Table 1 shows one common steering related problems of the 2026 Tesla Model Y.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Steering problems |
I am reporting a suspected defect involving the front suspension or steering system of my Tesla Model Y. The vehicle produces loud popping, knocking, and rattling noises from the front end when turning the steering wheel at low speeds, particularly as the steering approaches full lock in either direction. The noise appears to originate from the front suspension or steering components and occurs consistently during normal operation. This issue raises concerns about potential premature wear, component failure, or loss of steering control, which could pose a safety risk.
On [xxx] 1512pm. Drive on [xxx] with auto pilot driving. Seen on construction and hit some object driver side by front bumper , fender, side mirror,door and wheel. Couldn't avoid crash by control handle. There is none of airbag action. All deployed. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
I am reporting a suspected defect involving the front suspension or steering system of my 2026 Tesla Model Y awd. The vehicle produces loud popping, knocking, and rattling noises from the front end when turning the steering wheel at low speeds, particularly when the steering approaches full lock in either direction. The issue is most noticeable when entering or exiting uneven surfaces such as sloped driveways or parking lot entrances where the suspension is under load. During these conditions, the front suspension produces distinct mechanical popping or knocking sounds that appear to originate from the front wheel or suspension area. The noise does not occur while driving straight. It becomes significantly more noticeable when turning left or right at low speeds and worsens as the steering approaches full lock. In addition to the noise, a noticeable mechanical jolt or feedback can be felt through the steering wheel when the popping or knocking occurs. This issue began suddenly without any warning signs. One moment the vehicle was operating normally, and the next the popping and knocking noises began. Since that time the issue has continued consistently during turning maneuvers. The vehicle has not been involved in any collision and has been driven under normal conditions. Numerous other 2026 Tesla Model Y owners have reported similar front suspension symptoms, suggesting this may represent a broader pattern of potential suspension or steering component issues. Because the noise and feedback occur through the steering system while the suspension is under load, this raises concern that a suspension or steering component may be shifting, binding, or prematurely wearing. This condition raises safety concerns because abnormal movement or failure of steering or suspension components could affect vehicle control during turning or emergency maneuvers. I request that this issue be investigated for a possible defect trend affecting Tesla Model Y vehicles.
On [xxx] I pick up my new Tesla y. On [xxx], while traveling at highway speeds on [xxx] with autopilot "fsd" engaged, my 2026 Tesla Model Y experienced a sudden vehicle shutdown and start giving multiple alerts without warning. The vehicle displayed multiple critical alerts: "vehicle shutdown", "pull over safely", "stability control disabled. " upon the failure, autopilot fsd disengaged, and the power steering immediately became extremely heavy ("hard"), making the vehicle difficult to steer. The car lost all propulsion. I had to manually maneuver the heavy, unpowered vehicle through active highway traffic to reach the shoulder, which created an immediate and severe safety risk. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla service center in fort lauderdale with only 130 miles on the odometer. Technicians confirmed a "major motor failure" of the rear drive unit requiring a full replacement. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Incident involving fsd (supervised) v14. 2. 2. 4. On February 15, 2026, while the vehicle was operating under full self-driving (supervised) v14. 2. 2. 4, the system failed to detect a stationary curb. The vehicle initiated a trajectory that resulted in a collision, causing a structural gouge in the passenger-side rear tire sidewall. Per MA 540 cmr 4. 04, this damage renders the vehicle unroadworthy. I have saved dashcam/sentry video footage as proof of the system's failure to navigate the obstacle.
I am reporting a safety incident involving my Tesla while autopilot/full self-driving was engaged. On February 11, 2025 at approximately 9:22 am, on waccamaw medical park CT conway, SC 29526, I was driving on a normal city street with the system actively controlling steering and speed. Without any warning or alert, the vehicle suddenly steered to the right toward the curb and struck it. I was very attentive, but the steering movement happened too quickly for me to safely prevent the impact. No forward collision warning, lane departure alert, or disengagement occurred prior to the incident. The impact caused damage to the wheel and tire (see attached photo). This behavior appears to be an incorrect steering decision by the automated driving system after misinterpreting the roadway edge or lane boundary. I am requesting review of the vehicle logs and investigation of the system behavior during this event.
The fsd system in my Model Y is hazardous. When I first purchased the car on 2/9/2026, they secretly loaded it with very outdated software, as follows: “software” 2025. 44. 300 full self-driving v13. 2. 9 I’ve already driven this car 9960 miles, about 85% of which was on fsd. I will itemize for you a list of events that have occurred with this car with me driving for which dash cam footage exists: 1. The car attempted to blow past a school bus picking up passengers at about 40 miles an hour without even slowing down. It was stacked with red and yellow lights everywhere and had two extended stop signs. 2. The car blows past police cars parked on the shoulder of the highway with their roof lights on without slowing down or making any attempt to move into the second lane. 3. While transitioning from one highway to another on an elevated single-lane overpass, on two occasions the car elected to depart the only travel lane and hug the concrete wall on the left side, driving in the dead zone. Both the yellow line and the white line were clear and bright. No traffic or obstacles present. 4. Right after exiting a hwy there were two lanes in my direction and one lane of opposing traffic separated by a clear and bright double yellow line. The car chose to drive in the lane intended for opposing traffic. I have dash of this as well. No traffic or obstacles were present. 5. Car made left turn into opposing traffic lanes. 6. When not on fsd, the lane departure avoidance and emerg. Lane departure avoidance features are both highly defective. They read everything as a lane departure— from tire tracks in the snow, to cracks and seams in the concrete, lines of tar intended to prevent water ingress, shadows, etc. Car almost pulled me hard towards construction workers, oncoming traffic, and nearby vehicles. Tesla refuses to disable. When I disable, it reenables every time I drive. 7. It ran over a curb on fsd, twice.
Any time you drive my vehicle there’s either violent shaking in the brake pedal, steering wheel, tires. When you try to brake it stutters. Using fsd it failed to stop instead almost hit a pedestrian on scooter and reported the time and date to Tesla. It stuttered and thank god I was able to jam in brakes. After 9 service visit the admitted they missed something and wheel alignment was off and tires were cupped. Along with a bracket for suspension. Which has not solved issues. It scary driving this vehicle especially as a single father who has to make long trips in the weekend for hockey.
One only needs to google or ask an ai about "Tesla Model Y juniper" front end suspension noises and you will find links to hundreds of complaints and at least two youtube videos now. Based on reports from recent 2026 Tesla Model Y owners, particularly those with the juniper refresh, the front-end noises over rough or bumpy roads at very slow speeds sound like a widespread suspension-related issue. It's often characterized as a clunk, rattle, or knocking from the front suspension, especially when the suspension compresses and unloads over uneven surfaces like driveways, speed bumps, or minor road imperfections. . Read more...
A structural chassis component (v-brace) was permanently removed from my vehicle by Tesla service during a service visit. The removal was performed under a Tesla-described engineering retrofit (Tesla service article 9188600). The component was not reinstalled or replaced, and Tesla stated that once removed it cannot be reinstalled. The service visit was originally initiated due to a persistent rattle/noise from the vehicle the safety concern arises from: •a permanent modification to a structural chassis component, performed without my authorization. •removal of a component originally installed for structural reinforcement and stability, creating uncertainty regarding vehicle rigidity, crash behavior, and handling. •the continued presence of an unresolved structural noise/rattle, which can be distracting to the driver and may indicate an underlying structural or mechanical issue. The vehicle was sold and delivered with this component installed, and its removal was not disclosed or approved prior to service. The noise/rattle was present prior to the service visit and prompted the service appointment. The structural component removal occurred during the service visit. The problem was reproduced and confirmed by Tesla service and they: •acknowledged the noise/rattle concern. •performed a structural retrofit involving removal of the v-brace. •marked the concern as “resolved”, despite the noise still being present. •later stated the noise is considered “normal”, even though it is not present in all Model Y vehicles, including the juniper variant. No warning lights or system messages appeared. The only symptom was a persistent rattle/noise originating from the vehicle chassis the vehicle was inspected and modified by Tesla service, acting on behalf of the manufacturer. The modification was performed under a Tesla engineering directive. No independent service center, insurance representative, or law enforcement agency has inspected the vehicle.
The defect involves the front suspension and/or steering system of a new 2026 Tesla Model Y long range awd. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Symptoms—persistent front-end clunking/thunking (primarily driver-side), steering instability, and vibration—began immediately upon delivery in late 2025, with Tesla notified same afternoon as delivery. The vibration now begins around 60 mph and intensifies with speed. Steering feel is excessively vague on-center (requiring constant correction to maintain lane position) yet overly twitchy and sensitive to inputs, creating inconsistent and unpredictable handling. The condition has progressively worsened and now renders the vehicle unsafe at highway speeds due to risk of loss of control. No warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms have appeared prior to or since onset. Tesla service centers have had multiple opportunities to evaluate the vehicle under warranty. The problem has not been confirmed objectively by Tesla; during at least one evaluation, a technician drove only at speeds below complaint threshold (despite requests to test at the speeds where symptoms occur), stated he did not feel the issue, and performed no further diagnosis. Multiple appointments were canceled or rescheduled by Tesla (including one after I arrived). The vehicle was repeatedly returned without documented objective testing or repair addressing the complaint. During one visit, the Tesla app indicated an active “visual quality check” while the vehicle remained parked outside and not being worked on for an extended period (documented). To rule out tires, I installed a brand-new set; the vibration worsened afterward. Safety risk: unresolved steering/suspension instability increases the risk of loss of vehicle control at highway speeds, endangering occupants and other road users. Odometer at onset: 15 miles current odometer: 3596 miles.
Severe lateral swaying / side-to-side swaying (“boat-like” or “floaty” motion) at highway speeds (65–80 mph) on any concrete-surface interstate, especially grooved or slightly uneven concrete (typical on illinois highways such as I-90, I-294, I-55, etc. ). Description of safety concern: the vehicle continuously rocks side-to-side in a pronounced, pendulum-like motion that requires constant steering corrections to stay in the lane. The motion is severe enough to cause motion sickness in passengers within minutes and makes the driver tense and fatigued. In crosswinds or when passing trucks the swaying becomes even worse and feels unstable. I no amount of lane centering or driver input fully eliminates the sensation. Service history: December 2025 – schaumburg, IL Tesla service center • technician test-drove with me on I-90 and immediately felt the exact swaying I described. • service advisor and service manager both stated this is a “normal characteristic of the 2025 Model Y juniper” and that no repair or adjustment is possible. • loaner 2025 Model Y juniper provided exhibited identical swaying behavior. I do not believe constant, pronounced lateral instability at normal highway speeds is an acceptable “characteristic” in any passenger vehicle. It impairs control, increases driver fatigue, and creates a legitimate safety risk, especially in adverse weather or emergency maneuvers. Tesla refuses to acknowledge this as a defect. I am therefore requesting NHTSA investigate whether the 2025 Tesla Model Y suspension calibration and/or damper tuning creates an unreasonable safety risk due to excessive lateral instability on typical u. S. Concrete highways.
The vehicle exhibits harmonic oscillation in the steering column since the day I drove the vehicle home on the interstate. Even though tires had been balanced out of pocket due to long service center wait times with a road force balancer, balanced again at the service center, match mounted and road force balanced again out of my own pocket, noise reducing foam removed and balanced on an uncalibrated balancer that resulted in a same day bring back and final road force balance. Service center refused to troubleshoot further after lead tech drove vehicle after third attempt of repair. I asked whether the tech felt the vibration and the service advisors face turned red, and fed the line that it is normal nvh from the solid front drive unit mounts and that was Tesla's stance. This issue has been widely reported online to vehicles that are rwd as well. The bad wheel balance exacerbates the harmonic in the column. Exceptional wheel balancing with rvf down to 6lbs on the front wheels only made it less intense. When driving on any uneven road, or crossing bridge expansion gaps for example, the steering oscillation gets worse, as the uneven roads make it worse. Reasonably assumed at this point it is not caused by just a balance issue. Tesla refused to try a set of known good wheels on the vehicle. This is not normal nvh or general road feel; something in the front end of the vehicle gets into harmonic oscillation. I asked if Tesla would like to keep the car for a proper diagnostic and whether they had looked into other components of the front end, and if they were not going to diagnose further I'd request a buyback. The simple response was that a buyback request would be initiated. It could be a myriad of issues, none of which should be my responsibility to try and track down or fix on a vehicle that exhibited the behavior since day one and still does after 1500 miles. I've passed the account to the service center manager and district manager yet to no reply.
Approximately one month after purchasing a new vehicle, the steering system suddenly failed without any warning. While the car was parked at home and started normally, the steering wheel became extremely heavy, hot, and then completely locked. The vehicle could not be steered at all and became entirely non-drivable. Multiple warning messages appeared, including warnings related to reduced steering assist effectiveness and lane departure avoidance being unavailable. This occurred at approximately 1,000 miles. The failure happened suddenly with no prior symptoms. This defect created a serious safety risk. If this had occurred while driving, it could have resulted in loss of vehicle control and a potential crash. The vehicle was not drivable and had to be towed to a Tesla service center. The issue has been reported to Tesla and is currently under inspection. The exact cause of the failure is unknown at this time. A sudden and complete loss of steering control on a nearly new vehicle is extremely dangerous and indicates a potential defect in the steering system or related electrical components.
Component: electric power steering system (steering column rack). Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Safety risk: loss of power steering assist renders the steering wheel virtually inoperable, creating an immediate risk of loss of vehicle control for the driver and danger to other road users. The vehicle required towing on November 27, 2025 — one month after purchase (October 25, 2025). Warning symptoms: steering wheel stiffness and vibration when the easy-entry feature engaged. No warning lamps or messages preceded the failure. Dealer inspection and repair: Tesla service initially indicated the steering column rack required replacement. After five days, they instead applied lubricant as the sole fix. The issue was not resolved. On January 30, 2026, Tesla admitted they do not currently have an adequate solution to properly repair these known defects. Manufacturer acknowledgment: Tesla acknowledged the severity by agreeing a buyback was appropriate. On December 30, 2025, Tesla offered the full purchase price of $46,838. 68 but withheld the $7,500 federal tax incentive without legal justification. While I was requesting documentation for this deduction, Tesla unilaterally declared I had withdrawn from the offer. I proposed a same-vehicle replacement as an alternative, but Tesla rejected this. Tesla will only offer a buyback minus the $7,500. Unanswered safety questions: I have repeatedly asked Tesla in writing whether the vehicle is safe to drive and requested disclosure of internal findings, including known safety risks and repair limitations. Tesla has not responded despite multiple requests.
Car seemed to have no power steering when I tried to leave this morning, brand new car less than 5000 miles and it’s glitching.
Hi, its not really an incident but I found what have happened suspicious. I got my Tesla from the delivery zone at the giga factory in austin, TX last Wednesday. Right after the delivery I found an issue with steering wheel alignment. Steering wheel was tilted right and car was pulling right in the road. I addressed this issue to Tesla and visited service center last Saturday Nov-22nd. Technician confirmed an issue. Wheels alignment was performed on the vehicle and it was returned to me on the same day. As soon as I got the the road I found that issue wasn't fixed. It went better but not fully fixed. I came to the service center again. Senior technician took a ride with me and confirmed the issue again. She also told me that they will probably will have to look into suspension because alignment didnt help last time and it could be more serious issue. The car was taken care of and returned to me in 90 min or so. Service advisor told me that suspension and steering were torqued and another alignment performed. When I took it to the road and I found that issue was fixed and I'm happy now but ifter that I recieved a message from the service center that I found suspicious. Despite the communication in person in the message afterwards was stating that no issues were found (see attach). I found this suspicious and decided to let you know as that may look like an attempt to hide some serious safety concern with steering. Please find screenshot in the attachment.
After starting the car in a parking lot, I attempted to navigate from the parking space. I shifted the vehicle into reverse. The vehicle backed up but I was unable to steer it. The steering was locked. I was able to move the car back into the parking space. I contacted Tesla about the problem. They instructed me to do several diagnostics and eventually ordered me to do a reset of the electronics on the vehicle. Once completed, it did not correct the problem. Tesla advised to have the vehicle towed to their repair center. Their diagnostic test showed a steering rack initialization error. They removed and replaced the steering gear assembly- left hand drive (21888333-00-b). The operating software is v12 (2025. 38. 9. 6 10bd3d61ee72) fsd (supervised) v14. 2. 1.
We recently bought Tesla Model Y. Last week of October 2025. Last week we had visited our friend who lives in pineville. Less than a mile from our place. We were at his place for an hour, as we decided to leave and as we put the car in park to drive we get a warning that “steering assist is not available. ” I was unable to move the steering even with all my strength. The steering had become very hard to steer the car in any direction. We had to leave the car there and get back the next day to check on it. There was a software glitch that got resolved however the situation was scary as if this would have happened anywhere else or if this would have happend when my wife is alone it could have had different consequences. I would like to report this to the authorities to see if other Tesla people have been facing similar issues.
When using cruise control (traffic aware cruise control and autosteer) the car acts dangerously and stops for no reason. I've been driving on open roads with no traffic in front of me on regular roads, the car will slam on the brakes and it causes the people behind me to need to slam on their brakes as well. I feel like I'm going to get into an accident constantly. . . I was on the freeway and no one around in front of me and the car slammed on the brakes to almost a stop on a 70 mph speed limit road. Today the same thing occurred in high traffic on a 55mph road, luckily the driver behind me wasn't to close and was able to stop in time . . . There is no option to use regular cruise control or disable enough features to prevent this from occurring. . . It's incredibly terrifying. If they can't do traffic aware cruise, there should be the option to do regular cruise. . . And it shouldn't require passing Tesla $8000 for full self driving to be able to drive your car at a speed without the that of being rear ended. This feels like extortion. . . I've submitted feature requests to Tesla, talked to their bot about fixing this and I've currently been on hold for almost an hour without any response. This dangerous tech is unacceptable!.
My 2026 Tesla Model Y with under 3,000 miles experienced a sudden and total loss of power steering while driving. The car became extremely difficult to control. Tesla towed it to their service center, where they claimed it was a software-related issue that could not be replicated. The service center released the car back to me but refused to provide written assurance that the vehicle is safe to drive, stating only that it is “cleared for release. ” I’m concerned this issue could reoccur, creating a risk of loss of control and injury. The lack of transparency and refusal to confirm the vehicle’s safety in writing raises serious safety concerns about potential defects in the steering or software systems.
After a 2 months of ownership, the motor that deploys the steering wheel to the driving position started a deep resistive noise. Took it to the service center in bend, oregon October 29, 2025. Their response, consumer education. ("this is normal") second trip to bend, Nov 4, 2025 they took the steering wheel off and adjusted the steering column. The problem persisted. The repair center ordered a new steering column. Another trip to bend, oregon, December 2, 2025, they replaced the steering column. Within a week, the grinding noise returned in the new steering column. If we activate it twice in succession, the deploying motor overheats and shuts down, leading to the driving wheel (and airbag) in the high and retracted position. Inquiring of the service manager at bend, or repair facility, he said Tesla is aware of the problem but does not have a replacement that itself will not have the same problem as the parts that are removed. (in other words, they cannot fix it. ) putting the airbag in the wrong position while driving would deploy the driver's air bag too high to meet the safety standard under which it was tested and certified for a collision rating. Do I have a lemon?.
On October 3, 2025, I visited the Tesla service center to resolve a persistent noise issue. The issue involves rattling and creaking sounds from the steering wheel area, especially when driving over uneven roads or turning. The service appointment did not resolve the problem, and Tesla scheduled the next available appointment for October 30, 2025 — almost a full month later. The noise from the steering wheel area raises safety concerns, as it may indicate a defect in the steering column, structure, or related components. This is distracting during driving and could potentially compromise safe vehicle operation. I request that NHTSA investigate whether this is an isolated issue or a more widespread safety-related defect affecting Tesla vehicles.
Yesterday on October 1st I was driving car recently last few days my car usually go more right side but I thought this may be due to keep in lane car feature or something so I didn’t bother much but yesterday when I was driving at around 11:13 am I didn’t know I reciived notifications in car about 1. Automatic vehicle hold disabled 2. Tracking control disabled 3. Stability control disabled 4. Break pedal regenerative breaking unavailable 5. Lane departure avoidance feature unavailable 6. Automatic emergency breaking unavailable and I see from y car pe drive vidio recording in 11:14 minute one my car hit curb and it damages my both side wheel and tire so badly damaged and broke like out of both pieces came off but didn’t flat my tire and when this happens I was trying it break but it didn’t break instead in lost all function so it was kind going fast and lost all control and with lot of work my car wind on side and then completely turn to other side this all happened in few seconds and was very scary I wasn’t far from Tesla service centre and I have wheel protection and tire protection plan so I took straight to Tesla service centre and I ask them about using my that plan and after some time they said based on damage and they check video they said this is collision and at that time I wasn’t aware what to do and this and that and I wasn’t fighting and I didn’t know about video or notifications all untill they show me and ask me to file insurence claim for collision and luckily I took picture of notification picture in car at that time and then I end up following insurence claim process in hour of something it took me and then went in car to take Tesla flash drive and my stuff I saw they put vehicle in service mode and all notifications were cleared and I even tell them luckily there wasn’t car near by or highways and no one on street and it avoided big incident but all this failure due to impact or this impact due to failure I want investigation because I suspect.
Description of incident: while operating the vehicle with fsd engaged, the system was traveling at the posted speed limit of 25 mph. Without warning, it suddenly made a sharp left turn onto the sidewalk and accelerated during the maneuver. A pole on the left side struck the vehicle, damaging the driver-side mirror, scratching and denting the body, and leaving the left rear door unable to open properly. This was the third time fsd had been used since purchasing the car less than 24 hours prior. The system did not allow manual override of the wheel at the time of the incident. After the impact, once the vehicle returned to the road, it came to a stop and fsd disengaged on its own. Notes: no pedestrians or other vehicles were in the immediate area, preventing further harm. No system warnings or alerts were issued before or during the incident. The incident is attributed to a malfunction of the fsd system.
The curvature assist function activates and applies the brakes automatically on straight and level sections of freeways with no observable obstacles or curves, requiring driver to resume acceleration to override the brakes.
After I purchased this car I noticed that the steering wheel and whole car including the seats vibrate. They tried tire pressure, alignment and balancing nothing. It still vibrates so much it’s affecting the nerves in my hands and body and make me numb. They say the car is safe and refuse to diagnose or fix it unless I pay. Car is a month old it’s still under warranty!.
I owned the vehicle less than a month, using full supervised drive, fsd. Today 6/22/2025 1:45 pm almost had an accident. The vehicle was in the right made a left turn crossing a yellow line, then made a turn in a white line, in front of the vehicle behind me. I took control of the vehicle to proceed in the correct lane. On another occasion it made a right turn, corrected itself to the left lane as it should have done. I am hearing impaired, focus on the road, cannot look at the screen monitor while driving. The vehicle stopped, advised me fsd was inoperable, had to manual drive to my destination. There is no warning, alerts for the hearing impaired. Other issues driving in the wrong lane, then at the last minute changes to the correct lane, I am certain cutting off drivers. Unknown.
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving and exceeding 70 mph, the vehicle drifted to the right. The contact stated that the vehicle was vibrating abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 10.
After doing multiple search online came across multiple user complaints about new Tesla Model Y juniper 2026 lr awd you can feel vibration from steering wheel at highway speeds it is really specific at 80mph this is not a normal behavior especially vibrations took it to the service center and was told it was the wheels are not balanced properly so they fixed it apparently but is still doing it. I truly believe there is something Tesla knows but is not acknowledging it.