What goes wrong with a 2021 Tesla Model Y?
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,978 complaints about this vehicle to NHTSA. They are reports, not confirmed defects, and here is what they are about.
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,978 complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model Y to NHTSA, spread across 28 component categories. The most reported category is forward collision avoidance, with 837 reports. A complaint is somebody telling the federal government what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect, not a manufacturer finding, and not a failure rate.
- Complaints submitted
- 1,978
- Component categories
- 28
- Most reported
- Forward collision avoidance
- Latest report
- August 10, 2026
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, as ingested August 17, 2026
What these numbers are, before the table
These are complaints submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. They are reports, not confirmed defects and not a manufacturer finding, and they are not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no other reason than that more people own it.
The component category is chosen by the person filing, out of NHTSA's own list, which is why one of the largest categories on almost every vehicle is "unknown or other". Read the table as a map of what owners chose to report rather than as a ranking of what breaks.
All 28 categories.
Most reported first. Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths are counts of reports that also mentioned one, as recorded by the person filing.
| Component | Complaints | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | Latest report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 837 | 42 | 2 | 7 | August 1, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 177 | 17 | 0 | 9 | May 26, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 159 | 18 | 1 | 5 | August 1, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 143 | 13 | 2 | 9 | August 10, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 133 | 20 | 0 | 3 | June 7, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 92 | 14 | 0 | 0 | July 2, 2026 |
| Steering | 86 | 10 | 1 | 6 | July 25, 2026 |
| Suspension | 67 | 4 | 1 | 0 | July 25, 2026 |
| Visibility/wiper | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 30, 2026 |
| Power train | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | August 3, 2026 |
| Structure | 30 | 3 | 2 | 0 | July 15, 2026 |
| Seat belts | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | July 7, 2026 |
| Back over prevention | 26 | 9 | 1 | 2 | June 1, 2026 |
| Air bags | 25 | 7 | 0 | 1 | July 7, 2026 |
| Seats | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | July 23, 2026 |
| Wheels | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | July 25, 2026 |
| Engine | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | December 1, 2025 |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | October 4, 2025 |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | August 3, 2026 |
| Exterior lighting | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | May 21, 2025 |
| Visibility | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 21, 2025 |
| Tires | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | May 11, 2025 |
| Service brakes, hydraulic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | March 6, 2025 |
| Service brakes, electric | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | April 7, 2022 |
| Chest clip, buckle, harness | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | June 5, 2021 |
| Child seat | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | November 14, 2023 |
| Equipment adaptive/mobility | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | June 7, 2023 |
| Tether, lower anchor (on car seat or vehicle) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | March 29, 2022 |
Of the 1,978 complaints filed about this vehicle, 170 mentioned a crash, 14 a fire and 45 an injury, and 7 mentioned a death. These are counts of what reporters wrote, not findings, and NHTSA does not verify them at the point of filing.
What to do if your car is doing one of these
A category on this page is not a diagnosis. If your car is making a noise, showing a light, or leaking something, the useful question is what that symptom means and whether it needs the shop tonight or next week.
The symptoms guide works the other way round from this page: it starts with what you can hear, see or smell and says whether it is roadside, a tow, or a booking. If what you are seeing matches a recall campaign on this vehicle, the repair is free at a franchised dealer.
Who works on Model Ys in Brooklyn?
We do, at 619 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11218, family owned since 1977. Diagnostics first, then the work, and a flatbed if it will not start where it sits.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, owner-submitted complaints. Anyone may file one, they are published as filed, and NHTSA opens an investigation only when a pattern in them warrants it. A complaint that led to an investigation and a complaint that did not look identical in this table.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.