We were turning onto a crowded street, and halfway through turning the power steering suddenly failed. We couldn't get the steering wheel to move. We were facing perpendicular to the street and several cars were within inches of hitting us. We got out of the car (in the middle of the crowded street) and back in, at which point the steering worked again. We thought this was a one-time issue, but as we got to the parking lot at our apartment complex, we experienced the same power steering failure. We can't drive this car under the assumption that we'll be safe.
2023 Tesla Model Y steering complaints
Page 6 of 8: complaints 131 to 160 of 220, newest first, as owners wrote them.
During the week of October 09 2023, I started receiving two failure alerts on my 2023 Model Y. The first is that lane keeping assist was unavailable. In spite of this alert, the system continued to function properly. The second warning was a Steering Assist Reduced warning. At first, this also seemed to not corollate to a noticeable issue with the vehicle. On the evening October 15, when leaving a supercharger station, I noticed a momentary stutter in the steering wheel that accompanied the above mentioned alert. No other issue was observed. On the afternoon of October 16, when leaving from work, after putting the vehicle in gear, I had no steering ability at all, it was a similar feeling to the steering wheel lock on older vehicles. The wheel would move approximately 1" in either direction. I immediately shut the vehicle down and performed a reset by holding in both scroll wheels on the steering wheel. This did not clear the code, but did return steering ability. Since I could not predict when the steering might go out again, I contacted Tesla and had the vehicle towed to the nearest service center.
Steering wheel locks frequently, especially when driving on busy road. Very dangerous.
Power steering randomly goes out while driving. Most often happens after reversing, but also happens consistently while in drive. I was essentially unable to turn the car, so I was stuck in one spot and had to get out of the car so that the car could reset. This happened in several low traffic areas but also happened while I was at a red light at an intersection. The system did say “steering assist degraded” and that the cameras were blocked, but not sure if that has to do with the same issue. Never has been inspected, but I did see reports that this has happened to other 2023 Model Y and 3 owners. We have a service appointment with Tesla coming up to address it.
Upon starting the vehicle, the center console displayed a fault code "UI_a020" and a message that steering assistance was disabled. There had been no earlier indication of faults or degraded operation - only minutes earlier, the car was driving fine. The vehicle was now very difficult to maneuver. Rebooting the car did not clear the fault code. I was able to navigate the short distance back home, though it was not a pleasant experience. Upon returning home, I scheduled an appointment for a repair with the local service center. Later, I checked my vehicle again, and found the fault code had cleared and it was operating normally. I still kept the service appointment, and the tech I spoke with mentioned they have had recent reports of faulty steering racks. They replaced the entire steering rack. (I do not have the faulty unit available for inspection.) This vehicle was only a few weeks old at the time of the incident.
While driving, the car suddenly lost power steering. We had to struggle to get the car to the side of the road. Had to do a reboot to get the power steering back.
I was driving my car, and the steering wheel locked while driving and pushed me into the oncoming lane. We were lucky there were no other cars coming the other direction. I had to reboot the car to get it to drive again. The steering locked up again while getting the car home and also in the driveway. Tesla towed the car and replaced the entire steering rack of the car. I then saw an article about this exact issue and wanted to add my car to the other complaints. My car is only six months old.
Steering felt odd and was pulling to the extreme right, which caused contact with a curb. After driving about a mile after contact, car lost steering and both front wheels were turned inward. Tesla claimed contact with curb caused the steering gear and rack to break-they did not take into consideration that car steering was not workin correctly before impact. Component is not available for inspection. Safety was a factor since I couldn't steer. Has not been reproduced or confirmed by an independent service center. Component not inspected by anyone other than Tesla service center in San Francisco, Ca. No warnings re:steering or any other issues.
I lost all power in my steering and was completely unable to steer. I contacted Tesla who advised me to conduct a soft reboot and the issue was resolved only to return about an hour later. I contacted Tesla again for roadside assistance. I was advised to complete a soft reboot and drive the vehicle to the nearest service station. I refused to drive the vehicle, as I did not feel safe to do so. Tesla sent a tow truck to pickup the vehicle and drop off at a Tesla service station. After 3 days, I was informed there was a malfunction in the vehicles steering rack and the entire part will be replaced. I conducted research and found a lot of owners are experiencing the same issue with 2023 Tesla Y, some even having crashes as a result. This is very unsafe and needs to be addressed.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became stiff and difficult to maneuver. The steering assist warning light illuminated. The contact veered off the roadway. The contact notified a tow truck company, and the vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the contact was concerned for her safety while driving the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,400.
It’s just been 2 weeks in I bought my Tesla Y 2023 model. Was exploring entertainment options in in park mode and then when I had to leave, I see this steering assist reduced and wasn’t able to move my steering at all, I was like what.. a brand new car having such safety issues, thank god didnt happen while I was on road, would have definitely killed me. Tried rebooting or reset but still the same. After multiple attempts, power steering came back on and I was able to get home. After reaching home immediately requested a service through my Tesla app. This is very frustrating to see issues in a brand new car.
The steering wheel locked and stiff, wasn't able to turn. The was very dangerous as my wife and kids could have gotten into a serious accident. We are no longer comfortable with driving this vehicle even if Tesla repairs so we would like a refund
Steering assist reduced error message. All of a sudden I was unable to steer the steering wheel. This was scary and dangerous.
I was driving and the steering wheel completely locked up, I could barely turn the wheel even when using all my strength. The car would only go forward and backward. I was fortunately pointed slightly towards the curb so was able to glide the car to a stop on the side of the road. There were no warnings prior to failure and I immediately lost all steering capability. The car was towed by Tesla to the service center.
Power steering went out twice, both from changing gears once was mid drive second time was going from park to reverse.
I was driving through a busy nyc street very slowly. Probably 10 mph or less. I was on a red light. then i moved forward when the light turned green, my handle felt weird and the car was moving side ways. I first thought it was the tire that blew off. So I immediately stopped the car and had my husband look at the tires. No holes, no pressure was lost. I thought it was so odd, so I started moving forward a little bit, again. Something felt very off. We stopped again and looked throughly and realized the right rear wheel was twisted while the other three remained straight. This is our brand new car that was just picked up 7 days ago. We just simply couldn’t believe our eyes. My whole family including my husband, my two kids (7,10), our dog and myself were in the car and I can’t imagine ourself being in the same situation if we were on a highway at a faster speed. We’d probably dead by now. I didn’t hit anything, i was going 10 mph, there was nothing on the street. And the wheel getting twisted like that just doesn’t justify anything but a defect.
While Driving the car the steering became unresponsive, this almost created like a death situation for me. Tesla should be held accountable.
Steering wheel locked up while driving and making a turn
- Failed system: Steering wheel was locked up in the middle of driving. Driver was making a right turn at an intersection. Suddenly a "Steering Assist Reduced" UI_a020 warning appeared on screen, and driver was unable to turn the wheel. No autopilot in any level whatsoever was turned on. - Safety risk: Driver hit another car due to the loss of control of the vehicle. Thankfully it happened in a city intersection. If it happened on a highway, much more damages and casualties might have been incurred. - Reproducing the problem: Right after the accident, driver was ordered to pull the car over to the side. But even after a few restarting of the car, the UI_a020 warning reappeared sporadically. From that time we completely stopped driving the car and drove it only occasionally to load/unload it to tow trucks. So we did not have much chance to reproduce the problem. We have some photos and video clips of the UI_a020 warning taken on the date of the accident. - Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others?: Not yet. Currently the vehicle is at a Tesla Approved body shop (collision center) for repair. - Any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure: There was no UI_a020 warning that we recall prior to the time of the accident. This could be unrelated to the UI_a020 issue, but one day before the accident, I was trying to unlock the car using my cell phone, but the car did not recognize it. Only after turning off and on the Bluetooth several times was I able to unlock the car. This had never happened before and after.
lost all power steering today on model Y 2023 tesla.
During driving this vehicle on road, this steering wheel wheel was suddenly locked, and cannot be turned. This caused the vehicle stopped making any turns. There was no any warning/messages/symptom before this incident happened. I had to go straight and stopped/parked the vehicle on roadside. After several power off and restarting, the steering wheel was still locked. Called Tesla tech support, the problem cannot be solved. Then had the vehicle been towed to Tesla service center. Tesla technician confirmed seeing error log info. It is under investigation now.
I got the dreaded ul_a020 error - "Steering assist reduced" today while driving our model Y - barely 3 months old with 2K miles. The steering became very stiff and I could barely move it, had to use all my forrce to rotate the steering wheel and move the car to the side. it very scary, I parked, got out and then drove again, it happened again. Thankfully I was not too far away from home, so somehow got back. The steering is not smooth anymore now.
Power steering appeared to be off when trying to drive car. Could not turn wheel at all. Car was towed to tesla service and told the power steering rack has an internal issue and needs to be replaced.
Steering wheel locked after only 9k miles on the car. Won’t turn so cannot drive the car. Brand new car. God forbid this happens while driving the car on road.
Please note that I am not the owner of the vehicle and I am making this report in the public interest to try and save lives. The defect affects all 2023 Tesla Model Y cars and I have used the VIN of a junkyard Model Y to be able to complete the form. I have also used a fictitious USA address to satisfy your website requirements. My genuine contact details are available I understand that it is perfectly lawful for a non USA resident and a non owner to file a complaint. A Tesla Forum in Germany has a report from an owner detailing severe corrosion on the Ground terminal on his [XXX] car. This looks like galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals. I think a bad ground connection might be the reason for the spate of power steering complaints on this model and possibly also causing brake booster failure. Tesla has been blaming the steering rack and replacing it. I think it is highly unlikely that the steering rack is faulty and it is much more likely that bad ground connections are the cause. The 2023 Model Y has some changes from the 2022 model including the use of so large aluminum castings. I think this may increase the risk of Galvanic corrosion and be the cause of the alarming increase in failures. Fatal crashes into oncoming vehicles may have been caused by this. Here is the thread: [XXX] Quote: Premature corrosion MY? Tesla Model Y Model Y Issues/Errors 19 March locobmw 19 March A bit frightening - after 3 months the contacts are already badly corroded. I'm going to report this to the SEC INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
While driving I lost the ability to steer. The steering wheel completely locked almost. This was a huge safety risk, as I was in the middle of a busy road in Los Angeles. I went to the Tesla service center today and they were closed. No warning lights came on. The same thing happened again today.
Power steering failed repeatedly. Car was extremely difficult to steer. This only happened at low speeds, so there was no immediate danger. The car displayed various error messages. Took the car to the dealer, they confirmed it was an issue and replaced the Steering Rack.
On September 3/2023 at around 9am I was driving my Tesla Y. I stopped on a traffic light on an intersection and on my green light started to turn left. However my steering wheel was not turning, it has stuck. It was very scary because of the intense incoming traffic. I turned my car on parking and then started again but nothing has changed. Tried this a few times without any success. My car only moved straight forward and backward. Then two drivers stopped and started to help me. They stopped incoming traffic and one of them helped me to turn the steering wheel left to move my car from the middle of the intersection. Two of us barely did this together and moved the car to the side of the road.
I had an error message that power steering was not available and I was unable to steer.
Steering system completely failed during driving. Thankfully I was in a parking lot at the time. The car had to be towed to my home from over 100 miles away. I’m towing it back to Tesla service this morning, August 28, 2023.
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