2026 TESLA MODEL Y — Complaint #2165028
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING filed January 10, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2165028 (ODI reference 11710114) concerns a 2026 TESLA MODEL Y and was filed on January 10, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 30, 2025. The report was geocoded to Illinois based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting, 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: 0, 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 exterior lighting 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 2026 TESLA MODEL Y shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The interior of the front trunk (Frunk) does not have an emergency release button or the hardware to support it. In the event that a child or person is inside the front trunk with the hood closed, that person cannot escape the enclosed area without having an outside person finding a key or tool to open the front trunk. Also, there is no light in the front trunk so it is completely dark when closed. This feature (emergency release button) previously came standard in this make and model prior to October 2025.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2165028 |
| ODI Number | 11710114 |
| Date Filed | January 10, 2026 |
| Failure Date | October 30, 2025 |
| VIN | 7saygded7tf |
Similar EXTERIOR LIGHTING Complaints for 2026 TESLA MODEL Y
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In my 2026 Tesla Model Y Long Range, there is no emergency release in the frunk (front trunk). I do believe there is a law that requires this. What if the unthinkable happens and someone gets stuck in
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.