Complaint volume
246 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
2026 Tesla Model Y Complaints
246 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2026 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
246 Total complaints
44 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
12 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 unknown or other, forward collision avoidance, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 44 crash reports, 1 fire report, 12 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 14 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 6,895 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, forward collision avoidance, electrical system?
- 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 2026 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.
2026 Tesla Model Y
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2026 Tesla Model Y complaints?
44 Crash
1 Fire
12 Injury
0 Fatality
18 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2026 Tesla Model Y complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 53
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 20
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12
STRUCTURE 11
SUSPENSION 7
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 7
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE 6
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 6
STEERING,SUSPENSION 6
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5
246 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2026 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | My 2026 Tesla Model Y front trunk ("frunk"), an Austin, Mar 2026 build, lacks internal lighting & emergency release (unlike 2025 models; the change started Oct 2025). Frunk size/capacity remained unchanged, allowing child up to 4yo to fit & get trapped w/ no escape or signal, esp. in low light. Violates FMVSS 401 (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-571/subpart-B/section-571.401) which states: "Each passenger car with a trunk compartment must have an automatic or manual release mechanism inside the trunk compartment that unlatches the trunk lid, if the trunk is large enough so that the three-year-old child dummy described in Subpart C of Part 572 can be placed inside the trunk compartment, and the trunk lid can be closed and latched". Request recall/retrofit & investigate Model Y frunk complaints. (See attached picture of 2025 frunk vs 2026 frunk with changed features.) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have been a user of Tesla's "Full Self Driving" technology for four years. In one of the last major updates, the company removed the ability of the driver to manually set a "cruise control set point" to maintain a safe speed. Instead, they employed a new system with five "drive profiles," which included "sloth," "chill," "standard," "hurry," and "Mad Max." The problem is that only two of those stay anywhere near the speed limit. "Sloth" will go the speed limit, "Chill" is about 2 mph over the speed limit, "Standard" is about 7 mph over the speed limit, "Hurry" is 12 mph over the speed limit, and "Mad Max" is probably 15-17 mph over. Sloth and Chill will remain in the right lane, rarely passing another vehicle, but all the others will include lane changes. And all of these profiles DO NOT MAINTAIN A SAFE FOLLOWING DISTANCE. Users have been complaining about the cars tailgating, sometimes as close as 3 car lengths at 70 mph. However, sometimes conditions necessitate slower speeds...like Work Zones. I live near Denver, and I-70 has a work zone that will be in existence until 2029. The car doesn't recognize the 45 mph speed limit, bouncing back and forth between 45 and 65. FSD must be disengaged completely to follow the 45 mph speed limit. Which brings up the other problem. In many areas, THE SPEED LIMITS ARE WRONG. In Texas, there are areas where the speed limit is 70, and the car thinks it's 55. In New Mexico, the speed limit is 70, but the car thinks it's 60. THERE IS NO SPEED PROFILE THAT WILL MAINTAIN THE LEGAL LIMIT. Tesla also has a mechanism that's supposed to allow users to report problems, but some of these I've been reporting for over three years. They refuse to tell us where we can update the information (Grok says "HERE," Tom Tom, Open Street Maps), and they are NOT fixing the speeds on the maps. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | SERVICE BRAKES, AIR | The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving using the ADS feature, the vehicle failed to slow down while making a right turn. The contact stated that when the vehicle came to the turn sign, the vehicle failed to yield and continued making the right turn. The contact's vehicle crashed into the rear of the vehicle in front of the contact's vehicle. The contact had to depress the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. No Police Report was filed. No injuries were sustained. The contact later received a warning that the vehicle's cameras needed cleaning. The technician came to the contact's residence and cleaned the cameras. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline and report the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | LANE DEPARTURE | Lane Departure Aoidane is always enabled for each drive - the car menu states: “Lane Departure Assistance will be reset to Assist on the next drive” - you have to manually go 2 menus and scroll down to the bottom and turn it off every single drive every single transition to Park and drive. The feature is very intolerant. If you swerve around a pothole or a pedestrian or a bicycle, it freaks out and corrects the steering wheel startling the driver and causing a very unsafe situation. I have had several near misses due to this horrible feature. Tesla should design it to be able to be disabled and remember its default state. It’s not a safe feature. It has caused many near accidents and is especially bad in country road driving. The only time he would want such a feature as if the driver is asleep or heavily distracted of which no good driver should be. Tesla has a camera that could detect something like that. This is a safety feature that makes the vehicle significantly less safe. The default for this feature should be disabled for all Teslas. This is a ultra high priority item. It dramatically impacts by driving every day, and I don’t always remember to turn it off until the steering wheel jerks away from me and almost causes an accident!!! This stuff should not be enabled by default!!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On April 11 2026, I was involved in a serious accident involving my 2026 Tesla Model Y. At the time of the incident, I was returning home from my daughter’s event in downtown and had just entered my residential driveway. As I approached the driveway, I applied the brakes and slowed the vehicle. While momentarily stationary or near-stationary, I spoke to my wife, who was seated in the front passenger seat, advising her to secure the food she was holding due to the uneven surface of the driveway. Upon removing my foot from the brake pedal, the vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated without any input . The vehicle proceeded forward and collided with my garage door. Notably, no collision warning alerts were issued, and no automatic emergency braking system engaged prior to or during the impact. Following the initial collision with garage door, the vehicle failed to stop and instead continued to accelerate into the garage, striking a refrigerator. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the refrigerator and caused extensive structural harm to the property, affecting the garage, adjacent living space, floors, and interior walls. The severity of the collision triggered deployment of the front airbags. At the time, my wife was seated in the front passenger seat, and my [XXX] daughter, along with her friend, was seated in the rear of the vehicle. Emergency services were called, I have forehead bruises and a burn on my hand from airbag deployment. My wife is advised physiotherapy for severe back pain and my daughter has since experienced ongoing emotional distress, nightmares.I am dealing with car and home claims issues for damages I am seeking a formal investigation into the cause of this incident, specifically addressing: 1)The unexpected and unintended acceleration of the vehicle 2)The failure of the vehicle to stop after the initial collision with the garage door 3)The absence of forward collision warnings and failure of automatic emergency braking . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 2 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS | I am reporting multiple safety-related failures with my Tesla Model Y, purchased December 18, 2025. Within four months of ownership, the vehicle has experienced escalating issues: On April 19, 2026, while driving approximately 70 mph on a freeway in heavy rain, the vehicle suddenly lost power and decelerated to approximately 20 mph. Multiple safety systems became unavailable simultaneously, including automatic emergency braking, traction control, stability control, and vehicle hold. I was able to pull to the side of the road, but the vehicle would not restart and required towing. This created a dangerous situation and significantly compromised my ability to safely control the vehicle. On April 9, 2026, a rear seatbelt unlatched under braking while in use. This is a serious safety concern, as the passenger was not properly restrained and had to brace themselves. On February 10, 2026, the vehicle experienced repeated software failures causing lockouts. In one incident, I was locked out while my [XXX] child was inside the vehicle. On January 2, 2026, the vehicle required service for a cracked window shortly after delivery. The vehicle has been taken in for service multiple times, and although repairs were performed, new and increasingly serious failures have continued to occur. I am concerned about the safety of operating this vehicle, particularly due to the loss of power at highway speed and failure of safety systems. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that the trunk release button was removed. The contact stated that the manufacturer no longer produced vehicles with a trunk release. The contact was concerned that a child might become trapped in the trunk. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 23,000 |
| Apr 2026 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While in Self driving the car veered into a driveway and hit a house. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | STRUCTURE | Forward storage compartment (FRUNK) is in violation of FMVSS 401. There is no emergency release, neither manual or automatic, installed on this vehicle. Previous year models of this vehicle have an illuminated release button that complies with this regulation. Enclosed in images is an example of previous year models versus what is found in my vehicle | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The standard cruise control is extremely dangerous. The problem is what I hear is called ghosting. When driving using cruise, and there are no other vehicles nor any other objects such as animals or humans. The car will suddenly decelerate almost to the point of a complete if not overridden by manual takeover. I am under the impression that this is intentionally be done by Tesla, so that you will subscribe to their full self driving service. This can and WILL cause accidents in traffic. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving using Autosteer feature at 65mph on expressway, attempted to change lanes which caused the cruise control to suddenly turn off causing the car to begin braking hard with traffic behind it. Tesla’s new Model Y has combined the lane keeping and cruise control so if the lane keeping turns off the car suddenly brakes hard from the regenitive brakes. Lane keeping and cruise control should be two separate controls to prevent this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I bought this car new and it does not have a FRUNK emergency release or a FRUNK light. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | SEAT BELTS | I am reporting a safety issue with my 2026 Tesla Model Y. The rear seatbelt system has experienced three separate mechanical failures, each requiring service and replacement. The vehicle was purchased new from Tesla, Inc.. Due to these repeated failures, I have had to adjust seating arrangements for my two children in booster seats, including temporarily relocating one child to the middle seat when a side seatbelt became inoperable. The issue has since recurred on the opposite side. This pattern represents a significant and ongoing safety concern. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | Upon delivery of the vehicle the passenger door would not open from the outside. Multiple vehicle settings were reviewed, and a repair was scheduled to fix the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Running Full Service Driving (FSD) v14.2.2.5 on HW4. At Skillman St & I-635 Dallas TX, FSD attempted a wrong way turn into oncoming traffic instead of taking the correct leftmost lane. In the image attached instead of following the blue path Tesla took the wrong lane highlighted in red. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The emergency door release handle is cracked and has the potential to fail during an emergency. Tesla refuses to replace or repair under warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Missing front trunk light/emergency release in violation of FMVSS 401. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,EQUIPMENT | See attached document for complaint. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2026 | SEAT BELTS | Right rear passenger seat belt malfunctioned after owning the vehicle for one month. When I called the service department to discuss the issue, they said the part would take 5 days to come in. They denied me a loaner car to drive while I waiting for the part. The malfunction was confirmed by the dealership the following week and required replacement. I still cannot believe that a company who values safety, expected me to continue to drive my children in a car that had a malfunctioning seatbelt, until the part came in. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Safety Defect: Uncommanded trunk actuation while the user was asleep inside the vehicle. The vehicle’s proximity-sensing system (Bluetooth Phone Key) triggered a full power-open cycle without any active user input. The system failed to recognize that the vehicle was occupied and failed to detect an external obstruction, resulting in a collision. This poses a severe risk of unauthorized vehicle access or personal injury while a user is sleeping or camping in the vehicle. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | LANE DEPARTURE | On multiple lane roads whe I am driving next to traffic in the same direction, if I try to give a large truck in the next lane plenty of room the lane keep assist activates and pushes me closer to the vehicle I am trying to avoid. When LCA first takes control it feels like it turns toward the line it's alerting about. Then it steers me towards the thing I was trying to avoid. The happens every drive and causes close calls with traffic, curbs, or large shrubs in the median. I have other older Tesla Model Ys that allow you to keep this setting off permanently. My new Model Y resets on every drive. It's several menu levels deep and distracting when I have to disable while driving. Please have them let me keep this dangerous option off permanently. Thank you | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | STEERING,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On [XXX] 1512PM. Drive on [XXX] with auto pilot driving. Seen on construction and hit some object driver side by front bumper , fender, Side mirror,Door and Wheel. Couldn't avoid crash by control handle. There is none of airbag action. All deployed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On March 23, 2026, my vehicle experienced a sudden and simultaneous failure of multiple critical safety systems without any prior warning. The alerts displayed included: Automatic Emergency Braking unavailable, traction control disabled, stability control disabled, and additional driver-assistance features becoming unavailable. This incident created a serious safety hazard, as the loss of these systems significantly reduces vehicle stability and braking assistance, increasing the risk of loss of control, especially at highway speeds or in adverse weather conditions. In addition, the front-facing camera exhibits fogging and reduced visibility during cloudy and rainy conditions, which further impacts the reliability of safety and driver-assistance systems. Based on my research, similar issues have been reported by other Tesla owners, suggesting this may not be an isolated incident but a potential pattern defect. I am concerned about the safety of operating this vehicle and request that this matter be investigated for potential defects affecting critical safety systems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | With Full Self-Driving activated, while the vehicle was performing a maneuver to exit a parking space, it reversed directly into a stationary concrete pillar. The impact occurred on the rear driver’s side. There was no driver steering or pedal input during the reversal. The pillar was a large, high-contrast concrete structure, and there was insufficient time to intervene once the vehicle began reversing toward the pillar. Such defect in the Full Self-Driving system is dangerous for drivers and pedestrians alike. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2026 | STEERING | Component: Electric power steering system (steering column rack). Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Safety risk: Loss of power steering assist renders the steering wheel virtually inoperable, creating an immediate risk of loss of vehicle control for the driver and danger to other road users. The vehicle required towing on November 27, 2025 — one month after purchase (October 25, 2025). Warning symptoms: Steering wheel stiffness and vibration when the easy-entry feature engaged. No warning lamps or messages preceded the failure. Dealer inspection and repair: Tesla service initially indicated the steering column rack required replacement. After five days, they instead applied lubricant as the sole fix. The issue was not resolved. On January 30, 2026, Tesla admitted they do not currently have an adequate solution to properly repair these known defects. Manufacturer acknowledgment: Tesla acknowledged the severity by agreeing a buyback was appropriate. On December 30, 2025, Tesla offered the full purchase price of $46,838.68 but withheld the $7,500 federal tax incentive without legal justification. While I was requesting documentation for this deduction, Tesla unilaterally declared I had withdrawn from the offer. I proposed a same-vehicle replacement as an alternative, but Tesla rejected this. Tesla will only offer a buyback minus the $7,500. Unanswered safety questions: I have repeatedly asked Tesla in writing whether the vehicle is safe to drive and requested disclosure of internal findings, including known safety risks and repair limitations. Tesla has not responded despite multiple requests. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |