The loudest year for broken suspension parts — owners are losing lateral links and control-arm bushings before 30,000 miles, and no recall covers the wear.

This one applies to the 2021 Model Y and not the 2020, so it is easy to miss. Recall 22V-317 covers cars whose fisheye and narrow camera cable terminals were installed in the wrong positions in the harness connector, swapping the camera views. The consequence is that the car cannot reliably detect crossing objects or sharp lane curvature, which impairs both Autosteer and automatic emergency braking — and it does not warn you. The fix is physical: Tesla corrects the terminals and recalibrates the cameras, free of charge. Confirm this one specifically by VIN; a software check will not tell you.

Tesla filed eight service bulletins stating that 2020 and 2021 Model 3 and Model Y cars may carry refrigerant pressure and temperature sensors in the heat pump that fault over time. When they do, the software stops trusting the readings and shuts the heat pump down, taking cabin heat, air conditioning and windshield defrost with it, usually behind a 'climate control system requires service' message. One 2021 owner wrote that the heat pump and air-conditioning unit went out and Tesla wanted $4,000 for a part that failed in under three years. An independent EV technician puts a sensor-only repair at roughly $450-$900 at Tesla or $350-$700 independently, and repairs that reach the super manifold or compressor well past $2,000. A high-pitched squeal from the front trunk area while preconditioning below freezing is the early warning, and typically means the compressor is already shedding metal debris into the system. Recall 22V-050 is only the software slice of the heat-pump story and does not cover the sensors or manifold. Because the heat pump also conditions the traction battery, a failed one is not just a comfort problem.

A distinct cluster this year. One owner reports a rear passenger door stuck closed and returned to Tesla five separate times without a fix, with children seated behind it. A more serious complaint describes an eight-month-old infant trapped inside a 2021 Model Y for around thirty minutes after a systems fault. Related, recall 24V-554 covers a hood-latch system that may fail to detect an unlatched hood, remedied over the air. Open and close every door from inside and out, including from the rear seats, and test the manual release, before you buy.

Four separate Tesla service bulletins covering 2020-2023 Model Ys say water may have leaked into the rear trunk area through the liftgate assembly. Owners report it after rain, snow or a car wash, sometimes reaching the underfloor storage bin. Alongside it, owners describe rear window regulators going loose and rattling with wind noise (one had the regulator and a seal replaced only for it to return six months later), paint that chips easily, a loose spoiler and cameras that stop working and throw a black screen with driver-assist unavailable — twice needing camera replacement. Lift the rear cargo floor and check for water staining, rust or a musty smell.

A substantial part of the complaint file is driver-assist behavior rather than failed parts: hard braking for nothing on Autopilot or adaptive cruise, and Full Self-Driving misjudging intersections. Recall 21V-846 addressed a communication error causing false forward-collision warnings and unexpected automatic emergency braking on one software version; 23V-085 and 23V-838 are the fleet-wide Full Self-Driving and Autosteer campaigns. All were remedied over the air. Test the driver-assist suite on a highway yourself and confirm the car is on current software — and remember that on this year the swapped-camera recall above can be the real cause of odd driver-assist behavior.

The battery and drive unit remain the car's best part, covered for 8 years and 120,000 miles on Long Range and Performance (100,000 miles on Standard Range) — a 2021 still has years of that left even though its 4-year / 50,000-mile basic warranty has expired. Degradation is front-loaded: most of it happens in the first 20,000 to 30,000 miles and then flattens, so a car in the middle of its life is showing you close to what you will keep. Interior wear is a non-issue; a same-design seat in a 103,000-mile sibling car was still described as fine by a used-Tesla trade seller. The problems on this year are chassis and thermal, not powertrain.