45% of 2021 MY fail mandatory inspection

This is anedoctal, but a friend of mine who used to work in a Tesla import center, used to say that the cars they got from germany was mostly error free, but the ones from China had misalignments and other errors Might be the same issue here

I can see that, quality of each Tesla vehicle is unique to it's own, now you add the factory they come out from and the date... it's not inconceivable that each factory quality differs

The Danish Model Y are mostly made in Germany.

Considering the fab didn’t open before sometime in 2022, Not the 2021 models no

For comparison, VW ID.4 cars fail at a rate of 2%. (There's a figure in the article showing that.) This probably means there's an issue with the Teslas not being made for the Danish inspection (also German, there was hubbub recently with them). It's kinda expected for newcomers. Sure, it doesn't look good, but still... For example, I understand that overly fragile suspension is a known issue anyhow. I guess being light took over being durable...?

For anyone interested in an English translation… Tesla Inspection Problems in Denmark The popular Tesla Model Y (2021 model year) performed very poorly in mandatory vehicle inspections in Denmark last year, according to data analyzed by FDM Test & Inspection based on figures from the Danish Road Traffic Authority:  Key findings: 🚗 High Failure Rate for Model Y • Out of 2,394 Tesla Model Y vehicles from the 2021 model year that were inspected in 2025, 1,069 failed, a failure rate of 45%. • For comparison, only 7% of all electric vehicles that went through inspection in the same period failed.  ⚠️ Common Issues Tesla Model Ys most often failed on checks related to: • Brake system • Lighting equipment • Axles, wheels and tires • Steering components A particularly widespread defect was play in the suspension, found in 22% of Model Ys — compared to only 0.1% for a competitor like the VW ID.4.  📉 Also Problems with Model 3 The report notes similar issues for the Tesla Model 3: • Previous inspection data showed nearly one-third of Model 3s failed. • The main causes were also brakes, lights, suspension and steering problems.  📅 Production Changes and Warranty Context FDM’s technical experts say Tesla didn’t make major production changes for these early Model 3 and Model Y vehicles until later updates (2023 for Model 3, 2025 for Model Y), which may contribute to the inspection problems. Tesla offers a four-year warranty — around the time the first inspection is due — so FDM recommends owners have their cars checked by an independent professional before that inspection date.  📌 FDM vs Tesla Disagreements FDM reports they have raised these suspension play issues with both Tesla and the Road Traffic Authority. In several cases where owners contested inspection failures, the Danish authority supported FDM’s decisions. Tesla has not responded publicly to FDM’s request for comment on the inspection data or whether there should be regular service intervals. 

More like an AI summary with many details missing. No offence.

Axels are the Achilles’ heel of every Tesla. Whoever constructed these things is an idiot, because they are a problem in every single model. (A yes, it was basically Elon, who wanted to cut the cost with the CyberDumpster as the worst offender.)

Doesn't help that any other brand in Denmark requires service intervals to be maintained for warranty purposes, whereas Tesla has historically told their users that it wasnt required. Some of these issues could likely have been rectified before they got worse, if they serviced their cars.

I bet nuance isn't going to be appreciated. But Tesla does not have a mandatory maintenance schema. Usually these things are caught during maintenance.

Well, Teslas are also the worst Models in German TÜV Inspections. These are mandatory three years after the first registration and then every two years. The same pattern emerged in the Finnish mandatory Inspection System. Everywhere Teslas fail and are in last place regarding Number of faults found. So it’s a fundamental design and Quality Control Issue with Tesla.

Teslas are ripening like a banana left on kitchen counter for too long.

All of these issues. If a car fails inspection after maintenance visit, don’t ever go to that shop again

Well they could, issue is that the Danish state and Tesla are at odds about some of these things, and whether they are acceptable. So you can go to whichever Tesla service facility and get your vehicle tubed to their specs, while still getting your vehicle dumped by the road worthiness inspection, since they obviously trumf Teslas interpretation. Or tl;dr, dont buy a goddamn Tesla

That falls into don’t ever go to that shop again. If the maintenance shop is in Denmark, and they don’t check by Danish inspection specs, WTF they are then doing in Denmark? Same for any other country. Of course if you only pay for oil ICE change it’s different. But EV maintenance is basically 80% paying for checking things. Edit: and not buying Tesla is obvious, but in principle applies to any brand.

Yeah, I used CGPT to translate it. Thought it would save some people the hassle… can’t please everyone I guess.

This all stems from EU block exemption on third party servicing. Originally the first EU Model S's had a service schedule just like any other car. However the EU demands that all technical information, tools, and servicing specifications must be made available to independent shops in order that manufacturers can't make a walled garden of servicing for warranty purposes. Rather than be open and honest about how to repair or diagnose issues with cars, Tesla decided to not make servicing mandatory for warranty purposes. The result is the cars never end up on a ramp and routine issues are not picked up. The other problem Tesla has is that due to the crazy last week of the quarter delivery pushes (an exercise in financial engineering, rather than sound operational management), the cars never get a thorough PDI (pre-delivery inspection) because the "service" centres are rushed off their feet. This means some cars would have failed inspection from day one!

>Almost half of the model Ys on Danish roads fail and must be repaired and re-inspected. The average failure rate of other brands are 7%. It's even worse. The 7% is the overall BEV failure rate which means that the MY's 45% failure rate is a major part of the 7%. Only 2% of 7121 2021 VW ID.4 failed inspections.

> The most common defect is play in the suspension, which was found on 22 percent of the Tesla Model Y. The corresponding failure rate in the suspension on the competitor VW ID.4 is just 0.1 percent. Those Whompy Wheels are real. And directly traceable to the CEO's unhinged attitude to cost cutting at any cost. The under-sizing of those suspension parts is pretty much undeniable. Somehow they’ve also managed to get their ball joints to wear out at a record pace. This service bulletin is for pre-2021 models, but pretty notable for this claim: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10203341-9999.pdf > On certain Model 3, Model Y, and Model X vehicles, there may be a water ingress path to both front upper control arm ball joints that, over time, could possibly lead to surface corrosion of these ball joints. This may result in a creaking sound coming from the front suspension when steering at low speeds and under high loads. This is exclusively an NVH condition only and *does not result in premature failure of the ball joints*. Who is going to believe that water entering ball joints, and making them creak loudly, doesn't really affect the longevity of those joints. What kind of "surface corrosion" results in loud creaking sounds, unless they mean contact surfaces.

IDK if this is common in Denmark, but in Germany it's common for these inspections to be in a workshop. Workshops heavily try to sell a costly inspection from their shop right before the state inspection to fix all issues and make sure the car passes. Most customers have these additional inspections, because they really want the car to pass. (However if you're in Germany do not fall for this trick. Just bring the car yourself to a TÜV inspection. If the car doesn't pass you have weeks to fix issues. You have to present the car again, but this is done in a few minutes and just costs ~20€)

“Please everyone”. My brother it isn’t a translation, it’s a summary. And it leaves out important details. Next time just use google translate lol

Making it cheaply took over making it properly.

Not only is it not "mandatory", Tesla lies to their customers and tells them that it is not neccesary. Which clearly it is. Also, even without service, 22% of cars should not have suspension issues after four years.....

The lowest standard are the US built.

I'd rather not have a translation at all than read that slop.

Aren’t they mostly fine on the model 3?  My impression was that the issues are mostly with model Y cars, because it’s a much heavier car on the same suspension as the model 3.

Well said.

But tbh its rather unusual that you come to a service 3 years in and they tell you that there is bad wear on your suspension and you need to fix it.

Quality control? You mean the drive from the factory floor to the parking lot?

Even worse - the Model Ys are all newer cars. Model Y sales in Europe started less than 5 years ago - so these are all newer cars failing their first inspection.

>So you can go to whichever Tesla service facility and get your vehicle tubed to their specs, Well surely that's just dumb?! I want to pass the Danish inspection first and foremost. Only then, **if** being specced to whatever **more stringent** spec is available, sure, let's do that.

Well there's the issue. You can go to the test first, get a fail, go to Tesla, and get a pass, because they don't find anything wrong.

My boss was pulling her model 3 into a parking spot recently and I heard creaking coming from her suspension, bet it's those ball joints.

That's my point: I don't care about passing with them. *So what are they doing, what customer service is that?!*

I always wondering why so many Teslas creaked SO bad in parking lots lol

Well it's not like they care as long as they get paid. And it's a known issue from the M3, yet people keep buying the cars. I guess people just like getting hamfisted from the rear here in Denmark. Not that i can gloat as a Chinese EV owner.

In the linked article it shows 34% failure for the 3 instead of 45% for the Y, so yes, perhaps slightly better? I’d still prefer a 2% failure rate like the id.4 though. 😄

We took our model y to the shop twice to have them look at clunking noises coming from the front passenger side. They both times said it was the air dam coming loose and if I bought it back a 3rd time they would charge us to fix it. We sold our 3 year old 85k dollar Tesla for 25k USD and as pissed as we were, it looks like we made the right decision.

Yep. I know of a Tesla owner who is convinced that his Tesla 3 requires absolutely no maintenance because they have “no moving parts”!!!

They aren't engineered to be cars. They are engineered to be stage props so they appear to be making cars.

Ours failed in Norway on suspension bushings, control arms, and disc brakes. Everything but the brakes was covered under warranty but the brakes were very expensive to replace.

That's true, was thinking about here in Sweden where it's 3 years to the first inspection. But it even says 4 years. Completely missed it.

But I thought Elon knew more about manufacturing than anyone on earth?!

I have an early 2023 VW ID.4 bought new that has done 189k km and what I've had was right side front control arm at 60k, left side at 120k and the aerial antenna connected to the SOS system replaced. The antenna issue is extremely common in all VW group cars. Honestly it's a very tough car IMHO.

Wow i would have expected way more failiure

Irish National Car Test figures show 124 M Y tested of which 64 failed. These would be taxis. In total for all Tesla since they started testing them they have a 54% failure rate. This is well beyond normal failure rate. [https://www.ncts.ie/statistics/test-statistics-by-vehicle-manufacturer/](https://www.ncts.ie/statistics/test-statistics-by-vehicle-manufacturer/)