2023 TESLA MODEL Y — Complaint #2146793
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about STRUCTURE:BODY:HATCHBACK/LIFTGATE:SUPPORT DEVICE/STRUT filed November 7, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2146793 (ODI reference 11698186) concerns a 2023 TESLA MODEL Y and was filed on November 7, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 6, 2025. The report was geocoded to North Carolina based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:support device/strut, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TESLA MODEL Y cohort independently describe similar structure:body:hatchback/liftgate:support device/strut failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2023 TESLA MODEL Y shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
REAR LIFT GATE: When the rear lift gate opens fully, it immediately and unexpectedly closes within a few seconds with force. This could strike someone standing behind the vehicle. The issue occurs every time the liftgate is opened, even on level ground. I used the pinch button to open the lift gate, and while it was opening I started to put something in the back up near the back seats. As soon as the lift gate fully opened it quickly closed down on me (seemed faster than normal) and I was stuck. The lift gate safety mechanism did not work in that it did not sense that it had closed on something and it continuedd to put pressure on me as it tried to fully close. I was able to rearrange myself and lift it off of me, but the whole time it was still trying to close and when I let it go it immedately finished shutting.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2146793 |
| ODI Number | 11698186 |
| Date Filed | November 7, 2025 |
| Failure Date | November 6, 2025 |
| VIN | 7SAYGDEE9PA |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.