54 of the
487 complaints about the 2020 Tesla Model Y are about the
other systems — 11% of everything
reported for this model year.
Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before
3,000 miles.
F
54
Complaints
11
Crashes
0
Fires
2
Injuries
Exactly what failed
Unknown OR Other
5398.1%
Other/I am not Sure
11.9%
Other & Unspecified across every Tesla Model Y year
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)
NHTSA complaint #11757733 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Cranberry TWP, PA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Seat occupancy sensor failed for the second time. The car will randomly shut off if I am inside because it does not detect a passenger. When I exit the vehicle, the car will stay on for an extended period of time due to failed seat occupancy sensor. This is a widespread issue affecting all makes and models of Tesla. They are aware of the high rate of failure and have not made any attempt to issue a recall. This is dangerous and inconvenient as the infotainment system will not pair with your phone because it does not detect a driver. When moving, the car will also randomly throw itself into PARK at speed if you don’t put on your seatbelt before moving. The first time this happened, I smashed my head on the steering wheel.
NHTSA complaint #11741791 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Tampa, FL
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My Tesla Model Y 2020 (VIN: [XXX] ) is stuck on software version 2023.44.1 for more than 2 years and has four incomplete NHTSA safety recalls: • 23V838 – Autosteer driver monitoring improvements • 24V051 – Brake/Park/ABS warning font size too small • 24V153 – Muted Pedestrian Warning System • 24V554 – Hood not detected as unlatched Tesla Service in the Baltic region and Tesla Service in Warsaw (Poland) both refused to deliver the required OTA safety recall updates. They classified the vehicle as “unsupported” because it is a US-market vehicle located in Latvia. I am unable to bring the vehicle to any Tesla Service Center. Tesla is not fulfilling its legal obligation to provide the free safety recall remedies. Please require Tesla to deliver the updates or provide a proper solution. Attached: screenshots of refusals from Tesla Service (Baltic + Warsaw). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11731004 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Boyds, MD
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car was on complete auto pilot on mayland highway 270 and car suddenly took exit with any command and notification. Car was very close , few feet away from the guardrail at 55 mile per hour. This could have been a life threatening event with such decisions made by car. I saved all the dash cam videos of such two occurrence. I no longer have any trust in auto pilot software after too many mishaps with recent updates.
NHTSA complaint #11707184 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Granada Hills, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I brought the car to the dealership to work on the recalls that are all done by over the air download. The car is not receiving the updates so I brought the car to the dealership to force the download on their computers. They stated they will not do any work on the car without doing a high voltage inspection due to the car being salvage. The charge for the inspection is almost $1500. The recalls have nothing to do with the high voltage but they are requiring me to pay it before they fix the recalls.
NHTSA complaint #11700137 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Fresno, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Interior of glass roof - dangerously hot on sunny days, capable of causing burns. This problem has caused several family members including children to yelp in pain due to brief contact with the glass (heads meeting glass surface while placing children in car seat, getting in and out of car seat and hands brushing against glass surface). The temperature inside the tesla also far exceeds other cars I go into. This is easily reproducible on any spring/summer day. I understand there are cars with black paint that can get hot and you try to avoid touching that area. But if there is literally black glass above you in the interior that is not insulated, that is completely unavoidable and a constant hazard. There should be insulation provided standard.
NHTSA complaint #11692642 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Phoenix, AZ
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Problem: I purchased a 2020 Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD, EPA-certified at 316 miles. My vehicle consistently delivers only 120–150 miles per full charge, and just ~80 miles from the recommended daily 80% → 20% SOC window. This is less than half the advertised/certified range. I have meticulously logged trips since July 2025, recording start/end battery %, mileage, Wh/mi, and driving conditions. Even after following Tesla’s own efficiency guidance (Chill Mode, conservative HVAC, no Sentry Mode, no Cabin Overheat Protection, speeds at/below limits), the shortfall is repeatable. Company’s Response: Tesla repeatedly stated: No warranty action unless there is a system alert. My range loss is due to “short trips” or “driving habits.” They “cannot go off EPA numbers,” though Tesla advertises the EPA rating. To review my logs, I must pay $235/hour, while I cannot access my own internal vehicle data. On Aug 7, Tesla told me 33% SOC should equal their quoted range. In reality, I received only ~40 miles before needing to recharge. At my Aug 21 service visit, after 1.5 hours onsite, I was again told results were “normal,” despite my detailed logs showing otherwise. Why It Matters: EPA ratings are federally mandated certification numbers. Dismissing them as “not applicable” contradicts federal law and advertising practices. A consumer should not accept half the advertised range while being told it is “normal.” Charging $235/hour to access my usage data blocks validation of Tesla’s claims. What I Request: Investigation into whether Tesla is failing to deliver its EPA-certified range. Enforcement of Tesla’s 8-year/120,000-mile battery warranty, as my results suggest excessive degradation or defect. Requirement that Tesla provide consumers access to their own vehicle/battery data without fees. Written clarification of Tesla’s real-world range obligations under Arizona conditions. Evidence Available
NHTSA complaint #11683008 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Gilroy, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I have a Tesla Model Y and a Model 3. Both of them 2020 year purchased. The miles on Model Y is 96K and 43K respectively. In Feb 2025, my Model Y windshield had cracked and I had made a Tesla Insurance claim and paid the 500$ deductible and got it replaced. Now, in May 1st week, the same Model Y's windshield is cracked. When I take to Tesla service center, they say that its because of an external impact and so, they can't consider a warranty claim and I have to make another payment for this. That's the first thing. Now, with my Model 3, there is a crack developing on the rear windshield. I understand from Tesla that it has to be replaced too. I had a chat with Safelite auto glass company technician and he said that Tesla's glasses are too thin to accmmodate sensors and thats why this is happening repeatedly.
NHTSA complaint #11659331 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Sacramento, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
To whom it may concern, I would love some help with an issue I'm having with Tesla. I purchased my 2020 Model Y used from Tesla and the car was and is still under bumper-to-bumper warranty. I've had dozens of issues with the built-in dashcam and sentry modes that have stemmed from an update Tesla made, which has also resulted in my USB drives causing repeated errors. And while the USB drive error may not seem bad, it causes issues with the sentry mode and dashcam where they don't work and these features are some of the main reasons that I purchased the car, also making the car valuable to me and my family. Despite this, even though the car is still under warranty, Tesla Service in Sacramento is trying to charge me for my ninth service center visit for this same issue. Here's a list of my visits for this same (and related) issue: - 4/4/2024 - 4/19/2024 - 7/24/2024 - 10/25/2024 - 11/20/2024 - 12/18/2024 - 2/5/2025 - 3/6/2025 I have invoices for each, and again, each correlating visit has been under warranty and now even though my car is still under warranty, Tesla is trying to charge me for attempting to fix this for my ninth visit for this same issue. Can you please help me with this ongoing issue that Tesla is now trying to charge me for even though the car is under warranty?
NHTSA complaint #11650768 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Chapel Hill, NC
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla has automatic windshield wipers that are supposed to engage at various wiper speeds when rain is detected. The system does not activate soon enough or at an appropriate speed. Example: In rain situations on a highway when passing a large truck, the amount of spray on the windshield will completely occlude visibility at critical moments. Also if driving through a neighborhood in a drizzle, when kids are walking to school, the wipers do not adjust properly occluding visibility at critical moment’s. Potential solution : In both cases above the Tesla cameras detect the truck and the pedestrians, this data should be used to increase wiper activation and frequency. Tesla also collects user input data from drivers and perhaps collecting data when drivers activate their wipers compared to what the cameras are seeing will help adjust the wiper activation algorithm.
NHTSA complaint #11607888 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Clifton, VACrash
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
In Summon Mode, autonomous driving, our car collided with another stationary parked car
NHTSA complaint #11605031 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Bellevue, WACrash2 injured
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
we were in a head-on collision (not our fault) in April. The police determined the combined speed of the crash impact to be 60-65 miles per hour. The 2020 Tesla Y did not deploy its airbags. And as far as we can determine, the accident was not automatically recorded by the Tesla as it should have been. Because the airbags did not deploy, I sustained a fracture to my sternum that traverses over to my collarbone. We both have TBIs and other injuries. With that kind of an impact, one would expect an airbag to protect oneself, yet it did not. There were no warning lights/messages/etc from our vehicle. We are asking that you please look into this safety matter. (Especially since you are part of the push to have us own electric cars, they need to be safe for us). I do not know how much longer the Tesla will be available to inspect.
NHTSA complaint #11595352 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Rochester, NY
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Tesla Model Y, loses control in snow and fish tails, making it unsafe. This has happened multiple time in winter and even in heavy rain. I follow standard recommendations for winter/snow driving, if you skid, ease off acceleration, and do not brake to avoid skidding. If we do this, the regenerative brakes kick in and brakes the car, causing the skid. Have had several narrow escapes in highways and even in regular roads. I hope Tesla will can give an option to turn of the regenerative braking for winter driving. Thanks
NHTSA complaint #11575038 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Phoenix, AZ
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I can’t use the full self drive capability without the car malfunctioning or slamming on the brakes. I paid extra for a service that not only doesn’t work but makes the car unsafe to drive. They’ve continually tried OTA updates and nothing can fix it. They need to recall this car and reimburse.
NHTSA complaint #11572226 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Johns Creek, GACrash
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Unexplained SUDDEN acceleration. At Kroger parking lot. I was at complete stop, then lightly stepped on accelerator to start moving and car suddenly, rapidly accelerated causing me to hit STOP sign. Unexplained acceleration! Fortunately no one was standing in front of the car. Caused some damage to the right, front area of the car.
NHTSA complaint #11566656 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
El Dorado, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I purchased our Tesla model Y 3 years ago. I intentionally disabled and did not subscribe to any autonomous driving features because I don’t trust them. I disabled all aspects of auto pilot functions. Despite this, my car still will automatically swerve at random times, slam on the brakes randomly with no reason to break, etc. It is terrifying when this happens unexpectedly and infuriating that I have disabled all these features, but it still does this. This is most common when I put it in cruise control. Rarely these will happen when, for example you cross a double yellow line, but most of the time they happen when nothing has occurred to prompt them. I believe this is an unsafe feature, and needs to be investigated. Unfortunately, with Tesla they have no customer service so there’s nobody that I can report this to.
NHTSA complaint #11539961 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lake Oswego, OR
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving with autopilot at 65mph, a vehicle 500 yards in front of me was turning left. My car suddenly braked to avoid it.
NHTSA complaint #11538724 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Manassas, VACrash
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While I was parking the car at a parking spot for a doctor's appointment, it accelerated by itself and drove over the parking spot front bump and drove a short downhill covered with grass. Then it drove across a street and stopped by hitting an SUV parked. During the whole process, I tried to stop it by braking it, but failed. While it slides down, I gave up controlling the car.
NHTSA complaint #11538217 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Orlando, FL
Other/I am not sure
This is now the 2nd carseat, same exact brand and model. The headrest is to be positioned in certain spots as the child grows. I raised it to where its needed but the headrest falls. I have watched countless youtube videos and read the instruction manuals how to and the headrest still goes to the lowest sitting position possible. When it happened to the first carseat they sent out backing plates for ME to replace and it did not help. Then sent a new whole headrest piece to replace which didn't help either. I had to slightly put my foot down in order for them to just send a replacement seat. Now this is happening AGAIN with the same modeled seat for my other child. This isn't just 1 seat its happened to it's 2. Paying a ton of money for the best safety seats for our kids and to have an issue with the headrest which is a major part of the body that needs to have safety coverage and properly fastened /following the rules/instructions. The headrest is what's not working properly, it is available for inspection if needed. It puts any child at risk since its not sitting at the height needed can possible hurt the childs head/neck possibly. This specific carseat has NOT been inspected but we did send the other carseat I did have an issue with back to the manufacturer.
NHTSA complaint #11528076 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Rochester, MN
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Rear door is stuck and does NOT open, nor will the emergency release in the door, when activated, allow it to open. Poses a significant danger to anyone in the backseat, or if trying to get a child out from the backseat, say in the event of an accident on the opposite side. This must be addressed via a recall asap, or there will be serious consequences eventually.
NHTSA complaint #11526810 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Phoenix, AZ
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On several occasions, my car will either i) slam on the brakes when in assisted driving for no reason, ii) start beeping for a lab departure when I have no even made the slightest move to switch lanes, iii) windows will roll back down when I try to roll them up (not sure if that’s related to the FSD issues). I paid an extra $15,000 for FSD and not only does it not work, but it seems to have created unsafe driving conditions in my car.
NHTSA complaint #11518449 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Malibu, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The drivers side rear door no longer opens. As a parent who drives with 2 children in car seats, this has made getting our kids in and out incredibly time consuming and awkward. Not to mention it just isn't safe at all to have a non operable door. From what I've seen after doing a quick google search, this is a common problem with Model Y AND Model 3 rear doors, which is absolutely unacceptable and needs to be addressed. You can even watch youtube videos of other Tesla drivers experiencing the exact same scenario as my family currently has. The day it happened I drove straight to a Tesla service center to get it taken care of. They told me they were too busy to take my car and that I needed to make an appointment. Their first appointment date at the local center was over 2 weeks out, which is also unacceptable for an issue involving passenger safety. So I set up a mobile service appointment for the following day which the following day Tesla changed to a service center appointment a week and a half out, citing they needed to order parts to fix this, granted no one has seen this door to diagnose what is happening but they already know enough to order parts to fix it, which means that indeed they have a manufacturing flaw that needs to be adressed. If it wasn't for the car seats it would be an acceptable nuisance, but add car seats to the mix and this scenario is a hazard.
NHTSA complaint #11513078 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Boyds, MD
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The navigation system needs to be updated to enable larger font sizes! This has been a problem reported to Tesla for many years (see Tesla users forum), but they don't address the issue. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE! I cannot read the directions easily while driving. Consequently, I must move my head closer to the screen and spend more time looking at it to understand the next turn. This causes me to stop looking at the road for too long a period of time and almost causes me to have an accident! THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW!
NHTSA complaint #11493952 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Voorhees Township, NJ
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We were driving on a highway and suddenly we got a red steering weel image with a sharp noise and a warning message something about automatic emergency braking disable and we can't use a cruise control feature. I don't feel safe to drive. Tesla can't tell me when it will be fixed.
NHTSA complaint #11491895 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Irvine, CA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Total failure of HVAC system which could put driver in danger in extreme temperatures.
NHTSA complaint #11475643 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Kirkland, WA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
HVAC "dog mode" failed for the second time after repair. Manufacturer says this is a known issue but no alert sent to owners. Screen indicates rising temp, notification sent to phone of failure. No known timetable for fix but no alerts to owners
NHTSA complaint #11472447 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Redondo Beach, CACrash
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While sitting behind a car at a red light, the car suddenly went into autopilot and spontaneously accelerated forward at a high speed, causing a rear end collision and over $7000 damages to my car. The sedan that was rear ended by me incurred damages but I have no idea how much. . This is the second time this car has suddenly unintentionally accelerated forward while at a full stop since 1/22 ( I've owned the car since 7/2020). The first time while sitting at a drive through pharmacy window- thank goodness there wasn't a person in front of me! The second time, as stated above, at a red light at a busy intersection. Once again, thank goodness there was a car in front of me to stop the car, otherwise I might have ended up in cross traffic with potentially fatal results. UN-nerving. In light of the Washing Post article, I believe this safety hazard issue needs to be thoroughly investigated before someone gets killed. I've asked for the car data and am still awaiting a manager from Tesla to contact me to discuss what happened and if there was anything on my end that could have caused these incidents to occur. I rarely used by autopilot but since have completely disabled it.
NHTSA complaint #11469679 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Minnetonka, MN
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
unexpected activate brakes while in autopilot. rapid deceleration can occur without warning, at random, and often repeatedly in a single drive cycle .
NHTSA complaint #11467291 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Redmond, WA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Touch screen in the car does not work. Completely unresponsive. This have I cannot have anything in the car - a/c, use safety features like update auto pilot speed, etc. Issues persists even after vehicle was left idle.
NHTSA complaint #11466007 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lombard, IL
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
We had a crack on the windshield that Safelight tried to fix, but the crack expanded and needed to get a new windshield replaced. It has been 2 months now that we have been waiting on Tesla to get the new part in. In the. meantime, the crack has expanded to over 16 inches and keeps growing. Tesla keeps pushing back the service date claiming that they did not get the windshield in yet. If they do not have windshields, then how are they building new vehicles daily if they have a windshield shortage? The crack in the meantime keeps growing and it is a safety hazard.
NHTSA complaint #11465594 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.