All generations and engines together · 9,565 MOT tests in the 2025 data
Better than most small SUVs per mile driven. Watch suspension and brakes. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Clunking or knocking over speed humps and rough road, worse at low speed, is one of the most repeated Model Y complaints on owner forums. It's usually traced to worn upper control arm ball joints (moisture getting trapped inside the joint) or torn front lower control arm and anti-roll bar link bushings, showing up from around 40-70k miles. This lines up with the measured MOT data, where suspension is the standout fault category for the Model Y. Out-of-warranty, anti-roll bar links and lower arm bushes typically run £200-450 at an approved centre.
A number of owners, mostly on 2021 model year cars, have reported flush door handles going dead with no warning when the 12V system voltage drops, sometimes locking a child in the back seat with no way to get them out short of breaking a window. It's serious enough that the US NHTSA opened a formal investigation covering roughly 174,000 cars in late 2025, but there is no recall or confirmed fix yet and Tesla hasn't acknowledged a design fault. Worth testing every handle, including the rear ones, on a cold start.
The small 12V battery that runs the door locks, contactors and low-voltage systems can fail suddenly, typically around 3-4 years old, leaving the car completely dead with nothing on the dash to warn you beforehand. Tesla moved to a longer-life lithium 12V battery from around 2021, which cut the complaint rate compared with earlier cars, but it still catches out owners whose cars sit unused for long stretches. Replacement is usually a few hundred pounds at a Tesla service centre.
On heat pump-equipped cars, a software fault could leave a valve stuck open so the cabin loses heating performance in cold weather, sometimes alongside a heat pump error message on the dash. It was serious enough that Tesla recalled over 26,000 Model 3, Y, S and X cars from the 2021-2022 model years and issued a software fix; some cars have needed the physical valve or compressor replaced when software alone didn't cure it. UK owners in cold snaps have also reported reduced heating and range from ice forming over the front air intake sensor.
Owners regularly get through tyres faster than expected, with instant torque, a heavy battery pack and the stock alignment settings all named as contributing causes. The Model Y placed third worst for tyre wear across the UK in Kwik Fit's Maintenance Index, behind only the Model 3. Owners argue over how much is down to driving style versus the car's design, but a full set of replacements can run £600-900 depending on the tyre chosen.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 9,565 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.