Complaint volume
1068 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
2023 Tesla Model Y Complaints
1068 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
1068 Total complaints
137 Crash reports
3 Fire reports
45 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, steering, vehicle speed control,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 137 crash reports, 3 fire reports, 45 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 74 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 13,628 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to forward collision avoidance, steering, vehicle speed control,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 2023 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.
2023 Tesla Model Y
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2023 Tesla Model Y complaints?
137 Crash
3 Fire
45 Injury
1 Fatality
92 Towed
34 Medical attention
What are the most common 2023 Tesla Model Y complaint categories?
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 184
STEERING 97
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 65
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 60
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 54
SUSPENSION 53
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 36
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 34
VISIBILITY/WIPER 32
SEAT BELTS 26
1,068 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2023 | AIR BAGS | Airbag did not deploy / system failed at the time of the car accident happens. My safety was at risked during the time of accident. There were no indications, warning, messages or symptoms of the problems when the accident occurred. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | During driving this vehicle on road, this steering wheel wheel was suddenly locked, and cannot be turned. This caused the vehicle stopped making any turns. There was no any warning/messages/symptom before this incident happened. I had to go straight and stopped/parked the vehicle on roadside. After several power off and restarting, the steering wheel was still locked. Called Tesla tech support, the problem cannot be solved. Then had the vehicle been towed to Tesla service center. Tesla technician confirmed seeing error log info. It is under investigation now. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The incident occurred because the car in front of me made a sudden stop (there was a 3-car accident ahead of the car in front of me). In response to the sudden stop I hit the brakes hard on my car but my car failed to completely; it kept moving forward until I hit the car in front of me. I was not tailgating the car in front of me and had plenty of room to stop as I braked. Video recording from the Tesla showed the sufficient distance between my car and the car in front of me. I re-recorded using my phone, I can upload it for your review but the size is about 30MB and in .mov format | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | I got the dreaded ul_a020 error - "Steering assist reduced" today while driving our model Y - barely 3 months old with 2K miles. The steering became very stiff and I could barely move it, had to use all my forrce to rotate the steering wheel and move the car to the side. it very scary, I parked, got out and then drove again, it happened again. Thankfully I was not too far away from home, so somehow got back. The steering is not smooth anymore now. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While on cruise control on US-93 North bound on between mile marker 116 and 110 ghost breaking occurs. Can cause an accident. It happened multiple times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | Steering wheel locked after only 9k miles on the car. Won’t turn so cannot drive the car. Brand new car. God forbid this happens while driving the car on road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | Power steering appeared to be off when trying to drive car. Could not turn wheel at all. Car was towed to tesla service and told the power steering rack has an internal issue and needs to be replaced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Our Tesla seems to be experiencing regular phantom braking events. We just had an event today while traveling on the freeway. Our Tesla unexpectedly applied the brakes without warning as if it was trying to avoid a collision. No objects were in sight. Our cruise control was active and we don’t have autopilot. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | Please note that I am not the owner of the vehicle and I am making this report in the public interest to try and save lives. The defect affects all 2023 Tesla Model Y cars and I have used the VIN of a junkyard Model Y to be able to complete the form. I have also used a fictitious USA address to satisfy your website requirements. My genuine contact details are available I understand that it is perfectly lawful for a non USA resident and a non owner to file a complaint. A Tesla Forum in Germany has a report from an owner detailing severe corrosion on the Ground terminal on his [XXX] car. This looks like galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals. I think a bad ground connection might be the reason for the spate of power steering complaints on this model and possibly also causing brake booster failure. Tesla has been blaming the steering rack and replacing it. I think it is highly unlikely that the steering rack is faulty and it is much more likely that bad ground connections are the cause. The 2023 Model Y has some changes from the 2022 model including the use of so large aluminum castings. I think this may increase the risk of Galvanic corrosion and be the cause of the alarming increase in failures. Fatal crashes into oncoming vehicles may have been caused by this. Here is the thread: [XXX] Quote: Premature corrosion MY? Tesla Model Y Model Y Issues/Errors 19 March locobmw 19 March A bit frightening - after 3 months the contacts are already badly corroded. I'm going to report this to the SEC INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The vehicle completely locked me out. It was unresponsive to key card access as well as unresponsive to mobile app access. I was unable to unlock or open any door/latch/trunk or frunk. I’m no one was inside because they would’ve been stuck with no way out. This is a major safety concern. I happened to be in a safe area but if this were on a really hot day or if people/minors/children were in the car, it could’ve been fatal. This is a design flaw in the vehicle. If the 12V battery dies, the car locks and you cannot get in or out. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When accelerating to highway speed the automatic emergency braking (AES) erroneous engaged. The AES appeared to register a tie-down strap going from the center front of the model Y to the cargo on the roof as a pedestrian. This resulted in the car coming to a complete stop while merging onto the highway (decelerating from approx. 45 mph to a complete stop) which risked causing a rear end collision. The AES again erroneously engaged when puling to the side of the road. I disengaged the AES, but the pedestrian warning continued to light-up sporadically for the remainder of the trip at a range of speeds (although braking did not engage). Prior to the AES engaging there was no warning or alarm. There has been no inspection of the vehicle. A "bug report" is being filed with Tesla. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Abrupt, rapid, unannounced deceleration with no apparent cause. Has happened multiple times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | While driving I lost the ability to steer. The steering wheel completely locked almost. This was a huge safety risk, as I was in the middle of a busy road in Los Angeles. I went to the Tesla service center today and they were closed. No warning lights came on. The same thing happened again today. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | We parked the car in parking lot of a grocery store. Someone was able to open the car using his/her phone key and drove off and when realized a mistake, parked the car a mile away. At the same time, there was another car which was responding to my Tesla phone app. I called 911 to report stolen car and using the Tesla app which reported the correct location after 15 min, were able to get the car back. This is safety issue as someone was able to open the car using a different phone key and could have created a lot of trouble if it would not have been just a mistake. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | Power steering failed repeatedly. Car was extremely difficult to steer. This only happened at low speeds, so there was no immediate danger. The car displayed various error messages. Took the car to the dealer, they confirmed it was an issue and replaced the Steering Rack. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | On September 3/2023 at around 9am I was driving my Tesla Y. I stopped on a traffic light on an intersection and on my green light started to turn left. However my steering wheel was not turning, it has stuck. It was very scary because of the intense incoming traffic. I turned my car on parking and then started again but nothing has changed. Tried this a few times without any success. My car only moved straight forward and backward. Then two drivers stopped and started to help me. They stopped incoming traffic and one of them helped me to turn the steering wheel left to move my car from the middle of the intersection. Two of us barely did this together and moved the car to the side of the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | SEAT BELTS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | The car was going at the speed limit or maybe 5-9 miles over speed limit when brakes were pumped to stop car as there was stop and go traffic on a bridge in bay area (CA). The car had quite a distance from the car in front of it. Despite brakes being applied, the car seemed to accelerate and brakes had to be applied hard. However, the car did not stop until it hit the honda in front of it. As the driver of the Telsa at the time of the accident, it seems as though car was accelerating despite brakes being applied. A huge sound was heard by me the driver and then the driver eat belt became malfunctioned and the car would not restart. After a few minutes, the car restarted but now the dash board states service needed and I could no longer fasten the seat belt. The front of the car appeared to have minimal bumper damage but the seat has not worked since the accident. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving with the cruise control activated and set at 75 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal with excessive force for the vehicle to continue driving forward. The failure occurred approximately 5 times. There were no warning lights illuminated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 4,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 4,000 |
| Sep 2023 | STEERING | I had an error message that power steering was not available and I was unable to steer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was pulling up to a ticket machine in a parking garage. I had my foot on the accelerator and was using regenerative braking and was essentially stopped. I was short a few inches from the button to get the ticket so applied almost no pressure to the accelerator – more like a tap so I could go forward a few inches. The car went into full acceleration mode, broke through the ticket machine barrier and kept accelerating. As soon as I sensed going forward too fast, I took my foot off the accelerator and put it onto the brake. I did not feel any response from the brake. With my foot. I managed to steer away from a wall in front of the car but hit a parked car. The impact pushed that car into a second car and then that car pushed into a third car and the third car pushed into a fourth car. My car was totaled as well as three others. Fortunately, the impacted vehicles were unoccupied and there were no pedestrians. No warning beeps or emergency braking occurred. One of my passengers had minor injuries (3 fractured ribs). A police report was filed. Previously (3 or 4 weeks prior to crash) I had an incident in an above ground parking lot. I had pulled into a parking space, backed up to straighten out then was pulling forward towards the curb. I took my foot off the accelerator, but the car kept going very slowly instead of regeneratively braking as it had done before. I put my foot on the brake. It was unresponsive. I kept pressing and finally it engaged, and I was able to stop the car about five feet over the curb and into the grass. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I bought Tesla in May 2023. My Tesla Model Y has suddenly accelerated in my garage on 08/29 @8.25pm EST and damaged my garage front door/drywall and broken my stair case in pieces. It was phantom acceleration. I have video from my ring security system camera video which shows clearly that I was parking in my garage extremely carefully, however the Tesla Model Y suddenly accelerated beyond my control (I was not accelerating) and put me under risk and damaged my property. I have auto insurance to cover my Tesla car damage. However, my biggest fear is how can I use this Tesla Model Y when we see this life threatening behavior. This unintended acceleration can put my life and others life into danger. I would like help from NHTSA to ensure my Tesla Model Y is defect free. I just bought couple of months ago. I would like to request NHTSA to help me get this product replaced from Tesla motors. I am afraid to drive this vehicle now. I am currently going through a big shock, trauma and fear that I may have severely injured people on the road or my family members in garage if this unintended sudden acceleration would have happened around them. The damaged vehicle is outside my garage. It is not drivable. Vehicle front bumper is completely damaged and fluid has been leaking. I have filed insurance claim. I don't know what should I do right now. I would like to seek advice from legal sources on my options. My car is covered under my insurance, however I don't know if my car is fixed - I can drive this vehicle with confidence due to this strange unintended acceleration issues. Please help me at the earliest. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This is a report of a RECURRING problem commonly known as "phantom braking." When I take long trips in this vehicle at legal freeway speeds and with the Adaptive Cruise Control and Auto Steer (lane keeping) functions engaged, the vehicle will occasionally reduce speed suddenly and violently (emergency braking) even if there are no vehicles ahead and no visible hazards whatsoever. This occurs without warning and for no reason when cruising on open, straight interstate highways. In a typical 5-8 hour driving day on long trips, this will occur 1-2 times daily. If other vehicles were to be following closely behind, this would certainly cause a serious rear end collision or pile up. The vehicle gives no advance warning and no alarms sound. The car just brakes suddenly and violently scaring the bejesus out of my spouse. I have learned to step hard on the accelerator the moment this occurs which will partially offset the severe braking action so that any vehicles behind do not need to brake suddenly. I do wonder what the heck any drivers behind think when they see the Tesla suddenly brake hard then accelerate immediately back to speed. I worries me too that some aggressive driver behind might think I am doing this intentionally and get into a road rage incident with me. People have been shot and killed for less. I don't understand why this has not yet been addressed seriously by Tesla or NHTSA. This is a SERIOUS and dangerous defect! Thank you. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while making a right turn into a parking lot, the vehicle independently accelerated without warning. The contact steered the vehicle to the right and ran over two road barriers before he crashed into a parked vehicle. The air bags deployed upon impact. The contact was temporarily trapped in the vehicle due to the driver’s side door failing to open. The door eventually unlocked as the authorities arrived at the scene. The contact was taken to the hospital via an ambulance and was treated for bruises to his left hand. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent tow yard where it remained in their possession. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to repaired. The failure mileage was 240. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | 240 |
| Aug 2023 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power, stalled, and shutoff. The vehicle was restarted. The message, "Vehicle Will Shut Down - Pull Over Safely" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 5,100. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 5,100 |
| Aug 2023 | STEERING | Steering system completely failed during driving. Thankfully I was in a parking lot at the time. The car had to be towed to my home from over 100 miles away. I’m towing it back to Tesla service this morning, August 28, 2023. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |