Equipment Problems of Tesla Model Y - part 1

We had a terrifying moment today. Low-voltage battery died instantly, leaving the driver locked inside a completely blacked-out car. No electronic door response, phone app & keycards completely frozen. Luckily, we got out safely after calling roadside assistance, but this is a serious hazard: no advance warning: the car gave zero indication the low-voltage battery was dying. Counter-intuitive exit: in a panic, 99% of people won't recall where the hidden manual release is. Two urgently needed safety updates: 1. Advanced, explicit warnings days before low-voltage battery failure. 2. Door safety logic that guarantees standard exit hardware works seamlessly even during complete power loss. In hot weather, this corner case can turn fatal in minutes. Please prioritize this safety redesign!.

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

I own a 2026 Tesla Model Y, and I subscribe to and use Tesla's full self-drive ("fsd") service. Whenever I have the car in fsd mode and take over control of the car, thereby turning off fsd, a box appears in the bottom left corner of the display screen in the car that the driver must use for all functions of the car. That box asks why I turned the fsd off and requires that I choose from 4 selections. The box remains on the screen until a selection is chosen and does not disappear after any period of time on its own, and there is no option to stop that box from appearing every single time I take over from fsd. The requirement that I divert my attention from the road to the bottom corner of that screen every single time I take control of my vehicle from fsd is a dangerous distraction that on more than one occasion has almost caused an accident. It is ridiculous that Tesla imposes this dangerous feedback box on its drivers with no ability to turn it off or make it disappear without taking our eyes off the road to answer it. Please do something to require them to get rid of this dangerous mandatory feedback box before it gets people hurt or killed.

[xxx] [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] email [xxx] national highway traffic safety administration office of defects investigation [xxx] [xxx] safety concern – Tesla structural battery pack design dear NHTSA, I am writing to raise a serious safety and durability concern regarding Tesla’s structural battery pack design, in which the high-voltage battery is glued into the vehicle’s body and used as a load-bearing structural member. My primary concerns are as follows: see atrached pdf fe information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I am reporting this history because four windshield failures across two relatively new Tesla vehicles raises concern that there may be a recurring issue involving windshield durability, installation, fitment, glass stress, vehicle-body interaction, or another vehicle-related factor. I am also concerned about the following distances maintained by Tesla's automated driving and adaptive-cruise systems. In my experience, the vehicle frequently follows other vehicles more closely than I would choose when driving manually. While the vehicle may calculate that the distance is adequate for braking, closer following distances may increase windshield exposure to stones and roadway debris thrown from vehicles ahead. I cannot establish that automated following distance caused these windshield failures, and I am not presenting that as a proven cause. I am reporting it as one possible contributing factor that may warrant investigation along with windshield design, glass specification, installation, fitment, and structural stress. Because the windshield is an important visibility and structural safety component, I believe the repeated cracking history warrants documentation and review for a possible pattern involving Tesla vehicles. For the current August 17, 2026 incident, I have asked Tesla to inspect and document the apparent origin of the crack before replacing the windshield, including whether there is an identifiable external impact point or evidence of an edge-, fitment-, or stress-related crack. I am submitting this complaint so that NHTSA has a record of the repeated windshield failures and can determine whether similar complaints indicate a broader safety-related defect or trend.

During a software update, the vehicle was parked and no key was present inside the car. The car went into neutral and forward through my gate onto oncoming traffic. The car hit a parked car and then came to a stop. The software update proceeded and I was unable to move the car until it finished.

See all problems of the 2024 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

I am reporting multiple safety?critical incidents involving my Tesla Model Y equipped with fsd (supervised). The vehicle has repeatedly performed sudden braking in active traffic without any obstacles present, causing physical jolting and creating a risk of collision. These incidents occurred on [xxx] and xxx including a sudden hard brake at approximately 2:18 p. M. On xxx. Additionally, the vehicle has shown lane?centering instability on the highway. On xxx at approximately 1:51 p. M. , the vehicle drifted within the lane and failed to maintain proper centering while fsd was engaged, requiring immediate manual intervention to avoid unsafe movement. Tesla service has stated that no error codes were detected, but also acknowledged known fsd software behaviors affecting hardware 3 vehicles. This indicates the system may be performing unsafe maneuvers without logging faults. I am reporting these incidents because they pose a direct safety risk to me, other drivers, and pedestrians. I request that NHTSA review these behaviors as potential safety defects in Tesla’s fsd (supervised) system. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I was operating my Tesla using full self-driving (supervised) when the vehicle approached an active school zone with flashing warning lights and a posted school-zone speed limit of 35 mph. Fsd did not appropriately respond to the active school zone or reduce the vehicle's speed to the posted 35 mph limit, requiring me to disengage fsd and manually slow the vehicle. The incident was captured on the Tesla dashcam. The recording shows fsd active while approaching the school zone. At approximately 14 seconds into the recording, the vehicle was traveling approximately 52 mph with "self-driving" displayed while the flashing school-zone warning and school pavement markings were visible ahead. The posted school-zone speed limit is 35 mph when the warning lights are flashing. Because fsd was not slowing the vehicle appropriately, I intervened and disengaged fsd. Immediately following my intervention, vehicle speed decreased from approximately 49 mph to 39 mph, 31 mph, and approximately 29 mph as I manually slowed the vehicle. This was the second time I experienced fsd failing to appropriately respond to this same active school zone. After this occurrence, I saved the dashcam recording and submitted a bug report through the vehicle. There were no warning messages indicating that fsd could not recognize or respond to the school zone. My safety concern is that fsd may proceed into an active school zone substantially above the posted school-zone speed limit unless the driver recognizes the failure and intervenes. The original dashcam recording is available and documents the vehicle speed, fsd status, active flashing school-zone warning, posted speed limit, and timing of my intervention.

Failed component & availability: 2023 Tesla Model Y front suspension (suspected lower lateral link detachment), steering system, and airbag system (failed to deploy). Preserved intact, but will be at hendrick collision ([xxx]; poc: dendi [xxx]) under allstate claim #xxx. Available for immediate NHTSA inspection. Safety risk: at highway speed on aviation parkway, the car suffered an unprompted, violent directional loss, zig-zagging uncontrollably in the lane and risking a multi-vehicle crash. Operating manually. Do not have autopilot or fsd. I was at the mercy of the vehicle's sensor/chassis failure. The car crashed into the grass median, sustaining heavy driver-side damage. Airbags failed to deploy during impact. Confirmation by repair center: physical teardown is on hold pending event data recorder (edr) "black box" imaging and chassis alignment inspection. Inspections to date: allstate level 1 claim #xxx assigned. Evidence preservation and cloud telemetry extraction notices served to Tesla legal and allstate. Warnings & prior repair history: no warnings appeared immediately prior to steering failure. Software was fully updated. This crash occurred 14 days after a 2nd high-voltage (hv) battery replacement: xxx: hv battery error code -> 1st hv battery replacement (returned xxx) xxx: recurring hv battery error -> 2nd hv battery replacement (returned xxx) xxx: unprompted directional failure and crash. Investigative context: matches NHTSA pe26006 investigating 2021-2023 Model Y front lower lateral link detachments causing sudden loss of control. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

Vehicle has complete full self-driving (supervised) capabilities. Vehicle was reverse parking on its own but the right side crashed into a wall. Vehicle did not stop reverse upon collision. Driver took over immediately to avoid further crash fatality.

See all problems of the 2025 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

My car locked itself with the phone key and the key card sitting in the car. My baby was trapped in the back seat. Eventually, I was able to get a hold of my husband and he was able to unlock the car from the app. I was talking to 911 when he saw my messages and unlocked the car. I think poor cell reception may have been the cause.

On August 3, 2026, my Tesla Model Y was traveling at approximately 50 mph with Tesla full self-driving (fsd) engaged. At approximately 4:12:47 pm cdt, fsd became unavailable and then became available again. At 4:12:51. 628 pm cdt, fsd was recorded as active_fsd again. Approximately 2. 36 seconds after fsd was re-engaged, at 4:12:53. 987 pm cdt, the vehicle's steering began a sudden and rapid rightward movement. I did not turn the steering wheel or intentionally provide a rightward steering input that initiated this maneuver. The recorded steering angle increased rapidly from approximately +11. 4° to +20. 7°, +33. 3°, +83. 3°, +137. 9°, +154. 7°, and ultimately approximately +282° within about 1. 6 seconds. Importantly, fsd was still recorded as active_fsd when the steering movement began. Fsd changed to unavailable at approximately 4:12:54. 364 pm cdt, about 0. 38 seconds after the steering movement had already started. The steering continued to escalate after fsd became unavailable. The vehicle subsequently experienced severe lateral acceleration of approximately 0. 96 g, and crash detection activated at approximately 4:12:55. 710 pm cdt. The accelerator was recorded at 0% during the developing steering event and increased only after crash detection. Hard braking and abs activation occurred afterward. I do not have Tesla dashcam footage, but I have retained Tesla's vehicle telemetry export containing fsd state, steering, steering-torque, accelerator, braking, vehicle-speed, stability-control, and crash-event data. I am concerned that Tesla fsd may have initiated or contributed to the unexpected steering maneuver that resulted in the collision. I am certain that I did not initiate the sudden rightward steering maneuver. I request that NHTSA investigate whether this represents a potential safety defect or unexpected fsd behavior, particularly the sequence of fsd re-engagement followed approximately 2. 36 seconds later by the unexpected steering event while fsd was still active_fsd.

I was in fsd mode and my car began parallel parking. As the car was in reverse it automatically accelerated and crashed into the car behind me. I did not step on the accelerator pedal, nor the brake and my hands were not on the steering wheel. I in no way caused this accident. What is most surprising is that there was no warning response. Normally if I get too close to any object a color warning shows up on the screen, if I decide to make a change while driving the screen comes up with 4 options as to why I took control but in this case with the car hitting an object there was no response at all. Teslas standard answer is always that it's my fault. I know what happened and it was not my fault. I now have a repair estimate for $1,897. 98 which I must be responsible for.

On July 31, 2026, at approximately 12:55 pm, my 2026 Tesla Model Y experienced a severe safety defect while operating in full self-driving (supervised) mode. The vehicle completely failed to detect, slow down for, or stop at a clearly visible and unobstructed stop sign at an intersection. The vehicle attempted to proceed through the intersection without yielding. I was fully attentive with my hands on the wheel and had to instantly apply heavy manual braking and steering intervention to prevent a collision with an oncoming vehicle that had the right of way. This failure of the automated driving system to recognize fundamental traffic control devices constitutes an immediate and severe collision hazard.

Plastic trim around window switches on driver side door panel bubbled and popped. Tesla refused to warranty due to “wear and tear” when vehicle was purchased brand new 1. 5 year ago.

Driver selected auto-park in parking area and car tried to self-park in a chosen spot adjacent to a pole and made several attempts to park and in the process hit a pole adjacent to the chosen parking spot. Immediately the incident was reported via Tesla app and photos were uploaded and an appointment was given for 8/6/2026 at 2:15pm at Tesla service aliso viejo. In reference to the pictures, car tried to park in spot 89 entering from spot 90, and made several attempts and driver expected the auto-park to be aborted giving up control to teh driver, but the car hit the pole and then driver took control to park.

I was operating my Tesla using full self-driving (supervised) from my home to a coffee shop. The vehicle completed the entire drive under fsd without any manual intervention. After arriving at the destination, fsd automatically entered the parking lot, selected an available parking space, and initiated the parking maneuver on its own. I did not manually select the parking space or start the parking maneuver. During the automatic parking maneuver, the vehicle failed to detect a fixed square concrete bollard located within the parking space and continued moving until the front bumper made contact with the bollard, causing damage to the vehicle. No collision warning, parking collision warning, or automatic emergency braking occurred before impact. The vehicle remained under fsd control until the collision. The incident occurred in daylight with good visibility. The obstacle was a permanent concrete bollard, not a temporary object or a low parking curb. Dashcam footage of the incident has been preserved and has been provided to Tesla insurance. I believe Tesla should review the vehicle telemetry and fsd logs to determine why the system failed to recognize the fixed obstacle during the automated parking maneuver.

The exterior rear door handle on the driver’s side rear passenger door caught the occupant’s finger during normal use, tearing the fingernail partially out of the nail bed and causing bleeding and an exposed nail bed injury requiring medical treatment. The flush-mounted door handle pinched and trapped the finger while the door was being operated. The component is available for inspection upon request. No warning of any kind preceded the injury — the handle functioned as designed, which is the concern. The injury was treated at an urgent care facility. The problem has not been inspected by the manufacturer, dealer, police, or insurance to date. No warning lamps or messages are applicable. Cause: the flush-mounted rear door handle design creates a pinch point that can trap a finger during ordinary entry.

While driving straight ahead in my lane on a wet freeway in an active construction zone, the vehicle abruptly and without warning lost traction and spun out of control. I was traveling in a normal, controlled manner with the flow of traffic and was not turning, braking hard, or making any abrupt maneuver when the loss of control occurred. It was so sudden that I initially believed another vehicle had struck me. I was unable to recover control, and the vehicle left its lane and was involved in a collision that resulted in the vehicle being declared a total loss. This is a nearly new all-wheel-drive vehicle, approximately 17 months old, equipped with electronic stability and traction control. I am an experienced driver with a clean record and had driven this same vehicle through mountain roads the week prior without any issue. A vehicle of this type is not expected to suddenly lose control while traveling straight. The specific component or system that failed is unknown. No warning lamps or messages appeared before the loss of control. The vehicle data available to me as an owner is limited and does not reflect the full diagnostic logs the manufacturer retains. The vehicle is a total loss but is preserved and available for inspection upon request. The manufacturer has not inspected or responded. A police report was filed.

This is what happened: while full self-driving (fsd) was engaged, the vehicle approached an intersection and appeared unable to correctly follow the roadway. Instead of following the intended road path, the vehicle continued forward, drove over the curb, and struck a road sign. The impact knocked the sign down, and the sign subsequently struck the vehicle, including the roof glass. The roof glass shattered and small pieces of glass entered the cabin, exposing both the driver and front passenger to a safety risk. Vehicle data obtained after the incident shows that the vehicle was in active_fsd leading up to the collision. Fsd changed from active to unavailable approximately 1. 5 seconds before the crash algorithm wake-up. Significant braking occurred only very close to the collision, and no automatic emergency braking intervention was recorded during the incident window. The data also shows multiple substantial steering movements shortly before the collision. Accelerator-pedal data does not establish driver acceleration as the cause of the collision. The available samples show an accelerator position of 2. 0% shortly before the collision and 0. 0% in the next recorded sample. The driver applied the brake shortly before impact. There were no prior warning lamps or messages indicating that fsd was about to become unavailable before the vehicle departed the roadway. The vehicle has been inspected/repaired following the collision, and vehicle data relating to the incident has been obtained and preserved. Police responded to the collision, and the incident was also reported to insurance. A police report was filed, and the case number is 2026-07160174. I have not yet received the formal cr-4 crash report. Following the collision, I experienced significant psychological distress and trauma-related stress symptoms as a result of the incident.

I was driving the car to the parking lot from 5mph to 0 mph , car reversed on its own sped to 10 mph causing accident .

Tesla full self driving has no way to limit the speed or lane changes, and even in its standard profile it keeps going 15+ over the limit. Chill mode occasionally goes 10+, and sloth switches between -10 and +5 erratically. It's unsafe to use and there's no way to do anything about it without a manual speed limit, like it used to have.

Vehicle: 2024 Tesla Model Y (VIN: [xxx]) incident date: [insert date] current mileage: 4,094 description: "while operating the vehicle at low speed, the vehicle experienced a sudden, uncommanded acceleration event. Despite immediate and sustained application of the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to decelerate as intended, indicating a critical failure of the braking-override system and/or the drive-by-wire acceleration logic. This represents a catastrophic safety defect that resulted in an uncontrolled trajectory. Furthermore, Tesla inc. Has formally refused to release the event data recorder (edr) data associated with this VIN and timestamp (ref: dot request #xxx). This refusal obstructs a transparent safety analysis of a known 'sudden unintended acceleration' (sua) event. I am requesting a formal office of defects investigation (odi) into this specific hardware/software failure and Tesla’s data-withholding practices regarding safety-critical events. " I am a xxx and the threat is to take the loaner car away my only transportation from [xxx] to [xxx] for my xxx. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

A Tesla vehicle passed by me and my kid while we are trying to get into the car, it just stopped in front of my parking spot to block my car. Then I got down and checked there is a no driver. I took a picture of the license plate and side view of car where no one is there in the car. It was terrifying since no one is in the parking lot we came after a movie and entered the parking lot to get our car. This Smart driving needs to be banned or restricted without driver.

Lateral control arm bolt has fallen out with no impact/collision or reasonable explanation.

I have a 2024 Tesla Model Y and while parked, the rear windshield spontaneously shattered while defrosting my window. My kids were sitting in the back seat when the incident happened. This has not been confirmed by a dealer or service center but me, my wife and brother were standing outside our car when it happened and saw no signs or external impact or object. The vehicle has not been inspected by any external parties at this time. The vehicle presented no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the incident.

The fsd (full self driving) failed when it backed into my garage. All passengers are safe, including my wife (pregnant), mother, and [xxx] child. I was following the supervised fsd requirement by supervising the fsd with hands on steering wheel and foot on brake the whole time. The fsd left very little amount of time for me to react. Tesla insurance judges it is my fault. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

This vehicle is hacked along with app. It's unsafe to drive at this point. I have contacted Tesla they are no help. My Tesla app is hacked and the vehicle.

On Saturday, [xxx] at around [xxx] going west on [xxx] toward [xxx] stopped at the intersection of [xxx]. While driving my 2022 Tesla Model Y, performance, I was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green and I began accelerating normally through the intersection, both passenger-side doors unexpectedly unlatched at the same time. The windows on both passenger doors lowered slightly, and the vehicle displayed a warning indicating the doors were open and to drive carefully. This created an immediate safety hazard, as the doors opened while the vehicle was in motion without any intentional action from the occupants(there were 0 occupants there). This is the second time this exact issue has occurred under similar circumstances, with the previous incident also happening as I accelerated from a red light. The vehicle should not allow multiple doors to unlatch while driving. I have reported the issue to Tesla for inspection and request that this incident be documented and investigated as a potential safety defect. I was going less that 10 mph when this occurred. Thankfully, my toddler was not sitting in the back seat and there were no passengers in the car. No injuries. No crash. *unable to upload any photos/screenshots at the moment, but can email or link a drive when need be. This website doesn't support any uploads at the moment. I'm on a mac using google chrome. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model Y 🔎.

This week, I was driving my Tesla at approximately 65 mph in the middle lane of a six-lane freeway. Autopilot was engaged. Traffic was moving normally, and I was not aware of any obstacle or hazard that would have required emergency braking. Without any warning, the vehicle suddenly applied the brakes and rapidly decelerated until it came to a complete stop in the middle travel lane of the freeway. I was not pressing the brake pedal. The event occurred unexpectedly and created a potentially life threatening safety hazard. My vehicle came to a stop in a high-speed traffic center lane! after I disengaged autopilot and pressed the accelerator, the vehicle responded normally. Immediately following the incident, the display showed the message “autopilot unavailable. ” that message later disappeared, and no additional warning messages remained on the screen. I contacted Tesla to report the incident. Tesla reviewed the vehicle’s logs remotely and later discussed the results with me by telephone. During that conversation, I was told that the event was considered an “anomaly. ” I was also told that the vehicle logs reflected the event approximately one hour from when it actually occurred and that the logs indicated the vehicle was not operating in autopilot at the time of the incident. This information was inconsistent with the event, because autopilot was engaged when the sudden braking occurred. I could not even move to berm. Tesla did not request that I bring the vehicle in for a physical inspection. Instead, I was told there was no reason to have the vehicle examined. During the same conversation, I was encouraged to consider subscribing to Tesla’s full self-driving (supervised) system, which requires an additional monthly subscription, rather than continuing to use autopilot as a result of a question I asked about two plans. Tesla closed my service ticket without performing an inspection indicating there was no benefit spending $$ to essentially receive no additional.

After about 2 minutes from leaving a patients house, I was driving at approximately 25mph when my frunk(front trunk) of my Tesla flew open and hit my windshield. There was no alert through the Tesla app or in the car itself. I stopped the car stepped outside and the frunk would not close after when I tried to close by hand, it would stop at the latch. When I closed it from the Tesla app it was able to close properly.

It was raining, when I was driving on i95 highway, the vehicle suddenly started to spin by itself, and out of my control. When I tried to hit the brakes, there was no response, then it swung out of the lane and hit on the tree. I have reported to police, and I just filed a claim with insurance company, and I will also report this to Tesla later. However, I think it is really very dangerous, and I hope it can be investigated for safety reason. I have video recordings, I can provide if you need them. Thank you.

Whenever the self driving feature is disengaged, a pop up menu is forced into the user asking for a reason for the disengagement. The user is forced to submit a response for the pop up menu to go away. This menu shifts sections of the screen around and can cause distractions due to the user looking for specific information that is typically there but is not due to the pop up menu.

While in full self driving mode in my Tesla, it was making a right turn into a parking lot when it suddenly violently accelerated. Before I could gain control it crossed the parking lot entrance, climbed the curb, and came to rest on a lawn in front of a business. Luckily no one was hurt. It appears the car will be totaled by the insurance company at the completion of their investigation.

I was driving on fsd mode, my car suddenly changed very fast to left lane by itself and hit the car on that lane right behind me.

Tesla y on the freeway, fsd on(full self driving), driving at 70 mph. I saw the cars ahead are slowing but my car was not slowing, so I braked and held the steering wheel firmly. However, my car still hit the car in front at 36 mph. The airbag deployed and luckily I only sprained my thumb in both hands in holding the steering wheel very hard. If I didn't take over my car would have hit the car in front at 70 mph. I downloaded Tesla "vehicle data report" and it shows that the "fsd was active, cruise control state was active, driver monitoring detection was detected and I applied the brake. I used fsd for over 3 years and no problem at all, until the accident. The Tesla data shows that the fsd malfunctioned that caused the accident but my insurance told me that it was my fault and they increased my insurance for $227 a month.