Tesla’s New Model Y Being Really Ugly Isn’t Even In The Top 3 Of Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Buy One

Last night I was at the mall to see “Mickey 17” (which I loved), and because I was in a new Bentley Flying Spur Speed press car I parked in a specific area of the garage to take advantage of the Chargepoint chargers. There’s only six of them at this mall, and luckily I was able to get a spot at one. As I walked toward the garage exit I passed by a section with Tesla chargers that is used by the Tesla showroom at the mall, and I spotted a pair of face-lifted Model Ys, the first ones I’ve seen in person.

Y’all, it looks like dog dookie. While the Model 3 facelift looks nice though not any fresher or better than the old one did, the Model Y’s updates are a downgrade from an already ugly SUV. But the new Model Y being ugly as hell isn’t even in the top three of reasons why you shouldn’t buy one, and depending on how the rest of this week goes the Y’s ugliness could slide even further down the list.

The Model Y is an old car, having been revealed in 2019 as a bloated crossover version of the Model 3 that was introduced two years earlier. For this 2025 model year update Tesla redesigned the front and rear clips, made some pretty minor changes to the interior, and that’s about it. None of it looks good, or even any more modern than the old Model Y. Slim headlights connected by a central lightbar are supposed to evoke the Cybertruck, but it just makes the front end look way more generic and droopy. The actual headlights are now the units mounted below that come off the air intakes.

Daniel Golson / Jalopnik

I will give credit to Tesla’s design team for the technology behind the Model Y’s seemingly hidden light bar, which has an “indirect reflective body panel” that makes a glowing central lightbar appear when the car is on, but in execution (especially when parked and turned off) I think it looks bad. The license plate getting moved down into the lower bumper emphasizes the Model Y’s height and width in a negative way, too, and the tailgate now has an extra panel gap that also looks bad. And you’re stuck with the Model Y’s same horrible greenhouse and overall proportions. While the interior has slightly more interesting door panels, allegedly better materials and singular strips of ambient lighting, it’s just as bleak and design-less as before. Truly depressing.

A bigger reason to not get a new Tesla is how dangerous they are. Not in terms of actual crash-test safety — to Teslas credit, the cars are very safe in that regard — but because of Tesla’s “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” technologies. While these features are just Level 2 automated driver-assist systems like the highway assist systems offered by countless other automakers, Tesla recklessly allows owners to use them on all sorts of roads, and hands-free at that. Tesla essentially uses its owners as beta testers for the driver-assist features. It’s a blatant disregard for established safety protocols, and because of Tesla’s branding of the systems, the owners misuse them as well, assuming that the driver doesn’t need to still pay full attention to the road and maintain control of the vehicle. One research company found that drivers had to take control of Teslas using FSD every 13 miles.

There are countless examples of Teslas crashing or getting into dangerous situations while “Autopilot” or “Full Self-Driving” is engaged, too often resulting in occupant death. One Cybertruck smashed into a pole, while another suddenly accelerated and crashed into a railing. The systems don’t work in Teslas own tunnels, they don’t understand New York City, Teslas using FSD have driven into curbs, driven onto train tracks, and killed deer, motorcyclists and pedestrians. FSD computers have been bricking cars, and Musk has even admitted that Teslas can’t physically “self drive” without a hardware upgrade. I don’t know about you, but I’m not gonna trust Tesla’s driver-assist systems, especially given how all the new cars are camera-based, eschewing radar and other sensors used by every other automaker.

If you really want to go hands-free while on the freeway, you can find systems in all sorts of BMWs, Fords, General Motors products, Toyotas and Lexuses, Stellantis products, Nissans and Infinitis, and more to come. Currently, Mercedes-Benz is the only company offering a Level 3 system in the U.S., which allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road, all with full governmental approval and proper safety testing.

I can’t believe I have to keep saying this, but there are new reasons to bring it back up every day: Don’t support Elon Musk. It’s well past the time where you should have stopped buying new Teslas or even considered them, but in case you’re still on the fence for some reason, every day is a good day to stop supporting Elon Musk. From making Nazi salutes and promoting modern fascism to actively destroying the U.S. government and the civil rights of our most vulnerable people (specifically and most importantly trans people, of whom he is the father of one), Musk is doing a lot of truly despicable sh*t these days. He’s already the richest man in the world, he doesn’t need your money. Let him waste the rest of his fortune on rockets that will explode.

Boycotts and protests of Musk and his company at Tesla stores are clearly working, as the company’s stock is tanking and sales have cratered around the world. It’s all obviously getting under his skin, too. Today Musk showed up to the White House to throw a blatant PR event for Tesla, where Donald Trump “bought” Teslas for himself and his granddaughter, bloviating about how “good” the cars are and how unfair it is that Musk is being targeted. On the heels of calling boycotts of Tesla “illegal,” Trump announced that people who vandalize Tesla stores will be tried as domestic terrorists, which is a super cool and fun new development. Musk is so intertwined in our government and with Trump, supporting one goes hand-in-hand with the other, and that should be a horrible, embarrassing thought either way. These guys are just so freakin’ gross! Don’t even consider it. 

If somehow all of that still isn’t enough to convince you, just know that there are so many better electric vehicle alternatives out there, the purchase of none of which will fund a baby-obsessed freak’s ketamine addiction. Without factoring in the federal incentives that Trump is trying to get rid of, the new Model Y starts at $59,990 for the Launch Series long range dual-motor version, which is the only kind of Model Y facelift currently available to order. (A pre-facelift rear-wheel-drive Model Y costs $44,990; add $3,000 for AWD and $8,000 for FSD, which is standard on the new Launch model.) A 327-mile range and 4.1-second 0-to-60-mph time for the new Model Y is good, sure, but no longer class-leading or impressive. The Model Y’s charging speeds also aren’t as good as other EVs with 800-volt architecture.

I could list a lot of similarly priced or segmented EVs that I’d rather have than a Model Y, and I will: Chevrolet Equinox EV, Kia EV6, Polestar 2, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Mercedes-Benz EQB, Cadillac Lyriq, Volvo EX40. I could go on. There are also a bunch of electric cars on sale that might have less range and fewer features than the Tesla, and that might not be fantastic cars in general, but I would still rather drive than a Model Y. I don’t really want to drive a Toyota BZ4X, but at least it’s not a Tesla. And there are more great new EVs coming out all the time, across various segments and price points.

Really, there is one EV that should put the nail in the coffin to any Model Y considerations: the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Newly face-lifted for 2025, the Ioniq 5 is quicker, more efficient, has a longer range, more features, better technology and even better styling than before. It’s vastly nicer to look at and be in than the Model Y. Plus, it now has the Tesla-style NACS port, so you have access to the Tesla Supercharger network for easier road tripping. While spending money to charge at Tesla stations is still putting money into Musk’s pocket, and you won’t get the Ioniq 5’s max charge speeds at a Tesla charger anyway, I do support owners of non-Tesla EVs hogging all of the spots at Tesla stations. The Ioniq 5 is now built in the U.S., too, so you’re supporting American manufacturing. Just don’t buy the damn Model Y.