Table 1 shows one common air bag related problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Air Bag problems |
While driving, a persistent error appears on the screen with a chime: "front left safety restraint system issue" (error code: rcm2_a128). After researching online, it appears this is a commonly reported issue among Tesla owners and may have serious safety implications. The error code rcm2_a128 indicates a fault in the vehicle’s safety restraint system, specifically related to the seat belt or restraint mechanism on the front left side.
The primary safety restraint system, specifically the driver's side airbag, failed to deploy during a significant frontal impact collision. This severely compromised my personal safety, as my head struck the steering wheel with force, leading to injury and pain. Had the impact been more severe, the lack of airbag deployment could have led to much more serious, potentially life-threatening, injuries. Immediately after the impact, the primary braking system also malfunctioned, and the vehicle's warning and autopilot systems became compromised, posing further safety risks. The specific airbag non-deployment problem has not yet been reproduced or formally confirmed by a dealer or independent service center, vehicle is currently scheduled for its first post-accident inspection at a Tesla collision center address 6010 richmond Ave, houston TX 77057 on June 11, 2025, and is available for inspection. To date, the vehicle has not been formally inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives for these specific malfunctions. Police responded to the accident scene and filed a report, but no technical inspection was conducted by them. There were no prior warning lamps, messages, or symptoms indicating a malfunction with the airbag system before the collision. However, immediately after the collision, the primary brakes failed and the warning system and autopilot system showed signs of malfunction/disruption; no specific warning lights related to these post-impact issues appeared prior to their malfunction.
The contact owned a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at 45 mph, occupied with his with son in the vehicle, another vehicle collided into the front center of the vehicle causing the vehicle to merge into another line. The air bags did not deploy. the contact sustained injuries to his neck, shoulder, and low back. The contact son sustained injuries to the neck. No medical attention was required. The vehicle was towed to al's towing yard. The contact stated that a police report was filed. The contact mentioned the seat belts did retract. The contact stated that the failure was not diagnosed by a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and they informed the contact to call his insurance company. The approximate failure mileage was 30,491.
Front passenger seat occupancy sensor defect – Tesla vehicle in March 2025, my Tesla vehicle began displaying a warning message indicating a fault in the front passenger seat occupancy sensor system. I brought the car in for service on March 14, 2025, and the system was reportedly replaced. However, in April, the issue recurred — the seat sensor alarm would activate randomly, particularly after going over bumps, falsely indicating that a passenger was present when the seat was unoccupied. I returned the car to Tesla service, and they again claimed to have repaired the issue. Despite this, the false passenger occupancy alerts continued. In may, I contacted Tesla and submitted several videos clearly documenting the problem. Tesla performed a remote diagnostic and stated that the seat occupancy sensor was functioning as intended. On June 22, 2025, I brought the vehicle back in for in-person inspection. Tesla physically examined the vehicle and acknowledged that the false alarm could be reproduced in a similar model vehicle, effectively confirming a design defect. Despite this, Tesla maintained that the issue did not affect the safety or function of the front seat. I believe this defect presents two significant safety concerns: 1. The frequent false alarms are distracting during driving, increasing the risk of an accident. 2. The defect raises serious concerns about the reliability of airbag deployment and other safety systems, which rely on accurate seat occupancy detection in the event of a collision. I have video evidence and service documentation supporting the timeline and recurrence of this defect. The problem has been reviewed multiple times by Tesla service teams, both remotely and in person. Tesla has acknowledged the issue can be reproduced but has taken no corrective action. I have videos of the defect I can submit and documentation of my conversations with Tesla.
My wife was driving the car on March 7th 2025. Before she leaves the house, she had her front defroster on and the windshield was clear before she leaves the house. 5 minutes later, the front windshield became so foggy to the point she could not see anything in front of her and the front defroster was still on. And because of that so foggy windshield she moved out of her lane with no lane departure warning or anything and then she hit the railway pole without any emergency brakes going off or any warning signs letting her that she is about to hit something. The whole front of the car was gone and the car was totally lost but no airbags deployed at all and that was also concerning. Also there was no issues or any warning lamps or messages before the loss. The car was taken to a body shop and was inspected by the body shop and I believe a representative from my insurance company went to inspect the car at the body shop. So these are the parts I felt faulty or causing the safety concern: - front defroster - automatic emergency brakes - lane departure warning - forward collision warning.
Accident report [xxx] I was driving on [xxx] fort smith ar to bentonville car was on autopilot, it was raining on and off and with all other cars we were driving around 70-80 mph all the sudden it started a short slip on the right then second after that it started spinning and took us out of the road car totaled car. I believe problem is autopilot did not disengage when car started to slip but instead it was still on until the car got out of the road and hit a large tree. This is 3rd time for me to have this type of accident with same situation slip then spin then out of the road. I believe autopilot is the problem here 100%. This autopilot system is very dangerous. I had enough of this and im hoping national highway traffic system will step in. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
My car was hit by another car in front left corner and side door at very high impact. Car has severe damaged and it is totaled now. Air bags on the driver side did not deploy even at such high impact. No air bags were deployed. There was only one person, myself driver, in the car. Police came and investigated the accident and filed report. I have also submitted the air bags issue to Tesla.
Received a sign on my car 4 times- front right safety restraint system fault all 4 times I have taken my car to get serviced for them to fix it but still sign returned 4 times total.
My vehicle is less than a year old and still under warranty. The dashboard display is showing the following error message: “front passenger safety restraint system fault”. Tesla informed me that the occupant classification safety system filter module has failed and must be replaced. Tesla has agreed to fix the component under warranty, but they informed me they could not schedule a repair until October 31. It is my understanding that damage to this component could prevent the airbags from functioning properly during an accident, so I am concerned that the car is not safe to operate with passengers. I have asked Tesla repeatedly if the vehicle is safe to operate and they refuse to answer the question.
First time when it happened, I was able to control and it went to back to normal. I did not pay attention after. Second time I took right turn and the car drove in left lane but this time I felt steering was rigid and was unable to control the steering and hit a tree. Driver seat air bag was deployed and all doors were locked. Gel from air bag burned my right hand wrist.
I was driving down i90 with no one in front of me and a clear road. Unexpectedly, the right side passenger airbags exploded and struck me in the face and shoulder. The car immediately braked and I saw a semi truck pass me on the right with pieces of what appeared to be tire debris flying in the air. I pulled over and my car become inoperable. I inspected the outside of the vehicle and there was no damage or collision at all yet the passenger side airbags went off.
Airbags (any) failed to deploy in a hard impact t-bone collision with another vehicle, endangering occupants. Vehicle is being inspected by insurer.
Tesla met with an head on collision with another Toyota. Tesla’s airbags didn’t deploy and I had my 6 year old in car as well. The other car which was 2007 Toyota, its airbag still worked.
We were about the park in the marked parking lane and the vehicle unintedly accellerated, the brakes did not work and we saw message "automatic emergency brake not available" and air bags not available. We tried to control the vehicle to avaoid crashing into the porch of the infront apartment and steared the speeding vehicle and the vehicle hit the pillar of the aparement and finally came to halt few meters away in the parking lot as the front right wheel broke. 1. The adas automatic emergency breaking seems failed 2. Forward collission warning seems not working 3. The safety of the driver and the passenger were at risk while the collission happened 4. I am not sure if the similar incidents happened or can be reproduced by the dealer/manufacturer. 5. Vehicle components inspected by the Tesla collission center but no software logs inspected and they said that they cannot get the device crash/event logs. 6. At the incident/while the incident was underway we saw few message that displayed "automatic emergency brake is not avaiilable" and "air bags are not available".
My car collided with another car and a fine white powder was released but no airbag was deployed along with a slight burning odor.
Front passenger safety restraint system fault alarms comes intermittently.
Tesla suddenly accelerated forward from a complete stop at very rapid pace and hit a wall.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? >>> the passenger detection hardware underneath the front passenger seat had faulty wiring. The repaired hardware completed by Tesla this week is available for inspection upon request. I did take amateur photos of my seat hardware before-and-after repair. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? >>> my passenger's airbag could randomly fail in the middle of a drive. Anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes while driving with a damp passenger in the front passenger seat (e. G. , a 100 lb. Person after swim practice), a red airbag indicator will assert with error code rcm2_a636 ("front passenger safety restraint system fault"). The indicator would stay asserted for days, then start toggling on-and-off randomly. According to Tesla Model Y documentation, "if the airbag system detects a fault in any of the previously mentioned components, the airbag warning indicator stays on. In this case contact Tesla service immediately. Do not drive the vehicle until the airbag system is inspected by Tesla. . Read more...
(1). Electrical wire related to passenger airbag function is allowed for rodent chewing. I was told by technician that if this wire chewed by rodent or broken, passenger air bag will not function at all when there is an impact or an accident. I'm not really sure whether the driver will be even alerted whenever this wire is broken. This is simply a design fault because such an important wire should not be placed in a vulnerable location where rodent can chew it. I have never come across this in any car in my life so far. (2). If an airbag does not function, a passenger could get hurt or die (3). I asked the service team about the design fault and filled their service visit survey as well, but no one answered me so far. (4). Service technicians inspected the broken electrical wire, repaired it, but there is no guarantee that rodent can not chew it again because repaired wire is at the same place as before. (5). There is no prior warning for me. Service technicians came over to replace the passenger seat. Once they replaced it, the senior technician tried to check all the system using his laptop and it appeared that he noticed a fault on his laptop screen. So, he opened the frunk and found the broken wire. (6). Instead of replacing this part with oem part he repaired it and even charged me for the cost of repair though my car is under warranty. This is the design fault and this wire can be chewed again and manufacture can keep charging the customers till the life of the car.
I’ve received repeated errors of front right safety restraint system needs service with an indication of the airbags being disabled. Tesla has attempted to fix this on two occasions by replacing various wiring and seat belt parts, but the problem returns each time.
Vechile started skidding and didn't respond to steering wheel control, ultimately failed to a make a turn and fell off road into a ditch. Also emergency braking wasn't triggered to prevent vechile from falling off road and furthermore upon impact airbags weren't deployed. The driver sustained grevious injuries and was transported away by ems.
Please note that I am not the owner of this vehicle. I am a concerned citizen making this report in the public interest. My correct name and contact details are included with this submission. I have used a dummy USA address because your website does not accept entries from outside USA. There is nothing fraudulent about this despite what elon musk claims. This Tesla has just shown up in the junkyard. . Read more...
Airbag did not deploy / system failed at the time of the car accident happens. My safety was at risked during the time of accident. There were no indications, warning, messages or symptoms of the problems when the accident occurred.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that as his wife attempted to park the vehicle in their garage, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning and crashed into a concrete wall. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact stated that his wife suffered from neck pain for a week after the accident but did not seek medical treatment. A police report was filed. The garage was damaged as a result of the accident. The vehicle was towed to an independent body shop where the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 19.
Tesla Model Y purchased on 06/23/2023 from springfield NJ center. I had 2 accidents on the same day. I having been driving in the us from more than 5 years and never had a scratch on my vehicle nor even a parking ticket. I drove approx 600 miles in 2 weeks. So I was very comfortable in driving the Tesla Model Y. Date of incidents - 07/07/2023. At tinton falls NJ. I was trying to take a k turn on a flat road at around 9:30 a. M. I put the car in reverse. When I pressed the accelerator pedal the car went forward and hit an electric pole. I then pressed the brake pedal . Made sure the car is on reverse gear . On leaving the break pedal the car was automatically moving forward towards the pole. This should never had happen. I put the car in park mode and waited for 5-10 mins approx. Then after some time when I put the reverse gear and left the brake pedal the car didnt move and on pressing acceleration it reversed. I parked my car at the site where I had my work. Police were called and they gave me a ticket. I had a sprain in my neck. Later by 2 pm I drove with the same car home at edison NJ. (1 hr drive) I called Tesla customer service and they advised me to take the car to springfield NJ dealership as it could be a software glitch. I decided to drive the Tesla with my family in other car to the dealership incase they decide to keep the car. I was about to enter into fadem rd when lifted my feet off the acceleration pedal to slow down. The car all off sudden accelerated with no steering control. I noticed lots of car on the street and a lady exiting out of near by staples drive way. I grabbed the steering and rotated it all the way to the right to avoid any of them, hit a pole on the passenger side , pressing the brakes really hard and hitting a bush. The car stopped, no air bags deployed , no warning signs nothing. I was in a shock and pain . Emts took me to er , I had severe muscle sprain and still recovering.
The car suddenly crossed the double yellow line on a local road and hit another car coming from the opposite direction on a local road (adams lane, north brunswick, NJ). The wheel joint was faulty that broke (see attached pictures) and pull the car to the other side of the road without warning. Even the airbag in this car is not deployed. The vehicle was towed by police to a garage (coppa's service center & towing, 1 moore road, north brunswick, NJ 08902. Ph. 732-297-7530). The vehicle has been declared as a total loss bt the insurance company. Because my car crossed the yellow line and hit the other car, I got tickets (crashdocs. Org; polish report # 23034105; date: 06/20/2023). I and the lone person the other care are lucky to survive this accident. I feel that such a fault might put other Tesla Model Y drivers/passengers and others in danger on the road. Please investigate to keep people safe. Kalyan das 908-720-8099.
I was going to park in front of the store at the shopping mall. Before I reached the parking spot car was not slowing down automatically after releasing the acceleration pedal. I decided to use the brake (which I rarely use because the car stops automatically when you release acceleration pedal) and I really don't remember how everything happened and I might accidentally step on the acceleration pedal instead of brake, but the car was not able to detect any obstacles or objects and I ended up braking heavy metal bench in front of the store and broke into the store. I ended up smashing entire front window and drove into the store as deep as 1. 5 feet breaking the liquor boxes. After this heavy impact the airbags were not deployed. My concern is into two safety issue: airbags not deploying and car safety sensors not functioning.
Air bags malfunctioning, if fact, not even working on this 2023 Tesla Model Y.
3 days after purchase, headlights would not work, car towed to service center, both front headlight assemblies were replaced. 3 weeks after purchase, fault detected on passenger restraint, service center states passenger seat needs to be replaced to make airbag operational. I live 90 miles from service center, making these repairs quite difficult.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while attempting to make a left turn at approximately 5 mph, another vehicle crashed into the rear passenger-side end of the vehicle. The air bag warning light was illuminated. There was property damage and the vehicle came to a stop in the middle of the road. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and was not given a diagnosis. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure still occurred; the contact was informed the headliner was damaged due to the repairs done along with several other failures. The manufacturer was notified of this failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The failure mileage was 7,000. .
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that the message “passenger air bag off” would illuminate while his wife was occupying the front passenger seat with the seat belt buckled up. The vehicle was taken to the Tesla service center, where an unknown software was recalibrated. The service center then informed the contact that the front passenger seat would need to be replaced in the event the failure persisted. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred approximately three weeks later. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was operating as designed and the passenger air bag would not activate unless the passenger weighed approximately 130 pounds. However, the contact stated that the vehicle manual indicated that the air bag would be activated if the passenger weighed 100 pounds. The contact stated that his wife weighed 126 pounds and was 5. 1 ft. Tall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 15.