There are 25 owner-reported visibility & wipers complaints for the 2022 Tesla Model Yin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
HVAC system failure in sub-freezing weather causing loss of windshield defrost and cabin heat. Tesla has acknowledged this as a known hardware design limitation of the heat pump/octovalve system but is refusing repair coverage outside of warranty. This condition affects driver visibility and winter driving safety.
The driver side mirror vibrates causing a blurry image while driving
The defogger doesn’t work and often makes it worse to the point we can’t see. We have almost crashed because of this twice now. Very dangerous.
When I try to defrost my windows, it does not work. They are so foggy when I’m going down the road I am concerned that I will wreck. I was told my vin was not included in the recall. I think it needs to be.
The windshield has a huge crack that just appeared out of nowhere. We took it to the shop and they said it wasn’t from a rock. There is no chip in the glass. Apparently a stress fracture. The crack is getting bigger every day and becoming a distraction while driving. Tesla said we are 10,000 miles over our warranty even though the vehicle is only 2 years old. It seems like they used cheap glass as this is common in the Tesla forums and chats.
Multiple, random occurrences of hard braking at highway speeds when there was no object or obstruction ahead. In the 2-1/2 years we’ve owned the car this has happened on two lane and multiple lane highways, generally at speeds over 50 mph. Also, the windshield wipers randomly deploy even when turned completely off. They generally work when it’s raining but the delay function is also randomly not in sync with the settings or actual rainfall.
Tesla broke Automatic wiper function with a software update in 2023. Models other than Model Y have or have had this issue. There is no setting or adjustment I can make and Tesla has not made it a priority to fix this. They spend all of their resources doing other things. Nobody at Tesla is listening. New feature after new feature and screen changes are released but no fix for wipers. This is a conic years long recurring issue with Tesla cars. Tesla service can not fix software issues. It seems Tesla will never fix the issue. It creates a safety problem when driving because you must take your attention off the road and interact with the screen or try and remember the various voice commands to control them, or look at the screen while scrolling a wheel (you must pre-configure ahead of time to do this) while looking at the screen to see what gets selected on the screen, or do everything manually on the center screen. Attention is pulled off the road frequently regardless of weather. Currently in dry weather the wipers turn on unpredictably and often. Hour after hour on a long trip and you battle them all day long. Wipers are switched to Auto every time you use a driver assistance system such as Autopilot or Full Self Driving. You repeatedly disable auto wipers using your choice of method all day long. You are ready to rip wipers off the car by the end of the day. In wet weather auto wipers don't turn off when the rain has ended temporarily or becomes a mist needing only an occasional wipe by pressing the single wipe button. If you disable Auto wipers when it is raining you are constantly adjusting the speed between off, low, medium, and high which is eyes off the road screen intensive using scroll wheel or touching screen directly. Better if you can remember the speed adjustment voice commands which I can't because I rarely will drive in the rain because of wipers. I can remember disable because I use that constantly nearly every time I drive depending on the sky.
turning on defrost vehicle has cracked windshield
The Automatic Windshield Mode does not function properly. On some Sunny days, the windshield wiper will automatically engage. Yet, during heavy downpours, the automatic windshield wipers will not engage or it will wipe very slowly. I have to press the stauk manual or press the manual setting while driving in the rain. Very unsafe due to distraction and poor visibility while driving.
Since I have been driving my car, automatic wipers always worked. On Saturday, they refused to work. I could not see while driving. I called Tesla, and they say they know this is a problem but cannot tell me when it will be fixed. I was told lots of other people have this problem.
We have had our Tesla back at at Tesla service center twice pertaining to the HVAC system not delivering airflow needed for proper cooling and defrosting of the windshield. Tonight we were unable to drive because the front window was fogged over and the HVAC system would not de-fog the glass. There was little or no heat being applied to the glass in HI defrost mode. It was necessary to use a rag to wipe the glass so we could continue driving. We live in Northeast Ohio and I’m afraid that when we get snow or ice on the windshield that we will have a serious safety issue.
1. Phantom Braking occurring often and no release date for firmware update. Not sure how to avoid rear end collision even when attentive. 2. Inaccurate speed limits, forward collision warnings, inaccurate green light chimes. 3. Autowiper which is working for other manufacturers over decade is beta in tesla. Previous 5 service center visits confirm as working and in 6th visit they say as beta. This is cheating customers. Using display screen to control frequency is distraction in wet roads.
Windshield easily to crack by road debris while driving. Dropped off my vehicle for replacement windshield and tesla agent informed me that there was numerous vehicle ahead of me waiting for replacement. Also wipers activates when is not raining or won’t stop after it stops raining while in Auto causing distraction to the road.
When I am driving and go into Cruse Control my wipers continue to come on when it is not raining or there is no moisture. Sometimes they are going at full speed as if it is pouring rain. When this happens, I am forced to hit my brakes to disengage Cruse Control, then take my eyes off the road and find the wiper icon and turn them to the off position. This happens often and has almost caused me to drive off the road a few times. I took the car back to Tesla and was told when I engage Cruse Control the wipers are by default set to "Auto". Also they had seen this before and there was nothing they could do to fix the issue. They also said Tesla was working on the software to improve the wipers. Why am I forced to have my wipers set to "Auto" when I use Cruse? I should be able to set them to "Off" and they only come on when I activate them. If this continues on my car and others there will be accidents because of the distraction trying to turn the wipers off.
Auto wiper doesn't turn on for low or medium. Defrost doesn't clear windshield in bad weather conditions. Above conditions make it difficult to operate in bad weather conditions due to poor visibility. As per manufacture, everything working as designed but problem exists. Ex: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/tesla-s-autowipers-don-t-work-in-the-rain-and-owners-have-had-enough-of-them-208671.html
This is in regards to wipers getting frozen and major snow accumulation under them under heavy snow fall, something that can be mitigated with vehicles that are manufactured with Heated Wiper Park. This issue is dangerous if you are travelling on a highway or in places where you cannot stop to clear the wipers. I have contacted Tesla service and talked to them about potential solutions but they kept coming back with the statement that “this feature is working the way it was designed to.” Currently, if wipers are on or in auto mode, the wipers do not go over the wiper park heater, something that could be modified through a software update when ambiant temperature drops below a certain point or if snow fall is detected through their vision system and automatically activate their Heated Wiper Park, because not only is it uncomfortable to have the defrost blasting hot air on your face, but it also is extremely inefficient for electric cars to be doing that.
The wipers "swipe" when passing interstate streetlight when in the "Auto" mode. Additionally, the "Auto" mode is automatically enabled when the adaptive cruise control is set. It is not possible to turn off the wipers while using the cruise control, making it basically useless at night. I have been advised on two occasions by Tesla Service that this is a firmware issue and there is no fix. The complaint was last verified by Tesla Service on Dec. 1, 2022.
The contact's wife owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 22V702000 (Visibility) and 23V085000 (Steering, Electrical System) however, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The contact stated while his wife was driving at various speeds with the Full Self-Driving Beta (FSD Beta) activated, the vehicle failed to recognize objects and other vehicles. The vehicle drove into the path of oncoming traffic. The contact's wife corrected the failure by maneuvering the steering wheel to realign the vehicle back into the lane. Additionally, the vehicle was shaking while making turns. The vehicle also experienced phantom braking while driving under an overpass. The failure nearly caused a collision. The dealer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle performed as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
Component Failure A/C Compressor / Heat Pump + Defogger / Defroster Safety Risk Windshield visibility was limited. With climate control limited was extremely hot in vehicle and resulted in physical discomfort / distractions while driving Problem Confirmation Yes, was confirmed. Dealer allegedly replaced "A/C Compressor (Heat Pump)" Component Inspection Unable to personally inspect component Warning Lamps / Messages 0/1/22 ~12PM – driving and received notification that “Cabin climate control system requires service – Cabin heating / cooling limited or unavailable” VCFRONT_a447 error Issue did not correct itself App showed car climate control as “LO”; car would only start with climate control set to “LO” Defogger did not work; windshield visibility limited, had to wipe inside of windshield with towel which created streaks and decreased visibility. Wipers to remove condensation from outside Heated seats and heated steering wheel would automatically be turned on when car was started
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V702000 (Visibility) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
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