There are 16 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2021 Tesla Model Yin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
My heat pump and ac unit went out and Tesla wants me to pay $4000 for a faulty part that broke in less then 3 years
In early Nov 2025 my Tesla Model Y began intermittently showing warnings about the forward collision warning system and multiple sensors being offline. Tesla service replaced a faulty connector on Nov 3. On Nov 15, 2025, about two weeks later, the car had a sudden drivetrain failure while I was parking on a steep hill. I heard a loud bang from the front of the car and the vehicle immediately lost drive power and had to be towed. Tesla diagnosed a failed front motor inverter that blew the high-voltage pyrofuse and damaged the 12V battery; they replaced those parts. The vehicle is available for inspection and the repaired components and records are with Tesla. After that repair the car needed another visit for alignment and has continued to show worrying behavior: “VCFRONT offline/unable to contact VCFRONT” in the service menu, repeated “autopilot computer overheating” messages, intermittent loss or reduction of regenerative braking (braking feel changes unpredictably), a rear right seatbelt malfunction warning (later inspected and cleared by Tesla), and what appears to be significantly increased battery drain compared to before the inverter failure. This has now resulted in four service visits within about a month, all at Tesla service centers (no police, insurance, or independent shops involved). Tesla has confirmed the inverter/pyrofuse/12V failure and says the overheating was due to an air pocket in the cooling system, but the VCFRONT messages, inconsistent regen braking, and increased drain have not been fully resolved or clearly explained. I am concerned that a sudden loss of power, loss of regen, or failure of VCFRONT/autopilot systems could recur at speed or in traffic, creating a serious safety risk. Please note that I'm only able to view partially-complete paperwork from the latest service appointment in the Tesla app. I have requested this documentation from Tesla and will be able to provide all the service reports and communication as a follow-up.
Summary of Issue: The vehicle has experienced intermittent drive disconnections without warning. This occurred multiple times on August 9–10, 2025, during trips between Palo Alto and Monterey. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection? The suspected component is the drive unit (covered under Tesla’s 8-year Drive Unit & Battery warranty). The vehicle and its systems remain available for inspection by NHTSA or Tesla. How was safety put at risk? The intermittent drive disconnections can result in sudden loss of propulsion without warning while the car is in motion. If this occurs at highway speeds, it creates a serious safety risk of collision or loss of vehicle control. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center? Tesla Service has attempted to inspect the vehicle but reported “no fault found.” Because the issue is intermittent, Tesla did not reproduce it during their inspection, though I documented it on August 9–10, 2025. Has the vehicle/component been inspected by the manufacturer or others? Yes, the Tesla Service Center inspected the vehicle 25 August 2025. However, Tesla has refused to provide a detailed record of what diagnostic steps were actually performed (log review, physical inspection, or drive unit stress testing). Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms? No warning lamps or messages appeared at the time of the failures. The vehicle resumed propulsion after several seconds, clearing the condition without leaving an active customer-facing alert. Concern: Because the failure is intermittent and leaves no persistent alerts, Tesla has returned the vehicle without resolving the problem or providing adequate documentation. This leaves a potential safety-critical drivetrain failure unaddressed. Requested Action: I request that NHTSA investigate potential drive unit intermittent disconnection failures in Tesla Model Y
A year ago I went on a road trip from Florida to Iowa in the winter, temperatures were freezing or below freezing. I got an alert to maintenance powertrain, after driving to Tesla they informed me the oil pump on the rear motor was falling apart. It was replaced. A year later on a second road trip to the same location also in sub freezing conditions the exact same error pops up, in service mode it says rear oil pump error
I was driving on PA Turnpike in light rain . I never drive fast . Somehow my car start shifting from one side of the rd to another I slow down but I did not feel connection with sterling wheels car start spinning in circles and I crashed with 2 kids in the car.
Battery is not able to charge . The message shows need services Bring the car to Tesla service center , they told us the battery need to be replaced. They did not tell us what caused the battery to die. The car has about 30000 miles on it . Daily driving to work. Don’t understand why the battery dies so fast . Does anyone report the same problem on 2021 Tesla model Y ?
The power steering went out and it was virtually impossible to turn the steering wheel. It was unsafe to drive because you were not able to turn the car unless you were very strong. Safety issue-unable to turn the car without possibly colliding with another car. Tesla replaced the drive train. Another incident happened while getting into the car and driving it. An alert came up on the screen saying that the power train needed immediate service and that I could not exceed 60 mph. I was driving at the time. As I continued to drive to my destination the alert kept coming on with different speeds I could not drive at. It eventually got down to 53 mph and it physically would not drive over that speed and it was on the freeway and dangerous because the car kept slowing down. Tesla replaced the oil pump in the back battery. I have had this car for 3 years and it has been in the shop 15 times.
The car started to malfunction its ability for regenerative braking (regen.) upon release of the accelerator. The car felt as if the regen feature was slipping - so instead of a constant brake and deceleration, the car could be felt moving forward as if accelerating. Then while driving on freeway at 65-70 mph, car lost its ability to brake when I pressed on the brake twice, instead of slowing it felt as if the car just continued at its current speed. Then the car cut its power and flashed an alert "Power Reduced - exiting and re-entering vehicle may restore operation" it then flashed an alert "PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY - Unable to drive". According to Tesla, they said it was the "LH body harness. Found that the harness was not creating an efficient connection" but they never directly addressed why it felt as if the car was accelerating when I pressed on the brake. Safety was critically comprised for myself and others who I could have hit in a vehicle collision since the brakes did not respond accordingly and felt as if it accelerated or continue to maintain its speed. The problem was confirmed by Tesla but they only addressed the car going into what they refer to as "limp mode". Car was inspected by Tesla and diagnosed the problem to a faulty/bad body harness that caused an improper signal. No warning lights or messages prior to the failure. Symptoms started the morning of the incident with the noted regen not fully engaged/working correctly. I did not have any feature setting which would have caused or replicated the lack of regen. I can provide the dealer invoice if needed.
My wife was driving in moderate rain on the freeway. We were going about 70mph which was the same speed as the rest of the cars. We were going around a gentle turn in the road. Then without warning, our car started to slowly spin around. My wife instantly and completely lost control. We spun almost 180 degrees, crashed into two other vehicles, and came to rest against the cement barrier. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but we totaled two vehicles and damaged another. If the spin had happened along a different section of road we frequently drive on, we would have slid into oncoming traffic and people could have been killed. I requested that Tesla send the full data logs of the accident. It shows that my wife released the accelerator pedal right when the spin started. In most cars, releasing the accelerator causes the car to gently slow down. But Teslas, on the other hand, do aggressive regenerative braking when the accelerator is released. So it was as if my wife had pressed the break. HERE IS THE PROBLEM: THE REGENERATIVE BRAKING SYSTEM APPLIES THE BREAKS TO THE REAR WHEELS ONLY. On dry pavement this is fine, but on a wet road, going around a turn, hitting only the rear breaks was enough to cause the back of our car to slide out from behind us. Here is more detail: 1. Our car was All Wheel Drive. But the Tesla has published that for increased efficiency, they don't actually use the front motor except during high acceleration. This means that most of the time the car is only rear wheel drive. 2. Our car had under 25,000 miles on it, and the factory tires. The rear tires were worn more than the front tires, likely due to the car's acceleration being mostly applied to the rear tires. I believe that Tesla could fix this issue with an over-the-air recall. The recall would need to either reduce regenerative braking when wet roads are detected, or apply braking across both the front and rear wheels while on wet roads. Thank you!
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while at a complete stop with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle rolled backwards. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring intermittently while at a complete stop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated on two separate occasions while idled in a parked position and the brake pedal depressed, he shifted into reverse position and the vehicle inadvertently lunged forward approximately 5ft without acceleration. The vehicle then performed as normal. The contact then stated that on a separate occasion while idled in a parked position and the brake pedal depressed, he shifted into drive without the accelerator pedal depressed and the vehicle lunged forward 15 ft without warning. As a result, the contact crashed into a restaurant window. No warning lights was illuminated. No medical attention was required. A police report was filed. The vehicle was currently being towed to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
Steering wheel locked up and would not let driver navigate off-ramp from freeway. Car attempted to force driver to merge into a stopped lane. Auto-pilot features engaged in screen but they were not manually activated. Car attempted to cause an accident.
Received Error code: VCFRONT_447 indicating a cabin heat issue, and a complete loss of heat within the interior of the vehicle. It appears this also is preventing the battery from fully warming up causing severe vehicle power reduction and lack of regen braking. It being sub-zero and frost bite within minutes this poses a safety risk when traveling. The problem has been reported by other vehicle owners. It has not been inspected at this time. There were no other alerts prior to the issue starting on 1/20/2022 at ~6am CST.
The vehicle loose power all of sudden while driving disabling all power including loss of power steering, failure of lane departure avoidance, regenerative brakes, parking breaks, traction and stability controls. This has caused hazardous dangerous conditions on the road. The vehicle had to be towed to local Tesla repair/service center on 4 occasions. We have been given false reassurance with no definitive fix yet, continues to be an ongoing issues that recurs after few weeks that vehicle comes back from service center.
Backing out of garage, the driver began to smell acid and burnt electronics from the back of car. After driving back home from work the driver inspected the car. The back driver side door reeked of burnt electronics and the entire car had an acid smell. After consulting Tesla, the first Tesla maintenance worker noticed the entire inside of the door had melted and all electronics were fried. He claimed he had never seen this before. The second maintenance worker came with parts and determined the window module had overheated and caught fire. The fire melted many components inside the door. A brand new 2021 Tesla Model Y should not spontaneously catch fire. Especially if it is residing inside the garage of a house. After replacing all the components, Tesla deemed the car safe to drive. Yet, a couple days later they requested we bring the car in so that they could replace the computer that controls the left side of the car to do more research and find the 'root' cause of the fire. There were no warnings for the driver, nor was the driver using that window module. We have not driven the car since as we feel unsafe in the vehicle.
THIS IS THE 2ND TESLA MY MOM OWNED, SHE DROVE A MODEL 3 WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS FOR MANY MONTHS. SHE PICKS UP THIS MODEL Y ON NOVEMBER 19 2020, AND DRIVES HOME FROM THE DEALER WITHOUT ISSUES. NEXT DAY NOVEMBER 20, 2020, DRIVES TO HER WORK, PULLS INTO A PARKING SPOT AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. APPROX 5-10 SECONDS LATER THE CAR LURCHES FORWARD, HOPS OVER THE PARKING CURB, OVER SOME GRASS AND INTO A BRICK WALL AT FULL ACCELERATION. LUCKILY NOBODY WAS HURT, BUT SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE BUILDING AND THE CAR. THIS CASE OF UNINTENDED ACCELERATION NEEDS INVESTIGATION. MY MOM DOES NOT FEEL SAFE GETTING BACK INTO THIS MODEL Y.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026