Owner complaint record
2023 Tesla Model Y Problems and Recalls: What Owners Report
This page shows the problems 2023 Tesla Model Y owners reported to NHTSA, the federal agency that tracks car safety: 1,134 complaints sorted by system and the recalls to check before you buy.
NHTSA owner complaints Checked Oct 2, 20261,134 complaints Federal file of Aug 25, 2026
Model year 2023
- 202595No page yet
- 2024312No page yet
- 20231,134
- 2022847No page yet
- 20211,059No page yet
- 2020274No page yet
+34% vs 2022, most of any Model Y year
299 complaints, 26% of the total
47 mention an injury, 3 a fire
The adaptive cruise control leads the 2023 Tesla Model Y record at 26%, with automatic emergency braking close behind.
It's a count of reports, not a failure rate. Use it to decide what to inspect before buying, not to grade the car.
Owners describe the car braking hard on the highway with nothing ahead, mostly with cruise control or Autopilot on. The complaint form asks owners to pick a system, so the same problem is spread over cruise control, emergency braking, speed control and the brakes.
2023 Tesla Model Y overview
The 2023 Model Y is an all-electric SUV. EPA lists three versions for 2023, all with two motors and all-wheel drive: the Model Y AWD, the Long Range and the Performance, with 279 to 330 miles of range. NHTSA also crash-tested a rear-wheel-drive Model Y for 2023, which EPA's list doesn't include.
Owners filed 34% more complaints about the 2023 than the 2022 (847), and the adaptive cruise control leads both years. The 2024 drew 312, with adaptive cruise control named most.
AWD
- Range
- 279 miles, EPA
- Energy use
- 27.5 kWh per 100 miles
- Home charging
- 9.4 hours on 240V
- Motors
- 91 kW and 200 kW
- Drive
- All-wheel drive
city / highway / combined MPGe, EPA
LONG RANGE
- Range
- 330 miles, EPA
- Energy use
- 27.6 kWh per 100 miles
- Home charging
- 11.5 hours on 240V
- Motors
- 91 kW and 200 kW
- Drive
- All-wheel drive
city / highway / combined MPGe, EPA
PERFORMANCE
- Range
- 303 miles, EPA
- Energy use
- 30.5 kWh per 100 miles
- Home charging
- 11.8 hours on 240V
- Motors
- 133 kW and 179 kW
- Drive
- All-wheel drive
city / highway / combined MPGe, EPA
Range, energy use, charging time, motors and MPGe from EPA fueleconomy.gov.
Is the 2023 Tesla Model Y reliable?
Owners filed more complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model Y than about any other Model Y year, and the adaptive cruise control draws the largest share. The four checks below are what the federal record can say; none of them is a reliability score.
- 1st Compared with other Model Y years 1,134 complaints, the most of 6 model years (next is 2021 with 1,059). By model year
- 26% The system named most Adaptive cruise control, in 299 complaints. Problems by system
- 17Recalls 17 recall campaigns cover the 2023 Tesla Model Y. Recalls
- 150Crashes, injuries, fires 150 complaints mention a crash, 47 an injury and 3 a fire.
A complaint count is not a failure rate: the record doesn't say how many were sold, so a popular year draws more reports.
2023 Tesla Model Y problems by system
Every complaint to NHTSA names the part of the car that gave the owner trouble, such as the brakes or the steering. The cards below sort the 1,134 complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model Y that way, largest first: open one to read what owners wrote, when it usually starts, and what to check.
Adaptive cruise control 26% 299 complaints Hard braking on the highway with nothing ahead
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What owners describe
7 times in 2 days of travel on major interstate highways in cruise control the car phantom sees something that isn’t there and slams on the brakes throwing us forward until I can manually override with the accelerator. Had there been any car following me a serious accident would have occurred.
I purchased the vehicle on dec 14 th and so far had two episodes of phantom breaking leading to near rear end collision. Car is applying breaks for no reason even when there is nothing in front.
NJCOAZCORead 4 more owner reports+4
In auto pilot mode , my tesla suddenly applied emergency brake and brought my model y from 65 to 10 min in 287 highway. Luckily they was no car or truck behind me. No car in front of me also.
Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance I would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.
New car with less than 1800 miles. Multiple times where the car will frequently and unexpectedly slam on the brakes while in autopilot on the highway. Almost caused an accident twice and I was terrified. Did not know about this problem but this can cause an accident.
Tesla model y 2023 phantom braked on the intestate. The emergency braking system and adaptive cruise are not correct. I almost got hit because my tesla auto pilot braked on the interstate for no reason.
When it starts
Not enough mileage reports.
What to do
Use cruise control on an open highway and note any sudden slowdown.
Automatic emergency braking 21% 233 complaints Sudden braking with nothing ahead, false alarms
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What owners describe
7 times in 2 days of travel on major interstate highways in cruise control the car phantom sees something that isn’t there and slams on the brakes throwing us forward until I can manually override with the accelerator. Had there been any car following me a serious accident would have occurred.
I purchased the vehicle on dec 14 th and so far had two episodes of phantom breaking leading to near rear end collision. Car is applying breaks for no reason even when there is nothing in front.
NJCOAZCORead 4 more owner reports+4
In auto pilot mode , my tesla suddenly applied emergency brake and brought my model y from 65 to 10 min in 287 highway. Luckily they was no car or truck behind me. No car in front of me also.
Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance I would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.
New car with less than 1800 miles. Multiple times where the car will frequently and unexpectedly slam on the brakes while in autopilot on the highway. Almost caused an accident twice and I was terrified. Did not know about this problem but this can cause an accident.
Tesla model y 2023 phantom braked on the intestate. The emergency braking system and adaptive cruise are not correct. I almost got hit because my tesla auto pilot braked on the interstate for no reason.
When it starts
Not enough mileage reports.
What to do
Ask whether the car runs the latest software, and check the VIN for open recalls.
Steering 18% 203 complaints Steering locks or turns heavy, steering warnings
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What owners describe
I bought this car on january 24, 2023, I was driving with my family on route 1 south in woodbridge, nj and all the sudden steering wheel fall january 29, 2023 . Was lucky there was no car behind and able to pull on divider. Https://twitter.com/preneh24/status/1619889507133976580?s=48&t=-diw7et9cnnrr31mhffyfw
Automatic emergency braking occurs without cause at high speeds on flat divided hwy. Happened on multiple trips 5 or more times in a 3 hour drive on 3 different highways in nm. Tesla service has addressed the issue twice. Said everything is working properly. Happens when cruse control + auto steering are active.
GAILKYCARead 4 more owner reports+4
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
Steering got locked and stiffened in middle of the road in traffic.had to call 911 to help me to move my car.this was scary as it could have lead to crash or accident.some time front wiper is automatically wiping in dry summer days which is sometimes blocks the view while driving. Had to switch off the auto mode for wiper.
Having issue with steering getting stuck and not allowing to rotate. Happened 2 times today and I am ending up powering off and starting the car. I am worried about getting stuck while driving. This is a safety concern for me.
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.
When it starts
Not enough mileage reports.
What to do
Turn the wheel from lock to lock, parked and while moving, and watch for a steering warning.
Throttle and speed control 14% 163 complaints Sudden slowdowns on cruise control
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What owners describe
In auto pilot mode , my tesla suddenly applied emergency brake and brought my model y from 65 to 10 min in 287 highway. Luckily they was no car or truck behind me. No car in front of me also.
Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance I would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.
CONMRead 2 more owner reports+2
Tesla model y 2023 phantom braked on the intestate. The emergency braking system and adaptive cruise are not correct. I almost got hit because my tesla auto pilot braked on the interstate for no reason.
Automatic emergency braking occurs without cause at high speeds on flat divided hwy. Happened on multiple trips 5 or more times in a 3 hour drive on 3 different highways in nm. Tesla service has addressed the issue twice. Said everything is working properly. Happens when cruse control + auto steering are active.
When it starts
Not enough mileage reports.
What to do
Drive with cruise control on along a clear road and feel for slowdowns.
Braking system 13% 149 complaints Hard braking with nothing ahead, brake warnings
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What owners describe
Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance I would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.
Tesla model y 2023 phantom braked on the intestate. The emergency braking system and adaptive cruise are not correct. I almost got hit because my tesla auto pilot braked on the interstate for no reason.
CAWARead 2 more owner reports+2
We were driving at highway speeds in I-5 and had incidents of phantom braking on the car when it automatically slammed the brakes almost causing us to be rear ended.
While driving down the freeway on 4/29/2023 my tesla model y slammed the brakes on for seemingly no reason without warning. This incident occurred with auto pilot and auto steering engaged. The day was clear and road was clear.
When it starts
Not enough mileage reports.
What to do
Brake firmly on a clear road and feel for a pull or a pulsing pedal.
More: Brake warning light · ABS light on
Tesla Model Y complaints by model year
2023 has the most complaints of any Model Y year. The adaptive cruise control is named most in 5 other Model Y years.
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2023 has the most complaints of any Model Y year. The adaptive cruise control is named most in 5 other Model Y years.
When owners filed
Complaints about the 2023 Tesla Model Y have kept arriving since 2022, with peaks in 2023 and 2024. A peak often follows a recall or a news story, not a new fault.
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2023 Tesla Model Y recalls
17 recall campaigns cover the 2023 Tesla Model Y. A recall list is by model year; whether one car had the work done is in its VIN record.
2023 Tesla Model Y crash tests and investigations
NHTSA crash tests rate the 2023 Tesla Model Y five stars overall, the same for all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive. Its defect office has opened 14 investigations into 12 problems that cover this model year.
Ratings run from 1 to 5 stars: 5 is the safest result, 1 the least safe.
Frontal stars compare cars of about the same weight; side stars compare every vehicle. Rollover stars show how top-heavy the car is: NHTSA puts the 2023 Tesla Model Y’s chance of rolling over in a single-car crash at 8% to 10%.
Safety equipment NHTSA recommends
Federal investigations
Before you buy a used 2023 Tesla Model Y
These checks follow what 2023 Model Y owners reported most: hard braking on the highway with nothing ahead, and steering that locks or turns heavy. Ask for the service history by VIN too, because it shows steering and suspension work and whether the recall repairs were done.
- 1Drive it on the highway with cruise control
Hard braking with nothing ahead is what owners report most for this car.
- 2Turn the wheel from lock to lock
Owners report the steering locking or turning heavy, often with a warning on the screen.
- 3Look at the front suspension
Owners report front control arms and links with loose or missing bolts; a knock when turning is the sign.
- 4Run the VIN for open recalls
Only the VIN says if this car got the recall repairs.
Common questions
What are the most common problems with the 2023 Tesla Model Y?
Owners name the adaptive cruise control most (299 complaints), then automatic emergency braking (233) and steering (203).
Is 2023 a good year for the Tesla Model Y?
The complaint record can't grade a car, but it shows what to check: the adaptive cruise control complaints that lead this year, and whether the recall repairs were done.
Was there a recall on the 2023 Tesla Model Y?
Yes. NHTSA lists 17 recall campaigns for the 2023 Tesla Model Y: exterior lighting (2), suspension, steering (3), seats, electrical system (3), forward collision avoidance, back over prevention (3), seat belts, latches/locks/linkages, tires. A dealer can tell from the VIN whether one car got the repairs.
At what mileage do 2023 Tesla Model Y problems start?
The file has too few mileage reports to say.
Which Model Y years have the most and fewest complaints?
The 2023 and 2021 model years have the most in the file, and the 2025 and 2020 the fewest, though newer cars have had less time to collect complaints.
What the complaint record can't tell you
Sources
Show all 5 sources
Owner quotes are changed from all capitals to normal case only. Counts by system and year cover vehicles with at least 10 complaints.