There are 15 owner-reported brakes complaints for the 2024 Tesla Model Yin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
On November 8, my 2024 Model Y suddenly came to a complete stop from about 40 mph while I was driving with no cruise control or Autopilot active. This was extremely dangerous — my [XXX] was in the car, and we were lucky no one was behind us. It put myself, my child, and others in the absolute risk of collision and injury. When I contacted the service center they said it sometimes happened due to "shadows" or "sun". They refused to run a diagnostic on the car for free and wanted me to pay for it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
There was a sudden unintended acceleration and the brake did not work, causing a major accident. Car caught fire and door would not open. The car has completely engulfed. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms prior to the failure. Vehicle has been inspected by insurance and police, but not by manufacturer.
Phantom braking happened. This is the 3rd time to my car. This time, my car stopped automatically when I was already decelerating close to 2-5 mph and the car in front was very far away. I was not using FSD nor autopilot. The emergency auto stop sign came up out of nowhere and my car jerked really hard and my child in the back experienced the jerk and this injured his shoulder.
Three different occasions, while utilizing adaptive cruise the car applied all breaks, causing me to lunge forward with the car coming to a complete stop. I did not see anything that would had caused the car to apply the breaks and the camera's did not record any obstacle. This was brought to the Tesla dealerships attention and I was told there is nothing that can be done about it. If I had not been wearing my seat belt, the potential emergency braking could had resulted in me sustaining a blunt force impact to my chest with the steering wheel, not to mention a possible motor vehicle accident with the vehicle behind me. I did look through the manual and there is no way of me turning feature off or lowering to a warning versus a suddent stop.
On [XXX], at approximately [XXX], I was driving westbound on the [XXX], just before the [XXX] and [XXX] off-ramp, with my wife and our [XXX] baby in the car. While in traffic, I noticed the regenerative braking system was not slowing the vehicle down adequately, despite having a clear and sufficient distance from the big rig ahead of us. As the gap closed, I slammed down on the brake pedal, but it felt abnormally stiff and did not respond with the urgency or force expected. The vehicle failed to stop in time, resulting in a rear-end collision with the big rig. Thankfully, we were not injured due to the speed of the accident. The breaks have not been inspected due to it being in the collision center There was an alarm but it sounded off too late and the car ended up colliding. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owned a 2024 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that it was raining while driving on the highway at 45 MPH when the vehicle began to hydroplane, no warning lights were illuminated, The contact attempted to slow down their vehicle however upon depressing the brake pedal the vehicle would not stop, and the vehicle immediatley spun around 2 times before crashing into a concrete barrier with the rear and front end of their vehicle. No property damage was reported, and the vehicle came to a stop upon impact. The airbags did not deploy. The vehicle did not need to be towed. The hazard warning light was illuminated, and warning messages were displayed stating that cameras had been damaged. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was driven back to the contacts residence, and from there, towed to a local Tesla dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed and it was declared a total loss. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 26,000.
The vehicle was operating in Autopilot mode as it approached a right turn but was in the incorrect lane. The vehicle accelerated in an apparent attempt to merge into the correct lane and initiate the turn, but it approached the turn at an unsafe speed. I pressed the brake pedal, which disengaged Autopilot as expected, but the vehicle failed to slow down or stop. I attempted to manually complete the turn, but although I turned the steering wheel, the wheels did not respond. The vehicle continued forward at speed, struck a curb on the opposite side of the road, and then collided with a parked vehicle. The impact with the parked vehicle ultimately brought the car to a stop. Multiple error messages briefly appeared on the screen during the incident before disappearing.
I was driving at a speed of 60 miles per hour in rainy weather when the car’s emergency braking system suddenly activated. At the same time, the steering wheel locked due to the braking, and I completely lost control of the vehicle. The car spun multiple times before crashing into the center divider of the highway and finally coming to a stop. This was an extremely dangerous incident from a safety perspective. This was the first time such a braking malfunction occurred. The incident has not yet been investigated by the insurance company, and no warning or notification was displayed by the vehicle at any point.
SUDDEN ACCELERATION, I WAS DRIVING IN MY OWN DRIVEWAY AND A MODEST SPEED T15 MPH I HAVE A CIRCULAR DRIVEWAY AND I WAS ASCENDING UP THE CIRCLE WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED WITHOUT MY ACTION. i TOOK MYI FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR AND HIT THE BREAK BUT THE CAR DID NOT STOP OR SLOW DOWN. IT CONTINUED UP MY DRIVEWAY ON MY LAWN AND ACCROSS MY LAWN THROUGH A FENCE AND I WOUND UP IN MY NEIGHBORS LOT WITH CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. I WAS SHAKEN BUT DID NOT SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION AT THE TIME. MY NEIGHBOR AND MY WIFE ASSISTED. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO TESLA CONTRACTOR BODY SHOP -RECON. WHERE IT IS NOW. I HAVE REQUESTED THAT TESLA EVALUATE AND REPAIR THE CAR BEFORE I DRIVE IT AGAIN AND PICK IT UP FROM THE BODY SHOP. I NOTIFIED THE BODY SHOPP(TONI MCCARTHY) AND TESLA SERVICE(RADCLIFFE SERVICE PERSON WORKS FOR DON HADDON SERVICE MANAGER) .SO FAR NOTHING HAS HAPPENED . TESLA ASKED ME TO SEND A PHOTO OF THE ACCELERATOR BUT SINCE THE CAR IS STILL IN THEIR AUTHORIZED BODY SHOP, I AM UNABLE TO DO IT. i AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR AND ASKED THEM TO TOW IT FROM THE BODY SHOP TO THE ROCKVILLE TESLA DEALER BUT THEY SEEM RELUCTANT TO DO THIS. MY WIFE HAD A SEPARATE PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH SUDDEN ACCELERATION .N HOPING FOR NHTSA INTERVENTION
Here is my draft: Vehicle Information: • Make: Tesla • Model: Model Y • Year: 2024 Description of the Problem: After a software update pushed by Tesla, the AP4 computer in my 2024 Tesla Model Y shorted out, causing a complete failure of all systems controlled by this computer. The following safety-critical and driver-assist features have become non-functional: 1.Cruise Control (adaptive or otherwise) 2.Forward Collision Warning 3.Lane Departure Warning 4.Lane Keeping Assistance 5.Blind Spot Warning 6.Parking Collision Warning 7.Full Self-Driving and Auto Park features 8.Cameras required for Autopilot functionality Additionally, because the GPS system has failed, the vehicle’s Navigation system is inoperable. This impacts Tesla’s unique route planning feature that sets up Supercharger stops during long journeys. Without a functioning navigation system, I cannot properly plan my travel or locate charging stations, which severely affects the usability of the vehicle. Safety Concerns: The failure of these systems, especially safety features like forward collision warning, lane keeping assistance, and blind spot monitoring, puts both the driver and others on the road at risk. Losing access to safety-critical functions after an update is unacceptable and poses a serious danger to vehicle occupants and surrounding traffic. Incident Details: • The issue occurred immediately following a software update. • Tesla pushed the update remotely without providing any warning or indication of potential risks. • The failure appears to be related to a hardware short in the AP4 computer, directly caused or exacerbated by the update. Desired Outcome: • A thorough investigation into Tesla’s software update process and its effect on vehicle hardware and safety systems. • A resolution that prevents similar failures in other vehicles and ensures system updates do not compromise vehicle safety or critical functionality.
My car slammed on the brakes on the highway this morning at 75 mph. A box truck was following me but thankfully he didn't hit me. I was in what Tesla calls Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) at the time and quickly brought the car out of TACC and hit the accelerator to get me back up to speed so I didn't pose a danger to other drivers on the highway. I dont know exactly how much my car slowed, but it was enough to throw me forward in my seat. There were no vehicles in front of me at the time. This was a classic example of "phantom braking", which is talked about a lot in the Tesla community. This is my 2nd report of phantom braking to the NHTSA.
On multiple ocassions when using adaptive cruise control the vehicles slams on the brakes without warning and for no reason and brings car to a near standstill in the middle of traffic unless I slam the accelerator down and fight the car. Engineers from Tesla inspected the vehicle and said everything was working normally, but it continues to malfunction and almost causes accidents with cars behind in traffic having to slam on their brakes as well.
The Indicator for the park break is the word "PARK" and not the symbol for the parking break ((P)). This is dangerous because the word "PARK" is ambiguous and could mean the vehicle is shifted into park (without the park break engaged) OR the park break is applied. In fact my spouse was parking the vehicle on a hill and not engaging the park break. He insisted that there was no difference between the two. There is a huge difference. Only after engaging the park break and listening for the rear breaks to electronically engage was I able to convince him that "PARK" was actually ((P)) and that the park break was NOT applied until the button was pressed and the word "PARK" appeared. Please use the correct ((P)) symbol to indicate the parking break is engaged and to clearly differentiate it from the vehicle being shifted into Park.
During my trip, traveling at speeds ranging from ~30 to ~75mph my car suddenly and with no advance warning braked to a full stop, four separate times. I was not using cruise control or any driver assisted features. There were no obstacles in the road. I did not get in an accident because there were no other cars near me on the two different roads I traveled on.
Car decelerated drastically to a low speed when driving on the highway using cruise control.
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