general problems of the 2021 Tesla Model Y - part 2

The gps and camera functionality went out on the same day several days ago. The car thinks it is at Tesla’s headquarters in CA and so you cannot find a charging station near your actual location, and no cameras work meaning the additional safety features for collisions do not function at all. This is a widespread issue based on Tesla user forums.

I’ve had to replace the steering rack, upper and lower control arm for the left wheel, entire computer motherboard. I drove the car for less than 70k miles and zero accidents and zero modifications. Yes I am open for inspection. While driving with fsd lane keep failed causing the car to veer to other lane. The Tesla repair shop said the steering rack was sending errors and the whole rack needs to be replaced. They said it was both electrical and mechanical failure. Previously I’ve had the control arms replaced because it was making clicking noise when I turn the wheel. They said it was due to front compliance link and lateral link issues. Also had entire computer board replaced previously. The error message after the incident was lane assist disabled, steering assist reduced. In the maintenance mode it said “ the drive interface (di) or drive inverter (dix) electronic control unit (ecu) detects a low voltage (lv) battery undervoltage event. ”.

8k miles after warranty expired, I got this notification in my Tesla. Bms_u018 maximum battery charge level reduced ok to drive - schedule service car won’t charge anymore, Tesla says it’s a high voltage battery issue and are charging $14,000 out of warranty. Online it says others have the same issue of it not working sometime after warranty expires. Tesla states batteries should run from 200-300k miles? wanted to make this complaint since I don’t do anything to cause the battery to have a malfunction this early. No supercharging or charging to 100%.

On [xxx], after placing my young child in my Tesla and closing the door, the 12v battery failed suddenly and the vehicle became inaccessible. I was unable to unlock or enter the car. I did not receive any warning or alert that the 12v battery was about to fail. The vehicle was in my garage, and the window automatically cracked, which allowed me to monitor my child while I sought help. I called Tesla roadside assistance at 8:59 am. During the call, the representative reassured me that help was being dispatched and at times described the service provider as “on the way” (timing details such as “within ~45 minutes” and the length of the initial call are my best estimates). After continued waiting with my child confined inside the vehicle, I contacted emergency services due to the safety risk. I called 911 at 10:03 am. I later had the 12v battery replaced at my own expense. This incident involved a sudden electrical failure without warning that resulted in a child being trapped inside a disabled vehicle, and I am also concerned about the accuracy and effectiveness of roadside assistance dispatch communications during the incident. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

On July 5, 2025, I entered my vehicle parked in my home garage and the door latched shut. Upon putting my foot on the brake. Center screen was blank (did not power on). I attempted to press the unlock button on the door and there was no sound from the motor to open the door. The door was still locked from the inside of the vehicle and I was locked inside. I waited around 5 minutes (after attempting to call my wife to try to let me out of car and tried the open the drivers door again by pressing the exit button. The door unlatched by normally the window rolls down partially to exit. This time the window did not move and I have to force the door open by pressing my shoulder hard against the interior door panel. I hear a popping sound from inside the door and the window would not roll up. I did not drive the vehicle fearing that the car would not start and my family could be trapped inside the car. I created an appointment for Tesla service for July 7, 2025 for the door locks and the driver's window that would not roll up completely and also would roll down but return to a 70% rolled up position automatically. I did received an error warning on the late evening of July 6, 2025 that the 12 volt battery voltage was low on the main center screen of my vehicle. I took the vehicle to Tesla service on July 7, 2025 and it was determined that the 12 volt auxiliary battery that was faulty and my window was repaired and recalibrated. I never saw an alert for the 12 volt auxiliary battery low voltage prior to when I was locked inside the car.

Vehicle: 2021 Tesla Model Y VIN: 5yjygdee4mf122832 date of incident: 06/29/2025 on the afternoon of Sunday 06/29/2025, while my Tesla Model Y was parked at home and charged to approximately 80%, both my wife and I attempted to enter the vehicle to attend an important appointment. Upon approach, we found the car completely unresponsive — no power, no screen activity, and we were unable to start the vehicle or release the charging cable. Despite this, both front doors could still be manually opened. However, the frameless windows did not automatically lower as they normally would when opening and closing the doors, as a result, when we attempted to close the doors, both front door windows shattered, as the glass was unable to lower and collided with the door frame. This incident clearly resulted from a critical system failure that disabled essential safety and design functions. The vehicle was not damaged prior to this event, and there was no impact or external force involved. This malfunction rendered the vehicle inoperable and directly caused costly damage. I am requesting the following: a full investigation into the root cause of the power system failure immediate replacement of both shattered front windows at no cost a written explanation of what caused the vehicle to become unresponsive this issue raises serious concerns about vehicle safety and reliability, especially when essential functions like glass auto-drop are disabled without any warning, leaving the glass vulnerable to breakage. Hani amin.

Plugged a charger cord for a garmin watch into the center console usbc right side port. Overnight the usbc port, while connected to the cord but not to the watch or any other device, overheated and melted. It burned the cords male connection into two pieces and melted plastic into the center console. The male end of the cord is now fused into the usbc port of the car. No messages/alerts on the car. Manufacturer inspected and invoiced $970. 00 for parts and labor. From forums online this is not the first instance a similar situation has occurred. Assuming paper or another flammable substance was in the console, it would have caught fire.

Vehicle shut down and individual was locked in the car. Unable to release the doors. Incident occurred on June 23rd with a temp of 95 degrees and higher heat index. Individual was stuck in the car in a parking garage with no one around to hear screams for help. Called home for assistance to come to the parking garage to help free them. Informed by online article about the Model Y 2021 model having other incidents of the same. We thought it was just a freak occurrence of our vehicle until reading about the probe. No warning indications that the auxiliary battery needed replacing that controls such functions. Tesla's repair notes: "the vehicle was unable to power on when parked, which was verified by the technician's inspection and the customer's report. The issue was caused by a failing 12v battery. The technician replaced the 12v battery to resolve the problem. After the replacement, all systems were checked and confirmed to be running properly".

[xxx] , my [xxx] son, was strapped in his car seat, wide-eyed and confused, as we sat trapped in our Tesla for thirty agonizing minutes. The battery had died without warning, leaving us locked inside our own garage. No power, no way to open the doors. I tried to keep [xxx] calm, singing his favorite songs, but my heart raced as I called for help. A tow truck finally arrived and jumped the car—not enough juice to start the engine, but just enough to unlock the doors. Freedom at last. Tesla’s response? no roadside service; they insisted the car be towed to their service center. Easier said than done—the tow truck couldn’t maneuver it out of the garage. Frustration mounted as I realized I’d have to miss work. Days later, I drove to the service center, where they replaced the battery. But the ordeal wasn’t over. The trim was damaged during the chaos, and now every drive is accompanied by relentless wind noise, a constant reminder of that day. [xxx] still talks about being “stuck in the car,” and I can’t help but feel let down by a system that left us stranded. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

In may 2025, Tesla pushed an over-the-air (ota) software update overnight while the vehicle was parked. When the vehicle was started the following morning, the update had failed mid-process and stalled at approximately 50%. Immediately upon startup, the backup camera and navigation/maps stopped functioning. The vehicle has been unable to complete subsequent software updates since. Tesla service later inspected the vehicle and indicated that the main computer/ecu was stuck in a loop and required replacement. The backup camera and navigation loss occurred immediately following the ota update and persisted for several months despite multiple service attempts. Due to the vehicle’s rear design and limited rear window visibility, operating the vehicle in reverse without a functioning backup camera significantly impairs visibility. Even when using mirrors or physically turning to look backward, rearward visibility is restricted. As a result, the loss of backup camera functionality presents an ongoing, daily safety hazard during normal vehicle operation.

2nd Tesla loaner is damaged by rodents chew on car wires.

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!!.

- 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.

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.

The arm felt on the driver side while I’m driving. Also, there is issue with the camera and the screen electrical problem.

The contact's client owned a 2021 Tesla model y. The contact stated that while his client was driving at an undisclosed speed under 60 mph, the vehicle caught fire in an unknown location. The origin of the fire was unknown. The contact stated that his client attempted to unlock the vehicle doors, but the driver's handle did not work as intended, trapping the contact's client in the burning vehicle. The contact stated that the police and fire department arrived, but were not able to get close enough to the vehicle due to the inferno. The contact's client succumbed to the fire. The fire department extinguished the fire after approximately 40 minutes. The vehicle was destroyed but towed to a tow yard. The manufacturer was notified of the fatality. No further information was available as of yet. The failure mileage was unknown.

The software for the car was showing multiple errors in the service page saying the disk space for the car was full. As a result, the car had severe lag issues and the screen completely shut down multiple times while driving on the highway. There were no user warnings and I only knew about the service warnings after speaking with Tesla support. They said it was definitely not user created and that it needed immediate service. However, the service center claimed it was not their responsibility and wanted to charge 300-500$ to look into it.

The front passenger safety restrain system keeps switching off and showing an error randomly during driving, especially with younger passengers on the passenger seat. The problem was already fixed by Tesla 4 times and is appearing again.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? system computer. After a over the air (ota) update, most driver assistive functions are inoperative. System feedback display sometime goes black (speedometer, controls, backup camera, etc). After manufacturer serviced car to verify and resolve issue, issue was not corrected. Screen continues to error, asking for a software update. Per the manufacturer this is a computer issue with the cache, and being told to replace computer. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? since the driver feedback display and cameras are sometimes non-functional. Back up camera can be unusable, lane keeping, and cruise control are inoperative. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? by an manufacturer repair center. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? no, they appeared after an ota update 9-Aug-2024.

On [xxx], the car was parked at my regular parking garage. The valet entered to the car to bring it down for pick up. After he entered, the power on the vehicle went out and the door would not open. He did not know about the manual door release. I walked up to see what the delay was and found him locked inside. The car was parked on an upper floor and the it was over 100 degrees in the car. We contacted 911 but eventually found the door release. Tesla was notified and towed the car several hours later. They jumped the car to get it open. It seems that the 12v battery had died without warning. Notes from Tesla concern: car won't power on/enter drive - case mergedcustomer states : vehicle will not power on or drive originating phone number : [xxx] ivr context - no results. Please check autodiag. | repair notes: verified customer concern. Diagnosed and found an internal short in the 12v battery: one or more of the six internal series cells has been bridged, resulting in five or less cells now being in series, reducing the voltage by at least 17%. This resulted in the e-fuse for the vcleft to trip and shut down the left side of the vehicle. Replaced 12v battery. Proactively perform 12v disconnect procedures. Update vehicle software to the latest available firmware. Performed validation test drive. Vehicle operating currently within Tesla specifications. Verified proper operation. No further action is needed at this time. Correction: general diagnosis correction: battery - 12v (lead acid) (remove & replace) - remove and replace information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

On Thursday, June 20th my husband was taking our 2 year old son to the grocery store and put him in his car seat. He then shut the door and went to open the driver door and the car had locked and would not unlock leaving our 2 year old trapped in the car. We called Tesla immediately and they said the 12 volt battery had died and we needed to call 911. Luckily while I was on the phone with 911, one of the windows was slightly cracked and my husband was able to get the window down further so we could get our son out. You are suppose to receive 3 warning messages from Tesla saying the 12 volt battery needs to be replaced or is dying we did not receive a single one. This is life threatening and extremely dangerous. Our friends who had heard our story just sent us a news story that this happened to a grandmother and her grandchild recently in arizona too.

Power was lost completely while car was on the road, breaks stop working and unable to stop. Driver had to go off road to prevent collision and road a accident. Towed to Tesla center. Diagnosis is “internal short” but did not elaborate. No explanation and answer why break did not work. External damage due to accident was not covered.

I was trapped in my car when the 12v starter battery died without warning and everything in the car shut down. I was very fortunate that I had my cell phone with me to call my friend who had just left. However, he was unable to help me open the car from the outside. I spent several minutes going through several questions in an attempt to make an emergency request for roadside assistance on the Tesla app in hopes they could talk me through getting out. I finally received a text stating my request was 'being reviewed'! I have claustrophobia so by now I'm not breathing comfortably. I responded that I was trapped in my car and needed immediate help. They responded telling me where an emergency release was. A release which every Tesla owner that I know has told me they had no knowledge of. When I was towed to Tesla, the service adviser told me ' claustrophobic' people probably shouldn't buy a Tesla! well. . . He was partially correct. . . Only I would go further to say 'nobody' should be a Tesla. . . It is a death trap. What if I had put my 3 year old grandchild in her car seat and shut the door to get in the driver side? she would not be able to pull an emergency lever! I was sitting on a fully charged lithium-ion battery yet I was unable to open a door. . . So how about a safety bypass to this battery ?? seems to me the default with a dead battery should be that the doors unlock. . . Not lock! this is certainly not a 'Smart' car. . . . It is a potential death trap for which there are countless other reports in the news, yet Tesla and your organization has yet to take action.

The vehicle’s low-voltage battery system failed unexpectedly, causing a complete loss of electrical power and preventing normal vehicle access and operation. The failure resulted in my [xxx] child becoming trapped inside the vehicle. The malfunction appears related to the 12v/low-voltage battery and/or associated power management system. The vehicles inspection invoice is available upon request. This incident created a serious safety risk because the loss of low-voltage power prevented normal door operation and immediate access to my child. The situation posed risks of heat exposure, medical distress, panic, and delayed emergency access. Although the vehicle includes a manual emergency door release, it is not realistically accessible or operable by a baby or toddler secured in a child safety seat. A young child cannot reasonably be expected to understand, locate, or operate the manual release during an emergency. The sudden failure without warning left my child unable to exit independently while caregivers were temporarily unable to access the vehicle. There were no noticeable warning, messages, or other symptoms prior to the failure. The low-voltage battery appeared to fail suddenly and without sufficient warning, resulting in immediate loss of access and vehicle functionality. The problem has not yet been reproduced, but the low-voltage battery failure was identified after the incident. The vehicle has been inspected by Tesla service. No formal police or insurance inspection was performed, but a first responder was present. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Steering disabled due to software update resulting in vehicle undriviable and having to be towed from driveway Tesla requiring customer to pay for hardware replacement due to software update failure costing $2,921. 24 for the replacement, out of pocket. Required replacement of steering rack (dual motor) part - steering gear left hand drive (1044832-00-a).

The main screen on my Tesla Model Y flickers while driving, as well as charging. I have a video of it happening, if you slow the video down it completely shuts the screen down for a millisecond and then turns back on. I have sent this video to Tesla, as well as Tesla technicians has confirmed the issue happening when they had the vehicle. I have had the vehicle into Tesla 3 separate times for service, they don't know how to fix the issue and keep telling me to wait. I have been dealing with this issue since January 2024 and am tired of waiting and putting my safety at risk. I feel that I have been more than patient with them and now I feel that they are now blowing me off. They don't feel that it is a safety concern even considering that the display screen went out while driving 70 mph, for 13 miles and I couldn't get it to turn back on.  aditionally the side cameras on the vehicle intermittently go out. There is no warnings or symptoms prior to it happening it just happens. I have 29 times documented of it happening to me. I have requested a buyback which was denied as well as a loaner from Tesla until they can fix the issue, yet they denied that as well. It seems that Tesla does not care about the safety of me and I want this issue to be investigated. I have the video of the screen flickering reach out to me to get it since I cant post it in the place below.

The vehicle’s secondary autopilot processor / car computer is internally faulted and stuck in a continuous wake/shutdown loop. This causes severe standby battery drain (~20 miles of range lost per day while parked) and completely prevents all over-the-air software updates - including federally mandated safety recall remedies. On April 4, 2024, Tesla service diagnosed the fault and linked it to the drain and inability to update. On the same visit, Tesla added two safety recalls (23v-838 autosteer controls and 24v-051 brake/park/abs indicators) to the work order. They then demanded ~$3,000 customer payment for computer replacement before the recalls could be performed. After I declined the paid repair, Tesla marked both recalls as “completed” via software update despite the same invoice stating the vehicle could not receive updates and remained on software version 2023. 38. 9 (which predates both remedy firmwares they claimed was installed). Tesla is effectively paywalling federally required safety recall remedies by requiring the customer to first pay for computer replacement first. Two additional recalls remain open (21v-389 seat belt fasteners and 24v-554 hood latch). The problem has been confirmed and documented multiple times by Tesla service.

The vehicle's primary autopilot processor randomly and completely failed while in active use on February 10th, causing the vehicle to immediately change course towards a highway barrier at high speed. Since that moment, every time the autopilot das computer is reset, the primary processor refuses to transition from the init state to the nominal state and instead transitions to critical state. The vehicle had software update 2023. 44. 30. 8 for recall campaign #23v-838, recall number sb-23-00-008 applied 1 month ago, which was supposed to decrease the probable misuse of the das system. However, many individuals reported that the recall immediately and irreversibly damaged their das computer, so Tesla offered them a free replacement without hassle. However, I have been struggling to work with Tesla's carlsbad, California service center for over a week to get the das computer replaced at no cost, since the computer was damaged after an update caused the computer to become irreversibly damaged after their software update was installed -- a software update which was supposed to have made the autopilot system safer, but which has instead unfortunately irreversibly damaged the autopilot computer, and caused my vehicle to randomly and immediately weave towards a highway barrier at high speed. I am wrongfully being asked to pay in excess of $2500 for a replacement computer as a result of the update damaging the das computer. They claim the catch-all diagnosis of a "short circuit" internal to the das computer caused the damage which would be out of warranty, except the computer has never been opened by myself. They confirmed to me that they chose that diagnosis after a process of elimination without actually probing the electrical system within the computer. The carlsbad service center refuses to give me an accurate estimate for any further engineering analysis, claiming it could take multiple hrs/days at $245/hr. This is extremely unreasonable and presents unlimited risk.

When driving the car abruptly slows down. This also happened on the freeway. I get an error message that says “power limited” and a turtle symbol. This is the second time this issue has happened. Tesla service center has not been able to confidently diagnose this issue. They say it’s resolved and once I leave the service center and the problem comes back.

Rear ultra sonic sensors (uss) sliding into the vehicle. No impact or cause for rear sensors to move. Two of the four rear uss pieces are moving back in their housing and are no longer flush with the bumper.

I understand that in September 2022 there was a recall because the windows were pinching people's fingers and not letting go. Why then did it happen to me in January 2024? the window closed on my finger and was trying and trying very hard to close, as if the sensor didn't detect an object at all. I pulled and pulled at it for a few seconds before my hand ripped out. I wasn't sure how bad the damage would be as it was cold outside. I had a raised red mark and no feeling in the entire tip for a few days. Today is day 8 and the mark looks exactly the same, but I have maybe half of the feeling back. I'm assuming it will be ok and I haven't gone to a doctor. Also, I did contact Tesla directly and they didn't care. They just had low-level people email me boilerplate language about a recall. No one reached out to say that they were sorry the car malfunctioned or express any concern.

The vehicle’s high-voltage battery and charging system experienced repeated failures, preventing charging while the vehicle was parked. This issue occurred three times: January 2024: charging error “bms_a079. Unable to charge” appeared. Vehicle was stranded and required service intervention. Mileage ~28,125. November 2024: same charging error during winter travel, vehicle stranded mid-trip, creating safety risk for passengers. Mileage ~38,744. September 2025: charging error recurred mid-trip, vehicle had to be left at a service location. Mileage ~48,918. All incidents were reported to Tesla under battery warranty. Repairs were attempted each time, but the problem recurred. A repurchase request was submitted after the third incident and was denied, with only a goodwill service credit offered. Safety concerns include the risk of being stranded, particularly during long trips or in winter conditions, which could affect passengers and other road users. The battery and charging system were inspected by Tesla service personnel after each incident, and the failure was confirmed each time.

In December 2023 I strapped my [xxx] son into his carseat in our Model Y and walked around to the front to get into the car as well. In those few seconds the 12v car battery died (I did not get any notification in my app) and I was unable to open any doors, so my infant son was trapped. We live in florida and this was an 80 degree day. With no other recourse I was forced to call 911 to have my son removed from the vehicle. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became stiff and failed to operate as intended. The contact stated that the master warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the firmware needed to be updated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 39,000.

The power steering stopped working. "error ui_a020: steering assist reduced," and "error app_w264: lane departure avoidance features unavailable" appeared on the screen afterwards. I was driving home when suddenly I was unable to turn the steering wheel more than a quarter turn (even with all my weight and strength). I tried resetting my vehicle and the issue persisted. I also tried getting out of the vehicle, locking it and let it sit but the issue persisted when I got back in. Luckily, I had just entered my neighborhood and managed to get it parked in my driveway. After a couple hours of the vehicle sitting in my driveway, the issue stopped. I took the vehicle to the Tesla service center where it was inspected, they informed me this is a known issue with current firmware and an unknown future update will fix the issue.