Complaint volume
811 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
2022 Tesla Model Y Complaints
811 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2022 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
811 Total complaints
76 Crash reports
8 Fire reports
32 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, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 76 crash reports, 8 fire reports, 32 injury reports, and 3 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 72 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 16,139 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, unknown or other?
- 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 2022 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.
2022 Tesla Model Y
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2022 Tesla Model Y complaints?
76 Crash
8 Fire
32 Injury
3 Fatality
51 Towed
24 Medical attention
What are the most common 2022 Tesla Model Y complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 224
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 66
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 47
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 46
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 35
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 28
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 21
SERVICE BRAKES 19
SEAT BELTS 17
SUSPENSION 15
811 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Multiple occasions while using autopilot on 2 lane roads when semi trucks are coming in the opposite direction the Tesla will brake hard saying impending accident when the semi is staying in its lane ….it happens about 80 percent of the time. It’s so bad I will not use this feature till it’s fixed as it’s dangerous | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom Braking is real and out of control… I have owned this car only 6 weeks and the cruise control is DANGEROUS. The car has slammed on the brakes numerous times for NO reason ! Last week, driving down interstate, TACC on. Nothing near me. Relaxed, happy, enjoying the car…….WHAM! it slammed on the brakes so hard my wife and I were pushed into our seat belts, my hands came off the steering wheel and our heads were thrown forward. Almost instantly the brakes released, the car surges forward and our heads are flung back. A nerve was pinched in my neck during that whiplash and now my right shoulder muscle has been tensed up for days. Guess what? It happened again today. This system needs to be fixed, auto braking disabled, or pulled off the market. How can ANYBODY think this is OK? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking concern with new Tesla model Y. While driving on two lane highway at night between Las Vegas and Phoenix both directions on separate days phantom blacking makes the adaptive cruise control unusable. Almost every time a vehicle is spotted approaching at a distance the car will suddenly hard brake. My concern is being rear ended by someone if they are close behind. This is not with FSD just adaptive cruise. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The car brakes are applied when a truck traveling in opposite lane drives by when the cruise control is engaged. This has also occurred when there was discoloration on the road surface in my travel lane. Fortunately, no auto was following my vehicle or there would have been an accident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Both the autopilot and regular cruise control system without autopilot engaged are unsafe. The vehicle will brake, often extremely hard, when there is no hazard present. This happens on two lane roads and highways (4 or more lanes). This has nearly caused multiple accidents to the point where I will not use the autopilot feature and use cruise control very sparingly. Most of the time this happens, there are large trucks (semis) present but it has happened when there are smaller vehicles present or no vehicles present at all. I believe that it is only a matter of time before this system causes a major accident hence I choose not to use it often if ever, and if I do use it I use it sparingly and disengage it when other vehicles are present on the road. I haven’t used autopilot since a short while after purchasing the car and again, I use the cruise control sparingly. The inability to use cruise control is a real issue as it not only increases driver fatigue, it drastically reduces the confidence in the other safety mechanisms of the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While traveling east and west on I-8 between San Diego and Phoenix the 2022 Tesla Model Y would suddenly brake. We could not reliably reproduce when or how the vehicle braked. On some occasions, we were near other vehicles. On other occasions there were no other vehicles or obstacles on or near the car. Others at risk. On the highway the vehicle rapidly decelerated and if there would have been a car behind us, there would have been an accident. After the first two incidents, we kept our foot on the gas pedal to accelerate if we felt a rapid deceleration. Reproducing the problem. We rarely drive the car, and have not had the problem in city driving. We tried to reproduce the problem during that trip, but we're unsuccessful. We have not taken the vehicle to Tesla. Inspection. The vehicle is not been inspected by an insurance company or Tesla. Warnings. We did not see any warning lights or alerts concerning the problem. After the first two incidents, we paid attention to the screen to see if any warnings appeared to help us identify the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Tesla Model Y and I believe the Model 3 have a problem with phantom breaking. The problem occurs when we set the auto to cruise control on a two-lane highway. When we meet a large object (semi, garbage truck, propane truck) the car breaks and swerves to the right. This can create a very dangerous situation. The first couple of times this happened we almost lost control of the car. There is no warning before this happens. This problem can be easily replicated on cars without radar. It took us some time to determine what was causing the problem. We picked up our new Tesla Model last week and were not made aware of what would happen if we used cruise control on a two-lane road. We have since discovered that this is a known problem in the Tesla community and has been known for some time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Was driving using Autopilot eastbound on WA State Highway 970 about 10 am on January 15, 2022. The road is a 2 line state highway. We were driving about 55 mph. A semi trailer truck rig approached in the opposite lane headed west. Just before the truck passed by us, without warning, our car began to brake hard. The truck and our car were both well within our respective lanes. It had been wet and there was spray from the truck. I immediately disengaged Autopilot. Fortunately, there was no traffic behind me, so the sudden hard braking did not affect anyone else. I have not taken the vehicle in for any inspection as it was delivered less than a month earlier. Since this appears to be a software issue, I have not had the problem reproduced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,VISIBILITY/WIPER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While on auto pilot, phantom braking at high speeds on highway with no cars nearby. No warning on the monitor when this happens. Long wait at the service center for appointment but this issue has been communicated to Tesla. Car resumes the cruise speed almost immediately after phantom braking. Also communicated to Tesla is that the wipers do not always automatically come on with moisture on windshield when set in auto mode. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Model Y exhibits "phantom braking" when adaptive cruise control is engaged. This happens every time a large truck is passing in the opposite lane on a two lane road. If another driver is behind our vehicle, they may not be able to stop to avoid a crash. Corrective action is to turn off adaptive cruise control or step on accelerator to override the braking. In addition, the car will also perform "phantom braking" when there is no discernible issue, with no traffic in front of our vehicle or sometimes on a left turn when there is a guard rail on the right. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When on Traffic-aware cruise control, the vehicle suddenly brakes without warning, instantly reducing its highway speed by 7 to 12 mph. It occurs on the interstate, often while passing large vehicles, and on two-lane roads, usually when meeting large vehicles. Recently, as I was moving in front of a vehicle I had just passed, my car slammed on the brakes, causing the other vehicle to brake sharply to avoid hitting me. We have had the vehicle serviced by Tesla twice with no improvement. The service rep indicated it is a known problem that they have not yet been able to solve (unlike the manufacturers of my prior six vehicles with adaptive cruise control). This is a life-endangering fault and needs to be fixed. It is as dangerous as the rolling-stop issue that prompted a recall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,VISIBILITY/WIPER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My Tesla has been braking for no reason. This weekend we took a road trip to Sun Valley. Once in a while when cresting a hill my car would go into hard braking. It would also do this when a semi or larger vehicle was coming in the opposite direction on a two lane road. The lane departure system would also become disabled for no apparent reason. The wipers are the worst. They have no concept of automatic, there will be no rain and they will start wiping on high. And sometimes when there is rain they won't even wipe, I have to operate them manually. This is very distracting and makes hard to focus on the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | With AutoPilot engaged both during the day and at night, though more frequently at night, and driving on two lane highways, the car automatically brakes sometimes very hard causing your neck to snap forward, whenever it detects oncoming traffic. This is amplified at dusk and at night. There is no warning or time to override this. Making the vehicle dangerous to driver, occupants, or cars travelling behind the Tesla. Tesla claims that this is a known issue, but other brands with similar safety mechanisms do not have this "Phantom Braking' condition. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom breaking. When I am driving my vehicle in both cruise control, and autopilot I experience these very very dangerous symptoms. On 2 lane highways is the worst. When I see a semi truck oncoming my vehicle will go from the 65MPH speed limit and SLAM on the brakes sending me from 65-15 MPH immediately. Have almost been rear ended 10+ times in 3,000 miles of owning the vehicle! This is the most dangerous machine I have ever driven. Tesla needs to fix this. It has to do with them removing the radar and going to camera only autopilot. My other older teslas with radar do not do this. There’s no on at Tesla to talk to other than to tweet at Elon musk on twitter and hope he sees it. Ridiculous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Adaptive Cruise Control was unusable without consistent phantom breaking issues. Brand new car driving home a few hours I encountered phantom breaking on 2 lane and 4 lane highways during the night and during the day. It was so consistent that I basically could not use the cruise control at all as it was unsafe to have the car randomly break when at highway speeds with nothing in front of me and vehicle behind me. There is no way to turn off and leave off the adaptive part that effects the breaking and simply use a set speed cruise control. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Model Y consistently slams on the brakes while on standard cruise control mode despite there being no cars or hazards around the vehicle. It happens at highway speeds and is very frightening and it’s worrisome that it will one day cause a major accident if someone is ever following too close. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While adaptive cruise control is engaged, the system seems to incorrectly interpret a potential head-on collision and brakes hard and usually plays the alarm sound. I've had this car around two months and have found that this usually happens on a two-lane highway while traveling at 50-60 mph and when a box truck or larger is approaching from the opposite direction. It's worst when the sun is bright and casts a shadow of the truck and trailer across my lane. But it occasionally happens at night and when conditions are cloudy. I have to keep my foot over the accelerator pedal and force the car to keep speed, especially if there is a car close behind me. Otherwise, I'm scared I'll cause the tailing car to hit me. It's not as bad if there is a car in front of me. If no cars are in front of me, and cars are behind me, I'll disengage adaptive cruise in order to avoid causing a collision. I have not had Tesla look into this, however, I have seen comments online that others experience this problem as well. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Sudden abrupt braking for no reason when on adaptive cruise control and autopilot very dangerous for drivers behind me | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING with Adaptive cruise control on. I was driving with adaptive cruise control on, at about 50 mph on a two lane road. the first experience I had was at dusk on a straight road when oncoming traffic with headlights seemed to trigger the braking system changing the speed of the car by about 10 mph repeatedly but not every car or truck. When I entered a curvy road section, it didn't trigger the brakes. The second experience was around noonish on a straight road, a large oncoming truck seemed to trigger the Automatic emergency braking and brought me suddenly to almost a stop from 50 mph. I looked behind me and saw no one close to rear ending me but it was scary to almost stop in the middle of my lane. no confirmation by dealer or service center, no inspection by others, no messages or other symptoms prior to the failure. No chimes or warning when it happened. The first experience appeared January 14, 2022 with approximately 350 miles on the new car. The second experience happened January 19th with approximately 450 miles on the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On January 19th, around 9:35-9:40am, while driving on Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon, the car jerked as if someone rear-ended it and then stopped abruptly in the middle of a busy road. The information screen displayed various error messages regarding battery and drive system. The stop was abrupt and we could have been seriously injured in busy traffic. This was a scary experience. The car had 260 miles range in the battery and no prior warnings/ messages indicating any problem. We called 911 and Tesla roadside assistance for help. San Ramon PD showed up and blocked the lane to avoid someone hitting our car. They had the car towed to the nearest Tesla Service Center in Dublin, CA. While waiting for the tow truck, we attempted to restart the car and computer system two times but the car did not go into "Drive" position to be moved. The service center is diagnosing the problem and have informed us that it could be a problem with the motor or drive terrain or inverter of the car. All these are major and crucial components on the car for safe and normal operation. Failure of any of these is catastrophic and can be fatal on freeway speeds or local roads if someone is following too closely and the car stops abruptly. We usually have kids in the car and this is a scary situation to imagine. This needs to be investigated in more detail by someone to find out how many card suffer this fate and how many accidents/ fatalities have been caused by something like this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on 2 Lane Rd. Using Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC). 45-50 MPH. Vehicle will brake suddenly when a large vehicle cement truck, school bus approaches in opposite lane. It also happens when I am passing a bicyclist on my right side. It also happens intermittently but not as severely when there is nothing around me. This is a very dangerous situation because of the possibility of a rear end collision caused by the sudden braking. It is a reoccurring problem. I have not contacted Tesla as I assume that was a known problem. There was no advance warning of the braking. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | After taking the vehicle on a road trip through Canada, the vehicle’s heating and cooling system failed. We had been driving for ~15 hours. The error message was VCFRONT_a447 Cabin Climate control system requires service. This is a safety issue for traveling in cold climates as well as eliminating fog on the windshield that would cause a driver to lose visibility. A two button reset did not resolve the issue. A hard reset seemed to, but 15 minutes back onto the road, we saw the same error message again, and the heating no longer was warm. Please take action to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range frequently experiences "phantom braking" and false emergency braking. Even without the use of "autopilot," the vehicle will abruptly slow down or even hard brake. No warnings, no messages, nothing. Each time, there is nothing in front of the vehicle, no curves, clear weather, etc. In another scenario, such as driving down a neighborhood street with curves, it thinks you are going to hit a parked car, and slams on the brakes as well. At least here you do get an alert indicating what the car was thinking. Even though it was clearly mistaken. Had it properly accounted for steering position, would have realized there was no danger. This is all extremely dangerous and is just asking for an accident due to being rear-ended. In addition, there have been many complaints about this on the forum for years, and even the latest software updates have not resolved. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autopilot How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Yes. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? It has been confirmed by Tesla. Has 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 warning lamps or lights. The issue appeared a couple of days after I took delivery of my Tesla Model Y. Please read for details below. This car is UNDRIVEABLE due to its Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) System. Tesla does not provide a basic Cruise Control that just conforms to a set speed. A driver is left with no option but to use their TACC or Autopilot both of which are utter garbage. Every couple or so miles my Model Y slows down in the best case scenario or slams the brakes for no apparent reason in the worst case scenario. My car has made me and my passengers sick because of this issue. Not to mention that at multiple occasions while driving on a highway my car has slammed the brakes when there was NOTHING in front of it, almost causing the car coming behind me to almost rear-end us. This is dangerous and stressful for my family and I and for people who drive behind my car. This is a massive safety issue which makes the car un-usable for long drives. Even the most basic car from the 1990s has a cruise control yet Tesla does not provide that option in their cars. So a person has to resort to using the TACC or Autopilot both of which are useless and dangerous because of this phantom braking issue. Please have Tesla provide a fix for this dangerous problem. This makes my car un-usable for long drives. Please help!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | WHEELS | Vehicle was sold to me on 12/23/2021 (winter) in Paramus NJ. Tesla did not notify or otherwise inform me that this Performance Model Y comes with summer tires. A week ago my wife found she had little to no traction on wheels while going to work - she almost had an accident. A friend told me i might have summer tires. Tesla website has no info on this topic. After contact Tesla support they confirmed that this vehicle has summer Tires. I think Tesla is putting drivers in danger by letting them drive off the lot in summer tires during winter months and not informing them of it. Additionally, the summer tires immediately loose warranty when used in temperatures below 40 degrees. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |