2021 TESLA MODEL Y Complaints

Phantom breaking while using adaptive cruise control. Happened 3 times in past two months. First two times were traveling on a major highway, both on a hilly section at the bottom of a hill, with no other cars nearby. The car apparently thought the hill was something that should cause the breaks to engage. Car went from about 70 to 55 in a few seconds. Very startling. The third time was on a residential road, going about 38-40. There were no cars nearby, and the breaks engaged abruptly. The safety implications are obvious, although luckily there were no cars behind us when the breaks went on. We reported these incidents to Tesla today and asked for a service appointment. A Tesla representative called us and said we had assumed these risks when we bought a Tesla, there was nothing they could do, and it was probably driver error. They did agree to make an “internal report.” We told them we would report this to you. This is our second Tesla. We had a 2018 Model 3 and never had any problem like this. We wanted more storage space and higher seating, so we sold the 3 and bought the Y in July 2021, not understanding that Tesla had changed to an “all camera,” no radar/lidar safety system. Add us to the growing list of evidence that the new system is dangerously faulty.

Pulling into a parking space, at very slow speed, pressed service brake to stop car. The car suddenly accelerated at high speed, hit a tree directly in front of the space, veered off and sprinted across another parking space and a two lane passage, hit a brick pillar, veered into the wall of a restaurant, bounced off the wall and back into the street. All airbags deployed. No one was injured. Car probably totaled.

While using adaptive cruise control on my Tesla Model Y on a 1974 mile trip to Florida and back the car would emergency brake for no reason. This happened at least 25 times on the trip. I believe this is being referred to "Phantom Breaking". So far I have been lucky and no one has rear ended me but that is a strong possibility.

The cruise control of Tesla is majorly defective after taking out the Ladar component as it is entirely dependent on cameras. Sudden or phantom braking has been so bad that sometimes I avoid using it. My most recent episode happened last weekend as I was driving at a two way country highway at 50mph to get to the interstate. I was headed south between 9 to 10am. The sun was on my left (east) and there was a truck approaching on the opposite lane. When the truck passed (I guess it cast a huge shadow as it blocked the sun on my left) the car slammed on the brakes. There was no warning. Luckily there were no cars behind immediately behind me, otherwise we would have been rear ended in a possibly fatal accident.

Using autopilot on 405 freeway at approximately 60mph. When approaching stopped traffic, I initiated a lane change using the turn signal. Halfway through the lane change the car swerved back into the original lane and slammed on the brakes causing the car behind me to rear end the vehicle. Damage was minor. I reported the incident to tesla on October 17. The original response was to schedule a service appointment. The appointment was later cancelled after I received a message from Tesla legal regarding autopilot. My message to Tesla was deleted from my service history. Tesla autopilot, TACC and FSD are not safe to use on any roads. I have experienced dozens of phantom braking episodes in this car on all types of roads in clear conditions.

We were driving on I-8 yesterday from California to Arizona and while using cruise control the car kept phantom braking. It happened multiple times - some times the braking was so hard, it threw us and our children forward in their car seats. It was terrifying and almost caused us to get into multiple accidents. There was absolutely no reason for the car to be braking . We tried to notice a pattern. It almost seemed like the car was afraid of its own shadow in front of us (the setting sun was directly behind us at points). But the phantom braking also happened when there was no shadow and nothing at all around. Absolutely terrifying.

While using the ADAS the Tesla had several incidents of phantom braking. We would be going 80 and it would slam the brakes on and take us to 50. It did it several times on a drive from Dixon,CA to Flagstaff, AZ. There were no cars near or anything remotely concerning on the road at the time the incidents took place. We called Tesla and reported and they could find no codes or system issues.

Without warning and with the lowest setting for front impact prevention my cruise control randomly slams on the brakes. This happens basically anytime I use the cruise control, so I just don’t anymore to prevent possible collision. It happens when no cars are around, when cars are in the oncoming lane but not crossing the line. It happens in any situation and it is very frustrating. I put in a service ticket with Tesla, to my understanding there is not currently a fix.

i DID NOT HAVE AN ACEDENT, BUT I have a bad control arms on my Tesla Y. I brought my Tesla to Tesla service for repair because I heard creaking noise coming when I turn my steering wheel left and right and Tesla team says that I need replacement for my left and right upper arm controls. But Telsa claim they do not have all parts for repair and they changed only my right upper control arm and order the left one. Also Tesla service claim is safe to drive with bad arm controls, which for me is not acceptable. I did not feel safe and Tesla claim is wrong for me.

Since receiving Tesla Model Y 2021.44.x software update, I've experienced phantom braking on the highway at least once every time I drive it using autopilot. This continues through the software currently installed 2022.4.x. The most common scenario is I'm in the second lane from the right, a car is entering the highway to enter the first lane from the right. Each car is in its own lane. My car sometimes brakes for no reason. On many occasions there are no cars anywhere near me, but the car breaks suddenly. Not a danger for others, but dangerous for the driver and upsetting for passengers. I now only engage autopilot when there are no cars close behind me and no one else is riding with me. I don't want to cause and be responsible for someone hitting me because my car braked for no good reason. I'd prefer regular old cruise control to this behavior.