While driving straight on a 2 lane divided highway, the Traffic Assisted Cruise Control decided it needed to slow itself down significantly to 15 MPH under the speed limit (posted speed limit was 65 MPH). There were no vehicles in front, behind, or beside my vehicle. The breaking occurred when it came across a line break where cars from the opposite side of track could turn left onto a service highway but no one was in that divide nor in the turn lane. There was no warning or any obvious indication that the vehicle should harshly slow down for any safety reason, where in fact is there was a vehicle behind me, it could cause a crash. I made a request for Tesla to repair the vehicle, but in my attached photos, you can see that they admit to the issue being software related and insisting that it is an unrepairable problem until a software update can be issued.
2023 Tesla Model Y driver assistance complaints
Page 6 of 19: complaints 131 to 160 of 549, newest first, as owners wrote them.
We were driving on a 2 lane highway, when we came to an intersection with a center turn lane the car panicked and swerved left and then braked and disengaged the autosteer/cruise control. This was not with autopilot, just autosteer.
We were on the freeway with cruise control on and the car slammed on the brakes. It automatically slowed 15mph while in front of another vehicle. The cause was that it hallucinated a person in the lane of the road, I could see the "person" on the screen of my car. However there was no person or hazard in the way.
The automatic windshield wipers will not turn on during rain and mist. Also the wipers will not turn on when there is water and visibility is very poor. For unknow reason the car jammed the brake almost bringing the car to a stop on the freeway on cruise control and nearly caused a pile up.
Since the recall earlier this year on for the Autopilot, I now have a car that is actually more dangerous as it emits a very jarring audible warning when I engage the Autosteer option. This has actually caused me to jump in my seat and cause me to turn the wheel creating a dangerous situation. Not only is this a potential accident waiting to happen, it is also superfluous as the driver is the one who pulls in the turn signal stall to engage the Autopilot and the Autosteer functionality. I do not need a very loud and startling tone to sound advising me that the Autosteer function is engaged. Please remove this as it is creating a dangerous driving environment. I have friends who also have Teslas and they confirm this hazardous condition exists in their cars as well. Thanks.
Airbags (any) failed to deploy in a hard impact t-bone collision with another vehicle, endangering occupants. Vehicle is being inspected by insurer.
Tesla met with an head on collision with another Toyota. Tesla’s airbags didn’t deploy and i had my 6 year old in car as well. The other car which was 2007 toyota, its airbag still worked.
I used the Full Self Driving software Tesla provided us in April. On [XXX], the car did not detect a curb therefore the car went right over the curb which popped both right side tires and the front rim. Damage was $1,800. I brought this up to Tesla and they informed me that it was my fault for not taking over and refused to help with the repairs. I understand taking over if there was a 3-foot shoulder, but on roads with no shoulder such as this one I found it impossible to correct in time. Also, at the very last split second, the torque on the wheel was too tight too correct (not enough time anyways). This is a busy state maintained road in the middle of Columbia, Missouri near a college campus and my safety was put at risk while I had to find the next side street to pull over. This is dangerous software that is not ready yet. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
On [XXX] around 9:20 pm we were driving south on [XXX] in Vancouver, WA. The car was on cruise control (not autopilot or autosteer) at 65 mph. The car braked really hard and dropped the speed to nearly 20 mph. We do not know why the car braked, there was no one in front of us. Fortunately there was no one behind us other us we could have been rear-ended. I quickly took control of the car and increased the speed. We have not driven the car on highway since then or taken the car to the dealership yet. There was a message on the screen after the incidence but it disappeared before we could read it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I reported this issue previously (11589255) and am providing an update: I took my car to the nearest dealer with my less-than-1-year-old non-functioning key card that TESLA told me I had to replace at a cost of 2/$45. I mentioned to the dealer, who is kind an helpful, about the automatic braking in cruise control. I had already disabled "Apply Brakes when Regenerative Braking is Limited" under Dynamics on the screen. (see photo) He showed on the screen, under Autopilot, that I could disable Automatic Emergency Braking, which I did. I was concerned that this warning pops up: "The vehicle will not automatically apply the brakes even when a collision is detected" (see photo) but he suggested I try it to see if it would solve the cruise-control braking. I was hopeful, and disabled it, knowing that it might take a while to know if that solved the problem. I drove the 30 miles home on the frontage road instead of the interstate, and when there were no other cars around, I set cruise control at 50 mph, the speed limit. I came to a series of small hills in the road, and was reminded of the first time the automatic braking happened, on a 60 mph road with longer amplitude hills of greater height. Amazingly, it happened again! Pretty significant braking and slowed me to 25. This time I waited it out to see if it would resume the cruise control at 50. It did not. I have since restored the Automatic Emergency Braking as that seems important for a crash situation. I have restored the "Apply Brakes When Regenerative Braking is Limited" since that obviously was not the problem either.
This Tesla engages in "phantom braking" on a daily basis. I will be driving along at 70 mph on Adaptive Cruise Control, no other cars or otherwise around, and the brakes will suddenly slam on reducing speed to 40-50mph. It is clearly a sensor type issue. Seems to happen when a turn lane is sensed? a side road? who knows?? This has been a know issue for a very long time. it's dangerous as it will lead to rear end collision if anyone is behind. this happens without warning, almost daily, and I am not the only one experiencing this. Tesla people have no solutions. I do not routinely report things, but I feel very strongly that this is a major safety issue, so much that I am considering trading in the car for something else.
Was traveling along the [XXX] about 5 miles north of the [XXX]. Vehicle was in traffic awareness cruise control when it suddenly applied the brakes. Vehicle did not sound any warnings. Vehicle did not display any warnings. Vehicle made no attempt to warn driver of a braking event. Vehicle traffic awareness cruise control was set to 79 or 78 mph in a 70 mile per hour zone. I was able to push the accelerator pedal to regain speed but had already dropped to about 65 mph. Vehicle did not pass under a shaded section ( I. E. no bridge or trees or big rigs) There was change in color of the road top. My foot was resting just in front of the accelerator pedal. Fortunately for us, there was no vehicles directly behind us. This incident is the 3 of this kind in this vehicle. This has me spooked to use any of the convenience software. I already do not like using the autopilot feature because of it erratic behavior. It feels very unsafe and unpredictable. We are unable to predict when this car will act on its own and feel it will cause us harm one day with actions like this. We are glad that no one was following us closely because they might have hit us. We are also upset that the vehicle never stated why it braked suddenly. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
While driving with the adaptive cruise control on, the vehicle suddenly braked. There was a large truck approaching from the other direction, but it was in its lane. There was no present danger. The hard breaking could have caused the following car to rear end us. It happened more than once, but this was the most dramatic braking.
During two hour trip I experienced at least five incidents of so called Fantom Braking, when car engaged in Autopilot or adaptive cruise control brakes suddenly for no apparent reason. At least two time during this trip, the braking was really hard. This is very dangerous conditions and could result in serious accident if someone closely follow the vehicle. I had to keep my foot on the gas pedal during this trip to act if necessary. I have experienced these conditions before and reported it to Tesla. They basically ignored this complaint.
FSD Stops in front of oncoming traffic. The car stops at a two-way stop sign. It pulls out into the intersection and detects traffic heading my way. It stops right in the middle of the oncoming traffic and just sits there. The oncoming traffic was moving about 50MPH. I had to hit the accelerator to get out of the way. FSD SEEMS TO WORK WELL 99% OF THE TIME. THE OTHER 1% MAY GET YOU KILLED. FULL SELF-DRIVING MODE. Tesla sent me a 30-day trial.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle stopped inadvertently while the cruise control was engaged with an unknown red warning light illuminated. The contact had not depressed the brake pedal. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. An unknown Tesla Service Center was notified and stated that the Firmware was being updated; however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that the Firmware was not updated in the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 2,000.
I bought a 2023 Tesla Long-range Y in June 2023 at Tesla Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have had trouble with the brakes applying on their own during cruise control. It was very scary the first time it happened, but luckily there was very little traffic on the 2-lane highway I was traveling on. The Tesla dealer in Santa Fe told me they don't have a software fix yet and he simply avoids cruise control. After a few months I cautiously tried cruise control again and got away with it...but the third time, months later, it happened again. When the free month trial of Auto Pilot was installed, I did not intend to use it. Toward the end of the trial, I used it on [XXX] coming home to Las Cruces and realized it might actually auto-brake on the freeway, which could be a disaster. After that trip a Tesla friend shared his near-accident-causing experience with the cruise control braking. Another issue is that the key card didn't unlock the car, then wouldn't start the car. I called Tesla and was told I could reset the key card using the Tesla App, but it did not work. The next day I called Tesla support; he ran the diagnostics and said "oh yes, your car needs to be re-booted". He did so, and the key card worked to lock the car, but not to unlock or start it. I asked him to send me a new key card. "We sell a set of 2 for $45" (this is what came with the car). I told him I paid $53,000 for the car less than a year ago, it did not come with a charge cable, and now the key card didn't work? He looked to see if the key card was covered under warranty and found it was not. I have been unable to reach a person to speak with at either the NM dealer where I bought it or the El Paso dealer where I test-drove and attended the seminar, and have waited on the phone for exorbitant amounts of time while the bot tells me I can manage most problems on the Tesla app. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
On Sunday [XXX] I was driving to work, there was a moment where I felt the steering wheel was very stiff to the point where it felt weird and hard to control. I felt the two front wheels a bit odd, but then it went back to normal. I paid no attention to it after. As I was driving on [XXX] , my car started to automatically move to the left and I tried steering my wheel to get back in lane, but the steering wheel got so stiff that even using all my might I could not steer it. Eventually the car slammed against the cement wall three times as it spins. At the end, the police came on site and saw that the two front wheels were pulled inward. I believe it was a software/technology malfunction. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I purchased a new 2023 Tesla Model Y long range Dual motor AWD in September 2023. On March 20, 2024, while I was parking my car in parking lot of strip mall, I somehow became confused and panic. I unintentionally pressed the accelerator with some force which resulted in movement of car in speed and it hit a structure. The car failed to apply the emergency breaks before collision and hit the glass wall of a structure (dining room beside footpath) with great force and break the glass wall. Even then it did not stop after passing through the glass wall. I then turned the car on the foot path beside main boulevard road and then applied the break to stop the car. Front of the car, windshield and battery was badly damaged. The car was latter shifted to Tesla collision center. Battery damage was irreparable and needed replacement. Since the estimate sent by Tesla collision center to Insurance was very high, the Insurance decided to totaled the car. Although nobody was hit by the car and I was also safe, It could have severely injured other person or I could have severely injured if I was not able to stop the car before another collision with fast moving cars on the boulevard. This was a "complete failure of application of Emergency Brake" before the collision - important safety feature to save a life. Please report this to Tesla and send me the feed back. I do not know whether I will get compensation from Tesla for this technical fault as it put my life in danger and there was financial loss.
Took Tesla's 30-day free trial offer of Full Self-Driving (supervised) for my Model Y. Encountered several concerning situations: 1. Autopilot failed to detect a parking barrier arm, causing acceleration towards it; fortunately, I intervened in time. 2. Merged onto the highway in the wrong lane, prompting honks from vehicles behind me. 3. Wheel hit the side road curb when making a right turn, damaging the hubcaps and tire on the right rear side. Unsure if Tesla will take responsibility for repairs, but I feel it's important to share my experience to highlight that Autopilot may not be as advanced as expected.
While driving on the highway at 75mph, with "Traffic Aware Cruise Control" (aka, "Adaptive Cruise Control") enabled, a white napkin had blown into the lane ahead. This caused the car to slam on the brakes, and rapidly reduce speed to 20 mph, before I was able to re-accelerate back up to speed. I consider this a dangerous malfunction of the Adaptive Cruise Control system (and possibly the Automatic Emergency Braking system as well) on a high speed lane on a highway, which easily could have resulted in a high speed rear end collision and injury. (Fortunately, there wasn't any traffic close behind in the the lane.)
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle at approximately 55 MPH on autopilot, the brakes independently engaged, and the vehicle decelerated abruptly to approximately 12 MPH. The contact stated that there were no obstructions, or oncoming vehicles on the roadway during the failure. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
I was driving from Asheville NC to Maryland on [XXX] using auto pilot driving 74 on 70 speed limit on the left lane of two lane highway and all of sudden the Tesla slam on the break to speed of 15-20 miles. There was a car on the right shoulder trying to merge to the right lane about 20 ft in front of us when this happened. My wife and daughter were in the car and we were all shocked on what happened. We were so lucky that there was no one behind us otherwise serious injuries could have happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Vehicle was on autopilot. Pulled out of driveway, hesitated, and then accelerated into a parked car.
While having Autopilot on, Tesla’s version of adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist, vehicle suddenly breaks while driving at 65mph. The software erroneously detects oncoming vehicle shadow as an object and suddenly breaks. This has not been the issue with their Full Self driving software. Tesla knowingly has a safer, more advance software, but decided to not release them to the general public without purchase. Big safety issue.
Ever since the first few miles on the car, the forward collision warning (FCW) system triggers all the time for no reason. I cannot drive the car without it triggering, and I use the car almost daily. It constantly thinks I am going to run into the car in front of me when coming to a stop at a light, for example, however I am never anywhere near running into the car in front of me. It also triggers when making a turn if there is a car parked on the curb. It thinks I am tracking straight, however my wheel is turned and I am simple following the curve of the road. These constant alerts cause me and my guests panic, and occasionally cause me to jerk the wheel in an unsafe manner for, again, no reason. Its embarrassing. This feature does not work as intended whatsoever.
Auto steer in city which is the free software unnecessarily distracts with warnings, so much that I was almost in an accident 3 times. This doesn’t happen with full self service driving in the exact same scenario because it’s a paid service, essentially forcing owners to subscribe and pay for full self service driving. Furthermore, if you don’t react to unnecessary and distractive warnings you get a warning that auto steer (which is paid for as part of the car purchase) will be disabled.
During a 2,300 miles recent trip in Texas, the vast majority of the speed limit signs were not seen by my 2023 Tesla Model Y autosteer/autopilot (not FSD). This created issues with the autopilot/autosteer as it was not usable in several instances and can create safety issues like distractions, etc... I had the latest software revision. The key point is that this is not happening at all in Colorado where I live. Tesla support responded that I needed my cameras recalibrated which is a totally illogical response as it is not happening in CO.
When using Auto Pilot/Traffic Aware Adaptive Cruise Control at highway speeds (55 to 75mph), vehicle will on occasion, slam on the brakes and steer to the right for no apparent reason. When this has happened in the past, we would press on accelerator peddle, to quickly recover from the braking to prevent a rear end collision and continue down the road. This last time (April 12, 2024) however, pressing the accelerator peddle made no difference until Auto Pilot was disengaged. Fortunately we were in the right most lane and was able to pull off to the side of the road to prevent a rear end collision from a van that was behind us. There were no warnings or messages that were displayed to indicate what had cased the braking. I talked to my local Tesla service department approximately a year ago about this issue and said that Tesla is aware of the "Phantom Braking" problem, but were unsure if or when a fix would be in the works. We did capture the dash cam video of the last Phantom Braking incident, that shows a clear road, with no objects or shadows that may have triggered the event. The dash cam video is 38Mb in size, too large to upload.
I was driving our Tesla Model Y and, when attempting to use the windshield wiper, full self driving was enabled. The feature was never enabled my by husband or I through the touch screen on the car. We purposefully did not want to be helping to test this feature as we have a 2 year old and 2 month old that are often in the car with us (both of whom were in the car when this happened). This happened twice on my drive on the afternoon of [XXX]. I did not have a destination plugged into the map on the tesla and was navigating via google maps on my phone (which does seem to be required for this feature to be enabled according to Tesla's help video on youtube: [XXX] ). Both times, a pop up appeared on the tesla screen asking me to give feedback on the auto driving feature while I was driving. Both times, I was able to disable the feature after about 5 seconds by pressing the brake pedal. Upon returning home, my husband was able to go into the car's settings and return the car to "traffic-aware cruise control." He was able to confirm that "Full Self Driving (supervised)" had been selected despite neither of us enabling it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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