Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim, NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,245,377 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports, when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report, that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints, specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened, feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 129,250 complaints - component: AIR BAGS
FORD
EXPEDITION
(2020) - AIR BAGS
Aug 2, 2024
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced... Read more
Incident date: May 15, 2024
The airbag warning light began going off October/November 2023 and was intermittent at first and became constantly on. I took it to the dealership in December of 2023 and they said that the airbag sensor plug had become disconnected under the front passenger seat, they said they reconnected it and the warning light was out. It was also stated that this is a common issue when items get under the fr... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Colling) and 24V513000 (Air Bags); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while driving at... Read more
Incident date: Jul 29, 2024
Since there has been ongoing investigation on airbags, thought to report the issue related to this. For some reason, the airbag yellow warning light came up for no reason on my dashboard. It came up months ago and never has'nt gone away. Was wondering this is part of the airbag recall debate that has been reported in the media
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the message "Service Air Bags" was displayed. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable am... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
Driver side airbag warning light came on, took vehicle to dealer for inspection and report is the airbag system has a fault in it and whole system will need to be replaced. Vehicle is available for inspection, and issue has been confirmed by dealer. Told airbag unlikely to go off, but may not deploy in the event of an accident.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
An error has displayed on the screen stating: "Front Passenger Safety Restraint System Fault RCM_a056 Service is Required" and reaching out to the local Tesla service center, I discovered the prescribed repair costs $1600. After searching online for other owner's experience with the error, I discovered that this is a common issue caused by a wire connection to the seat control model coming loose ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer... Read more
Incident date: Jul 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Honda Accord. The contact stated while his daughter was driving at 10 MPH and distracted, she crashed into a lamppost on the front driver's side of the vehicle. The air bags deployed. During the impact, the driver's seat belt failed to retract and secure the driver. No warning lights were illuminated. There was cosmetic damage but it was not severe due to the collision bein... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 4, 2024
Drivers Headrest Airbag went off unexpectedly causing minor whiplash to myself, the driver and causing uncomfortable head placement and high repair costs.
1 injured
LAND ROVER
LR4
(2016) - AIR BAGS
Aug 1, 2024
Incident date: Oct 24, 2021
Driving on the highway, smooth road, hit nothing and the entire driver side airbags deployed.
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Honda Civic. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed front driver's side air bag clock spring and inflator. The contact was informed that the front driver's side air bag clock spring an... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2024
The contact owns a 2020 Dodge Charger. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V198000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V865000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not... Read more
Incident date: Jul 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact called another local dealer, Taylor Chevrolet (13801 Telegraph Rd., Taylor, MI 48180); who informed the contact that the parts were not yet available. The contact st... Read more
JEEP
GRAND CHEROKEE
(2018) - AIR BAGS
Aug 1, 2024
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
Front passenger safety restraint system fault service is required error. this just appeared on my screen when my wife sat in the passenger seat.
Incident date: Jul 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2011 Nissan Versa. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V401000 (Air Bags) and 17V449000 (Air Bags); however, the dealer refused to complete the recall repairs. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that before entering th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 18, 2024
The contact owned a 2016 Honda CR-V. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH and attempting to avoid colliding with a second vehicle the driver lost control of the steering and crashed into a utility pole. During the crash, the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged but the air bag partially deployed and did not protect the driver. The contact sustained back and neck inju... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2015 Ram 1500. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V632000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a fai... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2024
The driver's side, side air bag deployed spontaneously. There was no apparent reason or cause, ie no side impact of any kind, no door slamming or other provocation. The car was parked in a garage for six hours before I sat in the car, closed the door, then BLAM! Temperature was moderate, where as the car is often parked on a city street in direct sun. Air bag deployment was a loud bang followed by... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 GMC Acadia. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a f... Read more
CHEVROLET
SILVERADO 1500
(2018) - AIR BAGS
Aug 1, 2024
Incident date: Jun 8, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. V... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2024
Crack spontaneously appeared near VW logo on steering wheel. The crack is growing. Volkswagen dealership said the airbag and steering wheel plate cover need to be replaced but unwilling to cover under warranty. Steering wheel plate cover looks to be swollen and other visible areas show stress marks. Dealership is ordering replacement part to replace next week. Dealership did not say this is a safe... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bag) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted and offered the caller to purchase the parts to complete the repairs and later receive a reimbursement. The contact then reached out to another dealer where they confirmed parts we... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jul 31, 2024
Incident date: Jul 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Renegade. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the failure was linked to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V510000 (Air Bags, Seat Belts); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonabl... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ID.4
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jul 31, 2024
Incident date: Jul 26, 2024
The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH or faster, the vehicle would unintendedly decelerate. The contact stated that the speedometer dropped to 0 MPH. The contact stated that the “Wrench” symbol was displayed, indicating a failure with the power train or the electronic throttle control system. The air bag warning light was also illuminated. The contact pull... Read more
Incident date: Jul 31, 2024
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while his daughter was attempting to make a left turn at approximately 5 MPH, another vehicle crashed into the rear passenger-side end of the vehicle. There was cosmetic damage and the vehicle came to a stop in the middle of the road. The air bags failed to deploy. As a result, the driver impacted her head on the steering wheel causing head... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jan 10, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Nissan Rogue. The contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed that the front passenger’s side air bag needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
KIA
SPORTAGE HYBRID
(2023) - AIR BAGS
Jul 31, 2024
Incident date: Jul 28, 2024
Porsche dashboard leather has strunk and separated from the main dashboard. My understanding is that in the event of an accident, this could interfere with the airbag's ability to deploy correctly. A Porsche dealer has reviewed but was unable to repair it. The next step would be to replace. I've discovered this is a very common issue with Porsche vehicles from model years similar to this one.
Incident date: Jul 17, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Pilot. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.... Read more
Incident date: Apr 27, 2024
The contact owns a 2005 Nissan Frontier. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23E012000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not exper... Read more
Incident date: Jul 23, 2024
The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disc... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2024
Passenger restraint system Malfunction. L
Incident date: May 10, 2023
The contact owns a 2019 Chrysler 300S. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V198000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH and making a left turn when another vehicle made a wide turn ... Read more
Crash
Incident date: Jul 5, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms part... Read more
VOLKSWAGEN
ATLAS CROSS SPORT
(2022) - AIR BAGS
Jul 30, 2024
Incident date: Jul 30, 2024
I have been waiting over a year to get my recall airbag fixed. I was sold a defective car and would hope that it would get fixed ASAP especially knowing that if I am in an accident, I could get killed or anyone else in my car could. This is unacceptable. I received a recall letter in May 2023 and today at the emissions testing was told to go get it fixed. I looked up what to do in the GMC webs... Read more
Incident date: Jul 18, 2024
The contact owns a 2017 Nissan NV200. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light was illuminated, and a message was displayed indicating that the passenger's side air bag was off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the occupant classification sensor. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. After investigatin... Read more
Incident date: Apr 15, 2024
Steering wheel feels loose. able to wiggle the wheel top to bottom and side to side at leas 1/4-1/2 inch of play. According to research on the internet dues to a possible broken plastic bushing in the steering column [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Incident date: Jun 30, 2024
The airbag headrests opened up randomly without being involved in an accident!
VOLKSWAGEN
JETTA
(2021) - AIR BAGS
Jul 30, 2024
Incident date: Dec 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was ... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2023
The contact owns a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse. The contact stated while driving 20-25 MPH, the vehicle in front of her vehicle stopped abruptly, causing the contact's vehicle to hit the rear end of the other vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's grand-daughter who was occupying the front passenger's seat hit her chin against the dashboard. The contact's grand-daughter sustained a bruise... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Jul 1, 2024
Airbags did not go off in a head on collision besides the one at my feet Emergency auto braking did not brake and hindered my ability to brake
Crash
2 injured
Incident date: Jul 2, 2024
No warning lights or notifications I found out using this website. I submitted a service request to del Toyota and they said there was nothing they could do to fix it. The passenger side airbag is malfunctioning and might not deploy of in an accident.
Incident date: Jun 28, 2024
My 2018 Tesla Model 3 is experiencing an intermittent "Front Left Safety Restraint System Fault". This error message, appearing on the main display, suggests an issue with the driver-side airbag, seatbelt pretensioner, or related components. The fault seems unrelated to seat occupancy or weight, as it occurs both with and without a passenger. While the error message eventually disappears after res... Read more
Incident date: Jul 30, 2024
When driving, without AND more importantly, WITH, a passenger in the front passenger seat, the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) light goes on and indicates that the passenger air bag has been deactivated. I looked on line and saw that Audi has already recalled certain 2015-2019 Audi A3 Sedans but apparently my car is not part of the initial recall. I think the recall is BIGGER than ... Read more
Incident date: Jun 8, 2024
Driver side headrest deployed (AHR system) while driving at a speed of 55 mph with no accident. Driver bit tongue while driving. I have found many complaints of this issue online. Vehicle hasn't been inspected at this time since it happened a little over a week ago while on vacation. There were no warning signs that it was going to happen. Just purchased this 2016 Chrysler Town and County a litt... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2024
The contact owns a 2016 Buick Enclave. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V334000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 14, 2024
I was driving down I90 with no one in front of me and a clear road. Unexpectedly, the right side passenger airbags exploded and struck me in the face and shoulder. The car immediately braked and I saw a semi truck pass me on the right with pieces of what appeared to be tire debris flying in the air. I pulled over and my car become inoperable. I inspected the outside of the vehicle and there was no... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
There's is an open recall on my vehicle that is unable to be repaired. It is unsafe to drive and may cause death or serious injury if the air bag opens up during a crash. There have not been any warning lights or sounds notifying me of the recall. I received an email about the recall from the dealership and was told there is no fix.