Complaint volume
247 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
247 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2026 Tesla Model Y, grouped by component category.
247 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
247 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | STEERING | Car seemed to have no power steering when I tried to leave this morning, brand new car less than 5000 miles and it’s glitching. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,STRUCTURE | The front trunk (frunk) on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Juniper lacks both internal lighting and an emergency safety release mechanism. This design flaw creates an unnecessary and severe safety risk, as a small adult or child could easily become trapped in the frunk with no way to signal for help or escape. In low-light conditions—such as at night or in a garage without adequate illumination—the absence of a light would exacerbate disorientation and panic for anyone trapped. Without an internal release latch or glow-in-the-dark handle (standard in many vehicle trunks to prevent entrapment deaths), this could lead to a life-threatening suffocation or injury situation, especially if the frunk is accidentally closed on a person during loading/unloading. I discovered this issue while inspecting the frunk during routine cleaning and noticed that my four-year-old sat very comfortably inside the frunk listening to music while I cleaned the car. No incident has occurred yet, but the potential for harm is clear and warrants immediate investigation, as it violates basic entrapment-prevention standards observed in rear trunks and other vehicles. This defect compromises occupant safety and should be addressed through a recall or a retrofit that includes an illuminated emergency release. Please investigate similar complaints for this model year. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The front trunk (frunk) on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Juniper lacks both internal lighting and an emergency safety release mechanism. This design flaw creates an unnecessary and severe safety risk, as a small adult or child could easily become trapped in the frunk with no way to signal for help or escape. In low-light conditions—such as at night or in a garage without adequate illumination—the absence of a light would exacerbate disorientation and panic for anyone trapped. Without an internal release latch or glow-in-the-dark handle (standard in many vehicle trunks to prevent entrapment deaths), this could lead to a life-threatening suffocation or injury situation, especially if the frunk is accidentally closed on a person during loading/unloading. I discovered this issue while inspecting the frunk during routine cleaning and noticed that my four-year-old sat very comfortably inside the frunk listening to music while I cleaned the car. No incident has occurred yet, but the potential for harm is clear and warrants immediate investigation, as it violates basic entrapment-prevention standards observed in rear trunks and other vehicles. This defect compromises occupant safety and should be addressed through a recall or a retrofit that includes an illuminated emergency release. Please investigate similar complaints for this model year. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | On the day of the incident, I drove my vehicle into the charging station and activated the Tesla FSD autonomous driving and automatic parking functions. During the automatic parking attempt by the vehicle, the system exhibited the following severe loss of control behaviors: 1. The vehicle automatically collided with the vehicle in front without any human operation. 2. It paused for about 1 second after the collision. 3. Then, the vehicle suddenly accelerated in reverse at high speed, again without any driver operation. 4. It directly hit another Tesla that was charging behind my vehicle. The entire process is fully executed automatically by the vehicle system. I cannot intervene or stop the system through the steering wheel or brakes. II. Severe Security Risks When the accident happened, my friend was sitting in the passenger seat. If the vehicle had moved a few more inches, it could have caused serious injury or even a life-threatening situation. This system failure is a combination of Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) and the loss of control in autonomous driving decision-making, posing a significant systemic risk to public traffic safety. I immediately contacted Tesla and sent a complaint letter to the North Carolina Consumer Center. They accepted my complaint and sent an email to Tesla, but it has been over twenty days and I have not received a response from Tesla. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | STEERING,SUSPENSION | Hi, its not really an incident but I found what have happened suspicious. I got my tesla from the delivery zone at the Giga factory in Austin, TX last Wednesday. Right after the delivery i found an issue with steering wheel alignment. Steering wheel was tilted right and car was pulling right in the road. I addressed this issue to Tesla and visited service center last Saturday Nov-22nd. Technician confirmed an issue. Wheels alignment was performed on the vehicle and it was returned to me on the same day. As soon as I got the the road I found that issue wasn't fixed. It went better but not fully fixed. I came to the service center again. Senior technician took a ride with me and confirmed the issue again. She also told me that they will probably will have to look into suspension because alignment didnt help last time and it could be more serious issue. The car was taken care of and returned to me in 90 min or so. Service advisor told me that suspension and steering were torqued and another alignment performed. When I took it to the road and I found that issue was fixed and I'm happy now but ifter that i recieved a message from the Service Center that I found suspicious. Despite the communication in person in the message afterwards was stating that no issues were found (See attach). I found this suspicious and decided to let you know as that may look like an attempt to hide some serious safety concern with steering. Please find screenshot in the attachment | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | We were coming home from a local restaurant and a rain storm started and the wipers would not come on. We were able to pull in to a parking lot and went through all Tesla reset procedures and could not get them to work. There were no error codes and it was scary trying to find a safe place to stop when we could hardly see.During a break in the rain we were able to make it home. We are over 100 miles from the nearest service center and tried to schedule an appointment but the closest opening was 22 days away. We called and spoke to Teslas customer service and after much checking they said there was nothing they could do and told me to call the service center Monday morning. We have a trip scheduled starting Monday and I do not feel safe driving a car with no wipers Some of the other electronics would not work. The lights were on bright and would not dim and could not adjust temperature. The car is a few months old with 2901 miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | My car installed update v12 (2025.38.8.7) last night. This morning I was driving to work using autopilot when alarms sounded, the hazard lights turned on, and the screen flashed a warning that I had to take over immediately. The message included a note that autopilot had failed due to a "systems error." The navigation and visualization screen froze, went blank, and took 10 minutes to come back on. I asked Tesla to roll back the update and they have told me that they cannot do that. I came very close to crashing into a concrete guard rail as the car was going around a turn when the system failed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When using cruise control (traffic aware cruise control and autosteer) the car acts dangerously and stops for no reason. I've been driving on open roads with no traffic in front of me on regular roads, the car will slam on the brakes and it causes the people behind me to need to slam on their brakes as well. I feel like I'm going to get into an accident constantly... I was on the freeway and no one around in front of me and the car slammed on the brakes to almost a stop on a 70 mph speed limit road. Today the same thing occurred in high traffic on a 55mph road, luckily the driver behind me wasn't to close and was able to stop in time ... There is no option to use regular cruise control or disable enough features to prevent this from occurring... It's incredibly terrifying. If they can't do traffic aware cruise, there should be the option to do regular cruise... And it shouldn't require passing Tesla $8000 for full self driving to be able to drive your car at a speed without the that of being rear ended. This feels like extortion... I've submitted feature requests to Tesla, talked to their bot about fixing this and I've currently been on hold for almost an hour without any response. This dangerous tech is unacceptable! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The latest version of Tesla FSD software does not let me fully control my speed. You can switch profiles or stop using Full Self-Driving, but you cannot set the speed to what you want. In the last version, you could use the right scroll wheel to increase or decrease the speed. Now that shifts profiles but even that does not give you control over what exact speed you are driving | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There is no release button in the front trunk. 7 year old got inside and was unable to get out until someone got to the control on the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The front trunk (Frunk) has no emergency release. The older models have one but the one I picked up recently was “removed”. If it were to close with someone inside, there is no way to get out. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | While driving in rain at night, the vehicle’s automated driving system attempted to make a turn at an intersection near active train tracks. Instead of remaining on the roadway, the system steered the vehicle directly onto the train tracks, where the vehicle became stuck between the tracks and the paved road surface. All four tires were damaged, and the vehicle could not return to the travel lane under its own control. If a train had been approaching, this situation could have resulted in a severe or fatal collision. I had to manually reverse the vehicle a significant distance to return to the roadway. The malfunction appeared to result from the automated driving system misidentifying the roadway under rain and low-visibility conditions. This suggests a recurring risk for any vehicle using the system at this location in similar conditions. The safety issue has not yet been inspected or confirmed by the manufacturer. No warning lights or alerts were displayed prior to the incident. The affected components and system are available for inspection upon request. I also have dash-cam video of the incident documenting the event. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The frunk doesn’t contain an emergency release button. I believe this is required by law per FMVSS 401. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The front compartment “frunk” of the vehicle has no safety feature or emergency release latch. This is seriously concerning in case a child or kid gets inside and the trunk is closed for some reason, there would be no way for the person inside to get out by themselves. I contacted Tesla about this two weeks ago and they scheduled a visit which they, a technician later called on 11/12/25 to inform me they didn’t believe there was any requirement for the vehicle to have an emergency release feature inside the front Trunk. The service tech canceled my appointment request for a fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Missing required interior emergency release button in frunk per FMVSS 401 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | STEERING,POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | My 2026 Tesla Model Y with under 3,000 miles experienced a sudden and total loss of power steering while driving. The car became extremely difficult to control. Tesla towed it to their service center, where they claimed it was a software-related issue that could not be replicated. The service center released the car back to me but refused to provide written assurance that the vehicle is safe to drive, stating only that it is “cleared for release.” I’m concerned this issue could reoccur, creating a risk of loss of control and injury. The lack of transparency and refusal to confirm the vehicle’s safety in writing raises serious safety concerns about potential defects in the steering or software systems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Description of Problem: The 2026 Tesla Model Y does not include an interior emergency release button inside the front trunk (commonly referred to as the “frunk”). Under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 401 (49 C.F.R. § 571.401), all passenger vehicles with a front- or rear-opening trunk compartment are required to have an interior emergency trunk release mechanism that allows a person to exit if accidentally trapped. Safety Risk: This missing feature presents a significant entrapment hazard, especially for children or smaller individuals who may become enclosed in the frunk either accidentally or during cleaning or maintenance. There is no way to open the frunk from the inside, which could result in suffocation, heat exposure, or death. The lack of an emergency release mechanism makes it impossible for an occupant to self-rescue if trapped. The vehicle and frunk assembly are available for inspection upon request. Problem Confirmation: This issue has been reproduced and confirmed directly by observation—no emergency release mechanism or glow-in-the-dark handle is present inside the frunk. As of now, Tesla has not confirmed the problem and the company is aware of this omission as stated in their owners manual Inspections Conducted: The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance, or any independent service center regarding this specific issue Warning Lamps/Messages: There were no warning lamps, alerts, or messages indicating the absence of the emergency release system. The issue was discovered during routine use and inspection of the front trunk area Other Tesla vehicles, including earlier Model Y and Model 3 units, are equipped with an illuminated emergency release handle in the rear trunk. However, the 2026 Model Y frunk lacks any such release mechanism, suggesting a potential design change or oversight that could warrant a federal safety recall. Attached will be pictures of the cars manufactured before and after 9/2025. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On November 4, 2025, I believe my New Tesla (only 2 month old) had just updated to a new software version. That morning, when I tried to start the car to drive to Walgreens Pharmacy, the vehicle did not start — the screen was locked. I pressed the brake pedal several times, but there was no response. Then I pressed the accelerator and the brake again, and the car finally started. I believe i turned on the Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode as usual. The car backed out of my garage and moved only about ten houses down our street when I suddenly felt it was out of control, and within seconds, it hit a stationary vehicle on our street. I did not hear Forward Collision Warning or feel the Automatic Braking system engage. The tesla report told me that the collision warning failure and the Safety systems are affected, and the passage side (front right) tire shows 0 psi) . The The damage was highly unusual — although I was driving slowly, approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour on my street, the front wheel became completely detached from the suspension, the suspension itself was severely damaged, However, the rest of the car’s body sustained with minimal impact. I had hard time to find Tesla service to help me, so I contacted Allstate and they had a towing company to transport the vehicle to Gwatney Collision Center, the only Tesla-certified body shop in our area. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | FSD was unable to avoid object in road, may be due to how the adaptive headlights work as I was unable to see the object as well FSD/adaptive headlights may may it hard or impossible to see objects on road at night No In the process of a insurance claim No | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | There isn’t an emergency release in the front trunk of my tesla | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | There is no safety frunk release to open the hood from inside if a child is trapped inside. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I currently have a 2026 Tesla Model Y and was unfortunately involved in a collision due to what appears to be a Full Self-Driving (FSD) software failure. I had engaged FSD mode while driving my child to his doctor’s appointment. The navigation directed me through narrow residential streets. While traveling on a narrwow residential street, I encountered a garbage truck stopped in the middle of the road, blocking traffic. My vehicle came to a stop behind the truck (with FSD engaged and my full attention on the road). The FSD system then began to “lurk” forward, seemingly assessing whether it could pass the truck through a very tight space on the left side. At first, I was uncertain whether there was enough clearance, but I decided to trust the FSD’s judgment, as it relies on multiple exterior cameras for precise distance evaluation—far more accurate than what I could estimate from inside the vehicle. However, as the vehicle attempted to proceed, I immediately heard and felt a long scrape along the right side of my car. It became clear that the FSD system had miscalculated the available space, and the gap was too narrow for my vehicle to pass safely. As a result, the right side of my car sustained significant damage, including both wheel caps/rims, both doors, the side panel, and the rear bumper. The impact occurred against the metal fender of the garbage truck. I am deeply concerned that this incident—caused by a software error—may occur again and to others, resulting in more serious outcomes. I am attaching photos of the vehicle, the accident scene, and the repair estimate. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The horn on the car does not work at high speeds. I believe they replaced the horn with a small speaker, at speeds with wind, it is unusable. Needs a better speaker or an actual horn. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | SUSPENSION | I recently purchased a new Tesla Model Y (Juniper refresh). The vehicle has a loud clunking/creaking noise coming from the front suspension at low speeds, especially when driving over small bumps, turning into driveways, or when the road surface is uneven. The noise is noticeable inside the cabin and feels like a mechanical component is shifting. I brought the vehicle to Tesla Service. They confirmed the noise and told me it is not caused by the damper assembly but is a known issue that Tesla’s engineering team is currently investigating. However, no permanent fix is currently available, and the issue has not been resolved. I am concerned that this may be related to a suspension component failure or premature wear that could impact steering stability or control over time. Since this affects a brand-new vehicle and others have reported similar symptoms online, I believe this should be monitored as a potential safety defect. I am requesting that NHTSA track this issue to ensure Tesla provides a proper correction and repair campaign if necessary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Full self driving disengage with no warning and won’t start up again. Unsafe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |