Tesla Model Y / 2020
2020 Tesla Model Y problems
Owners have filed 487 complaints about the 2020 Tesla Model Y with NHTSA. Forward collision avoidance accounts for 27.9% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of vehicle speed control at 7.6%.
Complaints487
Crashes90
Fires0
Injuries40
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Forward collision avoidance 27.9% · 136
Unknown or other 10.9% · 53
Vehicle speed control 7.6% · 37
Lane departure 7.2% · 35
Service brakes 7.2% · 35
Suspension 6.4% · 31
Electrical system 5.3% · 26
Steering 5.3% · 26
Severity
Of those complaints, 90 describe a crash and 40 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 7 model years of the Tesla Model Y in this data, 2020 draws comparatively few complaints; 2021 is the outlier year.
Filings have fallen off, 133 in the last three years against 308 in the three before. The issues here may already have been addressed.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 3,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Under clear conditions while traveling on the highway, if adaptive cruise control or self-driving is used, the car will randomly apply its brakes. The car will quickly lose 5-10 miles of speed, and poses a hazard to cars behind us. In the 7-8 times this has happened in the last two months, there has never been an obstacle in our path. Unfortunately, this has rendered cruise control unusable Forward collision avoidance
While driving on interstate highways and using autopilot, the car would "phantom brake" unnecessarily in numerous instances. Once it caused a truck to swerve dangerously to the next lane when the car suddenly brake in front of the truck. Mirages and sudden dips on interstate highways seem to be one of the main factors, but other incidents were less obvious what the cause was. Forward collision avoidance
I was driving with cruise control on and the car violently hit the brakes when there was no one in front of us. We have noticed this is more common when cresting a hill. This happens at least once every time we are on a road trip. This needs to be addressed. We know we are not the only person having these issues with the Tesla and the âphantom brakingâ Forward collision avoidance
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other Tesla Model Y years
2021 1,985 complaints · 42.3% forward collision avoidance 2022 1,578 complaints · 43.6% forward collision avoidance 2023 1,984 complaints · 31.5% forward collision avoidance 2024 580 complaints · 29.0% forward collision avoidance 2025 187 complaints · 27.8% forward collision avoidance 2026 552 complaints · 22.6% forward collision avoidance