Wiper problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y - part 1

Summary of complaint: my 2023 Tesla Model Y has had two roof glass failures in three months (two glass roof replacements). Both times, the glass cracked from small road debris while driving under normal city conditions. Safety concern the roof glass appears unusually fragile and prone to cracking, raising concerns about whether it meets industry standards for impact resistance and occupant safety. The rapid failure rate (two roof glass panels in three months) suggests a potential design or materials defect rather than isolated incidents of road damage. If roof glass panels cannot withstand normal road debris, this presents a safety risk for drivers and passengers, as well as for other motorists if large shards detach while driving. The roof glass seems unusually fragile. Two failures in such a short time suggest a design or material defect. If the glass cannot withstand normal road debris, it may not meet durability or safety standards. There is also risk to occupants and other drivers if roof glass fails while in motion. Request: please investigate whether the 2023 Tesla Model Y roof glass meets required safety standards, and whether this issue is affecting other owners.

Front wipers stoped during use on windscreen, returned to functionality and then minutes later shut down. No ability to manually or via rain sense to get arms to move. Performed soft, hard, and thired suggested Tesla reboot. Not resolved. Service scheduled for 15 days rendering vehicle unsafe to drive.

Las luces son demaciado fuertes y el aire conducionsdonen florida no funciona.

The Tesla computer freezes. Sudden there is no information from the car, no miles per hour, no navigation, no side view cameras. I can drive the car but that's is all. Since the navigation is entirely dependent on the computer I can't tell where I am going. It has happened more than 30+ times in the car.

Car has a improperly installed windshield, it got cracked while sitting in a covered parking lot on june24th,2025. The hottest day of season with 100 + degrees temperature,crack was very small in the middle of windshield size3” x 3” and got bigger waiting for Tesla’s appointment. When I went to Tesla today for replacement of windshield they just gave me the run around and denied to replace under warranty. This is a manufacturing defect as there is nothing else but a crack . Tesla should be fined for big time and ordered to fix it under warranty. There are so many customers who have the same problem. The crack never happened with any outside influence .

I noticed that the car window glass broke without any external impact, and there are no signs of external damage. I suspect this may have been caused by stress fractures due to improper assembly. From what I understand, stress fractures often occur at the edges without any signs of external impact, which matches this situation. But Tesla service refused to admit this is a flaw of installation and refuse to replace it under the warranty coverage. After exploration, I found there are plenty of similar cases happened on the internet. And some of them were treated as flaw, some not. How Tesla identify this kind of case as flaw or not? they didn't even check my out in person. I cannot accept that!.

I have a complaint about the wiper system. The wiper settings include "off", "auto", and numbers 1-4 corresponding to different wiper speeds. The "auto" detection is based on the front facing camera rather than any rain sensors, and is incredibly inconsistent. It regularly turns on the wipers in completely clear and dry conditions and often fails to turn on the wipers even in heavy rain. This would be more of an annoyance than an issue if it were possible to adjust the wiper speed manually, but it seems that the wipers still utilize some form of auto detection even when set to numbers 1-4. In this particular incident, I was driving in heavy rain, and had the wipers set to "4", the highest setting. Even in this setting, the wiper speed would often slow down regardless of the weather conditions, drastically reducing visibility in an unpredictable manner. At one point, the wipers, still manually set to the highest setting, stopped altogether, and I instantly lost all visibility and I had to emergency brake, as I could not see the road. On the highest setting, the wipers stopped for well over a second, and did not start again until I pressed the wiper button, restarting the wipers. It is one thing to rely on a proprietary and unreliable detection system when wipers are set to "auto", but I feel it is a major security issue to deceptively allow this unreliable rain detection to override manual wiper settings set by the driver to the extent that the wipers may stop moving entirely in the middle of a downpour on the highest setting.

The automatic windshield wipers will not turn on during rain and mist. Also the wipers will not turn on when there is water and visibility is very poor. For unknow reason the car jammed the brake almost bringing the car to a stop on the freeway on cruise control and nearly caused a pile up.

Small particles of chips has been causing windshield cracks I had 2 incidents of above scenario, second incidence caused entire windshield to crack across the windshield, Tesla does not replace quickly due to lack of appointments on their end, drivers driving with such issue could get into accidents I would like to report 2 incidents, not sure how nhsta investigates (prevention vs fixes in reasonable time) 1. Windshields are too thin resulting in cracks very easily than compared to other similar cars 2. Inability of Tesla service to fix the windshield replacement quickly, I have to wait till August 2024 to get replacement done, which means I have to ground the car or drive it with cracked windshield (this is clearly safety issue) it cost be 1500$ estimated amount to get it repaired please work with Tesla to investigate if windshield is thick enough compared to other standard cars.

Yesterday, 6/21/2024, something strange happened while I was driving my 2023 Tesla Model Y on the westbound 210 highway. The car was in autopilot mode, cruising at around 65 mph at approximately 11:20 am. Suddenly, I heard a loud shattering (or explosive) sound. The next thing I knew, my front passenger window was completely shattered. Initially, I thought a rock or some object might have hit my window, but I couldn't find any remnants inside the car. Once I got home, I examined the window from the outside. The glass was almost completely smooth, as if it had exploded. Fortunately, since my windows are tinted, the shattered glass remained mostly intact. Can anyone help me figure out what might have caused this? the exterior side is smooth like butter with no visible impact. Could it be a defect?.

Windshield wipers put in manual maximum sensitivity mode. During the trip they stopped working multiple times. They just froze. When a manual one time wipe button was pressed wipers menu showed “ii” manual sensitivity and started working. Selected back manual iii sensitivity. Wipers worked for a while and stopped again. Sw version: 2024. 14. 6. Autopilot was not engaged.

While driving on a freeway during very heavy rain, the windshield wipers were working in auto mode. All of a sudden the wipers stopped working. Even though the visibility was almost non existent due to windshield wipers not working, I managed safely to pull over to the curb of the freeway. Upon further investigation, I realized that the auto mode of windshield wipers was not working, but manual mode was working. With the manual mode I was able to get home safely. At home in my driveway I tried the auto mode again and it worked for a few seconds and stopped. Two days later my wife contacted Tesla about the issue and was informed by service representative that it`s a known problem to Tesla for the vehicle, but as of now they do not have a fix for the problem and there is no known expected time for the fix.

My Tesla is supposed to have "automatic" wipers that go on by themselves to keep the windshield clear so one can drive in rain. Manual wiper speed control is difficult because the driver has to look at center screen and use menus to select a speed. There is no intermittent wipers control; the lowest speed setting is too fast for light range. Only one pass operation is possible without using the center console while driving which is dangerous. The automatic wipers are very erratic, sometimes running faster than needed or coming on when it's not raining to other times hardly coming on at all making it very difficult to see and making driving very accident prone. The poor operation can, of course, adversely affect the proper operation of the automatic driving capability too since that depends on vision by cameras through windshield. Other owners I know voice the same concerns. This issue is a big problem anytime it rains and even worse back last winter when it snowed. I've only had my car 3 months. I have talked to a few other owners who indicate this problem didn't exist as much 6 months or a year ago indicating it could be a problem caused by a recent car software update or a change in the equipment used for wiper control in my Tesla y. I'm not sure if the problem applies to other models (ie s, x, 3).

Tesla recently rolled out an update that gives everyone in the us a trial of fsd. After this update I've had numerous situations where the car would panic and act like I was about to collide with a parked vehicle both while driving down a residential street in daytime and when coming around corners. This never happened in previous version. Also the auto windshield wipers no longer work when its raining but will turn on when its dry and cause dirt to smear on the window, mainly when the sun is facing the driver which makes it very dangerous. The last issue is pretty big, the car has been exhibiting severe phantom braking when on the highway using adaptive cruise control (fsd I guess now?).

Windshield wipers fail to work properly when in auto mode. Windshield was covered in rain and visibility was reduced to zero. Windshield wipers would not activate to clear the rain. The problem has happened multiple times while raining.

Auto steer in city which is the free software unnecessarily distracts with warnings, so much that I was almost in an accident 3 times. This doesn’t happen with full self service driving in the exact same scenario because it’s a paid service, essentially forcing owners to subscribe and pay for full self service driving. Furthermore, if you don’t react to unnecessary and distractive warnings you get a warning that auto steer (which is paid for as part of the car purchase) will be disabled.

I have been trying more than 4 times with Tesla to get this open recall fixed but failed.

Auto setting on windshield wiper does not activate wipers. It happens in a downpour and moderate rain. Other times it activates in a sunny day or with minimal water on window. When it fails, I have to manually turn on wiper which requires taking my eyes off the road to look at the screen to set the speed. This is very dangerous at one of the worst times when I need my eyes on the wet road and traffic. Tesla has refused to look at the sensors and claims there is no issue. I have contacted them twice about this and gotten a “it’s a firmware issue. We’ll send an update soon. ”the problem has persisted for several months. I have attached screen shots of the messages from Tesla.

The falcon braking system kicks in automatically, and the windshield wiper does not turn on automatically as it would in any basic car now a days. The available autopilot/ adaptive cruise control only gives unteliable cruise control. There were times where in the middle of a freeway the cruise control starts braking, luckily there were no vehicle behind us so there were no collisions so far. The price tag on this car and the way it keeps fluctuating is un-acceptable so I ended up paying a lot for the car than the actual value from Tesla directly and the basic features like auto wiper and cruise control is a huge disappointment.

Auto wipers either don't work when it's raining or will always come on randomly when it's dry. Manuel wipers work fine.

To whom it may concern at the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA), I am writing to urgently express my concerns about the latest software update for the Tesla Model Y’s autopilot system, which, in my view, significantly compromises safety. As a Model Y owner, I have generally found the vehicle and its features to be reliable and safe. However, the recent update has introduced an overly stringent hands-on-wheel detection mechanism that is not only inconvenient but also potentially hazardous. The new update requires frequent and often forceful interaction with the steering wheel to assure the system of driver presence. This change is drastically different from my previous experience, where I received only one hands-on-wheel violation in two years. The current sensitivity of the system disrupts the smooth operation of the autopilot, leading to frequent and abrupt disengagements. I have found myself struggling to maintain the system’s activation, inadvertently causing the vehicle to exit autopilot mode multiple times. This issue goes beyond mere inconvenience; it actively detracts from driving safety. The need for constant and sometimes aggressive adjustments to satisfy the system’s requirements is distracting and can lead to erratic vehicle behavior. The irony is stark: a system designed to enhance driving safety and ease is now a source of potential danger and stress. The unpredictability and over-sensitivity of the updated system could lead to dangerous situations, especially on highways or in heavy traffic, where sudden disengagement of the autopilot can be particularly risky. As a driver, I now find myself more focused on keeping the autopilot engaged than on the actual driving conditions and surroundings, which is surely contrary to the feature’s intended purpose. I urge the NHTSA to investigate this issue as a matter of urgency.

Tesla's auto-wipers do not detect rain on the windshield and are dangerous to drive with enabled. During heavy rain with the windshield covered and unable to see the auto wipers would not enable and clean the windshield. I was forced to "wake-up" the wipers with a manual swipe, but even then the auto-wipers failed to keep the windshield clear while only occasionally/intermittently cleaning the windshield. Tesla's auto-wipers are dangerously ineffective.

Tesla wipers doesn't work in “automatic settings” this is quite dangerous and warrant a recall.

The "auto" setting of the windshield wipers does not work 90% of the time. It cannot sense rain properly. My grandmother's 2002 Lexus had better rain-sensing wipers than my 2023 Tesla. This is extremely hazardous in the sense that at medium speeds, when water from rain does not quickly evacuate the windshield, it causes a massive block to the view of all patrons in the car. Do you think it is important for the driver to see the road in front of them? it is also very dangerous because when this does not work, the quickest way to change the setting is to tap the end of the left stalk with your left hand, and then quickly use your right hand to select the desired wiper speed on the car's screen. This is a dangerous task to have to do quickly when you cannot see what is in front of you.

The backup camera failed to display any image, even with a vehicle restart by pushing the 2 buttons on the steering wheel to force a vehicle restart. I cannot see the back of the vehicle without the camera as the rearview window is so up high that it creates blind spots that I cannot see to safely get in or out of a parking spot and this creates a huge safety risk. Warnings that displayed was emergency braking unavailable and park assist unavailable. Also, the headlights on this vehicle is too bright that other drivers are flashing their high beam at me believing that I had the high beam on when I only have the low beam on. This creates a safety risk as the lights blind other drivers on the road and the same make and model of the vehicle can also create visibility problems when traveling in the opposite direction as it can also blind me. Those matrix headlight that can dim certain areas and not blind other drivers should be standard and enabled by default on all vehicles, including this one.

The automatic windshield wipers run when it is dry, and they do not run when it is pouring rain. They cannot be disabled when using autopilot or adaptive cruise control. One must stop looking at the road and look at the screen in order to correct the wipers. If one disengages cruise control, the automatic wipers stay on, and must be manually turned off. There are no manual controls one can use while maintaining a view of the road. The problem has been confirmed by Tesla service and they are unable to repair it. They have told me to wait for it to be improved with a future software update. They are aware it is a widespread problem, and have verbally told me so.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the windshield wiper was activated; however, the windshield wiper blades to function as intended. The contact stated that the wipers were set on automatic; however, the wipers failed to activate as needed. The contact stated that due to the failure, the vehicle was almost involved in a crash. The contact stated that the failure had occurred several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.

While using adaptive cruise, Tesla requires that the beta automatic windshield wiper function be enabled. When this function is active, the windshield can quickly become smeared due to false positive detections, or even during accurate moisture detection though the driver’s vision is not impaired enough to warrant wiper usage. The driver has no ability to disable this feature in favor of their own judgment for determining when the windshield should be safely cleared. Even having put only 7000 miles on my 2023 Tesla Model Y, I have been in multiple situations where the wipers turn on unexpectedly and smear the windshield. Situations which are especially dangerous are when driving directly into sunlight, and in cold weather conditions when the wipers smear freezing moisture in my field of view. When these dangerous situations occur, my view of the roadway and surrounding vehicles is impaired for a few seconds while I manually activate the windshield fluid cleaning system. I have raised this issue with Tesla‘s service department twice and both times have been told there is no way to disable the automatic windshield wiper function while using adaptive cruise control, and that their developers are both aware of and working on the problem.

Was passing a 18 wheeler truck that was on my right and behind a second 18 wheeler truck. Light rain but a lot of water spraying up from the road. Probably 1/8 inches of water streaming on front windshield. Wiper speed was set to iii, but the wipers would not turn on. Finally issued a voice command and the wipers finally started. Tacc, autosteer and fsd we’re not on. Autosteer was the mode that was enabled. A week prior I parked the vehicle in the shade headed in to a stucco building and the wipers would not turn off. No rain whatsoever. The camera system thought the bumbs on the wall were rain drops. But a window so full of water you can’t see is not water to be removed.

The problem here is the cruise control or autopilot. It first appeared when I bought the car. It continues to appear when driving on cruise control or autopilot. The car brakes harsh or suddenly stops. No messages or warning. Sometimes when driving under a ramp or sometimes when nothing is there it stops. I went to the Tesla shop many time and they can’t find any issue. I can’t drive using the auto pilot or cruise control. It’s not safe and my passengers. The other issue is the wipers start working when no rain but when you have auto or autopilot on. Please fix this issue. It has become a problem for me. I have taken it many times to the shop and they can’t find issue. No messages or warning. Another issue occurred two weeks. It’s regarding tpms. A warning sign appeared on the dash state faulty. I took it to the shop 4x and they’ve tried to fix it but it continues to show up. The tech repaired tpsi, warning goes away but after some driving it comes up as right passenger side issue. I rotated the tires from left to right and vice versa. Same issue on the right side.

These are observations over the past couple of months that I have owned the car. They have been consistently observed and have occurred at speed between 35-70 mph. There are four main issues I’m having with my Tesla. 1) I cannot use cruise control because it requires automatic windshield wipers. The automatic windshield wipers cannot sense when it’s raining and just turns on randomly when it’s not raining. 2). The car breaks on its own randomly on both the highway and city streets. I have almost been rear ended several times because of this. 3) the car thought another car was coming in my lane on interstate 95 and violently switched lanes without warning causing me to oversteer and almost wreck. I had my family in the car with me and it was terrifying. 4). The two times I used full self driving the car actually accelerated to make it through a yellow light. I know these are all beta features of the car but in my opinion they are all dangerous to use on the roads and should be disabled until they are ready for prime time.

Auto-wiper settings does not work. They are required to be turned on, while on autopilot/cruise control, but they actively wipe the windshield, even when no rain (clear blue skies). When there is rain - they do not turn on frequently enough. It's a danger in the first scenario, because it's a huge distraction to the driver (wipers intermittently turning on when not raining). In the second scenario, it's very unsafe to not turn on when it's raining. Fussing with them in both scenarios is a huge distraction and very frustrating.

When wipers are in auto mode they do not start until well after visibility is at a dangerous level.

Windshield cracked while driving on the highway the vehicle is not available for inspection as we have taken it to Tesla service center to replace the windshield the cracked appeared in the top center. If it had happened on the driver side it could have resulted in an accident. The manufacturer is denying faulty product. The warning signs were there all along. About a few weeks back we could hear the cracking sound from the windshield. Since we could not pin-point the location we didn't think it was a faulty windshield.

1. Wireless charging extremely slow. , connected charging is also slow. 2. Safety issue (camera): driving side left camera and blind spot monitoring camera specially sometimes stopped working automatically during driving in the highway or city, it’s pretty dangerous specially in the highway driving. During my long drive over July 4th weekend between 3-7 July happened several times, it caused auto steer mode forced disengage 3 times. Occurrence 8/8 between 12-3 am it happened about 6 times. It happens on and off almost everyday in some part of drive. 3. Safety issue phantom braking, in auto steer, brakes are suddenly getting applied when even are no objects in the front of car for no reason. Aug 4, it happened about 4 times between 7-9 am. (around 7:30-7:40)due to this big accident in the highway could have happened with truck, as truck was in normal speed 65 mph and due to sudden brake, vehicle speed came down to 35-40 mph, took control and move car out of road avoiding accident. This happened earlier instances as well during driving in the highways. But this time, I avoided death but got injuries. I need this car fixed for good or a replacement new car (preferably)or a refund. Enough, I’m scared of driving this car afterwards, as I’m concerned about security and life risk all the time. Aug 12 braking issues happened on around 6:40 and 7:30 pst. Aug 15 braking issue happened on the highway around 7:45 and 8:15 am pst hard to get a hold of customer service. They try to avoid physical service by service center by telling I need to provide exact timestamp and other nonsense remote debug and worst experience with the servicing. I asked for refund, no customer support no way to reach to discuss. 4. Range: promised range for Model Y is 330 m, get only 150-200 max, numbers are bloated and wrong. They tells it’s based on driving pattern and this range is based on 60-65 m/hr drive on a flat surface, which was not told or advertised in website or during purchas.