2024 Tesla Model Y: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Sep 27, 2026 · Acceleration · NY

While cruising under cruise control in a 55 MPH zone, the car drops (reproducibly) to 30 MPH for absolutely no reason.

Filed Jun 12, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA · crash · 4 injuries

The Tesla Autosteer (equivalent of adaptive cruise control) failed to brake on seeing the car ahead braking. In the 5 seconds before impact, the car ahead had started braking. The autosteer did not brake for the first 3 seconds and then It asked me to take over 2 seconds before collision. It did not apply automatic emergency braking causing me to rear end the car ahead of me on the freeway at around 30mph This is supposed to be a safety driver assist feature which instead was the primary cause of the accident. The take control was too late to avoid collision. This is a serious safety issue.

Filed Feb 24, 2026 · Driver assistance · MN

When Adaptive cruise control is on random phantom braking occurs. It can be very severe and drops speeds of 20-30 miles within seconds. Occurs on highways and is random and occurs daily. ( multiple times in a day) Has been serviced 4 times and Tesla cleans the cameras and adjusts them. It has progressively gotten worse and Tesla said don't bring it in because they cannot fix it. They describe it as a software update.

Filed Feb 9, 2026 · Driver assistance, Steering · CA · crash · fire · 3 injuries

On Saturday morning January 3, 2026 I was driving with my wife, daughter and dog. There was light rain at the time and I had my adaptive cruise set at approximately 72 mph. I was driving our 2024 Tesla Y. At approximately 10:21am the rear of car began to slide right as we entered gradual left curve, possibly because we hit water on road. I tried to slightly correct right and when I did that the steering wheel aggressively corrected back left which put us into a slide. Within a second we hit a tree on the passenger side. The impact was severe and on the passenger side door where my wife was sitting. At that time I theorize that my dog was ejected out of the back window and thrown across the freeway. We then rolled in the other direction (I dont know how many times) down a hill and settled upside down. I immediately smelled smoke and began to try get out of my seatbelt but I couldn’t. I carry a knife and I was able to cut myself out. I then tried to open door and could not so I began punching the glass and eventually got it moving and pushed on it and got it open. I slid myself out, turned around and saw car was on fire. I pulled my daughter out and then began extracting my wife. She was unconscious and had obvious orthopedic injuries. I am 100% confident that had I been driving my other vehicle (non Tesla) that this accident would have NOT occurred. The Tesla and its steering system caused this accident. On top of that, the batteries immediately caught fire, my seatbelt release button did not work, and the electric door button did not work. Had I not been carrying a knife and strong enough to punch door open this story would have ended up differently. The car completely burned. As far as I know, this was the first time this exact issue presented itself. However, when looking online its seems this issue is fairly common with Teslas in wet weather.

Filed Dec 27, 2025 · Driver assistance, Steering · CA

Date & Time: December 25, approximately 6:00 PM Location: Northbound I-880 between the Mowry Avenue and Thornton Avenue exits, Fremont, CA Weather & Road Conditions: Heavy rain at the time of the incident. Road surface was wet with reduced visibility. Vehicle & System State: Tesla Model Y. Driver assistance / self-driving functionality was active at the time of the incident (traffic-aware cruise control / Autopilot functionality). Description of the Incident: While driving northbound on I-880 in heavy rain, the vehicle had been operating normally. Without warning, the vehicle appeared to incorrectly detect that it was drifting out of its lane and attempted to correct this perceived drift. Instead of a minor lane correction, the vehicle abruptly applied heavy braking and initiated a sudden and aggressive left steering maneuver. The car crossed approximately four lanes of traffic in the same direction of travel and continued rotating, ultimately performing an unintended U-turn while remaining on the northbound side of the highway. As a result, the vehicle came to a stop oriented against the direction of travel, facing oncoming northbound traffic. Immediately afterward, the vehicle unexpectedly began reversing at high speed without driver input, creating an additional imminent risk of collision with the outer highway wall (noise barrier separating the highway from adjacent residential areas). During this entire sequence of events, I was unable to regain control of the vehicle despite attempting to intervene. There were no vehicles immediately surrounding us at that moment. Had there been nearby traffic, this incident would likely have resulted in a severe or fatal multi-vehicle collision. Occupants: My wife and two young children were in the vehicle. The children were asleep in the back seat, secured in car seats. Outcome: No physical collision occurred. However, the incident caused extreme fear and distress, and we remain shaken by the event.

Filed Nov 13, 2025 · Driver assistance · CA

While driving ~40 mph with no Autopilot or cruise control active, my 2024 Model Y suddenly braked itself from 40 → 0 mph for no reason. The road ahead was clear. I did not touch the brake. My 3-year-old was in the car. We were nearly rear-ended and could have been seriously injured. When I went to Tesla Service, the manager insisted I must pay a $270 diagnostic fee unless they “find a problem,” while also saying the incident was likely caused by “shadows.” This makes me believe they will simply say “no issue found” and charge me despite this being a severe safety malfunction. When I reached out to Tesla Customer Support, they stated it was a known issue. This poses a serious risk of rear-end collisions, injuries, or fatality, and Tesla is not addressing it.

Filed Nov 12, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · CA

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)

Filed Aug 22, 2025 · Driver assistance · CA

Traveling today using the cruise control function in Tesla Model Y, the car took over the control of the car and applied braking for no clear reason. Was going 70 miles an hour, had been using the cruise control for about 30 minutes when incident occurred. There were semi trucks in the slow lane, I was in the fast lane. There were no vehicles in front of my car. The car suddenly lunged forward as the brakes were automatically applied. Simultaneously, the steering wheel began to jerk back and forth causing the car to veer back and forth. Vehicles around me began braking as well to avoid rear ending my car and to avert hitting my car as it veered back and forth. I had to fight the steering wheel in an attempt to pull it off the active roadway and then the car suddenly gave all control back to me at which time I was able to disable the cruise control and take full control.

Filed Aug 10, 2025 · Brakes, Driver assistance · FL

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.

Filed Mar 6, 2025 · Driver assistance · MN

After update 2024.38.2 they introduced a "Active Curve Assist" which can't be disabled while using the cruise control. This has caused the car to excessively brake (70mph to 45mph), a couple times while a vehicle is following resulting in a near rear end collision and has created dangerous situations

Filed Feb 4, 2025 · Driver assistance · MA

I was driving on a three-lane highway (I-495) using the adaptive cruise control (autosteer) when I suddenly noticed the car to my right dangerously veering toward my vehicle. In an attempt to change lanes to the left, my car wildly overcorrected to the left, nearly sending me into the highway median, followed by another overcorrection to the right. The steering wheel felt almost uncontrollable. Luckily no collision.

Filed Jan 13, 2025 · Driver assistance · VA

Tesla has told me the AP4 computer has failed in my car which has resulted in them having to replace it. I had this issue start on 1/12, and I scheduled the earliest appointment available for 1/30. They did not offer me a rental or any assistance during this time, and I need my vehicle to commute to work and conduct other essential activities. It has just over 1,000 miles on it and is ~3 months old now. This issue impacts: backup camera, emergency braking, blind spot detection, lane keep/centering, assisting with parking, automatic high beams and wipers, cruise control/ adaptive cruise control, Vehicles built in GPS to be stuck at one location every time, has made my touchscreen not automatically brighten or dim, my auto dimming mirrors be too dim in most driving conditions, constantly fail to install system improvements and safety updates, and because my vehicle keeps trying to do this, it has caused increased battery drain as well. This has increased the safety risk of my vehicle tremendously, and i have received no reparations for it.