“You Should Absolutely Not Buy One”: CNet Thrashes Tesla’s Model Y In Scathing Review

The rave reviews for Tesla’s Model Y keep coming in…

Call the vehicle “critically flawed”, CNet has joined Consumer Reports in publicly thrashing Tesla in a review of the company’s Model Y.

Reviewer Tim Stevens, who is likely to become Elon Musk’s next target on social media, penned the scathing review late last week. He reviewed a Model Y about three months after CNet purchased one. 

The car got a 6.7 out of ten in a review that Stevens admits up front will “not be good.”

“You should absolutely not buy one,” he starts off by saying.

He takes exception with the car’s sole visual panel, stating: “…looking at the Autopilot status and navigation prompts means having to gaze well down toward the bottom of that display. That means taking your eyes a long way from the road. A simple gauge cluster or heads-up display would solve the issue, but none are available, a curious omission on a car costing this much.”

He then critiques the white interior, which he says after three months is “picking up a distinct blue hue from denim, while the rear seat is absorbing black dye from the seat cover I was using to protect the upholstery from my dog”.

The fabric feels “rubbery at best,” he writes.

Stevens then takes massive exception with the car’s autonomous features:

“I can’t conclusively say that it’s because of the missing radar, but I can say that our Model Y is bad at detecting obstructions ahead. Really, really bad. The big issue is false positives, a problem that has become known as “phantom braking” among Tesla owners. Basically, the car often gets confused and thinks there’s an obstacle ahead and engages the automatic emergency braking system. You get an instant, unwanted and often strong application of the brakes. This is not a problem unique to Teslas. I’ve experienced it on other cars, but very, very rarely. On our Model Y this happens constantly, at least once an hour and sometimes much more often than that. In a single hour of driving I caught five phantom braking incidents on camera, two hard enough to sound the automatic emergency braking chime. 

This is a massive problem. It happens on both the highway and on secondary roads, any time the cruise control is engaged even without Autosteer. It means the car’s cruise control is patently unsafe, which means the entirety of Autopilot is unsafe. And that means the car itself is unsafe.”

In addition to phantom braking, Stevens complaints that water accumulates in the Model Y trunk and that the tail lights start fogging. 

He says the Model Y simply “isn’t that wonderful”, adding that the phantom braking issue is a “complete deal-breaker.”

“I must recommend against the Model Y,” he concludes. “Spend your money elsewhere.”