehicle steering, stability, emergency braking, lane control traction, received all at once and the Tesla AI advisor indicated others were reporting the same. No other vehicles in lanes around us showed up on the vehicle LCD screen as normally they do too. Car did not brake normally (foot off accelerator and no braking) and handling seemed different although we were very cautious. Tried to resolve with screen reboot and multiple drives as AI Advisor suggested and it did not self resolve. Contacted Tesla service and they suggested HCU was faulty (hydronic control unit) and ABS modulator. Also wanted to look at vehicle low voltage circuit. They scheduled me for a first available $1600 service on Feb 26th (in 9 days). See attached. Seems like a significant safety issue and defect and should be recalled before some gets hurt, especially if others are seeing this too.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11641759February 10, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Several times on residential speed control the system does not recognize yellow flashing school speed reduction signs. Never slows or breaks. The speed of 25 mph does not register on the screed (other speed signs do). I told tesla service center when other services were being done. They said they were aware. I have seen no improvement over the last several months
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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