My 2026 Tesla Model Y Juniper Self-Curbed Its Own 20-inch Rim When Auto Parallel Parking - We Should Not Be Trusting Our Lives To a Self-Driving Car That Hits Curbs

Our title paraphrases a Tesla owner. We are shocked to find owners reporting that their 2026 Tesla Model Y Juniper will strike curbs while self-parking. What shall we call this? Full-self curbing?

Be honest. You’ve rubbed a car’s rims along a curb when you parked. Crunch. We all dread doing it, all think we’ll never do it again, and then we are busy, it’s dark and drizzly, and the last spot at the mall is against a curb. Scrunch. Another perfect wheel is marred by the dreaded curse of rim rash. If only some super high-tech company with autonomous driving technology could once and for all rid us of this scourge. Some car company that perhaps has cameras mounted in multiple places, including alongside the car, and which could control steering in a way that would disallow one to come too close to a curb. Some company like Tesla.

Tesla Model Y Rim Rash
I’ve been tuned in to Tesla vehicles lately, particularly the Model Y. When I park alongside a Tesla, I look to see if some radical has keyed it or spray-painted a hate symbol on it. Those make for good images in stories. Today, I happened to see a pricey pre-Juniper Model Y strategically parked well away from other cars. A kindred soul. I’m a defensive parker myself. However, I then noticed that both passenger-side wheels were nearly encircled by third-degree curb rash. Because the wheels are smoked out, the silver rash shone brightly in contrast. Yikes. I’m not judging, mind you. I curbed a brand-new Dodge Charger R/T a few weeks back, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Well, maybe a little ashamed.

I checked out the whole Model Y, and it was well-kept. It’s pollen season here, so nobody is washing cars, including this Model Y. The driver’s side wheels were perfect. No rash at all. Only the curb-side of this Model Y had the dreaded grey scale creeping along its wheels.

Yes, The Model Y Juniper Will Auto-Curb Its Own Wheels
Since Tesla doesn’t support the media, I often look to the well-run Facebook Tesla clubs to uncover needed info on Tesla products. So, I checked out the Tesla Model Y club to see if maybe Tesla had recently achieved the goal of preventing curb rash.

Sergey B. had my answer. Here’s what Sergey said about his experience with curb rash with Tesla’s newest iteration of the 2026 Model Y:

My Model Y Juniper scuffed up its own 20-inch rim when auto parallel parking. This (is unfortunate)

We edited Sergey’s comment to remove the naughty language at the end. We’re a family publication. However, you get the point. Not only won’t Tesla lend you a helping hand, the car can actually auto-scuff its own wheels. 

Sergey was both supported and derided by the members of his Tesla Model Y Facebook Club. Here are some supporters who offered some compassion:
1) Michael B. - “Had the same issue. Tesla won’t cover it…. Found a rim guy paid $80”
2) Helen M. - “My husband scuffed one of mine up pretty bad last month. Funny, I've never damaged his Rivian. LOL”
3) Wayne E. - “Yeah. I don’t auto park if it’s next to a curb. I don’t trust it. I only auto park in parking spaces. Like in a mall, etc., never next to a curb.”
4) Travis M. - “After the recent update, I had to take over FSD parking as it was moving forward towards a curb and not backing in. Close call.”
5) Sarah G - “My husband did this after only owning our new Model Y for about 2 weeks.”

Sadly, many of Sergey’s fellow Model Y owners seem to feel that it’s his fault that his Tesla came with self-curbing wheels. Here are some of those Debby Downer comments.
Derrian A. - “Shoulda taken control ..”
John S. - “Were you not paying attention to the cameras?”
Adam C - “I can help you fix that…’I scuffed up my Model Y Juniper 20-inch rim while using auto parking. I refuse to read and/or understand the instruction manual.’ There, I fixed it for you.”

Our favorite snarky comment comes from the perfect human specimen, Adam M, who wrote,

 IDK...maybe get a real car and learn how to drive? 10 years and ain't curbed once LMAO.

After we researched this issue, it turned out that a lot of Tesla owners struggle with wheel damage. Not to be conspiracy theorists or anything, but during my last trip to Tesla of Peabody, Massachusetts, I noticed that Tesla promotes its wheel and tire packages. Hmm. We're just spit-balling here, but maybe FSD could stop curbing wheels. Of course, then Tesla would lose valuable revenue selling wheel protection packages to its customers.

Did Tesla Help This Model Y Juniper FSD Customer?
Sergey later posted an update to his original post. It turns out Tesla Corporate is included in those who are not sympathetic. Sergey writes,

Update: I called Tesla, and they said that since I agreed to the user agreement regarding auto parking and FSD, they will not be replacing the rim, and the replacement plus labor will cost me $900.

What say you people of the internet who are Tesla Model Y Juniper fans and owners? Should a vehicle we trust to keep us alive while it "fully-self-drives" us along be bouncing off curbs? Tell us in the comments below. 

Images of pre-Juniper Tesla Model Y suffering from third-degree curb rash by John Goreham. Image of Tesla wheel and tire insurance pricing by John Goreham. 

John Goreham is a long-standing member of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.