Complaint volume
827 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
827 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2022 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
Buyer interpretation
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
827 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
The most common categories are forward collision avoidance, vehicle speed control,forward collision avoidance, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Enriched records include 80 crash reports, 8 fire reports, 35 injury reports, and 3 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage is available on 73 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 16,603 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
827 total complaints on record
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | STEERING | Steering wheel locked and get error message ul_a020 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the steering wheel seized and the contact briefly lost control of the vehicle before the vehicle returned to normal functionality. Upon arriving to his destination and attempting to park the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shift into reverse. The contact also stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly took control of the steering and jerked into the next lane before he was able to regain control of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 13,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 13,000 |
| Oct 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When I drive a Tesla Model Y under Self-Driving mode at night inside YellowStone NP, there is another car on the opposite side with a high beam turned on, and just near that car there is a bison on the road, the Self-Driving computer fails to detect the bison in the beginning, and too late to do emergency break, the car hit the bison after passing that car. The bison died but driver is safe, the front right head light part and right repeater camera was missing. It's very hard to see the bison in the dark when the other car turns on the high beam, for both humans and cameras, the self-driving without radar or LiDAR is not able to detect the obstacle at the blind spot. I want to report this accident as a reference, the car's self-driving software helped me avoid serious injury. The Tesla FSD(Full Self-Driving or Autopilot) is great but I still hope there's more sensor such as radar or LIDAR can be added to the car for better night vision self-driving. The car deemed a total loss and there is a video from the front dash cam record how this accident happen. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Vehicle started reversing from a parallel parking spot to get enough room in front to exit. Once vehicle reversed enough to exit the parking spot driver confirmed vehicle was switched to drive. Accelerator was pressed and vehicle moved backwards instead of forward. Street was flat and vehicle was stationary from when drive was selected and before accelerator was pressed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Since I have been driving my car, automatic wipers always worked. On Saturday, they refused to work. I could not see while driving. I called Tesla, and they say they know this is a problem but cannot tell me when it will be fixed. I was told lots of other people have this problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Ever since I bought my car, the mat under the brakes and accelerator jams under them, I can get jammed and prevents me from operating them. I had a Lexus and that car was recalled because of car mat jamming problems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | STEERING | While stopped at a stoplight, the assisted steering feature stopped working. It was incredibly difficult to steer my car safely off the street, and was fortunate to not end up in an accident. I took my car to Tesla to be serviced, and they told me that they couldn’t re-create it, and it was most likely a one time issue, disregarding that other Teslas have been recalled for a similar issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving at night with the cruise control on, the emergency braking system engaged. It appeared that the road surface went from dark to a lighter color. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking problem with Tesla Y occurred on I90 between Rapid City and Sioux Falls SD, June 2nd between 1 and 2 pm when my wife and I were traveling across country. I was passing a semi-truck in the left lane and traveling at about 80 mph (the speed limit) with a pickup truck following me. I was using TACC (assisted cruise control) without the Autosteer function, when the Tesla Y slammed on the breaks. It was a panic type of stop and everything in the back seat flew forward and both my wife were shaken. I quickly pressed on the accelerator and was able to increase our speed quickly, but we were almost rear ended by the pickup truck that was following us. I noticed the semi-truck was all red on the Tesla screen and I assume the Tesla computer thought it was a potential collision. After passing the truck I pulled into the right lane. The pickup behind passed me pulled into the right lane and then proceeded to break while he was in front of me. He was not happy and I could not blame him. This almost caused a road rage incident as well. thankfully nothing happened but it was very close to becoming an accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | We have had our Tesla back at at Tesla service center twice pertaining to the HVAC system not delivering airflow needed for proper cooling and defrosting of the windshield. Tonight we were unable to drive because the front window was fogged over and the HVAC system would not de-fog the glass. There was little or no heat being applied to the glass in HI defrost mode. It was necessary to use a rag to wipe the glass so we could continue driving. We live in Northeast Ohio and I’m afraid that when we get snow or ice on the windshield that we will have a serious safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Full self driving (FSD), when engaged on the freeway, occasionally causes needless hard braking (phantom braking). This happens randomly and without warning. When this occurs, I and others road users are at increased risk of an accident and serious injury and/or death. Since there has been no accident the vehicle has not been inspected. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Our High voltage battery died on the side of a highway, stranding us until a tow arrived at 4am. During this time, the onboard hazard lights were activated, and no other vehicle systems besides the standard interior features were active. The low voltage battery died within 35 minutes of the high voltage battery. After the low voltage battery died, we were left on the side of the highway at 4am with no active hazard lights, the emergency vehicle door openers were required to be used, however, the windows were rendered unusable, so the doors could not be effectively shut without risking damage to the windows. Having zero hazard or external lighting emitting from the vehicle after just 35 minutes at 4am on a dark stretch of highway put us in an extremely dangerous situation, and in our opinion, the hazards should have functioned for at least 2-3 hours. The vehicle has since been repurchased from the manufacturer as a lemon due to other unrelated issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | SUSPENSION | Here is a Tesla Model Y in the junkyard. [XXX] The front wheel has wrenched itself off. This phenomenon is known as Full Self Whomping. The car has not been in a crash, no air bags have deployed and there is no other damage to the car apart from the wheel going walkabout. The top ball-joint has simply popped apart which indicates woefull manufacturing and lack of quality control. It is fortunate that this car is still intact and available for inspection by your highly skilled and dedicated experts. In most cases the Full Self Whomping leaves only a mangled blood splattered wreck so that it is hard to prove it was caused by a whompy wheel. This is an opportunity to get out of the office and go to see for yourselves. Please note that I am not the owner. I am simply trying to prevent more loss Dummy USA address used to satisfy your website requirements. My genuine contact details are included with this submission. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving over a water puddle, she heard an abnormally loud, scraping noise coming from the vehicle without warning. Once the contact made it to the residence, she discovered that a part of the undercarriage had detached from the vehicle. Due to the failure, the contact had the vehicle towed to a Tesla Service Center where she was later provided an estimate for the repair; however, the contact was never informed or given an explanation as to the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 21,000 |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There is a bug in the browser that Tesla includes in all of their vehicles that allow people to play videos/movies while driving. Someone sells a device that takes advantage of this bug: https://teslaandroid.com/ The browser needs to be update to prevent this, as it is a major safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | On 9/4/23, I encountered a serious malfunction with my Model Y. The issue in question involved the vehicle crashing into a wall on the top level of a parking structure while using the “Smart Summon” feature in Tesla’s mobile app. The “Smart Summon” feature allows you to use the Tesla app to retrieve the vehicle and have it move to your location (within 12 meters) while you are standing outside of the vehicle. This malfunction rendered the vehicle unsafe to drive and significantly affected its performance. I immediately contacted Tesla's customer support and was advised to take my vehicle to the nearest Tesla Service Center or certified repair service center. The Tesla Service Center located in West Covina, CA, performed a diagnostics inspection and technicians said that due to the “Smart Summon” feature being a beta version, they do not take responsibility for the damage caused. I explained that the “Smart Summon” feature was first released in 2016 and that it’s original feature design is for the vehicle to stop completely if it detects any objects in its path of travel. I also raised the question on what if it was our children or any other pedestrian that could have been injured. I would like to emphasize that my Model Y is only 1.4 year old, purchased in April 2022 and it has been meticulously maintained according to Tesla's recommended guidelines. It is perplexing and disheartening to learn that a significant malfunction, seemingly unrelated to any neglect or misuse on my part, would not be covered by Tesla's warranty. I understand that warranties have limitations, but I firmly believe that the malfunction I experienced falls well within the scope of what should be covered. This situation has placed an unexpected financial burden on me, as the estimated repair costs are substantial at almost $8,000. It also raises questions about the reliability and durability of Tesla vehicles. I kindly request your time and assistance in the matter. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When using cruise control my Model Y will randomly slam on the brakes for no reason. Latest incident was on a two lane highway (HWY 395 in CA) at 1pm. Sunny with perfect visibility. Road condition was no problem. No visual obstacles anywhere that would confuse the cameras. Zero reason for the brakes to be slammed. Luckily there were no cars around me. Especially behind me. This is a common occurrence and very dangerous. This could easily cause someone to rear end me as this happens in spots this shouldn’t and when you least expect it. This has been an issue people have been complaining about for awhile now with no fix. Please help | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The vehicle has suddenly applied automatic emergency braking on numerous occasions when there is no obstruction in the road or potential emergency situation. This often occurs multiple times per trip on longer trips (multiple hours of driving). It seems to happen regardless of whether Autopilot is activated or just cruise control. It seems much more common on hot, sunny days when highway mirages are present but it occasionally happens due to some shadow conditions. None of these situations have resulted in compromised safety but that might have been different if there had been a vehicles immediately behind us. The brakes are applied without warning and the vehicle decelerates rapidly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | State UNKNOWN When I was driving in the freeway from (Sacramento to bay area) last Saturday (09/16/2023) around 6:15PM in I 80 with my friend and tried to change the Auto pilot mode/Cruise control, immediately the vehicle severely steered and vehicle about to go left side and right side in a couple of seconds ( I thought almost lost control). Luckily got the control back. It was about to crash into another lane and luckily no vehicles were nearby. I searched the issues and found out that this issue already reported by many people. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | There was an update last night on my Tesla model y. I've noticed two episodes of phantom breaking after this update this morning when I was driving to work. There was a truck in the next Lane but the car hit the brakes all of a sudden on the highway when the autopilot was on active. It was at a curve on the highway. I'm assuming the car thought that the truck was moving into my lane leading to sudden activation of brakes. This could have been dangerous. Fortunately there was nobody behind me and we were safe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Tesla Incident 9/8/2023 My Tesla Y started moving backwards suddenly while I was driving forward after I accidentally flicked the right drive lever, mistaking it rain wipers. I driving on Henry Hudson parkway in NYC. It was back to back traffic on HHP. The Tesla started racing backward despite my foot off the gas, and I barely had time to brake . Luckily, traffic was very slow due to rain and carbehind had stopped and it was not damaged at all. However, my Tesla trunk was damaged. I am very worried that the car could go from moving forward to backward with accidental flick on the drive lever | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | My dual engine Model Y had bilateral engine failure about 1 month after purchase. While driving on highway, first 1 engine failed, then somehow drove to parking where 2nd 3ngine stopped . Concerned that 2 engines could stop working in 1 month old new Tesla Towed to Tesla repair Correction: Inverter - Front Drive Unit (Remove & Replace) Correction: Pyrotechnic Battery Disconnect (Remove & Replace) Parts Replaced or Added Part Quantity DISCONNECT,BATTERY,PYRO. (1064689-00-J) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Many occurrences of phantom braking have occurred since I purchased the vehicle several months ago. I was driving on I-5 in California with the cruise control set at 70mph, then changed lanes from left lane to right lane with about 5-6 car links from the semi truck to the rear in the right lane. The emergency braking feature engaged with no vehicles in front of me in either lane for at least 500 yards. The semi truck locked up its breaks to avoid rear ending me. I applied the accelerator as quickly as possible and when I did the semi was approximately 3 feet from crashing into the rear of my vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | TIRES | GOODYEAR TIRE, 255/40R20 101W XL I have had to replace 5 tires on my Tesla in 13 months. 3 were from nails, one was from running over a pothole and one was flat from an unknown cause. I have been told by multiple people in the car maintenance field that the tires are not appropriate for the weight of the vehicle therefore are far more prone to imbedded nails and other spontaneous road hazards. I only do basic city driving and avoid industrial/construction zones when able. Also, 2 out of the 5 times I have had a tire with low pressure, the vehicle has indicated the wrong tire. For example, the most recent incident showed my tire pressure at 23 in the front driverside tire, when checked manually the pressure was reading 45 psi in that tire. Went to Tesla and they confirmed the sensor needed to be replaced and made an appointment to have that fixed in 2 weeks when they were available. I continued to drive the vehicle since I was told it “was just a sensor”. The next day, the passenger rear tire was flat but indicated appropriate pressure for that tire on car’s reading. I was horrified that I continued to drive on a low tire for an entire day and did not know because the car was indicating the wrong tire was low in pressure. This could’ve resulted in a blow out or other threat to my safety. Supposedly my sensors have been replaced when I have asked for them to be but the sensors reading the wrong tire pressures is a chronic issue. Tesla is aware the tires are prone to flats, which is why they will not sell you tire coverage. I feel unsafe in this vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STRUCTURE,VISIBILITY/WIPER | I am writing to formally submit a complaint against the Tesla Service Center in Rockville, Maryland. My concerns relate both to a potential safety issue and the subsequent handling of repairs to my vehicle. 1. **Safety Concern:** On 08/25/2023, the driver-side window of my Tesla vehicle shattered spontaneously without any evident external cause. This sudden malfunction while the car was in use is alarming, representing a significant safety concern for passengers and other road users. I believe that such a defect warrants immediate attention, especially if this is a recurring issue among other Tesla vehicles. 2. **Unsatisfactory Service Post-incident:** After bringing my vehicle to the service above center for repairs, I was relieved that the window issue would be addressed under warranty. However, when my car was under Tesla’s care, another Tesla customer hit and damaged it within their premises. What is profoundly distressing is how the service center addressed this matter. Instead of accepting responsibility for an accident that happened in their domain, they deflected responsibility, advising me to coordinate with the other car owner for repairs. This has not only added to my inconvenience, but it has also cost me additional time off from work to address damages that were not my fault. Moreover, now I am faced with being without my vehicle for an extended period, given that the body shop estimates a 4-5 day repair timeline. In total, I have been without my car for nearly two weeks due to the initial window concern and the subsequent collision. This situation has raised concerns about the structural safety of Tesla vehicles and the integrity and responsibility of their service centers. Such a dismissive approach to customer care is unexpected from a brand of Tesla's stature. I strongly believe that no customer should face such challenges and inconvenience, especially when entrusting their vehicle to a service center. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |