2020 Tesla Model Y Problems

What owners report

Owners of this model year most often describe the car accelerating on its own at walking speed while parking or pulling into a driveway, and sudden braking with cruise control or Autopilot engaged on an apparently clear road. A second group describes front suspension and wheel hardware separating, and a smaller group reports the center display freezing or the car losing power. Most sampled complaints were filed at low mileage, with a separate cluster of electrical complaints at higher mileage.

1. 1
   Suspension

   Suspension or wheel hardware coming apart

   • 30 complaints (11%)
   • median 1,000 mi at 1.0 yrs old (12 state mileage)
   • 4 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2020–2026

   Complaints describe front upper control arm, ball joint and hub hardware separating, in some cases leaving a wheel detached, along with noises from the front end. Many reports come from salvage-yard photos of wrecked cars rather than the owner's own vehicle, and some describe hearing a squeak before a diagnosis of control arm wear. Owners report diagnostic and repair estimates, and some were told a goodwill warranty might apply. Reported at low mileage, frequently under about 15,000 miles, and sometimes described as a noise noticed before a repair estimate.

   Recall 21V912000Recall 21V835000Recall 20V709000

   What to check: Have a shop inspect the front and rear suspension, ball joints and control arm fasteners before purchase, and check that the suspension recalls were completed; listen for front-end squeaks or clunks on a test drive.

   An excerpt from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “This is a complaint about systemic failures in Tesla suspension components that affect all years and models of teslas on the roads. Please note that I have used the VIN of a random Tesla Model Y since the VIN of the car in question is unavailable. Here is a link to a video in which an owner shows his car broken down on the side of the road because the front control arm has simply fallen off the car. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11383251, filed 2020-12, 1,000 miles
2. 2
   Forward collision avoidance

   Phantom braking under cruise control or Autopilot

   • 83 complaints (29%)
   • median 12,600 mi at 1.7 yrs old (8 state mileage, few)
   • 7 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2020–2026

   Owners report the car braking hard on its own with the road clear ahead while cruise control, Autopilot or automatic emergency braking is active, sometimes dropping speed sharply at highway speeds. Complaints also describe cruise control resetting to a lower speed or disengaging without input. Several owners say the service center found no fault or offered only driving tips, and some connect the behavior to a software update. Reported across a wide mileage range, from a few hundred to about 30,000 miles, typically at highway speeds in daylight on dry roads.

   Recall 21V846000Recall 23V838000

   What to check: Ask whether the car is on the latest software and which driver-assistance features are enabled; try adaptive cruise on an open road to see whether it holds speed steadily.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “We recently purchase Tesla Model Y on 29th september 2020. We notice more than twice while driving Model Y on freeway at 65mph and the car decided to randomly slam the braked (panthom braking) while in autopilot in middle of the freeway. We were on garden state parkway in nj. We did reported to Tesla via voice command but no we been scare driving the Tesla on cruise control or auto pilot and worried about rear end accident. Its very dangerous and safer issue. There has been no response from Tesla. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11376740, filed 2020-11, 900 miles

   “I installed the Full Self-Driving Beta on my Tesla Model Y the morning of 10/24/2021. Immediately after the update installed I began experiencing issues with the Autopilot and TACC systems, as well as spurious forward collision warnings. These warnings involved the standard warning beeps and red indicators on the driving display, and at one point included an unnecessary emergency braking incident when no obstacle was in front of me. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11437976, filed 2021-10
3. 3
   Vehicle speed control

   Sudden unintended acceleration at low speed

   • 74 complaints (26%)
   • median 2,250 mi at 1.2 yrs old (13 state mileage)
   • 21 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $4,833 (median of 6 quotes)
   • filed 2020–2026

   Owners describe the car accelerating on its own while parking, turning into a garage or driveway, or after the accelerator was released at walking speed, in several cases striking a wall, pillar or parked vehicle. Complaints say pressing the brake did not stop the car quickly and that no warning appeared beforehand. Some owners say the service center did not identify a cause, and several note the incidents happened within the first weeks of ownership. Mostly reported on nearly new vehicles, typically under about 1,500 miles, at parking-lot and driveway speeds.

   What to check: Test low-speed behavior carefully on a test drive, especially pulling in and out of tight spaces, and ask the seller whether any pedal or drive-unit service was performed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “On three occasions after taking my foot off the accelerator, my car starting accelerating on its own. I could feel the acceleration and was able to stop it by putting my foot on the brake. I did not touch the lever to set the speed, the pedal did not get stuck on the carpet and I did not confuse my accelerator for the brake. This seems to be a very dangerous situation, especially in heavy traffic or if I did not immediately react to put my foot on the brake. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11415401, filed 2021-05, 2,250 miles

   “I was in a parking garage next to my work and was parking between two cars, I was coming to a complete stop when my car suddenly accelerated and hit the pillar on the left side. It was only a few seconds and I applied the brakes and put the car on park. This is a brand new car with less than 500 miles on it. I felt that the car suddenly accelerated when I was completely stopping. Later, I found out that this has been reported with other Tesla vehicles in a parking garage similar to my situation. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11385350, filed 2020-12, 480 miles
4. 4
   Electrical system

   Center display freezes or car loses power

   • 94 complaints (33%)
   • median 7,800 mi at 1.5 yrs old (13 state mileage)
   • 9 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • owner-quoted repair $2,400 (median of 9 quotes)
   • filed 2020–2026

   Owners describe the touchscreen freezing or going unresponsive, so speed, gear and climate settings cannot be read or changed, and in some cases the car will not accelerate or shows a shutdown message. Some report recovering after a soft reset of a few minutes, while others had the car towed and were told a wiring harness or motor problem was found. Complaints also mention over-the-air updates not arriving and being asked to pay for an inspection before recall work is done. Split between very low mileage, under about 5,000 miles, and higher mileage around 70,000 miles.

   Recall 24V554000Recall 22V050000

   What to check: Ask about the software version and update history, confirm the car restarts cleanly after a screen reset, and check that outstanding software recalls were applied.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “While traveling on northbound us-101, the infotainment/dashboard screen froze. The climate control suddenly went full blast on the coldest setting, speedometer stopped updating, and all infotainment/dashboard controls were unresponsive. The turn signals appeared to work, but stopped making its clicking sound. I could only tell it worked by seeing the light reflection from road signs. I was reset the system by pressing both steering wheel buttons for 10 seconds or more and then infotainment screen turned off. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11405863, filed 2021-03, 7,800 miles

   “Incident: car shutdown and power failure with little warning. Time/date/place of incident: 9/7/2020, approximately 5:20pm in livermore, ca. While driving at a speed of approximately 45 MPH eastbound on w jack london blvd (past wolf house drive), the car's computer displayed an unable to drive message (error code di_a137) and instructed us to pull over. Since we were on a 2-lane road with no shoulder we proceeded to the nearest driveway (turning left to a driveway at ~1105 w jack london blvd). The car vibrated violently then shutdown. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11354647, filed 2020-09, 1,300 miles
5. 5
   Other or unknown

   Airbags not deploying in a crash

   • 10 complaints (4%)
   • median 30,000 mi at 3.0 yrs old (7 state mileage, few)
   • 8 mention a crash, fire or injury
   • filed 2020–2024

   Several complaints describe collisions at moderate to highway speeds in which the airbags did not deploy, or an airbag warning light came on disabling the passenger airbag. Some owners say the seat belt did not hold them in place during the impact, and others report the warning light returning after a sensor was replaced. Reported from about 22,000 to 90,000 miles, in collisions at speeds from about 30 to 70 mph.

   Recall 24V376000Recall 22V045000

   What to check: Check that the airbag and seat belt warning lights behave normally at startup and confirm the seat belt reminder recalls were completed.

   2 excerpts from owner complaints in NHTSA records

   “The contact owned a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH in rainy weather, the vehicle inadvertently spun in circles, and he lost control of the vehicle. The contact took his foot off the accelerator pedal. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle crashed into an embankment and then spun twice before inadvertently driving into the forest and coming to a complete stop. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact and his father, who was a passenger, were uninjured. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11611115, filed 2024-08, 68,000 miles

   “The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated, indicating that the passenger’s side air bag was disabled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was out of warranty; however, the manufacturer sent a mechanic to the residence, who replaced the sensor; however, the failure recurred. The mechanic came back a second time and performed a bypass on the sensor; however, the failure recurred. …”

   NHTSA complaint #11523659, filed 2023-05, 90,000 miles

Buying note. A used example is worth a careful low-speed test drive plus a suspension and software check, and asking for the recall and service history in writing, since many of the complaints center on driver-assistance behavior and front-end hardware.

Summary written with AI from a sample of 60 NHTSA complaints for this model year (picked at random, with complaints that state a mileage and recent ones taken first), then checked automatically against the source records. Where a problem shows a complaint count, every complaint for this model year was matched with fixed keyword rules (written with AI and tested against the sample), and the mileage, age and repair figures are calculated from those complaints; owners' figures are as stated, not verified. Other counts refer to the sample. The excerpts come from NHTSA's public complaint records and are unverified; capitalisation is normalised, NHTSA staff notes are removed, and shortened text ends with “…”. Something wrong? Request a correction.