2020 Tesla MODEL Y problems and owner complaints
Explore the records behind recurring owner reports.
Key facts
275 owner complaints analyzed
24 distinct recall campaigns
4,466 mi median reported failure mileage
Scope: 2020 model year. Data snapshot: . 52 complaints include usable failure mileage.
Most common problems
Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control is the most frequently named component, appearing in 71 of 275 complaints (25.8%). A complaint can name multiple components.
| Topic | Matching reports | Share of complaints |
|---|---|---|
| Braking behavior | 92 | 33.5% |
| Steering behavior | 31 | 11.3% |
| Electrical and battery issues | 13 | 4.7% |
| Engine operation | 5 | 1.8% |
| Transmission and shifting | 1 | 0.4% |
Topic matches use published keyword rules. They describe mentions, including negations or comparisons, and do not confirm a diagnosis. Read the matching rules.
Component breakdown
Number of unique complaints naming each component. Top eight shown.
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control | 71 |
| Unknown Or Other | 54 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | 44 |
| Service Brakes | 35 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 35 |
| Suspension | 30 |
| Steering | 25 |
| Electrical System | 24 |
Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control: 71; Unknown Or Other: 54; Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking: 44; Service Brakes: 35; Vehicle Speed Control: 35; Suspension: 30; Steering: 25; Electrical System: 24
Reported problems by failure mileage
Complaint counts in mileage bands. These are not failure rates per vehicle or mile.
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Under 25,000 | 41 |
| 25,000 to 49,999 | 6 |
| 50,000 to 74,999 | 1 |
| 75,000 to 99,999 | 4 |
| 100,000 to 149,999 | 0 |
| 150,000 and above | 0 |
Under 25,000: 41; 25,000 to 49,999: 6; 50,000 to 74,999: 1; 75,000 to 99,999: 4; 100,000 to 149,999: 0; 150,000 and above: 0
Under 25,000 miles has the most reports with usable mileage (41). 223 complaints have missing, zero or invalid mileage.
Complaints over time
Year the complaint was filed, not the vehicle model year or incident year. The snapshot year is partial.
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 25 |
| 2021 | 28 |
| 2022 | 95 |
| 2023 | 51 |
| 2024 | 40 |
| 2025 | 23 |
| 2026 | 13 |
2020: 25; 2021: 28; 2022: 95; 2023: 51; 2024: 40; 2025: 23; 2026: 13
Pattern summary
Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control leads the component reports. Braking behavior appears in 92 complaint narratives. Steering behavior appears in 31 complaint narratives. Electrical and battery issues appears in 13 complaint narratives. Use these patterns to inspect individual reports and prepare questions for a mechanic.
Calculated from recorded counts. An AI narrative has not been published for this selection.
Complaint evidence
Examples provide context, not a representative sample or a verified diagnosis.
Owner report 11354647 · 2020-09-13 (September 13, 2020)
INCIDENT: CAR SHUTDOWN AND POWER FAILURE WITH LITTLE WARNING. TIME/DATE/PLACE OF INCIDENT: 9/7/2020, APPROXIMATELY 5:20PM IN LIVERMORE, CA. WHILE DRIVING AT A SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH EASTBOUND ON W JACK LONDON BLVD (PAST WOLF HOUSE DRIVE), THE CAR'S COMPUTER DISPLAYED AN "UNABLE TO DRIVE" MESSAGE (ERROR CODE DI_A137) AND INSTRUCTED US TO PULL OVER. SINCE WE WERE ON A 2-LANE ROAD WITH NO SHOULDER WE PROCEEDED TO THE NEAREST DRIVEWAY (TURNING LEFT TO A DRIVEWAY AT ~1105 W JACK LONDON BLVD). THE CAR VIBRATED VIOLENTLY THEN SHUTDOWN. THE ESTI…
Owner-reported narrative. 1,300 miles reported. Look up ODI 11354647 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11363598 · 2020-10-09 (October 9, 2020)
OCTOBER 8 2020, 5:00PM. HEAVY TRAFFIC ON I-5 NORTH AT ANAHEIM, CA NEAR HARBOR BLVD/BALL RD EXIT. I HAD JUST CHANGED LANES TO THE RIGHT IN PREPARATION TO TAKE THE EXIT. DUE TO HEAVY TRAFFIC, MY SPEED WAS APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH. IMMEDIATELY AFTER SETTLING TO THE NEW LANE, TOYOTA RAV4 IN FRONT OF ME BRAKES AGGRESSIVELY. I WAS ABOUT 6 FT FROM THIS CAR, AND IMMEDIATELY PRESSED MY TESLA Y BRAKE PEDAL HARD IN AN ATTEMPT TO AVOID COLLISION. BUT, MY TESLA Y WOULD NOT STOP. THE WHEELS DID NOT LOCK INTO FULL BRAKING. TESLA'S AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING DID …
Owner-reported narrative. 1,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 11363598 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11366228 · 2020-10-24 (October 24, 2020)
HERE IS A 2020 MODEL Y IN THE JUNKYARD HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/37686849?ROWNUMBER=56 IT HAS BEEN PARTIALLY DISASSEMBLED WHICH MAKES IT HARD TO DETERMINE WHY IT ENDED UP BEING WRITTEN OFF. HOWEVER. THE FRONT MOTOR AND SUSPENSION HAS BEEN REMOVED AS A COMPLETE ASSEMBLY AND IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THERE HAS BEEN A SUSPENSION AND STEERING FAILURE. BLOWN UP PHOTOGRAPH IS ATTACHED TO THIS SUBMISSION. THE TOP BALL JOINT HAS SLIPPED OUT OF ITS STUPIDLY DESIGNED SLOT. WORST OF ALL THE STEERING ARM BALL-JOINT HAS POPPED APART. IN A VIRTUA…
Owner-reported narrative. 1,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 11366228 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11376867 · 2020-11-28 (November 28, 2020)
NHTSA IS CONDUCTING INVESTIGATIONS INTO TESLA SUSPENSION BREAKAGES. HERE IS FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT THE BREAKAGES ARE NOT RESTRICTED TO CERTAIN MODELS AND CERTAIN YEARS BUT ARE GENERIC TO ALL TESLAS AND CAUSED BY LOW QUALITY SUSPENSION AND STEERING COMPONENTS. HERE IS A MODEL Y IN THE JUNKYARD: 2020 TESLA MODEL Y LONG RANGE HTTPS://WWW.IAAI.COM/VEHICLEDETAILS/37686849?ROWNUMBER=3 THE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS THAT THE BALL JOINT CONNECTING THE STEERING ROD TO THE KNUCKLE HAS SNAPPED IN HALF. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS FAILURES OF TESLA BA…
Owner-reported narrative. 1,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 11376867 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11448771 · 2022-01-25 (January 25, 2022)
Cabin climate control and preconditioning for the battery have failed. Message: "cabin climate control needs service". First noticed around 1/5/22 and report to Tesla Service. Car interior will not heat up at all, causing the car to be unusable due to: no heat, unable to defrost windows. This is a definite safety issue that Tesla has yet to address. We live in upstate NY, and outdoor temps have been very cold. But we did not have any issue in the winter of 2020-2021. We first complained to Tesla on 1/5/22. Tesla scheduled an app't to fix it …
Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11448771 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11542068 · 2023-09-01 (September 1, 2023)
Tesla completely shut down and my wife got locked inside with windows closed. Windows will not roll down. She called me and I asked for help with roadside assistance. They showed the manual door open latch. I called the tow truck and heard that this is a common incident. Tesla service center diagnosed it as a complete failure of 12V battery. There was absolutely no warning of the problem. This’s a really unsafe situation and needs to have a warning system for 12v battery failure.
Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11542068 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11435732 · 2021-10-06 (October 6, 2021)
I put the car into the Parking mode to back into a stall between two cars. The car backed into a shopping cart at the rear of the car to my left. There was a woman putting groceries into her trunk standing next to the shopping cart. I was able to stop the car before any damage to the cart or my car. The woman was never in danger of being hit. I asked the TESLA service department to check out the sensors but the said that there was nothing wrong with the car and refused to check out the sensors unless I paid to have the check them out. They also…
Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11435732 at NHTSA ↗
Owner report 11528060 · 2023-06-21 (June 21, 2023)
While driving at highway speeds, the car unintentionally went into neutral. The setup: The driver was on the highway with cruise control on. Upon turning cruise control off to prepare for entering an exit ramp, the car also went neutral. We lost power and the regenerative braking that you expect in this car. The center console stated something like “Please shift into drive or reverse”. The cause is that Tesla uses an up movement on the right hand gear stalk to cancel auto pilot, cancel cruise control, and to put the car into neutral. If that…
Owner-reported narrative. Look up ODI 11528060 at NHTSA ↗