2022 Tesla Model Y Brakes Problems

I am reporting a serious safety concern involving my Tesla Model Y. While driving, the vehicle’s main center screen (MCU) suddenly failed and entered a continuous reboot loop. This resulted in the loss of critical driving information and controls, including navigation, camera display, and vehicle system status. The issue occurred without any warning and nearly caused a serious accident, as I was unable to safely monitor essential driving information. This failure made the vehicle extremely unsafe to operate. The problem appears to be related to a known MCU system failure affecting some Tesla vehicles. I am concerned that this issue may present a broader safety risk for other drivers. Please investigate this matter for potential safety defects.

The vehicle was delivered with a critical safety defect in the braking system and inoperable safety software (GPS/FSD/Navigation). Upon further inspection by the dealer's own technician, it was confirmed that the vehicle had 'EXTREMELY POOR BRAKE FEEL' and 'EXTREME RUST BUILD UP' on all pads and rotors, which violated Tesla’s 6mm minimum safety standard for used vehicles. Additionally, a physically damaged windshield harness caused the failure of GPS and FSD features. These defects posed a significant safety risk to myself and my family during operation. The dealer has documented and confirmed these safety issues but is now refusing a buyback and is retaliating with storage fees for my rejection of the unsafe product. No warning lights appeared prior to the technician's discovery of the brake defects.

While driving, the front left brake caliper detached, causing immediate damage to the wheel and a tire blowout. There was no recent brake, wheel, or suspension service (over two years). Tesla is repairing the vehicle for an estimated $2,336.41 but did not clearly identify root cause. This was a sudden brake system failure that could have resulted in loss of control. I am reporting this as a potential safety defect.

On October 13th 2025, while driving, I began to hear a clunking and rattling sound from the front left wheel area when braking. Concerned for my safety, I brought the vehicle to a local independent brake specialist for inspection. Their technician found that one of the two bolts securing the brake caliper was completely missing, and the remaining bolt was approximately halfway backed out. The shop explained that this condition presented an immediate risk of caliper detachment and total brake failure, potentially leading to serious injury or death. After both bolts were replaced and properly torqued, the brake noise that Tesla had previously attributed to “pad burnishing” disappeared entirely. This indicates that the squeaking and vibration symptoms Tesla dismissed were, in fact, caused by an improperly secured caliper—a direct safety issue, not a normal wear condition. I notified Tesla legal of this problem (via certified mail) on October 13 2025 and requested a response within 14 days. I have received no such response, nor have I been contacted for further investigation into this dangerous situation with my vehicle.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The car exhibited a noise from the drivers side (LH) rear brake caliper, car was brought into Tesla for repair and it was determined that "Technician Notes: Technician inspected and verified excessive noise from the driver's side rear brake when applied, as reported by the customer. The noise was caused by a loose brake caliper on the left rear side. The technician replaced the left rear brake caliper and performed a brake fluid bleed/flush to resolve the issue. After the repair, the technician confirmed that the brake noise was no longer present." Tesla Service. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Brake caliper coming loose reduces brake performance and could lead to catastrophic failure and accident. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, see above. Tesla Service center "resolved" the issue by replacing the caliper. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No inspection, beyond Tesla service noted above. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No warning lights, just a clicking sound from the caliper, sounded loose.

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while idling, waiting for their garage to open, the vehicle began to move forward independently. The contact attempted to apply the brake pedal, but the brakes failed, and the vehicle accelerated forward at a higher speed. The vehicle crashed into an unoccupied vehicle parked in the garage, causing the other vehicle to crash into the garage wall and into the laundry room inside the home. The Tesla's air bag deployed. The contact confirmed that no self-driving or other feature was activated at the time of the failure. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled. The contact sustained injury to their neck, knee, and hands. Medical attention was sought via ambulance. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case. The failure mileage was 45,417.

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while at a stop, the brake pedal was depressed when suddenly the steering wheel seized to function, and the vehicle started to move forward independently, causing the driver to veer to the right to avoid crashing into a home garage. The contact attempted to get back into the street however, the vehicle kept moving forward independently as the contact kept depressing on the brake pedal crashing the front center of the vehicle into a sign pole. The vehicle continued to accelerate independently causing the contact to crash into a second sign pole on the front passenger side where the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was damaged by the fender upon the first impact and was damaged on the front passenger side upon the second impact however, the vehicle was not destroyed. The air bags did not deploy. The contact and his wife suffered from whiplash however, medical attention was not required. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the place of the accident to the contact's home. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 10,100.

While driving in town and pulling into a parking spot, my Tesla slammed on the brakes so hard it was like we struck something. The car was not in FSD or any assistive driving mode unless Tesla changed it without our knowledge. There were no warning or anything before the car slammed on the brakes. I reported the incident to Tesla and they never responded.

Safety issue with Tesla's auto pilot braking without cause in the middle of freeway. Many times accidents were about to happen when I intervened and press onto the gas pedal. It seems like there are other complaints and not sure why NHTSA is not doing about it? Is Tesla that powerful that government does not want to disturb anything?

Phantom braking occurred when the adaptive cruise was engaged when a truck entered the road from the right side. The car abruptly slowed when the truck crossed my lane although there was no eminent danger. The car behind us nearly collided with us due to the sudden braking incident. This is the third sudden braking incident; however, the others were related to a bridge or overpass.

Unwanted Lane Assistance in Tesla Model Y made the car swerve to side. When I tried correcting it, the steering got hard to control and whole car swirled 360 degrees and hit shoulder rail. Brakes didn’t slow the car.

Vehicle: 2022 Tesla Model Y VIN: [XXX] Mileage: 85,000 Complaint Description (Copy & Paste): I am filing this complaint due to serious and ongoing safety-related defects with my 2022 Tesla Model Y that remain unresolved despite multiple service visits. The vehicle experiences shuddering and vibration during regenerative braking, especially when driving downhill. In addition, the braking behavior is unpredictable, which compromises vehicle control and creates a risk of loss of control while driving. These issues occur during normal driving conditions and present a significant safety hazard to myself, my passengers, and other road users. I have taken the vehicle to Tesla for service three separate times for this issue. Despite these visits, the Tesla service department has stated they are unable to fix the problem, and the safety concern remains unresolved. I’m being having this issues since I bought the car new. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Since purchasing the car, I've had issues with the driver's side floor mat sliding and/or flapping. By sliding I mean it slides to the right and then interferes with the braking. By flapping, I mean the left separate portion/flap of the drivers side mat just randomly bends over - again causing interference with braking. I've tried to correct this issue multiple times by repositioning the floor mats. There is no way to secure the mats. I also added this concern to a pre-existing service request as it is quite annoying; however, I was told to just purchase new mats - even though my vehicle is under warranty.

"Phantom breaking" issue. When the vehicle is placed in cruise control the vehicle just randomly slams on the breaks; this typically happens when on the freeway/highway at speeds of 55 mph or greater. My wife and I have experienced this extremely dangerous issue from day 1 of taking possession of our Tesla over a year ago. I've reported it to Tesla and also spoken to the repair technicians that work on the Tesla vehicles. They're aware of the issue and haven't done anything to help or even offered to fix the issue. The technicians advised me that they are fully aware of the issue, and Tesla has no fix at this time. This is totally unacceptable and extremely dangerous. We've nearly gotten into a couple of major accidents because of this uncorrected issue.

On November 12, 2023, approximately 3PM, my family and I were traveling eastbound on Miramar Road, near Camino Santa Fe Road, San Diego, when we experienced an immediate and sudden braking of our vehicle (2022 Tesla, model Y), for no apparent reason. There were no warning lights or symptoms that would have exhibited any kind of problem with the vehicle. This sudden braking caused my wife, the driver, to panic and swerve. We were traveling at the posted road speed of about 50mph. Fortunately, there was no traffic and no other vehicles in the vicinity or there might have been an accident. We have not yet reported this incident to Tesla, the police, or anyone else. I am conducting my initial research. Coincidentally, my daughter just experienced a similar incident this morning in her 2017 Tesla, Model 3. She will file her own report. After hearing of the problem happening to my daughter I decided we need to file immediate reports and contact Tesla today.

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while his wife was parking the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to stop as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle collided with a wall and was stopped by a curb. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was diagnosed by the manufacturer and the contact was informed that the accelerator had been depressed inadvertently; however, the contact was adamant that it was brake pedal that was depressed at the time of the failure. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 10,444.

While driving at night with the cruise control on, the emergency braking system engaged. It appeared that the road surface went from dark to a lighter color.

Many occurrences of phantom braking have occurred since I purchased the vehicle several months ago. I was driving on I-5 in California with the cruise control set at 70mph, then changed lanes from left lane to right lane with about 5-6 car links from the semi truck to the rear in the right lane. The emergency braking feature engaged with no vehicles in front of me in either lane for at least 500 yards. The semi truck locked up its breaks to avoid rear ending me. I applied the accelerator as quickly as possible and when I did the semi was approximately 3 feet from crashing into the rear of my vehicle.

While traveling at highway speeds from Colorado to Texas and from Texas back to Colorado my car continuously slammed on the brakes without warning while the autopilot(cruise control) was engaged. There was no visible evidence or object in common for each event. What made this dangerous is any untied objects in the car would shift forward and the vehicles behind me would have to slam on their brakes as well. On a few occasions it changed lanes with no cars in front of me.

This issue is pretty scary and I'm still shocked after a couple of hrs. Luckily no damage was caused but I couldn't stop thinking what will happen if I were on the highway. I was waiting for the red light, fully stopped, and waiting to get onto the highway. However, after 2-3 seconds, the car started to move. I was surprised, shocked and trying to stop the car in the meantime. However, the brake stops working and It seems to be very tight and I couldn't step on it to make it stop. Then I was able to turn right into a gas station(very lucky, no car on the right lane) and then I was able to switch to "P" to fully stop the car. I then called the Tesla road assistance and my car was towed and they're checking the issue now. Wanted to log this since this could be very very very DANGEROUS!