Car shaking back and forth, head hitting headrest

[primedive]

When driving on concrete highways, the car starts rocking back and forth on the joints and my head hits the headrest. It’s a really annoying and uncomfortable ride. I haven’t noticed the same problem on asphalt highways. The car also is very rough over bumps. The suspension on my model Y feels both too stiff and under-damped, if that makes sense.

Is this just the normal experience with a 2022 model Y or should I schedule a service? I do 99% of my driving at 30-40 km/h so don’t usually notice this, but took the highway today and it was pretty bad.

 

[bobbyjae]

This is normal I'm afraid and is a reason why I tend to avoid long trips and city driving. We have a second SUV that has a smooth ride.

Ride quality is one of the biggest complaints of the MY. They tried to improve it with "comfort" suspension in '23; however, it's still not a great ride.

 

[ElectricAnt54]

Sounds normal. I have a 2022 Performance Model Y on 21” OEM wheels & tires. Where I live the roads & highways are pretty good so rarely I experience conditions which cause my head to bounce against headrest. Occasionally I do.

Rough & loud over sudden harsh bumps, yup. Less rough & loud over smoother bumps.

 

[primedive]

I had heard some reports about the suspension not being up to par. I’ll still schedule a service with them and see what they say as I don’t find this acceptable. I’ve never had to bring in any other car for service as much as this one, but I’ve had a decent experience with them so far and I still love the car itself in spite of the flaws.

 

[Icehedgehog88]

Ride quality has a lot to do with the tires. I have a ‘22 MYP with the 21” OEM staggered wheel set. With that setup you will feel every bump on the road between the tires and stiffer MYP suspension. I did order a set of 19” rims from Tsportline with CC2 tires. Substantial difference in ride quality. Don’t misunderstand my comments, it doesn’t float across the bumps like my Volvo XC90 recharge, but there is a substantial difference in ride quality.

 

[primedive]

I brought the car into service and took a test drive with one of the techs, and he agreed that something seemed off with the car when driving over those highways. They ended up replacing the sway bars and while the problem isn’t 100% solved, the ride quality is much improved! I’m really happy with the service and glad I brought it up with them.

 

[Pianewman]

primedive: Did you test drive the model you were ordering? Is your car substantially different than the one you test drove?

 

[primedive]

primedive: Did you test drive the model you were ordering? Is your car substantially different than the one you test drove?

By test drive I mean the tech came with me and we reproduced the issue while I was driving the car.

I also test drove the car before buying, but for that I can’t say if there was a difference since that was somewhere else and not on the same roads. Also I don’t know how much temps impact all of this… when it was really annoying, the outdoor temp was also -29°…