Complaint volume
1019 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Tesla Model Y Complaints
1019 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
1019 Total complaints
85 Crash reports
6 Fire reports
22 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are forward collision avoidance, vehicle speed control,forward collision avoidance, service brakes,forward collision avoidance. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 85 crash reports, 6 fire reports, 22 injury reports, and 4 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 98 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 16,683 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, vehicle speed control,forward collision avoidance, service brakes,forward collision avoidance?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Tesla Model Y?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Tesla Model Y
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Tesla Model Y complaints?
85 Crash
6 Fire
22 Injury
4 Fatality
63 Towed
14 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Tesla Model Y complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 280
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 72
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 70
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 64
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 44
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 34
SUSPENSION 30
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 29
STEERING 26
VISIBILITY/WIPER 19
1,019 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have owned two Tesla Model Y's, this one from 2021 and a 2022 version as well. Both vehicles have exhibited the type of "phantom braking" that I have now seen described by several other owners. When attempting to use either the full Autopilot system (which includes both adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist), or when using just the adaptive cruise control (without lane keeping), the vehicle would brake suddenly and forcefully. This appears to be in response to a threat perceived by the car, but it would happen on totally clear roads, in great weather, without some of the typical false indicators experienced by "vision" based systems. It's noteworthy that both of my cars used the vision-only system, as this vehicle was one of the first ones that Tesla produced that did not include a radar-based system. I experienced phantom braking so often with this car that I was completely unable to use cruise control. On a ~1,000 mile road trip through Wyoming and South Dakota (with minimal traffic in clear conditions on well-marked roads), I experienced over 100 phantom braking incidents in 4 days of highway driving. After that trip, I never used cruise control again regularly, but I would occasionally attempt to see if it fixed itself, and every time I would turn it on, I would have a phantom braking incident within minutes. I was able to capture a few videos of this behavior that I can send, as well, but I apparently can't do that as part of this form so please let me know how I could provide those, if required. Finally, the dates that I'm entering below are for the first occurrence of the phantom braking that I experience, but between the two vehicles, I have probably had it happen to me 150-200 times now. I have since sold the second Tesla (largely to avoid these issues), but please let me know if I can provide more info. These cars are not safe right now, and I've been looking for a way to remedy that for a while. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR OFTEN, BUT WHEN I WENT ON A ROAD TRIP FOR TWO WEEKS OVER CHRISTMAS I NOTICED THAT THE CAR WHEN IT WAS IN CRUISE CONTROL WOULD PICK UP VEHICLES COMING TOWARD ME ON A TWO LANE ROAD AND SUDDENLY SLOW DOWN. IT GOT MUCH WORSE COMING HOME WHEN I WAS IN NEW MEXICO ON I25 GOING NORTH. IT WOULD SUDDENLY SLOW DOWN COMING UP TO A CREST OF A HILL WITH NO OTHER VEHICLE AROUND ME. IT ALSO PICKED UP SEMIS GOING SOUTH THAT WERE HUNDREDS OF YARDS AWAY FROM ME. IT HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES AND SCARED MY WIFE. WHEN I WAS HOME I SET UP AN APPOINTMENT WITH TESLA SERVICE. THEY LATER CANCELLED IT AS THEY DID NOT SEE IT AS A PROBLEM. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have already reported this to TESLA and they did nothing for the following except to ask for a "time stamp". As I'm driving in Auto or Full self drive mode the car will suddenly brake as though there is something on the road in front of the car and at the time there is nothing present on the road or coming out into traffic. The car will make an alarm noise (internally) as though I did something wrong and as I said will decrease in speed dramatically and scare the driver behind me if there is a driver present. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This has happened multiple times. I am on the highway and have the cruise control set. The car suddenly decelerates but there is nothing in front to cause this. It is very jarring to me as the driver and to those behind me. When it happened during the day time I think it reacted to a shadow in the road from an overpass. It happened last night when it was dark. I had stopped using the cruise control because of the uncertainty, but decided to try it again on my trip yesterday. I received the car in September and I believe this has happened four times. I am reporting this now because I heard of the investigation. Now, I will keep closer track of the times, conditions and other facts. I have not reported it previously to Tesla, but will do so now. I looked on the Tesla forum and it is clearly a known issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The driver assist feature was engaged, what TESLA calls FSD, full self-driving. This has happened multiple times where the car will slam on the brakes, even on the highway for obstacles not in the car's path. For example, a car is on the exit ramp and I am in the adjacent lane. The car on the exit ramp slows down to make its exit and the TESLA will slam on the brakes. The TESLA also has done this for cars making turns. It will not brake until the last second and then it slams on the brakes, even after the car in front of me has turned. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Autopilot suddenly breaks to a dangerous levels while driving in the highway. Sometimes this happens with incoming cars/trucks on the other line. I have to manually take over control as I am worried I might be rear ended. These events are very likely to happen at least once on a given commute. This sudden braking also happens while going over a certain bridge. This has happened to all drivers in this car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | After hearing of the "phantom braking" problem with the 2021 Tesla Model Y I thought I'd add my observations. My car has rapidly, unexpectedly, and without other warning decelerated several times but always when the forward sensors apparently picked up a car crossing in front of me. Normally, I'd appreciate the help but it has happened several times when the crossing car was well in front of me and there was no cause for alarm from me and no way a tailing car should expect such a dramatic braking action. Tesla should certainly be asked to review this system and modify the braking action so that it is more gradual for distant cars or preceded by a moderate sound alert for concerning but not immediately threatening front-crossing cars. I should also note that the warning sound seems to go off at appropriate times as I approach stopped cars and it doesn't brake inappropriately when I approach stopped cars. The only problem I've noticed is cars crossing in front of me, mostly from my left to right, when I'm still comfortably distant from that car. Hope this helps. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Tesla Model Y had a software update at 12:05 am on Feb 13, 2022, which was complete. I drove the car to local YMCA at around 8:15 am on Sunday Feb 13, 2022, for my swim exercise and drove it home at around 9:30 am. I planned to park it by backing up to my driveway so that I can charge it. I positioned my car, with the front facing my neighbor's house. My foot was on brake and my right hand was moving the Drive Stalk towards R for reverse. The car all of the sudden flew forward on its own! It was only stopped after it hit my neighbor's house, making a big hole into her house, and causing severe damages to it outside and inside (smashed furniture and falling glassware), as well as to her landscaping. When this happened, my foot was still on the brake but pushing brake did stop the car. Additionally, hitting a tree also did not stop the car. Only the house and its strong frame stopped the car. The front of the car was totally damaged, including pieces falling out of the car and a big piece under the car falling down. Please come by immediately to take photos and examine damage. I called 911 immediately. The police and emergency trucks came. Since no one seemed to be visibly hurt (I had a whiplash and headache due to impact but was more was scared and shocked), the emergency medical crew left. The police said they are not making a report because the accident happened in private driveway and no crime was involved. I called Liberty Mutual to file a claim and was directed to file it online. I never bought the Tesla autopilot package but the new software update showed autopilot is an included package. This is a problem. I called Tesla customer service and reported this serious software malfunction. Thinking back, software problem caused another safety concern that started on Feb 6, 2022. Not only the right passenger door cannot be opened from outside, it also cannot be opened from inside. Someone could be trapped inside. This is a SAFETY alert! | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My 2021 Tesla Model Y has two problems related to braking: (1) frequent unexpected and unnecessary slowdowns while driving on Autopilot adaptive cruise control. The vehicle seems to believe something is in the road but it is not the case. This has been called "phantom braking" by many online reports. I experience this on nearly every drive where adaptive cruise control is engaged. (2) On one occasion the car locked up its brakes and began swerving to the left for no reason whatsoever. An alarm appeared on the screen and audible tones and a video was automatically saved. The event lasted only a second but would surely have caused a collision if another car was following me. The event occurred as I passed an oncoming truck on a two lane highway at night in good visibility. I was driving manually. Adaptive cruise control and auto steering were *not* engaged at the time. The extreme braking event was caused by the Adaptive Emergency Braking (AEB) system. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Per previously reported cases, by Tesla Y suffers from “phantom braking” when I am using adaptive cruise control at highway speeds. In general it will decrease up to 20MPH very suddenly. This is always in response to a falsely detected hazard; it will sometimes do the same when passing a vehicle that has exited an off ramp and has break lights on but is no longer in my lane of traffic. in general i drive with maximum 5-6 car lengths in my adaptive cruise control and this should not be happening. This has been an intermittent but ongoing issue through 2021; have not experienced in 2022 but have not done a lot of high way driving. Scares the heck out of my passengers. Love the car but please fix the software or it will be my last Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on the interstate (divided) highway at 73 mph with adaptive cruise control engaged, the vehicle abruptly braked. There were no other vehicles or obstructions within 250' at the time of braking. No warning lights or messages appeared. To correct the situation, I immediately pressed the accelerator to increase speed. Conditions: daylight, dry road surface. If another vehicle was following close by this could have caused an accident. I've had the car about 7 months and this type of braking has occurred 7 times, all with no vehicles nearby. It has happened both in the daytime (6) and night (1) at similar speeds mention above. I brought car in for service at Tesla on two occasions for this problem and they could find no faults in the software or braking. Basically, I was told Tesla continues to update software. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | After seeing news reports about the problems with Tesla "phantom braking", I realized this is not an issue localized with my vehicle. I also have this problem where the car will slam on the brakes when using the advanced cruise control system. It's jarring, to say the least. I reported the issue to Tesla a month after buying the car (10/21) and they instructed me to do a power cycle on the car but this has not helped. Incidenct occurance varies on the type of driving, but it's probably every 5 miles or so on a 2-lane road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving my Tesla Model Y with Cruise Control activated, the vehicle would inexplicably brake/decelerate rapidly without any vehicle traffic in front of the car. It would occur at its worst while changing lanes, as I approached another vehicle from behind and attempted to change lanes to overtake. I would either be mostly in the other lane, or had already successfully changed lanes, when the vehicle inexplicably braked/decelerated. It was alarming, frustrating, and infuriating as it seemed clearly unjustified. This occurred while on the interstate, which was extremely dangerous given the speed traveling at as well as the number of vehicles that typically travel on the interstate. I have not used the feature since, and have even attempted to try and disable the feature while still being able to utilize some sort of basic cruise control feature, to no avail. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Numerous times in the last 6 to 7 months, while driving my tesla on the freeway in auto pilot mode, auto pilot will just turn off and the car will abruptly slow down. Without reason, auto pilot turns off. And because of the settings on my car, this causes the car to quickly slow down. I rarely use auto pilot because I am afraid it will happen again and I’ll be rear ended. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have had over 18 occurrences of phantom braking while on cruise control; rapid deceleration without warning. I reacted by accelerating with the brake pedal. I reported this twice to the service adviser. One response was I needed to return with a date and time when it occurs again. When I did this, they could not find it in the computer record. They explained this occurs because cruise control is part of the self drive software and that is only in beta stage. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | "phantom" braking occurred 2/17/22 ~ 630pm driving in parking lot, not in autopilot no people or other cars nearby went from 15mph to 0 instantly screen showed a person directly in front of car - no one there was foggy with light rain | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving with cruise control engaged my car has now on several occasion suddenly and without warning applied the brakes on its own when there was no reason for the brakes to have been applied. Sometimes it has done it when a truck is approaching in the opposite direction, but sometimes it does it for no reason at all. Recently it did it with such severity that it was clear to me that if a car had been behind me I would have been hit from behind. Also, it was startling to the point where I could have lost control of my vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking when using Tesla autopilot | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | I’ve had this vehicle since June 2021 and experienced times when it would automatically brake abruptly, as if I were about to hit the vehicle in front of me. The first couple of times, I thought it was something I had to calibrate within the digital dashboard, but realized that it wasn’t something that could be adjusted — it was just the vehicle’s way of using it’s sensors to prevent me from colliding with the vehicle in front of me. The problem is that I wasn’t ever in danger of hitting anything in front of me. There were even times when I was gradually braking, but the vehicle automatically took over and broke for me. The painful part of it is that when this happened, it was so sharp and abruptly braking that I could feel my head jerk forward. It wasn’t until recently that I learned that this is actually a very big problem experienced by many other Tesla Model Y owners — called “Phantom Braking”. I’ve also had many other issues with the vehicle’s operating system, and have had to bring the vehicle in for Tesla service 5-6 times within a period of 7 months of taking lease of the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on C-470 in Colorado, eastbound approaching the Quebec St. exit, I was in the right lane. A car was exiting the highway while I continued straight. I was 2 sec behind this car and the car was in the exit lane, while I continued on the right lane. However, the highway curves to the left here. A straight forward view shows this car mostly in front of me. The Model Y braked excessively, from 65 to 45-50 before I could press the accelerator to continue forward. I would be worried of a rear end collision if there were a car behind me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Several times over the past 6 months the car suddenly slowed down without any reason while driving on autopilot with nothing ahead of it on highway (there was no change of speed limit so that can’t be an explanation). Also known as “phantom breaking” | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Two phantom braking incidents on loop 202 Wednesday night | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car rapidly brakes when in cruise control and auto pilot. Will also rapidly brake when a car passes by. It will always be random and sudden. Also, occasionally the screen will turn off and I will lose the screen completely and not know my speed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The vehicle engages automatic emergency braking frequently and repeatedly without reason, especially on two lane highways with oncoming traffic. This occurs during the day and at night. The vehicle also engages phantom braking (without emergency braking notifications) during normal driving on freeways and highways. Video of this incident is also available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH in autopilot mode, a truck in the middle passing lane going in the opposite direction, approached the vehicle, and the vehicle stopped abruptly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact continued to drive the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 300. | Crash: No Fire: No | 300 |