The vehicle itself will not follow safety lane control. Full self driving was in fact it crosses double white lines and toll roads and will merge into other lanes that has led to unsafe situation excessive ticketing, especially in the [XXX] area. This has happened several times, where it’ll go over the double white line ignore the laws and it will stay in the left lane, causing traffic and disruption. Today it did it several times and jerked into the toll lane when it was a double white line and caused a traffic issue instead of working through it. It signal quickly and then just moved over which was not OK and it was against the rules. Each state has their own set of laws and the cars should be able to adjust each state to follow those laws to ensure safety. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Tesla Model Y jerking problems
76 of the 4,359 owner complaints about the Tesla Model Y describe jerking or lurching, most of them for the 2023 model year.
- owner complaints
- 76
- worst model year
- 2023
- typical mileage
- 9,440
By model year
Often reported together
Adaptive cruise 19Phantom braking 11Lane assist 9Sudden acceleration 6Steering lock-up 3Collision warning 3Harsh shifting 2Grinding brakes 2
What owners say
I run FSD 96% of the time. It’s so good that I get somewhat complacent. That’s not a character flaw. That’s what a reliable system does to people. The failure mode is simple. Car is holding a curve. Foot accidently brushes the brake. Autosteer disengages. Assist steering torque goes to zero. Wheel unloads. At speed the path goes straight, worst cases, into barrier, pole, or oncoming lane. A heavy Tesla in that geometry is ugly. Tesla’s answer is always the same: the driver disengaged, so it’s not on us. The accident is losing lateral control because of another control (braking) that should only change speed. Brake pedal grazes are easy and inevitable. I can recover a braking event. But I may not recover an instant straight-line on a bend if my hands weren’t on the wheel. Simple fix: Disengage traction but don’t have FSD disengage AutoSteer until I force the wheel. That way FSD knows I have control instead of only assuming that. I love FSD but always feel there is a suicide/killer stick just inches away from my feet. To answer your question, there is no component failure and safety risk is obvious. I can reproduce the scenario by simply tapping the brake on a curve and feel the wheel try to jerk out of my hands. Tesla acknowledges that this is the way the system was designed: complete instant manual takeover. The normal FSD disengagement tone rings. But that is too little, too late for a surprised driver.
Lane assist and warnings are horrible and can’t be permanently disabled because of your asinine regulations. I have had it try to force me into high way on ramp merge lanes and on unmarked backroads absolutely lose it’s mind and force me over to oncoming traffic because it doesn’t know where the shoulder is. In addition it is over sensitive and likes to blare annoying alarms and jerk my steering wheel when I am not even departing my lane. Thanks for over regulating yet another thing.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while stopped at a red light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended and jerked. The contact stated that after shifting into reverse(R), the vehicle failed to reverse as intended. The vehicle was shifted to park(P) and then into drive(D) several times, and the vehicle accelerated. The contact stated that approximately 20 minutes later, while exiting the highway and approaching a red light, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle was stopped and the hold feature was engaged and the icon showed up on the dashboard, but the vehicle rolled backward and struck another vehicle. The vehicle was then shifted to park(P), and after speaking with the other driver, the vehicle was moved to the closest parking lot. The Police were called, but a report was not filed. The vehicle was then taken to the residence. The vehicle was taken to a dealer; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was then taken to the same dealer, but the failure could not be duplicated. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 63,500.
Subject: Safety Hazard caused by Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance on [2026 Tesla Model Y] Description: I am writing to report a serious safety issue regarding the Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance (ELDA) feature on my US-spec Tesla. Starting with recent software updates, the vehicle forces the Lane Departure Avoidance setting back to "Assist" upon every single drive cycle, with no option to disable it permanently. This behavior creates an immediate safety hazard, especially in cold climate regions and during winter driving conditions. When attempting to steer around immediate road hazards such as open manholes, deep potholes, or debris, the vehicle's cameras fail to recognize the object in the road. If the driver maneuvers to avoid the hazard without a pre-activated turn signal, the ELDA system aggressively intervenes, jerking the steering wheel back into the path of the danger. On slippery, icy, or wet roads, this unexpected electronic intervention causes a sudden loss of traction, risking a severe crash. Forcing a driver to navigate multiple sub-menus on a touchscreen to change a safety-critical setting before every single drive is dangerous and distracting. In the United States, there is no federal mandate requiring this setting to reset to "Assist" on every drive. I request that the federal safety agency investigate this aggressive software behavior and compel Tesla to restore the option for owners to permanently set Lane Departure Avoidance to "Warning" or "Off".
On 8/22/2026, my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range with approximately 81,000 miles developed an Electronic Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) fault immediately after I felt a brief jerk while reversing. The vehicle displayed “Steering assist reduced / Steering may require increased effort.” Manual steering currently feels normal, but Full Self-Driving/Autosteer and Lane Departure/Lane Keeping functions became unavailable. Tesla Service Mode shows repeated faults EPAS3P_a072_motFeedFwdError, EPAS3P_a049_piCtrlError, and UI_a020_SteeringReduced. For EPAS3P_a072, Tesla’s diagnostic screen describes a “Motor control feed-forward correlation error,” lists the potential impact as “Reduced steering assist and EAC inhibited,” and specifically lists “Replace EPAS” as the clear condition. The faults return after vehicle power-off and reboot. The vehicle was updated to software 2026.21.6 / FSD v14 Lite approximately two weeks before this occurred. There were no previous steering warnings. I am not claiming the update caused the failure, but I believe the timing warrants investigation. the federal safety agency Complaint 11749826 describes a 2021 Model Y with the same EPAS3P_a072 and UI_a020 faults, including Tesla Service Mode stating “Replace EPAS.” Complaint 11758026 describes another 2021 Model Y steering gear failure and requests expansion of Recall 25V‑092 to earlier Model Ys. My vehicle has not yet been physically inspected by Tesla. The vehicle and diagnostic information are available for inspection. I request the federal safety agency investigate whether this EPAS failure extends beyond the current recall population and whether recent software changes may be contributing.
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving manually over 40 MPH, the Lane Departure Avoidance system jerked the steering wheel abruptly to the other side while the vehicle was still inside the desired lane. The failure was a recurring issue. The dealer was contacted and informed of the option to turn off the feature. However, each time the vehicle was restarted, the feature was turned on by default. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 300.
We recently got a subscription for Tesla's full self driving (FSD) system. While using the system, on several occasions, the car "jerked" momentarily. Like it is hard braking but then the car resumes its previous pace. Again, this is very quick, perhaps taking less than a second. It is an occasional occurrence, but it has happened enough times that I am not using the feature anymore. For a split second, It feels like the car was stopping abruptly, which startled everyone riding in the car. My wife called Tesla and provided the information above to an automated help center. She was told to try the "Hurry" mode in FSD. We've been using the "Standard" mode.
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed without the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature engaged, the steering wheel suddenly jerked to the right. While the FSD was engaged, the vehicle made erroneous turns at 51 MPH, forcing the driver to take control of the vehicle. The contact received several warnings about the brakes and other safety features. The steering wheel jerked to the right while driving with the FSD engaged. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla Service Center on July 9th. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 303.
The vehicle pulls or "snaps/clicks" when wheel is moved at all speeds while driving manually. It is more prevalent at higher highway speeds. Tesla stated steering gear mechanism may need replacement and it is considered normal wear and tear. There are no alignment, nor wheel, problems. The steering issue has become a hazard on the highway due to the sudden "jerk" reaction from steering wheel input. I am concerned the steering wheel input may become completely unresponsive in the near future when vehicle is being driven. Steering components should be a safety problem and not a typical "wear and tear" component. Car has never been in an accident or incident.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Tesla Model Y jerking
Which Tesla Model Y years have jerking or lurching problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2023 (24 complaints), 2021 (18 complaints) and 2022 (15 complaints).
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