Tesla Model Y: reliability & safety rating
Reliability and build quality might not be Tesla’s strong suit, but the Model Y does boast a five-star rating and high scores in the Euro NCAP crash safety tests
| Euro NCAP | Adult protection | Child protection | Safety assistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 stars (2022) | 97% | 87% | 98% |
Never could there be a greater disparity in a manufacturer’s reputation for reliability and safety; the Model Y is ranked by industry experts Euro NCAP as one of the safest new cars you can buy, but reliability data from our latest Driver Power customer satisfaction survey puts Teslas amongst the most unreliable new cars on sale.
Tesla Model Y reliability & problems
The 2023 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey revealed that a whopping 40% of Tesla drivers suffered a fault with their car within the first year of ownership – one of the highest numbers in the survey.
That being said, the brand still managed a very impressive third-place finish out of 32 manufacturers, with buyers thrilled with the performance, efficiency and technology of their cars.
Safety
In 2022, the Tesla Model Y received the maximum five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP’s crash safety tests, which isn’t surprising considering the company leads the industry in semi-autonomous driving systems. That also explains the 98% score in the Safety Assist category, exceeding even the Model 3’s formerly record-breaking score of 94%.
All versions come with lane-keeping assistance, blind spot monitoring, parking aids, traffic-sign recognition and a full suite of airbags. You can of course upgrade to enhanced autopilot, which adds semi-autonomous driving, parking and lane changing. While, the full self-driving capabilities allows the car to recognise, slow and even stop when approaching red lights, with semi-autonomous city driving coming soon, too.
Remember though, all of these systems are semi-autonomous, not fully autonomous. That means you still need to be paying attention and ready to take control. We found that while the auto steer function works well at detecting even the faintest road markings, it can still be thrown by patchy road surfaces and roads where there is no distinct white line to mark the edge of the lane.
