2023 Tesla Model Y Brakes Problems

The rear subframe wiring harness on my Tesla contains a significant design flaw that creates an unreasonable safety risk. The factory-installed corrugated protective tubing (wire loom) terminates prematurely, leaving approximately 1 inch of critical wiring completely exposed at the connector. This specific harness uses soy-based insulation, which is a known attractant to rodents. Because of the 1-inch gap in protection, rodents have been able to sever the same connector twice within a 30-day period Safety Risk: The exposed wires in the rear subframe harness are responsible for Rear Drive Unit communication / Wheel Speed Sensors / Brakes]. A failure of these wires while the vehicle is in motion could result in a sudden loss of propulsion, unexpected braking, or the loss of stability control systems. This creates a high risk of a collision, particularly at highway speeds.

Incident Date，March 07, 2026] Current Mileage, 31625 miles ​ I am reporting a catastrophic structural failure of a safety-critical suspension component on my Tesla Model Y. ​Upon inspection, I discovered that one of the bolts securing the driver-side lower control arm has completely detached and fallen off. A second bolt is approximately 50% loose. This has caused a significant safety hazard, as the control arm is no longer properly secured to the subframe, leading to a high risk of total steering loss and wheel detachment while driving. ​Furthermore, when I contacted Tesla Service, they demonstrated extreme negligence by instructing me to drive the vehicle in this lethal condition to their service center. They also initially refused to cover the towing and repair costs, claiming it was not a factory defect despite the clear evidence of fastener failure (improper torque or thread locker application during manufacturing). ​This is a clear manufacturing defect that poses an immediate threat to the driver, passengers, and other road users. I am requesting NHTSA to investigate this batch of Model Y vehicles for suspension fastener integrity issues to prevent potential fatal accidents.

When driving on slippery surfaces, if I release the accelerator pedal—even slightly—the vehicle automatically activates regenerative braking to recapture energy. On ice, this sudden deceleration mimics applying the brakes, which can cause an immediate loss of traction and control. This happened to me recently while driving in snowy and icy conditions. As soon as I eased off the accelerator, the car engaged regenerative braking, the wheels lost grip, and the vehicle began to slide, similar to what would happen if hard braking were applied on ice. I momentarily lost control of the car, creating a serious safety hazard. This behavior is not intuitive and can surprise drivers, particularly in winter climates. Unless regenerative braking is manually adjusted or turned off—something not every driver knows to do—the system can unintentionally put the vehicle into a skid. I am requesting that NHTSA review this issue. A software modification or warning may be needed so drivers are not placed at risk due to unexpected regenerative braking on slippery surfaces. Thank you for your attention to this safety concern.

While operating my Tesla Model Y in a commercial parking lot at a T-intersection controlled by a stop sign, the vehicle unexpectedly and automatically accelerated without driver intent. The incident occurred during a low-speed maneuver. Upon the unexpected acceleration, I immediately attempted to regain control by applying the brake pedal repeatedly and firmly. Despite clear manual brake application, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected and continued to move forward. I also attempted to stop the vehicle by pressing the Park button, but this action did not stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued uncontrollably for approximately 150+ yards, traveling over curbs, striking a fence, and ultimately colliding with the garage structure of a residential home. Throughout this sequence, the vehicle remained unresponsive to braking and stop inputs. Vehicle data later confirmed that brake pedal application was detected prior to impact, yet braking response was insufficient to prevent continued motion. At the time of the event, the vehicle recorded system fault states, and collision avoidance systems did not activate. Despite significant structural impact and property damage, airbags did not deploy. The incident raises serious safety concerns regarding: •Brake-by-wire system execution during fault conditions •Pedal input arbitration between accelerator and brake •Failure of collision avoidance systems to intervene •Failure of restraint systems to deploy during a severe impact •Vehicle behavior when control systems are in a fault state This event occurred without warning and despite appropriate driver response. Based on vehicle data and system behavior, this appears to be a system-level failure rather than driver error.

I am reporting two severe 'phantom braking' incidents involving my Tesla vehicle while driving without autopilot. In both instances, the vehicle initiated hard emergency braking on a high-speed roadway with no obstacles, pedestrians, or vehicles in my path. This sudden, uncommanded deceleration created an immediate risk of a rear-end collision from following traffic. Incident 1: November 2025 at approximately [XXX]. I was traveling at 30 mph on [XXX] . The car suddenly braked to 0 mph. Weather was sunny, and the road was straight. There were several vehicles following behind me. Incident 2: [XXX], at approximately [XXX]. Location: [XXX], Honolulu. The vehicle decelerated from 10mph to 0 mph without warning. In both cases, the car stopped suddenly and was placed in Park. I had to put the car in drive to resume driving. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Driving our 2023 Tesla model Y east on [XXX] on [XXX] near Pecos TX. Car suddenly lost power and started hard braking. We were rear ended by a large pick-up truck that was following as we were both traveling approximately 80 miles per hour when this occurred. The car was towed back to Dallas from Big Springs, TX (approximately 280 miles). The car's rear-end damage was such that my Tesla was deemed totaled by the insurance company. This power failure and hard braking had happened to me repeatedly over the last few years. When I spoke to Tesla at the Dallas service center about this issue, they acted as though they had never heard of this happening to anyone. We were both shaken by this accident but other than some soreness the next day we are physically OK. Tesla repair estimate was approximately $22,000. I was forced to buy another car. I had not planned on doing this as my car was fairly new with low mileage. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint against Tesla, Inc. regarding multiple critical safety failures that occurred with my Tesla Model Y (VIN: [XXX] ) during a collision on Saturday, [XXX], while I was traveling eastbound on [XXX] from the [XXX] exit to the [XXX] exit in Pennsylvania. At approximately [XXX], I was driving in the left lane when a BMW SUV abruptly cut into my lane ahead of me, accelerated briefly, and then suddenly braked. I immediately applied the brakes multiple times in an effort to stop my car. Even though there was sufficient space to stop safely, the braking system failed to respond, resulting in a collision with the BMW in front of me. Despite my efforts to avoid the impact, the following dangerous and unacceptable failures occurred at the time of the accident: 1.Failure of Regenerative Braking / Deceleration: When I lifted my foot from the accelerator, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected under Tesla’s regenerative braking system. 2.Failure of Braking System: Despite pressing the brake pedal twice—including a heavy application—the braking system failed to prevent collision, contrary to Tesla’s advertised safety performance. 3.Failure of Collision-Avoidance Features: Critical safety systems—including Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and Obstacle-Aware Acceleration—did not engage to mitigate or prevent the impact. 4.Failure of Airbag Deployment: Despite the severity of the crash, none of the airbags deployed, exposing me to serious risk of injury and raising grave concerns about the integrity of the Model Y’s occupant protection systems. 5.Post-Collision Failure of Regenerative Braking: Following the accident, when I attempted to drive the vehicle, the regenerative braking system was completely non-functional, creating a continuing safety hazard and rendering the vehicle unsafe to operate. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Driving on I 880 south on the fast lane. The car suddenly braked for no reason and began to shutdown. It warned me to pull over before complete shutdown. Luckily there was space on my left and I was able to rolling stop. Nothing on the screen was working. Turned on hazard light. Got out of car with my phone. Accessed Tesla app and ran battery check. After couple mins the error went away. Tried to slowly move with hazard light on. It appeared to have fixed itself. Slowly merged back into freeway when it was safe. Attached notification when I tried to schedule service request.

The vehicle in front of us came to a sudden stop, but my Tesla failed to issue any alerts or activate automatic braking. When we attempted to brake manually, the car did not allow full braking and continued moving forward, ultimately causing a collision. This strongly suggests a malfunction in the Tesla’s safety or braking system. As a result, I’ve suffered significant financial losses due to the vehicle being totaled and damage caused to other vehicles/other persons injuries involved. This incident is also likely to lead to increased insurance premiums moving forward.

June 9, 2025 Phantom acceleration. No foot on accelerator. Car jumped from 5 to 35 mph. Breaks unresponsive for 3 seconds, smashed into 4 parked cars, creating a Chain-Reaction crash, my Tesla Model Y Totaled, Airbags deployed. Burlington Police Department arrived, took statements, filed report, no copy yet.

On [XXX] I was driving North on [XXX] at approximately 70 MPH when my 2023 Tesla Model Y Long Range brakes violently applied by them self twice in the space of a few seconds, the sudden unexpected brake application was a shock to me causing me almost lose control of the vehicle and was almost rear ended by a truck that was a few car lengths behind me. My car was in manual mode with the "Emergency Braking" switch enabled (no self drive or cruise control), the weather was sunny and dry and there were no traffic or obstacles in front of my car. The onboard dash cam briefly captured the incident. The problem did not reoccur for the remainder of my drive home. There was no warning prior to the incident, I believe that emergency brakes may have flashed on the screen ( not sure because I was busy reacting to the situation). The car has not been inspected as of yet. I now have to disable the Emergency Braking function each time I drive my car because unfortunately the system defaults to the on position and I don't trust it. This issue appears to be a problem with the system that provides visual information to the Emergency Braking System. I'm making this report because this is an extremely dangerous problem that needs to be addressed by Tesla before it causes injury or worse. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I am submitting a complaint regarding a serious safety issue with my 2023 Tesla Model Y. The vehicle experienced a sudden and complete power loss while in operation, creating a hazardous situation. Below are the details of the incident: •Component/System Failure: The vehicle’s electrical system failed, leading to a shutdown. The following alerts were displayed on the screen: •VCFRONT_a191: Electrical system power reduced – Vehicle shutting down •VCFRONT_a192: Electrical system unable to support all features – Switching off features to conserve energy •BMS_a151: Vehicle may not restart – Service is required •DI_a227: Please wait while high voltage system powers up •Safety Risk: The unexpected shutdown posed a serious safety risk. If this had occurred in high-speed traffic, it could have led to a crash, endangering my safety and that of others on the road. •Reproduction of Issue: The issue has not been reproduced yet, but it is an ongoing concern. I have not received a resolution from Tesla at this time. •Inspection by Authorities: The vehicle has not yet been inspected by Tesla, law enforcement, or insurance representatives. However, I am willing to make it available for investigation. •Warning Signs: There were no prior warning signs before the failure. The alerts appeared shortly before the vehicle lost power completely. This issue raises concerns about the reliability and safety of Tesla’s electrical system. I urge the NHTSA to investigate this matter to prevent potential accidents caused by similar failures in other vehicles.

After leaving the supercharger (car charged to 92%) I came to a stop light. The car was NOT in autopilot. I took my foot off the accelerator pedal. The car had nearly come to a complete stop when it starting accelerating again. My foot was NOT on the pedal. I tried to brake and the brakes would NOT work. I turned the car to try to avoid hitting the car in front of me while pressing on the brake. Brakes still would not work and I slammed into the car in front of me. I believe that the car was not able to put the energy from the acceleration back into the battery (regenerative braking technology) and therefore pushed it back into acceleration mode. I also believe this caused the brakes to not work. I know there have been many recalls in China and other complaints of the same issue. I've had the car for 2 years and had never had this problem before. Another note when the accident happened the screen was showing a software update that wanted to be installed. This was a very disturbing and rattling happening and I'm not worried to drive the car after a super charge.

Was driving in traffic and when the cars were coming to a stop I was putting my foot on the break to prepare for a stop but it kept creeping forward and I’m pushing down the breaks as hard as I could but nothing. It ended up hitting the big rig in front of me. The mode of my breaks is on hold it’s always been on hold I even tried to push the parking button but it would not budge, continued forward the collision stopped the car

At 10:11 PM driving on 95 south at 78 miles per hour the car stopped on its own violently braking and swerved across the intersection. Then we kept getting alerts about the cameras. I have pictures of the alerts. There was no obstruction on the highway. Car just braked for no reason. Very scary

While in an automatic car wash with the vehicle in "car wash mode" the vehicle suddenly stopped free rolling and the vehicle behind the Tesla Model Y crashed into the Tesla. The Brown Bear car wash reported that these types of incidents are common at Brown Bear car washes and that they ocurr when the drivers of Tesla cars remove their seat belts while the car is in the car wash.

2023 Tesla Model Y has frequent phantom braking issues when using cruise control. Let me clarify I am not using any sort of auto-pilot or self driving options. I am simply using cruise control. The incidents that cause many braking issues are unjustified to the point I have no idea what the Tesla may have recognized to make it slam on brakes. Very dangerous

I was fully stopped at red light of intersection of [XXX] . Suddenly my vehicle accelerate it self and start auto drive at high speed and malfunction, hitting multiple parked vehicles. My vehicle was on auto holding brake feature. I was not able to control my vehicle, even when I tried pressing the brake. No warnings or alarms from my vehicle when crashes into multiple parked cars. On [XXX] incident happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My Tesla car (Y model) had a glitch (malfunction) that caused it to suddenly brake twice when there was no objects in the road. I had my accident on [XXX] on [XXX] when the car enabled emergency brake for no reason when I was driving in my lane with no objects in its way. I was able to gain control of the tesla back and thankfully nobody hit me as a result. The second glitch happened couple minutes later when the phantom braking spinning my car around causing it to hit the concrete barrier and causing a damage to the car. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact called on behalf of her mother who owned a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while the mother was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact's mother depressed the brake pedal, however the vehicle did not stop. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into a concrete pillar. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was not equipped with a self-mode drive. The contact's mother sustained injuries and was transported to the local hospital. The contact's mother was treated for a broken right ankle, a broken rib, and a possible torn ACL. A Police report was filed, however, the information was unavailable. The vehicle was condemned as a total loss. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,613.