Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2026 Tesla Model Y owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact is a police officer from the Simi police department, who called on behalf of the owner of a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated the owner was driving at 30 MPH with full autopilot mode with direction destination set, the vehicle increased in speed to make a U-turn on the opposite side of a driveway; therefore, the driver attempted to disengage the autopilot and depressed the brake pedal. The vehicle failed to stop and instead increased in speed, causing the driver to crash into a curb, a Dodge Ram truck, a light pole, and an occupied Nissan Maxima vehicle, where the vehicle came to a stop. Both vehicles that were crashed into were occupied by 1 occupant each. The contact stated the owner's air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that the owner did not sustain any injuries. No medical attention was required. …
The contact owned a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal to attempt to stop at a stop sign, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. The contact mentioned that when attempting to make a left turn, the steering wheel seized and became difficult to maneuver, and the vehicle crashed into a curb and merged into a landscaping facility. The contact was able to shift the vehicle into neutral, then reverse. The vehicle began to work as intended, and he looked out of his rearview mirror. He could see smoke coming from the rear passenger side, and he heard an abnormal noise coming from the rear passenger tire. No warning lights illuminated. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was towed to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnosis was unknown. The contact mentioned the dealer, and insurance deemed the vehicle a total loss. …
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. While the vehicle was parked and attempting to shift into drive(D), the brake pedal was depressed, and the driver attempted to select the gear, but the gear display icon appeared semi-transparent. The driver was able to select the intended gear after several attempts; however, upon depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle unintentionally accelerated at a higher speed and struck a tree. The air bags did not deploy. No injuries were reported, and a Police report was not filed. No warning light was illuminated before or after the crash. Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode was not activated during the failure. The vehicle was driven to a collision repair center to repair the damage. The contact notified the manufacturer of the failure and requested assistance retrieving data from the Event Data Recorder (EDR); however, no assistance was provided. …
The contact owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle suddenly lurched forward and crashed into a curb, then the vehicle lunched forward and crashed into a brick wall. The vehicle then erroneously drove in reverse at a high rate of speed and crashed into a second parked vehicle. The contact indicated that after the incident, in order to shut the vehicle off, the doors had to be opened. The contact's foot remained on the brake pedal during the incident. During the crash, the driver sustained a fractured right foot, and the rear center passenger sustained a bruised back. Both injuries later required medical treatment. No police report was taken. The vehicle was later towed to the home. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 9,440
My Tesla Model Y FSD (Full Self Driving mode) malfunctioned when it unintentionally accelerated and swerved dangerously to avoid what it concluded as potential collision with a merging truck. By the time the driver intervened the vehicle had made contact with road barricades damaging both passenger side front and back door and tire fenders. No warnings were issued. - Component or system failed or malfunctioned - Full Self Driving (FSD) - Safety - FSD malfunctioned causing a crash
Tesla took off from a parking lot and was uncontrollable, went through the grass, crossed the street and construction before hitting the barricades and fell into a sewer as the road ended there. There were 2 passengers in the car and luckily both passengers came unharmed. But FSD needs to be investigated on why this happened.
When using cruise control (traffic aware cruise control and autosteer) the car acts dangerously and stops for no reason. I've been driving on open roads with no traffic in front of me on regular roads, the car will slam on the brakes and it causes the people behind me to need to slam on their brakes as well. I feel like I'm going to get into an accident constantly... I was on the freeway and no one around in front of me and the car slammed on the brakes to almost a stop on a 70 mph speed limit road. Today the same thing occurred in high traffic on a 55mph road, luckily the driver behind me wasn't to close and was able to stop in time ... There is no option to use regular cruise control or disable enough features to prevent this from occurring... It's incredibly terrifying. If they can't do traffic aware cruise, there should be the option to do regular cruise... …
Vehicle equipped with Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised v 14.2) software exhibits unsafe automated following behavior. The system maintains following distances that are too short at steady speeds, including behind stable lead vehicles with no braking or traffic disturbances. Tesla's own Safety Score system flags this behavior as "following too closely," indicating elevated collision risk. However, the driver has no available control to adjust minimum following distance or impose safer headway while using FSD This represents unsafe autonomous tailgating behavior with loss of driver control authority over safe following distance, creating increased risk of rear-end collision and hazardous automated driving conditions. Tesla offers several controls (Sloth, Chill, Standard, Hurry, and MadMax) modes, none of which solve the issue if the driver in front is driving the speed limit. …
I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a serious safety incident involving our brand new 2026 Tesla Model Y (Juniper), equipped with FSD version 14.2.2.5 and Software Version 2025.45.10. We purchased this vehicle as our dream car, and for nearly six months it delivered exactly what we hoped for-innovation, safety, and an exceptional driving experience. That trust was the foundation of our decision to choose Tesla. On [redacted], at approximately [redacted] in Frisco, TX, that trust was shaken by a sudden and alarming event. After coming to a stop and while making a routine right turn at under 10 mph, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated on its own, causing an immediate loss of control. The entire incident unfolded in seconds, leaving no opportunity to react or correct the vehicle's behavior. The incident happened at the intersection of [redacted]. …
While using Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised), my vehicle approached an intersection and came to a complete stop at a red traffic light. The vehicle remained fully stopped while the traffic signal was still red. Without any accelerator input from me, the vehicle unexpectedly began moving forward toward the intersection while the traffic light was still red. I did not press or touch the accelerator at any point during this event. As soon as I realized that the vehicle was moving forward against the red light, I immediately applied the brake to stop the vehicle and then immediately reversed to move back to a safe position. My intervention was necessary to prevent the vehicle from entering the intersection and potentially colliding with cross traffic. There was no collision and no physical injury. However, the unexpected movement created an immediate and serious risk of a collision. …
Acceleration complaints in other Model Y years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2026 Tesla Model Y?
NHTSA has 33 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2026 Tesla Model Y, 8% of the model year's 411 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2026 Tesla Model Y acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2026 Tesla Model Y, though it has 8 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2026 Tesla Model Y acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 5,000 miles, and 100% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 9 crashes, 0 fires and 3 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.