Complaint volume
1069 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
1069 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
1069 Total complaints
138 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 138 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?
138 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
1,069 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2023 | STEERING | My model y was park in our garage and when we decided to go out to get some food around 7pm and when I started backing out the steering wheel seems “locked” that like 5 seconds after the car start moving… I move it forward so it won’t be in the street or side wall and I tried to walk away and lock it and it happened again. I did for 5 times and I even ask people who we know that have Tesla and I even turn the power off and waited two minutes and still the steering wheel locks up. I made an appointment and for this Thursday and I added that the car is undriveable because it seems like their help service in the app says “bring all the keys”… I have been reading online about and how to troubleshoot but it seems like it’s a defective “electrical component” and it’s been happening to other people as well and some was driving in the freeway. We love our Tesla but why and how these things pass their quality checks? Please check their products as in cars for the safety of everyone. I have my fiancée and two kids in their car seat when this thing happened and I’m glad we weren’t in the freeway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking while using cruise control on interstates. The automatic emergency braking caused severe slowdown reducing speed of vechicle from 75-55mph. On a 900 mi road trip phantom braking occured a minium of 12 times each direction. Sudden and unexcpeted braking nearly caused accidents on numerous occasions. As vehichles following were not expecting a sudden reduction in speed without cause. In no case was there an obvious trigger, so signs, shadows, debris, or any logical explanation for the dangerous sudden reduction in speed. Tesla service center in Madison, WI stated it was most likley 'just' a software issue. Tesla is not responsive to conerns and gravity of situation. Tesla service said they would inspect vehicle cameras but that would take several weeks, offered no loaner car, and dissmissed any cause for concern repeating the issue was simply a software issue that required drivers to better report 'bugs' and that more cars needed to drive these 'routes' (I-80 and I-76 in this case) in order for more accurate navigation. Vehichle repeatidly turned back on automatic emergency braking despite driver having disabled this feature. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking in cruise control almost caused being rear ended. This happens all the time! Super dangerous | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Tesla's forward collision system gave another false warning: on June 15, 2023 at 10:00am on Reston Pkwy at Reston, VA while I was traveling around 25mph for a car in front of me, with more than plenty of space between cars. This false warning caused a lot of confusion on my side, I tried to figure out what was wrong, the false warning itself distracted from the road. I can see the Tesla's false warning causing accidents in some cases. This needs immediate attention. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Automatic hold disabled. I had multiple instances where automatic hold was disabled. If driver isn’t paying attention to screen it is hard to know and car rolls back on wheel. Earlier when I encountered this issue vehicle was rolling back and my wife caught this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated, causing the vehicle to abruptly decelerate. The contact stated that during the failure, there was no other vehicles or objects nearby to cause the system to be activated. The contact stated that the failure recurred every 5 miles after the initial failure occurred. After deactivating the Adaptive Cruise Control, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The mechanic stated that no hardware failures were found. The contact stated that the failure recurred whenever the Adaptive Cruise Control was activated, while there was no other vehicles or objects nearby. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 5,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 5,000 |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My Tesla Model Y is experiencing phantom braking, due presumably to a faulty collission avoidance safety system. With cruise control enabled (not autopilot with lane keeping, only cruise control by depressing the stalk once vs. twice for lane keep) the car will phantom brake, where it slams on the brakes thinking their is a vehicle in its path when there is no vehicle in the front lane. This has happened to us on a clear toll road in Southern California on Hwy 73, both on June 7th, 2023 and in April/May 2023, where the Tesla slams on its brakes, decelerating us from 65mph to 38mph and below (at which point I slammed the accelerator pedal to avoid a rear end collission), with vehicles directly behind us, almost causing a dangerous accident. This happened with my three children in the back seat. We have experiencing this phantom braking twice in the last 2 months. In all cases the vehicle was well centered in the lane and there was no vehicle in the lane ahead of us, nor did we recently change lanes. I created a service ticket with Tesla, including bringing it into the service center at Lake Forest, CA, as scheduled, and they explained in person that there is nothing they can do, that they are unable to retrieve any video footage from the vehicle, and sent us away without even looking at the vehicle, replacing any hardware, hardware testing, or test driving it for themselves. We are at a complete loss of what to do with this vehicle that is only 6 months old. The vehicle has no warning lights or error messages prior to any of these failures. I feel that this vehicle is unsafe for my family to drive and Tesla is not putting forth reasonable effort to fix the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | This is regarding “phantom braking.” Whenever I engage adaptive cruise control invariably the car will slam on the brakes at random times. Typically on a 350 mile drive I experienced roughly 4 instances. In conclusion I deem this feature too dangerous to use unless the interstate is relatively empty of traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My car keeps giving false alarm which itself causes a lot of confusion and safety hazards. This incident took place on June 13, 2023 at 6:13pm on Rte 602/Reston Highway at Reston, VA. While I was driving on the right lane slowly, Tesla fired a false alarm for the car traveling in front of me, at that time my speed was about 15mph and there was plenty space between the cars. I filed bug report with the manufacturer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | STEERING | We purchased the vehicle new approximately 2 weeks ago. After about a week, the steering wheel would lock up randomly. This occurred 6 times on different dates before we were able to get it to the Tesla service department. The vehicle currently remains at Tesla for the next 3 weeks while we await a new steering rack/motor. The vehicle would lock while in the park position but we were still able to move forward and backward. I’ve read other instances where this has occurred in other Tesla vehicles. The safety concern is this could have occurred while driving which would have ended in unfavorable circumstances. This should not be happening in a brand new vehicle and the fact that this has occurred in other Tesla vehicles is very concerning. I’ve uploaded photos of the errors that showed on the screen when the problem occurred. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I merged onto a 2 lane highway that has cross traffic. The speed limit was 65 mph. I was driving with cruise control (Autopilot) at the speed limit when the car braked very hard. The closest car in front of me was about 0.25 miles and there was no oncoming or cross traffic. I am lucky that there was no car behind me because I would have been rear ended because the breaking was so severe. This is the second time in a month that this occurred. During the first occurrence a truck was crossing the road about 500 feet ahead of me. The car over reacted and braked, but at least there was an apparent reason. Today's event was completely inexplicable. I have decided to stop using Autopilot on two lane roads - it's too unpredictable. I wish the car had regular dumb old cruise control - it would be safer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while parked and loading personal items into the rear cargo space, the automatic liftgate independently closed, and the contact was hit on the top of the head. The contact stated that the liftgate feature had not engaged, which normally raised the liftgate to the open position once contact was made with an object other than the gate latch. The contact stated that the liftgate closed automatically after she had backed away after being hit on the head. The contact stated that it was painful, but she did not seek medical attention. The contact stated that a warning chime had not sounded. The contact stated that the liftgate failure had occurred before. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,251. | Crash: No Fire: No | 7,251 |
| Jun 2023 | STEERING | 2 weeks old car. 350 miles. Coming out of the shopping center, suddenly steering wheel did not steer. It was hard and saw the alert. Went to very close to opposite side of traffic and some how made it to across the road inside the shopping center | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I purchased a [Car Make, Model, Year] on [Date of Purchase] with the understanding that the vehicle was in excellent condition and safe for all passengers. Unfortunately, my experience has been far from satisfactory, as I have discovered multiple issues that were not disclosed to me during the purchase process. First and foremost, the car was misrepresented regarding its safety features and its suitability for passengers riding in the back. Since my purchase, I have noticed significant safety concerns for individuals seated in the back of the vehicle. The lack of proper safety restraints, along with inadequate seat belt functionality, poses a serious risk to the well-being of those riding in the rear seats. I find it deeply troubling that these critical safety aspects were not made known to me prior to the purchase. Moreover, my discontent is further compounded by the fact that, merely two months after my purchase, I discovered that the prices for the same make and model of the car were drastically reduced. This revelation indicates that I paid an inflated price for the vehicle, which is both unfair and unjustifiable. I believe it is only reasonable that I be compensated for this disparity, as it implies a breach of trust and fair business practices. Considering the circumstances described above, I kindly request the following actions to be taken: 1.Conduct a thorough inspection and rectification of the safety issues pertaining to the vehicle, specifically addressing the concerns related to passengers in the back seats. 2.Provide me with compensation for the price discrepancy, reflecting the difference between the price I paid and the drastically reduced prices that were implemented soon after my purchase. 3.Offer an apology for the misrepresentation and lack of disclosure during the sale, which has caused me significant inconvenience and distress. I believe that resolving this matter in an amicable manner is in the best interest of both parties involved. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? — Driver’s side rear view mirror. Mirror vibrates to a point where rear view is blurred and no longer clearly visible to driver. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? No event, however I have been unable to clearly see traffic behind me when traveling 60mph+ due this defect. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, I have taken it to the Tesla dealership in Raleigh, NC 3 times for the same issue. They have openly acknowledged the defect across all Model Y’s and have no fix. The team tightened the mirror, replaced the mirror, added padding behind without any luck. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Yes, I drove the vehicle with a Tesla mechanic at the Tesla dealer in Raleigh, NC— he acknowledged the defect. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? This is a Day 0 manufacturing issue since I purchased the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | At 10 AM on a sunny day on Sunday driving on a highway at ~68 MPH on autopilot, car suddenly applied the breaks causing it to stop but I applied accelerator to prevent rear end accident. Accident avoided because road didn’t have much traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control or Autonomous Self Driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,008. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,008 |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While using Tesla's Adaptive Cruise Control on the highway, the car's Automatic Emergency Braking system applied brakes and decelerated rapidly with no obstacle on the road, as if an immanent crash was about to happen. The risk was greatest when it happened with a car traveling behind us and didn't anticipate my car braking since there was no reason to do so. My wife and I felt like we could be rear-ended. This happened several times over many days traveling across the country. On June 5th, at about 8:30 AM Mountain Time, I called Tesla Service. I called to learn if this could be fixed. I spoke with the front line employee, and than escalated my call and spoke to the supervisor. Both said the car was acting as intended, that this happens with all versions of auto pilot, and there was no way to fix it. Even when I turn off the Automatic Emergency Breaking feature, phantom braking still occurs. This call was recorded by Tesla, and they have the record. On long drives, it really helps to use this technology, even though using it puts us at risk. I support filing a claim at Tesla.com/legal or joining class action suit. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Adaptive Speed Control will randomly, abruptly decelerate the vehicle for absolutely NO reason. This certainly is safety item if a car were following me. With the Tesla set in the "Hold" setting for regenerative battery charging purposes, this is the same as slamming on the brakes. Also, this vehicle now only utilizes cameras for sensing everything and it falls short in this area. Other times this happens includes: Orange cones in construction areas, a vehicle crowding the center line in multi-lane highways and also, vehicles traveling the same direction ahead of you in a curve. In these instances, cameras and or computers processing the camera information is getting it wrong... | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car under adaptive cruise control braked hard after changing lanes from behind another vehicle to an open lane with no traffic. Went quickly from 65 to 20 mph until driver started accelerating manually | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Phantom braking at highway speed. Maybe a shadow or line on the road confuses the system and slams on brakes. Is more common if the cruise is engaged. Happens every day. My commute is about 30 miles happens once or twice every drive. Increases risk of being rear ended. The car is not FSD enabled. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I am filing the following two incidents regarding false and faulty warnings of the forward collision system. I also filed "bug reports" with the manufacturer, will ask for a service appointment. 1.On June 7, 2023 at 9:10am while I was driving from Fairfax, VA to Arlington, VA on Rte 50, this section of the road had 3 lanes, the left most lane was blocked with a car signaling for a left turn. I am in the middle lane, which is slowed down, there is plenty of distance between my car and the one in front of me. At that point of time, I received a false alarm. 2. On June 9, 2023 at 8:11pm while I was traveling with family on Rte 620, one lane slowed down due to approaching a roundabout my car fired another faulty forward collision warning. Everybody in the car is confused, trying to figure out what is going on. There is plenty of distance, double the legally required, between my card and the car in front of me. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I drive in West Texas, no hills but some rises and slopes, mostly flat. Going from Odessa to Lubbock (5AM) maybe 2 phantom braking episodes. Coming back on a clear, sunshiny day I experienced 15-20, out of the blue. Scared me to death. No cars within 100 yards, just BAM and it braked. Another 6-7 when the car thought a car over taking me was a problem and braked or one coming in a two lane (just about 5 miles only) thinking there was a danger. We are talking about excellent 4 lane highways with excellent pavement and markings. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The adaptive cruise control was on today at and around 10:30am on highway 101N in the Bay Area, CA from Woodside exit on 101N to 6th street exit on 280 in SF. The listed highway speed started changing erratically causing the car to break to slow without cause and I had to take over to avoid being rear ended. There were no cars ahead of me that were close enough to cause breaking, and no construction zone or signage either. It was the listed highway speed that kept changing erratically from 65mph to as follows: 25 mph for a few minutes in a 65mph zone, then back to 65mph 25mph for a few minutes in a 65mph zone, then back to 65mph 35mph for maybe a minute in a 65mph zone, then back to 65mph 55mph for a short minute in a 65mph zone, then back to 65mph 30mph for a minute or so in a 65mph zone, then back to 65mph 25mph for a few minutes in a 65mph zone | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I experience multiple and frequent phantom braking events when using the Active Cruise Control. This continues to occur every time I use cruise control, and occurs even on straight empty roads on bright sunny or overcast days, and creates a serious safety issue for any vehicles that are following. The deceleration is rapid because of the regenerative braking capabilities of the vehicle. There are no warnings lamps or indications associated with these random braking events. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, but my research shows this is a common defect reported by many Tesla owners. Tesla should, at a minimum, provide a software option to deactivate Active Cruise Control and make it a non-traffic aware system until such time as a bug proof system can be produced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |