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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 50-70 MPH on cruise control, the vehicle would inadvertently decelerate, almost causing other vehicles to crash into the rear of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle was designed with no radars and was built with camera vision instead. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring more frequently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 20. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20 |
| Nov 2021 | SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | Sudden acceleration while stopped. Car was stopped in the driveway of my home while waiting for the garage door to open. Suddenly the car bolted forward, crashed through the rising garage door and then through the side of the garage and into the front steps of my home. The car is equiped with auto pilot, but it was not engaged. While reviewing other incidents of this type on your website, I noticed that other people mentioned their Tesla's having the autopilot feature but I saw no mention of the Model Y. Although extensive damage happened to the car and my home, no one was injured. However if this had happened while at a stop light or at a crosswalk someone could have been killed or injured. My Insurance Co. did not seem interested in investigating this event, haven't heard back from Tesla. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | STRUCTURE | Tesla delivered a car with a concerning mechanical defect on all four hinges of both rear/forward doors. There are deep gouges to the metal on all four hinges. They have no explanation as to why the metal that holds the doors I place has been damaged. Multiple calls to Tesla has resulted in them saying they will absolutely not look at the issues on the car until December 10th. They said that I can't even bring it in to a service center for safety inspection. I wanted to reject delivery and get a safer car but they said that I would then not receive a car for 4-6 months later. Meanwhile they had already accepted payment, so I would be on the hook for payments. I don't know if these.doors are safe, I'm looking for a Tesla to say whether the car is safe to drive or not, and find out what caused the damage. Tesla will only tell me that they will look at the car in December. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car will hard brakes all the time on autopilot. I've had it occur going up slight hills, the sun being out, rounding bends, etc. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While using Tesla Autopilot, I’m receiving significant “phantom breaking” events where the vehicle, for no apparent reason, applies the breaks, quickly and unexpectedly decelerating at highway speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I had 2 accidents both caused by the wheel forcefully turning and not letting me take over. First incident: On 8/31/21 I was driving on the right lane of the palisades pkwy S (NJ) the car was on “autopilot” my hands where on the steering wheel. It was raining, there was no car around me for at least a few hundred feet. Suddenly the “forward collision warning” started beeping, and I felt the steering wheel is forcing itself very sharply to the left, I tried turning back to the right, but I couldn’t. Fearing that the car will end up in the lane of the opposite traffic, I slammed the breaks. The car ended up doing a 180 hitting the dividing guardrail against oncoming traffic. The car was towed to a shop where it was until oct 18 when it was ready for pickup, damage costed about 15k to repair. There was no injuries, and no other car involved. Second incident: On oct 26 A week after I picked up the car from the repair shop, I was driving on the NJ Turnpike N on the left most lane. It was raining, and the car drove over a small puddle of water. Suddenly I felt the steering wheel turning very forcefully to the right. I tried pulling back to the left, but was unable. it felt as if the steering wheel was locked, causing the car to abruptly make a hairpin curve, bypassing the next lane, and hit a car two lanes over. From the impact the car was thrown back to the left, knocked into the highway divider, the car then spun and flew all the way to the other side of the highway. This time there was another car involved. I was in the car with my wife, both of us besides being all shaken up had no injuries, it is not known to me if there was any injuries to the other driver My car was a total loss. In both instances I felt the car taking over the steering wheel and not letting me take back control. The first incident was on autopilot, second time was not. I have dash-cam footage of both incidents (can’t upload it here, will provide upon request) | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving using cruise control the vehicle will occasionally brake suddenly for unknown reasons. In one instance I was worried that the car following me would either hit my car or be forced to take other action possibly causing an accident. When I contacted Tesla regarding my concern they said something about the software program evolving…no fix available. The cruise control system is Dangerous. There is NO warning, you are traveling down the highway, all seems fine, and then for no apparent reason the car applies the brakes so hard that everyone in the vehicle is startled and vehicle behind you sounds their horn! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Our 2021 Model Y features the new vision based cruise control system, both traffic aware cruise control and autopilot utilize this camera only system. At the time of ordering we were under the impression we were getting a much safer and mature radar based system. Upon accepting delivery at the end of May we have accumulated 9,000 miles on the car and have a had horrible experiences with the traffic aware cruise control slamming on the brakes for no apparent reason with nothing ahead or passing cars. Behavior can be 5-10mph slowdowns or in some cases FULL brake pressure which puts us in danger of being rear ended. Multiple times we have been close to rear ended. In addition the system can also produce audible beeps when cars pass however no warning or message is displayed. I want to stress this behavior is a daily occurrence day or night. We have reached out to Tesla in order to get the vehicle looked at for repairs and have a been denied even a service appointment. The vehicle was declared fine hardware wise. I documented our experiences in just one evening of driving and put together this YouTube video showing the behavior. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20ETPyzjc_U As referenced in the video below Tesla explains the cruise control is BETA and to be ready to take over at any moment. I take great exception to the practice Tesla is utilizing of declaring previously standard features "BETA" and making customers deal with their poor results with no accountability. We don't accept BETA seatbelts or BETA tires. This feature was enabled by default on the car upon purchase and it objectively doesn't work safely. This compliant is really an act of desperation as we simply have no other avenue to express our frustration and safety concerns for a half baked feature. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Vehicle was in FSD Beta mode and while taking a left turn the car went into the wrong lane and I was hit by another driver in the lane next to my lane. the car gave an alert 1/2 way through the turn so I tried to turn the wheel to avoid it from going into the wrong lane but the car by itself took control and forced itself into the incorrect lane creating an unsafe maneuver putting everyone involved at risk. car is severely damaged on the driver side. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would experience random braking without input from the driver. The contact stated no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,450 | Crash: No Fire: No | 6,450 |
| Nov 2021 | POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Sudden, hard self breaking when in autopilot mode. Danger of collision at high speeds. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving on well marked highways, the adaptive cruise control would initiate rapid and unsafe braking while using the vehicles “AutoPilot”. The braking is equivalent to a user putting full pressure on a brake pedal, losing 10-20mph by the time I am able to intervene, even if I’m ready to take over. Such rapid deceleration leaves me vulnerable to a rear collision from following drivers There is no warning, and no alarms from the vehicle. The manufacturer has no specific response, other than advising a system reset. The system reset does not solve the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Vehicle applies brakes suddenly while cruise control is active at highway speeds, for no discernible reason. This happens extremely often and has almost caused the person following to rear end me on multiple occasions | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Since purchasing the car less than a month ago, there have been over 100 phantom braking events while using cruise control. The vehicle will suddenly SLAM on the brakes with no apparent reason, even when there are semi trucks following closely behind. The only way I have avoided rear end accidents is by emergency presssing the accelerator. It is incredibly dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Two issues: 1) alarming clunking noise coming from suspension. 2) center command screen froze and then crashed completely (black screen) while driving, which resulted in a loss of controls like turn signals and speed indicator. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | In Feb. 2021 I purchased a new 2021 Tesla Model Y. In August I noticed a crack in the glass ceiling originating from the front edge of glass. We made an appt for 10/19 to have it replaced at the S. Seattle Tesla Service Ctr, assuming the repair would be covered under warranty. We brought the car in on Oct 19. The service rep inspected the crack and very quickly determined that the crack was a result of something hitting the ceiling such as a small rock. The rep's eagerness with her response suggested that she was familiar with this issue and was ready to deny warranty coverage. She told us we should make a claim against our auto insurance policy. We countered that we didn't believe anything had hit the ceiling, and even if it had, the glass should not have cracked that easily. Also, we also pointed out that in all the other cars we've owned we have never experienced rocks being spun up from the road hitting the ceiling. The rep still declined. We went ahead with the repair. We searched the internet for other Tesla owners whose ceiling glass had also cracked and found a number of postings on several forums of customers who had the same disappointing experience we had. It is evident that there is some kind of design flaw that results in the ceiling glass cracking easily. We inquired with a class action law firm who informed us that there is a provision in Tesla's standard warranty in which the consumer agrees not to enter into any class action lawsuits against Tesla and requires arbitration to settle disputes.We wanted to bring this issue to your attention attention because we believe Tesla is well aware of a design flaw that results in the cracking of their glass ceilings and is concealing their knowledge of the frequency of this problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The Dashboard and yes. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? car display has unexpectedly rebooted while I was driving, my display rebooted. It crashed when my passenger was attempting to read the release notes while I was driving. It was night, and after it rebooted, the part of the screen that shows the car and road flashed white, blinding me while driving. I lost the ability to signal or determine if it's signaling, no speed indicator no anything, not even a signal sound. I couldn't control the windshield wiper, when I attempted to turn on the emergency blinkers, I had no visual or audio confirmation that it was working. this lasted for 1-2 minutes. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No as the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving in cruise control at the posted speed limit of 80mph. The conditions were dry and sunny. Without warning the car braked hard and decelerated from 80mph to 69mph in less than a second. The braking was so violent, my head snapped forward and I almost lost control of the car. This 'phantom' braking occurred other times but it was less sever. The unpredictable nature of the adaptive cruise control and emergency braking has prompted me to disable these so-called safety features. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | At random times, without warning, cruise control changes from set speed (e.g. 70mph) to 45mph and vehicle immediately begins hard braking to achieve new set speed. Any cars following may not be able to react quickly enough to avoid a collision if the driver doesn't react quickly enough to command acceleration back to freeway speed. I sent multiple videos of this happening to Tesla's service department. Tesla virtual service has looked at vehicle's logs and says there's nothing wrong with the vehicle and that it must be in how the vehicle is interpreting fleet data and map data. Clearly a software bug not validating it's input for reasonableness. No audible warning and while the cruise set speed does change on the display, the deceleration happens simultaneously, so no actionable visual warning is given to prevent the uncommanded deceleration and one must react immediately. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | SEATS,VISIBILITY/WIPER | UNKNOWN | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tesla has dog mode, camping mode, and climate on mode, which shows the interior temperature on the screen and in the app. The Telsa was in "dog mode" and displayed on the screen and app that the interior of the car was 66 degrees, but A/C was clearly not on and the interior of the car measured near 100 degrees. If I had not checked on the dogs in the car immediately, they would have died. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that the safety restraint system alert was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer on several occasions, but vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified via email but had not responded. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | My car brakes for no apparent reason when cruis control is active of autopilot. Sometime it is about sometimes it is gradual. In one instance on the interstate at 75mph it took me down to 50 befor I could hit the accelerator petal to make it continue. This is a hazard for drivers around me. I have been in contact with tesla multiple time but they have done nothing to fix it. Lane keep assist is also an issue. When the lane keep assist is turned off in the settings it will still preform the lane keeping. This caught me off guard and caused damage to the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | TIRES | Car started violently shaking at 70mph on the highway, almost lost control of the car and hitting the divider, took it to the tire shop they said could be a balance issue looked harder to realer the foam from inside the tire fell apart 255/40r/20 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN | The car has less than 300 miles on it and I hear a loud clunk under the front of the floor by the pedals as if something is loose like the front motor or the suspension. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |