general problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y - part 2

While parking the car, the bolts on the front lower control arm/tension link—part of the front suspension assembly—came off entirely. Our family, including our two children, were in the car, and the situation was terrifying. If this failure had occurred while we were driving, it could have resulted in a major, life-threatening accident.

I am reporting a safety defect involving loose lower control arm bolts on my 2023 Tesla Model Y long range (VIN: [xxx] ), discovered at 33,008 miles. We purchased the vehicle brand new, and it has no modifications or repairs to the suspension. On 09/02/2024, a warning light appeared. At the time, I did not know if it was related to the suspension. In the weeks after, I began noticing popping/clunking noises when turning or going over bumps, and the steering felt noticeably looser and less stable. On 11/08/2024, the issue was identified: bolts on the lower control arm were backing out and were extremely loose. On 11/11/2024, during a scheduled Tesla service visit, I drove the vehicle to the service center and demonstrated the noises and steering issues. Tesla technicians inspected the vehicle and confirmed it was unsafe to drive due to the loose control arm bolts. This is a serious safety concern. Loose or backing-out lower control arm bolts can lead to loss of steering control or suspension separation, creating a high risk of a crash. The vehicle did not provide a clear suspension-related warning prior to this issue, and the problem would not have been noticeable to an average driver until it became severe. Because this occurred on a well-maintained, unmodified vehicle with just over 33,000 miles, I am concerned this may indicate a broader manufacturing or quality-control issue affecting other Tesla Model Y vehicles. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate this defect for potential patterns and determine whether a recall or corrective action is warranted. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Control arm on the left side fell off while parking.

Just in school driveway going over speed bumps and 2 bolts that is hold the control arm fell out.

*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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The 2 bolts on the lower lateral control arm on the front driver side fell off as I was driving. This caused the front wheel to collapse into the wheel well. Two large bolts were on the ground. Car had to be lifted onto tow truck . The car is out of warranty but this is a manufacture defect for the bolts to just fall off. If I had been on the freeway, there would have been a major collision. Luckily I was on a residential street. Tesla needs to do a recall. I looked up this issue and many Tesla owners have the same experience. Please help.

Two days ago a warning popped up on the Tesla screen saying to schedule service for something the car had detected. It said the car could still be driven. I submitted a service request in the app, and in the meantime researched the error. Per google, it said this was a potential issue with suspension / steering components that needed to be looked at. The next day, a Tesla technician called and asked what my appointment was for. I told him about the error and that I had found it said it was for a suspension or steering issue. He told me I was wrong, and that it was only for low tire pressure. The car did not have low tire pressure. He said the appointment wasn't needed, cancelled the appointment, and told me to drive 30-40 miles to clear the error. Literally 5 hours later, after my wife driving my kids down the freeway, when parking on the street in front go my house the car made a giant pop and the front left sank. We looked under the car and the front drivers side control arm had completely disconnected, popping straight down towards the road. More concerning, two bolts popped out, not broken, but just clearly loose and had finally unscrewed. You will see them on the ground in the pictures. If this had happened 5 minutes earlier while on the freeway I don't want to even think about what might have happened. These cars should be recalled, this is super dangerous. Not to mention the fact that Tesla explicitly canceled my appointment for this and told me not to bring the car in.

While driving on the freeway, I heard an unusual noise coming from beneath the battery of my car. Concerned, I drove to a nearby friend's house and parked there, carefully checking my dashboard for any warning signals but finding none. I decided to resume my journey, but as I backed out of the driveway, I heard a sudden noise indicating something had come loose, followed by a crackling sound. Upon inspecting the car, I discovered that the control arm had become detached, the axle had popped out, and two bolts had come off. During the towing process, I noticed that the steering had become extremely tight. To my surprise, I had never received any recall notice from Tesla addressing this issue. Considering that my car is less than two years old, I was deeply disturbed by the situation. This incident has significantly undermined my confidence in the safety of the vehicle, as it highlights a potential manufacturing defect involving defective parts. I regularly use this car to drive my children to their activities, and knowing that this could have led to a catastrophic failure such as tire separation, loss of steering control, or compromised braking capabilities especially on the freeway, is worrying. The car was towed to a dealer and currently in the queue for evaluation by Tesla technicians. I requested detailed service report from irvine service center. There were no warning indicators in the dashboard while I was driving or after the bolts came loose.

According to Tesla service, my two "lateral links" for the front wheels need to be replaced. They sent us photos of the issue and it looks like one of the fasteners for one of the lateral links was missing (1 of two fasteners) if the other fastener failed/fell out the car could easily steer out of control. The problem of the lateral links was confirmed by Tesla servicing. They are repairing it under warranty. It was only been inspected by the manufacturer, Tesla. There were no warning lamps. The only indication was the thumping sound during turns.

Tesla lateral link bolts fell out and/or sheared off. The happened on the front driver side of the vehicle. It happened while driving.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to complete a left turn, the contact briefly heard an abnormal clicking sound coming from the front end of the vehicle, after which the steering wheel jerked abnormally. The vehicle quickly returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the front-end suspension bushings. The contact was also informed that a bolt on the driver’s side control arm had loosened. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 54,000.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 2 mph, in a parking lot, the message for an alignment was displayed for several seconds before the front driver’s side wheel separated from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The tow truck driver had difficulties placing the vehicle on the tow truck. Upon inspection, the contact found two loosened bolts had detached and fallen to the ground. The front suspension was also loose. The dealer confirmed that the bolts had detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 21v835000 (suspension). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 36,000.

The bolt that connects the control arm to the vehicle chassis fell out of the care (and was recovered) and the mechanic noted the other bolt was also very loose.

A suspension rod/bolt fell off my car. When I was making a right hand turn my car began screeching and shaking, I lost control for a second and almost hit another vehicle, luckily I was able to stop my car. I had my car towed to a Tesla service station for repair.

The lower control arm of the passenger front wheel separated from the vehicle entirely while the vehicle was in motion. There are two bolts which attach the bushing to the front sub-frame assembly. These bolts pass through the frame and are secured into nuts which are affixed to the frame. The bolts are not captured; there is no retention device (pins, wiring) which prevent these bolts from backing out of position, other than torque. Blue thread-lock compound was visible on both bolts, which remained present in the bushing after the control arm separated from the frame. When the arm detached from the frame, it dropped to the asphalt and made a loud grinding noise. The passenger side front wheel became directionally unstable and rotated inward and left, out of alignment with the intact driver-side wheel. This misalignment, while the vehicle was in motion, disrupted steering control and forced the passenger front wheel into the fender, causing friction and significant further damage to the frame and the suspension. This damage, combined with the driver's actions, stopped the car immediately. Fortunately, this occurred at low speed. Unfortunately, the cumulative damage left the vehicle immobilized in the middle of public road. Due to the great weight of the vehicle and the unstable front wheel, the vehicle could not be removed from the roadway and thus blocked traffic for several hours. The bolts, frame, and control arm were not visibly damaged. The bolts lost torque and backed out of the frame without noticeable indication that they were doing so. Tesla's characterization of the fault was that the vehicle "ejected" the bolts. Tesla repaired the damage under warranty. Multiple reports of similar (visually identical) events are available: [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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.

Knocking noise coming from front left tire when turning, accelerating, and reversing. Investigated noise and found a bolt hanging (unscrewed) from control arm/tie rod and another bolt loose and working it's way loose. If this bolt unscrew, I'm positive steering would be lost. See pictures.

Front lower control arm bushings are torn. This was discovered at 32000 miles. Premature failure of suspension parts can create a unsafe driving condition. Currently available for inspection. But will be replaced under warranty as soon as possible.

Took my car into Tesla service center for alignment and they said that I need to change my front lateral link. I asked if it was damaged by anything I did and they said no. At 31k miles this is not normal. They won't cover it under warranty. It's a critical component and can cause a major accident resulting in injury or death.

Two weeks I had my Model Y serviced for shaking of the car and steering wheel. They deemed the cause of the shaking due to unalignment of the wheels and they claimed to have fixed the issue. After receiving the car for the week after it began to make a sound of something hitting every time I made a u turn or any time I turned the wheel. While driving 3/8 with my family in the car I made a u turn in a parking lot and heard the same loud sound of hitting. When I went to check two large approximately 3 inch bolts were on the ground but no nuts in sight and my control arm broke the bottom plate and was completely unattached from the car. Thankfully the bolts came off while in a parking lot and not 20 minutes prior when I was driving on a windy road. Within 24hours Tesla contacted me saying my car was ready for pickup without any explanation of why the bolts came off, no full inspection completed for other issues and no alignment of the tires. Under the Tesla mechanic notes they only reinstalled the bolts and tightened the front wheels and not the back. Upon further research online I have found numerous other people complaining of the same issue of the bolts for the control arm falling off on Model Y and 3 Teslas due to forgetting to weld the bolt nuts to the sub frame.

The two bolts securing the lower lateral link of the front passenger side loosened and dropped out in 14 months of the car ownership, causing the lateral link detached from the subframe of the car. The car makes loud noise when turning, poses danger of suspension failure and possibly loss of control on freeway driving. I have scheduled a service appointment with Tesla service center and see if they can fix it.

I was driving in topanga canyon, heard a loud clang. Noticed the steering was off, so pulled over. The front lateral links had failed and it took me 6 hours to get a tow. Had I been at freeway speeds when that happened, I may have crashed and not been able to pull over safely as I was headed towards the 101 freeway before the links failed. Upon researching this, I found online this is a common issue with Tesla’s. If I need it don’t again, I don’t want to have to pay for an issue that’s a manufacturers defect.

My wife was driving her 2023 Model Y with our [xxx] son in it, suddenly she heard a loud sound back to back twice and the car stopped, she couldn’t drive or move the car, she stepped out and saw 2 large bolts on the ground near the front passenger tire and the tired turned inwards and the tire would not turn upon steering and would not move at all. We called Tesla roadside assistance. The tow technician reviewed the situation and said this should not have happened and it is a major issue. If this happened on a freeway it could have been a disaster. He also told us that he has to try to get the bolts back in after removing and breaking some of the adjacent plastic cover on the bottom of the car in order to safely tow the vehicle without additional damage. The car was towed after 2 hrs of breaking adjacent plastic next to where the bolts were supposed to be and trying to get bolts back on to straighten the wheel. Truly shaken, if this happened on a a freeway or when car was fast, it could have been a devastating accident involving life of my child and wife. We are still trying to fathom what happened and why. We will talk to the Tesla service center tomorrow. We found at least one other post on forums similar issue with Tesla. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Front suspension axel system failed two bolts fell off left wheel arm causing me to lose control of vehicle. I was in the vehicle with my children I was driving out my mothers driveway less than 5mph when the incident occurred I do not even want to imagine what could have happened if I was driving the vehicle on a high way or at a high speed. Tesla representatives I have spoke to over the phone have said them selves this is common and I have read multiple articles online this is a safety issue if this happens on a highway this would and could cause fatalities. The vehicle did not prompt any warnings or messages. Prior to this incident occurring I reached out to Tesla because vehicle had been making a clicking noise and the soonest appointment they had available was not until January. The vehicle has been towed to Tesla van nuys CA and two different tow truck companies did not want to be involved so Tesla road side had to do the tow all 3 tow truck drivers agreed this is definitely a safety issue and common issue with Tesla this needs to be recalled.

The lower lateral link got disconnected from front suspension. Bolt wasn’t tightened to spec originally.

In August 2024 with roughly 7,000 miles, I noticed a creaking sound when turning left. This issue was intermittent and the sound was getting louder over time. I made a service appointment at the next available date (10/8/2024) at the Tesla service center in fresno, California, and the service technician was unable to duplicate the sound on a test drive and refused to look at my car. The issue became more persistent and louder over time. I took my car to my local tire shop on 11/26/2024 because the car no longer felt safe to drive due to the loud creaking or popping sound when turning left. The steering also felt very loose overall. The local tire shop advised me that the right control arm was about to fall out and the car is absolutely not safe to drive and a major safety hazard. Therefore, I towed the car to the Tesla service center in fresno California, and they repaired the right control arm under warranty and aligned the car. There were no on-screen warnings - just the sound I was hearing. Tesla ignored my concerns in October 2024 and their refusal to look at my car then could have potentially caused me to lose control of the vehicle and potentially get into a serious accident where myself or others got hurt. Since loss of steering is serious, it could have potentially resulted in death. This is a common issue with Teslas and it was absolutely unacceptable that they would not inspect my car in October when I specifically described the concern and said that I feared it was the control arms based on my research.

I have been advised by Tesla my tires on the Tesla Model Y performance 2023 vehicle with 23,506 miles are wearing out on the inner half of the tire due to a camber issue. They acknowledge the car’s weight causes the issue which can only be rectified with an adjustable camber. The camber installed on the 2023 Tesla Model Y performance is not adjustable. They recommended I go to a third party to get an after market adjustable camber installed to avoid the inordinate wear and tear on the inner half of the stock michelin tires. They even gave me a name and address for a shop they normally recommend Tesla customers go to in order to get the work done. Tesla admits knowing of the engineering mistake and refuses to replace the camber part or the tires. I asked the service department why this issue was not addressed at the time of sale, they claim they can’t control what the sales people do are refrain from doing. This should be a recall on all Tesla Model Y performance models. As a consumer I should not have to pay $1,550 to rectify their engineering mistake.

My front right suspension linkage under the vehicle has come loose and drags on the tarmac. The problem is the suspension linkage is held on by what appears to be two bolts. The two bolts have backed out, causing this linkage to fail.